New light in darkness
Commentary
Object:
A group of younger workers are seated next to one another at a workplace where they have to deal with the public both person-to-person and over the telephone. They are having difficulty dealing with clients and customers who are older than they are in terms of communication skills, etiquette, and basic manners. These workers console one another once the older clients leave the office by criticizing the older people and trying to avoid them the next time. In the next office sits an older worker who is of the generation these younger workers are trying to avoid. If they were to simply talk to their elder colleague, they could get good tips on communication and etiquette skills. But these younger people only communicate to others in their spare time on social media and handheld computer devices. The older worker is willing to assist in order to make the workplace more user-friendly to the public. She can provide new light to assist her younger colleagues on relating to older people and the public in general.
This same older person has to stop at the public library to get some information about personal and family health issues. She finds out that the younger librarian escorts her to a computer monitor and chair in the library. The friendly librarian gives this person her own password code and plastic library card. This older person now has to see new light in the world of computer information.
In that same community, some boarded-up storefront buildings are now in repair and are being painted, restored, and a new business is going up. The business owners appear to be from an Asian country. They do not speak English very well. But they too are attempting to bring new light into the community in revitalizing the boarded-up buildings. All three texts suggest that new light might come from different sources than expected by the people of faith.
1 Samuel 16:1-13
This text begins the "rise of David." One would not envy the task of Samuel the prophet this week. He has to anoint a new king of Israel while the old office is still not vacant. Also, the old king likes his job and plans on giving it to his son Jonathon. What Samuel is attempting in this lesson could be construed as treacherous in the eyes of King Saul, the current monarch. However, God is doing a different act to bring new light to Israel in the anointing of David, the shepherd boy and musician. Other brothers such as Eliab might have been more obvious candidates for king, but Samuel awaits all of the sons of Jesse to make an appearance, even making the rest of the family wait until the obscure shepherd boy named David arrives.
David was the youngest of his brothers and did not have the physique of a typical soldier or warrior of the time. He lacks credentials as warriors and leaders go, is without social standing, and unseasoned as a veteran of Israel's political machinery. However, just as God did a new action with Samuel's mother Hannah in giving birth to a man of God not of the current priest Eli's lineage, God is leaving the tribe of Benjamin and going on to the tribe of Judah for a new king.
Some recurring theological themes in this text as they relate to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) include that God is sovereign and does have control over the affairs of the community of faith. God's prophets such as Samuel serve as both king makers and king-breakers. The anointing of any office in the Hebrew Bible has a sacramental, binding nature to it. David is anointed with oil (v. 13). The text says, "[T]he spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward." Nobody, not even a military monarch, can stop a spirit or wind from God the Creator.
This new king would have a "right heart." He would have his share of conflicts and would commit awful sins as well as celebrate great victories. David was part of God's divine intention for the nation. Neither King Saul nor his cruel tactics of retribution against David would stop God's will. This is an opportunity to preach about God's ultimate will prevailing in the lives of believers and communities of faith. However, in this season of Lent God can and may use new sources of light that are unfamiliar to many people, such as cyberspace, immigrants settling in the community, and people of other generations as illustrated above. [Source: Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: First and Second Samuel (John Knox Press, 1990)]
Ephesians 5:8-14
Authorship questions related to authentic or latter Pauline writers or the apostle himself remain contested and present among many scholars. This does not change the content or themes of this text. "Paul" will be used as the writer in this work. The text is an exhortation to live as children of light. The triad of such a lifestyle is in Ephesians 5:9: "all that is good and right and true." The challenge this text addresses is daily Christian behavior in any society where a Christian's moral guidelines are always under fire, be it in a work, living, community, education, or family situation. The metaphor used is seen in copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls as they contrast "children of light" and "children of darkness." Another illustration might be the book of Daniel, where people of faith are constantly being challenged to uphold their faithfulness in their God against a culture whose behavioral norms are radically different than that of people of faith.
Christians are to do what they know to be pleasing to God. They are to expose unfruitful works of darkness. They are to keep in mind that whenever somebody does anything they think will be under the cover of darkness or secrecy, it will eventually be exposed. Modern political scandals prove this often in the era when any cell phone can become an instant recording device. Verse 14 says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." This is often viewed as a baptismal formula for Christians to keep alert in daily Christian living. A persistent, active faith is one core theme of Paul's theology in all of the epistles.
A helpful tool one can use to preach any of these Ephesians texts is to move forward to Ephesians 6:10-20, or the "whole armor of God" text and apply it to any situation of temptation, darkness, or awkward circumstances that happen to be occurring at a given time. For example, a company develops a policy and secretly tries to implement it while nobody is looking. This sort of text could be a basis to ask the question of "What happens if this policy becomes public?" Another example is when an organization chooses not to renew the contracts of some of its workers but does not make mention of it in any public arena. The workers who are released could use Paul's Ephesians light and darkness metaphor in order to expose such a decision and to make sure those in power are still held accountable. [Source: Ralph Martin, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon (John Knox Press, 1991)]
John 9:1-41
This lengthy pericope has a two-leveled scholarly analysis to it. First, there is the level of the events themselves (around 30-33 CE), where a blind man is healed by the spittle of Jesus (a Greco-Roman practice), then the Jewish council leaders interrogate both the healed man and his parents. Fear of being ejected from the synagogue is at stake if one confesses Jesus as the one from God who performed such a miracle. The second level, which most commentators attribute to the classic work of J. Louis Martyn, identifies the actual events of the Johannine community who wrote this gospel (around 90 CE). The Jewish Temple had issued an edict that Christians were heretics (among other groups), so these John 9:1-41 verses are also addressing the hurt feelings of those Christians now ejected out of the Jewish Temple. One has to be careful as to how the Jewish council leaders are identified. A more common practice these days is to call them "Judeans," rather than mistake them for the local worshipers at the Jewish synagogue in any given modern community. This is an attempt to minimize anti-Semitic attitudes as a result of this text.
One interpretative lens for this and other Johannine texts is John 1:1: "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." In this lesson and throughout John, it is all about "Who is Jesus?" If Jesus is God revealed to humanity, then John believes we have it right. If one rejects Jesus as God's revelation to the cosmos, then they are living in darkness and have chosen to remain in sin. In this story the man, who did not solicit Jesus' healing, does gain his sight. His parents are interrogated by the Judean leadership, but back off for fear of being sent out of the temple (vv. 20-23). The healed man holds his ground to acknowledge the healing from Jesus. So insults are hurled at him (v. 28). There are three interrogation scenes in this text. This text also follows a pattern of a situation of need and the miracle and attestation of the miracle. It is all about Jesus, despite any other questions that are brought to the table.
In this text, the basic theodicy question of the cause of the man's blindness is shifted in conversation by asking: "Where God is acting now?" John's answer is that God is working through Jesus. Also, God's work is through belief in Jesus. So John's response to "why is a person blinded, suffering, and so forth?" is that God is at work through Jesus. Regardless of one's beliefs on whether they inherit the sins of their ancestors, John wants readers to know that God is working now in Jesus! Light and darkness are concepts embedded in the characters of this text. The healed man sees more and more light as the Judean leaders plunge deeper into darkness. Good and evil are defined in John's gospel according to one's response to Jesus.
Other major theological themes this text in John raises include salvation is less about expiation or sacrifice on the cross and more about one's right relationship to Jesus as God's revealed "word" (1:1). Many have viewed the man's healing as supporting a baptismal motif of the water and new life. However, some commentators of a non-sacramental tradition may differ. Salvation is in Jesus alone for John. His life is as much (or more) a part of the salvation formula as his death on the cross. However, Jesus' life brings new life to those who follow him (John 10:10 is a good cross-reference here).
If one views "meaninglessness" and "despair" as common enemies of humans during this season of Lent, John's gospel is full of good news. Jesus is God's revelation who provided anybody in a vulnerable situation a source of new life, such as the blind man in John 9. The text invites Christians to discover how Jesus brings new light and life to the communities we live in right now. New light from Jesus was challenged in John 9 by the Judeans because they did not identify it with the tradition of Moses. God is capable of bringing new sources of light bring new life into any time of rejection, crisis, or loss. This text is a challenge to stand one's ground, to defend what they have experienced and believe to be true about the source of their light and life. In this case, it is how one responds to Jesus. [Sources: Leander Keck, editor, The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX: Luke John (Abingdon Press, 1995); J. Louis Martyn, History and Theology of the Fourth Gospel (Abingdon Press, 1979)]
Application
So who is Jesus today? For some other religions and personal spiritualities, Jesus is a great teacher whose examples and words would make anybody's life better. Jesus' model of ethics could improve any community's quality of life. This is not a wrong idea. Christians have confessed that Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:14). To see Jesus is to see God (incarnate). In Lent, John 9 would challenge a reductionist view that might say "Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave three days later so I and others can have eternal life when we die." This is not "wrong" per se. But John 9 wants readers to realize that Jesus' life brings each person new life now in the dark, dreary days of Lenten wintry months or wherever one is living in the months before spring season. One day another power outage occurs. The local media remind folks to have plenty of flashlights and batteries on hand. But for some who lead very hectic, busy lives, they may have to rely on a simple candle for light. This too allows people to see in the darkness.
One never knows when new people might come into our lives that we barely know or are unfamiliar to us. Is God using such people to point us to new light? A family who tends be to "migrant" in their living habits enters into a community for a season of work while the job lasts. They volunteer to work on the church grounds. On one hand, they will probably not be on the church property committee for any length of time. On the other hand, the church leaders should be grateful that God is showing kindness and a new surge of energy to clean the church through this migrant family for however long they are in the community.
An Alternative Application
A new person has just been hired mid-year into a company. The new employee is not like the person he or she has replaced. The former worker was able to lift heavy boxes, help unload trucks, and drive to do errands. This new worker is short and skinny. The new person has a good spirit but is not the multi-purpose worker of their predecessor. This scenario could be any person who arrives at a job or volunteer situation in the middle of the year, after the rest of the crowd "got used to the person who just left the organization." This is the world of David in the book of 1 Samuel.
In another organization down the street, an office worker is trying to orient into their new job. On Friday night, he or she is invited to go out for drinks at a local tavern. They know they have a family at home who is waiting for dinner, so they excuse themselves "for this week." However, should this person be pressured into making the Friday tavern night part of their weekly routine in order to be in good standing with the peer group at the new job? This is an application of the Ephesians 5 text.
This same older person has to stop at the public library to get some information about personal and family health issues. She finds out that the younger librarian escorts her to a computer monitor and chair in the library. The friendly librarian gives this person her own password code and plastic library card. This older person now has to see new light in the world of computer information.
In that same community, some boarded-up storefront buildings are now in repair and are being painted, restored, and a new business is going up. The business owners appear to be from an Asian country. They do not speak English very well. But they too are attempting to bring new light into the community in revitalizing the boarded-up buildings. All three texts suggest that new light might come from different sources than expected by the people of faith.
1 Samuel 16:1-13
This text begins the "rise of David." One would not envy the task of Samuel the prophet this week. He has to anoint a new king of Israel while the old office is still not vacant. Also, the old king likes his job and plans on giving it to his son Jonathon. What Samuel is attempting in this lesson could be construed as treacherous in the eyes of King Saul, the current monarch. However, God is doing a different act to bring new light to Israel in the anointing of David, the shepherd boy and musician. Other brothers such as Eliab might have been more obvious candidates for king, but Samuel awaits all of the sons of Jesse to make an appearance, even making the rest of the family wait until the obscure shepherd boy named David arrives.
David was the youngest of his brothers and did not have the physique of a typical soldier or warrior of the time. He lacks credentials as warriors and leaders go, is without social standing, and unseasoned as a veteran of Israel's political machinery. However, just as God did a new action with Samuel's mother Hannah in giving birth to a man of God not of the current priest Eli's lineage, God is leaving the tribe of Benjamin and going on to the tribe of Judah for a new king.
Some recurring theological themes in this text as they relate to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) include that God is sovereign and does have control over the affairs of the community of faith. God's prophets such as Samuel serve as both king makers and king-breakers. The anointing of any office in the Hebrew Bible has a sacramental, binding nature to it. David is anointed with oil (v. 13). The text says, "[T]he spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward." Nobody, not even a military monarch, can stop a spirit or wind from God the Creator.
This new king would have a "right heart." He would have his share of conflicts and would commit awful sins as well as celebrate great victories. David was part of God's divine intention for the nation. Neither King Saul nor his cruel tactics of retribution against David would stop God's will. This is an opportunity to preach about God's ultimate will prevailing in the lives of believers and communities of faith. However, in this season of Lent God can and may use new sources of light that are unfamiliar to many people, such as cyberspace, immigrants settling in the community, and people of other generations as illustrated above. [Source: Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: First and Second Samuel (John Knox Press, 1990)]
Ephesians 5:8-14
Authorship questions related to authentic or latter Pauline writers or the apostle himself remain contested and present among many scholars. This does not change the content or themes of this text. "Paul" will be used as the writer in this work. The text is an exhortation to live as children of light. The triad of such a lifestyle is in Ephesians 5:9: "all that is good and right and true." The challenge this text addresses is daily Christian behavior in any society where a Christian's moral guidelines are always under fire, be it in a work, living, community, education, or family situation. The metaphor used is seen in copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls as they contrast "children of light" and "children of darkness." Another illustration might be the book of Daniel, where people of faith are constantly being challenged to uphold their faithfulness in their God against a culture whose behavioral norms are radically different than that of people of faith.
Christians are to do what they know to be pleasing to God. They are to expose unfruitful works of darkness. They are to keep in mind that whenever somebody does anything they think will be under the cover of darkness or secrecy, it will eventually be exposed. Modern political scandals prove this often in the era when any cell phone can become an instant recording device. Verse 14 says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." This is often viewed as a baptismal formula for Christians to keep alert in daily Christian living. A persistent, active faith is one core theme of Paul's theology in all of the epistles.
A helpful tool one can use to preach any of these Ephesians texts is to move forward to Ephesians 6:10-20, or the "whole armor of God" text and apply it to any situation of temptation, darkness, or awkward circumstances that happen to be occurring at a given time. For example, a company develops a policy and secretly tries to implement it while nobody is looking. This sort of text could be a basis to ask the question of "What happens if this policy becomes public?" Another example is when an organization chooses not to renew the contracts of some of its workers but does not make mention of it in any public arena. The workers who are released could use Paul's Ephesians light and darkness metaphor in order to expose such a decision and to make sure those in power are still held accountable. [Source: Ralph Martin, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon (John Knox Press, 1991)]
John 9:1-41
This lengthy pericope has a two-leveled scholarly analysis to it. First, there is the level of the events themselves (around 30-33 CE), where a blind man is healed by the spittle of Jesus (a Greco-Roman practice), then the Jewish council leaders interrogate both the healed man and his parents. Fear of being ejected from the synagogue is at stake if one confesses Jesus as the one from God who performed such a miracle. The second level, which most commentators attribute to the classic work of J. Louis Martyn, identifies the actual events of the Johannine community who wrote this gospel (around 90 CE). The Jewish Temple had issued an edict that Christians were heretics (among other groups), so these John 9:1-41 verses are also addressing the hurt feelings of those Christians now ejected out of the Jewish Temple. One has to be careful as to how the Jewish council leaders are identified. A more common practice these days is to call them "Judeans," rather than mistake them for the local worshipers at the Jewish synagogue in any given modern community. This is an attempt to minimize anti-Semitic attitudes as a result of this text.
One interpretative lens for this and other Johannine texts is John 1:1: "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." In this lesson and throughout John, it is all about "Who is Jesus?" If Jesus is God revealed to humanity, then John believes we have it right. If one rejects Jesus as God's revelation to the cosmos, then they are living in darkness and have chosen to remain in sin. In this story the man, who did not solicit Jesus' healing, does gain his sight. His parents are interrogated by the Judean leadership, but back off for fear of being sent out of the temple (vv. 20-23). The healed man holds his ground to acknowledge the healing from Jesus. So insults are hurled at him (v. 28). There are three interrogation scenes in this text. This text also follows a pattern of a situation of need and the miracle and attestation of the miracle. It is all about Jesus, despite any other questions that are brought to the table.
In this text, the basic theodicy question of the cause of the man's blindness is shifted in conversation by asking: "Where God is acting now?" John's answer is that God is working through Jesus. Also, God's work is through belief in Jesus. So John's response to "why is a person blinded, suffering, and so forth?" is that God is at work through Jesus. Regardless of one's beliefs on whether they inherit the sins of their ancestors, John wants readers to know that God is working now in Jesus! Light and darkness are concepts embedded in the characters of this text. The healed man sees more and more light as the Judean leaders plunge deeper into darkness. Good and evil are defined in John's gospel according to one's response to Jesus.
Other major theological themes this text in John raises include salvation is less about expiation or sacrifice on the cross and more about one's right relationship to Jesus as God's revealed "word" (1:1). Many have viewed the man's healing as supporting a baptismal motif of the water and new life. However, some commentators of a non-sacramental tradition may differ. Salvation is in Jesus alone for John. His life is as much (or more) a part of the salvation formula as his death on the cross. However, Jesus' life brings new life to those who follow him (John 10:10 is a good cross-reference here).
If one views "meaninglessness" and "despair" as common enemies of humans during this season of Lent, John's gospel is full of good news. Jesus is God's revelation who provided anybody in a vulnerable situation a source of new life, such as the blind man in John 9. The text invites Christians to discover how Jesus brings new light and life to the communities we live in right now. New light from Jesus was challenged in John 9 by the Judeans because they did not identify it with the tradition of Moses. God is capable of bringing new sources of light bring new life into any time of rejection, crisis, or loss. This text is a challenge to stand one's ground, to defend what they have experienced and believe to be true about the source of their light and life. In this case, it is how one responds to Jesus. [Sources: Leander Keck, editor, The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX: Luke John (Abingdon Press, 1995); J. Louis Martyn, History and Theology of the Fourth Gospel (Abingdon Press, 1979)]
Application
So who is Jesus today? For some other religions and personal spiritualities, Jesus is a great teacher whose examples and words would make anybody's life better. Jesus' model of ethics could improve any community's quality of life. This is not a wrong idea. Christians have confessed that Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:14). To see Jesus is to see God (incarnate). In Lent, John 9 would challenge a reductionist view that might say "Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave three days later so I and others can have eternal life when we die." This is not "wrong" per se. But John 9 wants readers to realize that Jesus' life brings each person new life now in the dark, dreary days of Lenten wintry months or wherever one is living in the months before spring season. One day another power outage occurs. The local media remind folks to have plenty of flashlights and batteries on hand. But for some who lead very hectic, busy lives, they may have to rely on a simple candle for light. This too allows people to see in the darkness.
One never knows when new people might come into our lives that we barely know or are unfamiliar to us. Is God using such people to point us to new light? A family who tends be to "migrant" in their living habits enters into a community for a season of work while the job lasts. They volunteer to work on the church grounds. On one hand, they will probably not be on the church property committee for any length of time. On the other hand, the church leaders should be grateful that God is showing kindness and a new surge of energy to clean the church through this migrant family for however long they are in the community.
An Alternative Application
A new person has just been hired mid-year into a company. The new employee is not like the person he or she has replaced. The former worker was able to lift heavy boxes, help unload trucks, and drive to do errands. This new worker is short and skinny. The new person has a good spirit but is not the multi-purpose worker of their predecessor. This scenario could be any person who arrives at a job or volunteer situation in the middle of the year, after the rest of the crowd "got used to the person who just left the organization." This is the world of David in the book of 1 Samuel.
In another organization down the street, an office worker is trying to orient into their new job. On Friday night, he or she is invited to go out for drinks at a local tavern. They know they have a family at home who is waiting for dinner, so they excuse themselves "for this week." However, should this person be pressured into making the Friday tavern night part of their weekly routine in order to be in good standing with the peer group at the new job? This is an application of the Ephesians 5 text.
