November 26, 2008
I Peter 3:7
“The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don’t run aground.” (The Message)
“Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honor to the woman as the weaker sex, since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life—so that nothing may hinder your prayers.” (NRSV)
Blub, blub, blub . . . that was the sound my blood getting its boil going as I read this in the NRSV translation. I was getting agitated such that I had to walk out to Peggy, our administrative assistant, simply to express with almost childlike anger that I don’t like Peter! With that, in her gentle way, she called me back to center. “Isn’t this one of those times when you have to consider the context?” she said.
Yep! It sure is. So what was the context then? Unlike the previous verses, Peter is now shifting to talk to the men who are Christian and are in marital relationships with women who are also Christian. This Message translation is actually more accurate to the Greek understanding in its paraphrase than the NRSV appears to be. Peter is calling husbands to treat their wives, who have less physical strength than they, with respect and honor. The word for honor is the same word used as the honor that one would pay the king. This is a call not just to the practice of mutual submission but to equality in marriage. It implies that the perspectives and social rankings of this life are irrelevant in the spiritual world. When we understand ourselves as spiritual beings we must understand ourselves as being on equal footing before God.
Early church tradition understood that one’s behavior had a direct effect on one’s prayers. So if the men wanted their prayers to be heard, they needed to treat their wives as equals.
Peter wants the men to understand that the direction of life when properly lived is not theirs to steer on behalf of their wives, nor is it for the wife to steer on behalf of the husband. It is the responsibility of every person to render his or her life to God such that God is the one who steers the direction of our lives. There is no more equal footing then that, when we all bow in submission to our God. May we seek to do just that in our living! Amen.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Jurisdiction of Our Lives
November 19, 2008
I Peter 3:5-6
“Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.”
She woke me up at 5am and it was summer time! There was no need to prepare for school--no extra studying that needed accomplishing. She—my mother—woke me because she knew of my fascination with the royal family and this day was the day that Lady Diana Spencer was to wed Prince Charles! My mother curled up with me in those wee morning hours and we watched the royal wedding. As I recollect that day, I seem to remember being struck by the wedding vows. Lady Diana, as I recall, refused to use the word obey in her vows. The word ‘obey’ has several renderings but among them is the idea that someone gives jurisdiction of something over to someone else.
In our Scripture, Peter is continuing his earlier conversation with the women of the community encouraging them to be like Sarah, the matriarch of Judaism. Sarah, says Peter, offered jurisdiction of her life over to Abraham and because of Abraham’s offering of his life’s jurisdiction to God, both have become obedient to God. That obedience in Sarah’s example enhances her inner beauty and demonstrates her loyalty. In the face of a non-believing husband, Peter believes that the women he’s addressing will be setting an example for the cause of Christ especially if they are able to do so without fear and without intimidation.
For Peter’s sake, I hope his argument was successful in convincing the women of his day because it simply falls flat for me. If you know much about Sarah or Sarai as her given name was spelled, then you know that she was not a submissive type. Miki Raver, in her book, Listen to Her Voice: Women of the Hebrew Bible, tells us that Sarai meant “princess” but God changed her name to Sarah meaning “chieftainness.” Her name, suggests Raver, was rooted in the Hebrew word that meant “to command.” This woman was no shrinking violet and likely she held her own religion apart from that of her husband’s but of her own volition she gave jurisdiction of her life over to God.
Peter is right to set Sarah apart as a role model but not because she obeyed Abraham. He is right to set her up as a role model because she was a woman of faith to chose to give the jurisdiction of her life over to God and in so doing she cultivate a beautiful inner being—such that she chose to obey Abraham as well and to accept the obedience that he also offered her (mutual submission, I believe they call it!) She had an understanding that when we live our lives in relationship to God we also treat each other with the same deference.
I don’t blame Lady Diana for not wanting to obey Charles but I wonder what might have happened if she had required him to also have obedience toward her? I am of the opinion that ultimately Peter is hitting on a powerful truth—that when we treat each other as we hopefully treat God, we live out healthier lives with God and with each other. So I hope for each of us this week that we will cultivate our inner beauty—the gentle gracious kind that God delights in . . . may it be so! Amen.
I Peter 3:5-6
“Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.”
She woke me up at 5am and it was summer time! There was no need to prepare for school--no extra studying that needed accomplishing. She—my mother—woke me because she knew of my fascination with the royal family and this day was the day that Lady Diana Spencer was to wed Prince Charles! My mother curled up with me in those wee morning hours and we watched the royal wedding. As I recollect that day, I seem to remember being struck by the wedding vows. Lady Diana, as I recall, refused to use the word obey in her vows. The word ‘obey’ has several renderings but among them is the idea that someone gives jurisdiction of something over to someone else.
In our Scripture, Peter is continuing his earlier conversation with the women of the community encouraging them to be like Sarah, the matriarch of Judaism. Sarah, says Peter, offered jurisdiction of her life over to Abraham and because of Abraham’s offering of his life’s jurisdiction to God, both have become obedient to God. That obedience in Sarah’s example enhances her inner beauty and demonstrates her loyalty. In the face of a non-believing husband, Peter believes that the women he’s addressing will be setting an example for the cause of Christ especially if they are able to do so without fear and without intimidation.
For Peter’s sake, I hope his argument was successful in convincing the women of his day because it simply falls flat for me. If you know much about Sarah or Sarai as her given name was spelled, then you know that she was not a submissive type. Miki Raver, in her book, Listen to Her Voice: Women of the Hebrew Bible, tells us that Sarai meant “princess” but God changed her name to Sarah meaning “chieftainness.” Her name, suggests Raver, was rooted in the Hebrew word that meant “to command.” This woman was no shrinking violet and likely she held her own religion apart from that of her husband’s but of her own volition she gave jurisdiction of her life over to God.
Peter is right to set Sarah apart as a role model but not because she obeyed Abraham. He is right to set her up as a role model because she was a woman of faith to chose to give the jurisdiction of her life over to God and in so doing she cultivate a beautiful inner being—such that she chose to obey Abraham as well and to accept the obedience that he also offered her (mutual submission, I believe they call it!) She had an understanding that when we live our lives in relationship to God we also treat each other with the same deference.
I don’t blame Lady Diana for not wanting to obey Charles but I wonder what might have happened if she had required him to also have obedience toward her? I am of the opinion that ultimately Peter is hitting on a powerful truth—that when we treat each other as we hopefully treat God, we live out healthier lives with God and with each other. So I hope for each of us this week that we will cultivate our inner beauty—the gentle gracious kind that God delights in . . . may it be so! Amen.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Our Lives as Testaments
November 12, 2008
I Peter 3:1-4
“The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.”
Feminist that I am, it is often hard for me to get past words that insert submission and the idea of my giving authority of myself over to any other human. In fact, the idea begins to make my blood boil! These words begin to stir up such anger in me and then I realize that I am called to understand the context.
In the culture that was Peter’s there was apparently some sort of social problem going on between the church and Roman society. The Romans looked poorly on their wives and slaves being enticed toward cults as they may well have perceived Christianity. To that end, Peter felt it necessary to address these particular groups.
Peter is writing expressly to women who find themselves in marital relationships where the husband is not a Christian and his mission is to help the women find a way to demonstrate to their husbands the value of relationship with Christ.
Maybe you or someone in your family has watched the television show “What Not to Wear” on The Learning Channel. If so, then you know that the mission of the hosts, Stacey and Clinton, is to take an unsuspecting and hum-drum dressing woman and convert her into a well-dressed, well-coifed and self-assured woman. They do this by demonstrating all of her fashion errors and then they teach her how to determine what look is best for her all with the premise that she will have a renewed self-esteem if she will just adjust her wardrobe.
Consider Peter the “What Not to Wear” host of the ancient world. His advice is the reverse. He wants the women to understand that we are called to live by example and that no matter how we do our hair, wear our clothes or what jewelry we don, our true self-worth is determined by our relationship with God. The witness of that relationship and the sincere lifestyle that comes with it will be the convincing evidence that calls all people want what they have including their non-believing husbands.
So in spite of the phrasing that makes my feminist blood boil, the message is really one for all of us. We are called to overhaul the look of our hearts and thereby our living so that our lives become a testament of God’s amazing way with us. May it be so for each of us! Amen.
I Peter 3:1-4
“The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.”
Feminist that I am, it is often hard for me to get past words that insert submission and the idea of my giving authority of myself over to any other human. In fact, the idea begins to make my blood boil! These words begin to stir up such anger in me and then I realize that I am called to understand the context.
In the culture that was Peter’s there was apparently some sort of social problem going on between the church and Roman society. The Romans looked poorly on their wives and slaves being enticed toward cults as they may well have perceived Christianity. To that end, Peter felt it necessary to address these particular groups.
Peter is writing expressly to women who find themselves in marital relationships where the husband is not a Christian and his mission is to help the women find a way to demonstrate to their husbands the value of relationship with Christ.
Maybe you or someone in your family has watched the television show “What Not to Wear” on The Learning Channel. If so, then you know that the mission of the hosts, Stacey and Clinton, is to take an unsuspecting and hum-drum dressing woman and convert her into a well-dressed, well-coifed and self-assured woman. They do this by demonstrating all of her fashion errors and then they teach her how to determine what look is best for her all with the premise that she will have a renewed self-esteem if she will just adjust her wardrobe.
Consider Peter the “What Not to Wear” host of the ancient world. His advice is the reverse. He wants the women to understand that we are called to live by example and that no matter how we do our hair, wear our clothes or what jewelry we don, our true self-worth is determined by our relationship with God. The witness of that relationship and the sincere lifestyle that comes with it will be the convincing evidence that calls all people want what they have including their non-believing husbands.
So in spite of the phrasing that makes my feminist blood boil, the message is really one for all of us. We are called to overhaul the look of our hearts and thereby our living so that our lives become a testament of God’s amazing way with us. May it be so for each of us! Amen.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Christian Suffering
November 5, 2008
I Peter 2:21-25
“This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step by step.
‘He never did one thing wrong,
Not once said anything amiss.’
They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.”
When I was a child my best friend was my next door neighbor, Chris. Most of the time, Chris and I got along really well but on occasion we would get into an argument and he would call me names. Inevitably, I would yell back at him (with that confrontational whiny tone that children can use so effectively with each other) “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Was I mimicking a saying? Was I trying to convince myself that the phrase was true? I don’t know . . . but what I do know is that I really didn’t believe those words. Words hurt me for a long time because I trusted in others more than I trusted myself to know what was right about me and certainly more than I trusted God.
Cultures, no matter the look of them and no matter the era, all seem to have the common denominator that we, as humans, heap abuse on each other. It was true of Peter’s day and his words to the hearers of the day were that they should take care to understand what it meant to be Christian. From a literalist perspective, one could take this as an admonition to endure suffering. But, when I read this, what I hear is an exhortation to understand what it really means to practice the Christian life.
The true Christian has come to such peace in their living that they find their identity in relationship with Christ not in what others say about them or in the actions taken toward them. God is their final authority and that being the case they can choose to respond to others without investment in the opinions of others and they can choose to be the wonderful beings that God created them to be. Because of the example of Christ, the true Christian understands that not everyone in our world has claimed the peace of Christianity and even people who call themselves Christians are works in progress who haven’t quite achieved such peace. So, it seems, that the admonition of this Scripture is to live from the loving perspective of that phrase: “sticks and stones (that the world WILL hurl at us) may break our bones, but words (for Christians who place their authority in a relationship with God) will never hurt us.” With that perspective, suffering may come our way and we can count it as insignificant and as part of the journey, for we know where our security rests . . . in Christ Jesus. May so find ourselves in the safety of God’s arms! Amen.
I Peter 2:21-25
“This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step by step.
‘He never did one thing wrong,
Not once said anything amiss.’
They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.”
When I was a child my best friend was my next door neighbor, Chris. Most of the time, Chris and I got along really well but on occasion we would get into an argument and he would call me names. Inevitably, I would yell back at him (with that confrontational whiny tone that children can use so effectively with each other) “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Was I mimicking a saying? Was I trying to convince myself that the phrase was true? I don’t know . . . but what I do know is that I really didn’t believe those words. Words hurt me for a long time because I trusted in others more than I trusted myself to know what was right about me and certainly more than I trusted God.
Cultures, no matter the look of them and no matter the era, all seem to have the common denominator that we, as humans, heap abuse on each other. It was true of Peter’s day and his words to the hearers of the day were that they should take care to understand what it meant to be Christian. From a literalist perspective, one could take this as an admonition to endure suffering. But, when I read this, what I hear is an exhortation to understand what it really means to practice the Christian life.
The true Christian has come to such peace in their living that they find their identity in relationship with Christ not in what others say about them or in the actions taken toward them. God is their final authority and that being the case they can choose to respond to others without investment in the opinions of others and they can choose to be the wonderful beings that God created them to be. Because of the example of Christ, the true Christian understands that not everyone in our world has claimed the peace of Christianity and even people who call themselves Christians are works in progress who haven’t quite achieved such peace. So, it seems, that the admonition of this Scripture is to live from the loving perspective of that phrase: “sticks and stones (that the world WILL hurl at us) may break our bones, but words (for Christians who place their authority in a relationship with God) will never hurt us.” With that perspective, suffering may come our way and we can count it as insignificant and as part of the journey, for we know where our security rests . . . in Christ Jesus. May so find ourselves in the safety of God’s arms! Amen.
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