Category: Uncategorised

Three brief encounters while in the city this morning.

1   Walking along the pavement and a dad with a toddler on his shoulders coming off the pedestrian crossing. I stopped and smiled and gave way – except he stopped and smiled and gave way and gestured with a sweep of his hand and said, "No please – you go first." I tried again but was interrupted by the toddler making a sweeping gesture with his hand – so we smiled, and went our ways. Sometimes there's no mystery in why we feel happy.

2   Walking through M&S looking for Sheila. Radar tells me there's an incoming pedestrian to my right. Sure enough, a silver haired lady with a tweed suit was marching like a marine making for customer service. No need to offer to give way – she assumed no one would dare cross her path. She was right. I smiled – there's no mystery in why we sometimes feel happy.

3   At Pret a Manger to buy a takeaway sandwich and had my card hovering over the contactless unit. "That's OK sir, your sandwich is free today," from behind the counter. "Why?", I asked. "Someone already paid for it." I've no idea who, why or when – but it's the first time I've had someone pay forward for me. I smiled – there's no mystery in why we sometimes feel happy.

By the way – the flower above is also smiling! 

Over this week, 18-24 July, the Book of Proverbs, which often reads like those Reader's Digest snippets of wisdom, is the focus of a daily thought. This book of ancient wisdom has a lot to say about truth, integrity, words, motives and character. So it speaks right into our current cultural malaise about truth-speaking and the corrosive effects of lies on such community essentials as trust, integrity, honesty and relationships within which we love, do business, and live as neighbours

These were first written for our church community in Montrose

Monday

Proverbs 22.1 “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favour is better than silver or gold.

Our reputation matters. I’ve just written to a friend whose dad died recently saying “he was held in deep affection and respect.” He wasn’t rich, but in his life and the way he lived it he enriched many other people. When his name is spoken people smile. “Favour” means esteem, someone who is looked up to as an example.

Tuesday

Proverbs 27.21 “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is judged by his praise.”

What people praise us for is a good measure of who we are. To be known as someone whose words encourage rather than diminish; to have a reputation for being kind and faithful in friendship; when our neighbours are glad we live in their street; when we show a willingness to spend the time of day with folk – these are the precious metals of human community. We’re doing OK if we are praised for such things as loving our neighbour!

Wednesday

Proverbs 19.1 “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his ways.”

Proverbs is unimpressed with money as a way of buying power and influence. The word “integrity”, or lack of it is now headline news. It is essential in those who have power and who lead our public life. It is also one of the barcode identifiers of a Christian life. Integrity is when what we say, think and do are integrated into a character shaped by honest words and just actions. Such a person is the real influencer in our time or any time.

Thursday

Proverbs 25. 14 “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.”

Long before our modern elections, there are warnings about promises not kept and gifts not given. Promises made to get others to trust us only work if the promise is kept. A promise is a test of our integrity and our faithfulness to our own words. Parents to children, friend to friend, employer to employee, teacher to student, lover to beloved – promises are for keeping, or our words are clouds without rain.

Friday

Proverbs 25.11 “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

I love this verse! Artist at work! The right words at the right time, spoken to heal or to help, words that are wise and honest, are words fitly spoken. They “fit” the circumstances, and they have a glow of gold that is set off against shining silver. Think of yourself as a jeweller working with words, finding the exactly fitting word for this complicated setting. Now thank God for those in your life whose words are fitly spoken, like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Saturday

Proverbs 12.25 “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.”

This proverb is about the life enhancing gift of encouragement. Praise not criticism, encouragement not diminishment, lifting up not pulling down, hopeful words not doleful words. The antidote to anxiety can often be encouraging words, and someone who helps us to be more hopeful, positive and trusting of God’s purposes for our lives, is a gift, at the right time, with the right words..

Sunday

Proverbs 4.5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” NIV)

“Put all your trust in the Lord and do not rely on your own understanding. At every step you take keep him in mind and he will direct your path.” (Revised English Bible)

These words are amongst the best known and loved in the Bible – or should be. It isn’t that we are to stop thinking – it’s that we mustn’t stop praying while we’re thinking! Wise Christians seeking to understand God’s leading are strongly advised to pray thoughtfully, and think prayerfully, when decisions have to be made.

A Prayer for the Week

Lord Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life!

Do not let us stray from your path, for you are our way.

Do not let us distrust your promises, for you are the truth.

Do not let us rest in anything other than you, for your are our life. Amen

(Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1467-1536)

Every week I do a set of TFTD for our church community. This one seems to have a particular resonance for the times we are living through. I'm posting it in case it's of some help in trying to do some mind decluttering of some of the rubbish that often accumulates without us noticing. 

 

Thought for the Day June 20-26

Text for the Week: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4.8) 

Monday

““Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true…think about such things.”

Our culture is suffering from truth decay. Accusations of lying, dishonesty and deceit are thrown around by our politicians. Gossip and innuendo destroy reputations on social media. The Bible calls us to truthfulness in the inward parts, to integrity, and trust. Those who follow Jesus the Truth are called to think about, practice and speak “whatever is true.”

Tuesday

 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is noble…think on these things.

Respect. That too is a way of seeing people and thinking about life that can be in short supply in lour abrasive in your face world. The word noble means honourable, worthy of respect. It is a noble thing to speak with kindness and consideration – it’s a way of showing respect. So when you see someone, anyone, take into account that they too are made in God’s image, and their worth and dignity is worthy of –respect.

Wednesday

“Finally, brothers and sisters…whatever is right…think on these things.”

We are citizens of heaven. We are called to live for the common good of all who share life with us. Our words, actions and thoughts are to take account of what is right in God’s sight. What is just, merciful and shows love for our neighbour. Those made righteous in Christ are called to make right what is wrong, and to help repair what is broken. Look around, think about it, is there anything we can make right?

Thursday

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is pure…think on these things.”

“Who can come near to God, those with pure hands” says the Psalmist. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” In Proverbs a pure heart is contrasted with “the thoughts of the wicked”. To think purely is to have singleness of heart about what is right, good and true. “Purity of heart is to will one thing,” wrote the Danish Christian Kierkegaard. So, seek first the Kingdom of God and the rest will follow.

Friday

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is lovely…think on these things.”

It’s hard to look into the soft geometry of a rose and stay in a bad mood. Or to stand looking at a sunset and hang on to our anger. Or to listen to a skylark without feeling there’s something downright right with the world! Or for that matter, to remember those acts of kindness from folk that made all the difference to us when we felt unloved and unnoticed. It’s lovely when these things happen. Think about it…often.

Saturday

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is admirable…think on these things.”

“Whatsoever is of good report” as an earlier translation has it. What do people talk about that they think is good – like Captain Tom’s fundraising walk, or people like E who trains guide dogs to help others, or S who does shopping for a 90 year old recovering from a knee operation, or K who regularly phones to encourage folk who are struggling. None of these folk talk about what they do – but the people who are helped do. Think about that, says Paul, and have a go at doing what is admirable!

Sunday

“Finally brothers and sisters…whatever is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”

What we think about is a big clue to what goes on in our hearts, what’s important in our lives, and where our priorities, anxieties and hopes are invested. Paul is encouraging us to build our virtues – integrity of character, respect for others, upholding right, purity of motive, time for loveliness, support for goodness. Virtue doesn’t just happen. We make choices often enough they become habits, which become traits of character, and these begin to shape our identity. Fair enough – our identity is that we are citizens of heaven, children of God, followers of Jesus.

But how? Remember Paul’s words at the start of his letter to the Christians in Philippi. God finishes what God starts!

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (1.5- 6)

1 John 4. 7-16 God is love. That's it. The text for today.

Comprehending the incomprehensible,

re-educating our minds to wonder,

following a logic that defies our usual categories,

being humble enough to admit love is always gift and not our doing,

taking the risk of letting a love into our lives that won't leave us alone, or unchanged,

admitting that in the end, the end is to discover ourselves held no matter what,

by a God so profoundly personal that our deepest fears and highest hopes and longest longings are understood.

Or something like that.

I'm glad Culpepper doesn't like the word "Happy" as a translation of 'makarios'. "The translation 'happy' expresses one's response to being blessed, but misses the objective fact of being blessed." To be on the receiving end of God's promises is to be in the best place possible, which is within the realm and orbit of the Kingdom of God. That's a fact of Kingdom existence which is established by the fact of God's say so! How I feel about that promissory fact is significant, but what makes me feel that way, God's surprising promises, is what makes these sayings Beatitudes. My subjective happiness isn't the point; God's objective promises are precisely the point. To inhabit the space promised by the beatitudes is to be in a good place.  

That point established, Culpepper gets to work arguing for a biblical theology of blessing. God is good, that is a given from the start. Quoting Tertullian with approval,

"Now this very fact, that he begins with Beatitudes, is characteristic of the Creator who used no other voice than that of blessing either in the first fiat or in the final dedication of the universe…" (86)

Abraham's call was so that all the peoples of earth would be blessed; Numbers 6.24 "The Lord bless you and keep you", Culpepper points out, is the oldest extant piece of scripture, found in an amulet from around late 7th C BCE. Blessing is what God is about, and these beatitudinal blessings are embedded in covenant promises made by a faithful God. So, the Beatitudes may well make us happy, and people may even call us happy, but the cause of that happiness is plunged deeply into the very foundations of God's goodness. To be blessed is to be rooted and grounded in the love of a faithful God. 

Each Beatitude contains "a present reality and a promise." Blessed are…because they shall…" This isn't a series of conditional promises, but a string of connected realities attached to surprising outcomes which are already promised and underwritten by the faithful goodness of God. These are the blessings that prevail in the Kingdom of God. The poor and the meek, those who mourn or are merciful, the pure in heart and the hungry and thirsty for food and justice – they each have God's blessing now and will be rewarded in the future.

The Beatitudes are about a reversal of values; not the complacently self-confident but the pure in spirit have the keys of the Kingdom of God; not the arrogant and powerful but the meek will inherit the land of God's promise; not the double minded and deviously successful, but the pure in heart shall see God. For as Kierkegaard has it, "Purity of heart is to will one thing", to seek first the Kingdom. They are the ones who shall see God, and want to.  

The term "Kingdom of God", we are told, appears nowhere else in the NT but 31 times in Matthew. Culpepper supports the suggestion that the Beatitudes, and the use of the term the "kingdom of heaven", are challenges to the Imperial realities of Roman Empire and occupation.

"Proclaiming the kingdom of heaven was also a means of subverting Roman oppression, because the establishment of God's kingdom implied the end of all earthly kingdoms. In God's kingdom, the great ones are not tyrants, (Matt 20.25-27) but the poor in spirit."

There follows a careful exegesis of each saying in which Culpepper explores the lexical and grammatical evidence, draws in further biblical connections from both Testaments and beyond, and probes the theological consequences of his readings. Each saying is placed in its setting within the Sermon on the Mount and also the rest of Matthew's gospel, and compared with a wide range of biblical material. The links of words and ideas in the Beatitudes, with what Matthew is saying and doing in other parts of his gospel are especially rich in intra-textual insight, and show just how thoroughly Culpepper has tilled the soil of the Matthean field.

For example, the saying about peacemakers is a stone hewn largely from Isaiah, the burden of the saying is woven through numerous NT texts, the rabbis are also included amongst the peace witnesses, then its connections with reconciliation in Matthew and a reminder of how this saying would sound in the ears of the Zealots. It's a rich and lucid page and a half of comment that enables the reader to grasp the full consequences of peace-making – "Becoming children of God promises both intimacy with God and a likeness to God." (5.48) 

There is significant guidance for the preacher, stimulus for those seeking the spiritual meaning of Jesus words for their own life in the Kingdom of God, and a gathering of useful information written up by an author who cares about this stuff. I'm not sure there is more we can ask of a commentary.

This treatment of the Beatitudes compares favourably with such shelf companions as Davies and Allison, Hagner, Luz, and France. Where I think it scores highly is that Culpepper uses the first three as constant conversation partners.

However, R T France appears nowhere in the index or bibliography – that surprises me because France was an acknowledged Synoptic specialist with a widely respected commentary on the Greek text of Mark, and a substantial volume on Matthew in the NICNT series. My guess is that Culpepper has done what an increasing number of commentary writers have done – selected several of the most important peers in the field, and engaged them thoroughly. And that's OK. But I do wonder at such a significant omission.    

"Not even Solomon…

if God so clothes the flowers…

How much more…"

There are times when the words of Jesus have the complex simplicity of a children's talk.

Three flowers contradicting anxiety and all our hoarding of resources "just in case…"

Three flowers celebrating unselfconscious beauty at our back door.

Of course the whole argument presupposes "your Heavenly Father."

Your Heavenly Father clothes, knows, sees, gives.

The Lord's Prayer is our daily renewal of that life transforming presupposition.

"Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven",

in my mind and heart, in my neighbourhood,

in my thinking and my motives, in my decisions and actions,

in my words, and in all of these gathered into this prayer,

"Your Kingdom Come."  

 

 

 

From Augustine to Aquinas, Luther to Zwingli to Calvin, Kierkegaard to Tolstoy, and Bultmann to Bonhoeffer to Windisch to W D Davies to Guelich to Betz, Christians have wrestled with the stringent demands and far-fetched promises of the Sermon on the Mount.

I still have a 35,000 word typewritten exegesis paper I wrote over 40 years ago as my probationary studies in my first years of Baptist ministry here in Scotland. For three years off and on I read and made notes, typed (with a typewriter), edited and retyped (no delete or cut and paste) until it was ready to present as evidence I was continuing to engage with biblical scholarship and theological study and reflection. I also still have the assessment, feedback and comments. The examiner suggested it should be the basis of a publication on the Sermon on the Mount. That never happened.

What did happen was a lifelong wrestling with a text that grabs you by the ankles every time you read it and give it the slightest chance to tackle. I've kept reasonably up to date with scholarship, but that's the easier part. I go back to several of the classic texts, not least Bonhoeffer's discipleship. The big commentaries on Matthew and Luke keep coming, and the occasional dedicated monograph like Pennington's recent Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing – these add information, perspective, context and theological reflection. 

But what long term exposure to the scholarship on the text does not do, is adequately explain why so many who do the exegesis of Matthew 5-7 end up domesticating the text, toning down the demand, blunting the edge of words meant to cut through our moral complacency and comfort zones. Culpepper acknowledges this unseemly rush to compromise right at the start of his own exegetical account of these troublesome and disruptive sayings of Jesus. He wryly observes that "The history of interpretation can be viewed as a succession of ingenious evasions and responses to these evasions." (81)

Culpepper himself quotes Tertullian who claimed the Sermon is Jesus' "official proclamation of the Christ",  an allusion to the practice of Roman officials who upon taking office, announced the rules of their administration." He recalls Bonhoeffer's more astringent approach which he describes like this: "The Sermon does not call us to interpret it, to study it, or to debate it: it calls us to obey it. Obedience is possible however, only in the context of fellowship with the crucified." (83) 

Now over the years I've preached on the Sermon on the Mount. Twice I've taken a congregation through it section by section. The Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer have been recurring texts in my sermons. But I'm still left wondering if I have given the words of Jesus the same exposure and weight as some of the celebrated Pauline texts.

I was forced to think about this by one of Culpepper's sharp comments. He notes Jesus "went up on the mountain…the disciples came… he opened his mouth and began to teach them." 5.1 But then Culpepper jumps to Matthew 28.20 the end of Matthew's gospel where Jesus again goes up on the mountain, probably the same mountain, and commands his disciples to "teach all nations to keep all I have commanded you."

Why had I never linked those two mountains like this? Culpepper is suggesting that the Great Commission has at its heart the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, communicating and demonstrating the ethos, principles, rules and values of the Kingdom of God. Jesus' own way of being, is to be spoken, remembered and written, and from then on to be taught as the distilled essence and essential demonstration of human lives transformed in the Kingdom of God.

Oh I know the Great Commission and the good news is more than this; but it is not less than this; and often enough the church's witness has been demonstrably less than this. 

My next reflection on Culpepper's commentary will be about what he makes of the Beatitudes.