Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace: Hebrews

        “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”                                          

                                                                                                 Hebrews 4:15-16

 

         “Hebrews is the most Christ-centered of all the books of the New Testament,”  said Joseph F. McConkie. In it Paul presents a brilliant review of Old Testament history in the light of Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic law. He shows us how faith is at the center of every great Bible story, and how Jesus and his atoning sacrifice are foreshadowed in the Mosaic rituals. Paul focuses on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and movingly portrays Jesus as the "great High Priest." Whereas the Jewish High Priest must return every year to enact the ritual sacrifices that cleanse the Jewish nation. Jesus's was the offering that was eternally binding. "For this he did once, when he offered up himself." (Heb. 7:27)

         There are some big ideas in Hebrews. To begin with, Christ and the Father are one, and we, as their offspring, are heirs to their divine nature. In every way Christ fulfilled the law of Moses and supersedes it. The temptation both Jewish and Gentile converts may have felt to go back to the security of the Mosaic law, or the temptation we may feel to rely on a set of rules rather than on the grace of Christ, must be seen for what it is: a choice of a dead law over a living Savior. This required a seismic shift in thinking for those new converts; it requires a rebirth of the Spirit for all of us.

          "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Ne 25:26) These words beautifully describe Paul's valiant service, and these stirring epistles we have studied. Do they also describe us? How often are we talking about Jesus, and preaching about Him, rather than the less important rules and regulations of the law? When times are tough, do we prophesy about Him to our loved ones? Joseph Smith said that the "testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" so bearing testimony of Him counts as prophecy. Are we the ones who remind others to look for the hand of the Lord in our challenges? And when that hand is manifest, do we write these miracles down so that our children will know where to look when they need help? 
         Paul reminds us that we have, in our Savior, the greatest source of power, comfort, and healing in the universe. And as a result, "we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil."
         

Letters from Prison

The "captivity letters" (Colossians, Philemon, Philippians, Ephesians) have a different feel to them. Calmer, more measured and focused than Paul's earlier epistles, they come at the end of a long life of serving and suffering, and reflect the time for reflection that years of prison provided. As Nelson Mandela said, "In prison, everything stands still." Scholar Luke Timothy Johnson summarizes these epistles thus:

"Taken as a group, the letters are connected thematically by a concern for fellowship in communities, especially when disparities in social standing or human competitiveness threaten to destroy an ideal of equality and unity in Christ. The Letter to the Ephesians stands as the best expression of these concerns and the most mature reflection in the Pauline tradition on the meaning of the church." (The Apostle Paul," The Great Courses, Outline p. 42)

Some of the most familiar passages in these epistles have to do with the potential of the church to become, in microcosm, what the world will become during Christ's millennial reign. "Now therefore," Paul asserts, "ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" (Ephesians 2:19) Dealing with the mind-boggling challenge of uniting Orthodox Jews with converted Gentiles and several disparate groups in-between, Paul simply chooses to create a larger nation, "the household of God," to which we all owe first allegiance. If the church is not a model of unity in diversity, it fails in its central mission, namely, the perfecting of the saints.

Refusing to be drawn into debates about the finer points of the law, Paul appeals to our finer natures, encouraging us to adopt the "mind of Christ," rather than just try to tally up a list of do's and don'ts in defining the Christian life. He warns us to avoid corrupt communications, which are defined by one commentator to include criticism, blaming, anger and lying. There is hardly a day, (perhaps hardly an hour) when most of us do not fall into at least one of these communication traps. How do we raise our level of discourse to more Christlike communication, particularly with loved ones who are most vulnerable to being harmed by harsh words, and also most likely to set them off?

M. Catherine Thomas reminds us that Christlike communication is not a matter of "assuming a virtue though we have it not," but is instead an exercise in making contact with our divine center: 

“We do not have to make ourselves feel love or think happy thoughts; we do not have to pretend love. Rather, we find that quiet, neutral place in our mind, our state of simple being, and there we set up our gentle intentions to be compassionate to all – even when our expectations are not met.” (Light in the Wilderness: Explorations in the Spiritual Life)

So, how are we doing in our daily communication? Are we able to respond to malice with mercy, to criticism with curiosity and a willingness to change, and do we curb our natural defensiveness in the moments that matter most?  Paul (a bit of a firecracker himself) seems to understand how difficult this can be, and ends by assuring us that whatever we can do is enough, as Christ's boundless grace will come in and take up the slack, healing and helping in every situation, 

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:13)

On a lighter note, I invited our class to wear stripes in honor of our discussion of Paul in prison, and here is a sampling of how stylishly we would approach incarceration!

The New Law: Romans

Romans is the only one of Paul's letters that was written to a congregation that he had not established. The Christian group in Rome probably started with pilgrims that visited Jerusalem and experienced the miraculous Day of Pentecost. It would have been composed of Orthodox Jews mixed with Gentile converts, as were the other "house churches" scattered throughout the region. Paul hoped to use the Roman group as a springboard for a mission into Spain, and writes of his intention to visit them soon. When Paul finally did reach Rome, however, it was as a prisoner, and he never made it to Spain. But this letter (the longest of his surviving epistles), in which he gives his most complete statement of the Christian ethic, stands as one of his two great masterpieces. 

It has also been the source of more debate about what it means to be a Christian than any other book of scripture. Martin Luther used the first seven chapters as the basis of his doctrine of justification by faith (rather than through Catholic rites) and John Calvin drew on chapters 8-10 as the basis of his doctrine of predestination. Evangelical Christians use its chapters to show that only faith in Christ is necessary for salvation. Yet close reading of the book reveals a deeper, more profound doctrine than any of these interpretations encompass. Paul is sketching, in broad strokes, what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Putting Christ at the center of our lives is less fussy, yet more demanding than any particular set of rules. Instead, it involves a daily striving toward what Paul calls "the mind of Christ." Living by the spirit is servitude of a new kind. We have either served sin or the law, and these we forsake for our new master, the Spirit of the Lord Himself, who teaches us everything from what to pray for, how to behave, and even how to die. It represents a whole new way of thinking for Jews, Gentiles, and all of us in between.

Paul shows his intellectual and spiritual brilliance here, using a rhetorical style known as a diatribe (a passionate argument riddled with rhetorical questions) that demands our attention with its emotional strength. He refutes the idea that the Mosaic law is essential to salvation by going back a thousand years before Moses to the story of Abraham, and showing how, by obedience to the spirit rather than a set of rules, Abraham was righteous in the sight of God. If following the spirit worked for him, it will work for all of those who enter the kingdom after the fulfillment of the law. Thus, circumcision and the 613 commandments of the Torah are not binding on those who are not born in that tradition. 

Well, if not the law of Moses, then what law should govern the lives of Christians? The Holy Spirit is the new sheriff in town. To rely on divine revelation for guidance is a complete departure from both the pagan and the Jewish tradition. Paul sketches it out for us using legal and judicial jargon that helps us see our place in the scheme of things. Finally (lest we be too overwhelmed by the challenges ahead) he assures us that no power can separate us from the love of God. Chapter 8 is transcendently beautiful and full of hope and closes with this promise:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present 
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, 
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
(Romans 8: 38-39 NIV) 

Amazing Grace: 2 Corinthians

Second Corinthians was written in a difficult time for Paul, and its tone is emotional and personal. Paul speaks of his afflictions and trials, and this brought us to a discussion of suffering. Why do we suffer? How shall we find meaning in the seemingly random events that can be so traumatic? A handful of brave ladies shared personal experiences of  receiving an outpouring of grace to help them through a time of trial.

Spencer W. Kimball (who knew a great deal about suffering) said, "“Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery."

There is a lesson for us in the story of Jesus and Lazarus. Jesus knows his friend is ill, and he does not come. He knows Lazarus is dead, and still stays away. When he finally arrives and sees Mary and Martha, grieving for their brother and wounded by the seeming neglect of Jesus, He weeps. Though he must allow us to suffer, it pains him. He feels our pains and sorrows, and weeps with and for us.  Lazarus is raised, joy returns, and everyone is changed by the experience.

Suffering may not feel like a friend, but most of us would agree that it has been our greatest teacher.  Do we remember to reach out to Jesus for help and grace in hard times? Prayer brings revelation, healing blessings bring relief and comfort, the temple brings perspective, and angels stand unseen but oh, so near. Christ's grace is all around us, shoring us up in every kind of trouble. In chapter 4, Paul sums up how, no matter what we suffer, grace can make the difference in what life looks like when viewed through an eternal lens:

8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

First Corinthians

Corinth, strategically located on the isthmus that linked ancient Greece to Achaia, was a port city with a  reputation for debauchery. The Temple of Venus with its 1,000 "priestesses," and various pagan temples were frequented by the merchants and sailors that did business there. Paul had success in establishing a church in Corinth, but after his departure divisions and dissensions arose among several factions of converts.

In his response to these various challenges Paul creates a masterpiece. The many subjects he covers are bracketed by his testimony of the physical resurrection of Christ. If Christ's resurrection was literal and corporeal, then it matters what we do with our bodies, for they are eternal. Paul leaves no room for doubt about this, and his challenge to those who would dismiss the resurrection as some kind of mysterious, spiritual transformation is timeless. Without the resurrection, Jesus is just a great teacher.

As he writes, Paul is building a Christian code of ethical behavior. Which of the Jewish laws will remain in force for Christian converts? Paul uses the Lord's supper to introduce the concept of spiritual gifts, and ends by describing Christ's love as the greatest of those gifts. The transcendent thirteenth chapter reminds us that the kind of love Christ offers is the kind that heals and lifts, and that we can receive it as we ask Jesus to help us see our loved ones, not "through a glass darkly," but clearly, as He sees. It is this love that matters, and it is a gift of grace. And where do we learn that love? At home. Byron Katie reminds us of a simple truth:

"The people we most need are the people we are living with now. Again and again, they will show us the truth we don't want to see, until we see it. Our parents, our children, our spouses, and our friends will continue to press every button we have, until we realize what it is that we don't want to know about ourselves, yet. They will point us to our freedom every time.” (Byron Katie, Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life) 

The Letters of Paul

The thirteen letters of Paul to the various congregations predate the gospels, and are the first documents from early Christendom. 1st and 2nd Thessalonians are the oldest. Each of Paul's letters is written in a definite rhetorical style, with a formal greeting, reports on the state of the ministry, exhortation, some doctrinal exposition, and a formal benediction and blessing. The letters are "occasional," meaning that each was written in response to issues that concerned that group of people, so we are not surprised to find some differences among them.

The pattern of Paul's missionary journeys was consistent: enter a new city, preach in the synagogue, find sympathetic souls and make converts, establish a "house-church" and then revisit the congregation or send emissaries later on. And then write letters. These letters give us a glimpse into the lives of the first Christians, trying to understand what it meant to be a follower of Christ in a Jewish society.

The saints in Thessalonica were convinced that Jesus was coming soon, and apparently some of them had stopped working and were just waiting around, so Paul attempts to set them straight. We learned about the various apocalyptic movements over the centuries that have arisen, always with the idea that they have the secret figured out, and know precisely when the Lord is coming. Though Jesus assures us that we will be surprised, many have tried to outguess Him. The Millerites were a movement that began in 1831, just a year after our church, but dwindled after the "Great Disappointment," when the Savior failed to appear in October of 1844. Like the over-zealous "preppers" of today, the events associated with the apocalypse began to overshadow the atonement, and disappointment and disillusionment followed.

How Shall We Prepare?

What is the most important thing we can do to prepare for the second coming of the Savior? As Jesus teaches His disciples about His coming in Matthew 24-25, He ends by describing those who will be found on His right hand. Is it the group with the most food storage, or the strongest defense plan? The most perfectly obedient? Here is how Jesus describes them: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” (Matt. 25:34–36) That is rather startling. Could it be that the best preparation for the second coming is to show mercy and love to the people we meet today? 

Elder Dallin Oaks says this: “If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow what would we do today? What confessions would we make? What practices would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What forgivenesses would we extend? What testimonies would we bear?If we would do those things then, why not now? Why not seek peace while peace can be obtained? If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them.”  

And that most practical of prophets, Brigham Young, concurs, urging us: “Do not be too anxious for the Lord to hasten His work. Let our anxiety be centered upon this one thing, the sanctification of our own hearts… Seek to have the spirit of Christ, that we may wait patiently the time of the Lord, and prepare ourselves for the times that are coming. This is our duty.” 

The Books of the New Testament in Chronological Order:

While no one really knows exactly when these books were written, here is a rough chronology of the Books of the New Testament. Other commentaries place Mark as older than Luke and Matthew, though, so that calls at least that part of this list into question! 

James - 50 A.D.

First Thessalonians - 52-53.

Second Thessalonians - 52-53.

Galatians - 55.

First Corinthians - 57.

Second Corinthians - 57.

Romans - 57-58.

Philippians - 62-63.

Colossians - 62-63.

Philemon - 62-63.

Ephesians - 62-63.

Luke - 63.

Acts - 64.

First Timothy - 65.

Titus - 65.

Second Timothy - 66.

Mark - 66.

Matthew - 67.

Hebrews - 67.

First Peter - 67-68.

Second Peter - 68.

Jude - 68.

Apocalypse - 68.

John - c. 85.

Epistles of John - 90-95.

Source: Bible Study Tools: http://www.biblestudytools.com/resources/guide-to-bible-study/order-books-new-testament.html               

The Book of Acts

The New Testament has 27 books, and the first four gospels take up over half of the pages. The fifth book, Acts, could also be titled "Luke Part 2" since it clearly was written as a continuation of Luke's gospel. It continues the narrative and takes us from the ascension of the resurrected Christ through the first thirty years of the Christian church. The remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost signals to us that, in the words of theologian Bart Ehrman,“The main character in the Book of Acts is the Holy Spirit." It also prompts us to think about the role of the Holy Ghost in our own lives, and what our own Day of Pentecost might be. 

Parley P. Pratt, in his remarkable book Key to the Science of Theology, describes the influence of the Holy Ghost: "The gift of the Holy Ghost … quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections; and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being. (Key to the Science of Theology, 9th ed. [1965], p. 101) To open ourselves more fully to this influence could only be a good thing, right?

The Road to Damascus

Though the book is titled "Acts of the Apostles," it focuses mainly on just two, Peter and Paul. Paul's sudden conversion on the road to Damascus takes center stage, and is actually recounted three times in Acts. Each account is somewhat different, causing critics to question the veracity of all three. In my own experience, I find that events shift over time, both in my own memory and in the way that I recount them. (For example, my husband has made the observation that the longer I am home from my mission, and the more times I repeat the stories about it, the harder it was!) The fact that there are three versions of Paul's vision gives me some insight into the several versions of the "first vision" that Joseph Smith recorded over the years. As he understood his experience better, his account of it shifted slightly. Rather than make me question the veracity of the original experience, the messiness of it's reconstruction seems more like what happens in real life. If it was a fictional story, it would never change.


Peter's Change of Heart

Missionary works no sooner begins than, right away, the conflict arises about what it means to be Christian. Since Jesus was a devout Jew and all of his original disciples were as well, it seems obvious that new converts would also have to be devout Jews in order to be Christians. That would mean, for adult males, submitting to circumcision, and adherence to all of the complicated requirements of orthodox Judaism. The resolution of this conundrum is one of the central themes of the book. In order to understand how big of a shift in perspective was required to welcome Gentiles into the fold, "as is," we need to understand how the Jews felt about the Gentiles in that day.

Jews were instructed by their Rabbis, not only to avoid Gentiles, but never to do anything to give them "pleasure or help." If you saw a Gentile mother in labor, you should not give her aid, nor feed her starving child, since that would bring another Gentile into the world. As one Talmudic tract stated, "The best of the Gentiles, kill; the best of the serpents, crush its head." One night in vision Peter sees a sheet filled with forbidden animals, and is told to eat them. Unthinkable! (An obvious equivalent would be a vision that commanded a faithful Mormon to smoke, drink and get high!) Yet when Peter is sent to the home of the Centurion Cornelius, the meaning of the vision comes clear: The Law of Moses was meant to prepare the Jews for Christ; He has come, and the law is fulfilled. So a compromise of sorts is reached, encouraging new converts to keep the most basic tenets of "kashruth," while excusing them from the more daunting requirement of circumcision. Whew.

Would we have had the courage that Peter had, to make a sea change in our thinking and follow God's will in a new direction? We talked about prejudice and how each of us must struggle to find the truth in the midst of our preconceived ideas. Throughout history Saints have been surprised by changes in what they perceived to be unchangeable doctrine. God decides what is unchangeable and what can be changed; we just have to hang on. We closed with that disciple of diversity, Dieter Uchtdorf, who reminds us that our most dangerous judgements are often reserved for those close to us, and instructs us simply to "Stop it!" So we ask ourselves, "Who am I judging, and how can I open my heart to be more accepting and loving of all God's children?" With that in mind, next week we take to the missionary trail with Paul.