The PastoralPlanning.com Bible Study in Plain English Session Seventeen: Letters and Visions Romans, Hebrews, other Letters, and Revelation The mind of Paul. The Letter to the Romans was written as a nearly full treatment of Paul s thinking on faith and salvation - and on the place of Christ Jesus in that. He sent this letter to prepare the Roman church for his first visit there. Overall, this letter makes for rather difficult reading as Paul unfolds his complex arguments. But it also contains words of great comfort and consolation. If God is for us, Paul assures the reader in chapter 8, who is against us? Read it and see! Paul expresses his absolute conviction that God will always remain with those who live in the love of Christ. Read Romans 8:35. Write this verse into the space below. Scan forward from there through the end of this chapter for words of great comfort. Write about it! What were the words of comfort? A holy body. Paul reminded the Romans that each member of the church plays a role in how the entire church lives and breathes. present your bodies as a living sacrifice, he told them. Do not be conformed to this world., but be transformed by the renewing of your minds Read it and see! How did Paul describe the church? Read Romans 12:3-8 to find out! Read on from there to the end of chapter 12, noting Paul s instruction. Underline the parts that touch you most deeply. 1
Sacred pause! In helping the Roman church understand what it means to live in Christ, Paul insists that among all the possible ways to live, living in love is the greatest. Take a moment to read aloud the powerful and famous passage in Romans 13:8-14. Let this message sink deeply into your soul. A house divided. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the early church communities sometimes had disagreements arise within them. Sometimes, they even had divisions arise. The communities were growing rapidly as more and more people believed and were baptized. In The First Letter to the Corinthians Paul addresses all this tension in the church at Corinth, a busy, seaport city on the Mediterranean Sea. In this letter, Paul tackles issues of divisions, sexual immorality, the place of women, marriage within the church, lawsuits among members of the church, the place of the apostles in church leadership, and other matters. But in the heart of this letter, Paul turns to a metaphor of the church he has used before. Read it and see! What is Paul s metaphor? Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 to find out. Then scan forward to the next chapter, famous as it is, and let Paul s teaching become real for you. Ambassadors for Christ. It should also come as no surprise to anyone that from time to time, someone with Paul s strong personality and opinions might be personally attacked. That seems to be what happened in Corinth after Paul s first letter arrived there. He was criticized by some and accused by others. And Paul sent this second letter (or parts of it) in response to them. The Second Letter to the Corinthians does not flow very smoothly from beginning to end and may be conflated from several letters. But nonetheless, Paul leaves the church with gems of wisdom here. Read it and see! Paul admits his weaknesses exist, but he moves beyond human weakness. Read 1 Corinthians 5:16-21 to see what Paul is talking about. Christian unity. The writer of The Letter to the Ephesians was concerned with the unity of the church. Love, this letter repeats, is what binds us together. And again, the image of the body found in Paul is used as the metaphor for this unity. The letter is filled with lovely blessings and prayers. Read it and see! The writer of Ephesians provides a short & sweet set of rules for the Christian life. Read Ephesians 4:17-5:2 for the Christian code. Then scan through this letter, pausing to read some of the blessings and prayers. Read 1:3-14, for example, or 3:14-21. Who is Christ? Throughout the early years of the church, this question was on the minds of the members of the church. As people came to believe in Jesus Christ from 2
many other faiths, including many Jewish converts, a variety of views emerged about the nature of Christ. The writer of The Letter to the Colossians takes on this argument with powerful language. For in [Christ], the letter tells us, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Read it and see! This letter gives us an early glimpse into the belief about Christ. Read Colossians 1:15-20 to find it. Copy these verses onto the notepad, pausing with each line of the text to consider its meaning. Write about it! What did they believe about Christ? Chat room! Take some time to talk through the verses in Colossians 1:15-20. Pay special attention to verse 17: in him all things hold together. What does this mean to you? Yikes! In a short letter to the church in Thessalonica, one of Paul s disciples writes about judgments and mighty angels in flaming fire, and eternal destruction! This language is called apocalyptic and is used to help those suffering oppression believe in the future. It generally implies that the present age is lost but that God is about to destroy the present age and inaugurate an age of goodness and holiness when those who remain steadfast in the faith will be given their reward. The Second Letter to the Thessalonians is a short example of apocalyptic writing, followed by an exhortation. Read it and see! How does the writer of this letter use apocalyptic language? Read 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12 for a stunning example! Living the faith. It slowly dawned on the early followers of Jesus that, like their Teacher, they would most likely suffer for their faith. Many did. Many still do today. In The First Letter of Peter the author provides a Christian framework within which to understand this suffering. But you are a chosen race, the author tells the readers, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God s own people In light of this, whatever suffering you endure will come back to you as a blessing. Read it and see! How does the author of this letter present the argument on suffering? Read 1 Peter 3:13-22 to find out! Then scan ahead through chapter 4 to read an elaboration of this thought. 3
In case there is any doubt. We do not know who wrote The Letter to the Hebrews. We do not even know exactly to whom it was written. But in this document, we find a stunning argument for believing in Jesus Christ. The author begins by asserting that Christ is greater than any angels. Then the author goes on to say that Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses Built on this foundation, the author urges the reader to remain steadfast in the faith because there is no power in the universe greater than Christ. Read it and see! The author goes on to give the meaning of faith. Read Hebrews 11:1-3 to discover it for yourself. Then scan forward through the history of salvation all the way to 12:12. My loyal child. With an avuncular style, the author of the First and Second Letters to Timothy and The Letter to Titus pours out a banquet of warnings and advice on the Christian life. Because of this, these three are often called the pastoral letters. Read it and see! How does this author advise the readers regarding everyday life? Read 1 Timothy 6:11-19 for a lovely description. Read it and see! In 2 nd Timothy, the author provides a sort of last will and testament for Paul. Read the advice we are given there. See 2 Timothy 2:1-13. False teachers. The Letter of Jude is one of the most difficult documents in the Christian Scripture to understand. Despite it s brevity, this letter is negative in its tone and uses references which most people today fine arcane. Look it up! Scan through this letter briefly. Note verses 14-16 in particular as an example of the irate tone of this letter. Christian wisdom. The Letter of James is a deep well of rich wisdom sayings, all leading to deeper faith in Jesus Christ. If any of you is lacking in wisdom, the author of this letter says, ask God and it will be given to you. Throughout this letter, the reader is offered bits of wise advice. Read it and see! What does the author of this letter tell us about connecting how one lives to what one believes? Read James 2:14-26 to find out. Conflicts. At first glance, one might think that The First, Second, and Third Letters of John are all about love. But in fact, they were probably written by a member of the community which rallied around John s Gospel. The writer exhorts them to resolve their differences in peace. What differences? We aren t completely sure. But the advice for us is sound: love one another. Read it and see! Read 1 John 4:7-12 to hear the forceful argument for love this author is making. Scan through 2 nd and 3 rd John as well. 4
The last letter. Most scholars agree today that The Second Letter of Peter was written about 130 CE, making it the latest document in the Christian Scriptures. It deals mainly with Christian faith in the Lord s Coming. The author makes clear that the message of Jesus Christ is true, but that false teachers may lead believers astray. Read it and see! Read 2 nd Peter 1:16-18 for an early profession of faith in Jesus Sonship. New Heaven, New Earth. There is one more book in the Christian Scriptures. It s called The Revelation to John. It describes a great battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. To Christians living in fear and danger under the power of the Romans, the writer of the Revelation to John sent a message of great hope: keep the faith. God will win in the end. This book is filled with visions, poetry, and images. Read it and see! One of the visions in Revelation is of heaven. It s pretty fantastic. Read Revelation: 4. Write the short poem in verse 11 in the space below. Write about it! What was the poem? Apocalyptic language, once again. The author of this book, like other writers between 200 BCE and 100 CE or so, used a symbolic language called apocalyptic language. By putting the people, events, and institutions of the day into coded language, the author safeguarded him or herself as well as the readers from outside attack. This is a story of hope amid great suffering under the Roman Emperor Domitian. It is not a prediction of the end of the world. Read it and see! What is the hope this author provides? Read Revelation 21:1-4 for an example of the wonderful new world the author describes. 5
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Epilogue: The Mystery of God The mystery of God dawns on us. It cannot be taught, like math or history. It cannot be bought or sold. It cannot even be easily shared because it can t really be described. One cannot study the Bible and demand that the mystery of God be made clear. It happens like this. One evening you re sitting at the dining table in your house with your own beloved ones. The meal can be simple, the wine inexpensive, the candles ordinary. The day could be a work day, a Sabbath day, or just any day out of your life. But sitting there you are suddenly overtaken with the strong sense that God is present. Gosh! you might say aloud, Aren t we lucky? Despite it all, aren t we lucky?! Or you re out walking in the fields or in a park. It might be raining or sunny, snowing or not. There s been a lot on your mind lately, but today you re clearing your mind with this walk. You look around and suddenly it happens: you realize you re in the presence of the Holy One. Maybe you ve been sick. In and out of the hospital a lot in the last six months. Now you re back, and it s pneumonia again. As you lay there, breathing hard, your partner arrives. A quiet visit. Just the two of you there. Maybe he s holding your hand for a moment, between nurse calls. And then it dawns on you: in that love, in that profound love, God is present. You ve just returned from praying in the Sunday Assembly at your parish or congregation. Or from the Synagogue. Or the Mosque. A word uttered in that worship struck you and it s on your mind now. You re turning it over. Forgiveness, you say half aloud to yourself. And then it dawns on you: the divine hand is with you. The real reason we read and study the Sacred Scriptures is to awaken within ourselves the possibility that the mystery of God might dawn on us. In the Word of God we are given the keys to this mystery. We are given the secrets of the Reign of God. So let it dawn on you. God, whoever he or she may be, is with you. Bill Huebsch 2007 Permission to reproduce for your own Bible Study needs is granted. Please do not share with others. 7