"The word of God is not chained."
Thoughts on the readings from Liturgy on October 9, 2022.
Today, both our reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (2 Kgs 5:14-17) and from the Gospel (Lk 17:11-19) featured miraculous healings of people affected by leprosy and share an example of one of them, a Samaritan no less, returning to Jesus to offer his gratitude.
Gratitude is important. It’s a good thing.
It’s appropriate to give thanks for gifts that we have received.
The gift of colorful fall leaves.
The opportunity to be in a nourishing community.
And especially for the space to ask questions and express doubts
about what you have been taught and what you have read in the Bible.
Like today, we heard an excerpt from a letter purported to be written by Paul to a coworker named Timothy (2 Tim 2:8-13).
There are some very challenging parts in the letters to Timothy. And these challenging parts have caused some to consider Paul a misogynist. But I want to peel back the layers a bit today.
There is strong evidence that Paul did not write either of the letters to Timothy nor the letter to Titus. And there is also widespread agreement among biblical scholars that Paul did not write three other letters that have his name on them (Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians).
Paul certainly did wrote seven of letters with his name on them: Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon
Why do I point this out?
First, it’s important to realize that these letters were not written to us. We are basically eavesdropping by reading these old letters written to address issues of church administration. These letters were not intended to be complete, well-formed doctrinal statements for all people and all times. So there is historical and culturally conditioned messaging in those letters, (and in every book of the Bible), that we should leave in that ancient culture.
Second, it is important to notice how the later church authority influenced and changed Paul’s original theology. These later letters that were written in Paul’s name actually conflict with what Paul’s original messages were.
According to Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan,
What happens across those three sets of letters is that the radical Paul of the authentic seven letters (Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon) is slowly but steadily morphed into the conservative Paul of the probably inauthentic threesome (Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians) and finally into the reactionary Paul of those certainly inauthentic ones (1-2 Timothy, Titus).
The radical Paul is being deradicalized, sanitized and Romanized. His radical views on, for example, slavery and patriarchy, are being retrofitted into Roman cultural expectations and Roman social hierarchies.
The same thing happened to Jesus’ message once Christianity aligned with empire.
But, having said all that, I did find one nugget of wisdom in today’s second reading from Timothy …
“But the word of God is not chained.”
The author of this letter describes “Paul” in prison, in chains, and still sending out letters of encouragement from prison to his planted churches to carry on the good fight! Paul lets us know that he is suffering for the gospel even to the point of chains like a criminal. And then he declares:
“But the word of God is not chained.”
The word of God is not chained….
The word of God is not chained to how it's always been interpreted.
The word of God is not chained to how it's always been preached.
The word of God is not chained to church buildings.
The word of God is not even chained to ordained clergy members.
The word of God is supposed to be shared with everyone because it is “good news!” It is a source of freedom and joy.
The word of God is
not just to be shared with people who vote in a particular way.
not just to be shared with people who love in the “appropriate way.”
not just to be shared with people who live in the sanctioned way.
The word of God is not chained up so that only the pure can receive it.
Or only those who submit to the authority of male clergy to receive it.
Or even only those who rely on any ordained person to receive it.
Institutional religions teach that we need a mediator to stand between God and us. And that Jesus the Christ is our mediator. And that male priests stand “in persona Christi” to act as that mediator when they consecrate the Eucharistic elements.
Why do we need a mediator?
Because according to the doctrine of original sin, we are all born with a sinful nature, worthless and unfit to stand in the presence of God.
God the one who created us
God the one who loved is into being
God the one who is love and cannot act contrary to that love couldn't bear to face us without sending Jesus to his crucifixion.
So Jesus is sent to be our mediator,
the one to bridge the chasm between us and God
the one whose blood makes us presentable to God
The one who died for our sins.
But this one, this Jesus, told us a parable of the prodigal Father (it really is about a Father who loves his children with a “prodigal” or extravagant love) who did not wait for a mediator to stand between him and his son who returned not because he was sorry but because he was hungry. The father ran out to embrace the son and welcome him home without any mediation, without any explanation or apologies. Before the son gets his story out, the Father embraces him. Jesus told us this story so that we could know that the Creator God loves us that much. No mediation is needed.
And this same one, this Jesus, before he shed a drop of blood, told us that the reign of God is within us, it is among us. In the very next verse after the healing of the lepers in Luke, Jesus tells us the reign of God is among us.
You do not have to run after it.
You do not have to earn it.
It is already here among us.
No blood sacrifice needed.
But the reign of God is not yet fully here among us.
And this is our invitation.
Jesus predicts that we will do the same kind of work Jesus has been doing, and that we will do even greater things than these (John 14:12).
This Jesus did not look at us like worthless humanity unfit to do any good thing.
That idea of human’s sinful nature did not come from Jesus!
This is our work: to use the gifts that we have been given in order to bring about the reign of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
You don’t need a mediator to approach God.
You don’t need anyone to stand between you and God.
God doesn’t need a mediator to connect with you.
So, maybe this is a weird message from me, an ordained priest standing up here running the show.
But I am not a mediator.
I am leading this ritual that we call liturgy.
Leaders hold the space, ring the bells to start the ritual, guide the progression of the ritual, and empower everyone present to show up as true expressions of the divine.
As we’ve discussed in our recent couple of town halls on the eucharist, this ritual helps us focus on God’s presence right here and right now.
The ritual is for us. Not for God.
Me, Rev. Olivia, Deacon Sarah, and Rev. Shanon, we are leading the rituals and we are empowering you.
By virtue of our baptism, we are all part of the Priesthood of all believers - you are priests, too!
You are empowered to intensify God’s presence for yourself in community with all of the rest of us, now that you are fully participating at home, consecrating your own Eucharist elements!
You have the power to unchain God and let her romp freely in your soul, my friends!
May you use that power to bring about the reign of God today.