Sermon: Signs

Lectionary: Pentecost (A)
Text: Numbers 11:24-30; Acts 2:1-21; John 20:19-23

Introduction

I’m sure you have heard the saying, “Don’t put God in a box,” or something like it, perhaps many times in your experience. We all understand what that means and its intent – that God is present and works beyond our small understandings and expectations of how God is supposed to be and act. But it is much more difficult for us to take that saying to heart and for us to interact with the world as God does.

We have our comfort zones. Our little boxes. And perhaps that is often truer in religious settings. We have our traditions and ways of doing things that are comfortable. We have a nice order and liturgy. We know what to expect and when to expect them. Sure, an occasional change might be nice, but don’t make the change too big. There are boundaries that define good order. We like everything and everyone to fit within those boundaries. It makes us uncomfortable when the boundaries are breached. It might possibly even be thought of as unacceptable and best to be kept out and away.

Prophesying in the Ancient World

I suspect most of us would be rather uncomfortable with the behavior of prophets and the act of prophesying in the ancient world, including among the ancient Israelites.

We typically think of prophecy as words rationally spoken or written down by someone about future events. But that is not at all at the top of the priority list of ancient prophets and prophecies. The purpose of prophecy was to communicate messages from a divine being to humans. The prophet was an intermediary between the divine realm and the human realm. In many cases, the act of prophesying was thought to literally involve the possession of the mediating prophet by a divine spirit. And the prophet would speak and act as if possessed. Prophets uttered and acted ecstatically, frequently through unintelligible speech and noises and bewildering behaviors. In other cases, however, prophecies could be delivered as normal speech. The Hebrew Bible contains numerous examples of both types of prophesying.[1]

What would we think if someone among us, right now, started speaking and acting ecstatically? Or perhaps even just got up and started to declare to us a supposed message from God? I do think most of us would immediately get very uncomfortable, perhaps edging away, and wondering about their state of mind. We might think through modern science and suspect that they might have some kind of neurological issue or having a mental health episode.

But in the ancient world, this was expected of religious intermediaries such as priests and prophets, and in fact a sign of divine presence and authority.[2]

Yet even though ecstatic prophecy might appear chaotic, it followed cultural and religious expectations. In our reading from Numbers, when two individuals, Eldad and Medad, prophesied outside the approved and expected place and time, there were some who tried to silence them. Moses, however, recognized that God is larger than the narrow boundaries created by their religious and cultural traditions, and wished that God’s spirit would pour out on even more of them.

Jesus, too, had to confront the narrowness of his own disciples.[3] John reported to Jesus that he tried to stop someone from throwing out demons in Jesus’ name, because that person wasn’t among their specific group and physically following Jesus. Jesus rebuked John, “Don’t stop him,” and ended with a well-known saying, “Whoever isn’t against us is for us.”

Pentecost Sunday

The first Pentecost in Christian history fits within this same prophetic pattern and expectations.

¹ When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. ⁴ They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak. (Acts 2:1-4 CEB)

The act of divine possession or inspiration, as some prefer it to be called, is obvious. The sign of divine presence and authority is the ability for all to speak in other languages. This has occasionally been explained that there were enough disciples who knew enough other languages so that it seemed like a supernatural event occurred, even though it didn’t. But the plainest explanation that the author of Acts wants his readers to understand is that these disciples were given unusual abilities to speak languages that they had never spoken before.

Not the Gift of Tongues (Glossolalia)

The event of Pentecost has often been conflated with the speaking or use of tongues, technically known as glossolalia, but they are two very different things. We don’t have time to delve into details today, but for those interested, Paul makes a clear distinction between the spiritual gifts of prophesying vs. tongues in 1 Corinthians 14. The gift of tongues is most closely associated with ecstatic utterances that are unintelligible. The gift of prophecy is intelligible without an interpreter.

They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages. ⁷ They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? ⁸ How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!” (Acts 2:6-11 CEB)

Gift of Prophesying

What we read about in Acts is the spiritual gift of prophecy in action. The disciples act as intermediaries between God and other humans. They offer a message from God to the people.

Like in other prophetic acts, there are naysayers.

¹³ Others jeered at them, saying, “They’re full of new wine!” (Acts 2:13 CEB)

Peter’s response to the accusation begins,

“Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! ¹⁵ These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning!” (Acts 2:14-15 CEB)

It might seem like a strange rebuttal to our ears, as we clearly know that there is nothing that physically prevents someone, or even large groups, from becoming drunk early in the morning. However, getting drunk before 9 a.m. was considered improper and something just not done in this society.

In the Mediterranean world, even the worst debauchery did not begin until [emphasis mine] nine in the morning (Cicero, Philippics 2.41.104: “But how many days did you most disgrace fully carouse in that villa! From the third hour there was drinking, gaming, vomiting”).[4]

In any case, it apparently was a strong enough argument against drunkenness.

All Receive the Spirit’s Gift

Peter continues with a citation from Joel 2:28-32, with a few modifications. Peter’s point is that the last days have arrived because a clear sign from God has been placed upon Jesus’ disciples. These disciples include men and women, young and old, and wealthy and poor; and the message from God is going to not just Jews and those who speak Aramaic, but to all languages and peoples present in the Roman Empire and perhaps beyond. Peter ends the first part of his rebuttal with an inclusive appeal,

²¹ And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21 CEB)

In the next part of Peter’s speech past our reading today, Peter identifies Jesus of Nazareth, who, because of his death, resurrection, and ascension is Lord and Christ. The gift of belonging to and following Jesus the Christ is the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost, the outward sign was the ability for the disciples to communicate the gospel in as many languages as was necessary.

Signs of God’s Presence Today

But that was then. We are living in 2023, in a modern, rational, scientific world. Ecstatic behaviors and speech are looked upon much differently now. Even the very claim that one has received a message from God is seen with suspicion. I should add that there are some large segments of Christianity that do accept these as present-day manifestations. But outside of these groups, they are generally not considered authenticating signs, and certainly not by those who are outside Christianity. So, what are the signs of the Holy Spirit possessing or inspiring us and the church today?

Jesus in America Survey

In March 2022, the Episcopal Church released a national study it had conducted through Ipsos.[5] One of the findings were around what Christians and non-Christians (including those of other religions as well as non-religious) respectively thought Jesus taught and what was the most important teaching of Jesus. Another area of finding was how Christians viewed themselves vs. how non-Christians viewed Christians.

Of the teachings of Jesus included in the survey, there was agreement on several of the teachings of Jesus that all thought Jesus had taught. Among the many agreements: Love your neighbor, moral teachings, love your enemies, not judging other without first judging yourself, feed the hungry, love God, turn the other cheek, and how to live in community with other people.

But in the question about what the respondents considered to be the most important teaching of Jesus, there was less agreement. For Christians, love God was the most important. For non-Christians love of neighbor was thought to be most important. Next for non-Christians was Jesus’ teachings around not judging others, but for Christians this falls to around fourth to seventh place depending on subsegment of Christianity. Love of neighbor, too, falls to second to fourth place for Christians, depending on the subsegment. For evangelical Christians, after love of God, Jesus’ teachings that he is the exclusive way to salvation comes in second place.

What is most interesting and where disagreement is most prominent is in how Christians view themselves vs. how non-Christians view Christians. Christians view themselves (in order) as giving, compassionate, loving, respectful, friendly, honest, humble, sharing, and truthful. Those of other religions and the non-religious, however, view Christians as (in approximate order): hypocritical, judgmental, self-righteous, arrogant, unforgiving, disrespectful. Any positive characteristics show up lower in the list, and include friendly, giving, and compassionate.

The most polarized result shows up in the question of whether Christians that each segment knows represent the values and teachings of Jesus. Even Christians surveyed only say about a third of Christians they know represent a lot the values and teachings of Jesus. And for the non-Christians surveyed, that number falls into the single digits – as low as 2% from the non-religious.

An Interpretation and Suggestion

There are many ways to interpret survey data, and what I suggest next is just one possibility.

What I see is that Americans (who were the ones surveyed), irrespective of religious affiliation, generally have some common agreement to Jesus’ teaching and values. Christians, regardless of denomination, tend to put the vertical relationship with God and beliefs about God higher on the priority than horizontal relationships with other people, sometimes much more so. The non-Christians look at Jesus and they see his relationships with others much more than his teachings about God. When they look at Christians, us, they see a huge gap between what they see as Jesus’ important teachings and what they see Christians living and modeling.

I suggest that perhaps the most impactful sign today of God’s presence in God’s community is a better congruence between what Jesus taught and lived, what the church values and teaches, and how individual Christians live out the teachings of Jesus.

Conclusion

Here is a quick summary of how Jesus lived and related to his world: Jesus’ forgiveness and acceptance offended and threatened the religious status quo, the temple system, and the priests. Jesus’ nonviolence offended his fellow nationalists. Jesus’ inclusiveness offended those who create hierarchies and divisions based on race, nationalities, and religion. Jesus’ egalitarianism offended any who subscribed to the hierarchical structures that were the social, political, and religious norms. Jesus broke down boundaries. Jesus gave his life for these values. God raised Jesus up to vindicate these values. Jesus sent and continues to send the Holy Spirit to animate his followers with these values.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”[6] In the Upper Room on Pentecost Sunday, the Spirit poured out to include all peoples, languages, genders, races, and nationalities into the movement initiated by Jesus Christ.

Will we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our lives after the pattern of Jesus? A crucifix is a symbol of Christ, but are we willing to go beyond that and truly live a cruciform life and thereby wear the sign of Christ’s presence, power, and authority in our very being?

In the name of God who is the creator and sustainer of all, the God who broke boundaries, and God who continues to move to break boundaries.

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[1] Prophecy and Ecstasy | Ancient Prophecy: Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek Perspectives | Oxford Academic (oup.com), Chapter 5.

[2] IVP Bible Background Commentary, Old Testament. Numbers 11:25.

[3] Mark 9:38-40.

[4] Reading the New Testament Commentary, Acts 2:14.

[5] Jesus in America – The Episcopal Church (https://www.episcopalchurch.org/jesus-in-america/)

[6] John 20:21-22 (CEB, with my edits). 

Sermon: In My Father's House

Lectionary: Easter 5A
Text: John 14:1-14

Introduction

I recently watched lectures on ancient religions of Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean, which included the period of Rome from the formation of the Republic to when Christianity became her state religion. There were many times during the lectures when I could see connections between what was being said and the texts in our Bible. Today, I want us to take a brief excursion back in time to ancient Rome. I think it may offer some insights into today’s gospel reading (John 14:1-14) and aid us in improving our understanding of the text. There are so many details that are interesting, but we will keep to broad topics that are most relevant to us for today’s text. I also add a caveat: the Roman context is helpful in understanding how the text was probably heard, but we should not assume it is something to be reverted to and emulated.

Time Travel: Ancient Roman Household

First, let us travel to explore a Roman house. We will look at one that belongs to a prominent and wealthy citizen.

The structure is rectangular, with walls around three sides and the front being more open. There is an entry in the center of the front section and several open stalls flanking the center. These stalls are used for commerce and retail business as they face the public street. The three remaining sides are solid and, in our example, have a height of two floors.

There is an image at the entrance, the Lar Familiaris, or the guardian deity of the household. From the entry a narrow hallway led to the atrium, where an opening was found in the roof and a pool was located immediately below to collect rainwater. The atrium was a semi-public area where guests could be entertained, and official household business was conducted.  

Farther back was another courtyard with the roof open. The kitchen and the dining areas are found off this area.

All around the perimeter are found other rooms, on both the ground floor and the upper floor. These are bedrooms for the household members. The household consists of the paterfamilias, the head of the household, his wife, adult sons and their wives, daughters who had not yet married, servants, and slaves. The paterfamilias was father to them all.

Gods and Paterfamilias

The house was inhabited by numerous household deities. The house was, effectively, a domestic temple. All aspects of life were connected to one god or another. One of the primary duties of the paterfamilias was to ensure that proper ritual and offerings were observed so that the gods would be cared for and not get angry. Even though the paterfamilias was the head of the household, he was at the mercy of the ancestral gods and spirits. Just as it was important to maintain honor and avoid shame among living persons, it was perhaps even more important to maintain good relationships with the dead. Bringing honor to the paterfamilias and the house was something that all members of the household, from sons to slaves, accepted and carried out.

It was believed that every person had an indwelling and animating spirit within them. This was an aspect of a deity that was carried by each person. Men had a genius (from which we get the word, genius). Women had a juno. The genius of the paterfamilias was particularly important, and it was a duty of the entire household to offer worship to this genius. In their mythologies, even gods could have a genius – a spirit of a deity within a god.

Roman Marriage

The household gods and the domestic religious observances were passed down from the father to the eldest, legitimate son. The purpose of marriage in ancient Rome was solely to produce legitimate heirs. Arranging for and ensuring that the marriage of his sons was conducted properly was one of the primary duties of the father. Daughters were thought of essentially as temporary occupants of a house who would be sent off to their permanent homes through marriage.

The fathers of each household came together to arrange the marriage and negotiate terms. A wedding date was set. The wedding itself took place at the bride’s father’s home. After completing the prescribed religious rituals, and offering was made to Jupiter, usually a cake. A portion of this cake was consumed by the bride and groom, followed by a dinner with all of the guests. After dinner the bride was escorted to the new husband’s house, accompanied by anyone who wanted to join in the torchlight procession. The groom carried the bride over the threshold because it was considered a bad omen if the bride tripped and fell in her first entry to the house. Another feast was held at the new household. For as long as the father was alive, however, the married son was still under the authority of the father, as long as he was paterfamilias. The primary role of a wife was to produce legitimate children, preferably sons. She also managed domestic duties and cared for her children.

This concludes our very brief excursion back in time. As we return to our present time, we should keep in mind that this was the “air” of those living in the ancient Roman empire. These religious, social, and domestic structures, traditions, and norms were the frameworks in which they understood and interpreted their life and reality. This was the context in which the gospel of John was written, and in which the audience heard the words.

Back to the Present

Many Mansions?

My childhood Bible translation was the King James Version. The first part of John 14:2 in that version reads, “In My Father’s house are many mansions.” As a child, I recall being taught how people who are saved and go to heaven will have grand mansions with huge properties on which each sit. Looking at it now, it seems to be an image that is influenced more by individualism, independence, and American values.

Rather, the image we ought to see is the Roman house and household. The NIV translates the text as, “My Father’s house has many rooms.” And that fits much better into the Roman world and its social and domestic structures. God is the paterfamilias, and he has room for all of his household.

Marriage Metaphor

When Jesus says, “When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too,” his saying can be interpreted as a marriage metaphor. The wedding has already taken place, here on earth. One could view the Last Supper as a kind of wedding meal. But that is just the first step of the marriage process. The bride must get to the groom’s house.

And here the metaphors get a bit mixed, at least in my opinion. On one hand, Jesus will return to take his people back to his house. But on the other hand, the language is that of a journey that must be undertaken by the bride. When Jesus says, “You know the way to the place I’m going,” he is not talking about map directions, literal or metaphorical. The word we read as “way” is a term used in classical Greek literature to talk about an odyssey or a journey, frequently at the beginning and the end of a quest.

“I am the Way”

It is in response to Thomas’ lack of understanding and question that Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This statement has often been used in some parts of Christianity to support an exclusivist view of salvation; that is, one must literally believe in and accept Jesus and become a Christian in order to be saved.

The PC(USA) takes a more inclusivist stance:

Jesus Christ is the only Savior and Lord, and all people everywhere are called to place their faith, hope, and love in him. No one is saved by virtue of inherent goodness or admirable living, for “by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” [Ephesians 2:8]. No one is saved apart from God’s gracious redemption in Jesus Christ. Yet we do not presume to limit the sovereign freedom of “God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” [1 Timothy 2:4]. Thus, we neither restrict the grace of God to those who profess explicit faith in Christ nor assume that all people are saved regardless of faith. Grace, love, and communion belong to God, and are not ours to determine.[1]

When Jesus speaks about himself as the way, he is referring to his recorded life, death, and resurrection. The way is not about getting to a destination. It is about following in the patterns of relating and responding to the world that Jesus forged ahead of us. Later in this Farewell Discourse, Jesus reveals that the Holy Spirit will be sent. With that, the paradox of Jesus going away, yet still leading his people to the Father, is resolved. As long as one is following the way of Jesus and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, they will find their way to the Father and his house.

Indwelling of God

The next several sentences in John are of Jesus describing how he and the Father are one.

⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:7-10 NIV)

Earlier in our time travel back, we learned that the idea that deities could dwell in people and deities could dwell within other gods was a commonly understood concept. Even though the gospel writer avoids direct references to pagan terminology and concepts, the metaphor is one that would have been readily understandable.

How can we know that the Father is just like Jesus? Because the Father is in Jesus. The Father is directing all of Jesus’ words and works. Where Christianity diverges from Roman understanding of gods is the mutual indwelling of the Father in Jesus and Jesus in the Father, simultaneously.

Returning to the marriage metaphor, perhaps many brides would have been apprehensive about entering a new household, under a new paterfamilias. Even though marriages were most often arranged, there was some opportunity for dating or getting to know one another. Perhaps the bride, even though she may have been as young as early to mid-teens, may have come to trust her future husband. But what about his father? What is he like? Even though there are often character resemblances between fathers and sons, they are not identical and could turn out to be quite different.

Jesus tells his anxious disciples that he and his Father are truly identical in character. The vital, animating spirit is mutually indwelling. Immediately beyond the reading for today, Jesus describes how the disciples will have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, and because of that Jesus will be a part of them. And more astonishingly, the disciples will be in Jesus.

House is a Temple is a Person

What I see in this first part of the discourse is Jesus describing a new household to which his followers will enter. But this house is not something physical or even future. The house is Jesus himself. Just as the ancient Roman household was each, individually a temple, so is Jesus. We can go back to John 2:19 and see where very early in the gospel, Jesus speaks of himself as the temple.

It is this context of household and a temple, where loyalty to the paterfamilias is assumed, that we need to place the final sentences from today’s reading:

¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14 NIV)

These words are being spoken to those in the family. Whatever work and business each member of the family is undertaking, the goal is the same: to bring honor and glory to the head of the household. For Christians, our paterfamilias is God. Jesus’ name is not some kind of formula or magical spell. Jesus’ name is our devotion to God and the way of life that Jesus demonstrated, while leading to death to the ways of this world, ultimately leads to resurrection and life.

References

·        The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity (Wondrium, The Great Courses), Professor Kenneth W. Harl, Tulane University

·        Pompeii: Daily Life in an Ancient Roman City (Wondrium, The Great Courses), Professor Steven L. Tuck, Miami University

·        The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World (Wondrium, The Great Courses), Professor Robert Garland, Colgate University

·        The Pagan World: Ancient Religions before Christianity (Wondrium, The Great Courses), Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller Union College in Schenectady, New York

·        Roman Marriage and Weddings | UNRV (https://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-marriage.php)

·        Roman domestic architecture (domus) (article) | Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/x7e914f5b:beginner-guides-to-roman-architecture/a/roman-domestic-architecture-domus)

·        The Roman Domus (House): Architecture and Reconstruction (realmofhistory.com) (https://www.realmofhistory.com/2020/04/08/3d-animations-layout-roman-domus-house/)

 

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[1] Hope in the Lord (pcusa.org), 2002, p. 11-12; (https://www.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/theologyandworship/pdfs/hopeinthelord.pdf)