Hindsight
The
Apostle Paul was a Pharisee which means he was an Eastern thinker. He was also fluent in all Roman
culture and customs so he spoke Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Latin.
He
was the perfect bridge building leader to be the Apostle to the Western
Gentiles. He was culturally
Eastern but was a Western major in college!
When
Paul writes his Epistles he writes like a Westerner. He writes simple, to the point, factual statements about our
relationship with Christ. (S.F.S. = simple factual statements)
Romans
4:5, he who, “…believes in Him who justifies the
ungodly,”, justifies simply means pronounced righteous. (S.F.S.)
Ephesians
2:1, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,” without Christ we’re
spiritually dead. (S.F.S.)
I
Corinthians 12:20, “But now there are many members, but one body.” Paul is referring to the church body. (S.F.S.)
Simple
statements built on a one-word theme; righteous, death, body. A one-word theme is the hub of Paul’s
thought, we who are Westerners then think about what are the resulting ideas or
spokes that radiate outward from that thematic hub.
When
we read the stories of Jesus he teaches as an Easterner. He chooses characters in a plot and
gives them motives, friends and enemies. There are evil surprises and
unexpected heroes along their journey.
“A
man was traveling down the Jericho road…”
“A
woman lost a coin…”
“A
farmer went out to sow…”
Story is the round tire on a wheel, the characters are the spokes of the wheel,
the point of the story is the hub.
We are left to discern from the actions and activities of the characters as they roll down the road what the hub point of the story is!
That’s
more work!!! That's why the Bible says wisdom is so important.
Welcome
aboard the U.S.S. GateWay, as you disembark be reminded that going ashore means
engaging with the people God has given you to influence and touch. (If this doesn’t make any sense to you,
you’ll have to listen to the sermon from 1/13/13)
God
bless,
Pastor
Ed
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