Paragraphs from SSCSJ

Advent begins a new liturgical year for Christians that observe such things. Advent is also a time when Christian “suppersessionism” is on full display as most Christians “read” Jesus back into the First Testament texts where he does not belong and misinterpret “prophets” or “prophecy” as future telling rather than a literary device for critique of the present. The title of John Dominic Crossan’s new book sums up nicely the cognitive paradox much of the Christendom experiences on a daily basis: The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus. A few paragraphs from Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal. If you or your congregation observes the lighting of an Advent Wreath during this time of waiting we do have a liturgical resource we can send you for a $5 dollar donation. Email me for the document.

Some Questions to Consider/Revisit During Advent Each Year.

What do the prophetic stories mean in their own context, and for the 21st century, without assuming their prediction of the Jesus narrative?
Where does Advent intersect your life and understanding of God?
What images come to mind when you think about the season of Advent? Why are those images important for you or for the community of faith?
Is there a particular week of Advent that appeals to you most? Why?

“Preaching Advent with Integrity”

What’s the problem? The history of Christian anti-Semitism is well documented, with its climax coming in the horrors of the Holocaust. Many people have argued that Hitler was not Christian and that, therefore, Christianity cannot be blamed for his actions. While I do doubt Hitler’s understanding of “being a Christian”, there is no denying that he was a baptized member of the Church and was raised in an ostensibly “Christian” country. More important, though, is that Hitler did not create “anti-Semitism”, nor was he the first to suggest that Jewish people were the source of all evils in the world. From its earliest days, Christianity blamed the Jews with perhaps the worst of all sins: killing Jesus (or God, depending on one’s understanding of the incarnation). The Matthew text, where the “Jews” claim that they and their descendants bear the “bloodguilt” for Jesus’ death, (Matt 27:25) is perhaps the first encounter most people have with this anti-Jewish sentiment.

The Jewish roots of Christianity meant that, from the earliest history of this new faith, there was a connection with the Judaism. Eventually this relationship became unsustainable, as the followers of the Way began to make claims about Jesus that were blasphemous within the Jewish faith (e.g, Jesus was God, sacrificial atonement, etc.). A shared canon further complicated this separation. The early church had no other scripture but the Torah, Prophets, and Writings (in whatever form they existed in the first few centuries of the Common Era). These same texts would also be the foundation for what would become the Christian canon.

As the “newer” religion, Christianity had to prove itself to be distinct from Judaism and a valid faith among the many available in the Greco-Roman world. This argument was made by showing how Christianity was “better” than the Jewish faith, usually through debate and written invectives. This eventually led to the practice of a supersessionist interpretation of the 1st Testament, especially of the prophets. The idea was that the Church had supplanted the Jews as God’s chosen people, leaving non-believing Jews damned, unsaved.

Without this sensitivity, Christian preachers taught their congregations that the Jews were so bad that God had to send Jesus to save the world. In fact, their sinfulness was the reason for Jesus’ death. Their refusal to accept Jesus as the Messiah was further proof of their sin. They, and the other unsaved, were doomed to eternal damnation and therefore were “less important” than Christians.

For centuries, the Church has stolen the prophets from the Jewish faith. The prophet Isaiah (Chs 1-39) no longer had any value for those living in 8^th century Jerusalem. Rather, his words were only predicting events that would not happen for another 500 years. Advent becomes a prime opportunity for Christian apologetics at the expense of our Jewish sisters and brothers, and our own appreciation of these ancient texts.

A Different Approach

We begin this different approach by being respectful of the Jewish tradition, while being faithful to the Christian faith. It is as simple as what title we use for these texts that we share with the Jewish faith: Old Testament, Hebrew Bible, First Testament (Original, Prime, Older). This resource uses “First Testament” as way to counteract the accrued negative import of “Old” Testament.
We need to correct the historical tendency of Christians to read the FT as describing people who were exceptionally sinful. We must realize that this is Israel’s description of itself. It reflects their own self-understanding as a people called by God, failing God, and being continually redeemed by God–all human characteristics. They were no worse or better than we are. What is amazing is their honest evaluation/reporting of their failures.
We should follow the advice given by Walter Harrelson & Rabbi Falk that any Christian reading/preaching of the FT must leave intact a meaning for the Jewish community. If it doesn’t, then it is a misuse of the bible. “The bible of the Jews cannot be claimed as applicable only in the form of Christian interpretation.”

Psalm 25:1-10

As a statement of faith, this psalm reminds a believer that God teaches Torah to humans. We can learn steadfast love and mercy, which are part of the Lord’s ways and paths. It is interesting that these words are plural, “ways” and “paths”. Does the writer think or believe that there is more than one way or path to knowing God? Another interesting aspect of this scripture is verse 8, “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore the Lord instructs sinners in the way.” What are God’s ways? The psalmist answers, “steadfast love and faithfulness for those that keep the covenant and decrees” (v. 10).

Jeremiah 33:14-16

For Advent Year C, the Lectionary contains a variety of prophetic texts leading-up to Christmas Eve. They come from Jeremiah, Malachi, Zephaniah, and Micah, each with its own potential for Christian misinterpretation and a supersessionist view of the texts that we share with our Jewish sisters and brothers (see “Preaching Advent with Integrity”). This approach robs the texts of their meaning and depth for both the Jewish community and the Church. Israel’s prophets were not predicting events that would happen in a faraway future; they were commenting on the events of their historical context and providing words of encouragement, or judgment, to their current community. In this passage, Jeremiah is speaking to the exiles in Babylon and envisioning the future that God intends for them. Jeremiah was commissioned by God “to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant” (1:10). Now it is time to fulfill that last part of his call.

First, we need to set the historical context for the book of Jeremiah. In the tumultuous final years of Judah (c 721-586 BCE), the people must have lived in a great deal of fear. They knew that the Assyrians had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and were on their way to confront the other great power in the ANE, Egypt. Geography dictated that the Assyrian army would have to go through Judah to get there. In fact, the Assyrian leader Sennacherib had attacked Jerusalem, but he was unsuccessful. This experience gave the leaders of Judah a false sense of security that God would protect them from any foreign threat. However, the southern kingdom became essentially a vassal state of Assyria, paying tribute to keep their would-be conquerors at bay. When the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, the people of Judah continued to live under threat of destruction; only the enemy had changed.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

In 2009, I thought 1 Thessalonians expressed a tone of parental pride, and I have a similar reaction in 2012. Those involved in “birthing” either emergent communities or “new” congregations probably resonate quickly with Paul’s tone and ideas. Paul focuses this part of the letter on his love for the Thessalonians, as an example for the new community to follow in their daily lives. It makes me wonder if Paul told the story of his conversion as an example of proclaiming the Gospel. How do you intend to “abound in love” this Advent season?

Luke 21:25-36

The past few months, the Lectionary has been “knee-deep” in apocalyptic and eschatological imagery and language. It is a theological choice to start Advent with Luke’s Jesus speaking of the “Son of Man” as if Jesus is describing himself, in third person, or describing the coming of someone else. For some, the current human context feels like an apocalyptic time more than an eschatological one. But, is that a good place from which to begin the journey to Bethlehem?

It’s important to remember that a young child’s concept of time is day-to-day, one event to the next, and so the immediacy of every need does not presuppose tomorrow. Until children develop the ability to think abstractly and shed the fear of “abandonment”, their lives are literally “lived for today”, even as they understand that the sun sets and rises on their lives. Children may think about tomorrow, but they live for today. One may teach patience, learn to delay gratification, or enjoy singing, along with Clarice’s idealism, “There’s always tomorrow for dreams to come true,” but that only masks the anxiety that “tomorrows” are limited or may actually be worse than today’s lived experience. Jesus is thinking about the kindom of God today by talking about the reign of God tomorrow. How can your Advent experience this year be different, better than before, by living in the kindom of God today and inviting the children and the people in your midst to do the same?