Talk of the T-Dock vitality and freshness they convey a sense of the sacred that I can hardly describe. It’s like the scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark when the ancient scriptures unleash their power in a whirlwind—they are truly awesome. I went to Yale Divinity School with the goal of studying the Scriptures in their original languages, not only Hebrew but Greek. I was also hoping to find a way to unite the academic and
We love, John’s
the spiritual in my biblical studies. Because as a student and a person of faith, I find that I have to read on a dual track, that is, with my mind and with my heart. When I read with my mind, I am seeking to understand literary context, to learn about historical circumstances, to explore
epistle further
theological issues. This tells me what a passage says, but it does not tell me what it means. For that, I have to read with my heart, and try to hear the spiritual voice of a text that is speaking with the urgency of the here and now.
tells us, because God first loved
Happily, I have found that the ancient languages are precisely the place where heart and mind can meet. As I tease out the elements of style, structure and vocabulary in a passage of Greek or Hebrew, I often find clues to its spiritual meaning. I suppose you could say that the languages are my diving board into the texts. So today, I want to ask all of you to put on your bathing caps and come with me for a quick dip
us. If we allow
in our first reading, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. As I read it, this text is asking three things of us: to obey, to understand and to take risks. And each of these three injunctions is expressed in a pithy but powerful Greek phrase.
this love to transform us with its life-
First, we are called to obey. Now, obedience has a bad rap in our culture. It does not square with our view of ourselves as capable, intelligent, in-control individuals. To concede that anything or anyone, even God, might trump our right to self-assertion is seen as a sign of weakness or smallmindedness. And it’s not just all those bull-headed Tauruses out there celebrating their birthdays this month, like my husband, who insist on having things their own way. All of us think we know best what course to set for our lives. Philip witnesses to a different way. A relatively new apostle, he was appointed back in Chapter 7 of Acts to take on some minor administrative tasks in the growing Christian movement. But
giving power,
God almost immediately dispatched him north on a major trip to the hostile territory of Samaria, to spread the word about Christ. Not what he had signed up for! After this challenging mission, he probably felt that he deserved a rest. After all, he’d done what God had asked—and he’d done
then we, too, can go on our way
it well. But as an old and dear priest friend of mine used to say with a chuckle, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” Immediately God commanded Philip, through an angel, to head south towards Gaza, which is where we pick him up today in our reading. And when this command came, Philip obeyed—right away. Now, the Greek vividly conveys the fullness of Philip’s obedience by using the same pair of
rejoicing.
words to describe both the angel’s command and the apostle’s actions. anastethi kai poreuou, says the angel, and Philip acts accordingly: anastas eporeuthe. The imperative—Rise up and go—is
followed by the action—he rose up and went. Philip is literally doing as he is told (boys and girls, it is safe to try this at home). The verbal repetition emphasizes how completely and directly Philip heeded God’s call. This is what we are asked to do in our lives—to listen and to obey. There is a deep and ancient connection between listening and obeying—in fact, in biblical Hebrew one verb, shma, stands
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