Buzz King: Grace & Joy thru Scripture

We look at a book from the Apocrypha: The Wisdom of Solomon.  While some Christians consider it to be part of the Bible canon, most Protestants are unfamiliar with it.  It was written during the "silent period" between Malachi and the birth of Jesus.  It is beautiful, insightful, and argues that wisdom is critical for deep, true faith.  We see that while faith demands wisdom, faith also leads us to greater wisdom.

We look at the "silent period" between the words of the Prophet Malachi and the life of Jesus.  In particular, we see that a few books that many Christians consider to be "apocryphal", the Maccabee books, give us tremendous insight into what was going on in Jerusalem and surrounding areas during the time of Jesus.  We see Jews fighting Jews because some of them had abandoned their God and become Hellenized.  We consider the New Covenant, with Jesus ordering us to love God and to love others and to no longer be violent - and how this has not come true.  Christians have been very violent over the centuries since the life of Jesus.  Why is this?  How do we change this?

We look at the Old Testament's description of the Afterlife.  We find that it is somewhat different from what we read in the New Testament and from what modern Christians tend to believe.  In particular, just what is Hell?  We look the teachings of Jesus - and just what he says is the requirement for a joyous afterlife spent with God.

As a teenager, I once drove through a tunnel of fire, a very brief one.  We look at the use of natural phenomena, like fire, wind, water, and stars in the Bible, and how they are used to represent the power, pretense, and healing nature of God.  We consider why the Bible is so rich in these metaphors - and why they are so valuable to us today, compared the ancient followers of God and Jesus.

We look at the works of the Sages, the wise Israelite scholars who wrote for a very literate audience.  But the Apostles were not educated people.  At one point, Jesus realizes that since he is about to be gone, and the Apostles will be on their own to spread his Word, it is time to be straightforward and blunt with them.  He conveys a message in simple terms that the Apostles must always remember - and that we must always remember.

We look at the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, and ask the question: Is this truly the same God?  One seems violent and vindictive.  The other preaches love and peace and total forgiveness.  How do we resolve this seeming conflict?  We discover that it is the same God - but God has different missions in the two Testaments.

Recently, I spoke with a young woman who had survived kidney cancer and who had felt a strong connection with Psalm 16.  We look at this Psalm, verse by verse, seeing what it means.  We learn that there are a couple of surprises in this Psalm.  We also see that Scripture, when it connects with us - and this happens through continuous reading - transforms us.  We feel Christ truly within us.

I met a man whose freshman roommate was from Uganda, and who was a Christian living under the ruthless dictatorship of Idi Amin.  It was this student from Uganda who taught my friend how to truly value the freedom to sing a silly song in the dark on Christmas Eve.  We also hear a beautiful rendition of Silent Night from Musiques Libre de Droit (https://www.musiqueslibrededroit.fr/) from SoundCloud.com: https://soundcloud.com/boo-moo-shoo/silent-night-2.

I had rats as a boy, and one day, my father inadvertantly killed one of them.  The next day was Sunday, and my father was sorry that we would have to go to church - and be in front of God - before he could make things right with me.  We look at the season of Advent, where we await the arrival of Jesus in our lives.  We know that how we treat children, and in fact how we treat all people, gets passed on and on and on.  My father showed me love and he always made things right after he had made a mistake.  He taught me how to pass on the love and the kindness of Jesus.

The word "Trinity" does not appear anywhere in the Bible.  It is a notion that has evolved over time.  We look at its history.  We look at an addition that was made to the Bible simply to defend the formal definition of "Trinity"!  But we also look at the true depth and beauty of this notion as it is revealed in Scripture - and we consider why it is so important to move beyond arguing the semantics of a theological term.

Wendy and I recently visited the "Cave Church" of Cairo, the St. Simon Monastery, where the great recyclers, the so-called "Garbage People" of Cairo practice their faith.  We saw a vibrancy there, a joy, and a deep love for God in these incredibly hard-working, welcoming, and devoted believers.  The children in particular were truly amazing.  It is an intensity that we desperately need in our churches in the United States.

In most Bible translations, there are two words that are translated from the Greek to English as the word "gift", dorea and charisma.  We see that the second word means much more that simply something given without obligation or payment.  We see that when we believe were are given not just gifts from God, but charismata, and these empower us to live deeply spiritual lives and empower others to do the same.

We consider the ways in which a believer lives their life guided by God: first, with the training that we receive with Scripture, prayer, and Christian training, and second, with the occasional instruction of the Holy Spirit.  We look at just how we can learn to encourage and embrace, and be inspired by, the Holy Spirit when we are at a point in our lives when we must make a decision on how to proceed in life.

We take a second look at the miracles of Jesus, this time from the perspective of the Gospel of John.  We see that he does not call them "deeds of power", as the other Gospel writers do, but rather as "signs".  This tells us John's focus on the miracles - as signs that teach us theological truths about the Kingdom of God and the Messiah, Jesus.

We look at the miracles of Jesus, as they are described in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  We see that these "deeds of power", as these three Gospels call them, show that Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament - by carrying on with the miracle tradition of the Old Testament.  We also look at the question of the reality of the miracles.  Are they true?  Were they added after the fact by people born long after the death of Jesus, by people who were attempting to take the biblical story and use it to deify Jesus?