Readings for April 13th

Themes include: Abundance/ overflowing / adding, gifts from God

Psalm 23 - A Davidic Psalm

Far from the funeral text we often use it as, Psalm 23 is about life; after all, goodness and hesed are pursuing him all the days of his life. Furthermore, the last verse is not speaking about living in God's house in Heaven, it clearly indicates that the author intends to return to the temple on a daily basis. I suspect that the grassy fields and restful waters are metaphors for what he finds in the temple.

In this case the author knows about sheep, but is near enough to the temple to visit daily, so this does fit David himself. On the other hand, I think that "to David" in the Psalms is a musical designation (maybe "to the tune of") rather than an indication of authorship (even if the author was David).

¹ Adonai is my shepherd: I will not be in need.

² He will let me lie down in grassy pastures, he will lead me to waters of rest.

³ On account of his name, he will restore my life;

he will lead me down the well-worn blameless paths.

⁴ Even when I walk in the Valley of Deathshadow, I will not be afraid of evil if you are with me: your club and staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You will prepare a feast for me right in front of my enemies, you cover my head with oil; my cup is full to the point of overflowing.

⁶ Only goodness and loyalty will chase me[1] every day of my life and I will return to the House of Adonai every day.

Acts 2.42-47

⁴² They kept actively following the teaching[2] of the Apostles[3] and keeping fellowship[4] with each other and breaking of bread together, and praying. ⁴³ So each soul[5] was in awe of the many miracles and signs performed through the Apostles. ⁴⁴ Then all of the believers were in the same place and shared everything ⁴⁵ and they began to sell their possessions and their property and they divided them all as anyone had a need.[6] ⁴⁶ Each day they continued in unity in the temple and broke bread in each house, sharing the food in joy and simplicity of heart ⁴⁷ praising God and having the favor of all of The People[7]; the Lord added daily to their numbers with those being saved.[8]

John 10:1-10

¹ You can count on this[9]: "If someone does not enter the sheep pen through the gate, but enters another way, that person is a thief and robber; ² the person who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The person watching the gate opens it for this person, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ Whenever one takes out all of one's own sheep, one walks in front of them and the sheep obey that person because they know that person's voice. ⁵ They will never listen to another, but will run away from him because they do not know the voice of the other." ⁶ This is the proverb that Jesus told to them (the people who did not understand anything which Jesus said to them).[10] ⁷ Again Jesus said, "You can count on this: I am the sheep gate. ⁸ Everyone who came before me[11] is a thief and robber but my sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate: if anyone might come, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy I came so that they might have life, and have it overflow.”

I Peter 2:19-25

¹⁹ For this is grace: if for conscience sake toward God, someone suffers pain unjustly. ²⁰ For where is the honor if you are beaten and you endure because you sinned? On the other hand, if you do good and suffer patiently: this is grace[12] from God. ²¹ You have been called for this reason: "Even Christ suffered for you, leaving you something to imitate[13] so that you might follow in his footsteps."[14] ²² He did not do wrong things, nor was there any lie found in his mouth. ²³ When he was abused, he did not abuse, when he suffered he did not make threats but handed it over to The One Who Judges Righteously.[15] ²⁴ That one carries our evil himself by his own body on the cross, so that from evil we might remove ourselves and might be made alive: by his wound, you are healed. ²⁵ For you were always wandering off like a sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your Lives.

Galatians 4:3-9

The people to whom he is writing have a syncretism problem. They were from a Jewish background but began to view Christianity in Pythagorean or Neo-Platonic terms, called Gnostic in a later time. They think that God cannot directly touch the world, so he created lesser powers (evidently these are called Elements/Principles of Cosmos/ the World) to create and operate within the world. Among these powers is the Fullness, and it seems likely that they have begun to use the words Law, the Son in similar ways.

³ In the same way we were enslaved by the Principles of the Cosmic Powers[16] ⁴ But, when the Fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son; being born of a woman, being born under the Law ⁵ so that those under the Law might be set free, so that we might receive adoption as his children. ⁶ Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father." ⁷ So that you are not a Slave[17] any longer but, through God, a child, and if a child, also an heir. ⁸ On the other hand, at that time because you did not know God, you were enslaved to those things that are not gods by nature.[18] ⁹ Now, knowing God (or rather, being known by God)[19], how can you return again to the weak and impoverished Principles[20], to whom you want again to enslave yourselves

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[1] This is wordplay: rather than enemies in pursuit, the author has goodness and loyalty.

[2] i.e. the things that they taught on Pentecost. This might just as well been rendered: “they followed that teaching of the Apostles (mentioned previously).”

[3] The word Apostle, had the original translators not decided to transliterate it, would have been translated “Missionaries” or, perhaps better, “Proxies.”

[4] Here the focus is on commonality, the origin of the Greek word for fellowship.

[5] The word soul if often used in Greek to refer to people as individuals: in English we only see this in dramatic retellings of tragedy, “More than ____ souls lost their lives. . .” but they could use it more freely.

[6] This passage is meant to show that Isaiah 53 is being fulfilled in the church. Do we fulfill this ideal adequately today in our congregations?

[7] Probably referring to the Jewish people/ Israel

[8] Note, firstly, that salvation has already begun for these people and is a continuing process, note, secondly, that the stress is on God’s power.

[9] Traditionally, “Truly, truly I say to you,” “truly” here is the Hebrew “Amen” which indicates the confirmed (firm), tested, or advocated nature of the words given.

[10] It may be that these people did not understand because they refused to understand.

[11] Most likely referring to the many false messiahs that came before him

[12] This could have many translations: approved by, favored by, a gift from, gains the favor of, but I liked the strange fitness to the image of patient suffering as grace.

[13] Like an artist uses a model

[14] These look like the words to a hymn to me.

[15] This is one of the passages we must struggle with if we choose not to wholly embrace Christian pacifism

[16] More literally “organizational /elemental principles of the world.” These are probably the classical elements: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth, personified.

[17] The word “slave” seems also to have developed theological significance for the recipients of this letter.

[18] He is using their wrong theology to teach them right theology. They say themselves that these things they call powers were far from God in nature so that they could affect the world when he, due to his nature as pure spirit could not interact with matter.

[19] An impossibility according to their schema.

[20] Weak and impoverished also sound like theologically loaded terms in context.