God’s People, part 136: Theophilus

November 30, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

Read Luke 1:1-4

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach” Acts 1:1 (NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 136: Theophilus. “Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write an accurate account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught” (Luke 1:1-4 NLT).

These are the opening four verses of the Gospel According to Saint Luke. In Luke’s Gospel, he is clearly writing to someone named Theophilus an account of Jesus’ life, teachings, betrayal, torture, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection. In fact, Luke is not just writing the Gospel to Theophilus, he also wrote the Acts of the Apostles to him as well. Actually, the Gospel of Luke and Acts were two back-to-back volumes, that got split up by the Gospel of John when the Biblical canon was put together.

Scholars are not entirely sure who this Theophilus actually was. Some believe that it may be a person whose name was Theophilus. The name Theophilus (Θεόφιλος, pronounced Theh-of’-il-os), literally means lover or friend of God. In more plain words, it means one who loves or is a friend of God’s. While it would be hard to imagine Theophilus’ Gentile birth-name was Theophilus, many early Christian converts changed their names as they were reborn into a new life in Christ (e.g. Saul became Paul, Simon became Peter, Levi became Matthew, etc.).

Still, it is quite possible, maybe even likely, that Theophilus was not the name of a person at all. It could be that Theophilus was a code word for a wealthy, prominent patron of Luke’s who did not want to be outwardly named and risk persecution. It is also possible that Theophilus wasn’t a single person, but perhaps a codeword for a group of people (e.g. Luke writing to a church and calling them, collectively, Theophilus).

Whatever the actual answer may be to that question, I believe that Luke was not intending his Gospel letter to go to merely one person; rather, he wanted it shared with the entire Christian community in the region he sent it. Therefore, one can accurately say that whatever Christian heard Luke’s Gospel read was Theophilus.

To carry that one step forward, anyone in any part of the world at any time who hears or reads Luke’s Gospel is potentially Theophilus. Why potentially you might ask? Simple. Because the name means friend of God and not all people who read the Gospel are “friends of God”. Everyone, on the other hand, has the potential to be friends of God and, certainly, all who are receptive to the Gospel message ARE friends of God.

The challenge for you today is this: are YOU Theophilus? Are you a friend of God’s? Are you receptive to the Gospel message? Or are you not? If you are receptive to the Gospel message, then you are Theophilus. This does not hinge on how perfectly we live out the Gospel, it hinges on our hearts and on our willingness to change direction when we fall out of line with the Gospel. It is my prayer that you are, indeed, most excellent Theophilus. It is also my prayer that you share this message with others who can also receive the Gospel and become friends of God.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” – Jesus Christ (John 15:15 NLT)

PRAYER
Lord, friendship with you is my heart’s deepest desire. Draw me close to you and never let me go. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 135: You

November 28, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

Read James 1:22-25

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.” (John 17:20 NLT)

Part 135: You. Yes you, the one who is reading this devotion. When one thinks of the Gospels most people do not think of themselves as one of the main characters. One thinks of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the disciples/apostles, Herod, and the Romans. Heck, one even thinks of the devil and his demons; however, most people do not think of themselves.

I believe that this fact points to a major reason there is such a disconnect between most people and the Gospel message when/if they read the Bible. The Bible, Old and New Testament alike, is being read as a bedtime story filled with two-dimensional characters who bear little to know resemblance to us. At best, the Bible may be read as a work of history, something to look back upon and imagine what it must have been like to be there. Still, we read the Bible as if there is a distance between us and the characters within.

The truth is, however, that there is less of a distance between us and the books of the Bible than we think. It is true that the authors lived in a different time period than us as well as in a different culture and different part of the world. It is also true that the authors wrote with their own contexts and audiences in mind. With that said, the authors also wrote with YOU in mind. The New Testament authors, especially, wrote to all who would be reading them. Thus, YOU are very much a character in the New Testament.

YOU are the one who needs to hear and learn of the Good News about Jesus Christ. YOU are also the one who is being called to follow Jesus and become a disciple. YOU are the one the author intended to teach what the Rabbi/Teacher taught and YOU are the one to whom the author witnessed about Christ’s miracles.

The reader should not, nay, MUST NOT distance him or herself from the Bible. We are the people the authors are writing to. Mark starts off his Gospel cluing YOU in that he is writing about the good news of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. In the very first sentence, YOU are given a clue that the people in the accounts did not have. Then Mark lays before you the accounts of Jesus, not just to tell a neat and fanciful tale, but so that YOU might believe and become a disciple yourself.

The same is true for the other Gospels. Luke has something else going on as well, but we’ll touch upon that next time. Suffice it to say, the Gospel writers, Paul, the other letter writers, and the writer of Revelation all write for YOU, so that you might come to know the truth about Jesus Christ, become a disciple and carry on sharing the Good News with others.

The challenge for us is to read the Bible, especially the New Testament, from a fresh perspective. We need to learn to read it without reading our own contexts into it (because it was not written in our context); conversely, we need to learn to read it as if it were speaking directly to us and as if we were among the characters within it. The truth is WE ARE among the characters in this narrative. What’s more, every time we share the Gospel with others and bring them into a direct relationship with the risen Lord, they too become a character in this ongoing unfolding of God’s redemptive, salvific work in the world.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid.” – Martin Luther

PRAYER
Lord, illumine me through the Bible and allow me to see that it was not just written about others, or merely for others, but that it was also written for me. Amen.

Podcast

Episode 46 | Fake News

November 25, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-5k83b-9feae9

In this episode, Rev. Todd discusses how important it is not to get caught up in the “fake news” of salvation that this world offers.

EPISODE REFERENCES:

Watch this short but accurate documentary on the First Jewish-Roman War as discussed in today’s episode.
Sign up for bi-weekly devotions at Life-Giving Water.
Subscribe to Life-Giving Water Messages, also on iTunes and Google Play Music.
Subscribe to the Party on Johncast, co-hosted by Rev. Sal Seirmarco and Rev. Todd Lattig.
Check out and subscribe to Evan and Drew’s podcast: God and Whiskey

Devotional, Previous Post

A LOOK BACK: The Categorical Imperative

November 23, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

Well, it is Thanksgiving Week and I am busy preparing for an Ecumenical Thanksgiving service and lots of time with family over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Thus, I have selected two devotions from the past. Both are as relevant now as they were when I initially wrote them. I pray they speak to you and challenge you to grow in your faithfulness. Click here for today’s devotion. HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Devotional, Previous Post

A LOOK BACK: Ixnay the Cliché

November 21, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

Podcast

Episode 45 | Special Episode: Happy Thanksgiving

November 18, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-89ae3-9f52d4

In this special holiday episode, Rev. Todd reflects on how one can truly experience a Happy Thanksgiving.

EPISODE REFERENCES:

Sign up for bi-weekly devotions at Life-Giving Water.
Subscribe to Life-Giving Water Messages, also on iTunes and Google Play Music.
Subscribe to the Party on Johncast, co-hosted by Rev. Sal Seirmarco and Rev. Todd Lattig.

Devotional

God’s People, part 134: The Jews

November 16, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

Read John 8

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.’” (John 19:7 NRSV)

Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem

Part 134: The Jews. In the last devotion we discussed the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. While all of them tell the account of Jesus of Nazareth, they do differ on the details within their accounts. Often times, we read the gospels as if they are ONE story told four different times; however, the reality is that they are four separate accounts of Jesus of Nazareth told to different people at different times for different reasons. Thus, not all of the details within the accounts match up.

Still, Matthew, Mark and Luke are very similar to one another and a majority of the events in their accounts are parallel to each other. Certainly, they follow the same basic chronological structure: 1) Jesus was born (Matthew & Luke), 2) Jesus’ ministry began following his baptism in the Jordan, 3) his ministry was based in and around Galiliee, 4) at the end of his ministry he went to Jerusalem and stirred up trouble, 5) he was betrayed, arrested, crucified, 6) and resurrected from the dead.

The Gospel of John, however, followed a different chronological structure. Jesus was seen in Jerusalem throughout his career and, in fact, the cleansing of the Temple (which happens at the end of Matthew, Mark & Luke’s account) takes place at the beginning of John. Also, John’s Gospel is different theologically too. All of the Gospels claim that Jesus is the Christ (aka the Messiah) and the Son of God; however, John’s Jesus is barely touching the ground (though his humanity is still on full display, just differently).

One of the biggest differences in the Gospel of John is the distinction between Jesus and “The Jews”. Sadly, this distinction has wrongly been interpreted in anti-Semitic ways; however, it was not written to be anti-Semitic. The community from which this Gospel emerged was inherently a Jewish community. They were not anti-Semitic as they themselves were Semites.

The distinction between Jesus and “the Jews” is actually, in context, and intra-Jewish distinction. In other words, it was a distinction happening within Judaism among differing Jews. In 70 CE, the Romans destroyed all of Jerusalem, including the Jewish Temple. The further away from that event one gets, the more one can begin to see a distinction being drawn up between traditional Jewish groups and those who followed Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

First, the traditional Jewish sects wanted nothing to do with those Jesus followers because Rome crucified Jesus as a traitor of the Empire. To align with this criminal, following a time when Rome had already quelled a major Jewish uprising by destroying all of Jerusalem, was to risk losing the remaining religious leniencies that Rome still granted the Jewish people. Second, while Jews looked to the following of the Torah (the Law) in response as to how to remain faithful to God without a Temple to sacrifice in, the earliest Christians (with an increasing number of Gentile members) saw faith in Jesus as the answer.

Thus, the more pushback that the early Christian communities received, the more they began to identify as a community different than “the Jews”. They were Jewish, but they were pushed to see themselves as being counter to what the mainline Jewish sects were advocating. This was not, again, because they were anti-Jewish, but because they were being expelled from synagogues and rejected by mainline Jewish leaders. Compound that fact with the reality that Gentile Christians began to outnumber Jewish Christians toward the end of the first century, and one can begin to see how this identity metamorphosis took root.

Still, it is important for us to realize that “the Jews” in Jesus’ day were not a monolithic group that altogether were antagonistic toward Jesus or his followers. In John, that language was more representing his time period than it was Jesus’. Some of the Jews did believe Jesus was the Messiah, others did not see him that way. What’s more, while some of the Jewish leadership and the Roman rulers had Jesus put to death, the common Jewish person would not have wanted any Jew to be crucified by the Romans. “The Jews” as a whole were not responsible for Jesus’ death. The Roman Empire, under the leadership of Pontius Pilate, was responsible for that.

The challenge for us is to begin, if we haven’t already, to stop viewing Christianity through an “us” versus “them” mentality. In God there is no “them”, there is only “us”. God created us all and loves us all and calls us all to be in relationship with God. Jesus Christ did not come create more divisions than already exist in the world; rather, Jesus came to unite us all to God through him. Let us be reminded of that and live into it.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Be reminded of Christ and begin to model Christ in your lives and in the world around you.
PRAYER
Lord, draw me in closer to you and empower me to witness to others your love and grace. Amen.

Devotional

God’s People, part 133: The Gospels

November 14, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

Read Luke 1:1-4

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1 NLT)z

Part 133: The Gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lay on.
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels ‘round my head;
One to watch and one to pray,
And two to bear my soul away.

Many, myself included, grew up reciting this beautiful (and, yet, strangely chilling) bedtime prayer while a child. In this prayer, children and adults alike are praying to the four saints who wrote the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Often when people think of the Gospels, they think of just one account told by those four different people. On top of that, much of our understanding of Jesus is really a conglomeration of those four gospels.

When reading the Gospels, one must take into account that they were written in first century of the common era and not in the 21^st century. That means that, in order to fully understand the significance of the Gospels for our lives today, we have to take into account what they were actually conveying to people in the first century. This is not just true of the Gospels, but of any text written in any period of time in history.

What’s more, the Gospels were not written as historical accounts in the sense of 21^st Century, objective, impartial history; rather, the Gospels were a marriage between history, theology, and socio-political commentary. The latter may take some by surprise as we in the 21^st century like to try to separate religion from politics; however, in the 1^st century there was no such divorce between the two.

For instance, when Jesus is given the title Son of God, that is not only a theological truth being conveyed, it is also a statement against Caesar who was known to the world at the time as divi filius, or son of a God. Important still, the Gospels are absolutely setting up Jesus Christ and God’s Kingdom in contrast and opposition to Caesar and the kingdom of the world. In other words, the Gospels very intentionally call the reader to choose between the empire and the world order and Jesus Christ and God’s Kingdom. The two are mutually exclusive; a person can either choose one or the other, but not both.

It is also important to note that the Gospels are NOT the earliest writings in the New Testatment; instead, Pauls’ epistles (aka letters) are the oldest writings in the New Testament. Paul wrote between the 50s and 60s CE (his earliest epistle only being written about 25-30 years after Christ’s death). The earliest Gospel (which is the Gospel of Mark) was written in about 70 CE (about 40-45 years after Christ’s death).

Why is this important to note? Because many people will argue that we ought not to take Paul as seriously as the Jesus’ teachings. The problem with that line of thinking is that Paul’s writings get us the closest to the earliest Christians and to what their theology was. What’s more, the Gospels are very much influenced by and, sometimes, in reaction to Paul’s teachings. Plain and simple, Paul cannot be dismissed.

The challenge for us is this, when we approach the Gospels, let us not look at them as one story told by four different people of the same mind; rather let us see them as four separate accounts, sometimes playing off of one another, teaching us different aspects and angles on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us not look at the Gospels as a mere historical account telling us facts and figures, but let us see it for all of the rich depth with which it was written.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
If you would like to read the Gospels in the order they were most likely written, start with Mark (ca. 66-70 CE), then Matthew (ca. 80-90 CE), then Luke (ca. 80-110 CE) and finish with John (ca. 90-110 CE)

PRAYER
Lord, enrich my life and my faith through the account of your Son, Jesus Christ, in the Gospels. I believe and put my faith in Christ and Christ alone. Amen.

Podcast

Episode 44 | Thespians and Widows

November 11, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ff5c2-9eb1f2

In this episode, Rev. Todd discusses the two types of people Jesus observes in terms of giving and how what Jesus is expecting from us in that regard.

EPISODE REFERENCES:

Sign up for bi-weekly devotions at Life-Giving Water.
Subscribe to Life-Giving Water Messages, also on iTunes and Google Play Music.
Subscribe to the Party on Johncast, co-hosted by Rev. Sal Seirmarco and Rev. Todd Lattig.

Devotional

God’s People, part 132: Genealogy

November 9, 2018 Rev. Todd R. Lattig Leave a comment

Read Matthew 1:1-17

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)

Part 132: Genealogy. One of the biggest problems that many folks have with reading the Bible is the long lists of genealogy that they come upon. When reading, it can get to be quite monotonous and rather boring because these names mean absolutely nothing to the reader. It’s like being a young child watching family slides of people who came before you, but you never met. Our attention span just doesn’t often hold on and as children we don’t quite understand the significance of what we are watching.

Keeping with that analogy thought, does our lack of understanding stay with us through our lives? No, of course not. In fact, many adult spend countless hours researching family records on web sites such as Ancestry.com. The older I get the more and more important my family roots become to me. I may not have known my great, great grandfather Jacob William Lattig, but knowing that I am the great, great, grandson of an inventor who personally knew the likes of Thomas Edison…yeah, pretty cool.

But how do I know about him? Simple, my parents passed down the stories of their parents and the parents before them. In other words, much of my interest in my family genealogy stems from the oral tradition in my family passing down from generation to generation.

Therein, lies the key to understanding the genealogy of the Bible. Genealogies are meant to be passed down orally to those for whom the genealogy is relevant. Beyond that, we have looked at most of the major characters throughout the entire Old Testament and so, many of the names you’ll read in Jesus’ lineage are names you’ll be familiar with. Familiarity helps make the genealogy more exciting and it also helps us to see what God is doing the overarching scheme of things.

Here’s the news for you, the genealogy of Jesus in the New Testament IS RELEVANT to you as a Christian. Why? Because it is your Spiritual lineage as well. As Christians who have imbued ourselves with Christ’s presence within us, we have been included into Christ’s family. Thus, it is important for us to not only recognize the unfolding of God’s salvation plan through Christ’s genealogy, it is also important to recognize our part in that plan. Let us be challenged to begin to go deeper into Scripture and view those “boring” parts with a more mature eye so that we may begin to appreciate all that God has done for us!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
We have been adopted into God’s family through Jesus Christ our Lord.

PRAYER
Lord, help me to have a more mature outlook on the Bible so that I may grow in my faith and in my understanding. Amen.

A biweekly devotional