John's Musings About Whatever

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Things that are Not Biblical That People Think are Biblical: God Helps Those…

Many people have said, over the years, “As it says in the Bible, “God helps those who help themselves.” To find this verse in the Bible, I suggest you look at Matthew 29:10. I’ll wait while you look.

Waiting.

Looking at my watch.

Waiting.

Okay, by now you may have looked in the Bible and searched for Matthew 29:10 and found, to your amazement that I have either misquoted, or do not know my Bible, or was pulling your leg. I do know my Bible pretty well and I didn’t misquote.

The phrase is not Biblical. It mostly dates back to ancient Greece, the philosophers, and Aesop’s Fables. Shakespeare used it. Ben Franklin used it and published it. The phrase has been around a long time; it even pre-dates much of the Bible.

It is also not without wisdom. Actually, it’s a pretty wise statement. It’s reminiscent of the words of St. Augustine that I try to live by, “Work like it all depends on you and pray like it all depends on God.” The statement, though not Biblical, is a good one.

What I like about “God helps those who help themselves,” is that it’s a reminder that we are not called to be slackers. The Bible is full of statements in the Wisdom books about loafers, idlers, and slackers. St. Paul makes a point that people should work for their food. Stating that phrase, “God helps those who help themselves,” is not Biblical does not indicate that people believe no one should work or do anything productive. Far from it. Productivity in life is a good and vital thing. We need people to show up and put in effort. The world spins and things take place because people work hard and help themselves.

Good words? Yes.

Wise words? Yes.

God’s words? No.

Yet, people believe it is Biblical; even a central teaching of the Bible.

In Wikipedia it says:

The beliefs of Americans regarding this phrase and the Bible has been studied by Christian demographer and pollster George Barna of The Barna Group. To the statement "The Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves"; 53% of Americans agree strongly, 22% agree somewhat, 7% disagree somewhat, 14% disagree strongly, and 5% stated they don't know. Of "born-again" Christians 68% agreed, and 81% of non "born-again" Christians agreed with the statement. In a February 2000 poll, 53% strongly agreed and 22% agreed somewhat that the Bible teaches the phrase. Of the 14 questions asked, this was the least biblical response, according to Barna. A poll in the late 1990s showed the majority (81%) believe the concept is taught by the Bible, another stating 82%.

Despite being of non-Biblical origin, the phrase topped a poll of the most widely known Bible verses. Seventy-five percent of American teenagers said they believed that it was the central message of the Bible.

While I like the wisdom of the statement, it concerns me that so many people think it’s a part of our faith heritage. It’s not. The reality is that if one reads the Bible and one reads the first priority of Jesus, the Bible would more likely say (and mean) “God helps those who help others.” Jesus tells us, constantly, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. We are called, repeatedly, as Christians, to help others. There is no distinction on who we help either. There are no ‘worthy’ poor or ‘unworthy’ poor in the Bible. There is no distinction between the people who have hit hard times or the slackers. There is only the word ‘poor’ that hounds us constantly. “God helps those who help others,” is actually a consistent Biblical theme.

The phrase, “God helps those who help themselves,” while filled with wisdom is not Biblical.

So, the next time someone tells you, As the Bible says, “God helps those who help themselves,” refer them to Matthew 29:10 and tell them what, exactly, that reference means.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Things that People Think Are Biblical, but Really Aren’t: Lex Talionis.

I’ve heard many people say, “Well, you know what the Bible says, ‘an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” Does the Bible actually say this? Yes, but before you cite it, there are some facts to learn about it.

It is stated in Exodus 21:

²³If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, ²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

This is part of unofficial Jewish Law, after the giving of the 10 Commandments. A long list of things were being given out to the people of Israel, giving them a sense of depth and breadth of the Mosaic Law. This particular statement is based on the principle is sometimes referred using the Latin term lex talionis or the law of talion, means a retaliation authorized by law, in which the punishment corresponds in kind and degree to the injury. It comes from the Code of Hammurabi which was a Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to about 400 years before Moses.

The lex talionis is based on retributive justice, which means that people can retaliate in a restrained way. An eye for an eye means that if someone attacks you and destroys your eye, you can destroy their eye; you cannot kill them. It is based on a premise of justice as opposed to revenge. It was, for the time, a very enlightened and progressive perspective. In Exodus, Moses is saying that this old law of a different culture, should still be a part of Israel’s existence. It’s in the Bible, but it’s not necessarily a Biblical principle. It comes from ancient Mesopotamia.

Alas, that’s not my point, so before you say, “Thank you for the proof text, thank you for this verse,” and go on your merry way extracting eyes from people who have harmed you, please recognize something. Jesus disagrees with the Code of Hammurabi.

In Matthew 5 he says:

³⁸"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' ³⁹But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; ⁴⁰and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; ⁴¹and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. ⁴²Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. ⁴³"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. ⁴⁶

To summarize this quickly, Jesus was not a fan of the Lex Talionis. He is replacing the old law with the new law and the new law is complex.

One of the great challenges Jesus gives us is something most of us would prefer to not deal with. Jesus was a pacifist. Passages like this reveal it. His behavior in the garden revealed it. His comments to Peter, who was willing to defend Jesus, reveals it. Jesus was a pacifist.

In early Christianity, before Constantine, all Christians were pacifists. It was forbidden to join the Roman Army and it was forbidden to take up arms. It was seen as acceptable to die for one’s faith, but never to kill for one’s faith. When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire this changed. Now Christians could and did, fight for Rome. Since that time most Christians are not pacifists. There are exceptions. The Religious Society of Friends are pacifists. Churches from the Anabaptist tradition are pacifists. Most Christians are not.

I’m not going to make an argument for pacifism. I’m not a pacifist. I say that reluctantly as I wish I could be, but the world around us does not really allow for this. I say that knowing this is my opinion, nothing more or nothing less.

Jesus was opposed to the Lex Talionis because he could not or would not physically harm another person. He strove for mercy in everything he did. In our society we recoil when we hear of other cultures cutting the hands off thieves; yet we lament when we determine that prison conditions are too good. (The reality is that most people in prison live in deplorable conditions.) The simple reality is that most of us have little to no objection to having pain inflicted on wrong doers----as long as we are not the wrong doer or we are not related to them, of course.

There are tons of questions we can wrestle with. Jesus does not make this very easy for us. But there is one thing very clear. Jesus was opposed to the Lex Talionis. Next time you decree it to be Biblical, you may need to contrast the views from Exodus and Matthew. For Christians, we really do not believe in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. For Christians, that is not a Biblical principle.

Audio Sermon September 14, 2014

Because God….

Texts: Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

September 14, 2014

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Things that are Not Biblical That People Think are Biblical: Sodom was about Homosexuality

A minister was preaching to her congregation one Sunday and she told them that next week’s sermon was going to be based on Matthew 29 and she asked everyone to read Matthew 29.

The following Sunday she began her sermon with the question, “How many people read Matthew 29? Most of the people in the congregation raised their hands. She said, “Today’s sermon is about honesty; Matthew has only 28 chapters….”

I decided to do a blog serious on things that people think are

biblical, but really aren’t. I’m beginning with the Sodom and Gomorrah story. The story is, in and of itself, biblical. The narrative begins like this in Chapter 19.

¹The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² He said, "Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the square." ³ But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; ⁵ and they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them."

While the narrative refers to them later as ‘men,’ presuming these are male angels, the very start of the story begins by telling us who these characters are. They are of heavenly, not earthly origin according to the writer of Genesis.

Lot had extended the two of them hospitality and the men in town called them out with the intention of gang raping them. Lot’s family escapes because of a miracle by the angels, casting the town folks temporarily blind.

So, the gang rape of angels has turned into a proof text against homosexuality. A story about hospitality (and lack thereof) in a book filled with stories about hospitality is turned into a proof text against homosexuality. A story leading into another book, about God’s retribution on a nation (Egypt) that turned hospitality into slave-keeping is made into a proof text about homosexuality.

Jesus referred to Sodom and Gomorrah in the Gospel of Matthew:

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' ⁸ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. ⁹ Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. ¹¹ Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. ¹² As you enter the house, greet it. ¹³ If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Take note of something. Jesus, in his reference to Sodom and Gomorrah was speaking in terms of the lack of hospitality and lack of welcoming apostles as being sinful.

Ah, but the word sodomy…

The word sodomy and the accompanying word sodomite (used in many translations of the Bible) do not show up until 395AD in a letter from St. Jerome to people. Jerome began using a ‘new’ Latin word at the time. The difficulty is that he did not articulate exactly what he meant. What is obvious, however, is that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not about homosexuality. John Calvin, in his commentary on Genesis, does not define the Sodomites' sin as homosexual acts. Instead he prefers the social meaning of sodomy, reminding his readers that the Sodomites were "in the habit of vexing strangers," whereas Lot had offered them shelter and a meal.

We may use the word ‘sodomy’ all we want and while we may see it in the Bible or see the word ‘sodomite’ in the Bible, these are words that did not exist when the Bible was actually written. One would be hard pressed to say that the original texts said, on this subject, what many people state they say.

Not long ago I was listening to the pastor of a megachurch. He was preaching on the evils of same sex relationships. He made two points that were, frankly absurd.

The first one could be used on Saturday Night Live. It was that funny. Seriously, I don’t mean to mock, but I understood why I was required to major in Philosophy for seminary and how logic comes into play. He said that one of the leading causes of same sex relationships was experimentation. He even said it with a straight face. What he seemed to be missing, however, is that gay people experiment sexually and usually begin their experimentation in heterosexual relationships. The percentage of gay people who have engaged in opposite sex behavior is way higher than the percentage of straight people who have engaged in same sex behavior. His ‘experimentation’ theory was absurd.

What got me really rankled, however, was that he said, “Let’s face it, Sodom and Gomorrah was about homosexuality.”

I do not find this particular statement even remotely amusing.

The ‘men’ in the story, we are told, are of angelic origin.

The narrative is about a looming gang rape. Gang rape is an act of violence, it is not even remotely related to sexual love.

The gang rape of angels, in the context of Genesis, and in the interpretation of those who wrote it and read it, was a story telling us what happens to those who are welcoming of God’s people. Jesus very much saw it this way and we should as well. If we are going to read the Bible with any sort of faithfulness, we need to learn what it really says

Sodom and Gomorrah as a proof text is not about homosexuality. It never was and it shouldn’t be used in that manner.

Sunday, September 07, 2014

Audio Sermon, September 7, 2014

Spiritual Narcissism

When Being Right Trumps Being Righteous

Text: Romans 13:8-14

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

September 7, 2014

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Audio Sermon August 31st

Oy Vey

Texts: Psalm 26:1-8; Matthew 16:21-28

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

August 31, 2014

Monday, August 25, 2014

Audio Sermon August 24th

Ah, I’ve Always Wondered What the Church’s Job Was

Texts: Isaiah 51:1-6, Matthew 16:13-20

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

August 24, 2014

Monday, August 11, 2014

Audio Sermon August 10, 2014

The Language of God

Text: 1 Kings 19:9-18

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

August 10, 2014

Saturday, August 09, 2014

3 Clergy who Need to Be Ignored

This week I read news stories about three clergy in the country and the amazing work they are doing to turn people away from God.

Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle was removed from Acts 29, a church planting network he helped to found. Mars Hill is really not only one church, but is now in five states with fifteen locations. He is an incredibly polarizing figure. He purchased his own books to get on best seller lists, and has been accused of plagiarism. Additionally, his misogyny is almost legendary in all bad ways.

There is one thing that stands out about Mark Driscoll, however. He’s mean.

John Hagee is the pastor of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Like Driscoll, a mega-church pastor. In a sermon recently he talked about how horrible poor people were and he distorted a Scripture passage to proof-text his point. He regularly speaks about how people who disagree with his opinions are counterfeit Christians and speaks regularly of the end times and delights in telling his listeners about the torment the ungodly people are going to experience.

There is one thing that stands out about John Hagee, however. He’s mean.

There is also Archbishop John Myers of Newark, New Jersey. In his time he has admonished priests who give Holy Communion to pro-choice parishioners and divorced Catholics who remarry without getting an annulment. Refused to let diocesan teachers attend a national meeting for Catholic educators because one of the speakers was known to favor ordination of women and fired a parochial school teacher for permitting a debate on ordination of women.

Supported the Cardinal Newman Society. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb. (since retired), one of its stalwarts, has threatened to excommunicate Catholics who belong to liberal church organizations such as Call to Action. He is currently adding on to an already huge retirement home and charging it to the Archdiocese of Newark. Despite the controversy surrounding this, he has not relented in this.

I know a good many people who know Myers and there is one thing that stands out about him. He’s mean. No one I know who actually has dealt with Myers has ever accused him of having a heart.

I know. Someone’s going to say I’m picking on ‘conservative’ clergy. These people may call themselves whatever they want, they’re just mean guys who have used Jesus and ideology to say and do mean things to people. There are people just as conservative as them who are good people, great people in fact. These guys are just plain mean.

When we are mean and say we are merely professing the truth in love or preaching the true Gospel, we are missing the point. Being mean and hateful and doing it in the name of Jesus is merely behaving badly and blaming it on God and that is shameful. What they are doing, and have done, is turn people AWAY from God. God is a God of love and love brings people together. Love is patient and kind. These guys are neither. It’s time we remind people that these are folks who may have had some good moments, but in their lust for power and glory have lost sight of the God who calls them to love. I hope their hearts can be melted. Meanwhile, they deserve to be ignored.

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Audio Sermon August 3rd

Through Heaven’s Eyes

Text: Matthew 14:13-21

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

August 3, 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Praying

I find, especially as I get older, I like to pray. Actually, that’s sort of understating it. I pray because I need to pray. I crave prayer time.

That may sound weird or nerdy or something like that, but it’s become a part of my day and a part of my life. I tend to pray, at least once or twice a day the Liturgy of the Hours which primarily use Psalms.

I pray not because I have all the answers; I have very few answers.

I don’t pray to find out the answers; I pray to allow God’s way to intervene.

I don’t pray for people to get them to see it my way; I pray that I may have an open mind and heart in their presence.

I don’t pray because I am strong; I pray because I am weak.

I don’t pray because I’m so good; I pray because I grapple with my own humanity and weaknesses.

I don’t pray because God needs me to pray; I pray because I need to pray to God.

I don’t pray to come into God’s presence; I pray that I may be aware of God’s presence around me.

I don’t pray for a certain ideology to prevail or one to fail; I pray that people may actually grow up and listen to one another and work together.

I pray an awful lot for peace and for people I love and a lot of people I don’t know. I figure God knows them and that’s enough.

I don’t pray the Psalms because they are all good and uplifting; I pray because they are real and they capture the joy and sorrow, the bliss and pain of life. They are real.

I don’t pray with a lot of certainty; I pray with a lot of seeking and praying the Psalms forces me to seek and wonder. I often wonder about Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. (Don’t ask, it’s a Psalm thing….)

I pray not because I have an abundance of time; I take the time to pray because I have an abundance of need.

Which reminds me…..time to pray.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Audio Sermon for July 27th

(Note: This was not recorded live during the Worship Service)

NOTHING

Texts: Romans 8:31-39; Matthew 13:31-33

Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo

July 27, 2014

One Small Reason I Need to Have Faith

The most recent Gallup Poll has the Congressional approval rating at 15%, approve, 80% disapprove, and 5% have no opinion. President Obama’s approval rating is just about 43%, which is pretty low for a President. Ironically, even though 80% of the people in the country disapprove of Congress right now, the vast majority of those running for re-election, will, in fact, be re-elected. People are not happy with their elected officials.

As a person who lives in a market with all Kentucky television stations we are being bombarded with ads from Alison Lundergan Grimes and Mitch McConnell, both of whom are running for Senator McConnell’s current seat. Fact checkers are having a field day with the television ads as virtually nothing that has appeared on television has thus far been even remotely true. The election will be won or lost on advertising and falsehoods. It makes me understand the 15% approval rating a little more. God bless us with our freedom of speech. I wish people would concentrate more on responsibility with their speech!

But these are the least of the issues facing the world right now. In Israel there is endless carnage in Gaza. In the Ukraine there is still carnage and the specter of a civilian plane shot down. Thousands of children are fleeing violence in Central America, coming to the United States and no one has a clue as to how to deal with this.

Then, of course, I go on Facebook and see all sorts of mean comments and articles. Sigh.

The world does not seem like a happy place any longer. I also recently read that people are 40% less empathetic than they were in the 1980’s. I’m not sure how one measures that, but that didn’t sound good to me.

It’s all rather depressing.

This is why I have faith in God and why I pray. Hope in the things of this world is, in a word, hopeless. When the Great Depression came about Herbert Hoover, who was an expert in disasters and was an incredibly good person, believed the goodness and compassion of people would rise up and people would help one another. People would share food and companies would hire as many people as they could even if profits had to go down for a while. He had great faith in human beings and his faith was crushed. He was often called heartless and blamed for people’s suffering and that was unfair. He cared deeply but found himself completely disillusioned with humanity.

The reason I love the Psalms is they remind us that the world is always a troubled place and cruelty exists; they also remind us that God hears us and listens to us and loves us through this. That’s why I have faith in God.