Holy Crap! What Happened to my Calendar?

I've been sick this past week, nothing major, just a head cold.  But it pretty much knocked me out for a good portion of Monday through Thursday.  I thought this was a bad week to get sick, already having Monday off, I had one less day to do work, plus later today I leave for Hammonasset, the synod youth gathering.  (BTW, super excited about going to Hammo since I've been hearing about it since I started seminary in 2004).

But then I went to look at my calendar to figure out a date to go up to New London to see Bob's new place of employment.  And all I can say is: "Holy Crap! What happened to my calendar?!"  This summer I had a very open calendar with worship on Sunday mornings, followed by the occasional meeting and text study group on Tuesday mornings, and I go to Stitch and Bitch on Thursday nights.  Wednesday evening bible study was canceled for most of the summer.  So for the most part my calendar was free, in all honesty it was a little boring and I had to strive to come up with things to do.

But now!  Geesh!  Next week kicks of our Wednesday evening bible study (which I'm actually super excited about as it is a women's bible study that I'm calling "The Finer Things in Life" as we indulge in chocolate, wine and scripture).  On Thursday and Saturday are the first Worship Together events (again really excited, but a little afraid that people won't show up).  Next Sunday is Rally Day and the start of Theology Pub on Sunday nights (again excited but afraid people won't show up).  The following Saturday is the Pasta dinner, and then Sunday starts the Sunday morning bible study.

Whew!  I think I'm free a few days around Thanksgiving.

I'm excited for these ministries and I know many congregation members are excited as well.  Let's just hope that I feel better next week, can get my butt in gear about advertising many of them (good thing for social media that I can advertise from my computer) and that they start off well.

So maybe it was a good week to get sick, to remind myself to slow down and hopefully things will grow at the pace that God wants them to.

Wrestling with The Message

This last week I have been wrestling with the idea of reading this Sunday's gospel, Luke 12:49-56 (NRSV link), from Eugene Peterson's biblical paraphrase The Message.  (Luke 12:49-56, The Message) Normally, Bethlehem uses the NRSV and the verses are printed in Celebrates, a bulletin insert provided by Augsburg Fortress.  The NRSV translation is what I use for biblical storytelling, granted I almost always change a word or two because it is easier to memorize, or I add "Jesus said" or change a pronoun to a proper noun in order to clarify for people who are listening to a portion of the text instead of the full story.  And overall I'm satisfied with the NRSV.  


But I also look that The Message for personal use.  I read from The Message Remix for my personal devotion and bible reading since it reads a little smoother and it has also allowed me not to gloss over the text since it is not the same translation I have heard all my life.  When preparing for my sermons, I almost always read The Message version of my key text in order to gain new insight into the read, (granted I often look at multiple translations and my Precise Parallel New Testament is a wonderful resource for that).  I have even used The Message before in worship, (but it was a youth worship service that while I preached at, I wasn't the main worship planner).  


Overall I find looking at a variety of translations to be helpful in preparing for preaching or general bible study.  


But that is the problem, The Message is not really a translation, more of a paraphrase or transliteration, and even if you call it a translation, it must be prefaced that it is not an accurate nor ever intended to be.  So their is something that holds me back with wanting to bring it into worship.  And even this text is an example, but there it is also an example of why I want to use it in worship.  


So maybe I should start with my specific reasons against using it first.  

• There are times that The Message changes verses in ways that don't make a lot of sense 
• For example verse 50 in the NRSV is "I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! " but in The Message is "'I've come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished!"  Those are far from the same verse! 
• I believe it is important to stick to the Greek or Hebrew.  
• It we each write our own paraphrase or transliteration we can make the Bible say just about anything that we want.  
• It seems sacrilegious to change scripture in worship, especially to something that is not a translation.  
• On a practical level, even though the majority of the congregation does not read along when I say the gospel, for those that do because they listen better that way, I don't want to confuse them by using a different translation, even if I do warn them that what is written is not the same.

But I also have many reasons for using The Message in this case.

• Verses 54 and 55 are much more "down to earth."  They sound like something people would actually say.  
• You say "This'll be a hot one" (The Message) not "There will be scorching heat" (NRSV)
• The descriptive words in verse 51 have more meaning for me.  
• "Smooth things over and make everything nice" compared to "bring peace on earth" and "disrupt and confront" instead of "division"  
• The Message is often easier to understand.
• Such as in the example of verse 50 above, the NRSV takes background information and study to understand while The Message is easier to understand without additional information. 
• We hear the NRSV so often that it is easier to tune out, glaze over, since we have it partially memorized.  This partial memorization is also why the gospel has less of an impact than it should.  We already know what it has to say.
• Really this is how I passed Greek so easily in seminary, once I figured out about three words from a sentence I was able to recall the rest of the verse.  
• I think often The Message keeps to the heart of Gospel message more even if the text is not accurate
• In last week's gospel, Luke 12:35a is an example of this.  The NRSV's "Be dressed for action" doesn't quiet get to Greek's essence which is more accurately translated "Gird your loins," but The Message's "Keep your shirt on" does keep that essence a bit more.  But notice that neither are an accurate translation.  
• I kinda want to use The Message in worship primarily because I have been told not to do it! 

Yes I am that kinda of person, do something just because I was told not to.  See I put up on Facebook my dilemma about using The Message, and I got back fairly strongly from my pastor friends to either not do it at all because The Message has no place in worship or to read the NRSV during the normal gospel time and then start off my sermon with rereading any key verses in The Message and maybe say why I like The Message more for that verse.  Well I don't agree with the former and the later seems repetitive and like a lecture in biblical translations instead of a preaching on the text itself.  

But I also asked the same question on chat board on Raverly, an online community for knitters and crocheters that I belong to.  On the chat board, made up of liberal Christians from around the world, many of which are not pastors, the people who replied to my post were divided in their answer (hmm maybe this week's text about Jesus bringing division is at heart here).  Most said that they enjoy hearing from different translations but do like a heads up if it is a different translation than what is printed.  The others said that they prefer a more accurate translations but admit that they have studied Greek and therefore it is important to them.  And one person was absolutely against The Message, saying it inspires revulsion in her.  But there were two people's responses who brought back to me why I'm struggling with this.  

The first said "Jesus used colloquial language. He wanted to be understood. The most important point of the sermon is to be understood." And the second said "Ask God. See what He leads you to do."  Hmm The Message is using colloquial language and is easier to understand than the NRSV at times.  And I must be struggling with whether or not to use The Message because God is leading me to figure out how this text can have the most meaning for the congregation on Sunday.

So what am I going to do?

Well after much internal and external debate, a mini-fight with my husband, asking others, asking God through prayer, thought and reflection, I have decided that I really don't like either translation for use in this Sunday's worship service.  Instead I'm combining the two - yes I know I'm a heretic, I'm sure the bishop's office already knows but in case you would like to report me here is the phone number for the synod office: 508-791-1530.  

So here is my version Luke 12:49-56, a combination of the Message and the NRSV, which will be printed in the weekly announcements so anyone who would like to read along can.  

Jesus said: I’ve come to start a fire on this earth

and how I wish it were blazing already.

 I have a baptism with which to be baptized

and what stress I am under until it is completed!

Do you think I have come to bring peace,

to smooth things over and make everything nice? 

No I tell you.  I’ve come to bring division, to disrupt and

confront. 

From now on, five in one house will be divided,

                Three against two, and two against three

                Father against son and son against father.

                Mother against daughter

and daughter against mother

                Mother in law against daughter in law

                                Daughter in law against mother in law

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising

in the west you immediately say “storm’s

coming”  and you are right

And when you see the wind blowing from the south,

you say “There’s going to be scorching heat”

and you’re right. 

You hypocrites and frauds! 

You know how to interpret the appearances of the earth

and sky, the changing of the weather, but why do

you not know how to interpret the present time?”

Re-entering the Bible

So I'm a bad pastor!  Okay not really, it is just that I know that I could do better in some areas.  

One such area that I have been struggling with recently is personal reading of scripture.  I LOVE group bible study, being able to gather with people and hear different perspectives on a certain text and how people relate scripture to their personal lives.  And quiet honestly I enjoy bible study with non-pastors more than with pastors and other church leaders. 

Currently I'm involved in three weekly scripture studies, yeah I know that sounds like a lot, but I'm a pastor.  On Sunday mornings, during the education hour at church, a very small group, often just Bob and I, have been reading through Genesis, re-learning some of the stories you first hear in Sunday School.  It has been a little disheartening to have only Bob and I, but I hope eventually that number will grow.  And I'm willing to do Bible study with just Bob and I instead of waiting for a larger group to form. 

On Tuesdays I met with the other Lutheran pastors in the county to discuss the coming week's lessons.  While I love it when we really dive into the meat of the scripture, we hardly get there.  Some times we spend a lot of time discussing what is going at other churches in the area or at the national church or people bring issues that have arisen in their congregation to get support on how to handle the issue.  When we do discuss the scripture, sometimes it seems that some of the pastors are burned out with the text because they have been preaching on it every 3 years for the last 50 years.   But often I do get insights on how to approach the text for my sermon, in fact that is where I got the idea last week to talk about vision. 

And on Wednesday evenings, a few members of Bethlehem, normally 4 or 5 of us, meet at the parsonage and discuss the upcoming text for Sunday.  Sometimes we talk only about the gospel, other times we talk about all 3 lessons.  This group I love!  Sometimes I go into Wednesday evening with a good idea of what to write for my sermon and after bible study I have an entire new outlook on the scripture.  I know I have "stolen" some of the others ideas about the text for the sermon. 

So I read scripture a lot in a group, but hardly by myself.  And I have tried.  And have failed.  Like many things that I do, I'm really good and keep up with my attempts for multiple weeks or months and eventually stop for some reason and then it takes me months to get back to it.  I have tried daily devotional readings like "Word in Season" or "Upper Room."  But when I miss a day I feel like I have to go back and read the day that I missed and when I miss multiple days that is a lot of extra reading and I soon get frustrated and give up.  Knowing that I like getting more indepth to the text, I tried reading smaller sections of text and then a corresponding commentary.  I tried this starting with Matthew last June and was very good reading this a few days a week until we moved then started again in the fall after we had settled in.  But even after several months, I still had not finished reading Matthew and gave up.

So after a conversation with a parishioner the other week, I've gone back to what I used to do in high school and college, when my bible was so marked up and used that it broke in two - just reading a few chapters each night before I go to bed.  If I'm super tired I'll only read a chapter or none at all.  But even if I'm really into reading the scripture I'm stopping at 5 chapters a night.  There is not an end date, a goal to have the bible read by, but just some time each evening for me to read scripture.

I have also started reading the Message, which is a more modern paraphrase of the bible.  It is not an accurate translation but it is not meant to be one either.  Instead it is meant to read more like a novel, chapters are marked, but verses are not.  This has allowed me to read scripture that I have read so many times in a new light.  And within the last week and a half, I have finished Genesis and just read up to the 10th chapter of Exodus last night.  Hopefully this will stick, and I'll be able to continue through all the laws of Deuteronomy.  

Book of Faith

On Saturday I and another member of Bethlehem went to the New England Synod Book of Faith Festival.  The Book of Faith is an initiative in the ELCA in order to get people to become more familiar with the bible.  As the Book of Faith website says: The purpose of the Book of Faith Initiative is to increase biblical literacy and fluency for the sake of the world.

The brief history of the Book of Faith initiative is that in 2005 a church in North Carolina brought a resolution to their synod assembly that the ELCA encourage more bible study.  This then came to the national assembly in 2007 where the resolution overwhelmingly passed.  Since then the ELCA and its publishing house Augsburg Fortress has produced a new study bible (the Lutheran Study Bible), a new Sunday School curriculum and children's bible (Spark materials) and multiple Book of Faith bible study materials that look at themes in the bible, books of the bible and people in the bible. 

The festival on Saturday was a way for people in New England to come together in celebration of the Bible and the Book of Faith Initiative and learn how to better do bible study.  We did this through worship, keynote addresses and workshops.

The day began with morning worship and a keynote address by Dr. Diane Jacobson, the director of the Book of Faith Initiative.  Dr.  Jacobson discussed some of the things that keep people from bible study - time commitments, the idea that you need to be an expert, it can be confusing, we are a instant gratification culture and bible study takes time.  She also discussed what the Book of Faith Initiative is and what it is not - it is way of encouraging people to read scripture in ways that are engaging to them, it is for all people not just adults, it is conversation, it is not a specific curriculum. 

We then broke out into workshops.  I attended two, one on small church Sunday School and another on hospitality.  I highly enjoyed the Sunday School one and got some specific ideas on how to support our Sunday school teachers and make the program better for next year.  The hospitality workshop was good but more of a general conversation about hospitality in churches.  I think most attendees wanted to hear about being hospitable to visitors and welcoming the community and the leader was more focused on how to extend hospitality to refugees and homeless people in our midst. So while the conversation was good, I didn't get as many specific ideas to bring back to the congregation. 

The Dr. Jacobson's afternoon address lead us through the four ways of reading scripture for study.  Here is part of a hand out which sums up the address:


Devotional Reading (no experts...thank you very much)

• What scares, confuses or challenges you in this text?
• What delight you in the text?
• What stories or memories does this text stir in you?
• What is God up to in the text?

Historical Reading (Who, when, where, why, what?)

• What insights from history would be helpful to know in order to hear, read, study or understand this passage?
• Do we know anything about who wrote the passage?
• Why was the text written?
• Where was the text written and what do we know about that part of the world?
• When was the text written, and what was going on in the world at that time?
• A great way to do this is to mark the text with asterisk were you want a study note then researching the internet, study bibles and other resources for answers.

Literary Reading (How do we find meaning in the details of this text?)

• What type of literature is that passage? (letter, poem, history, etc)
• What is the plot?
• Who are the characters?
• What is the theme of the passage?
• What is the setting of the passage?

Lutheran Theological Reading 

• In what ways is the text leading us to Christ?
• In what ways do we hear law?  
• In what ways do we hear gospel?

Overall  it was a great experience.  I enjoyed my day at the festival and hope that I'll be able to continue to help grow bible study at Bethlehem.