Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Sat, 7 Nov 1992 16:06:48 EST
From:         JEK@NIHCU.BITNET
Subject:      For Sunday 9 Nov 1992

FOR SUNDAY 8 NOVEMBER 19r2

READING: Job 19:23-27a
 ("I know that my Redeemer liveth!")

PSALM 17
 ("When I awake after thy likeness, I shall be satisfied.")

EPISTLE: 2 Thessalonians 2:13--3:5
 ("I give thanks for you to God, who has chosen you from the
beginning, and called you by the preaching of the Gospel. Hold fast
to what you have been taught, pray for my work as a preacher, and
trust in God.")

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 20:27-38
 (The Sadducees confront Jesus with a puzzle about the conditions of
life after death, and He replies that eternal life is not simply a
continuation of this life, and that the Scriptures show that God's
love and care are eternal.)

NOTE: The Sadducees were one school of Jewish thought in New
Testament times.  They were the party of the chief priests, and
controlled the Temple. They recognized only the Torah (the Five
Books of Moses) as authoritative. Since they found in these books no
clear-cut reference to resurrection or to blessings beyond the
grave, they taught that the promises of God are for this life only.
Thus Jesus, in replying to them, quotes Exodus 3:6, where God says
to Moses, "I am the God of Abraham, the God, of Isaac, the God of
Jacob."
     The point of the argument, as I see it, is something like this.
Suppose a man dies, leaving his young son with no family. His will
names his business partner as guardian and trustee. The partner
speaks to the son, beginning, "Tommy, I was your father's best
friend, and he asked me to look after you if anything happened, and
I promised I would." We all expect him to say "was," and would find
it odd if he said, "I * AM * your father's best friend." We
understand that the father is no longer around, and that therefore
the friendship is spoken of in the past tense.  But God says, "I
* AM * the God of Abraham," thereby implying that Abraham is still
in the picture, and that the relation of God to Abraham is
fundamentally unchanged. A linguistic digression: Actually, the
Hebrew does not have "am," since Hebrew does not ordinarily use the
verb "to be" in the present tense. However, the Hebrew construction
that is used quite clearly refers to current and not previous
conditions.)


PRAYER
   O God, whose blessed Son was manifested that he might
   destroy the works of the devil and make us the children of
   God and heirs of eternal life: Grant us, we beseech thee, that,
   having this hope, we may purify ourselves even as he is pure;
   that, when he shall appear again with power and great glory,
   we may be made like unto him in his eternal and glorious
   kingdom; where with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost,
   he liveth and reigneth ever, one God, world without end.


REMARK
     Note that Jesus, speaking to men who recognized only Five Books
as having authority, bases His argument on a quotation from the Five
Books.  In seeking to assist others, it is useless for us to try to
prove a point by quoting the Bible or some other source as an
authority to someone who does not recognize that source as an
authority. It pleased me, many months ago, to have an earnest young
moslem on the same list with me. His attempts to prove various
doctrines by quoting the Koran gave some Christians on the list a
chance to see how that process looks and feels from the receiving
end. If we want to assist a friend in his search for the Truth, we
have to listen as well as talk, find out where our friend is, and
start with truths he already recognizes.
     Of course, this warning applies only to quoting the Bible to
prove something.  Using it to explain what it is that Christians
believe is another matter. Be sure, however, that your listener
understands the distinction. I have seen exchanges, for example on
TV talk shows, where a Christian began to quote the Bible in the
middle of an argument and the audience went absolutely berserk and
started shrieking for him to stop. It is tempting to explain this as
the Devil at work -- that unbelievers cannot endure to hear the
Gospel. But I suspect that it derives in part from experience with
Christians who throw out texts as a substitute for (sometimes as a
preventive of) any meaningful dialogue.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU