God's Unfolding Promise To Renew the Whole Universe: Recent Episodes
Matt
The official podcast of Grace and Hope Lutheran Churches in Columbia City, IN. The primary focus of this podcast will be confirmation (or catechism). However, there will hopefully be discussions and topics of interest to others as well. For confirmation will we be using Daniel Erlander's Manna and Mercy as a guide, as we explore God's Unfolding Promise to Renew the Whole Universe. From time to time there may be off-topic episodes addressing contemporary events or other items we find interesting.
In this episode, we briefly examine how the gospels portray Jesus's resurrection. What might these stories tell us about resurrection and eternal life?
What did abundant manna mean in Jesus's day? What does that have to do with the Lord's Prayer?
We discuss Jesus's mission in Luke and why it might have upset his audience. What does it mean to proclaim good news to the poor, oppressed, blind, and captured?
What is God's surprise? As Christians, we likely look at Jesus's birth as the surprise, but is that really a surprise? Every Advent, we look expectantly towards Christmas and the birth of Jesus, so it is not really a surprise anymore. So what is God's surprise? Well, for that, we need to look at the beginning of Luke's gospel. We also might want to consider the beginning of Matthew's gospel as well. While not neglecting the other Gospels, Matthew and Luke use the beginning of their gospel to introduce Jesus's mission and purpose. We begin to see God's surprise in Mary's song, in Luke's birth announcement, in the arrival of the magi, in John baptizing people, and in the story of Jesus's temptation.
Who is Jesus? That is the question we are going to be exploring this year in confirmation. To begin to answer that question, we should first ask what is Jesus's community. This week, we will begin to explore Jesus's community and even start to look at why Jesus was killed by the state.
This week's class will explore the ways Jesus's life and ministry initiated the year of Jubilation, a reset for society.
Today's episode covers Jesus's birth and God's response to the people's cry for liberation, justice, and mercy. Jesus's birth is God's response to the people. By the time of Jesus's birth, the world had long since reverted to the ways of Pharoah. God begins a new chapter, starting with Mary. While it might be a new chapter, it is also a continuation of what God has been about since the beginning (mending the entire universe).
This chapter in Manna and Mercy opens with a brief discussion of Ezra 10. Erlander mentions Ezra 10 was not what God intended. Fortunately, there was a group of individuals that countered Ezra 10 with their own stories that sought to emphasize God's love of all nations. Why is it still in the Bible if Ezra 10 was not what God wanted? Perhaps, it was not what God wanted for the people, but it might have been what was needed at that moment. When we read the Bible, we need to remember it was not written for us but addressed the people's needs (perceived or real) at that time.
Exile was a defining moment in the history of Judaism and Christianity. Defeated and taken into exile, the ancient biblical people had to reimagine their faith, identity, and understanding of God. New questions were asked, as suggested by Proverbs 30:24-28 "Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise..." The animals in the proverb represent the condition of the ancient Hebrews. They were without strength, a king, and power; however, they had spread throughout the empire. In such a state, they had to reimage what it meant to be a people of God.
What is a prophet? Typically we think of prophets as those special individuals who can predict the future (e.g., Nostradamus). Unfortunately, when we read the prophets of the Old Testament in that way, it can (and does) lead to misunderstanding. Biblical prophets were visionary but not fortune tellers. They were more like prosecutors laying out their cases before the king and the people in the hopes that both would change their ways. While those cases might include predictions of disaster, those predictions were more the working out of the king's and the people's current path. All in the hopes the people would choose to seek equity and justice, mercy, and walk humbly.
Today we talk about the book of Samuel. The book of Samuel tells the story of how ancient Israel became a kingdom. It was not easy. Some did not want a king. The anti-king folks lost the debate, and ancient Israel became a kingdom like every other kingdom in the world (with similar results).
Chapter 5 of Manna and Mercy discusses the Book of Joshua. Joshua is a book that does not get much exposure in worship (only 2 or 3 short readings over a 3-year cycle). In some ways, it is easy to understand why Joshua is not often read. Many of us as modern readers find some of the images in Joshua disturbing (conquest, genocide, YHWH as divine warrior). There is no doubt Joshua is a product of its time and place. However, Joshua's questions about identity and what it means to follow this liberating God still have relevance for our modern era.
Biblical laws are often difficult for many of us to understand and read contextually. We tend to read them in a very proscriptive way (you can't do that etc.), which is how the laws we follow tend to work (e.g., Speed Limits, No Dogs Allowed, No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service). Biblical laws tend to be more descriptive than prescriptive. They describe the way of life God wants for all of humanity and the cosmos. Reading biblical laws (including the Ten Commandments) descriptively means they are not exhaustive but are meant to be engaged by people of faith in community formation.
The following two chapters cover topics where Christians have tended to struggle. Part of the difficulty of these topics is their counter-cultural nature. The idea of manna from Exodus 16 reveals an idea of work and possessions that is quite different from our society's ideas about those things. Secondly, we tend to view the ideas of the Sabbath and the Ten Commandments as rules or regulations that need to be strictly followed. How does the story of manna in the wilderness challenge those perceptions about the Sabbath?
This episode covers background information for chapter 2 of Manna and Mercy. Chapter 2 begins with the people in Egyptian slavery, but how did they get there? We might have skipped over most of Genesis, but toward the end of the book is the story of Joseph. In the Joseph story, we see how "big deals" become "big deals." Once they become "big deals," they have to justify the hierarchy that allows them to be "big deals."
Introduction to Daniel Erlander's Manna and Mercy Chapter 1: Beginnings.
Why would we be concerned with biblical illiteracy, and what do we mean by illiteracy? We will explore these questions ahead of reading the first chapter, Beginnings. The answer to these questions will help set the tone for how Daniel Erlander approaches the biblical story in Manna and Mercy.
This episode is a general introduction to the 2021/2022 confirmation year and curriculum. This year we will be working our way through Daniel Erlander's Manna and Mercy: A Brief History of God's Unfolding Promise to Mend the Entire Universe. Today's episode briefly introduces God's name and the lens through which we read the Bible and provide class details. We do have a copy of Manna and Mercy for current class participants. Please feel free to do so if you would like to follow the podcast and read through Manna and Mercy but are not part of the class itself. I am always happy to talk about and discuss Manna and Mercy with any of you outside of the official class. The book can be found at this link or ordered through your favorite bookseller.
One of the fun things about the Bible is trying to figure out how to translate certain words and phrases. Most English translations in Amos 7.7 picture God standing on (or next) to a wall holding a "plumb line." It is this "plumb line" that God will place in the midst of the people in 7.8. But is that the right translation of the Hebrew behind the English translation or should we picture God hold and placing something different in the midst of the people?
Today's podcast is the reflection from our mid-week lenten service. The mid-week services have been working their way through Philippians 2:5-11. This hymn is one of the best know passages from Paul's letter, yet its meaning is somewhat elusive and open to multiple possibilities. During the next couple of weeks, we will look at some of those possibilities.
Sometimes when reading the Bible, we can get distracted by the details. This often happens when we become curious about those details. For example, in the sermon text for Jan 24 Luke 5:1-11, several journal articles or paragraphs in various commentaries were devoted to the type of net Simon and the others were using. Unfortunately, this research was attempting to use the text in a way that goes beyond the narrative itself. While information about the nets and ancient fishing techniques may be interesting, they can also distract the reader from the implied author's purpose for the narrative.
In this week's episode, we explore the role and prominence of women in Luke's gospel. This Sunday's reading is from Luke 1:26-56, which includes the Magnificat and Mary visiting Elizabeth's visit. We often miss the fact that these are the only two times (except for Anna [2.36-38] whose words are not recorded only that she spoke about Jesus) when a woman in Luke's gospel speaks and is not corrected by a male character. Women are frequently mentioned in Luke's Gospel, but their roles are often diminished in status and power. Leaving us to wonder, can this gospel still be a word of God for a modern world? Especially since at least half, the modern world is female. In this episode, we begin to explore reading these troublesome texts.
Hello, Welcome to the initial podcast for Grace and Hope Lutheran Churches. Before the Sermon...or After. In this first episode, we take a closer look at Isaiah 61 vs. 8. Verse 8 present an issue for translators. We begin by reading from 3 different English versions of the Bible before briefly discussing why there is a difference between the three versions. I apologize for the recording quality. I had the door shut to the office, but there are a few places where extraneous noise can be heard. The total length is approximately 16 minutes.