Can you "support" something without making a commitment? This thought occurred when I saw a Facebook newsfeed item that a friend of mine had joined a certain "cause." This cause has 2,306,274 members as of this morning and has raised a total of $28,825.
Now I don't want to disparage other, non-financial ways of supporting a cause, which could include raising awareness by word of mouth, volunteer efforts, and even prayer. But for more than 2 million people to have raised less than 30 thousand dollars means that each supporter contributed an average of 1.25 cents. Or the same amount would have been raised if 99% of the members of the cause contributed nothing, and the remaining 1% contributed a whopping $1.25.
I also understand that a lot of people on Facebook are in high school or college and maybe don't have a lot of extra money, but if you really care about something, couldn't you go without a soda for one day and contribute $1.50? Or skip going to the movie theater and donate the $8.50 to this cause? If each member contributed only ten dollars, there would be a total of $23 million raised. If each member contributed only one dollar, it would still be almost one hundred times what it is now.
Thanksgiving is this week, and I know something about giving to charitable causes. In order to meet the annual budget of our congregation, we need offerings of nearly $7,000 per week, which comes to about $30 for every man, woman, and child in attendance. Most people don't give nearly that much — which I can understand, because everybody's situation is unique — but that means that a small percentage of church members are contributing much more than their "fair share," and for that, I am thankful.
You don't have to put $30 in the offering plate when you're at church on Sunday, but I hope that when you consider all that the Lord has given to you, you'll give more than 1.25 cents.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
What Is God's Name?
This is a great question that was raised after my sermon on the Second Commandment, which forbids misusing God's name. But what is God's name?
We can call God "God," which is using a common noun as a proper name, just as you can call your parents "Father" and "Mother" — though most people probably say "Dad" and "Mom." Similarly, I am often called "Pastor" because I'm a pastor, and doctors are often called "Doctor." Such a "name" is sufficient when we know who we're talking about.
In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, the word el means "god" generally, and the plural form is elohim, "gods." Either word can be used of the one true God, the God of Israel; the singular is used most often in compound words (like Bethel or Joel), while the plural is used with same effect as our use of a capital letter.
However, there is also a proper name for the one true God in Hebrew, just as your father and your mother have proper names, as do pastors and doctors. In most English Bibles it is translated as "Lord" (usually "LORD", in all caps or small caps), but the American Standard Bible chose to translate it as "Jehovah," which Jehovah Witnesses insist is God's only true name. Modern scholars will render it as "Yahweh," for which a little explanation is in order.
The name is four Hebrew letters, all consonants. First is yodh, which sounds like an English Y but was often represented in Roman letters as J (which also sounds like English Y when used in Latin or German). Next comes he, which is a straightforward H. Third is waw, sometimes called vav; this letter makes either a W sound or a V sound, depending on who you talk to. The last letter is another he. So you could write the four letters JHVH or YHWH (or JHWH or YHVH, but no one ever does these last two combinations).
When Jewish scholars decided to start putting little dots above and below the consonants of Hebrew to represent the vowels (about one thousand years ago), they did something a little tricky. By this time, pious Jews no longer pronounced YHWH, probably out of reverence and out of fear of misusing the divine name; instead, they said Adonai, which means "Lord." So the scholars put the vowel dots for Adonai on the consonants for YHWH as a sign to the reader to say "Adonai" instead of pronouncing YHWH.
In Hebrew, this combination of consonants and vowels is meaningless, but when you use JHVH along with these vowels (the first "a" can also be represented "e", and the "i" is actually a consonant) it comes out as Jehovah. However, our best guess at reconstructing the original vowels to use with YHWH gives us Yahweh. (A shortened form of this name is found in many Hebrew names as well as in "Hallelujah," where the J is pronounced like Y, and which means "Praise the LORD!")
Some people think that even Yahweh is not God's real name. In Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses, "I am who I am." And He tells Moses to tell the Israelites, "'I am' has sent me to you." The name Yahweh is closely related to the Hebrew word that means, "He is." In other words, God says, "I am," and we say, "He is," but His real name remains unknown.
But God does reveal His name, and it is for our salvation. As Joel 2:32 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." This is God's revealed name. Most importantly, God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, whose name means "the LORD saves" and is the name which is above every name. Not only can we say that "Jesus is Lord" but also Jesus is the LORD, God in human flesh; He is Immanuel, "God with us." We should not misuse God's name, but He has given us His name to use for His divine purposes.
Advanced Note: Jesus is the Greek form of the Aramaic Yeshua, which in turn comes from Hebrew Joshua, which in full form is written Yehoshua. The Yeho- part is the YH of YHWH, and the -shua part means salvation.
We can call God "God," which is using a common noun as a proper name, just as you can call your parents "Father" and "Mother" — though most people probably say "Dad" and "Mom." Similarly, I am often called "Pastor" because I'm a pastor, and doctors are often called "Doctor." Such a "name" is sufficient when we know who we're talking about.
In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, the word el means "god" generally, and the plural form is elohim, "gods." Either word can be used of the one true God, the God of Israel; the singular is used most often in compound words (like Bethel or Joel), while the plural is used with same effect as our use of a capital letter.
However, there is also a proper name for the one true God in Hebrew, just as your father and your mother have proper names, as do pastors and doctors. In most English Bibles it is translated as "Lord" (usually "LORD", in all caps or small caps), but the American Standard Bible chose to translate it as "Jehovah," which Jehovah Witnesses insist is God's only true name. Modern scholars will render it as "Yahweh," for which a little explanation is in order.
The name is four Hebrew letters, all consonants. First is yodh, which sounds like an English Y but was often represented in Roman letters as J (which also sounds like English Y when used in Latin or German). Next comes he, which is a straightforward H. Third is waw, sometimes called vav; this letter makes either a W sound or a V sound, depending on who you talk to. The last letter is another he. So you could write the four letters JHVH or YHWH (or JHWH or YHVH, but no one ever does these last two combinations).
When Jewish scholars decided to start putting little dots above and below the consonants of Hebrew to represent the vowels (about one thousand years ago), they did something a little tricky. By this time, pious Jews no longer pronounced YHWH, probably out of reverence and out of fear of misusing the divine name; instead, they said Adonai, which means "Lord." So the scholars put the vowel dots for Adonai on the consonants for YHWH as a sign to the reader to say "Adonai" instead of pronouncing YHWH.
In Hebrew, this combination of consonants and vowels is meaningless, but when you use JHVH along with these vowels (the first "a" can also be represented "e", and the "i" is actually a consonant) it comes out as Jehovah. However, our best guess at reconstructing the original vowels to use with YHWH gives us Yahweh. (A shortened form of this name is found in many Hebrew names as well as in "Hallelujah," where the J is pronounced like Y, and which means "Praise the LORD!")
Some people think that even Yahweh is not God's real name. In Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses, "I am who I am." And He tells Moses to tell the Israelites, "'I am' has sent me to you." The name Yahweh is closely related to the Hebrew word that means, "He is." In other words, God says, "I am," and we say, "He is," but His real name remains unknown.
But God does reveal His name, and it is for our salvation. As Joel 2:32 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." This is God's revealed name. Most importantly, God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, whose name means "the LORD saves" and is the name which is above every name. Not only can we say that "Jesus is Lord" but also Jesus is the LORD, God in human flesh; He is Immanuel, "God with us." We should not misuse God's name, but He has given us His name to use for His divine purposes.
Advanced Note: Jesus is the Greek form of the Aramaic Yeshua, which in turn comes from Hebrew Joshua, which in full form is written Yehoshua. The Yeho- part is the YH of YHWH, and the -shua part means salvation.
Friday, November 7, 2008
A Pile of Rubble and the Smell of Soot...
...was all that was left of the River Church's sanctuary as I drove past earlier this week. I had decided to take the "back way" to the hospital to avoid Route 9 (those of you who live here know what I mean!), and I knew th
at I'd be passing by the site of last week's fire, but I wasn't prepared to be able to smell it, even with my car windows closed. I also didn't know that the building had come down; I had expected to see the charred shell of the building that I would pass whenever I took the back way to the hospital, but it was just gone!
I circled the block to find a place to park so that I could snap some pictures with my cell phone. There were some walls still standing -- looks like walls shared in common with the adjacent buildings. It's hard to tell in t
his photo, but you can make out the remains of one stained glass window, and for the time of day I was there, the sunlight was streaming through. Rays of hope amid so much destruction and loss?
But the real hope is the statement that you can read on their web site, betheriver.com: "Our church is not a building, it is a group of people joined together by a common love and a common purpose." That is a good thing for us all to remember. We often think of church as a building, but it is really the Body of Christ, of which we are members. Our Lutheran Confessions describe the Church as the congregation of believers gathered around God's Word and Christ's sacraments.
The members of the River Church are meeting at an alternate location, and the church goes on. They say on their web site that they have insurance, so I suppose they will build another structure. But most of all, they have their treasure in heaven, which neither moth nor rust, nor thieves, nor fire, can destroy. Thanks be to God for a faith like this. We hold them in our prayers.
at I'd be passing by the site of last week's fire, but I wasn't prepared to be able to smell it, even with my car windows closed. I also didn't know that the building had come down; I had expected to see the charred shell of the building that I would pass whenever I took the back way to the hospital, but it was just gone!I circled the block to find a place to park so that I could snap some pictures with my cell phone. There were some walls still standing -- looks like walls shared in common with the adjacent buildings. It's hard to tell in t
his photo, but you can make out the remains of one stained glass window, and for the time of day I was there, the sunlight was streaming through. Rays of hope amid so much destruction and loss?But the real hope is the statement that you can read on their web site, betheriver.com: "Our church is not a building, it is a group of people joined together by a common love and a common purpose." That is a good thing for us all to remember. We often think of church as a building, but it is really the Body of Christ, of which we are members. Our Lutheran Confessions describe the Church as the congregation of believers gathered around God's Word and Christ's sacraments.
The members of the River Church are meeting at an alternate location, and the church goes on. They say on their web site that they have insurance, so I suppose they will build another structure. But most of all, they have their treasure in heaven, which neither moth nor rust, nor thieves, nor fire, can destroy. Thanks be to God for a faith like this. We hold them in our prayers.
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