Sunday Morning Sermons

In case anyone was wondering how to access the sermons from the Sunday services at Park Ave, here's the link:

http://parkavechurchmpls.com/podcasts/

Racial Identity in the Emerging Church and the World

I found this podcast just tonight. I haven't listened to it yet, but it seems pertinent to many of our recent discussions. The interview features Vincent Harding and Phyllis Tickle:

Racial Identity in the Emerging Church and the World

The Cyrophoenician Woman

This week we are looking at some of the difficult passages of scripture:

There are so many passages in the Bible that are troubling...that can lead to a somewhat difficult relationship with the Bible, including this passage from the gospels: Mark 7:25-30. How can we understand this scripture in light of all the things we've learned in this series? In light of the message of grace and love offered by Jay Bakker in session 7? How about Deuteronomy 20:1-20?

 I thought I'd offer links to a few different discussions of the Mark 7 passage.

In Desperate Need is a somewhat traditional interpretation of the passage hosted on the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Website.

Jesus Was Not Colorblind is an article posted on the Patheos website by David R. Henson. Patheos hosts the bio pages for the Animate: Bible presenters and a blog featuring articles by leaders of the progressive Christian community.

Letting the Bible Speak

Last week, after I posted some of the discussion questions for this week's study, Shanna posted this comment:

I have to admit that I was a little discouraged when the speaker implied that "letting the bible speak to you" was ridiculous. No everyone has a source of spiritual support to help them navigate the bible in an intellectual manner. I remember being 14 and desperately seeking God with no one around me to act as a Shepard. I prayed about what I was about to read in the bible, asking God to guide me, and the passage I read turned my life around. This a situation where "letting the Bible speak to you" is far from ridiculous.

 (see here: Preparing For Discussion - Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us)

On Sunday, Pat sent me an email with a story that begins in this way:

A cab driver in the Philippines became radically saved. He was taught that he now had the power of God in his life to transform his community. Because he had not had any prior religious training to the contrary, he took a literal approach to believing what the Bible says about prayer and miracles.

Read the rest of the story here: Prime Time With God: Transforming A Workplace)

I am beginning to ask myself if it isn't so much "letting the Bible speak" that can be a problem sometimes, as putting our own interpretations on the Bible in the absence of relationship with and surrender to God. If we earnestly seek God while we are reading scripture, I believe that God will speak...BUT we have to be open to the possibility that what God will say with not fit within our current understanding of the world or even within our current understanding of God.

This always leaves me with such a feeling of responsibility, maybe even vulnerability. It's my responsibility to tend my relationship with God in such a way that I can hear the still, small voice amidst the clamoring of my experiences, the world around me, and my own misgivings and intellectual scruples.  I have to silence the clamor and be still. And trust. I have to trust that God will speak, that I won't have to chase God down the rabbit holes of scriptural interpretation, that God is right there with me while I chase after truth.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

One of the passages we have been asked to consider this week is the parable of the workers in the vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. I thought I would find some possible interpretations of this passage:

Fairly "standard" interpretation from Bible.org: Workers in the Vineyard

Strongly social justice oriented reading from the National Catholic Reporter: What the Parable of the Vineyard Workers Really Says

Sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber including commentary on the Vineyard parable: Sermon from Sierra Pacific Synod Service

Rather radical interpretation by Boyd Collins in his blog, Jesus Radicals: The Power That Springs From Weakness

From the blog of Wycliffe Bible Translators missionaries, Mark & Laura Woodward: A Missional Reading of Matthew 20:1-16

If there are others you have found, feel free to post them in the comments!!

Visual Depictions - Genres of Scripture

From Credo House Ministries:

The book of Jonah...

I found this straightforward article in the Jewish Heritage Online Magazine: Jonah the Reluctant Prophet. The article highlights the fact that the story of Jonah has traditionally been understood as parable or allegory, as midrash in the Jewish tradition. The understanding of this book as allegory, rather than history, has not in any way diminished it's meaning. In fact, this book is such a poignant parable that it is recited as part of the services for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the most holy day of the Jewish year.

From the article:

The underlying theology in the book of Jonah is two-fold:
1. God’s compassion extends to all nations of the earth; and
2. Israel is under responsibility to be the vehicle by which that compassion is made known.

The sages consciously chose this book to be read in the afternoon service, as the Sabbath of Sabbaths, the Day of Atonement, draws to an end. As we pray for forgiveness and for a year of life, we recall that God is the God of all mankind, of all the Ninevehs of the world, and man, created in God’s image, is obligated to embrace and extend that compassion.

I have begun to wonder if sometimes we resist the idea that a story from the Bible may not be literal and historical because we think that somehow diminishes the value of the story; that it is somehow less true. Is it possible that the story is still true but not literal and historical?

The Gospel of Q

The journal notes for session 4 make brief mention of an additional gospel called Q, which is considered by many scholars to have been a source for pieces of the synoptic gospels Matthew & Luke. If you're interested in reading more about Q, this article is one of the best I've found. It's lengthy and dense, but readable:

What is the Q Gospel?