I was driving along in my van innocently listening to the radio when the preacher traveling the airways came to 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." He went on to explain that this is a hard thing to do as life is filled with trials and disappointments. He further tied the verse to Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." It is a great message, one I have shared as well. But this time the expressway in my brain took another exit. I found I had arrived in Deuteronomy 6:4-7. From here the twists and turns of my mental highway took me through some remarkably scenic visualizations of the God who is the awesome Lord of the universe yet also the God of the mundane and routine.
Paul writes to an assembly that knows of persecution and even the passing of some of the beloved of the fellowship. The Thessalonians were told of the return of the Lord and the confidence they could have in the resurrection of the dead so they were to be comforted. However, as the Apostle concludes the letter he loads the ending with a number of bullets to challenge them (and us) as to their daily walk with the Lord. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks," phrases that remind us of how intimate and immediate our relationship with God should be. "Always. Without ceasing. In everything."
The "everything" of verse 18 is everything. Not just good things but also the trials, knowing that Yahweh is in control and can be trusted. However, if we only look at that reality we miss a great opportunity for thanksgiving, praise and worship. Our lives are busy, probably too busy, yet our Creator has given us remarkable mental capabilities. Take just a moment right now and think of everything you have done in the past, say four hours. Got it? Now just how long would it take if you wrote down everything that just shot through your brain? I would guess much more time than the moment you just took to get the mental review completed. We have amazing abilities to think of stuff. Now comes the long awaited connection to all of this.
The people of God had been slaves for over 400 years in the land of Egypt. Even though they maintained their own culture, they were under the law of Pharaoh. They had traditions, but not a system of instructions as how best to live. Moses arrives and leads them out of Egypt, by the mighty hand of Yahweh. Now, as they dwell in the wilderness God provides lessons and instruction as to how they should relate to Him and to one another, Torah, God's gift of instruction and direction as how to best live. This is not just for those in the wilderness, it is for the coming generations as well. So the Lord gives them the means as to how to pass on the information. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 "Hear, O Israel, The LORD our God the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. and these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when your walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up." Meaning, teach it all the time. God's Word should be integrated into your life.
Now the Apostle Paul tells us to be thankful in everything, all the time. How can this work out in the practical experience, in the routine and mundane things of life? You rise up and decide to take a shower. Paul says be ready to give thanks. Thanks for water, hot water, and a warm house. How many folks around the world do not have this luxury, or even just clean water? Then there are the 1500 varieties of soap, shampoo, and body wash you had to select from, followed by your clean fluffy towel. So much to be thankful for. Now let yourself be reminded that God washes you clean, free from the tainted life of sin. Washed by the water of the Word. He is the God of the early and later rains. He is the water of Life that provides a spring of living water that bubbles up within you. He quenches the thirst of your soul, He leads you beside still waters. And on down the mental highway of thanksgiving for everything you can go. Showers of blessings, and the blessings of a shower.
Shower completed, dressed, and as you put on those sneakers, shoes or boots, you have a number of pairs to choose from, unlike the cold and barefoot that fill much of this world. Dexterity to tie the laces and the ability to walk knowing others may not know such ability and freedom. Now the words, "Follow Me" come to mind, walk in My ways, Your feet shall not stumble, and He makes your feet like hinds feet traversing the rocky path, or so says Psalm 18:33. And, quietly, without really noticing Sneaker time is a time of thanksgiving; it has become a time of worship, as can be shower time or breakfast time (that daily bread verse or perhaps the Bread of Life). If you let it, your brain can turn most any activity into a time of worship and thanksgiving. And you can do this with your kids, or nephews, or nieces, or grand kids or little ones in the preschool class. Sharing the reality of God in the simple, routine, mundane things of life. When you lie down, when you rise up, when you are in your house or when you walk by the way, you can give God thanks for ....... well, everything.
And the cool thing is that your brain can do all this in the time it takes to tie a shoe or wash a dish or scrape the frost off of your windshield. I have tried it as of late, and it actually is pretty amazing. So we really can give thanks in everything. Not just the big things or the hard things, but in the "everythings". Time to head out and enjoy the day, but first I think I will have a little worship time with my sneakers. Want to join me?
Monday, January 26, 2015
Monday, January 19, 2015
You Are Not the Temple of the Holy Spirit or We Need to Speak Southern
Ahhh, the wonder of single verse theology. As the Catholic New Year began (not the Hebrew or Chinese, but the one named after a Pope) many were compelled to make those well meaning resolutions.(By the way you may change your behavior any time you feel convicted, you don't need to wait for January first.) As conversations flowed around me I heard a variety of new found or reaffirmations of past resolutions. Many deal with physical improvements like more exercise, less sugar, fewer carbs, no more smoking, or better eating and sleeping habits. For those who claim to be followers of Messiah, Christians as we call ourselves, there is often an additional incentive that I have heard spoken. "I need to get in shape, after all my body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit." And why would you say that? "Well, we see that right there in 1 Corinthians 6:19, "or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" It is obvious that I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, Paul said so. Or did he? It depends on whether you believe Paul was a Greek philosopher or a Hebrew Rabbi. It also depends on whether you want to look at the actual text, as well as its historic context. Are you willing to ask what those in Corinth would have thought when they read the letter? Or are you just interested in what you want it to mean to you? Let's take a little deeper look.
The confusion here comes from two directions. First, English pronouns are ambiguous. When we ask the question, "How are you doing?", we could mean you as an individual or as a family or as an entire community. Those proficient in "Southern" have less problems, as there is you, the individual, ya'll, as a small group and "all ya'll", for the bigger group. Our translations are not in "Southern" so we have to guess according to what we think the context is. The second, is that we look to the immediate context and forget the context of Paul's letter or the issues he is addressing in the assembly of believers in Corinth. The immediate context speaks of the act of sexual sin, "he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body" (1 Cor. 6:18). This is followed by "do you not know that your body is a temple (not the temple, there is no definite article and those in Corinth knew The Temple was in Jerusalem when this was written) of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own" (1 Cor. 6:19). The easy assumption is to make this about me. However, if we had a Southern translation it would read, "do all ya'll not know that all ya'll's body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in all ya'll's midst, whom all ya'll have from God, and all ya'll do not just live for yourself?' You see the pronoun in Greek is plural all the way through. So why is this important?
We need to go back to the purpose of the letter. The folks in Corinth who had come to Messiah were a diverse group. They also came from a city who prided itself on competition. There was a huge stadium/Colosseum with all sorts of sporting events, as well as amphitheaters for public debate where you could compete for intellectual points. This spirit had invaded the assembly. Everyone seemed to want to be the best. Who had the best spiritual heritage (1:12), who was the most mighty (1:26), who was the most tolerant (5:1), who had the best gift (12), who was the most sacrificial spiritual one, "Hey, I gave up sexual intimacy with my wife so I could be more spiritual" (7:5), and the list goes on and on. The whole letter is a plea for unity in the "Body". It is not about individuals. Everything you do, including sexual immorality, damages the whole body, the whole assembly. Yet they brag about the tolerance of a man who has his father's wife (5:1). The Temple of the Holy Spirit is about unity in obedience, not some misplaced idea of love and tolerance. We find the same temple concept in 3:16 - 17. All ya'll are the temple of God, not you as an individual, yet as individuals we can defile God's Temple. We can defile the assembly. The fractured fellowship was displeasing to the Lord and to Paul.
Our Greek based culture drives us to be self-focused. We are under the illusion that what we do only affects us. But Paul's Hebraic viewpoint gives us his illustration in 1 Cor. 12 of our being a part of a "body". In Hebraic thought what we do touches all around us, either for good or for bad. As private as sexual sin may seem, it damages the whole body. To tolerate it is an affront to God and brings corruption to the assembly. We are not our own, we belong to God and one another. We must not be fractured or the whole "Temple" suffers. Peter uses this illustration as well. In 1 Peter 2:5 "you (read all ya'll) are as living stones, being built up to a spiritual house (or maybe a temple)." When we personalize a Temple of the Holy Spirit to mean that it is all about me and my being God's temple, we miss Paul's, and God's point. It is when we are gathered in unity and obedience together that provides a temple for the Holy Spirit to indwell. The work and ministry of the Spirit of God is magnified when we are in fellowship together. That is where the gifts He gives are best manifested. For your gift was given to edify the Body not to hold in your own personal "Holy Spirit Temple".
Now please do not misunderstand. I believe that we, as disciples of Messiah, are given the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures say that we are indwelt, the Spirit of God is in us individually (Jn 14:27), We are to keep being filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18) and not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). The Spirit of God gives us individual gifts(1 Cor 12:11). He comforts (2 Cor 1) and convicts (Jn 16:8). The Spirit of God ministers to us as individuals. However, if that is our motivating factor we have missed the point. All those things are true so that you can function within a community. And when that is so, Paul says "all ya'll are a Temple of the Holy Spirit." "All ya'll are a Temple of God."
This doesn't mean you don't have to eat healthy or determine to quit smoking. It doesn't mean to take a pass on reading through the Bible this year. Healthy people who know God's Word are a benefit and blessing to the whole "Body". Your obedience and discipline strengthens the whole Temple. After all, "all ya'll are a Temple of the Holy Spirit."
The confusion here comes from two directions. First, English pronouns are ambiguous. When we ask the question, "How are you doing?", we could mean you as an individual or as a family or as an entire community. Those proficient in "Southern" have less problems, as there is you, the individual, ya'll, as a small group and "all ya'll", for the bigger group. Our translations are not in "Southern" so we have to guess according to what we think the context is. The second, is that we look to the immediate context and forget the context of Paul's letter or the issues he is addressing in the assembly of believers in Corinth. The immediate context speaks of the act of sexual sin, "he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body" (1 Cor. 6:18). This is followed by "do you not know that your body is a temple (not the temple, there is no definite article and those in Corinth knew The Temple was in Jerusalem when this was written) of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own" (1 Cor. 6:19). The easy assumption is to make this about me. However, if we had a Southern translation it would read, "do all ya'll not know that all ya'll's body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in all ya'll's midst, whom all ya'll have from God, and all ya'll do not just live for yourself?' You see the pronoun in Greek is plural all the way through. So why is this important?
We need to go back to the purpose of the letter. The folks in Corinth who had come to Messiah were a diverse group. They also came from a city who prided itself on competition. There was a huge stadium/Colosseum with all sorts of sporting events, as well as amphitheaters for public debate where you could compete for intellectual points. This spirit had invaded the assembly. Everyone seemed to want to be the best. Who had the best spiritual heritage (1:12), who was the most mighty (1:26), who was the most tolerant (5:1), who had the best gift (12), who was the most sacrificial spiritual one, "Hey, I gave up sexual intimacy with my wife so I could be more spiritual" (7:5), and the list goes on and on. The whole letter is a plea for unity in the "Body". It is not about individuals. Everything you do, including sexual immorality, damages the whole body, the whole assembly. Yet they brag about the tolerance of a man who has his father's wife (5:1). The Temple of the Holy Spirit is about unity in obedience, not some misplaced idea of love and tolerance. We find the same temple concept in 3:16 - 17. All ya'll are the temple of God, not you as an individual, yet as individuals we can defile God's Temple. We can defile the assembly. The fractured fellowship was displeasing to the Lord and to Paul.
Our Greek based culture drives us to be self-focused. We are under the illusion that what we do only affects us. But Paul's Hebraic viewpoint gives us his illustration in 1 Cor. 12 of our being a part of a "body". In Hebraic thought what we do touches all around us, either for good or for bad. As private as sexual sin may seem, it damages the whole body. To tolerate it is an affront to God and brings corruption to the assembly. We are not our own, we belong to God and one another. We must not be fractured or the whole "Temple" suffers. Peter uses this illustration as well. In 1 Peter 2:5 "you (read all ya'll) are as living stones, being built up to a spiritual house (or maybe a temple)." When we personalize a Temple of the Holy Spirit to mean that it is all about me and my being God's temple, we miss Paul's, and God's point. It is when we are gathered in unity and obedience together that provides a temple for the Holy Spirit to indwell. The work and ministry of the Spirit of God is magnified when we are in fellowship together. That is where the gifts He gives are best manifested. For your gift was given to edify the Body not to hold in your own personal "Holy Spirit Temple".
Now please do not misunderstand. I believe that we, as disciples of Messiah, are given the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures say that we are indwelt, the Spirit of God is in us individually (Jn 14:27), We are to keep being filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18) and not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). The Spirit of God gives us individual gifts(1 Cor 12:11). He comforts (2 Cor 1) and convicts (Jn 16:8). The Spirit of God ministers to us as individuals. However, if that is our motivating factor we have missed the point. All those things are true so that you can function within a community. And when that is so, Paul says "all ya'll are a Temple of the Holy Spirit." "All ya'll are a Temple of God."
This doesn't mean you don't have to eat healthy or determine to quit smoking. It doesn't mean to take a pass on reading through the Bible this year. Healthy people who know God's Word are a benefit and blessing to the whole "Body". Your obedience and discipline strengthens the whole Temple. After all, "all ya'll are a Temple of the Holy Spirit."
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