Live fully in the community God has designed for us Conclusion

You can read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here and Part 4 here.

These last few weeks we have learned the community God has designed for us includes the outcast and the disciple, the weak and the vulnerable, the marginalized and the privileged, the stranger and the foreigner. I have posited, if we are not living in a community that looks like this, then we are not living fully in the community God has designed for us. I further stipulate, if we continue to allow such divisions, the body of Christ will (continue to) suffer.

After Pentecost, it didn't take long for the church to relapse into well worn habits. For some, maintaining the dividing line between Jew and Gentile seemed paramount. More than once, ministry that included mixed race company raised eyebrows and invited debate. For others, divisions crept into the fold even as they gathered in worship with tongues and prophecies abounding or as they gathered around the Lord's table to share a meal. Paul addresses this particular issue in 1 Corinthians.

The Last Supper by Jacopo Bassano

In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you?Certainly not in this matter! 1 Corinthians 11:17-22

Paul goes on to teach the Corinthians about the history and purpose of the Lord's Supper.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

As we read Paul's final directives in this chapter, be mindful not to divorce these verses from the previous, especially verses 17-22.

So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. 1 Corinthians 11:27-34

The Last Supper by Sieger Koder

How were the Corinthians believers eating and drinking in an unworthy manner? How were they guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord? The context of 1 Corinthians 11 enlightens us.

In a time when the church primarily met in private homes, Paul addresses a gathering of Christians in Corinth. It seems the wealthier members of the congregation, those with flexible, less-demanding schedules, arrived early. While servants and slaves, those with schedules dependent upon others, arrived late. The hosts escorted the early-arriving wealthier members to the main dining area to eat while the food and the wine remained abundant. But when the servants and the slaves finally arrived, the already-gathered church escorted them away from the full dining room to the courtyard outside and gave them leftovers.

As Paul certainly knew, and the Corinthians would soon realize, divisions will always be easier to maintain then creating space for inclusion. Divisiveness is easy. It relies on our basest self. It's second nature. But diversity demands more. It defers to Christ's nature. It's hard-work. The Corinthian believers, by defaulting to the easy peasy, status quo of I-belong-here-and-you-belong-there, eventually succumbed to negative effects on their health and well-being as the body of Christ.

In these passages, Paul argues, the Corinthians dishonor the body of Christ by enabling divisions in the church (11:18,27). He warns the believers, they eat and drink judgment upon themselves by allowing some to go hungry while others get drunk (11:2, 29). He concludes, many are now weak and sick and some have even died because they have disgraced God's church by shaming the poor (11:22, 30).

Our tendency toward division may be second nature, but it's also detrimental to our health. Diversity is essential to our well-being, therefore, inclusion must be intentional.

Paul is right. Before eating and drinking, we must take care to examine ourselves. We must consider whether our words and actions honor or humiliate those who are different than us. One way to determine if we treat others with respect is to recognize whether we are all gathered as equals around the same table or if we are consistently separated.

Consider the various tables we fellowship around. Who's included? Who sits around our tables of conversation and friendship? Who feels welcomed at our tables of ministry? Who do we accommodate at our tables of decision making? Do these gatherings only ever include people who look and sound like us? Have we, as the body of Christ, made ourselves susceptible to weakness, sickness, or even death by those we've excluded?

Remember, enabling division is easy. All we have to do is succumb to the status quo. But diversity is God's design. As image bearers of God we bear a serious responsibility. Diversity is God's design, but inclusivity is our choice. It's our choice to ask hard questions, invite deep conversations, search our souls thoroughly, gain self awareness, repent sincerely, and open seats at his table daily. To neglect our responsibility may be detrimental to our health. But to embrace this responsibility enables us to live fully.

When we accept our responsibility as image bearers of God to purposefully include all kinds of people around his tables of fellowship, ministry, and decision making, then we can begin to live fully in the community God has designed for us.

Live fully in the community God has designed for us Part 3

You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

As our series continues, let's peek inside the home of another Pharisee who extended a dinner invitation to Jesus and see what happens when an unexpected and uninvited woman by-passes the guest list.

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said. Luke 7:36-40

Washing his Feet by Wayne Forte

According to the Pharisee, a real prophet of God would reject the sinner outright, refusing their presence and especially their touch. A true holy man would meticulously maintain the deep, thick lines drawn between sinner and saint. Scoffing, if just to himself, the Pharisee wonders, Why does Jesus just sit there? Why does he allow her to touch him?

Seriously, I don't think Jesus needed to be a mind-reader to know the Pharisee's thoughts. I imagine the look on his face said it all.

Jesus proceeds to tell the Pharisee a parable about two men with two debts: one who owes quite a bit more than the other. However, the moneylender forgives both. Neither man owes even a denarius any longer. When challenged the Pharisee concedes, the one forgiven of the greater debt would love the moneylender more. Jesus then openly declares the woman forgiven, affirms her faith, and bids her to go in peace (7:48-50).

If the attitude of this one Pharisee is any indication, I dare say, this woman hadn't known much peace in her life. Where would a woman like this find peace? At the temple? In her neighborhood? I don't know, but she found it that day in the presence of Jesus when she crashed a dinner party.

Jesus befriended all kinds of people. Those who thought themselves above the slight, called him a friend of sinners. We chuckle at their seemingly benign insult. Was that supposed to sting? To better understand the bite of those words, let's consider this: Who would Jesus hang out with today that would really annoy you? I mean really, really, annoy you?

I'll give you a moment to think …

Ready?

How would we feel about a Jesus who partied it up with the liberal-leaning or the Democrat-voting or the gay-affirming? Or what if Jesus enjoyed the company of the tree-hugging or the yoga-stretching or the feminist-marching? Would it make us squirm to consider a Jesus who didn't just hang out with those types, but delighted in their company, welcomed their conversation, and loved them to death? Would we think him a prophet, a man of God, the holy One? Or would we call him a friend of sinners?

Can we feel the burn now?

Yet a bigger question looms. If Jesus would hang out with those kinds of people, why don't we? Let's face it, a major reason we don't hang out together is because we don't feel comfortable around them and they don't feel safe around us. Which, suffice it to say, is very unlike Jesus, but very much like the Pharisee and the woman in the story.

When we welcome the diverse company of people Jesus welcomed, then we can begin to live fully in the community God has designed for us.

Let's look at a parallel passage in Matthew's Gospel; similar story, different characters.

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:6-13

Mary Washing Jesus' Feet by Soichi Wantanabe

Like the Pharisee in the previous story, the disciples make a few assumptions of their own about a woman. They assume they know how to use her gift better than she does. (Apparently, Jesus likes hanging out with micro-managing, control freaks, too.)

Let's be clear: It's the woman's gift. It's her property. It's her prayerful choice how she gives it to Jesus. The disciples, however, seem clueless about these truths. Completely unaware of the significant act going on right in front of them, they criticize the woman's gift and how she gives it. And since they missed the point, Jesus explains:

When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

In the very presence of Jesus, a prophetic moment takes place, but distracted by their own ingrained and destructive attitudes toward women, the disciples completely miss it. No doubt, the disciples loved Jesus; they sacrificed everything for him! Yet because of implicit bias, cultural conditioning, societal practice, and even religious understanding they could not discern the importance of this woman's gift.

Let's be bold for a sec and call out this sin for what it is: sexism. Sexism is not just a nuisance nor an innocuous point of view. It's a destructive barrier to true discernment and healthy communion. It prevents even those closest to Jesus from appreciating the gifts of God through chosen vessels of God and from discerning prophetic acts done right in front of them.

The woman in question here may not have fully understood what she was doing, but that doesn't make what she did any less spirit-inspired. (The prophets of old were never completely aware of the full significance of their words and actions either.) In each scenario, the problem lies not with the woman nor the expression of her gift. The problem lies with the attitudes of the men toward the women. Therefore, Jesus corrects the wrong attitudes and affirms each of the givers.

Women of God, a word of encouragement: In the face of adversity, unfair criticism, and unproductive attitudes share your gifts mindfully, courageously, and generously. The body of Christ needs you more than we sometimes realize.

This woman acted boldly. Familiar with the demeaning and disrespectful attitudes prevalent in her culture and within her religious circles, this woman took her gift, took a chance, and lavishly offered it upon the body of Christ. Thank God.

Women of God, another word of encouragement: Let's acknowledge and appreciate the gifts of women outside our circles. Sometimes we can be just like those disciples. We love Jesus, we stand in close proximity to him, we follow him daily, but all the while we criticize the gifts or dismiss the voices of certain women because they don't look or sound like us. God chooses all kinds of people. He chooses all kinds of women in his kingdom, even those that don't fit our mold. Therefore, let's not stand to the side like the disciples and criticize what we may not yet understand or we may miss something prophetic and profound in our midst.

When we prayerfully acknowledge our implicit biases, thoughtfully lay aside our assumptions, and respectfully learn from women we have a tendency to dismiss, then we can begin to live fully in the community God has designed for us. 

Part 4

Live fully in the community God has designed for us

I greatly appreciated the opportunity to preach at the Indiana District Regional Encounter in Greencastle, recently. In this series, I'll share with you what I shared with the women who gathered at TheStorehouse that day on what it means to live fully in the diverse community God has designed for us. Enjoy and I welcome your comments for further discussion.

Dr. Mark A. Powell, professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, explains the concept of social location and biblical interpretation in a short video produced by Seedbed. “Social location,” he says, “refers to those various factors that identify one person as distinct from others in society.” These factors include, but are not limited to, gender, marital status, nationality, age, and economic status.

Scholars have long recognized the connection between understanding social location and proper biblical interpretation. Suffice it to say, any first year theology student or indeed, anyone with a rudimentary grasp of the basic steps of biblical interpretation recognizes the need to scope out the who, what, why, and where of a biblical author and their intended audience.

Yet now, Dr. Powell states, scholars are paying closer attention to the social location of the modern reader and how their personal experiences, collective memory, and cultural backgrounds affect their interpretation of biblical stories.

In other words, if we as a group of adults and adolescents, or women and men, or blue collar and white collar workers all read the same Bible story, it's possible we will all derive a different meaning because our social location influences which details we notice in the story and which details we fail to consider.

Dr. Powell tested the veracity of this idea with three separate classrooms in three different cultural settings. Beginning with a familiar Bible story, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Dr. Powell asked the same question to each of his students to see how their social location would influence their answers.

The Prodigal Son Among Swine, by Max Beckmann

First, Dr. Powell asked his students in the United States to write down on an index card their answers to the question, “In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, why does the young man end up starving in the pigpen?” Almost every one of his American students wrote the same response, “Because he squandered his wealth.” In wild living, no less!

Is that what you thought? Me, too. I don't think I've ever heard a sermon about the prodigal son without a preacher condemning the son for demanding his inheritance from his father and then foolishly spending it all. If he's starving in a pig pen, we Americans like to opine, he's got no one to blame but himself. Right?

A seminary class in St. Petersburg, Russia gave Dr. Powell another opportunity, as well as a very different cultural context, to ask a different group of students the very same question concerning the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

In the same way, the Russian students wrote their answers on index cards, but unlike their American counterparts, the vast majority of the Russian students expressed a completely different answer to the question, "Why does the young man end up starving in the pigpen?"  Instead of saying, "He wasted all his money," they replied, “Because there was a famine in the land." And indeed, if you look up the text, Jesus explicitly states, “About the same time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.”

Interesting, right? So, what influenced the majority of the Russian students to notice this particular detail while the American students ignored it? History

During World War II, Dr. Powell explains, the German army laid siege to the city of Leningrad, blockading roads and refusing to allow food to enter for almost three years. Between September 1941 and January 1943, historians estimate at least 600,000 people – 25% of the population – died because a great famine swept over the land we now know as St. Petersburg.

Social location and biblical interpretation. Who we are, where we live, what we remember affects our reading of scripture.

Lastly, Dr Powell taught a class in Tanzania, East Africa. Curious to know if the Tanzanian students would respond as the Americans or the Russians he asked them the same question, “In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, why did the young man end up starving in the pigpen?” Their response may surprise you.

The Tanzanian students overwhelmingly replied, "Because no one gave him anything." Surprised? Go ahead, read the parable again. This little tidbit is there as well. In fact, the Tanzanian students expressed shock at the inhospitality of a country (a country without honor) who would refuse aid to a stranger in need.

The Prodigal Son Among the Pigs, by Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn

Social location and biblical interpretation. It matters. To be true to the interpretation of scripture we need to be aware that our experiences, inherent bias, and cultural conditioning affect our reading of it. 

In Dr. Powell's experiment, every student in each classroom gave a perfectly acceptable answer. However, and this is important to note, none of the students gave a complete answer. Not one. Hear me now. Each student had a correct answer, but not one had a complete answer. Why? Because our cultural perspectives, collective memory, and social interactions affect which details we notice and which we disregard as a group.

If we, as students of the Bible, desire more than just a correct answer but a complete answer, then we must study and interpret scripture in community. God purposefully designed a diverse community for his people to depend on one another and learn together. In other words, we cannot consistently read and interpret scripture alone nor solely with people who always look and sound just like us. Not if we truly hunger for a more thorough and honest rendering of God's word.

Dr. Powell's experiment is just one example of why we need to live fully in the diverse community God has designed for us. We all have some vague notion that the idea of community is important, but in the next few weeks, I will endeavor to convince you that learning to live fully in the diverse community God has designed for us is not just a good idea, but absolutely essential to our health and well-being as the body of Christ.

Part 2