The Rest of the Story

In these last fifteen or so minutes, I have decided to look briefly—and I mean briefly—at four New Testament books: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter and Revelations.  They are all of a different sort and by different authors.  As the Christian church continued to grow, it found itself in new witness settings that raised new questions.  What does it mean to be faithful witnesses when enthusiasm is lagging, people are in need, or Christians are being rejected by their society?  Hebrew, James, 1 Peter and Revelation provide models of how Christians are able to witness in such situations.

Hebrews: The Pilgrim People of God

The unknown author of Hebrews probably wrote between AD 60 and 95.  Although it has the look of a letter, it is really an extended sermon.  We can only guess as to whom it was written.  Hebrews could refer to non-Christian Jews, Jewish Christians, or even Christians in general who identified with the activity of God.

We do, however, know a great deal about the recipients, even if we cannot identify exactly who they were.

1)      First, they have suffered terribly for their Christian faith.  They have been publicly abused and persecuted, and they have had their possessions confiscated.

2)      Second, the recipients of Hebrews are tired.  They have little energy left in their Christian lives and have become sluggish.  Their faith appears to be weakening. Part of the reason for their lack of spiritual muscle tone is they have been neglecting the message about God’s activity.  They have stopped worshipping and learning.  They apparently started well, but slowly but surely pooped out.

The author uses four approaches to get these people back into shape.

1)      Continuity with the past:  Readers of Hebrews are reminded of God’s promises and activity in the past.  He helps them understand that they are part of the ongoing pilgrim people of God, part of a chain of believers stretching all the way back to Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham.  “By faith” Abel offered his sacrifice to God; “by faith” Enoch was taken into heaven; “by faith” Noah built the ark; “by faith” Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the people of the exodus, and Rahab lived their lives.  He concludes, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us…run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (12:1) The point of continuity with the past is faith—the faith of earlier believers and the faith of today’s believers.

2)      Goal for the future: Strength is gained by looking to the past.  Enthusiasm is generated by looking to the future.  Even though the race may be long, it is not without a finish line.  There is rest at the end of the journey.

3)      The high priest Jesus: The readers of Hebrews are also are shown how God’s future is being realized.  Hebrews depicts Jesus as the great high priest, a priest that is installed not with pomp and circumstance but with a death on a cross.  Because he is now the perfect high priest who has offered the sacrifice of his own life, he has become the source of eternal salvation for those who believe and obey.  The author then borrows an argument from Plato who believed the “reality” of this world was only a shadow of the true reality of the world of ideas.  In the same way, the reality of the Old Testament is only a shadow of the true world made real in Jesus Christ.

4)      Exhortation: Throughout the sermon, the author exhorts the readers.  They are not to drift away, but they are to hold fast to the end, be mature in faith, encourage each other with good works and love, run the race with discipline and endurance, and serve God through their daily lives.  In fact, the entire sermon is an exhortation.  The basis is, of course, Jesus.

James: A Doctrine of Good Works

Of all the James’ mentioned in the Bible, the one most associated with the writing of this book has been James the brother of Jesus.  That same James headed the Jerusalem church.  Most scholars don’t credit James with writing this book but many of its ideas could very well have come from the Jerusalem church.

Again, James is really an extended sermon not a letter per se.  He is writing to a group of Christians living outside of Palestine.  Apparently, in this church there is great tension between the rich members of the church and the poor ones.  James is written to motivate Christians to be a serving people of God.  Christianity is to be lived in everyday service, “Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers.”   In exhorting his readers to action, he employs two arguments:

1)      He rejects societies standards.  The first standard of social justice that James rejects is partiality or favoritism.  According to this standard, the person who is wealthy or who brings some advantage to others is the person who is to be honored.  The poorer person is rejected, or at least dealt with less graciously than the wealthy individual.  James rejects that standard of social justice.

2)      He rejects Christian apathy.  The second standard of justice the author rejects is a type of Christian faith that is inactive, workless—and for that reason worthless.  “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?

The book of James is written in part against people who misunderstand Paul.  For Paul, good works” are important but they are not the way one is justified.  Some people concluded that good works was unnecessary.  Paul’s question had to do with our relationship with God.  That is dependent on faith.  James’ question is what do we do now that we have a right relationship with God through Jesus.  His answer is to serve.  He wants a vigorous Christianity.  We need to determine whether we are friends of the world or of God.  James rejects the idea that Christian is just a “me and thee” thing.

1 Peter

Written between 75-90 AD in Rome, 1 Peter is addressed to Christians in what is now Turkey.  They were an isolated minority, only 10% of the population.  Because of Peter’s prominence in Rome (he had been martyred there in the 60s), the author uses Peter as the letter’s authority.

“Suffering” is the key to understanding 1 Peter.  Christians are suffering, and they are suffering because they are Christians.  Most likely the cause of their suffering is discrimination in the society in which they lived.  They were suffering verbal attacks, prejudice, pressure to conform to the standards of the culture rather than of Christ.

To meet that challenge, the author of 1 Peter defines who Christians are:

1)      Aliens.  In relationship to their society, Christians are called “exiles” and “aliens.”  They are visiting strangers.  The term “aliens” designates a specific class of people who legally were inferior to citizens and who had only limited rights.

2)      Family.  In relationship to God, however, Christians have a different definition.  Christians have been given “a new birth into a living hope” (1:23).  We are “newborn infants” (2:2).  As newborn Christians, we have “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.  “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.”

3)      Witnesses.  Family can become ingrown and self-centered.  But not this family.  This family, says 1 Peter, has a task.  Even though it understands itself as strangers in the world, it has a mission to the world and must not withdraw from it.  We are called to “proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (2:9)  Christians can witness through the conduct of their lives.  They have different values and life-styles from the surrounding culture.  By their example, Christians are called to be the kind of witnesses that will cause non-Christians to glorify God.

In summary, 1 Peter is written “to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God.  Stand fast in it” (5:12).

Revelation

Revelation is a book that has been frequently misused.  It has been taken out of context and understood as a book of secret codes that program how God will act at the end of time.  Revelation does tells us how the story will end.  It will end with the defeat of all evil and with God united with God’s people.  The exact timetable, however, is not outlined in Revelation (or anywhere else in the Bible for that matter).  In fact, the author tells us not to read his book as though it were a schedule.  Jesus, despite all attempts to predict the end, will come like a thief in the night.  What is painted in the stark colors of Revelation is a series of impressionistic paintings that witness to God’s activity in the past, present, and future.

Revelation was written to seven churches in Asia Minor.  John, the author, had been exiled to the island of Patmos. A Christian named Antipas has been killed and the author anticipates others will be killed too.  Such persecution probably resulted from the demand of the Roman emperor, Domitian, to be worshiped as Lord and God.  Since Christians were perceived by others as aliens, they were perceived as a threat to society.  The mark of the beast, for example, may well refer to the fact that Christians who did not participate in the emperor religion found their income declining as non-Christians refused to do business with them.

In this context, John uses apocalyptic language, strange mystical cryptic language full of visions of destruction and judgment to convey his message to his readers.  This may be for a variety of reasons not the least of which are his enemies of the state.  There were others, namely Christians, who took issue with John: the Nicolaitans, the followers of Balaam, and the followers of Jezebel.  The three groups are essentially one, all making various attempts to adapt religious faith to the surrounding culture, an attempt that inevitably led to compromises.  The people John regard as their followers took a rational and moderate approach to witnessing.  Their model of witness is to go with the flow and to blur the distinctions between their church and the society in which they live.

For John, every Christian is a martyr, a witness who needs to be ready to tell God’s story.  Christians witness in the following ways:

1)      Worship.  It is no accident that hymns abound in Revelation.  Nor is it an accident that 80 hymns in the Lutheran Book of Worship are drawn from Revelation.  Indeed, most of our liturgical language comes from the book of Revelation;

2)      Testifying to the word.  John “testified to the word of God”; he was on Patmos “because of the word of God; Christians have been killed because of the “word of God”.  “Word of God” refers to Jesus himself, to the revelation given to John, and to the message about Jesus.

3)      Separating from society.  John advises Christians to reorient themselves internally away from the city of this world.  Unlike his opponents, John calls for spiritual separation from society and its false standards.

4)      Suffering and enduring.  The results of such witnessing is suffering and death.  The church will be persecuted in this world.  And that is where endurance comes in.  The call to endure is an important feature of Revelation

What keeps Christians going in such circumstances?

1)      The Vision of God: I am the Alpha and the Omega

2)      The Vision of Jesus, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth

3)      The Vision of the End, coming after the destruction of all evil