Manna in the desert, except on SaturdayThroughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 11th: Exodus 16:27-35; Psalm 95; and John 4:1-6. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
I was reading an article the other day and it was listing some of the anxiety-causing consequences of taking a vacation. One of them was the amount of work waiting for you when you returned from vacation. It does not seem like a fair definition of vacation if you are expected to do all the work that you missed while you were supposed to be on vacation and away from work. If you need to do extra work in order to leave and then need to do the same to catch up when you return, where’s the vacation? In today’s Exodus passage, there is reference to the manna collected in the wilderness during Israel’s Exodus. It appeared miraculously six days a week, but God rested on the seventh and it was not there. And the people were surprised, even though they had been forewarned. If they collected too much Sunday through Thursday and tried to stockpile the surplus manna, it became foul. This carries a message against greed. You take what you need and nothing more. In a land today of billionaires and families that cannot afford milk, in a time where the careless consumption of natural, limited resources threatens life everywhere, there may be more revelation found here than a millennia-old story about miraculous manna in the desert. Then on Friday the Israelites were to collect two-days’ worth of manna so that they could keep the freshly received Sinai commandment to rest on the Sabbath. Again, however, the people disregarded this instruction. They went out on Saturday morning, the Sabbath, and were surprised that there was nothing there. They are carrying the stone tablets around with them in their wanderings. They are kept in the sanctuary at the center of their encampment wherever they stop. The Law-giver Moses walks among them. God is acting without the cover of ordinary blessings. And yet, the people have forgotten the Sabbath commandment. The other morning on NPR they were talking about the new model of work from home. The employer insisted and the employee agreed that if there was to be work at home so that during normal working hours employees could attend a child’s baseball game or take a parent to a doctor’s appointment or have lunch with friends on someone’s birthday, then if the employer had an emergency in the middle of the night the employee was expected to respond immediately. I imagine many will disagree with me and feel free to let me know, but I think there is merit to this. If the employee enjoys the option of non-traditional work hours so as to have the freedom to choose when to work, it sounds reasonable that the employer does as well. (Take this with a grain of salt since I work in the weirdest sense of that word.) In this emerging, boundaryless work-scape, Sabbath-rest becomes even more of a revelation. One of the joys I experienced working a time-clock job was that when I clocked-out I was done. In this emerging work environment, however, a conscious effort needs to be invoked to make sure that there is time for a Sabbath-recharging. Studies prove that we need time to rest for our brains to work well, and we need time to contemplate so that our attention span is not limited by TicTok durations so that we can exercise our brain to think beyond simple. punctuated. scattered. mental ramblings. I, personally, so just me and not necessarily you, find the thought of setting aside a Sabbath day as too daunting. It would become like the vacationless-vacation I mentioned above, but time set aside for more than work, more than proverbially going out and picking manna, is essential however it is to be managed. I also realize that the current trend is to separate Sabbath from the act of corporate worship. I’m not sure about this. Sabbath is not only about rest; it’s about regeneration, recharging ourselves. Coming together as a worshipping community, in the presence of God, I feel (and I know that I may be different than others as someone who has chosen to be a church professional) is invigorating. I go to church on vacation. I don’t think it takes anything away from vacation. I enjoy the chance to rest in God. In the spirit of the manna in the desert, amid the daily toil of doing everything we need to do to survive, I invite you to join with us tomorrow at worship. Not as an obligation. Not as another thing that must be done. Not as work. But as a blessed opportunity to be recharged. If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. We “have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 10th: Exodus 16:9-21; Psalm 95; and Ephesians 2:11-22. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
This is our third Lenten Friday, Fridays being those special days during Lent when we concentrate especially upon the cross of Jesus. These are special days within a special season that offer us the opportunity to spend some extra time growing our spirituality, our connection with Christ. In the Ephesians selection today, we read, “… members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” When you read these words, what comes to mind? Do “apostles” equate with the twelve apostles? When the word “prophets” is encountered, does it lead you to think about the Old Testament and the likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel? If that’s the case, it’s completely understandable, but I think Ephesians is talking about other things. Ephesians is what is categorized as a Deutero-Pauline Epistle, which means that it belongs to the Pauline tradition, but is a later writing than the historical Paul. This is a disciple of Paul writing in Paul’s name and assuming Paul’s authority, and trying to express authentically (but not always accurately) Paul for a time after Paul. Paul, and for that matter the later writers in Paul’s name, considered Paul to be an apostle. Paul insisted upon it even when challenged by his church opponents, and the Deutero-Pauline writers are counting on that apostolic authority when they write in Paul’s name. Paul’s experience of Jesus was mystical not historical. Paul was not among those commonly referred to as “the twelve apostles.” The Twelve were those disciples who were with Jesus throughout His life’s ministry. Their pedigree is that they were witnesses to the historical Jesus “beginning from the baptism of John until the day when [Jesus] was taken up from us.” (Acts 1:22) By this scriptural definition, the Twelve is a closed group. The nomenclature of “apostles” though was not limited to the Twelve. Paul is the most well-known of these non-historical apostles. And when Ephesians makes reference to the foundation of the apostles, this does not mean only the Twelve. It couldn’t in a Pauline community. Apostles in this context is more than may be expected by readers today. Apostles is a charismatic, mystical, spiritual authority that is recognized by the community. And the broader meaning of prophets is also a part of this passage. The earliest church was far more charismatic than hierarchical. The authority of the Spirit’s inspiration was accepted and respected. In the Corinthian church, the numerous expressions of the Spirit as the community gathered had to be relegated because it was becoming overwhelming. Prophecy was very much a part of the earliest church structure. Christian prophets are found in the New Testament and they play a prominent role in the Christian writings after the New Testament canon is closed. When “Paul” writes about the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, he is making reference to charismatic leadership, to believers inspired by the Spirit to lead the church and who are accepted by the church community. The Spirit is the living presence of God within and among believers. The immediate presence of Jesus during His earthly ministry became the immediate presence of the Spirit. Believers felt and acted upon the closeness of God. The Spirit is known as the breath of God. God was so close that they could feel God’s breath. What a marvelous image. What a powerful faith. On these Lenten Fridays, maybe we could try a bit harder to feel the closeness of Christ, to feel His breath upon us. Too often God can seem far away or too formalized. Lent is about realizing how close God is. May we find the time today to wonder at the mystery that we “have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. "The Crucified God"Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 9th: Exodus 16:1-8; Psalm 95; and Colossians 1:15-23. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
Here is more theological history than you need, but it is important to help us better understand the passage from Colossians. In Christian theology, there is an historical heresy termed patripassianism, which is derived from the two Latin words for father and suffering. This is part of the early Christian thinking about Jesus that called into question the distinctiveness of the persons of the Trinity, something called modalism. Early Christian theology was born of Greek philosophy, and the Greeks equated perfection with unchanging. If anything was perfect, it could not change by improving because then it would not have been perfect before, and it could not change by being degraded because obviously then it would no longer be perfect. Perfect is, therefore, according to Greek philosophy, a constant, unchanging, unchangeable state. When early Christian apologists adopted Greek philosophy to explain their faith to the non-believers within the Roman Empire, they wanted to maintain the Greek philosophy of the perfect when talking about God. Well, this philosophy creates difficulties in trying to explain Jesus because Jesus changes. Jesus is born, matures, suffers, dies and resurrects. This is undeniable. What Christians believed about this same Jesus is that “in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.” The fullness of God dwells within Jesus. It would take another three centuries, but these biblical indications led to the theology of the Trinity, of the three distinct and equal Persons in the one Godhead. This is where patripassianism arose. The fullness of God is in Jesus at the cross. Reconciliation is tied to “the blood of [Jesus’] cross.” Does God, therefore, suffer? Greek philosophy said no and this was the lattice upon which early Christian theology was built. God’s suffering would call into question God’s unchangeable nature, would challenge God’s perfection. But the unchangeableness of God presented the illusion of an unconcerned God. At least in today’s Exodus passage, Moses and Aaron remind the complaining people in the wilderness that their attacks are not against them, but that they are directed at God. God is angered by this and then responds. God changes. This happens regularly in the Old Testament and it is explicit in the Book of Jonah as we talked about previously where it comes right out and says, “God changed his mind.” (3:10) The Jewish theology of God is much more personal than the Greek theology of God’s perfection. This humanness is presented in wonderful style in Harold Bloom’s “The Book of J,” which relishes the humanness of God in the parts of the Books of Moses written by an author known as J, from Jehovah, or rendered more accurately as Yahweh. We meet up with this J in the story of God’s encounter with Adam and Eve as God strolls leisurely through Paradise after they have eaten the forbidden fruit. A surprised God enters into the conversation with them by asking three questions: Where are you?; Who told you that you were naked?; and What is this that you have done? Jewish theology relishes the relatability of God, even a God who asks questions, rather than God’s unchangeability. “Paul” in Colossians is writing for a non-Jewish audience, but he comes from a Jewish tradition. I don’t think we need to erase the meaningful engagement of God from the suffering of Christ, and I think this is what Paul says when he teaches that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus even to the moment when Jesus makes peace “through the blood of his cross.” The renowned Christian theologian Jurgen Moltmann wrote the book “The Crucified God.” The title is provocative, and it says the same thing as does “Paul” in Colossians: the fullness of God is there at the cross. Moltmann argues that if God chooses to suffer, then God remains in control as God experiences the real suffering of Jesus who carries the fullness of God in his person. Moltmann allows for a way to think of God as perfect, but not indifferent. What does it mean to believe in, trust, be devoted to, challenged by a “crucified God”? What sort of love does a crucified God reveal? What does it expect in return? These are questions for Lent and I hope they bring us closer to Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2) If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. This Bible story really ticked-off somebody and we almost lost itThroughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 8th: Psalm 128; Ezekiel 36:22-32; and John 7:53—8:11. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
Today’s Gospel passage is chockfull of interesting lessons. First of all, if you would, please go to your Bible and see if the passage is printed within double brackets ([[ ]]). This signifies that the editors of the edition you are reading have judged this to be a suspect text. This in no way implies it is not inspired. It means that its provenance is uncertain because the ancient manuscripts are not consistent as to the particular passage. As a matter of fact, the double brackets, I think, testify to the absolute inspiration and value of this passage. In my mind’s eye, I see it like this. John’s Gospel is a late New Testament writing. It is probably a good decade or more later than Matthew and especially Luke. John gives evidence of an awareness of Matthew’s Gospel. The earlier Gospels may be circulating among Christian communities. But let’s focus on Luke because scholars posit that this double bracketed passage may actually have begun life between Luke 21:38 and 22:1. There, the double bracketed story fits more neatly into the flow and context of the narrative. But it’s not there. For some reason it may have been stricken from Luke’s Gospel. Maybe a pious scribe was offended by this generous treatment of the woman. Again, in my mind’s eye, I see the editor of John’s Gospel discovering this authentic piece of scriptural tradition that was then free floating among the earliest believers. Aware of the passage of time, and aware that the eyewitnesses are passing from this life and with them the age of the Gospels, this editor inserts this piece of Scripture into John’s late writing. It may not belong exactly here, and thus the double brackets of inconsistent manuscript references, but it is so thoroughly accepted as part of the inspired tradition that it was inserted into this late Gospel so that it would not be lost to future Christian generations. This is how important and sacred this pericope was judged. We are living through a time of a very vocal moral self-righteousness. A lot of politicians in our country are calling for “traditional values” to be legislated and for anything else to be criminalized. I always question the value of a morality that feels it must be forced upon people rather than embraced by them. The citizens of Iran, as an example for us, are protesting in their nation under very harsh persecution, and are calling for the end of their stifling theocracy. Do those dour and unsmiling old men who rule over there really believe that they are helping their faith by unleashing morality police who have killed people not sufficiently devoted to their most strict religious traditions? Do we here believe that our leaders will be any better able to legislate and enforce some sort of long-gone moral strictures? Violence is the last resort of a dying idea that has lost appeal and merit. We should not cede the mantle of moral authority to those who most vocally invoke God in their diatribes – and today’s Gospel shows us why. Self-righteous authorities drag a terrified woman before Jesus as a prop. They do not care about the Law. They care about their power to use the Law. Leviticus 20:10 is quite clear. If a couple is caught in the act of adultery, as the morality police admit in today’s Gospel, then both are to be punished. Where is the man in this story? Was he allowed to get dressed and sneak away quietly by these men so concerned about the letter of the Law? I remember the opening scene of Spotlight as a pedophile priest was quietly escorted out of a police station. That was one of the most powerfully disturbing scenes in the movie. When the religious authorities drag this woman to Jesus, they’re looking for spectacle not justice. Jesus recognizes immediately their hypocrisy. Does Jesus trace in the dust the words of Leviticus 20:10? Does Jesus maybe begin to write the name of the powerful and connected man whom these pious and offended authorities let escape from justice? Jesus calls out the hypocrisy of these morality enforcers. This was maybe a lesson too close to home for some religious editor of Luke’s Gospel who did not want to share the story of Jesus standing up for a woman caught in adultery. The editor’s sensibilities were offended by this Jesus. But the story would not die, it would not pass into silence. Believers believed in this Jesus who calls out the powerful who use religion. And thank God some other editor forced it in somewhere in the late Gospel of John so that this Jesus would not be lost to us. Morality is not owned by the ones who yell and perform their religion, and we should not allow such insincerity to become the definition of religion. We follow the Jesus who saw in that woman a person, a child of God, not a prop, not a campaign placard. She stands for all those who are attacked by today’s morality police. We need to remember during Lent that we follow a crucified criminal, one who was charged with a capital crime for challenging the authorities that be. During Lent let us concentrate on the Jesus who loved the person not the rule so that we do not settle for His caricature forced upon us by those who are so distrustful of what they believe that they insist on forcing it upon others by the power of the state. If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. We don't own AbrahamThroughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 7th: Psalm 128; Isaiah 65:17-25; and Romans 4:6-13. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
I get what Paul is saying in today’s passage from Romans, but I can also understand why it would be offensive (and at times even dangerous) to our brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith. Abraham is the first of the three Patriarchs. He is where the Jewish people begin their genealogy. This can be seen in the ancestor-list of Jesus in Luke and Matthew. Luke’s Gospel is written for a cosmopolitan Gentile audience. When this Evangelist traces the history of Jesus’ family tree, he takes it from Jesus all the way back to the putative first human, Adam. (Luke 3:37) Luke’s purpose in this contrivance is to convince his readers that Jesus belongs to all people, His ministry is as universal as Adam’s ancestry. On the other hand, Matthew does not trace backwards from Jesus to Adam. Rather, Matthew begins intentionally with Abraham and moves forward through the generations that culminate in Jesus. The starting point is a given. It is Abraham. Matthew is writing for a Jewish-Christian community. He sees no need to reach back to the universal ancestor, Adam, like Luke did. Matthew and his readers are concerned with how Jesus ties in with Abraham, the father of the Jews. It need not go any deeper into the past. Abraham is the honoured, revered progenitor of the Jewish people. And it is Abraham who institutes the defining practice of circumcision among the Jews. To trace your lineage from Abraham and to practice circumcision marked a person as being Jewish, as belonging to the people of God. In today’s selection from Romans, Paul coopts Abraham into the Christian fold. He goes out of his way to argue that Abraham’s faith preceded the practice of circumcision, saying, “[Abraham] received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe …” Paul is separating Abraham’s example of faithfulness from the act of circumcision. In this way, Abraham is no longer limited to being the father of Israel. Abraham is now “the ancestor of all who believe.” In a positive, constructive sense, this message has merit. Christians follow in a line of faith in God that Abraham personified. However, in a negative and destructive sense, this argument can be manipulated to bolster the replacement argument, that Christians have replaced the Jewish people as the people of God. Rather than a continuance of Abraham’s faithfulness, Christians have monopolized it. In the extreme, this has led to the justification of many irreligious acts against the Jewish people by Christians, and we need to be aware that antisemitism is on the rise again in our nation. Abraham is acknowledged for his faith in the three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. His faithfulness serves as an example in all these religions. We should try to understand Paul’s efforts as advocating for a faith like Abraham’s among Christians, but not by denigrating the faith of others. Jesus goes to the cross as the perfect witness against hatred and violence – period. What an insult to His suffering to turn something as beautiful as the faithfulness of Abraham into weapon to be used against others who honour Abraham. Christianity stands tall without needing to bring others down. If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. "Holy Partners" on our Lenten JourneyThroughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 6th: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 128; and Hebrews 3:1-6. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
Yesterday was the Second Sunday of Lent. It has been 13 days so far. If you made any Lenten resolutions of any sort, how are you doing? It is reported that 25% of people who make New Year’s resolutions give up within the first week – the first week! Most everyone who makes New Year’s resolutions quits by the end of January. It is slightly less than 10% of those who make resolutions who see them through to completion. Maybe these numbers will allow us to give the ancient Israelites some slack as we read today about their petulance. I think another moderating factor is that the Exodus account’s details cannot be held up to the standards of modern historical accuracy. There are seeds of historical remembrances passed along in edifying myths through generations until they are finally written down. What amazes me and inspires me is that these religious stories, based upon historical possibilities, are brave enough to share the bad with the good, the failures with the successes, the querulousness with the steadfastness. Panegyric is defined as a formal, public proclamation of praise, but its definition also should include the absence of anything negative. Panegyric is unstinted praise, even if history must be ignored. I am always amused by propaganda especially when it is masked as news. It is reported in North Korea, for example, that their leader played a round of golf and shot 18 hole-in-ones. The North Korean media has offered that their ruler’s body is so perfectly attuned that he never needs to use the bathroom. Such things are so absurd that they are meaningless. I contrast such vacuous accounts with the honesty of the Hebrew Scripture’s accounts of Israel’s story, such as today’s account from Numbers. The people of the Exodus generation are the people who endure the trying experience of the 40 years wandering in the wilderness. This time of hardship and depravation is portrayed within the myth of Israel’s national emergence as the time when the people forged the connections that made them into one people. This is where the Jewish people’s story of July Fourth and the Revolution begins. It could have been told as panegyric, as nothing but praise for an idyllic founding generation. Instead, there is honesty. This honesty makes the account meaningful and relatable. It speaks to character and moral flaws that are quite serious. Rather than write a fairy tale, the biblical authors wrote about such things, and in the passage of time these writing were accepted as inspired Scripture by later generations who also did not shy away from such honesty. Lent is a time of self-reflection, of telling our stories with an honesty akin to that of the ancient Jews. In the Hebrews passage, we read “holy partners in a heavenly calling.” Lent is a time to look at our spiritual selves and to be honest, to celebrate our accomplishments, but also to admit to our weaknesses … but within the context that we are on this Lenten journey as “holy partners.” So therefore, are we faithful in our own spiritual practices and also to one another? Are our faith lives not lived in isolation but as interdependent? Do we care about the faith of our “holy partners” and do we acknowledge and appreciate their care for us? We have put over a week between us and Ash Wednesday. Have we already slackened in our Lenten enthusiasm like those people who quit on their New Year’s resolutions after only one week? Are we still investing more of ourselves in Lent’s discipline and discovery? Will we strive to keep at it, and will we be there as “holy partners” for the others on the same Lenten journey? If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. "We're more popular than Jesus now."Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 4th: Psalm 121; Isaiah 51:4-8; and Luke 7:1-10. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
On this day in 1966, The Beatles’ John Lennon created an awful lot of flak when he was quoted saying, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. … We’re more popular than Jesus now.” He later tried to quell the backlash by saying he was not anti-Christian nor anti-religion. He felt that Christianity and religion in general were on the decline, and in 1966 The Beatles were anything but. It was an observation not an attack, he insisted. This flippant remark of a 26-year-old musician sparked a fierce reaction in America. Some radio stations refused to play any of their music from that point forward. That was 57 years ago. Christianity is still here and so are The Beatles. Our Music Minister, Anthony, sometimes plays pieces by The Beatles in church, and people appreciate it as a part of our worship. Time has mellowed the passion of that moment from nearly six decades ago. Stepping back from the bombastic, off-the-cuff statement of a 26-year-old, and also from the hubris of overly offended followers of Jesus, we return to equanimity. Religion is a powerful force for good in the world, but its uncensored passion can also legitimate beliefs and actions that are truly offensive and dangerous in themselves and to the religious beliefs they purport to defend. Being zealous for our faith should not be an excuse for privilege or prejudice. Something as headline-making as a celebrity’s affront to Jesus and the people who follow Him that calms after 57 years to the point that the same celebrity’s music is offered to God in worship at church, should serve as an example for us to not be apoplectic, but to temper our emotions especially in the moment of anger. In today’s Gospel selection, we read a story centering around a centurion. A centurion would be a Roman military commander with authority over 100 men. This powerfully influential person did not abuse the might of his legionnaires. As a matter of fact, the people of Capernaum report to Jesus, “‘He is worthy of having you do this [miracle] for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’” Capernaum was a small village along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The centurion could easily have been dismissive or cruel to these people. Instead, he may well be what the New Testament calls a “God-fearer.” This would be a person sympathetic to the faith without actually committing to the faith. Both the unnamed centurion and the people of Capernaum had learned to live together and to respect each other, differences notwithstanding. Even Jesus praises the centurion’s faith by saying, “‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’” Here we have an example of mutual respect between groups that were locked in a conflicted situation and Jesus applauds their civility. May we learn during this time of the liturgical year devoted to “the Passion” to direct our religious passion to what invigorates our faith and away from anything that denigrates another’s. Tomorrow’s Gospel in church is the story of Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher and leader who comes to Jesus seeking insight. Jesus treats him with respect and in the context of their conversation speaks one of those truly memorable biblical lines about being born again. I invite you to join us for worship tomorrow on the Second Sunday of Lent. You may join us in person or if you prefer send an email to randyc1897@gmail.com for the Zoom link. If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. Oh those exciting genitive clauses Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches. These are the suggested readings for March 3rd: Psalm 121; Micah 7:18-20; and Romans 3:21-31. I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.
Scholars hold that the Epistle to the Romans is based upon the central idea of the “righteousness of God.” This is a much studied and debated biblical phrase. It means, in one sense (as a subjective genitive), an attribute of God, God’s own righteous character and actions. In another sense (the objective genitive), the phrase means God’s gift of righteousness, which is a righteousness given to those who believe. In other words, in the former case, the “of God” (the genitive) refers back to the subject – God. “The righteousness of God” in this sense is a description of God, the subject – God is righteous. In the latter, the “of God” refers to “righteous” as an object that God bestows. “The righteousness of God” in this sense is the righteousness that God bestows as a gift upon believers. So “the righteousness of God” may either be a description of God (subjective genitive) or a gift from God (objective genitive). If you are still reading, congratulations. This grammar stuff can seem dry and uninteresting. Let’s see if we can change this by looking at the next genitive phrase, which is “through faith in Jesus Christ ...” As an objective genitive, faith is a gift presented by Christ to the one who believes. It does not refer to the person of Jesus, but to something of Jesus (an object and thus objective genitive), namely the faith Jesus bestows. If “through faith in Jesus Christ” is read as a subjective genitive, however, then it becomes “through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” It is a description of the subject, namely Jesus. In this sense, it is not the object of faith bestowed, but it is description of Jesus Himself and His own faithfulness. If you would now turn to your Bibles. At Romans 3:22, you may read “through faith in Jesus Christ” in the text. You may also notice a footnote with an alternate reading that offers “through the faith of Jesus Christ.” The footnoted alternate is the subjective genitive; it is a description of Jesus’ faithfulness. What a myriad of possibilities are opened by how a person chooses to read a genitive phrase in just this one verse of Romans 3:22! What I choose to read in the genitive about faith is Paul’s statement “through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” Then onto vs. 25 which would be read not so much as “effective through faith,” but rather as “effective through Jesus’ faithfulness.” And at vs. 26, instead of “he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus,” it would be “justifies the one through the faithfulness of Jesus.” All of these alternative readings are possible in the text simply by choosing the subjective rather than the objective genitive. This dry grammar has suddenly become theologically significant. Paul is saying that God’s righteous nature (subjective genitive) is manifest through the faithfulness of Jesus (subjective genitive). This turns attention away from our faith to Jesus’ faith. Instead of faith and believe in vs. 3:22 being somewhat redundant, now the righteousness of God is expressed perfectly in the faithfulness of Jesus, and this righteousness of God then becomes available “to all those who believe.” Our belief opens us up to God’s righteousness not through our faith primarily, but through our belief in the faithfulness of Jesus. Jesus is the lynchpin. Jesus’ faithfulness is what we dive into especially during Lent when we consider that Jesus remains faithful even unto the cross. On this second Lenten Friday, let us focus on this extraordinary and extraordinarily important faithfulness, not ours, but Jesus’. If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule: www.sneucc.org/lectionary. |
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