The Gospel of John - Frederick Dale Bruner

It’s finally here!

Ever since I decided to embark upon a rather intense study of the Gospel of John nearly a year ago, I’ve been patiently awaiting the release of Frederick Dale Bruner’s commentary on the subject. I have grown very fond of his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, finding it to be a perfect balance of scholarly insight and poetic explanation. 

I only received it a few days ago and am not far into it, but so far it is brilliant. 

I’m sure you’ll hear more from me about this in the future. In the meantime, check it out yourself. 

Where I was when I moved again

As I have been reading through Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, it has become clear how foundational the “The Songs of Ascents” are, not just in this book (which is the main framework for the book), but in the daily Christian life. 

For those who are unfamiliar with them, the Songs of Ascents are found the Book of Psalms, numbers 120-134. Most likely sung in sequence by Hebrew pilgrims as they traveled towards Jerusalem for the Shalosh Regalim, the three worship festivals detailed in Deuteronomy 16, these are as Peterson calls them “songs for the road”. Now don’t confuse this with “road trip songs” - those are annoying tunes sung to help pass time. These songs are an expression of ones journey with God, songs for the “road” we will travel. 

For those traveling to Jerusalem for Shalosh Regalim, the journey was both literal and metaphorical. Jerusalem was the highest city geographically in Palestine, meaning that nearly anyone who made this trek experienced a quite literal “ascent”. The trip however, was also a very present metaphor. When every step and with every song, these motions told a story of the Christian life. In stating the difference between “Tourists” and “Pilgrims”, Peterson states that the harmful assumption of this world is that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. In our instant world we are more prone to believe that God is more like a thunderbolt than a vine. We want God to moved quickly and powerfully in our world and our lives. And yet in reality, this is not how God tends to operate. God is slow. Steady and sure, more like a vine than a flash of lighting. So with every step, the Pilgrims climbing towards Jerusalem were not only singing songs, but they were as Peterson and Nietzsche expressed, experiencing a long obedience in the same direction. 

The Songs of Ascents are not just a dusty, old songbook. They are an insight into our very lives. A reminder that this life is to be a long obedience, not a flash of lighting. We are called to be Christ-followers, not Christ-recognizers. With every step we take, we continue to live out what Paul was speaking of in Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.

For many the book of Psalms in a devotional swiss army knife. A book that has something for nearly any situation in life. Many will read through its pages and find themselves saying, “Yes! That is how I feel”. Or even “I remember feeling that way”. 
The Songs of Ascents issue a different distinction. These are prayer for a journey, for actions, for progress. They are not to be said while sitting, they are to be prayed while walking. These are prayers that signify our intent to press on towards the goal. 

For anyone who feels stuck, at a stand still, lost or confused, may the Songs of Ascents provide a worthy inspiration. A short selection of prayers for people ready for life to start up again. 

As Peterson believed, these Psalms were excellently described by William Faulkner, when he said “They are not monuments, but footprints. A monument only says, ‘At least I got this far,’ while a footprint says, ’this is where I was when I moved again.’”

It seemed like a dream, too good to be true, when God returned Zion’s exiles. We laughed, we sang, we couldn’t believe our good fortune. We were the talk of the nations:
”God was wonderful to them!” God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people. 

And now, God, do it again— 
bring rains to our drought-stricken lives. So those who planted their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest, So those who went off with heavy hearts 
will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

-Psalm 126 (a song of Ascents) - From Eugene Peterson’s The Message

Currently Reading

I first heard of Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience In The Same Direction while I was in college. Having been a fan of The Message, as well as Peterson’s overall insight into the world of Christian Theology and Spiritual Direction I was excited to begin this book. However, as it usually happens, I became overwhelmed with “other” needs in my life, things which I deemed more pressing: other books to read, more home work to do, more world to be involved distracted with. In the end, I flipped through a few chapters and eventually placed it in my bookshelf, only to be forgotten for several years.

Oh, how difficult it is to read books in an instant society.

In the last three years, I have grown very fond of Peterson’s contribution to contempoary theology and I have found his spiritual direction to be pivotal in my own life. And so it struck me recently that I still have this landmark book, sitting in dust, waiting to be read.

And so it begins, again. I will share reflections as I go own.

Until then, here is the opening to Peterson’s book, and the inspiration for its title:

The essential thing “in Heaven and Earth” is… that there should be a long obedience in the same direction; there thereby results, and has always resulted in the long run, something which has made life worth living.

-Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

We Dare Not Articulate It

In a video for the visual media site Work of the People, author and Episcopal Priest Ian Morgan Cron shared a very simple yet profound insight about Eucharist, and the overall experience that we share in community and with God. 

Initially talking about his son, who is overheard playing drums in the background, Cron said,

“Some of the most profound moments I’ve had with my son have been when I’m playing guitar and he’s playing the drums and the two of us just sort of lock eyes, that’s amazing - that melody, that song, we’re doing that together. There’s a metaphor, and I don’t want to overhead things but we’re co-creating something in the moment and we’re experiencing each other “unitively”, where we become one, and something really great is happening and you almost don’t dare want to move, you just want to stare at each other while it’s happening. It’s great.”

Trying to make a connection between music and God, the interviewer asks “What is that “divine groove” that comes from this union?” Cron’s response:

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to even guess. That’s like the questions, ‘What happens during the Eucharist?’ And it’s such a shame that people try to articulate this. I like this idea, it’s a very Anglican idea, that we know something happens, but we dare not articulate it. 

Matthew 5:3-10

 

 

3 “Blessed are those who don’t believe  in God, 
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
4 Blessed are the depressed, the anxious, the confused and the angry, for they will be comforted. 
5 Blessed are the socially awkward, the over-looked, the ignored,
   for they will inherit the earth. 
6 Blessed are those who withstand the mockery Christians and still long for God, for they will be renewed.  
7 Blessed are the loving, 
   for they will be shown love. 
8 Blessed are the good people of this world, whether straight or gay, american or not, or even republican, for they will see God. 
9 Blessed are those who act in this world, who fight to make this life better, 
   for they will be called children of God. 
10 Blessed are those, who in spite of their pure heart, have been kicked in the teeth and drug along the ground,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

   11 “And when people mock you, when people spit upon you and your life and your choices and your human nature, when people point out your sin and overlook their own, when people believe that someone like you could never know  God, when people say the “Gospel” isn’t for you, rejoice and be bold, because the God of all life, the God of the creation and the God of resurrection, the God of the 1st World and the God of the 3rd World, the God of the Gay and the God of the Straight, the God of every broken-hearted, lost, homeless, confused, weary and peace-depraved person,

is with you. 

Always.