Published on LUPA Protestante

An early Christmas present -  I've had a short article published in the online journal LUPA Protestante. Here's the link
:)!

We Need a Hero - Carol Service 2012

Carol Service 2012

·         Yesterday Billie and I enjoyed the privilege of attending the opening ceremony for the Churchill Gardens and Sculpture. We heard tributes to a great European, a man of faith and courage, a motivator, a visionary and a leader.

·         We heard his voice (1940 recording of a radio broadcast from parliament) – and the voice of his Great Granddaughter, Jenny.

·         Winston Churchill used the example of the people of Barcelona – their bravery when bombed by Hitler & Mussolini a few years earlier – to inspire the people of Britain and its allies in their resistance to Nazism.

·         Barcelona and Europe (and the world) are very different today. Again in crisis, but a different kind of crisis. The shadow and fear of evil are here again, but in a different form.

·         The enemy is harder to identify but just as real. Perhaps the spiritual malaise goes even deeper than the physical and monetary problems, so that political leadership alone cannot solve the crisis.

·         Solutions are not easy but once again I believe there is a need for faith, courage and inspirational leadership.

·         We don’t have Churchill but we do have the inspiring words of the prophets and the gospel writers – we have listened to their voices tonight – their witness to God’s extraordinary intervention in world history in the birth of Jesus Christ.

·         Perhaps it is too much to expect Barcelona to be once again an inspiring example to the rest of the world, as it was in the days of Churchill.

·         But my prayer for each of us tonight (at least in this part of Barcelona) is that we will understand more deeply than ever the message that the coming of Jesus Christ into the world is good news of great joy for all the people (Lk 2.10) and that we will leave this place with renewed energy to share God’s love with others and to shine his light into the world.

Why did no one dare ask him any more questions?

Mark 12.28-34 “No one dared ask him any more questions”.

Imagine you live in a politically unstable country where an election is due and uncertainty is in the air. You attend a meeting at which a charismatic but controversial politician is speaking. You have many burning questions for him, but you wonder if it is safe to ask your questions. After all, this politician is well-known for his stinging replies!

Then someone near you asks a tricky question and you wait to see what will happen. To your surprise and relief the politician answers gently and politely. The questioner agrees with the answer and they compliment each other. Now you feel more confident to ask your questions.

Compare what happens in our gospel story. The conversation between Jesus and the Teacher of the Law also seems to go very well. They agree on which is the most important commandment and even make some additional progress by agreeing the second commandment. They compliment each other “Well said Teacher”, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God” – and it all seems very benign and friendly. Then at the end of the reading the gospel writer comments “And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.”

Isn’t that the opposite of what you’d expect? You could understand this comment if it came after the clearing of the Temple or after one of the hostile encounters between Jesus and the religious leaders – but here it is surprising, after probably the mildest conversation between Jesus and the religious leaders in Bible. “No one dared” is very strong and requires an explanation.

What have we missed? What is going on?

Clues

·         Notice what the Teacher of the Law (I’ll use the abbreviation TotL) leaves out when he repeats the Shema (Deut 6.4-5) back to Jesus:

Jesus: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

TotL: “He is one, and besides him there is no other and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength…”

I suggest there is something significant in his leaving out the word Lord on all the occasions it comes up in the Shema. Bearing in mind he knew this prayer off by heart and would have said it several times a day (Lords included).

·         Also notice what Jesus leaves out when he quotes the ‘second commandment’ (Lev 19.18)

Jesus: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Leviticus: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD”

I suggest that when Jesus quotes only part of this verse, the whole verse is implied – just like if I say “A bird in the hand …”. Not all the crowd would pick this up, but the scribe and other religious people who were present certainly would.

Context

·         If we briefly survey the whole of chapters 11 and 12, we can see how prominent is the issue of the source of Jesus’ authority, his relationship to God and God’s Lordship, and to the current religious leaders and the whole Temple system.

·         In 11.3, sending the disciples to fetch a donkey, Jesus claims the title Lord for himself.

·         In 11.9, Jesus accepts the crowd’s assertion that he is ‘the one who comes in the name of the Lord’.

·         Then (11.12-25) we have the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the Temple, followed by the dispute about his authority (11.27-33) in which Jesus implicitly claims his authority comes from heaven.

·         From 11.18 onwards, the chief priests and TotLs begin plotting to have Jesus killed.

·         In 12.1-12 Jesus, still in the Temple precinct, tells the parable of the murderous tenants, in which he casts himself as the vineyard owner’s (i.e. God’s) son, predicts that the tenants will kill him, and that their murderous act will be overturned by God.

·         The chief priests and teachers of the law recognise that the parable has been aimed against them.

·         In 11.13-27 Jesus deals with two trap questions, the first from the Pharisees about paying taxes to Caesar and the second from the Sadducees about marriage and resurrection. Jesus gives sharp replies and his questioners are silenced.

Explanation

·         Although the TotL’s question to Jesus is, on the surface, benign, we readers know about the plot by the TotLs and others to have Jesus arrested and killed.

·         With this in mind, and the background of Jesus’ claims in words and actions to be Lord (a title only God was worthy of), I think we begin to see how loaded Jesus’ saying  the Shema (Deut 6.4-5) is.

·         I think the TotL realises that Jesus is including himself in the Shema, as its object, as Lord (which, incidentally, Paul also does in 1 Corinthians 8.6). He also realises that Jesus knows about the plot. You can’t love the Lord if you are plotting to kill him!

·         The TotL either has his Lord and God (or a very convincing imposter) standing in front of him. That could be why he can’t bring himself to say ‘Lord’. There is only one Lord, which is God. Therefore Jesus cannot be Lord unless …

·         Perhaps we could insert John 5.39-43 here, as Jesus’ unspoken thoughts:

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me.

·         The implications are perhaps dawning on the TotL as he adds that love of God and neighbour is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.  If God is present amongst his people in a new way, in the flesh, the whole Temple system is obsolete. The challenge to the Temple becomes expicit in Ch.13.

·         So the reason people did not dare ask any more questions would be because, just maybe, God was here standing in front of them. The silence was one of holy fear.

·         Interestingly, in the following section (12.35-40), Jesus comes back to the matter of his Lordship (The Messiah is David’s Lord, not his son), and denounces the TotLs on the grounds that their love for God and neighbour is only a sham.

Lessons

·         I think we all tend to reduce our faith/religion to a matter of observing a set of rules. This gives us control and certainty, all the better if we can reduce everything to just two rules.

·         But look where rule-based religion can lead us – to a point where, in spite of all our studying, we can not see God standing right in front of us and may even find ourselves opposing him, observing the letter of the law while we violate its spirit.

·         It is also worth reminding ourselves that Jesus was a rule-breaker, that is, he never let religious rules get in the way of loving God and neighbour. I wonder if Jesus wants us to be rule-breakers, in this sense, rather than rule followers or enforcers.

·         Perhaps he wants us to commit ‘crimes of passion’ – not in the sense of harming people because we have lost our temper -  but in the sense of being driven by our passion for God and other people to transcend the limitations of rules.

·         In the end Jesus will prove to be the perfect example of love of God and neighbour, all the way to the cross and beyond (Greater love has no man than this…).

·         Finally, lest we fall into the classic religious trap of dividing people up into the good and the bad, we need to remember that Jesus’ definition of neighbour includes enemies too. The Teachers of the Law are indeed not far from the Kingdom of God.

What is the Bible?

I recently received an email from a man describing himself as a new convert to the Kingdom. He asked four questions about the Bible, which he said had been troubling him for some time. 1.What is the Bible? 2. Is the Bible truly God's Word? 3. Why should we read the Bible? 4. Does the Bible contain errors, contradictions, or discrepencies? How would you have answered? See what you think of my attempt below:-

Hello M,

Thank you for sending me your questions, which I found very interesting. Here are my responses, which I hope you will find helpful:

1. The Bible is a library of books of various genres including poetry, history and religious law, through which God is revealed to us. The revelation of God is progressive through the Bible, so that for example the depth of understanding of God in the new testament gospels and epistles is far more accurate and complete than that of Joshua or Judges.

2. Jesus Christ is the living Word of God who reveals exactly what God is like and fulfils all of God's purposes (John 1.1-18, Isaiah 55.10-11, Hebrews 1.1-3). The Bible is the written word of God and although it has reached us through imperfect human writers and translators, it is able to reveal to us the living word, Jesus Christ.

3. We should read the Bible because "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed" (2 Timothy 3.16-17). What better reason could there be for reading the Bible?

4. Yes, in all our modern translations of the Bible there are errors, contradictions and discrepencies. This should not surprise us in such an old book with so many different writers, editors and translators. In spite of this, what the Bible does is reveal to us the true and living word of God, Jesus Christ. When we read and think about the Bible we encounter the living word of God which "is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart" (Hebrews 4.12).

To sum up, I would say that the Bible is something more mysterious and powerful than just an infallible book. It is a gateway to meeting the living God who saves and heals and loves us and who is bringing his kingdom on earth. To understand the Bible we need to study it within the christian community (the church), with faith, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit who, as Jesus promised, "will lead you into all the truth" (John 16.13).

God bless you on your journey of faith,

With love and prayers, Rev Andrew Tweedy

Book Review - Healing the Gospel by Derek Flood

Healing the Gospel. A radical vision for Grace, Justice, and the Cross by Derek Flood (Cascade Books, Eugene, Oregon 2012)

Influential blogger and  artist  Derek Flood has produced a timely and prophetic book which deserves to be widely read and considered. The book began life as a series of blog articles and the final text has been carefully honed through years of testing and dialogue with friends and critics. It is short (only 100 pages) and accessible, both for the theologically trained and the general reader.

Troubled by the emphasis on retribution and guilt in some traditional understandings of the gospel, Flood finds in the pages of the New Testament a healthier gospel which is truly good news. With surgical precision he exposes the weaknesses of the prevailing ‘penal substitution’ model of the atonement, including  its uncomfortable fit with the biblical narrative, its shallow engagement with the roots of sin, and its unintentional support for contemporary acts of ‘redemptive violence’. Flood makes a strong case that “The New Testament, in contrast, is actually a critique of punitive justice. It presents it as a problem to be solved, not as the means to the solution” (p.6). Combining the classic Christus Victor and Healing views of the cross and,  with an artist’s vision of the big canvas and eye for detail, he paints a beautiful picture of the victorious and healing grace of God, a picture which will stir a response in many readers.

Biblical justice is shown to be restorative, to be about God in Christ making things right. Sin is primarily a sickness to be healed rather than a crime to be punished.  Flood builds his case through careful engagement with the biblical text, and with reference to how it was understood by the early Church Fathers and the Reformers. His teaching style is lively and never turgid, even when he provides a close re-reading of key texts like Romans and Isaiah 53. As well as a few of the writer’s own drawings, the book includes clear charts and tables and a well researched Appendix on the meaning of some of the key Greek words. A scripture index and subject index are also helpfully included.

Apart from the usual quota of annoying typos such as you find in most books these days (my personal bugbear!) this is an outstanding book which will be high on my recommended list for enquirers, new christians, fringe church members, stale church members and those who have been hurt or disillusioned by church. With the added benefits of being concise and well structured, it will also provide excellent study material for small groups.

Rev Andrew Tweedy

St George’s Church Barcelona

18th September 2012

Sermon - James 3.1-12 The Taming of the Tongue

James 3.1-12

·         A neglected part of scripture and an unheeded message.

·         Infused with the teaching of Jesus. Written by the most respected leader of the Church at the time of Peter and Paul. The man who decisively and sensitively chaired the most important and potentially controversial Council of the early church (Acts 15). A Council at which Paul, Peter and all the other apostles were present. The Lord’s brother (older half bro or younger full bro?) who needed no introduction or references.

·         Today’s passage from James’ letter to the churches gives a firm warning in strong language about the dangers of the tongue. How this small body part has disproportionate influence and is prone to cause all kinds of damage.

·         Every week we can see examples in public life of people and organisations trying to limit the damage of things which have been said.

·         This week we’ve had the Mayor of London Boris Johnson and the Sun newspaper trying to undo the damage of crass statements they made in the wake of the deaths at Hillsborough football ground over 20 years ago. A storm of riots, attacks on US branded restaurants and consular staff and properties was started by the words of an idiotic film maker. A well loved and respected US diplomat with a great love for the Arab world was one of the tragic victims.

·         Then seeking to gain political capital in the wake of that tragedy, presidential candidate Mitt Romney made some regrettable and factually incorrect accusations, potentially damaging his campaign and making a lot of work for his campaign team. President Obama took advantage, claiming that Governor Romney “tends to shoot first and take aim later”.

·         A nice quote from the President, but isn’t this true of all of us? At least some of the time? We actually don’t have to look further than our own families, ourselves in particular, to find many examples of the damage caused by careless or angry or foolish words!

Teachers beware

It was certainly true of the early church leaders – look at Peter in today’s gospel passage Mk 8.27ff). And James is pointing to himself as much as anyone else when he speaks of the special responsibility of teachers (of the Christian faith).

·         Teachers will be judged more strictly, because of the influence their words have on the lives of others. And one of the reasons teaching Christianity is a high risk occupation (to be avoided if possible!) is that the main tool of the trade is this desperately dangerous instrument, the tongue.

·         Take a look at verse 2. A well known Christian teacher with a prophetic and healing ministry once announced at a conference that he was pleased to say he had finally fulfilled the conditions of this verse and reached a state of maturity where he was in complete control of his whole body, including his tongue. This claim was unfortunately proved false when the man next to him on the platform poured a cup of cold water over his head!

·         But before you relax and switch off, thinking these warnings are for someone else, bear in mind that there is a sense in which we are all teachers, people who teach others what Christians or British people (or whatever our nationality is) are like.

Tongue metaphors

Look at the illustrations James gives to show the power and danger of the tongue.

·         Both the horse’s bit and the rudder of a ship are far smaller than the animal or vessel they control. And yet they do control it, making it go in directions and reach destinations it would not have gone to.

·         His main point is that the tongue is also very small in relation to the influence it has. But perhaps he also has in mind the way the tongue and its words can lead us off course, astray, into dangerous territory.

·         Certainly the next image, of the tongue as the spark, the carelessly dropped cigarette end which starts a forest fire, speaks of the devastation that words can cause.

·         Of course we can’t blame the tongue itself; we need to pay attention to the source of the words it speaks. As Jesus said in our gospel reading a few weeks ago; “What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit…” and so on (Mk 7.20-21)

·         In his final illustrations James also turns to the source of what comes out of our mouths and points out that fresh and salt water cannot come from the same spring.

Lessons we can draw

·         Verse 9 relates directly to the great commandment. We need to learn to love both God and neighbour wholeheartedly and consistently. If we do we will be less likely to use the same tongue to praise God and also to curse our neighbour.

·         Know your trigger points – tiredness, provocation, feeling undervalued for your work, sitting in traffic jams – the situations where you are most likely to put your foot in your mouth.

·         Silence is golden – ears and mouth should be used in the proportion that God gave them to us, as the saying goes. And I think it was the writer of Proverbs who said somewhere that even a fool appears wise, so long as he keeps silent!

·         We also need to be people who actively seek reconciliation for the damage caused by our words, or the words of our community. Don’t just let it fester – deal with it, take responsibility.

·         Our success in all of this will be much more likely if we are part of a loving Christian community where trust is growing, where forgiveness is practiced, where the example of Christ is studied and followed, where honesty and compassion are prevailing. That’s the underlying theme of the letter of James and that’s what we are trying to build here at St George’s.

·         May God help us and enable us to go beyond the superficial to a deeper engagement with God and each other, in a way which pleases God and which draws others into friendship with him.