Tag Archives: Jesus

Introduction to the Pastoral Letters: 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus

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Icon of Saint Titus and Saint Timothy. Image from Timothy and Titus, Companions of Saint Paul – The Episcopal Church

Every pastor has portions of scripture that are central and that they know well and other portions that they are less familiar with and less likely to use in their preaching and teaching. One of my motivations within these reflections has been to expand my familiarity and comfort with portions of scripture I was less familiar with. To utilize a couple verses of 2 Timothy:

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17

Yet, there is some irony in the way 1& 2 Timothy and Titus are viewed by many modern scholars. Since the nineteenth century many scholars have questioned whether these three books were written by Paul or whether they are written after Paul’s death utilizing Paul’s reputation to give force to these letters. The letters, for many, may still be scripture but they have been relegated to a secondary, or in some cases even lower, status because they may not be viewed as ‘authentically Pauline’ and coming from a later stage in the formation of the church rather than being one of the earlier witnesses to the formation of Christianity. The New Testament professors I had in seminary handed on the consensus that Pastoral letters were not Pauline and therefore received little if any attention. Because of this the very books that claim all scripture is inspired by God and useful are among the most neglected in the New Testament.

My assumption throughout these reflections will be that 1 & 2 Timothy as well as Titus are written by Paul the Apostle. I will go into more of my reasoning below, but whether they are written by Paul or a student of Paul they remain for me, and for Christianity as a whole, a part of our scriptures. To many readers of the Bible the type of discussions that scholars have about texts can be confusing. Most readers of the bible may not spend a lot of time in 1& 2 Timothy and Titus, but they also would be wary of someone questioning the authority of these books they accept as scripture. There are some portions of these letters that modern readers find jarring, especially when talking about women in the church and the existence of slavery. Like all scripture we must wrestle with what it meant in it is specific to the time and audience it is written to and what expectations we bring to our own time. Yet, for me, I find this type of wrestling with scripture, trying to understand it on its own terms and to imagine the world it is trying to create in its original environment a fruitful and life-giving process.

For most of the history of the church the Pastoral Letters were assumed to be Pauline. The only groups that did not include these letters as a part of scripture, like the followers of Marcion[1] and perhaps Valentinius, were considered heretics and their exclusion of these books were not based on any questions of authorship. Polycarp appears to reference 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy in his Letter to the Philippians dated between 110 and 135 CE and the book is heavily utilized by early church leaders like Ireneaus, Clement, and Tertullian. The first person to challenge the Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Letters was Fredrich Schleirmacher, an influential German theologian and scholar, in 1806. Schleirmacher felt there was a Pauline style that could be measured and these letters failed to meet the criteria. Many other scholars would follow Schleirmacher developing authentic Pauline themes and vocabulary to test these letters against while others would compare the events of the letters with the narration of Paul’s ministry in Acts,[2] while others simply went along with what seemed to be an emerging scholarly consensus in the nineteenth and twentieth century.[3]

The reasoning behind my engaging 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus as Pauline letters is fairly simple. First, all three letters explicitly claim to be written by Paul (1 Timothy 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:1). Although writing a letter or document under the name of an established individual was a common practice in the ancient world as was viewed as honorific rather than dishonest, for me there would have to be some decisive reason to distrust what the letters claim to be. Secondly, each letter has its own character (1 Timothy is less personal and probably intended to be heard by a congregation) but in 2 Timothy 4 and Titus 3 there are some very personal moments and a lot of people, who the original recipients of the letter were likely aware of and who would raise questions for any reader with knowledge of Paul’s time in ministry if they were created to pass off the letters as authentic.

Christian scholars who do not view these letters as authentically Pauline will typically point to a handful of reasons: the letters do not reflect Paul’s theology, the letters utilize different language than the authentic Pauline letters, the conflicts and the type of organization/hierarchy in the church are presumed to come from a later time. I appreciate and have benefited from the works of those, like James D. G. Dunn, who write works like The Theology of Paul the Apostle and take the ‘authentic Pauline letters’ as the source to identify the elements of Paul’s theology. However, Paul is not a systematic theologian and writes letters to deal with concrete issues in communities and relationships that he knew. Paul may think theologically but his letters are also shaped strongly by the context they are written to. Paul’s language changes dramatically between letters as well: Romans may share similar language to Galatians, but 1 Corinthians employs very different terms. Paul does talk of people being led astray by ‘myths and endless genealogies’ (1 Timothy 1:6) which many scholars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries linked with Gnosticism[4] but we simply do not know the exact issues that these communities are dealing with. The roles of bishop and deacon outlined in these letters does not necessarily indicate a late date nor the highly institutional roles these would later become. Luke Timothy Johnson also highlights that Paul did not establish the community in Ephesus and that the letters presume the existence of these roles and only give advice about the mental and moral qualities of the people who should fill these roles. (Johnson, 2001, p. 75)

There are some difficult texts in 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. We may wish for a Paul who continually lives out the vision of Galatians 3:28 where there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. Yet, there are places, both in the Pastoral letters and in the other Pauline letters, where we look uncomfortably about what he may say about the role of women in communities, the assumptions of slavery and how slaves and masters are to relate to one another, sexuality, and several other issues. Paul is writing to his congregations almost two thousand years ago with very different assumptions, some of which Paul challenges and some of which Paul does not. Thomas Long is helpful when he states:

One could imagine many ways of relating to the emperor—pray for the emperor, not pray for the emperor, pray to the emperor, refuse to pray to the emperor, obey the emperor, resist the emperor, die for the emperor, die at the hands of the emperor—but a world without the emperor? Unimaginable. Therefore, the author of the Pastorals, given his context, will consistently offer advice about how to move the pieces on the chessboard. We sometimes lose patience with him because we expect him to throw out the chessboard and to change the game itself. (Long, 2016, p. 6)

The board we play on will look different than Paul’s, but it is fruitful to study the moves he makes based on his experience of God and the world he inhabits.

Dialogue Partners for these Reflections

Bassler, Jouette M. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus: Abingdon New Testament Commentaries. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996). Noted as (Bassler, 1996).

The Abingdon New Testament Commentaries are written to be accessible to those with some familiarity with the bible and are short enough that most readers can follow. Jouette Bassler taught at Perkins Theological Seminary at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She comes from the perspective that the author of these letters is not Paul, but one who appreciates the pseudonymous author’s rhetorical skill and ethical and theological perspective.

Dunn, James D. G., “First and Second Letters to Timothy” and “Letter to Titus” in New Interpreter’s Bible: A Commentary in Twelve Volumes. Volume XI, pp. 789-880. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000). Noted as (NIB XI).

The New Interpreter’s Bible is a good resource for pastors wanting a collection that includes the entire bible (including the apocrypha) and I have been impressed by the collection of scholars they assembled for this project.  James Dunn is a very highly respected New Testament scholar who taught for decades at the University of Durham in England. He has written heavily on Jesus, Paul, and the early church and is associated with the New Perspective on Paul which attempted to locate Paul within the matrix of Jewish thought in the first century. Dunn also views the Pastoral Letters as written by someone after Paul. The Theology of Paul the Apostle was an influential book for me when I was particularly focused on Pauline scholarship in 2005-2010.

Johnson, Luke Timothy. The First and Second Letters to Timothy: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentaries: The Achor Yale Bible. (New Haven, Yale University Press, 2001). Noted as (Johnson, 2001).

The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries are designed to be textual commentaries with a lot of notes on the translation which I find to be helpful but are a bit clunky for a lot of readers. Luke Timothy Johnson teaches at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an excellent translator and thinker who is willing to challenge commonly held views. Johnson’s commentary is written from the perspective that Paul wrote 1& 2 Timothy as well as Titus (although his commentary is only on the first two letters). His introduction to all three letters and their reception by Christians throughout history is incredibly helpful.  

Long, Thomas G. 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus: Belief A Theological Commentary on the Bible. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016) noted as (Long, 2016)

Thomas Long is a very well-know instructor of preaching who taught at Candler School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta. The Belief Commentary series intentionally brought in theologians and non-biblical study specialists to write each volume to approach the texts from a different perspective than most traditional commentaries, an approach I’ve found to be a helpful voice. He also assumes that these letters are written by a later voice claiming to be Paul.

[1] Marcion believed that the Old Testament God was distinct from the gracious God of the New Testament and constructed a scripture that included ten letters of Paul, not including the Pastorals, and a highly modified version of Luke’s gospel. Marcion’s position was declared heretical by the church and Marcion was excommunicated by the church around 144 CE. Valentinius, a contemporary of Marcion, was a one of the early Gnostic teachers who were also viewed as heretics by the emerging church.  

[2] Ironically many scholars at the same time, and some of the same scholars, who viewed the Pastoral letters as inauthentic, viewed Luke’s narration in the book of Acts as unreliable as well.

[3] For those who want more detail on the historical reception of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus see his excellent narration in his commentary. (Johnson, 2001, pp. 20-55)

[4] Gnosticism emerged both within and outside of Christianity in the Greco-Roman world and the term is broad covering a wide range of belief systems. Within Christianity we know of teachers like Valentinius in the mid-second century which does have a very elaborate ‘genealogy’.

Psalm 140 Deliver Me From the Poisonous Words of Violent Ones

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King David, the King of Israel by Gerard van Honthorst

Psalm 140

To the leader. A Psalm of David. 

1 Deliver me, O LORD, from evildoers[1];
  protect me from those who are violent,
 2 who plan evil things in their minds
  and stir up wars continually.
 3 They make their tongue sharp as a snake’s,
  and under their lips is the venom of vipers.  Selah

 4 Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
  protect me from the violent
  who have planned my downfall.
 5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
  and with cords they have spread a net,
  along the road they have set snares for me.  Selah

 6 I say to the LORD, “You are my God;
  give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.”
 7 O LORD, my Lord, my strong deliverer,
  you have covered my head in the day of battle.
 8 Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
  do not further their evil plot.  Selah

 9 Those who surround me lift up their heads;
  let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
 10 Let burning coals fall on them!
  Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!
 11 Do not let the slanderer be established in the land;
  let evil speedily hunt down the violent!

 12 I know that the LORD maintains the cause of the needy
  and executes justice for the poor.
 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
  the upright shall live in your presence.

Psalm 140 is the poetic prayer of an individual asking God to deliver them from violent adversaries. The Hebrew of the poem divides into four roughly equal parts (divided by the word selah) with a closing statement of trust.[2] The first two sections use the metaphors of venomous snakes, warfare, and hunting to describe the actions of the violent ones to the God who can deliver the psalmist. The central section turns away from the violent ones to the God who delivers the psalmist in the midst of battle. The fourth section asks for God’s judgment on these evil and violent opponents before the final two verses again return to the God who maintains the cause of the needy.

The enemies are identified only as evildoers, violent, and wicked. Although the psalmist utilizes the metaphor of warfare it is likely that the enemies’ actions may be primarily verbal with the focus on the tongue and lips in the serpent imagery and the hiding of traps for a hunter. That does not mean that the threat is not ominous. The enemies may be attempting to ensnare the psalmist through their word games in court or poison their reputation. These violent ones are stirring up conflict and evil, planning the downfall and entrapment of the faithful psalmist.

God is named at the beginning of each of the first two sections, but in the central section the name of God is called out four times.[3] The LORD is the psalmists God, and then the psalmist asks their God to hear their supplications. The word translated supplications comes from the verbal root hanan which is translated “showing favor” in Psalms 111, 112, and 123 and is part of the self-description of God in Exodus 34:6. The psalmist declares their allegiance to their God and God’s description of Godself before returning to the military metaphors where God clothes them for battle and delivers them. The psalmist closes this section by appealing to God to not grant the desires of the wicked, but instead to hear the appeals of the righteous one.

In the fourth section returns to the enemies that have risen against the psalmist. This section again returns to the verbal themes with the mischief of the lips being turned against those who speak violently against the psalmist. Now the psalmist asks God to judge them with burning coals, falling into the pit. Ultimately the psalmist asks that evil would hunt down these violent, wicked ones. As with all cries to God to judge the enemy, the enemy resides in God’s hands and not the psalmist.

The psalmist closes with a note of trust which calls again on God as the one who protects the needy and poor. The psalmist trusts that their current situation where the wicked and violent successfully oppress the righteous will not last. God hears the cry of the vulnerable and defends them. God will not allow the wicked to prosper indefinitely. The psalmist looks forward to the day when they can give thanks to the LORD for the way God has delivered them from this moment of trouble.

[1] “The Hebrew word is ‘ra, most often translated as “evil.” The word “evil” in English carries an ethical, moral tone that, while appropriate for Ps. 140, is probably not as appropriate as malicious, which means, “having, shown, or cause by malice; spiteful; intentionally mischievous or harmful.”” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 968)

[2] Clifford Allen noted that verses 1-3 contain twenty-three Hebrew words, ending with selah; verses 4-5 contain twenty-three words, ending with selah; verses 6-8 contain twenty-four words, ending with selah; verses 9-11 contain twenty-three words with verses 12-13 as a closing statement of trust. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 967)

[3] In English translations the capitalized LORD indicates that the four letters of the divine name are behind the translation (YHWH) with vowel markings indicating it is to be spoken as Adonai (Lord). In verse seven the second Lord is the Hebrew Adonai.

Psalm 139 Asking the God who Knows and Sees Me to Respond to the Injustice on Earth

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The Nativity of Christ, Icon by Ranosonar

Psalm 139

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
 you discern my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
 and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
 O Lord, you know it completely.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
 and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
 it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from your spirit?
 Or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
 if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning
 and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
 and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
 and night wraps itself around me,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
 the night is as bright as the day,
 for darkness is as light to you.

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
 you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
 Wonderful are your works;
 that I know very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
 when I was being made in secret,
 intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
 In your book were written
 all the days that were formed for me,
 when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
 How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
 I come to the end—I am still with you.

19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
 and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
20 those who speak of you maliciously
 and lift themselves up against you for evil!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
 And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
 I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
 test me and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is any wicked way in me,
 and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139 is a paradox. The first eighteen verses in poetic and beautiful imagery describe the psalmists experience of being fully known by God. The language of the final six verses describes the psalmist’s reaction to the jarring reality that there are many who oppose the ways of God. Many readers of this psalm are surprised at the sudden change from the sense of wonder and awe in the first three stanzas of the psalm to the imprecatory voice of the final stanza. Most readers may be familiar with the first eighteen verses while the final six will rarely appear in the worship of most churches. Some scholars feel that these verses were later added into the beautiful and comforting message of God’s full knowledge and encompassing of the speaker, but I feel the psalm makes sense as we have received it as I will share below.

A key word in this psalm is “known/knowledge” which occurs seven times (vv. 1-2, 4, 6, 14, 23 twice) and while the seven occurrences may be random, Hebrew poetry like to utilize numerical occurrence to make a point. Seven is traditionally a number of completeness. So, in addition to the thematic complete knowledge of God it may also be structurally reinforcing this message. (NIB IV: 1235) The verbs attributed to God including “know,” “search,” and “test” often appear in imagery when God is described as a judge, and this image of God is often used when one is calling on God for intervention or help. (Mays, 1994, pp. 426-427) Throughout the psalm the psalmist wrestles with the reality that they are known, searched, and tested completely by God and yet the wicked ones who resist God’s way still endure and God is called to judge these ones who the psalmist ‘hates’ (see below).

In the first stanza God knows the psalmist’s thoughts, words, and actions completely. Whether the psalmist is coming or going, waking or sleeping, standing or sitting, God knows their path, their thoughts, and even the words that have not left their mouth. They live their life surrounded by God’s presence and comforted by God’s touch. They respond in an appropriate sense of awe and wonder that the God who created the heavens and the earth can know them. The psalm is not interested in constructing a doctrine of omnipotence and omnipresence but instead deploys its language to try to express their wonder that God knows them, comforts them, is present with them and protects them.

The second stanza continues the wonder at God’s presence throughout the creation. The most surprising line of this stanza is that the psalmist includes God’s presence in Sheol, a place in other psalms where people are cut off from God’s hand (Psalm 88). Yet, for the psalmist even this place where God had been thought absent God is present. Heaven to Sheol, from the rising sun to the farthest edges of the sea, and even in the darkest night they are seen and known by God. There is nowhere in all creation, the heavens, the earth and under the earth, where they can escape God’s spirit or God’s sight. For the psalmist this is an awe-inspiring reality but primarily in a comforting rather than an ominous sense.

The third stanza turns the reflections to God’s deep involvement throughout the duration of their life. The beautiful language of God knitting the psalmist together in their mother’s womb, shaping and forming them for their life in God’s presence and protection. They wonder at their body and mind created by the hand of God and the days of their life are numbered according to God’s plan. The psalmist is less concerned with an idea or predestination than poetically describing the wonder at their life shaped by God’s hands and lived within God’s presence.

It may be a paradox, but for me the first three stanzas set up the final stanza. The psalmist looks upon God’s active presence in their own life and experience and then turns outward to the world where injustice and wickedness persist. The language does not seem to indicate that the psalmist is personally under threat or attack but instead seems to be broken-hearted by the ways in which others are treating God and God’s commandments. They are heartsick by the idolatry and injustice they see at work in the world and they call upon the God who is profoundly present throughout their life to extend that presence throughout the world and judge the wicked and those who oppose God’s ways. The language of ‘kill’ and ‘hate’ are jarring to our ears. The word translated ‘hate’ (Hebrew sane’) refers to an emotional aversion to something or someone. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 966) Throughout the psalms and wisdom literature in the bible the wicked pose a threat, leading astray others from following God’s way and threatening the peace of the society. The psalmist in their own way is calling on God for God’s will to be done on earth. The God who is present throughout the life of the psalmist and whose spirit is present throughout the world is asked to judge the earth and be as deeply involved throughout the creation as they perceive God being within their own life. Like the other psalms calling on God to judge an enemy, the enemy is committed into God’s hands. Yet the psalmist joins those throughout the generations calling upon God to establish God’s justice on earth and to heal the society from the damage done by the wicked, the bloodthirsty, those who speak maliciously, and who rise up against God.

Psalm 138 Praising the LORD With One’s Whole Heart and Being

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The Presentation of the Torah By Édouard Moyse – Own work Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41893002

Psalm 138

Of David.

1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
  before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
  and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
  for you have exalted your name and your word
  above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
  you increased my strength of soul.

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD,
  for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
  for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
  but the haughty he perceives from far away.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
  you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
 you stretch out your hand,
  and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
  your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
  Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 138 utilizes themes common throughout the book of Psalms as it thanks and praises the God the psalmist follows with their whole heart. To follow the LORD with one’s whole heart is not merely a matter of belief but also behavior. The heart in Hebrew thought is not the seat of emotion but the seat of will and intention. The first stanza of the psalm begins with the heart, the seat of will and intention, and ends with the nephesh (NRSVue soul) which is the center or essence of life and being. ‘Heart’ and ‘soul’ they give thanks, sing praise, bow down, and call upon the LORD their God.

This psalm, like many portions of the Hebrew Scriptures, are not monotheistic as we conceive, but view the LORD the God of Israel as the God above all gods. In the midst of a pluralistic world where others worship other gods the psalmist sings the praise of the God above all gods. This God whose name[1] and ‘word’[2] are exalted above everything is the God worthy of thanks, praise and bowing down to. The LORD is known by the central descriptions of God’s characters: ‘steadfast love’ (hesed)[3] and faithfulness (‘emet). The LORD is a God who answers when the psalmist calls and they are strengthened in courage and ‘strength of soul’ in response.

The praise of the LORD expands from the psalmist in the first stanza to ‘all the kings of the earth’ in the second. The ‘words’ of the LORD have now spread to the nations and these mighty one join the psalmist in singing of the glory of God. Throughout the psalms there have been times when the praise of God has been echoed throughout the creation but here the emphasis is on the nations not only praising the glory and power of the LORD but also the ways of the LORD. Central to the way of the LORD is the care of the lowly who God regards. The mighty and haughty may find themselves distant from God but the lowly and vulnerable are seen and protected by God. The kings of the earth in honoring the ways of God would also turn to practices which protect the vulnerable and lowly.

Even though the psalmist appears to be delivered in the first stanza, the final stanza returns to God protecting them in the midst of trouble. Thematically this stanza is similar to Psalm 23 preserving the faithful one in the midst of trouble and delivering them from their enemies. The hand of the LORD is a central feature to these final two verses, appearing three times. The psalmist is the work of the hands of God but also asks God to stretch out the hand in protection and deliver with the right hand. The LORD fulfills God’s purposes, and the psalmist echoes the refrain of Psalm 136 ‘your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.’ J. Clinton McCann Jr. summarizes the psalm nicely when he states:

The psalmist is able to present his or her whole life to God, because the psalmist trust that it is God’s character to manifest “steadfast love” (hesed) and “faithfulness” (‘emet). (NIB IV: 1232)

The psalmist’s wholehearted and embodied thanks, praise and worship points to a future reality when all the king and nations of the earth join in the celebration of the ways of God. They entrust themselves to the God of steadfast love and faithfulness who walks with them in the midst of trouble.

[1] The name of the LORD is a central idea in Hebrew thought and lies behind the commandment on honoring God’s name and keeping it holy. The temple, for example, is ‘a house built for the name of the LORD.’ The name of the LORD can refer to the presence of God but with the understanding that all the earth cannot contain the presence of the LORD.

[2] The Hebrew term for ‘word’ throughout this psalm is not the normal debar but instead from the verbal root ‘amar. Nancy deClaissé-Walford indicates this is more of an emphasis on voicing of the word and perhaps ‘sayings’ is a more accurate translation of this less common word. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 960)

[3] For more about the hesed of God see my comments on Psalm 136.

Psalm 134 Arriving in Zion to Bless and be Blessed

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Pilgrim Steps Leading to the Double Gate (Southern Steps of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem) picture from 2009 by Wilson44691 – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6899573

Psalm 134

A Song of Ascents.

1 Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
  who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place,
  and bless the LORD.
3 May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth,
  bless you from Zion.

Psalm 134 is the final song of ascent where the pilgrims have arrived at their destination, and they are invited to do what they came to Zion to do: praise the LORD. This short psalm is only twenty-four words in Hebrew, but five of those words are the name of God: YHWH (LORD)[1], another three are a title for God (maker of heaven and earth), and three more are the Hebrew verb barak (bless). In the first two verses God is the focus of the actions of praise and blessing as the pilgrims enter into the space of worship. In the final verse the direction is reversed as the pilgrims are sent forth with a blessing, presumably spoken by a priestly figure, as they leave Zion and return to their homes.

In the previous psalm, the unity of the people was celebrated as they came to their destination and now all the gathered ones are called to participate in the actions of blessing the LORD the God of Israel. The actions of the worship are kinetic involving the lifting up of their hands within the holy space, but barak originally meant “to kneel” and that may also be a posture of worship expected within the movement of the psalm. (NIB IV: 1217) The people have made the effort to journey to the house of the LORD, a holy place where God’s presence dwells, and now their actions are now a part of their offering of obedience, homage, and trust to their God.

Within the flow of worship there is a time to be gathered and a time to be sent. One of the actions of sending is a benediction, a final blessing. Within my congregation I typically utilize either a trinitarian benediction or the Aaronic benediction from Numbers 6: 22-26. The brief benediction, which ends Psalm 134, and by extension the songs of ascent, is designed for the pilgrims who have come to Zion but now must return to their own towns or nations. The benediction seeks the blessing of the LORD upon those pilgrims, and wherever they go they are in the dominion of the maker of heaven and earth, yet the blessing emanates from this holy space in Zion where God’s presence rests. They came to this place to offer their blessing and worship to their God, and they are sent back into the world bearing God’s blessing upon them.

[1] The divine name is formed by four Hebrew letters transliterated as YHWH, often pronounce Yahweh, but is spoken as Adonai (Lord) when read by a cantor in the space of worship. This is due to the commandment about not taking the name of the Lord your God in vain. That is why most English translations will translate these four letters as LORD in all capital letters to indicate the name of God is behind the translation.

Psalm 133 Images of Unity

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Consecration of Aaron and His Sons, illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible

Psalm 133

A Song of Ascents.

1 How very good and pleasant it is
  when kindred live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
  running down upon the beard,
 on the beard of Aaron,
  running down over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
  which falls on the mountains of Zion.
 For there the LORD ordained his blessing,
  life forevermore.

Bolded words have notes on translation below.

This short psalm utilizes two images of fluids flowing down as a metaphor for the good and pleasant experience of unity among kindred. Every world religion I am aware of utilizes familial imagery and then expands the imagery of family to the expectations of community life. Here within the pilgrims coming into Jerusalem and reciting these songs of ascent they are surrounded by other travelers who have come from other towns and perhaps other countries. Yet, for the Hebrew people they were all children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were all an extended family. They were all kin.

As the travelers move towards the temple the first good and pleasant image remembers the anointing of Aaron as the high priest for the people. The pouring of oil on the head is common in the ancient world and had both provided moisture to the scalp and skin as well as a pleasant odor. Yet oil is precious and the image here is of fine oil being used lavishly. The oil flows down (Hebrew yored) from the hair to the beard to the collar of the robes. The anointing of Aaron is imagined as a special and lavish event, and the pilgrims going up to Jerusalem are joined to this good and pleasant memory from the past as they come together in unity to worship the LORD in Zion.

Mount Hermon is roughly 200 kilometers north of Jerusalem and the snow and water that collects there is the source of the Jordan River. The water from Hermon flows down (NRSVue which falls on)[1] to the mountains of Zion as God provides life for the land and people. The LORD utilizes both the normal events of rain and snow and the ritual events of anointing priests to provide a good and pleasant place for the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to live in unity and prosperity forevermore.

Adele Berlin suggests that the imagery of Psalm 133 may invoke a hope for the reunification of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah by poetically having the “dew of Hermon” in the northern kingdom flow to Zion in the heart of Judah. (NIB IV: 1214) Whether the psalmist imagines a reunification of Israel and Judah is uncertain, but within the context of a pilgrimage to Zion the bonds of family are extended to new kindred from different starting points but sharing a common destination. They all come together to experience the good and pleasant reality of kindred living together in unity under God’s blessing.

[1] This is the same Hebrew verb yored utilized in verse two for the oil flowing down to Aaron’s beard and robes.

Psalm 132 Zion and David

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King David, the King of Israel by Gerard van Honthorst

Psalm 132 

A Song of Ascents.

1 O LORD, remember in David’s favor
  all the hardships he endured;
2 how he swore to the LORD
  and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house
  or get into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
  or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the LORD,
  a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

6 We heard of it in Ephrathah;
  we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;
  let us worship at his footstool.”

8 Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting place,
  you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
  and let your faithful shout for joy.
10 For your servant David’s sake
  do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath
  from which he will not turn back:
 “One of the sons of your body
  I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
  and my decrees that I shall teach them,
 their sons also, forevermore,
  shall sit on your throne.”

13 For the LORD has chosen Zion;
  he has desired it for his habitation:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
  here I will reside, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless its provisions;
  I will satisfy its poor with bread.
16 Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
  and its faithful will shout for joy.
17 There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
  I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
  but on him, his crown will gleam.”

This thirteenth song of ascent is significantly longer than the other fourteen songs in this collection and is the only song to link both Zion and the Davidic line together. Both the LORD and David in this psalm are given a dwelling place as the events of 2 Samuel 6-7 are reimagined in poetic form. The first half of the psalm references the return of the ark of the covenant from Kiriath-jearim to the tent David established for it in Jerusalem and David’s desire to build a permanent home for God’s presence (2 Samuel 6:1-7:3). The second half of the psalm remembers response of the LORD to David through the prophet Nathan, promising to establish a house (lineage) for David (2 Samuel 7: 4-29). This song of ascents reminds the pilgrims of how Jerusalem became Zion, the dwelling of the LORD, and the house of David.

The psalm begins by asking the LORD to remember David and the hardships he endured. Although many of the events of the psalm reflect a particular moment early in David’s reign there is also the sense that the hardships may involve the hardships that have come upon the line of David. The language of ‘remember’ and ‘hardships’ echoes the end of Psalm 89, another royal psalm that contrasts the lofty promises of the beginning of the Davidic line with the later reality of the line seeming to be a dead stump.[1] The line in verse seventeen where God causes a horn to sprout for David may also indicate that the monarchy has ceased to exist and the rising of a horn, a symbol of power and vitality, is “the restoration of something that has been destroyed” as in Ezekiel 29:21 (NIB IV: 1212). Yet, whether the pilgrim is entering the city of David where the line of David still has its throne, or a city without a Davidic king, the speaker is reminded of the original David who brought the ark of the covenant, and by extension the symbolic presence of God, into Jerusalem.

In 2 Samuel when David becomes king over all of Israel one of his first actions is to conquer Jerusalem and make it the seat of his power. Shortly after this he moves to bring the ark of the covenant from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem. Ephrathah is the region around Bethlehem where David’s family comes from and Jaar is likely Kiriath-jearim where the ark has rested since its return by the Philistines. In 1 Samuel 4 the Ark of God is captured by the Philistines, but wherever the ark rests among the Philistines it brings them affliction. The Philistines eventually return the ark to Israel at Beth-shemesh and then shortly move it to Kiriath-jearim during the early years of Samuel serving as judge of Israel.[2] David has brought the ark of the covenant to a tent in his new capital city and desires to build a house for the Mighty One of Jacob.[3] David has created a temporary space where the LORD can dwell among the people and desires to create a permanent space, a task that will fall to his son Solomon.

A continual theme of the scriptures is God’s desire to dwell among God’s people and the tabernacle, the ark, and later the temple are all dwelling places for the presence of God to rest among the people. A place where the priests and the people can orient their sacrifice, worship, and praise. Zion as a city becomes the place where the faithful ones can come to seek God’s presence and the stability provided by the kings of David’s line who are charged with providing a place of security for both the people and the house of God.

In verse eleven the LORD becomes the actor and in response to David’s actions provides a line for David. The LORD is now the one who chose Zion and chooses to dwell in the midst of the people there providing both provision and protection. Yet for the promise of a son of David remaining on the throne in Jerusalem is contingent upon their obedience to the covenant and decrees. The hope of both Jerusalem and the line of David is the presence of God among them. As the pilgrims enter the city of God, they can remember the hopes of the past and the promise of God’s presence.

In 2 Chronicles 6: 41-42 as Solomon prays over the temple he closes with verses eight through ten of this psalm. Solomon and the kings who followed after him would often fail to keep the covenant and the decrees of God and even the temple would later be polluted by practices and images to other gods, but throughout the scriptures is the image of the God who desires to dwell among the people as well as the desire for peace and security provided by a faithful ruler. Pilgrims across the generations have come to places where God’s presence was promised to dwell in order to worship, praise, and offer their gifts to God and be recalled to the way of life God calls the faithful to practice.

[1] In the imagery of Isaiah 11:1.

[2] 1 Samuel 4-6.

[3] An early epithet for the God of Israel which appears initially Genesis 49:24 during Jacob’s blessing of Joseph. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 935)

Psalm 131 The Humble Child of the Mothering God

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Statue of a mother with children at the Monumental Cemetery of Staglieno in Genoa. Photo by Alessandro Giudice CC by SA 4.0

Psalm 131

A Psalm of Ascents. Of David.

1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
  my eyes are not raised too high;
 I do not occupy myself with things
  too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
  like a weaned child with its mother;
  my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
3 O Israel, hope in the LORD
  from this time on and forevermore.

This short psalm is striking for its central metaphor where the faithful one is a dependent child and LORD is the mother who is the safe and comforting place the child goes to. Jesus will later tell his disciples

Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18: 3-5

Humility plays a central role in both the posture of the psalmist and the posture that Jesus is encouraging in his disciples. The hearers are encouraged to have, “Utter trust in and childlike dependence on God for life and the future.” (NIB IV: 1209) The first verse points to the humble and childlike stance of the psalmist, while the second verse introduces the central metaphor of the childlike speaker and the mothering God who comforts and quiets the speaker’s being, and the third verse expands this posture to Israel whose hope is in the nurturing presence of God.

The heart in Hebrew thought is not the seat of emotion but the seat of will and direction, so the heart not being lifted up is not about being in an exalted emotional state but instead the inner intention of the psalmist is to remain in one’s proper state. The eyes are the outward facing representation of this stance, and they are also not raised too high. The psalmist focuses on the simple things and rather than concentrate their will and striving on great and marvelous things, they rest in their dependence on God. The triple negative of the first verse demonstrates verbally the stance of humility the psalmist has towards God and the world. If this psalm comes from David, as its attribution indicates, it paints the picture of a king who understands their limits and who places honor where it belongs. The king becomes the child needing to be quieted by the nurturing mother God.

The use of feminine imagery for God is relatively rare in the bible, but it does occur. Isaiah uses a similar image of a mother and a nursing child:

Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will never forget you. Isaiah 49: 15

The psalmist has been calmed and quieted in their innermost being. The Hebrew nephesh, rendered soul by the NRSVue, is the most essential part of life and the self but it does not have the sense of soul that is separate from the body and continues beyond life.[1] The Hebrew gamal translated by the NRSVue as weaned can mean either ‘sated’ or ‘weaned.’ If the word is translated ‘sated’, the image of the child is that of an infant who is relaxing after feeding where the hands and legs relax and the child may fall asleep on the mother’s breast or look up at their mother with a satisfied look. If the word is translated ‘weaned,’ as most translations do, the child is coming to the mother for comfort, nurturing, and a loving embrace instead of food. Normally in the bible the context indicates that gamal be translated as a weaned child but here the context allows for either interpretation. With the theme of humility, I like the translation of ‘sated’ with a completely dependent infant on the mother for nutrition, care, and love but ultimately either translation serves the metaphor.

The psalm concludes with the expansion to the people of Israel. The declaration for Israel to hope in the LORD echoes the identical declaration in Psalm 130:5 linking the two psalms together in their conclusions. The God who provides rescue from the desperate situation is the same God who quiets the inner being of humble on like a mother comforts her child. In de Profundis (Psalm 130) the petitioner waits on the LORD more than one who waits for morning, but in Psalm 131 the comforted child can be at peace in the present moment and know that their hope for the future is in the steady, comforting mother-like love of God which calms and quiets them both in the present and forevermore.

[1] The Greek philosophical idea of soul, which many Christians assume is the biblical idea, where the soul is imprisoned in the body and is liberated at death is not the perspective of the Old or New Testament. This enters Christian thought through theologians in the church influenced by Neo-Platonic philosophy (like Augustine).  

Reflections After Walking Through the Letter of James

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James the Just, 16th-century Russian icon

The message that James wants to impart to his readers is designed to be clear and practical. Yet, I always find myself amazed at what I discover in these reflections when I walk through a portion of scriptures, the connections that get made with other portions of the text, the ways in which there is depth and richness that a casual reader may miss. James, like most of the New Testament letters not attributed to Paul, were barely touched upon in my studies in seminary, nor have they been a part of my regular preaching or study. I was amazed at the ways the letter of James connects with the law, the prophets, wisdom literature, and the words of Jesus as he attempts to shape the faithful practice of his Jewish Christian audience.

Prior to coming to this reflection on James has been a series of reflections on a significant portion of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament which have nurtured a love within me for the depth and riches of law, the history, the prophetic witness, and the wisdom tradition which all attempt to speak to the experience of the people of Israel with their God. When I worked through the Gospel of Matthew and Revelation several years ago, those reflections were shaped by the wisdom accumulated through those journeys, and now the same is true of James. I am thankful for both my own heightened awareness of the language of the scripture that the early Christians read but also for the patient work of scholars who dedicate their lives to the study of specific books. I was impressed by the richness that I had previously overlooked in James’s short letter to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora. Part of the paradox of scripture is that it can be both clear and practical and at the same time deep and profound.

James is attempting to cultivate in his hearers an authentic and living faith that is demonstrated through practices of compassion and mercy. Sometimes James can appear as judgmental to a casual reader, but fundamental to the witness of James is mercy. James does have some challenging words for our context, and his language is often like that of an Old Testament prophet, but sometimes the challenging words are the ones we need to wrestle with the most. This is a short letter, but it challenged me, it was like doing a steeper climb but for a shorter duration than my experience of some other books. This may be because I am more of a New Testament scholar than a Hebrew bible scholar, but I think it is also due to the wide number of topics James covers in this short letter. I am thankful for the witness of James and the way in which his attempts to cultivate a living faith in the communities he is writing to in his time continue to challenge us to an authentic living faith two millennia later.

James 5 Harsh Words for the Rich and Encouragement for the Faithful

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Evelyn De Morgan, The Worship of Mammon (1909)

James 5: 1-6

  1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure during the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

James’s rhetoric may be harsh to many modern readers who were raised in a Christianity which has made its peace with the capitalistic and consumeristic culture of the United States. Over a century ago, Walter Rauschenbusch, one of the primary thinkers behind the social gospel movement which attempted to bring faith and action on behalf of the vulnerable together could say that James, “pronounces an invective against the rich which would seem intolerably denunciatory in the mouth of a modern socialist preacher.” (Moore-Keish, 2019, p. 166) Yet, James is not speaking in a language unusual to scripture. James’s language throughout his letter has been in concert with the law, wisdom literature, the prophets, and the teachings of Jesus. That it may seem “intolerably denunciatory” should give us pause. We may not inhabit a situation similar to the early Christians who James is writing to, but the discomfort should cause an honest dialogue about the world and the values we assume. Luke Timothy Johnson asks this question in an existential way when he states:

Perhaps the most serious question for Christianity in the present circumstance is whether it is any longer in a position to exercise the kind of prophetic critique of that outlook such as enunciated by James. Is it not the case that many churches are themselves so co-opted by the logic of envy and arrogance—if not strictly monetary terms, then in terms of membership and influence—that they cannot perceive that such is the way of the wisdom from below, which is earthbound, unspiritual, and demonic? (NIB XII:218)

From the very beginning of the story of Israel they were always intended to embody a different set of values and practices than Egypt and all the following empires of the world that surrounded them. The commandments, statutes and ordinances given to the Hebrew people were to create a society where the vulnerable were cared for. Many of the laws are specifically to limit the acquisition of excessive amounts of property and wealth at the expense of the neighbor. Throughout the letter, James has often referenced topics which mirror the language of Leviticus 19. Once again James speaks in concert with Leviticus 19:

You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. Leviticus 19:13

Likewise, Deuteronomy also states:

You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt. Deuteronomy 24: 14-15

James’s tone is similar to the prophets and a person familiar with the language of the prophets will quickly pick up the language of the ‘day of the LORD’ utilized by the prophets even before the ‘last days’ are mentioned in verse three. Malachi is a good example of this language and in chapter three the oppression of hired workers and the vulnerable is tied with sorcerers, adulterers, and those whose words are false:

Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow, and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:5

Yet, the strongest resonance with this passage is in the words of Jesus:

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Luke 6: 24-25

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6: 19-20

The scriptures may be speaking in the same key, but we may hear this as dissonant in our context. Many people in our time and in James’s time would look at wealth as a positive thing and there is a significant thread in scripture where God does want the people to prosper. Yet, one of the dangers to the health of the community was the acquisition of large amounts of wealth (primarily in the form of land, but also in terms of money) by a few at the expense of the rest of the community, particularly the most vulnerable members of the community. I have said before that in the United States one of our greatest idols is security, the desire to be able to ensure our own future without needing either God or the community. Wealth has become one of the most important ways of keeping score in our society and the acquisition of more wealth is often seen as a goal which surpasses all other goals. James’s counter voice is that the very wealth that we have utilized to attempt to secure our future is corroded and moth-eaten. Our bank balance sheets and acquisitive lifestyles testify against us. Those who lived in pleasure at the expense of their employees, whether landowners who failed to pay the harvester or corporations who increased their earnings while failing to pay a living wage, have now become the Pharoah and his taskmasters who the cries of the laborers testify to God against. And God hears these cries throughout the scriptures.

There has been a lively discussion on the identity of “the righteous one” James references. One common opinion is that the righteous one are the poor among the faithful who are perishing due to the injustice of their world. Another option is that the righteous one is Jesus and that the rich are somehow complicit in the crucifixion. I think it is likely that James is speaking in a manner reflected in Matthew 25: 31-46, where Jesus is met in the face of the vulnerable ones who are seen by the faithful but ignored by the unrighteous. These rich ones may feel like the world is being served to them as an all-you-can-eat banquet, but what James sees is a darker reality for those rich who live at the expense of others. They are like cattle in a feedlot being fattened for the day of slaughter. James believes, in concert with the rest of scripture, that the injustice practiced by the rich and powerful will be answered by God’s judgment.

James’s words are difficult to wrestle with in my context of an affluent suburb of Dallas, Texas but they also are important. We live in a time of increasing disparity between those at the top of the economic ladder and those at the bottom. James’s words will probably never have a hearing among those in our culture who utilize their wealth to manipulate the political or tax system to benefit their own business or bank balance, but these actions, for James, at the expense of the vulnerable in society are a form of violence and murder. For those who claim the letter of James as a part of their scriptures and a witness to faith it presents several challenges. It reminds us that our security is not to be found in laying aside silver, gold, currency or any other type of possession but in the God who hears the cries of the vulnerable. James, like the law and the prophets, sees faith as embodied throughout the entirety of life and that a faith without works on behalf of the neighbor is a dead faith. Most in my community would have been considered wealthy in James’s world, and we often underestimate the gifts we have been given to steward on behalf of the community. The scripture does has positive witnesses to wealth, for example Job mentioned in the next section, but the danger of wealth is that it becomes central to our identity and the score card by which we measure success is that it becomes possible to justify practices which may end up being legalized violence and even murder against the most vulnerable in society.

James 5: 7-12

  7 Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Brothers and sisters, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Indeed, we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about, for the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
  12 Above all, brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

James now returns to the brothers and sisters of his community to encourage them to stand fast and endure as they await the coming of the Lord. These final two sections are full of proverbs for the community attempting to live faithfully in the world. The world is unjust and there are rich whose actions endanger the vulnerable in the community, but James trusts that God’s judgement is near. Patience may not be the best word for the Greek makrothymia. Translators have suggested endure, persist, withstand, or stand fast as possible alternatives which capture the more active sense of the word. James utilizes two images for endurance in parallel: a farmer waiting on the growing crop and the biblical image of Job. The long wait from planting to harvest would be a part of the life of the majority of people in James’s world and there is a reason for the prevalence of this image throughout the scriptures. This is the only utilization of Job in the New Testament, and Job, like Abraham and Rahab earlier and Elijah in the following section, is utilized as a representative figure for an idea. Job may not have been passive in dealing with his situation in the narrative of Job, but he does endure and the Lord rewarded Job for his endurance.

James echoes the saying of Jesus also reflected in Matthew 5: 33-37. I think many people would long for a world where truthful speech was the norm and one of the struggles of our digitally pluralistic society is that truthful speech may be indistinguishable from partial truths, obfuscations and maliciously told lies. As I think about the issues facing society: immigration, global warming, poverty, discrimination, and many others, it is amazing the number of both conspiracy theories and misinformation that are given equal space to information that is well thought out and accepted by those working in the various fields. Perhaps reflecting on the untruth operating on his own society in the mid-1930s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer could comment in Discipleship:

There is no truth towards Jesus without truth toward other people. Lying destroys community. But truth rends false community and founds genuine fellowship. There is no following Jesus without living in the truth unveiled before God and other people. (DBWE 4: 131)

Yet even churches and communities of faith can easily become places that do not value truth but rather seek either easy accommodation or avoiding controversial topics of conversation. Even organizations that expressly claim to value truth in their mission or value statements may, by their actions demonstrate a preference for a convenient lie.

James and Jesus imagine a world where truthful speech is the norm and God has drawn near. It may take patience to see the fruit of this trust, it may involve the endurance of Job, and yet underlying the faith of Christianity is a God who values truth, who protects the vulnerable, and judges the unrighteous. James attempts to strengthen his brothers and sisters scattered throughout the world who are attempting to live truthfully and persistently awaiting the promised harvest of God’s fields.

James 5: 13-20

  13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth yielded its harvest.
  19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James continues with a set of final proverbs to encourage the community in their journey. Prayer is an overarching theme of the verses thirteen through eighteen and it is both the prayers of the individual and the community which enter James’s reflection. The suffering ones should pray, and asking God for what is necessary has appeared as a topic previously in James (1:5,6; 4: 2-3). It is likely that both the suffering and the cheerful are undergoing some struggles and it may be that in some cases the suffering are those who have not ‘taken courage’ while the cheerful have (McKnight, 2011, p. 433) but there will always be those whose suffering is more acute and those whose troubles are lighter. The individual may pray or sing songs of praise based on their circumstances, but the community also has a role in helping those in need. Those who are sick or carrying sins are to call the elders in the community. Much like the friends who carried the paralytic to Jesus (Mark 2: 1-12 and parallels) the elders carry the sick body or the sin sick soul to God that it may be healed. The fact that James can appeal to four people from the story of Israel (Abraham, Rahab, Job, and now Elijah) may be related to the Jewish nature of his community. Paul, whose primary audience was Gentile, can appeal to Abraham and Adam, universal figures, but James may have a fuller catalog of faithful figures he can reference by name and have a story associated with them. (Moore-Keish, 2019, p. 195) Elijah is portrayed as a character whose faithful witness and prayer did incredible things like the three and a half years without rain or the raising of the widow’s son. Yet, Elijah is also ‘human like us.’ In prayer the incredible things of Elijah are accessible to the faithful one asking for God’s healing or forgiveness for a member of the community.

The God who James witnesses to is a God who desires the return of the wanderer. James’s letter may continue to reference Leviticus 19:

 “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. Leviticus 19:17

Or may be following Proverbs, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12) or simply the desire of God expressed throughout the law, the prophets, the story of Israel, the psalms, and the words of Jesus that express the desire for the prodigal people to return to their God. There is always a place for redemption among the people of God. As Jesus said after the parable of the lost sheep, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance (Luke 15:7).