Conjunctions – Ephesians 3:19

So here is a typical translation of Ephesians 3:19

Ephesians 3:19 - ESV
    and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

   When we checked the original language, Greek, the word “with” in the phrase “filled with all the fullness” is the conjunction “eis”.  This word is usually translated as “into”.

   So why is it translated as “with”.  The metaphor is of being filled, and things are filled with other things.  A glass is filled with water.  A house is filled with music.

What sense is it to be filled “into” all the fullness?  The conjunction “eis” is described in one reference: “if “en”is punctiliar, “eis” is the corresponding ‘linear’ word;  where “en” = “in”, “eis” would rather = “into”.  It may be added, as a rough-and-ready distinction between the meanings of “eis” and “pros”[toward], that “eis” tends to include the idea of entry…”

Bear with me – that bit of grammar from C. F. D. Moule’s “Idiom Book of the NT Greek” suggests that the picture should not be the fullness of God filling us like a cup, but of us plunging into the fullness of God.  The prayer had previously sought that we be strengthened or enlarged in capacity to be the dwelling for Christ, now this idea is reversed to one where we move into the fullness of God.   Or as we might say “take the plunge”.

 

A Prayer for the Church – Ephesians 3:14-21

A Prayer for the Church

Ephesians 3:14-21

 

An

expanding,

extending,

encompassing

appearance has grasped

molded and

emptied the world.

 

We see,

searching,

surfing,

  not waiting

to comprehend.

 

Enlarge it,

Lord, the

internal,

imperceptible,

I –Thou

connection.

 

Remodel,

relocate,

 in us.

Incognito – UP

 

Here is an article on Genesis

and the movie UP.

Unity and Justification – Galatians 2:11-21

We are part of a congregation that ministers through four languages, directly or indirectly – actually 5 if you count Mandarin and Cantonese as two languages.  So unity is something we talk about.  So it is interesting to read about the conflict between Paul and Peter in the multi-cultural church in Antioch. 

Peter, who had brought in the first Gentile converts (see Acts 10) was first enjoying a fine church supper and close friendship with gentile believers in Antioch, until some nay sayers appeared.  Then he separated – we presume in order not to divide the church or not to put a stumbling block in front of a Jewish audience.

Paul would not let this stand – because it was not only a breach of unity, it was a denial of the Gospel, and specifically a denial of the concept of justification.

It is not clear if verses 17 through 21 were part of the Paul to Peter speech, or Paul’s explanatory aside to the Galatians.  In any case, Justification by faith is the basis of unity; conversely division is a denial of that gospel.

Galatians 2:15-21
    We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; [16] yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
    [17] But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! [18] For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. [19] For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ. [20] It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

We have never heard a sermon that ties multicultural unity to the doctrine of Justification.  We have heard that it is too much to ask for people to overcome their prejudices and divisions in order to appreciate the work of Christ.

Incognito – Avatar and Lost

Follow this for an interesting take on AVATAR the movie from another blog

I have seen about 1.5 total episodes of LOST, but what about that title?

Incognito – Leviathan

This was in an article in the Washington Post about the president’s chief of staff: Rahm Emanuel is officially a Washington caricature. He’s the town’s resident leviathan, a bullying, bruising White House chief of staff who is a prime target for the failings of the Obama administration

We have no wish to comment on Mr. Emanuel, other than to note this incognito reference to “leviathan”.  This refers to an entwining beast discussed in Job 3:8 and 41:1-34 and mentioned in some other places: Ps 104:26, Isaiah 27:1, Psalm 124:14, Ezk 29:3-5.

It refers to a sea creature, sort of sea serpent, whose entwining coils speak of an evil entwining power.  Isaiah and Ezekiel use the image in regard to large and imposing empires such as Egypt and Assyria.  Psalm 104 has the Leviathan making sport in the ocean.  In Job it seems to refer to something more than a creature, but to the evil embedded in the world.

So Mr. Emanuel, in the view of some, is a powerful and pervading power for something sinister.

Incognito – a new category

They are everywhere – places where themes, words, concepts and quotes from the Bible appear in popular culture, unnoticed and unreferenced.  For example, how love is supreme and Harry Potter wins by dying, literary themes such as “loss of innocence” and “redemption”.  

So we will be noting these as we find them.

Only One Book – Acts 8:26-40

We are preparing for Sunday by reading the account of Phillip and the Ethiopian court official.  This is fascinating for a number of reasons, not the least which is this:  Why was the Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah?

The story is that Phillip is directed to a desert road, encounters the Ethiopian, who is a high official in the Queens government, who had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was reading Isaiah – he quotes Isaiah 53:6,7.

To own a scroll involved a great expense – hand written with great care, on carefully prepared scrolls, they were beyond the ability of ordinary people to own. 

If he only picked one book, Isaiah was a  good choice – for it is  inour  opinion the most beautifully written, both in language and content, of any book in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Also, Isaiah speaks to and of the nations, and of a hope for the nations to come to the one true God of all heaven and earth, and of peace in it’s fullest extent.   There is a passage that offers hope to such a man as this Ethiopian:

Isaiah 56:3-8 ESV
    Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
        “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
    and let not the eunuch say,
        “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
    [4] For thus says the Lord:
    “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
        who choose the things that please me
        and hold fast my covenant,
    [5] I will give in my house and within my walls
        a monument and a name
        better than sons and daughters;
    I will give them an everlasting name
        that shall not be cut off.
    [6] “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
        to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
        and to be his servants,
    everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
        and holds fast my covenant—
    [7] these I will bring to my holy mountain,
        and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
    their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
        will be accepted on my altar;
    for my house shall be called a house of prayer
        for all peoples.”
    [8] The Lord God,
        who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
    “I will gather yet others to him
        besides those already gathered.”

   Which raises for us an interesting question: If you could afford only one book of the Old Testament, what would it be?

Our choice: Isaiah – for breadth of vision, beauty, hope, and in our view, descriptions of the Messiah.  (Runner up, Genesis)

Our New Testament choice would be (today, because tomorrow I will change my mind) Luke - for it’s grace, inclusion and literary masterpieces (the Prodigal Son). Runner up: Matthew – Sermon on the Mount

 Do you have a candidate in this race?

“Thou Shalt Blog” Wisconsin State Journal

Click the link to find a piece on Clergy who blog in the Madison Area. 

We have used one of our 15 alloted minutes of fame -

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_9678a6b8-20e5-11df-be68-001cc4c002e0.html

The Body of Christ – I Cor 12 – part 1

(Friendly Warning: Sermon Excerpt!) 

           Let’s rescue the idea of the Church as the body of Christ from the bean counters.  I have a collection of books and workbooks that help people discover their place in the life of the church.   The point of the Church as the body of Christ is not how we can have the organization of the church run smoothly.  That is only a part of it.  The point is that we are to the world what Jesus was to the world in his incarnation.  

            On his last evening with the Disciples, Jesus said something that we need to think about.

            “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.”                                                                                                       John 14:12

       When Peter was explaining the Christian message to Cornelius, he gave this summary of Jesus Ministry:

            “…you know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him…”                            Acts 10:37-38

             When we follow the life of Jesus we find an interesting pattern:

            He spent time with the Father.  The disciples noticed that Jesus would often pray – it was in asking how to pray that he taught them the Lord’s Prayer as an example of prayer.  Jesus made a practice of getting up early, getting away from distractions and spending time with the Father.  From this he got his sense of purpose and direction.

            He spent time with his disciples.  The twelve followed him everywhere. When Judas was replaced one qualification for an Apostle was the they had been with Jesus.  They ate meals together.  They did ministry together.  He sent them out to teach and heal, and together they reported on what they learned.

            He went out into the world.  As Peter explained it, Jesus under the power of the Holy Spirit that he received at his Baptism, went out into the world doing good.  He welcomed the outcasts.  He healed the sick.  He raised the dead.  He taught the people in a way that drew them.

What about us?

            We spend time with the Father.  All of us have the opportunity to  be with the Father – Jesus taught that we should go to a solitary place when we pray – so we are not tempted to show off for other people.  This spending time can take various forms. 

            We spend time with the disciples.  All of us have the opportunity to get together with other believers.  Here we are in church, as we say so often, mistaking the building for the church.  It is better to say, here we are, the church gathered.  And we spend time under the teaching of the Word of God.  We spend time in prayer and worship together.  We spend time eating together.  This is described as how the very first church spent it’s time together

    And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.                                Acts 2:42

            We are sent into the world.  The New Testament word for Church is “ekklesia”, it literally means “called together.”  This means that we are called by God to be together for set times.  But then we are sent back.  God does not intend that the Church only be those times when we are assembled in one place.  We are also the church when we are disassembled.  When you go to your houses, your places of work, to where you play or volunteer or eat…in all those places you are in the world with a mission.

The mission of God in the world is not accomplished by having individuals receive the gifts of Salvation.  That is the beginning of the work but not the end.  The mission of God in the world is not accomplished by enlarging the numbers and the effectiveness of congregations. That is the middle part of the word but not the end.  The mission of God in the world is accomplished when we go out as the Body of Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit to do the work of Jesus in the world.