Reading scripture it is pretty obvious that the sermon preaching model was important, but when ever REAL teaching happened that meant more in the long run for all of us, it was intimate. Our Lord had few words for the large crowds; many for the intimacy of the disciples. We should emulate Him.
The preacher in the pulpit is an innovation that happened after those days. In the synagogues of Jesus day as it is today, the service was shared and often was the way news was transmitted. Travelers were encouraged to share. In our day we feel so inundated with 'news' that we insulate from the world and our leadership are gatekeepers and filters protecting the community from anything that might be different or out of step with their well ordered set ideas of what is appropriate. As a result the very thing they are protecting becomes the cause for a new denomination, a new congregation, a new expression less rigid, more fluid.
But worse, we find ourselves doing exactly the opposite from what our Lord wants. We make our world smaller, our circles of friends closer to our own ideas, and our defensiveness a cause for celebration. The Pharasies were accused of this kind of thinking. It is natural but that does not make it right. Jesus was popular as a teacher because He did not cut people off, He did not ridicule their expression of God and the Kingdom of God. But He did teach and preach to give people power, to help them understand, to fire their imaginations, to serve them deeply and effectively by taking the raw materials they gave Him, their strange ideas, their broken hearts, and He molded them shaping a new hope from that brokenness.
We have the same chance to do the same task today. But to do it well we need to understand God's word the way it was written, with the intent and ideas well understood from the Hebraic perspective it was written in. Our present Christian interpretation is very Greek. It is based on the ideas of Plato more than those of Christ ! There is a viable Hebraic way to view the whole of scripture. Greek texts were written with a Hebraic mindset by Jews who understood their Jewish master. We need to get back to that understanding as best we can. And there are excellent tools to get us there. There is a 5 year weekly Bible study I know of that goes carefully through these ideas.
Relating our personal stories to the scripture is important. Understanding what is in the scriptures the way it was written, without the traditions that grew up around the faith with all the politics and cultural baggage of the western mindset is vital. I pray we consider embracing an ancient oriental mindset. A very different way of thinking, but one familiar and heart warming from the deep beauty of the scriptures we love. And our motivation for doing so, to find the real Jesus, His real world, His true expression. To do it His way. If you think Jesus and His ancient ways fit in our modern world think again. How would you and your ways fit in the world of His incarnation? How can we know the message if we don't know the world? To know in ancient Hebrew was not a matter of intellect. It is the highest form of intimate loyalty. Abraham knew his wife Sarah and they had children.
God's greatest promise; The new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31. Read it. Jesus means Jeremiah 31:31 when He talks about the New Covenant in His blood. But if you read it don't take it as allegory. That is Greek thinking. Take it as literal. There is no need for allegory in that passage. All literal interpretation means for this passage is that it is not yet fulfilled. But we have the first fruits of it now in you and me.
The preacher in the pulpit is an innovation that happened after those days. In the synagogues of Jesus day as it is today, the service was shared and often was the way news was transmitted. Travelers were encouraged to share. In our day we feel so inundated with 'news' that we insulate from the world and our leadership are gatekeepers and filters protecting the community from anything that might be different or out of step with their well ordered set ideas of what is appropriate. As a result the very thing they are protecting becomes the cause for a new denomination, a new congregation, a new expression less rigid, more fluid.
But worse, we find ourselves doing exactly the opposite from what our Lord wants. We make our world smaller, our circles of friends closer to our own ideas, and our defensiveness a cause for celebration. The Pharasies were accused of this kind of thinking. It is natural but that does not make it right. Jesus was popular as a teacher because He did not cut people off, He did not ridicule their expression of God and the Kingdom of God. But He did teach and preach to give people power, to help them understand, to fire their imaginations, to serve them deeply and effectively by taking the raw materials they gave Him, their strange ideas, their broken hearts, and He molded them shaping a new hope from that brokenness.
We have the same chance to do the same task today. But to do it well we need to understand God's word the way it was written, with the intent and ideas well understood from the Hebraic perspective it was written in. Our present Christian interpretation is very Greek. It is based on the ideas of Plato more than those of Christ ! There is a viable Hebraic way to view the whole of scripture. Greek texts were written with a Hebraic mindset by Jews who understood their Jewish master. We need to get back to that understanding as best we can. And there are excellent tools to get us there. There is a 5 year weekly Bible study I know of that goes carefully through these ideas.
Relating our personal stories to the scripture is important. Understanding what is in the scriptures the way it was written, without the traditions that grew up around the faith with all the politics and cultural baggage of the western mindset is vital. I pray we consider embracing an ancient oriental mindset. A very different way of thinking, but one familiar and heart warming from the deep beauty of the scriptures we love. And our motivation for doing so, to find the real Jesus, His real world, His true expression. To do it His way. If you think Jesus and His ancient ways fit in our modern world think again. How would you and your ways fit in the world of His incarnation? How can we know the message if we don't know the world? To know in ancient Hebrew was not a matter of intellect. It is the highest form of intimate loyalty. Abraham knew his wife Sarah and they had children.
God's greatest promise; The new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31. Read it. Jesus means Jeremiah 31:31 when He talks about the New Covenant in His blood. But if you read it don't take it as allegory. That is Greek thinking. Take it as literal. There is no need for allegory in that passage. All literal interpretation means for this passage is that it is not yet fulfilled. But we have the first fruits of it now in you and me.
