The Promised Son
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:1-3, NIV
We live in a time of deep divisions in western society. A global pandemic has only heightened those divisions. Far too many would rather fight their neighbor whom they can see rather than the invisible viral plague that stalks the land. While the airlines experienced lengthy shutdowns to control the spread of contagion, once they were back in service, the greater danger seems to be from violent passengers jeopardizing everyone on the flight by acting out their aggressions over minor issues. It reminds me of family road trips with children squabbling in the rear seat over who touched whom and the father hollering that if he has to pullover and go back there, they will regret it. Too often, we seem more gifted at modeling the dysfunctions of the families on “The Simpsons” or “Family Guy.”
We refuse to accept that others have the same rights and basic needs as we do. Instead, we relegate them to a lesser standing than ourselves. Logically, if we are human, then they must therefore be subhuman. We do this based on race, nationality, gender, income, educational level, or even simply the part of town they live in. Then we take it a step further and see every opportunity, every step up gained by those “others” as something taken away from us. It does not help that a few individuals are engaged in hoarding all the world’s wealth, leaving the rest of us to squabble over the remains. The artificial shortages created by such behavior help to light the powder keg of conflict on the streets of our cities and towns. Marie Antoinette and her royal spouse began their march to the guillotine with their disdain for the starving poor while the few wealthy nobles had used obscene riches taxed from the people to build Versailles and the numerous chateaus of France. In our own time, we hear similar rumblings from the people when the grossly wealthy go for jaunts into space, reveling in their accomplishments while on this planet, people are dying from starvation, thirst, and disease because they have no access to the treasure storehouses of the rich that could easily purchase food, water, and medicines that would ease their suffering. Even though the taxes we pay are a means to fund those services for the poor, the wealthy seek every means to avoid paying those taxes and then plunder the poor even further by raking in federal subsidies approved by a Congress whose elections are bankrolled by those same billionaires. Seeing those services to the poor as a threat to those subsidies, they also do all they can to curtail, or if possible, end those services.
One wonders how society gets to such a state of inequality and division. One cause may be that we no longer see ourselves as a species having an intrinsic value. Humanity has become little more than another consumable resource, like timber or natural gas. A human being only has value based on the ability to produce goods and services. Once that ability slips, so does their value. But the Bible tells a different story. That is why in totalitarian regimes, they suppress it. Contrary to a system that uses up people and tosses them aside when they are no longer productive, the Bible teaches that every human being is of immense value, so great that God was willing to incarnate and die to purchase the life of everyone. It teaches that we are not trash, the crumbs of an alien picnic on our planet that eventually evolved into homosapiens. We are the special creation of God in his image. The rejection of that idea is the basis for defacing that image and its value in each of us.
We quibble over the possibility of Creation, but the Bible states its case plainly in a take-it-or-leave-it manner. It tells us that God’s word has creative and restorative power. In doing so, it is not referring to itself. We often call the Bible the word of God, but we misspeak in doing so. We read in Genesis, chapter one[i] that God spoke each day and the various parts of our world came into being, including humanity. It also assures us that the same creative word brought the entire universe into being, for it says, “he made the stars, also” in verse sixteen. When God speaks, things happen. The Ten Commandments, referred to as the ten words of God, have similar creative power. In the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yocha, ties those words to ten words of Creation,[ii] pointing out for us a foundational existence of the Decalogue all the way back to Creation.
However, the deeper we go, the profounder it gets. In our study of Hebrews this week we learn from the very first verses of that epistle that Jesus was the creative agent for our world and the universe. Those who believe that Jesus himself was created may miss that point and Hebrews not only identifies Jesus as Creator, but also states that, like Melchizedek (who was likely Jesus), he has no beginning or end.[iii] He is eternally co-existent with the Father. As we see from our guiding text for this week’s commentary, Jesus is the Word. That being the case, it is logically impossible for the Bible and Jesus to both be the word of God. Jesus himself said that scripture testifies about him.[iv] Therefore, the Bible is not the Word of God, but is the word testifying about the Word, about Jesus. There is little power in the Bible apart from Jesus. It simply becomes a collection of stories and platitudes with little more import than Aesop’s Fables.
Please do not misunderstand me. This is not an argument that supports literalism when it comes to the Bible. Rather, metaphor is even more likely to be present as human efforts over the centuries attempt to relate what is ineffable. Even Christ reduced things to parables as he spoke of profound truths. In our humanity, we can catch glimpses of the character and power of the Word expressed in the incarnation of deity in Jesus Christ. On a simple level we see this even in the most perverse among us, we see in their speech, the power of words to uplift or destroy. That is manifest so widely that few of us have not experienced that power. Just as we abuse Creation, we also abuse one another with little regard that it disrespects the Creator behind it all. It also shows a separation from the Creator’s image when we abandon empathy and compassion in favor of selfishness and greed.
When faced with a need to address poverty and need, more Christians are able to quote Paul’s statement that if a person does not work, they should not eat[v] than are able to quote relevant words of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount.[vi] Sadly, even some clerics, who know it is the rich who pay their salaries, are reluctant to call out the abuse of the poor for fear of alienating those who pay them. Those who do are labeled “socialist” or “communist” and their careers go nowhere for the wealthy parishes do not want to hear sermons that highlight their greed. Nonetheless, those parishioners may consider themselves progressive and liberal because they support eliminating gender-based ordination or have gay or ethnic family members or friends. But the truth is seen in the way they live, wearing the latest fashions, spending hundreds on personal grooming, or often buying new vehicles when the average age of cars on the road is 12 years.[vii] They think they are in the Kingdom of God, and they may come very close, like the rich young man, but few cross over into that kingdom for fear that it will cost all they have.[viii] The wealthy, who do not want to hear this, make up stories about there being a gate called the Eye of the Needle where camels have to take off their load to get through. There is no such gate, and this myth ignores that it is not riches that keep a person from the Kingdom of God but a love of those riches that prevents their loving use on behalf of their neighbor. Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy that the love of money is the root of many evils.[ix] People supplant the love for their neighbor with their love for money.
The basis for the divisiveness that exists among us is our failure to honor the created image of God in each of us and the intrinsic value that asserts. We have replaced our love of God and neighbor with a reverence for power, wealth, and control over the lives of others to our benefit. We have chosen not to rely on God as our Creator and benefactor. Hardening our hearts, we determine to make our way in the world and God help those who stand in our way. May God have mercy on our blindness and heal us as he passes by.[x]
[i] Genesis 1
[ii] Miller, Moshe, "The Ten Utterances of Creation"
[iii] Hebrews 7:1-3
[iv] John 5:39
[v] 2 Thessalonians 3:10
[vi] Matthew 5-7
[vii] Ferris, Robert, "Cars on American Roads Keep Getting Older," September 28, 2021
[viii] Matthew 19:16-30
[ix] 1 Timothy 6:10
[x] Matthew 20:29-34
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The Lord’s Prayer: The Meaning And Power
Available from MinistryMattersIn Luke 11, one of Jesus’s disciples approaches and makes a simple request: “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John [the Baptist] taught his disciples” (v. 1). In response, Jesus teaches the disciples what has become known as the Our Father or the Lord’s Prayer. No other prayer is more important to Christians than this prayer. It is the Lord’s prayer—the prayer he taught us to pray. There are a host of other prayers we overhear Jesus praying in the Gospels, and I’ll mention them below. But only with this prayer does Jesus say, “Pray like this.”
Each word is saturated with meaning, a meaning that we often miss when we pray it by rote as we gather in our churches for worship. Each of its six petitions (five given by the Lord, one added by the early church) reflects the major themes from Jesus’s life and ministry. The prayer is meant by Jesus to shape our lives and, through us, to shape and change the world.
Multiple Versions of the Lord’s Prayer?
There are three versions of the Lord’s Prayer that came to us from the earliest period of Christianity. We are most familiar with Matthew’s account, found in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13). The English version of that prayer was influenced by William Tyndale’s 1525 translation, which in turn shaped the form of the prayer as it appeared in the sixteenth-century Book of Common Prayer and finally the King James Version of 1611. Tyndale’s version was modified slightly into the version most English-speaking Protestants and Catholics pray today. Let’s look at the King James Version side by side with a modern translation of Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. Modern versions, in this case, the Common English Bible, are based upon more reliable Greek versions of Matthew’s Gospel than were available in 1611:
In addition to different versions of the Lord’s Prayer rendered by various English translations, we have a different version found in Luke’s account of the prayer. Here it is from the Common English Bible’s translation of Luke 11:2-4:
Father, uphold the holiness of your name. Bring in your kingdom. Give us the bread we need for today. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who has wronged us. And don’t lead us into temptation.
Notice that neither of these New Testament versions of the prayer, Matthew’s or Luke’s, includes the traditional closing doxology, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
There is a third version of the Lord’s Prayer that comes to us from the early church, in a document called The Didache or The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Gentiles. This is a fascinating document describing the practices of the early church that some scholars believe was written in the first century, and others the second century, offering guidance in the Christian life. In chapter 8 of The Didache we find Matthew’s version of the prayer quoted.
Do not pray as the hypocrites, but as the Lord commanded in his Gospel, pray thus: “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, as in Heaven so also upon earth; give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into trial, but deliver us from the Evil One, for thine is the power and the glory for ever.” Pray thus three times a day.
Note that this version included the doxology. Note, too, the closing words that are in bold, “Pray thus three times a day.” This is a remarkable testimony to the importance of the Lord’s Prayer for early Christians.
Over the years this prayer has come to mean a great deal to me. I pray it with my church family every weekend in worship. I pray it and meditate upon its words in my morning walks. I pray it together with my seven-year-old granddaughter at bedtime when she spends the night. I’ve prayed it with broken people sitting in my office. I’ve prayed it at every wedding I’ve officiated. I pray it at every hospital call I make. I pray it with the dying, and with their friends and family at each funeral or memorial service.
I once visited a woman in hospice care. Helen hadn’t been responsive in hours. Her eyes were closed, her breathing had become more labored, and the hospice nurse said that the end was imminent. She had not spoken since the previous day. I pulled up a chair to the bed, gently took her hand in mine, spoke to her, and also to her family sitting around the room. I reminded her of Christ’s love and his promises. I read Scripture to her. And I told her how grateful I was to have been her pastor. I then took anointing oil and, with my thumb, made the sign of the cross upon her forehead, a reminder that she belonged to Christ. Finally, with each of her loved ones touching her, we prayed, giving thanks to God for Helen’s life and entrusting her to God’s care. At the end of this prayer, I said words I had spoken thousands of times before. “Now, let us join together in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray saying,
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
As we concluded, one of her children spoke up and said, “Did you all see that?” Another replied, “Yes, I was watching her. She moved her lips, speaking the Lord’s Prayer with us.” It was a holy and beautiful moment. These were the last words Helen would attempt to speak before she passed a few minutes later. I’ve seen this happen again and again. (I’ll share another similar story later in the book.) Each time it happens, it reminds me of just how important this prayer is to so many. It is deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of most Christians.
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Thinking Anew – The Word Became Flesh
The editorial Inspiring the Hopeless in this newspaper on Christmas Eve was about the significance of the birth of Jesus Christ for the world. It mentioned how over the centuries the feast has been sanitised and it challenged the leaders of organised Christian religions to put the core message of Jesus Christ, which is to love one another, back where it belongs.
It so happens that someone commented to me in positive terms on that editorial. He is a psychologist and I doubt if he attends Mass or is an ardent supporter of the church into which he was baptised. He was impressed to see how the editorial saw the first Christmas as a story of rejection, discrimination and marginalisation.
Tomorrow’s liturgy includes a reading from the beginning of St John’s Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its being but through him.” And then later: “The Word was made flesh, he lives among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Words are powerful and associating the Word with God adds to the mystery and the intrigue of how we use words.
In my job as hospital chaplain I have learned at the coalface how important words are. I remember in philosophy class a lovely, intelligent but eccentric lecturer telling us that we can never take back our words. How right he was.
Last Saturday’s editorial quoted the American Lutheran theologian Nadia Bolz-Weber. She points out how those who were aware of the significance of the birth of Jesus were simple shepherds and “visitors from afar”.
Pope Francis in his Christmas address said that Jesus comes “where human dignity is put to the test. He comes to ennoble the excluded and he first reveals himself to them; not to educated and important people, but to poor working people.”
Bolz-Weber writes: “People don’t leave Christianity because they stop believing in the teachings of Jesus.”
How often do we meet people who say, yes they believe but that they have moved away from organised religion? And that’s exactly what she expresses when she writes: “People leave Christianity because they believe in the teachings of Jesus so much, they can’t stomach being part of an institution that claims to be about that and clearly isn’t”.
Those words of Nadia Bolz-Weber resonate powerfully with me. To talk about people moving away from God because they have stopped “practising their faith” has never sat easily with me. Bolz-Weber’s words make great sense. It never makes sense to blame secularisation, the media, the modern world for the fall-off in belief in God. If our words and actions remain true to the Word of God, they will of course transform the lives of people and our lives too.
The power of the word is sensational. We need to be careful with our words. Words must always attempt to speak the truth. I remember teaching Hamlet in secondary school and how Leaving Cert students honed in on the hypocrisy of aspects of the characters in the play. Young people spot spoof, they spot when people say one thing and do another and it enrages them, whereas older people seem to manage it in a less critical manner.
Maybe it is that we all grow lazy in our use of words, turn them into clichés, reciting trite sayings that no longer hold meaning for people.
The Word became flesh and too often our own words are hot air, they never become flesh. It’s easy to talk the talk. We all fall short of what we aspire to be. But that too is part of the mystery of Christmas. Life is messy and so too was the birth of Jesus Christ.
We need to treat words with great care. And those of us who believe in God have a special obligation and indeed privilege to be conscious of the fact that the Word was God.
I was greatly heartened that my psychologist friend was inspired by the words in the editorial in The Irish Times on Christmas Eve. As I was.
