. . . and when it does, sometimes this blog doesn't. Sorry about that. I got caught up in two weeks of intense writing for scholarship applications for postgrad work, and Liam, my nine-month-old, hit his stride teething. And by "hit his stride," I mean he's cutting four teeth at the same time! I've discovered that it's impossible to get much of anything done when I'm holding an unhappy 25-pound baby most of the day. And my back hurts.
And now that I've shared way more information than you wanted to read, let's move on . . . and check out the latest post I've written for the blog my husband and I write together. Micah and I are trying out the blog format to dialogue and, hopefully, get some feedback on a few concepts we've been working through over the past few years.. Take a look, see what you think!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Trained for the Kingdom, redux
I've been turning this verse over and over in my mind, and I realized this morning I forgot a few things in my last post. Namely, I forgot to actually apply some of those exegetical skills I spent so long acquiring. So here goes.
First let's look at this word "trained." This is one of those cases when it actually can be helpful to know the original language of a text. The word translated as "trained" here (μαθητυθείς) is the verbal side of the Greek noun that means "disciple." That's right: as in Jesus' twelve disciples. So what did it mean to be a disciple in first-century Israel?
Jesus' disciples are a pretty good place to start. As the Gospels record Jesus calling each disciple, they also note--sort of in the margins, sometimes--that each disciple simply left whatever they were doing, whatever career or profession they had, and just wandered around the country with Jesus. They left everything they had, including their futures, and traded it all on the kingdom of God. Turns out, they didn't even have a clue what they were getting into. But Jesus called them, and they came immediately. And that was the standard for discipleship at the time. Being called by a rabbi (a teacher) was a huge deal. It's recorded that many rabbis had followers--groupies--who hung around just hoping to be "called" into the rabbi's closer circle of teaching and mentoring.
So being "trained" isn't just about acquiring skills or going to school. It's about leaving your own hopes, dreams, present, and future to "seek first the kingdom" in everything you do and are. It's about putting all your eggs in one basket, everything you've got, and pursuing that avidly--and letting your new set of priorities inform and transform the lenses through which you see life, the activities you do, and the future you pursue.
Let's look at the rest of the phrase now. What we translate as "for" in English actually isn't a preposition in Greek at all. It's a noun with a special ending that tells the reader what part it plays in the sentence (for those who'd like to know, it's in the dative case). Even in English, "for" has a whole host of possible meanings, including "for the purpose of," "to the advantage of," "directed toward," etc. The dative case has a slightly broader range than that, but its range can be narrowed down just by what makes sense in that grammatical construction (sorry if I'm losing anyone!). Here, your options are: "for the benefit of/to the advantage of," "with reference to," "belonging to," "place of," "time when," "by means of," "because of," etc. Obviously, some of these don't fit. But the first two options really do fit: "to the advantage of" and "with reference to." So the "for" here is about studying and understanding things of the kingdom, and about doing what benefits God's kingdom.
But what is the kingdom of God? Granted, thousands of pages have been written on that question, but the heart of the answer has never changed. The kingdom of God is all about God being king. And how can you tell--with any king--where his kingdom is? It's where his ways, his laws, his person, are obeyed. God, in the person of Jesus, came to earth and inaugurated God's rule on earth. And where and how and in whom God is obeyed, there you will find God's kingdom on earth.
So what does all this mean? It means that training for the kingdom is all about devoting yourself to continually studying God, his words, and his ways. It's studying these things in light of God's kingdom, and strategically equipping yourself to grow the kingdom as God leads you to, inaugurating God's rule wherever you are and in whatever sphere you have influence. But most of all, it's immersing yourself in prayer with the intent to follow wherever God calls you and to know him personally, experientially, every bit like Jesus' disciples did so long ago.
First let's look at this word "trained." This is one of those cases when it actually can be helpful to know the original language of a text. The word translated as "trained" here (μαθητυθείς) is the verbal side of the Greek noun that means "disciple." That's right: as in Jesus' twelve disciples. So what did it mean to be a disciple in first-century Israel?
Jesus' disciples are a pretty good place to start. As the Gospels record Jesus calling each disciple, they also note--sort of in the margins, sometimes--that each disciple simply left whatever they were doing, whatever career or profession they had, and just wandered around the country with Jesus. They left everything they had, including their futures, and traded it all on the kingdom of God. Turns out, they didn't even have a clue what they were getting into. But Jesus called them, and they came immediately. And that was the standard for discipleship at the time. Being called by a rabbi (a teacher) was a huge deal. It's recorded that many rabbis had followers--groupies--who hung around just hoping to be "called" into the rabbi's closer circle of teaching and mentoring.
So being "trained" isn't just about acquiring skills or going to school. It's about leaving your own hopes, dreams, present, and future to "seek first the kingdom" in everything you do and are. It's about putting all your eggs in one basket, everything you've got, and pursuing that avidly--and letting your new set of priorities inform and transform the lenses through which you see life, the activities you do, and the future you pursue.
Let's look at the rest of the phrase now. What we translate as "for" in English actually isn't a preposition in Greek at all. It's a noun with a special ending that tells the reader what part it plays in the sentence (for those who'd like to know, it's in the dative case). Even in English, "for" has a whole host of possible meanings, including "for the purpose of," "to the advantage of," "directed toward," etc. The dative case has a slightly broader range than that, but its range can be narrowed down just by what makes sense in that grammatical construction (sorry if I'm losing anyone!). Here, your options are: "for the benefit of/to the advantage of," "with reference to," "belonging to," "place of," "time when," "by means of," "because of," etc. Obviously, some of these don't fit. But the first two options really do fit: "to the advantage of" and "with reference to." So the "for" here is about studying and understanding things of the kingdom, and about doing what benefits God's kingdom.
But what is the kingdom of God? Granted, thousands of pages have been written on that question, but the heart of the answer has never changed. The kingdom of God is all about God being king. And how can you tell--with any king--where his kingdom is? It's where his ways, his laws, his person, are obeyed. God, in the person of Jesus, came to earth and inaugurated God's rule on earth. And where and how and in whom God is obeyed, there you will find God's kingdom on earth.
So what does all this mean? It means that training for the kingdom is all about devoting yourself to continually studying God, his words, and his ways. It's studying these things in light of God's kingdom, and strategically equipping yourself to grow the kingdom as God leads you to, inaugurating God's rule wherever you are and in whatever sphere you have influence. But most of all, it's immersing yourself in prayer with the intent to follow wherever God calls you and to know him personally, experientially, every bit like Jesus' disciples did so long ago.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Unpacking It
So let's look at the first part of that verse:
"Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven . . ."
That's the NET translation (which, if you've never checked out, go do it. Now.). Other versions use "scribe" and "teacher of the Law." The Message even goes as far as saying "student well-trained," but misses out completely on the point by not including the bit about the Law. Strong's describes them "a man learned in the Mosaic law and in the sacred writings, an interpreter, teacher. Scribes examined the more difficult and subtle questions of the law . . ."
So these were the guys who spent their lives studying the Scriptures (in this case, what we Christians call the Old Testament), seeking to understand them in order to communicate God's message, his ways, and his character to God's people. Sound familiar?
OK, let's move on. What does it mean to be trained for the kingdom of heaven? That's a tough one. I've got an idea, but let's do a little checking around first. This one isn't like the "experts of the Law" bit, since we can't just go to a Bible dictionary for the answer. When you run across phrases in a verse that don't immediately make sense, take a look at the context and then at the language itself.
We'll start with the context. This verse comes at the end of a whole bunch of parables Jesus has told, all about the kingdom of heaven. These are the "the kingdom is like . . ." parables. So let's talk briefly about parables. Parables are stories that have a surprise, a riddle, a mystery, or just plain oddness about them. Something about the parable is strange or surprising, and it is that element that makes the parable mysterious and hints at a deeper meaning. That's why Jesus so often said, "He who has ear to hear, let him hear." In other words, if you caught the oddness of the parable, it was an invitation to come and look deeper into it and figure out the mystery, find the answer to the riddle.
In a lot of ways, the kingdom of God is like a parable itself. There's a lot about the kingdom, about kingdom life and God's ways in the kingdom that doesn't match up with what we think is true about the world, what we accept about how life and relationships and smart choices work. Kingdom thinking is just different than how the rest of the world thinks. And this is a hint to those who are aware and listening that there's a lot about the kingdom that still needs to be figured out. The kingdom is a mystery, a riddle, that calls us to study it and try to understand it, to get to know and--as much as we can--understand the God who rules it.
So in this light, someone who's trained for the kingdom is one who accepts that invitation to look deeper and studies God's Word in light of the kingdom, seeking to understand the kingdom and the God who rules it.
Putting it together, an expert in the Law who's trained for the kingdom is one who gathers all of the resources, skills, and knowledge he (or she!) has accumulated in their study of Scripture and unleashes them all in service to the kingdom. It's reading the Bible with kingdom eyes: reading the Old Testament with eyes that also see Christ and God's grand plan unfolding through time and space, reading the New Testament and remembering the ways of God throughout the history of Israel, pulling forward through time images, stories, principles, and truths about God that were revealed and written in the Old Testament but find added depth and expression in the new kingdom age. It's appreciating the Bible in its own time-space context yet also knowing it was written to be as relevant and true today as yesterday.
And with that, I think I may be getting ahead of myself. There's still the rest of the verse to unpack, after all!
"Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven . . ."
That's the NET translation (which, if you've never checked out, go do it. Now.). Other versions use "scribe" and "teacher of the Law." The Message even goes as far as saying "student well-trained," but misses out completely on the point by not including the bit about the Law. Strong's describes them "a man learned in the Mosaic law and in the sacred writings, an interpreter, teacher. Scribes examined the more difficult and subtle questions of the law . . ."
So these were the guys who spent their lives studying the Scriptures (in this case, what we Christians call the Old Testament), seeking to understand them in order to communicate God's message, his ways, and his character to God's people. Sound familiar?
OK, let's move on. What does it mean to be trained for the kingdom of heaven? That's a tough one. I've got an idea, but let's do a little checking around first. This one isn't like the "experts of the Law" bit, since we can't just go to a Bible dictionary for the answer. When you run across phrases in a verse that don't immediately make sense, take a look at the context and then at the language itself.
We'll start with the context. This verse comes at the end of a whole bunch of parables Jesus has told, all about the kingdom of heaven. These are the "the kingdom is like . . ." parables. So let's talk briefly about parables. Parables are stories that have a surprise, a riddle, a mystery, or just plain oddness about them. Something about the parable is strange or surprising, and it is that element that makes the parable mysterious and hints at a deeper meaning. That's why Jesus so often said, "He who has ear to hear, let him hear." In other words, if you caught the oddness of the parable, it was an invitation to come and look deeper into it and figure out the mystery, find the answer to the riddle.
In a lot of ways, the kingdom of God is like a parable itself. There's a lot about the kingdom, about kingdom life and God's ways in the kingdom that doesn't match up with what we think is true about the world, what we accept about how life and relationships and smart choices work. Kingdom thinking is just different than how the rest of the world thinks. And this is a hint to those who are aware and listening that there's a lot about the kingdom that still needs to be figured out. The kingdom is a mystery, a riddle, that calls us to study it and try to understand it, to get to know and--as much as we can--understand the God who rules it.
So in this light, someone who's trained for the kingdom is one who accepts that invitation to look deeper and studies God's Word in light of the kingdom, seeking to understand the kingdom and the God who rules it.
Putting it together, an expert in the Law who's trained for the kingdom is one who gathers all of the resources, skills, and knowledge he (or she!) has accumulated in their study of Scripture and unleashes them all in service to the kingdom. It's reading the Bible with kingdom eyes: reading the Old Testament with eyes that also see Christ and God's grand plan unfolding through time and space, reading the New Testament and remembering the ways of God throughout the history of Israel, pulling forward through time images, stories, principles, and truths about God that were revealed and written in the Old Testament but find added depth and expression in the new kingdom age. It's appreciating the Bible in its own time-space context yet also knowing it was written to be as relevant and true today as yesterday.
And with that, I think I may be getting ahead of myself. There's still the rest of the verse to unpack, after all!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Matthew 13.52
Those of you who may have followed me from my previous blog are probably wondering "Why the change?" I gave a brief explanation in my last post on that blog, but will try to expand that a bit, and in so doing, try to put into words what the purpose of this blog will be.
Purpose is something I've been struggling a bit with lately. I graduated with a Master of Divinity this spring, and am taking a year off to be a stay-at-home mom of a 3-yr-old (almost!) and an 8-month-old. I love my kids, I love my family, and this is a good season for me. But it's still been a difficult time for me as well. My son didn't really sleep more than 2 hours at a time until he was 6 months old, and I went from intense study and writing while I was working on my thesis to complete sleep deprivation with the only mental stimulation being grocery shopping and housework. Transition is a mild word for it.
So I've vacillated between loving the time I get to spend with my kids, and aching to get back into academia, both the study and the teaching. Sometimes I feel like two completely different people. And I've wondered if a Ph.D. program really is the next thing for me. Do I really need to do it? Is my family going to survive me doing it? Is God's purpose for me to be stay-at-home mom and a pastor's wife, and nothing more? Or am I called to juggle those with teaching and taking classes, doing language, research, personal study, and writing? And I've not found very many answers, aside from my husband's unwavering confidence in my calling to further studies and his also unwavering belief in my ability to juggle what seems at times to be an overwhelming mix of roles.
But this morning as I was sitting in church, I made a surprising connection between an Old Testament story and something Jesus said. Immediately following that was a snippet of Matthew 13.52, with God's voice somewhere inside me saying, "This is it." It was one of those big voice rumbling down the Grand Canyon moments, where you get the chills and wonder if everyone around you heard what you did. And then the skeptic in you wonders if you just made it up to answer the painful questions you've been asking. But the bone-deep certainty sort of drowned out his voice in a wash of calmness and peace I've not had about my future for a long time.
So let's talk a little about Matthew 13.52, and I'll take you with me as I seek to understand what that passage really means in its original context, and in its context this morning.
Here's the verse, NET translation:
Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.”
And since this post is already getting a little long (the stream-of-consciousness confession was a little unpremeditated!), I'll leave you to think about that for a little bit, and I'll figure out a good place to start this journey in another post.
Purpose is something I've been struggling a bit with lately. I graduated with a Master of Divinity this spring, and am taking a year off to be a stay-at-home mom of a 3-yr-old (almost!) and an 8-month-old. I love my kids, I love my family, and this is a good season for me. But it's still been a difficult time for me as well. My son didn't really sleep more than 2 hours at a time until he was 6 months old, and I went from intense study and writing while I was working on my thesis to complete sleep deprivation with the only mental stimulation being grocery shopping and housework. Transition is a mild word for it.
So I've vacillated between loving the time I get to spend with my kids, and aching to get back into academia, both the study and the teaching. Sometimes I feel like two completely different people. And I've wondered if a Ph.D. program really is the next thing for me. Do I really need to do it? Is my family going to survive me doing it? Is God's purpose for me to be stay-at-home mom and a pastor's wife, and nothing more? Or am I called to juggle those with teaching and taking classes, doing language, research, personal study, and writing? And I've not found very many answers, aside from my husband's unwavering confidence in my calling to further studies and his also unwavering belief in my ability to juggle what seems at times to be an overwhelming mix of roles.
But this morning as I was sitting in church, I made a surprising connection between an Old Testament story and something Jesus said. Immediately following that was a snippet of Matthew 13.52, with God's voice somewhere inside me saying, "This is it." It was one of those big voice rumbling down the Grand Canyon moments, where you get the chills and wonder if everyone around you heard what you did. And then the skeptic in you wonders if you just made it up to answer the painful questions you've been asking. But the bone-deep certainty sort of drowned out his voice in a wash of calmness and peace I've not had about my future for a long time.
So let's talk a little about Matthew 13.52, and I'll take you with me as I seek to understand what that passage really means in its original context, and in its context this morning.
Here's the verse, NET translation:
Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.”
And since this post is already getting a little long (the stream-of-consciousness confession was a little unpremeditated!), I'll leave you to think about that for a little bit, and I'll figure out a good place to start this journey in another post.
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