Archive for November 15th, 2009

Cultural Imperatives

Sunday, November 15th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

Today I received an email (forwarded) that contained some pictorial representations of the Passion story.  At the end was this message:

All you have to do is:

1.   Simply pray for the person who sent this message to you:

Lord, you know the life of _________. I ask You to bless

him/her in all things and make him/her prosperous.

Take care of his/her family, his/her health, his/her work and

all his/her future plans.  Lead him/her not into temptation,

but deliver him/her from evil.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

2. Then, send this message to 10 people.

3. Ten people will pray for you and you will make that many people pray to

God for other people.

4. Take a moment to appreciate the power of God in your life, for doing

what pleases Him.

If you are not ashamed to do this, please, follow Jesus’ instructions. He said

(Matthew 10:32 & 33): “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before

others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whosoever

denies me before others,  I also will deny before my Father in heaven”.

So, what do you think?  The intention is good, but the request is saturated with cultural, not biblical, understanding.  Normally I wouldn’t bother to point these out.  After all, who am I to judge the heart motives of another?  I am a duplicitous sinner, attached to my own predilection of self-agendas.  I don’t always display honorable or holy motives.  I make a lot of mistakes.  But I think it might be useful to unearth some of the influences of our culture here.  Maybe we will get a clearer picture of the biblical imperative.  So, let’s set aside the obvious laudable intention of the one who sent the message.  Let’s look at the implications of the content.

First, is this all you have to do?  Well, if I want nothing more than to pray for the person who sent the message, then maybe all I have to do is follow this little formula.  But the biblical imperative doesn’t stop at sending pleas and good thoughts up to heaven.  Love is a verb.  It is action that matters.  If I really want to pray for God’s blessing in the life of another, but I don’t actually do anything to help bring that about, then I have misunderstood the Bible.  Where I am able, I am called to action.  How can another person be blessed if I am not willing to lift my finger to help?  Yes, my prayers are good, and necessary, but prayer without action is like faith without works.  Dead!  So, saying a prayer isn’t all I have to do, is it?  If I’m going to pray for someone, I commit myself to them.  Prayer is the cement that glues me to the life of another.  I take responsibility when I pray.  I don’t just throw a few words toward the ceiling.  I accept accountability for making a difference where and when I can make a difference.  As soon as the words, “Lord, you know the life of _______” leave my lips, I become a partner in the blessing I ask from God.  Words are never enough, not in the Hebrew worldview.

Second, did you notice that this prayer asks for all the culturally acceptable good things in life?  “Lord, give them prosperity, health, care, work and (oh, yes) save them from temptation.”  In other words, spare them from actually living.  Treat them like silver-spoon children.  Forget about the call to suffer like Jesus.  Don’t pay attention to the opportunity to demonstrate trust in the middle of temptation.  Ignore the reminders that we are salt and light in a corrupt and darkened world.  And please, Lord, no crosses.  Just give us sunny days, fulfilling work, plenty of everything, good health and protection.  Then we will have a compelling testimony of Your character.  After all, You are the real Santa Claus.  Don’t ask us to follow in the footsteps of Your Son.  Help us forget that the believer is called to suffering on behalf of another (peacemakers and all that).  Most of all Lord, let our spiritual journey be about us!  Actually, now that I think about it, let it be about me! I don’t really want to grow up.  I don’t really want to carry someone else’s burdens.  I don’t really want to love my enemies and do them good.  No, what I really want is my best life now!  And just to make sure that all of this will happen, I’m adding the spiritual magic formula, “In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

But, of course, “Jesus” isn’t his name.  The phrase isn’t magic.  And the Hebrew word amen attached to this request is an oxymoron.  How can I vouch for the truth of what I have just proclaimed (that’s what amen means) when what I have asked flies in the face of everything biblical?  When will we discover that praying is the process of molding our hearts so that we are ready and willing to embrace what God provides.  It is not the request to give us what we want.

Third, will this noble effort really “make” ten people pray for you?  Yes, it might spur ten people to repeat the errors in this request, but does that make it prayer?  What would it be like if I asked ten people to pray that God would mold me into a man of contentment?  What if ten people prayed that God would fulfill His purposes in my life no matter what the cost – and that I would accept the cost without question?  What if ten people prayed for my unrestrained obedience rather than my desire to avoid all hardships?

Finally, take a moment to appreciate what God is doing in your life.  Yes, do!  But notice that what God is doing requires that He take you on this path.  He doesn’t make mistakes.  Where you are right now is exactly where you need to be in order for Him to do what He wants to do with you.  Can you thank Him for your present circumstances with the same enthusiasm that would lead you to ask for His blessings?  Oh, and by the way, if you really want to do what pleases Him, then why are you worried about your prosperity, health, family, work and temptations?  Do you trust Him?  Doesn’t He know what you really need?  Isn’t His purpose to conform you to the image of His Son?  And who decides how that is supposed to be done?  You?

The final word here is obedience.  Do you want to be a delight to the Father?  Then do what He says.  You don’t even have to pray for Him to tell you what that is.  He has already told you.  Go read the Torah.  After your life is in conformity with His instructions, then see if you still need to pray, “Lord, bless me with prosperity, health, family, work and no temptations.”

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Desperado

Sunday, November 15th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

And out of the ground YHWH made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. Genesis 2:9

Pleasant – When I visited the Prado in Madrid, I saw Titian’s painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden. You can see it here. You’ll notice that Titian does not represent the tempter as a serpent. Perhaps he was a bit more careful about the text than we tend to be. This “serpent” is a lot more like something human than something reptilian, just as the text suggests. Our mythology about the Genesis account needs some serious correction. That correction must include a reconsideration of trees.

When you think about the garden in ‘eden (the place of pleasure), do you think about a pristine topography replete with vegetation, flowers, gentle animals and fruit trees? That seems to be the imagery of most pictorial representations of this story. But consider the original audience and geographical context of this account. Would the children of Israel, recently removed from Egypt, think of the garden as grassy knolls, verdant forests, bubbling brooks and lush flowered canopies filled with brightly-colored parrots? How could they have imagined any of this? They lived in a semi-arid, open expanse. They knew nothing of parrots, orchids, apples and bananas. Their mental picture of the garden had to be based on their experience, not on the imagery of 16th century European artists. So, where did the idea of a garden come from? And what would they have imagined would be in it?

Most scholars tell us that the idea of paradise comes from Babylonian royal preserves. Kings collected animals and plants which were kept in walled preserves, the ancient versions of a combination zoo and botanical garden. Solomon mentions this in Ecclesiastes. But God’s version isn’t just a collection. God’s version adds something else. God adds a door.

The Hebrew word translated “pleasant” is nechmad. This is the root chamad plus the prefix consonant Nun. The structure is N-CH-M-D. The root covers a wide range of acts of desire. It can mean to lust after, to covet, to take pleasure in or to delight in. Obviously, both good and evil desires are covered by the same verbal root. That’s why the word is used here and in the tenth commandment (“You shall not covet – chamad). Look at the consonant structure. What does the pictograph show us? Nun is life. Chet is a fence (what separates). Mem is chaos. Daleth is door or path. So, what is pleasant? It is the door in the fence that separates chaos from life.

“Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? Come down from your fences, open the gate.” What God has provided inside His walled preserve is all the doors that separate chaos from life. He has invited us to consume; to use the strength to control what is allowed under His seal and sign. What is pleasant from a biblical perspective? It is opening the doors that lead to life. It is to be in the Father’s will. It is to know His blessing and His goodness. It is to live in His preserve with Him.

“But his delight is in the Torah of YHWH, and in His Torah he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2

“I delight to do Your will, O my God; yes, Your Torah is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8

Topical Index: pleasant, delight, chamad, garden, Genesis 2:9

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Desperado

Sunday, November 15th, 2009 | Author: Bessy Bendaña

Y el SEÑOR Dios hizo brotar de la tierra todo árbol agradable a la vista y bueno para comer Génesis 2:9

Agradable – Cuando visité el Museo del Prado en Madrid vi la pintura de Titian sobre Adán y Eva en el Jardín. Puedes verlo allí. Notarás que Titian no representa al tentador como serpiente. Quizás fue más cuidadoso con el texto de lo que somos nosotros. Esta “serpiente” es mucho más como algo humano que reptil, como lo sugiere el texto. Nuestra mitología sobre la anécdota de Génesis necesita seriamente una corrección. Esta corrección debe incluir una reconsideración de los arboles.

Cuando piensas en el árbol en ´eden (el lugar del placer),  ¿piensas en una topografía prístina repleta de vegetación, flores, animales dóciles y árboles frutales? Esa parece ser la imagen generalizada de la mayoría de las representaciones pictóricas de esta historia. Pero considera la audiencia original y el contexto geográfico de éste relato. ¿Acaso los hijos de Israel, quienes recién habían dejado Egipto,  pensarían en suaves colinas verdes, bosques frondosos, y copos de flores tupidos con pájaros de todos colores? ¿Cómo podrían imaginarse eso? Vivian en una expansión semi árida. No sabían nada de loros, orquídeas, manzanas ni bananos. Su imagen mental  del jardín tuvo que basarse en su propia experiencia, no en las imágenes de los artistas europeos del siglo 16.  Así que ¿de dónde salió la idea del jardín? ¿Y cómo lo imaginaron ellos?

La mayoría de los eruditos nos dice que la idea del paraíso se origina de las preservas reales. Los reyes coleccionaban animales y plantas y las guardaban en preservas amuralladas, las versiones antiguas de zoológicos y jardines botánicos. Salomón lo menciona en Eclesiastés. Pero la versión de Dios no es solo una colección. La versión de Dios agrega algo. Dios agrega una puerta.

La palabra hebrea traducida como “agradable” es nechmad. Es la raíz chamad más el consonante Nun de prefijo.  La estructura es N-CH-M-D.  La raíz cubre un amplio rango de actos de deseo. Puede significar lujuria, codiciar algo, tomar placer o deleitarse en.  Obviamente, ambos deseos buenos y malos se cubren en esta misma raíz verbal. Es por eso que la palabra se utiliza aquí y en el Decimo Mandamiento (“no codiciarás – chamad). Mira la estructura de consonantes. Nun es vida. Chet es el cerco (lo que separa). Mem es caos. Dalet es la puerta o camino. Así que ¿Qué es lo placentero? Es la puerta en la cerca que separa el caos de la vida.

“Desperado, ¿Por qué no razonas? sal de tus cercos, abra la puerta.” Lo que Dios ha provisto dentro de Su preserva amurallada son todas las puertas que separan el caos de la vida. El nos ha invitado a consumir; a utilizar la fuerza para controlar lo que se permite bajo Su señal y firma. ¿Qué es agradable desde la perspectiva de Dios? Es abrir la puerta que lleva a la vida. Es estar en la voluntad del Padre. Es conocer Sus bendiciones y SU bondad. Es vivir en Su preserva, junto con EL.

“Sino que en la Tora del SEÑOR está su deleite, y en su Tora medita de día y de noche” Salmos 1:2

“me deleito en hacer tu voluntad, Dios mío; tu Tora está dentro de mi corazón.” Salmos 40:8

Agradable, deleite, chamad, jardín, Génesis 2:9

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