For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. – 2 Corinthians 1:13

Today's Scripture Reading (March 19, 2021): 2 Corinthians 1

Psalm 46 is sometimes referred to as “The Shakespeare Psalm.” If you haven’t heard it, the story is that in 1610 the translators of the King James Version of the Bible, which was first published in 1611, wanted to do something to honor the playwright. William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, which made him forty-six years old in 1610.  So, in honor of the dramatist, they decided to place a hidden message in Psalm 46. They chose to put his name in the Psalm in the form of a code. Using the King James translation, if you count forty-six words from the beginning of Psalm 46, you will find the word “shake.” If you count forty-six words from the end of the Psalm, not counting the word “Selah,” which is more of a punctuation mark, you will find the word “spear.” If you are reading a King James Bible that retains the ancient spelling, the word is actually rendered as “speare.” Thus, you have discovered a message that the translators have hidden in the pages of the King James Bible to honor the Elizabethan playwright, his name “shake speare.”

Is the story true? Maybe, but it doesn’t seem likely that the translators of the Bible would have been that distracted by a local author's birthday. Shakespeare’s fame actually increased after his death in 1616. Today, some scholars question whether William Shakespeare was even a real person, arguing that the plays we have attributed to him were actually written by a community of authors who are now long forgotten. Yet, the myth of Psalm 46 continues.

The basic scheme of reading Psalm 46 to find the hidden message, in this case, an acknowledgment of William Shakespeare, is the same scheme that lies behind our quest to unlock the “Bible code.” Believers in a “Bible code” argue that the gospel writers, or the Holy Spirit, organized the biblical writings so that a prophetic message is revealed when you read the passage by skipping a certain number of words. Like Psalm 46, maybe you read every fifty words or every five words. Or perhaps it is a mathematical progression where you read ten words and then eleven, twelve, thirteen, and so on, to get the message. Another method is to place the letter in a grid of maybe fifty squares, with the spaces removed, and then examine the diagonal or vertical columns to find the hidden messages, similar to doing a “word search” puzzle.

Sometimes, this process is completed using the original Hebrew or Greek of the text. This process is often done using the King James Version of the Bible, making the outcome even more remarkable because Elizabethan English was not the language in which the original documents were written. The advancement in computers has made this search for messages even more lucrative, and if you want to look, skipping letters, you can find even find the names of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hidden in the pages of the Bible.

Are these messages real? Personally, I don’t think so, especially when we begin to look for prophetic messages in the English Version of the Bible. Similar statements can be found in the pages of a Lee Child or Tom Clancy novel if you really want to look for them.

But beyond that, Paul states that those messages are not there. Writing to the Corinthians, he confronts the concept behind a Bible code. Apparently, some of the Corinthians were looking for hidden messages in Paul’s letters and the documents they had received from others. But Paul refutes that idea. Nothing is written in his letters that they have to struggle to find. And no one else is busy hiding messages, either. What he means is precisely what it is that he has written down. Paul and his compatriots have not written anything that you cannot read and understand, just by reading the letter.

Hidden messages? Sorry, according to Paul, they are just not there.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 2 & 3

I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. – Romans 16:22

Today's Scripture Reading (March 18, 2021): Romans 16

I hate being the new person in the room. There are probably a few reasons for my discomfort. I admit that I am often slow to trust. And, unbelievably, I tend to overshare, so maybe my lack of trust is actually an admission that I don't trust myself. When you are the new person, it seems like the introductions are never-ending. Some of them are welcome, and others are less so, but all of them are necessary.

What complicates being new for me is that I struggle with names. There are times when I can't remember the names of my closest friends, so forgetting the name of someone to whom I have only been introduced a couple of times can be a little tricky. Once, a politically mobile acquaintance I had only met a couple of times started up a conversation with me at a convention. I was sure I knew his name, but I couldn't help glancing at his nametag, just to make sure. And at that moment, I got caught, and he quickly moved to cover up his tag. "You don't need to see that" was his last comment before he walked away. Oops.

Rome was the only church to whom Paul wrote that he had never visited. Most of the churches to whom Paul sent a letter he had also planted. But the church in Rome was different. Rome was an aspiration of Paul's, a hope that one day Paul would visit this church in the Capital of the Empire. But so far, that is all that it was; an aspiration and a hope.  

And so, Paul wrote his letter to the Romans. Paul's standard practice was to employ an amanuensis or secretary to do the actual work of writing while Paul dictated what he wanted to say. In this case, the secretary that Paul uses is a man named Tertius. We know very little about Tertius. His name is Latin for "third," just as "Silas" is a Hebrew variant of "shalish," meaning "third officer." Some have wondered if there might be a connection between "Tertius" and "Silas," even arguing that the different names might be used for the same person. But it seems likely that Tertius is a Roman Christian, maybe someone who has the relationship with the Roman church that Paul lacked. And because Tertius might have been known to the Romans, Paul offers Tertius a chance to write his own greeting to the Roman Church. Tertius's greeting does not appear at the end of the letter, which has caused some to wonder if the greeting might be misplaced. Still, it is probably just that there was a lull in the writing of the letter that occurred here, and so Paul tells Tertius to write down a greeting from him to his friends back home.

Tertius decides to write a very general greeting to the Roman Christians. And in writing his greeting, Tertius confirms that he was the secretary who wrote down Paul's words, and he can make an introduction of Paul to the Romans. It was a verification of Paul from someone that the Roman church knew. Tertius tells the Romans that he was a witness to the letter and confirms that the letter really was from the one and only Paul the Apostle.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 1

For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." – Romans 15:3

Today's Scripture Reading (March 17, 2021): Romans 15

President Dwight D. Eisenhower argued that "the search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions." If we are paying attention, we can always find someone on whom we can place the blame if that is the game that we want to play. And for some, there seems to be no choice. They can't be considered to be wrong, so they feel that they have to blame someone else.

Paul's argument has been the opposite. Those who think they are strong should be the ones who bear the burden. Christians are marked by the way that we treat each other. And at no time is it appropriate to make the road more challenging for those who might be weaker among us. We are not the ones who play the blame game, and we don't shoot our wounded; we are the cheerleaders. At least, that is the way it is supposed to be.

But Paul, and we, know that that is not really true. Somehow, we have believed the lie that Christian perfection has something to do with perfect performance, which often means that the strong have to push off their mistakes onto Eisenhower's "scapegoat," often the weaker people among us. People have been gravely injured inside the church walls, but as long as that pain is confined to the perimeter and the weak, we seem to think that it is appropriate. I empathize with Christian leaders who, in their vulnerable moments, admit that there are places inside the church where they feel threatened by those who should be the strong among us. Something is very wrong.

Paul quotes King David's words as he tries to address this situation inside the church with which he was acquainted.  Centuries earlier, David had penned these words –

For I endure scorn for your sake,
    and shame covers my face.
I am a foreigner to my own family,
    a stranger to my own mother's children;
for zeal for your house consumes me,
    and the insults of those who insult you fall on me (Psalm 69:7-9)

It is that last phrase that Paul uses to strengthen his argument, but the allusion is really to the whole passage. Paul believes that these words accurately describe Jesus's ministry in their midst. He endured the scorn and shame that belonged to us. And the insults of those who insult us fell on him.

But Paul's message is not that that is wonderful, so go and live your life. It is go and be the body of Christ; become Christ to those who are around you. Stop looking for a scapegoat, but rather gather the blame on yourself. Be the strength that those around you need, and lead them to be the strength that the people around them need.

Stop worrying about being right because, ultimately, that is just not important.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Romans 16

Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. – Romans 14:6

Today's Scripture Reading (March 16, 2021): Romans 14

Rules. We love them, and we hate them. Maybe our biggest problem is that we aren't playing with the same rule book. And sometimes, our message is that real Christians are the ones whose rulebook is the same as ours. If they are playing by different rules, well, they must be deceived, and we should pray for them. If they persist in playing by the wrong rules, well, then we might need to kick them out of our fellowships.

Part of the problem with our reading of the Bible is that it speaks about significant sources of division at the time of the writing that has now faded into the background. And what are the significant disagreements now, just weren't then. So, we often miss the message. But the issues that Paul speaks of were not on the periphery; they were central to the operation of the Christian Church.

I had a conversation with a friend some years ago who believes that we should worship on the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday. For my friend, to not worship on Saturday was a significant sin of the contemporary Christian Church. And one of the things that he mentioned was that he believed that there is no indication until centuries after the Bible of the change from Saturday to Sunday. But that is not true. Paul alludes to the argument in his letter to the Romans. "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind" (Romans 14:5). Paul seems to put this argument to rest by telling his readers to choose what they think is right and be convinced of that decision. But he also seems to want to stop the argument. I might believe that the proper day for worship is Sunday, you might think it is Saturday, and a friend might think it is Thursday. Decide to do what you believe is right as an honor given to God. What we should not do is call into question the faith of those who disagree with us.  

Paul moves on to the question of eating meat. And it is here that he loses us. We might have different beliefs due to our stand on health, but eating meat is not a contemporary spiritual issue. Paul gives the same instructions here. Decide and do whatever it is that you think is right to honor God.

I think this can be argued on many hot button topics in the contemporary church. We need to understand that other believers might have differing opinions with us, even on critical issues like abortion and the LGBTQ+ community, and still be genuine followers of Jesus Christ. We can and should have discussions around these issues, but what we can't do is question the other's faith. Paul argues that we should decide what is right, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit's ministry and the biblical text, and then follow that belief being sure to give thanks to God. Our tent is big, and that is okay. But in the end, even with significant disagreements between us, we are on the same team.    

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Romans 15

 

Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. – Romans 13:7

Today's Scripture Reading (March 15, 2021): Romans 13

Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners, makes this argument against the teenage years: "The invention of the teenager was a mistake. Once you identify a period of life in which people get to stay out late but don't have to pay taxes - naturally, no one wants to live any other way." I wish I understood how lucky I was when I was a teenager. With only a part-time job, I was probably richer than I have been at any other time in my life, and part of the reason was a lack of things for which I was responsible for paying to live, including taxes.

I am now decades separated from my teenage years, but I remember that period of my life fondly. And I still don't like tax time. Every year, one of my resolutions is to get my taxes done early. And every year, you can find me busily working on my taxes in the shadow of the due date. Maybe this year, I will get it right.

Paul argues that we should be a people who pay their debts. He begins with taxes. Here he echoes the words of Jesus; "give back to Caesar what is Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21). We may disagree with how the government spends the money, but the reality is that we need at least some government oversight. We require a government that will protect us and that maintains the infrastructure on which we all depend. We need someone who will make sure that the roads and bridges are safe for us to travel on, who will make sure that the garbage is picked up, and that emergency services can respond when we are in trouble. I believe that the coronavirus pandemic relief bills that we have seen enacted in several nations that will help the citizens and enable the economy to recover after the pandemic were necessary expenses. As a fiscal conservative, if I have a problem, it is that the spending of the nations was out of control long before the pandemic. I wish we had saved up for a rainy day before the pandemic so that the pandemic didn't threaten to swamp our nations in debt. I hope that we will get serious about repaying the debts that we have incurred for decades after the pandemic. But those decisions aren't mine. In the area that I live, these are the decisions that have to be made by the various levels of elected government who have control over the necessities of life. My responsibility is to pay my taxes. Fiscal questions and commitment are, for me, something that is a significant factor during election years as I explore who it is that I want to represent me in the government. Sometimes, it places me in a dilemma because the politicians I trust have sometimes been fiscally irresponsible, which in my eyes disqualifies them from leadership.

But Paul doesn't end with just the idea of paying our taxes. He argues that if we owe revenue (money for any reason) to someone, that debt needs to be paid. And our debts do not end with monetary issues. Paul says that if we owe respect, that debt should be paid, even if we disagree with the person in some matters. If it is a debt of honor, that debt should be paid. Whatever it is that we owe, that debt needs to be respected and we should never try to get out of what we owe.

Jesus finished his statement by saying that what we owe to God also needs to be paid. We are a people who honor our debts. And that can only be true if we are careful about what the debts are that we have incurred and that we take care of retiring those debts as quickly as we can. We aren't teenagers anymore, and no one else should be responsible for what it is that we owe.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Romans 14

 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Romans 12:21

Today's Scripture Reading (March 14, 2021): Romans 12

Evil exists in this world. It just does. We see it almost every day, although sometimes we don't recognize it for what it is. Evil exists in the little lies that we tell each other and ourselves. It is present in the gossip and misinformation that we share, sometimes too freely. Evil shows itself in the violent acts that exist all around us, even the little ones. It is revealed in our mistrust of each other and our willingness to believe conspiracy theories that permeate our environment.

Evil exists in our world. Our reaction to evil is often to return evil with evil, to get back at those who wrong us, and even to gossip about the gossipers. It just seems, at least to us, to be the right and the most comforting thing to do.

But Paul argues the opposite. He insists that we are to resist evil and all of its actions in our lives. But to fight evil, we have to be able to recognize it. It is only when we begin to recognize evil that we can resist its demands on our lives.

But Paul takes a step beyond just instructing his audience to resist evil in the world. He tells them that they are to overcome evil, not with evil, but with good. Overcome the evil that exists in the lies that we tell by being tellers of the truth. Overcome gossip and misinformation by being protective of the things that we believe. Overcome violence with peace. Overcome mistrust with trust, and in doing this, you will begin to overcome evil with good.

Mohandas Gandhi famously argued that returning evil for evil only serves to increase the suffering in the world. Gandhi argued, "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." Gandhi argued for a campaign of non-violence, and a non-retaliatory philosophy that he believed would eventually win India her independence. Whether he realized it or not, his path matched the beliefs of both Paul and Jesus. Jesus was clear. As Christians, we are not supposed to return evil for evil. We are set apart, and our reaction is supposed to be different

Jesus argued that we were not just supposed to refrain from murder, but instead we were to refrain from hate (Matthew 5:21-22), and we were not supposed to refrain from adultery, but instead we are not to lust (Matthew 5:31-32). Jesus argued that his disciples would love their enemies and pray for those who persecuted them (Matthew 5:43-44). In other words, we are to return evil with good.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you (Matthew 5:38-42).

Be a force for good in this world because you refuse to partake in evil, even if the world believes evil is deserved.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Romans 13

I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. – Romans 11:1

Today's Scripture Reading (March 13, 2021): Romans 11

"There is nothing unforgivable and there are no secrets before an all-knowing merciful God." At least, that is the truth, according to fiction author Jennifer Spredmann in "An Unforgivable Secret." According to Spredemann, our obsession with what is unforgivable is misplaced, in part, because of our lack of belief in a merciful God. But Spredemann is writing fiction, so maybe we should write off her ideas of what is unforgivable as just part of the pretend universe.

We are convinced that there must be an unforgivable sin, mainly because we know that there are things that have been done to us in our lives that we are unwilling to forgive. So, God must have his list. And Jesus himself said that "anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven" (Luke 12:10). And so, the search is on for the one sin which cannot be forgiven. It is a subject of discussion and a frequently asked question, "What exactly, in terms that we can understand, is the unforgivable sin?"

That is the question that Paul believes is on the minds of the Romans. Paul has argued that Israel's rejection of the gospel was consistent with God's eternal plan, and before the beginning of time, God was prepared for precisely that rejection. But Paul also declares that Israel chose her own path. Paul quotes Isaiah as he writes, "not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message" (Romans 10:16). God foresaw Israel's rebellion. He expected it and was prepared for it, but Israel also freely chose their path to the point that Isaiah asks a rhetorical question; who or, maybe better, has anyone believed our message? The prophets had proclaimed the message, over and over again God sent his messengers to Israel, and repeatedly Israel had rejected God's desire.

It is a lesson that Jesus tried to relay to his followers during his ministry.  

Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

"The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.

"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him (Matthew 21:33-39).

So, given all of this, isn't it just possible that Israel had already committed the original sin. Israel had rejected God, just as God had expected. And now the game was over.

Paul's answer is unequivocal. No, "by no means!" God is still reaching out to Israel, just as he is reaching out to the Gentiles, still pleading with them to come home to him.

So, what is the unforgivable sin? I believe it is just this; rejecting the message of God to the point where you can no longer hear the Spirit's voice. If you are wondering if you have committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't. If you had, you wouldn't care, and the question would never even enter your mind.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Romans 12