Context, Context, Context

What are the most important words in real estate? Location, location, location, right? Well for biblical studies, we need to change those words to context, context, context.

The reason I mention this is because of this past week's Book of Acts readings from "The Daily Office." Have you ever noticed just how much of the Book of Acts is comprised of big picture narrative, to the point where it's almost a bit humorous because it's difficult for us to relate?

For example, one of the readings this past week was from Acts 13 where the Apostle Paul took the opportunity to talk about the good news of Jesus Christ during a visit to a synagogue. But instead of presenting something simple and concise like the four spiritual laws or only talking about the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus, he instead reviews the history of the Hebrew scriptures which the people would have known inside and out. But this didn't stop Paul from erring on the side of context.

The humorous part for me in this particular passage was when the Jewish people in the synagogue invited Paul to speak and his first words were about when Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years which led him to talk about how Israel took over the land of Canaan, and on and on he went through those well known stories.

I can imagine seeing the people rolling their eyes and wondering, "When is this guy going to get to the point? Yeah, yeah, we're Jews like you, can't you speed up the story a bit?"

But that would be to look at the bible from my 21st century worldview which tends to follow much of contemporary biblical undertakings in which people screen out the larger theme and plot of the bible, thinking that we can bypass those parts to get to the "good stuff" like how can I get to heaven when I die?" Yes, that is some good stuff, but it's even better if we continually think about Jesus in the context of the larger story. By doing so, we just might find something even bigger in the bible than it just being an answer book on how people can go to heaven. We will find ourselves in the midst of the big stories as well as the little stories of the Bible to the point that we will be in a better position to appreciate how Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is meant to change the whole world, including me!

One of the great prayers in the church is what is often used during the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion called, "The Great Thanksgiving." It's a lengthy prayer which tells the story of God's mighty acts of salvation with periodic responses from the congregation. The temptation is for the congregation to doze off during this longer than usual prayer, when instead, we should be on the edge of our seats whispering words of thanksgiving to God as we hear this prayer. Come to think of it, one of the responses during the prayer is, "It is right to give our thanks and praise."

It is right to give our thanks and praise because we are reminded of what God has done for us beginning with the creation of the world, the covenant that was made to God's people, the fulfillment of that covenant through Jesus Christ, and the expected return of Christ to reign over all creation.
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So when reading the bible, think context, context, context. Let's not let our limited attention spans prevent us from celebrating God's mighty acts of salvation, even though we think we already know those parts of the story.