Month: December 2017

Writing God Out of the Script

January 1st, New Year’s Day, is traditionally a day for “New Year’s Resolutions.” Through the month, we’ll be returning to our PEWSLAG series, “The Seven Deadly Sins.” (PEWSLAG stands for Pride, Envy, Wrath/Anger, Sloth, Lust, Avarice/Greed, and Gluttony/Desire).

In the February 28, 2005 edition, The National Review reported on a polling organization that asked a thousand citizens to update the list of “Seven Deadly Sins” (pride, envy, wrath, sloth, lust, avarice, and gluttony). Apparently, the list seemed out of date so it was replaced with the sins of cruelty, adultery, bigotry, dishonesty, hypocrisy, greed, and selfishness. Personally, I’m glad gluttony is off the list, but it makes you think: “What is the difference between the two lists?” and what does it say about modern times?

The old list was the product of a monk by the name of Evagrius Ponticus as revised (and simplified) by a later pope. The Bible is overflowing with catalogs of sin (see Galatians 5:19-21 for one example) and he was trying to narrow it down to root sins – sins that lead into other sins, but that leads us into defining what sin is.

While sin harms us and other people, the biblical focus is on how it damages our relationship with God. Therefore, David confesses “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4) after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had his friend Uriah murdered. David understood that the root cause of his sins was disobeying God. The beginning of his tragic actions was lust (He saw Bathsheba and allowed himself to fantasize) and pride (“I’m the king.”). These two “gateway sins” led to adultery and murder! No wonder they are included in the list of deadly sins.

In contrast, the modern seven sins are “equated with causing pain or mental distress to people” with its logical corollary “Is it wrong if no one gets hurt?” which begs the question “Are there victimless crimes?” Obviously, God doesn’t count.

It’s not that the modern list isn’t horrible – it is – it’s just not all that helpful. For example, adultery is a terrible sin, but its roots are found in pride, lust, envy and perhaps gluttony (properly defined). Likewise, hypocrisy stinks but it is the result of earlier sins like pride and anger.

By chopping at the roots of sin rather than the leaves of sin, we have a far better chance of making actual progress in the tricky business called “Life.”

Bible Questions

“This isn’t exactly a ‘Bible’ question, but why does the silver star in Bethlehem have 14 points?” – Just Curious

That’s a great question with an interesting answer! Why did they would choose a fourteen-pointed star? Why not the six-pointed star of David or even a five-pointed star of Solomon? At the conclusion of the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew writes:

“So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations,” (Matthew 1:17).

Thus the silver star has fourteen points, but even that raises more questions. Matthew was wrong! For the fourteen generations from Abraham to David, Matthew had to count both Abraham and David. The make the next group of fourteen generations, Matthew had to skip three kings and conflate Jehoiakim and Jechoniah. The last group had to include Jechoniah and Jesus to get fourteen but since it covers a period of 500 years, Matthew may have omitted a few people.

To our western way of thinking, the genealogy is wrong but Matthew wasn’t one of us. He wasn’t trying to give us an accurate genealogy at all. He was trying to emphasize Jesus is the “Son of David.” Ancient people used their alphabets to count with. (Do you remember Roman numerals from school?) So, the Hebrew name for King David, dwd, has a numeric value: (d = 4) + (w = 6) + (d = 4) then the number for David is 14!

The 14 Pointed Star

It may be one of the two ugliest churches in the world, but the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is a special place. It is a UN World Heritage Site – the first in Palestine and Israel. Constantine the Great’s mother, Helen, was responsible for building it in 339 A.D. Since then it has been rebuilt, survived destruction by the Persians (614), a mad caliph (1009), earthquake (1834) fire (1869) and an Israeli army siege against suspected Palestinian militants who had taken refuge there (2002). The Church of the Nativity was constructed over the traditional site of the birthplace of Jesus, a cave below the church.

If we were to climb down into the cave by the circular staircases on either side of the altar, we wouldn’t recognize the grotto below the church as a cave. Today, it is hung with tapestries and lit with lamps. There is a simple altar and there on the floor, supposedly over the very spot of his birth, is a fourteen-pointed Silver Star. While it is likely that Jesus was born in a cave (they were used as stables in those days), it is highly unlikely anyone would remember exactly which cave much less exactly which place in the cave was the very location of the birth of a carpenter’s son almost 400 years earlier!

However, the Silver Star itself became one of the reasons for the Crimean War (1853-1856, famous for the charge of the light brigade and Florence Nightingale). There have been hostilities between the Roman Catholic Church (West) and Greek Orthodox Church (East) for centuries. Different churches control various parts of the shrines of Christendom in Israel. For example, the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian, Coptic and Ethiopic churches control the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. These groups have often fought with each other (literally – imagine a brawl of monks using crucifixes and candlesticks as bludgeons). In fact, today the keeper of the keys to that church is a Muslim!

In 1845 the Roman Catholic Silver Star, which supposedly marks the very place where Mary gave birth to Jesus, was stolen. Napoleon III of France proclaimed himself protector of Catholics and insisted that he was the protector of the holy sites in Israel as well. The Russians had already claimed to be the protector of the holy sites in Israel and of the Orthodox Church through the Turks. Napoleon demanded the keys to the front door of the Church of the Nativity be given to the Romans who were having to use a side door to get in and he also demanded the silver star be returned. This became one of the causes for the Crimean War. The irony breaks my heart: people fighting over the right to protect the birthplace of the Prince of Peace!

Perhaps now, more than ever, we need the “peace that passes all understanding” to take control! With thousands of warring factions each claiming to be the true church, I want nothing to do with “religiosity.” I am neither Protestant, nor Catholic, nor Jew. I am just a Christian!

“When was Jesus born?”

 “Was Jesus really born on December 25th?” — Ebenezer Scrooge

Although both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke describe the birth of Jesus, the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly when Jesus was born. In fact, for the first three hundred years, Christians didn’t celebrate his birth so how did people settle on December 25th as the date? There are two theories, one well known and the other not so known.

First, many people believe Christians simply adopted the Winter Solstice for the date of the holiday. This popular theory suggests that since the pagans already celebrated this holiday, the Christians simply took it over.

The Romans had their mid-winter Saturnalia festival in late December; barbarian peoples of northern and western Europe kept holidays at similar times. To top it off, in 274 C.E., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), on December 25th. Christmas, the argument goes, is really a spin-off from these pagan solar festivals.

Biblical Archaeology Society, August 12, 2014, http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org

The trouble with that theory is, it isn’t found in any ancient Christian writings. It wasn’t until the 12th century that anyone suggested that connection! A more interesting, but lesser known, solution involves the better-established date of Jesus’ death at the Passover (Easter).

Around 200 C.E. Tertullian of Carthage reported the calculation that the 14th of Nisan (the day of the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John) in the year Jesus died was equivalent to March 25th in the Roman (Solar) calendar. March 25th is, of course, nine months before December 25th; it was later recognized as the Feast of the Annunciation – the commemoration of Jesus’ conception. Thus, Jesus was believed to have been conceived and crucified on the same day of the year. Exactly nine months later, Jesus was born on December 25th.

Biblical Archaeology Society, August 12, 2012.

So when was Jesus born? We really don’t know. What we do know is that he was born – the Son of God Incarnate – who “will save his people from their sins.” That’s something worth celebrating! Merry Christmas indeed!

Just in Time

Nearly two years had passed since Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem. Jesus was born in a manager and was adored by shepherds, but time had passed and things had settled down to a kind of normalcy. The young couple got to know each other as husband and wife. The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes was now a toddler playing at the feet of his momma while Joseph was growing his carpentry business.

Bethlehem is only about eight miles outside of Jerusalem, but it must have seemed a world apart. It was mostly a pastoral village with the rich heritage of being the “City of David,” the most famous king of Israel. Joseph and Mary were related to the former king, but so were a lot of people. Still, they knew a secret. That little toddler was destined to follow in David’s footsteps!

His parents must have followed the rumors about “King” Herod. The old despot was nearly 70, but in addition to the marvelous architectural wonders he was responsible for like the remodeled temple in Jerusalem and the fine port town of Caesarea on the coast, he had also left a wide swath of blood behind him. King Herod had killed his wife, his mother and three of his sons. In Greek the Emperor Augustus punned, “It’s better to be Herod’s pig (hys) than Herod’s son (hyios).”

Herod did not hesitate to butcher anyone who threatened his throne so when some “Magi” (astrologer/priests) arrived in Jerusalem asking about the newborn king, the old despot slyly encouraged them to find the child so he too “might worship him.”

Can you imagine the stir their arrival in the little village of Bethlehem must have caused? Can you imagine the surprise Mary must have felt when they stopped at her house with gifts for the boy? Gold, incense and myrrh – gifts for a king delivered to the home of a humble carpenter.

Now comes the point of our story. In the night, the Magi were warned Herod intended to kill the child. That night Joseph is also told to get up and flee in the dark with the baby and his mother. There was no time to sell their possessions. There was no time to properly pack for the move, but God provides! The gifts of the Magi – the gold, incense and myrrh – provided the means for their escape. Joseph was able to flee before dawn with his family before the evil king could destroy the child and that is how God rescues us: just in time.

“Just in time” is the way of faith. God provided a ram to replace Isaac “just in time.” God protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace “just in time” and God will save us “just in time.” It’s the way of faith.

What the Shepherds Didn’t See

The angels didn’t need to tell the shepherds what to do. The Bible says when they heard the announcement, they ran “with haste” into town and found the family of the baby Jesus (Luke 2:16). The story is told in the barest detail. We’ll need to rely on our sanctified imaginations to picture how they found the newborn child. Was it an accident? Did they hear the cries of a baby? Did they go from house to house waking up the village as they went? What did they say when they knocked on the doors?

But perhaps the biggest surprise of all was what they saw when they finally found the Christ-child. Contrary to the Christmas card portraits, there were no halos around the heads of Joseph, Mary or Jesus. No rays of light beamed out from the straw as painted in the Renaissance. They saw a very tired mother, a very worried father and a tiny, baby boy who made noises and cried when he was hungry.

We don’t know what the shepherds said or the questions they asked. “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart,” (Luke 2:19) but what matters most is what they didn’t see. No angels hovered over the child. No animals were singing. No drummer boy was rat- a-tat-tatting. No wise men. (They came when the child was older.) There was nothing special – out of the ordinary, yes (babies aren’t usually found in mangers) — nothing to cause them to think this was anyone other than another Jewish baby boy.

But they knew better. The angels had told them, “a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord,” (Luke 2:11). Joseph knew better. The angel Gabriel had told him, “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins,” (Matthew 1:21) and we know better and that is why Christmas is special.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. … From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known, (John 1:14 – 18).