WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.639 But I mean it's it's like it's everything comes through Jesus Christ. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:06.160 He didn't say anything about it. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:20.800 Yeah, to me though I thought he pretty much stayed with a purpose, which was Jesus. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:25.199 It seemed to me that that's what that was more of his purpose. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.519 I was telling what Jesus was there for, what was his purpose. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:33.439 I think that's really helpful. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:38.719 Remember, these letters are mostly trying to tell people what difference Jesus makes. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:40.640 You don't get any stories. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.840 Only one Corinthians has a story about Jesus. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.479 The question is, what is what does that mean? 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:47.439 Right. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:48.479 Yeah. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.840 That's the way it seemed to me. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:01:03.200 Can I ask about, you know, so the theme this week was about ancient letter writing, which is sort of a genre that's we're not familiar with. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:10.239 And we got to read Salutations and Thanksgivings, we got to read the body of one, which for me is the most interesting part. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.480 I'm just going to tell you, maybe it is for you or not. 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:30.959 But I want to ask if there was anything that stood out from us, um, either from him or from the readings, about ways uh you see um the ancient letter writing, things that are of interest, things that didn't make sense, and greetings or conclusions, and what that's doing for you. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:33.519 And if you say nothing, that's fine. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:44.640 But uh I was struck that a lot of the letter writing um format, I mean it hadn't changed all that much. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:56.000 And it's still that way, and that the fact that every now and then um there were personal stories to try to make things more interesting. 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:05.599 And a lot of that just continues to this day, except for text and sure. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:22.639 That's a way what struck me was that that was so much more interesting and intimate and purposeful than the way we the way we communicate now with with a quick text or you know a however it is. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:33.360 We don't we just don't write, we write thank you notes or send a birthday card, but you just say kind of da-da-da-da-da, you know, love you, hope you're having a great day, yeah, kind of stuff. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:38.400 And um we've been going through lots of old papers that you can see. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:45.039 And I found letters from my mother and my brothers, and it yeah, it's amazing. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:55.039 I mean, and it's still more or less this format you know, the greeting, the setting, you know, the body of a letter, and that and so on. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:58.560 I found that fascinating. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:04.000 Yeah, and I remember in my early training in junior high or high school when you first learned to write letters. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:09.280 This this was the exact format that that you were taught. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:18.159 Yeah, how to be polite and how to be proper and what is the capital and what when you put the comma and all that was very definitive. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:26.639 So that's we kind of just go, dear Mike, and jump into our purpose now. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:43.520 And I wonder why he would he kind of introduced himself or he gave them readings you know that were some of them were more informal and more personal than the others, yeah. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:54.319 Some of them were turned out a little bit monument, but one in particular, but I thought that I thought no, we don't do that. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:58.960 I just say dear so-and-so, and I get to my point. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.439 On an email discussion, yeah, yeah. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:16.240 But um and then I like the way he was supposed to with kind of a with cries, you know, kind of tied it to what he had said at the beginning. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:18.000 Thank you. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:36.480 The one thing I thought about, which was I I hadn't thought about in ages when I was a principal and I would review lesson plans, so I had lesson plans, so I'd make notations and I'd say things I and put some few things without without really messing it up, but or I'd say put a note extra, an extra note for the future. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:53.680 But I did stuff like that about congratulations, oh, this is gonna be good or put a smiley face or something, or or let's talk, or uh we can expand on this if we something, but we we don't do that kind of um more intimate communicating. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:04.879 Well, I do think it's interesting to think about how forms and how forms change, and I hope what you noticed that was neat about reading them side by side is how they aren't all standard. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:08.959 Like there is a format, but they get varied quite a bit. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:10.160 And you mentioned Galatians. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:15.920 Galatians has very, very short salutation, it has no Thanksgiving, right? 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:18.879 I mean, he is taking those people to task. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:19.519 That's right. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:20.000 Right? 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:24.879 Um, I would say this, and that we that we it's helpful to thrive in here. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:40.639 Um I do think social media like Facebook and texting and email is changing the way we kind of write letters, but do consider that the frequency of those media is way higher than a letter. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:46.800 So you're getting this stuff daily, and I would put to you that might be why we're losing the form here. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:57.680 However, if I were going to write an email to my bishop, um, I wouldn't do it quite like Paul, but I also wouldn't write in the text. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:05:59.519 Now I have colleagues that do that. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:05.519 I have colleagues who treat the bishop like they treat everybody else, and maybe that's changing. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:15.199 But at least for me, when I know something is going to be read or kept, I'm more careful in how I write it. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:21.920 And I want to make sure we all know that these letters were not private correspondence. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:29.120 These letters were not written to a church so that people read them and passed them on. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:36.800 The way these letters work is there's probably one literate person in a group of ten and they read it out loud. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:43.839 Which means Paul has to be careful what he says because everybody's going to hear it. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:45.040 Does that make sense? 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:55.839 So if you know, like on a text, I could write a really nasty text to somebody, and I don't know that everybody's gonna read it. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.079 But if I'm writing an email to the St. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:02.399 Thomas community, I'm going to be much more careful with what I write. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.160 Just I hope that makes sense. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:06.079 That's what Paul's doing. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:09.519 He's writing a public letter, not a private one. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:15.839 Sometimes we forget, we think, aha, these are just things people read the Bible at home. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:17.120 No, they did not. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:20.879 Because literacy was lower than 5%. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:28.480 Now, what that means is that there have always been elite people in churches. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.879 It's really important to remember. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:35.920 Sometimes we get concerned with is are churches just for elite people? 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:46.079 Some are and some aren't, but without elitism, that is education, none of this works as it's being practiced. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.959 Does that I hopefully that makes sense what I'm saying? 00:07:49.759 --> 00:08:10.879 Um we read um particularly Philemon, you'll see that in reading it out loud, he's Paul is kind of being really naughty because he's asking an Esimus to do him like a personal favor, but he's asking that favor in the context of a church. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:15.120 Like 15 people are hearing this ask, not one. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.920 And that influences how we read a letter, I would put to you. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:25.839 So just remember, all of this is read out loud. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:34.559 So when he names names, you know, when you name names in a public email or a public letter, you walk through that carefully, I believe. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:41.919 Now, some people in politics don't believe in that anymore, and we're having a cultural issue about that. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:47.840 Like, should you make public things that we would normally reserve for private? 00:08:48.000 --> 00:09:00.960 Like, I'm gonna take, I have no doubt that lots of other publicly elected officials, be they senators, congressmen, president, presidents, have said very nasty things to other people in private. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:10.960 Now we're seeing it happen in public without an apology or sensitivity to what used to have been held behind closed doors. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:14.639 I think maybe in some ways that's great because hey, there's no secrets now. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:16.720 We know exactly what people are like. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:20.159 But we're we're struggling with that. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:21.919 I hope that's okay to say. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:22.879 Oh yes. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:32.639 I would tell you, you know, I used to work at a church and somebody was really disappointed with something happening, who worked at the church and sent the text to the wrong person. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:40.080 They meant to send it to their confidant and they sent it to the person that they were complaining about. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:40.960 Whoa. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:44.240 These things happen. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.759 It was nasty, by the way. 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:53.279 It's like hitting a return to all rather than a business. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:54.080 You've got it. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:55.120 You've got it. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:59.279 And in that way, I think we this is still current for us. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:16.639 Maybe we could look at each part though, and look at some of the changes, and and we'll start to get an idea about what Paul does in these letters that's different, so that as we get to each specific one, we have a more idea of what the variety of options are. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:17.679 Is that okay? 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:27.679 So, um, like in Romans, we think Paul is probably writing to a group of people he hasn't met. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:29.360 I just want to give you a heads up. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:37.440 So he introduces himself as a servant of Jesus, but in Greek that's the word doulos, and it means slave. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.440 It doesn't mean slave like African slave trade. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:48.480 But it does sort of mean chattels to be dispensed with as you'd like. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:57.440 In Corinthians, Paul is not a servant, he's an apostle. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:03.600 So this is a group of people he does know. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:08.480 So he introduces himself differently. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:12.720 In Galatians, Paul is sent by God. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:22.720 In Philippians, he writes to the saints. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:24.240 To the saints. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:35.279 Remember, saint is really the word holy ones, holy ones, and holy means extraordinary, set apart. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.519 Now remember, this is being read in public. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:44.960 So either he's only talking to some really good people in the room, or he's using the word for everybody. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:49.279 We can talk about that later. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:52.799 In Thessalonians, he writes to the church. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:12:01.840 And that word church is the Greek word eklesia or ecclesia, and it really just means gathering. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:09.440 So maybe you've heard the word synagogue before, which means gather together. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:12.320 It's a similar idea. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:13.840 It's a gathering of people. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:18.960 Do not think public buildings with crosses is not, these don't exist. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:23.519 We went to the oldest church in the world in Jordan that's ever been discovered. 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.519 As in, not in someone's home. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.279 Like a standalone place. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.679 It dates from about 75. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.600 Paul is writing 30 years before that was built. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:42.639 And by the way, it was like in a basement because it was not publicly acceptable to have. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:43.840 Does that make sense? 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:45.679 They built a secret church. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:47.120 And we went there. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:52.080 In fact, there's a communion picture by the phone, and that's where we had communion. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:57.519 And it seems kind of weird, but I'll tell you the hairs that my neck stood up, like in a good way, being there. 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.720 And I'm like skeptical, so like it's really sweet. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:08.720 But when you hear church, remember these are home meetings, and it's about people who choose to come together. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.679 In Philemon, Paul is a prisoner. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.120 And that's going to influence what he says. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:21.600 So, look, we get a lot of different things. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:31.039 He's an apostle, he's sent by God, he's a servant, he's writing to saints, he's writing to the church, he's a prisoner. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.279 All of these are different titles. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:34.799 Are they all true? 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:35.840 Yes. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:41.039 And each one sets the tone for what he's going to do next. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:45.679 He's a prisoner, so he's going to milk that. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:52.240 He's sent by God, so you better listen to him, you foolish Galatians. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:52.799 Okay? 00:13:55.120 --> 00:14:02.320 How is he getting feedback from these churches so that he would know what issues to address? 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:03.600 It's a great question. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:08.080 So I think we have to sort of conjecture about that. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.480 He's got personal relationships, and perhaps he's getting the personal letters. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.759 The ones that say you wouldn't believe what so-and-so is saying. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.559 He does revisit some of them, right? 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.879 So he goes not once, not twice, but three times to some of them. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:36.080 So out of that interaction, perhaps he ruminates and then gives this thing that can be not just spoken one-on-one, but can be read in the assembly of that church, if that makes sense. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:43.440 And I'm also curious, and I was curious last week, but I forgot to ask, how did they go about transmitting these letters? 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:47.840 I mean, how long did it take to get one to another? 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:55.120 Well, you know, you'll get the maybe you've heard about this before if you've been in an evangelical tradition, the Roman road. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.519 And it is true that Romans were road builders. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.480 Now, uh, Roman roads are actually really nice. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:02.399 You wouldn't want to drive on them. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:04.399 Uh they're very cobbly. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.600 Our roads are way superior to Roman roads. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:08.799 I'm just going to tell you right now. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:15.759 Um, however, uh, if you want to know what it was like before Roman roads, you can go and visit Haiti. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:17.840 And you need a land cruiser. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.639 And if you don't have one, too bad. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:29.360 You will not be driving any uh Toyota product other than a Highlander or Land Cruiser in Haiti because it will break your axle. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:31.039 If that makes sense. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:40.879 So what the Romans did to facilitate essentially interstate commerce is build these roads. 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:57.279 And um, I've seen maps, interestingly enough, like when I went to Croatia, Diocletian's Palace, there's a map showing you the Roman road system, and it's divided in how many each mile mark, each marker on the map represents a day's journey. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:03.120 So it tells you how many days it will take you on the Roman road to get from here to here to here to here. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:12.799 And did they have to use ships to transport the did use ships if they could, but the Mediterranean in some places is a fickle body, like we read last week. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:18.159 There's this wind called the Nor'easter, and when that blows, it can blow a hundred miles an hour. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:20.559 And that'll that'll sink a boat. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:21.120 You know. 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:23.840 So in general, they try to stay very close to the coast. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:27.120 Don't think of them going out in the middle of bodies of water. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:34.799 Um, they would use that for shipping, but we sort of think in general these letters go by Roman roads. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:46.480 Now, now keep in mind most of these churches are not super far apart from each other because Greece and Turkey, if you put them in the United States, they easily fit within Texas. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:52.080 In fact, when you put Texas on Europe, it's like appalling how small Europe is. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.559 I I hope that makes sense what I'm saying. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:17:01.519 They had certain people that carried the mail or seems like it would help out by taking some mail when they went. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:11.119 Yeah, you wouldn't don't think of a postal service, but yes, so there's people that Paul knows, and there's commerce happening and there's messages coming back and forth. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:13.680 And Paul himself is a trade worker, right? 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:23.839 He identifies himself as a leather worker, although a better understanding is he's somebody who helps make awnings that go in Roman forums. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:25.359 So those are business places. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:34.079 So Paul might have made belts, but he also might have worked canvas to be shade, just like when you go to the farmer's market and they pop up tents. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.200 You gotta make things like that and a say canvas. 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:40.079 So what do you mean we're gonna do that? 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.519 He practiced the trade. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:46.559 There's other tradespeople, people come and go as they uh do commerce. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:52.960 How regularly, I just depends on whether or not they're in the merchant class or they're in the farmer class. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:57.759 I mean But if you're in a prison, are you handicapped getting your mail? 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:02.000 Well, no, because remember, prisons aren't like we have now. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:05.759 In general, they're house arrest, and you have to house arrest. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:06.559 House arrest. 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:07.119 Yeah. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:12.799 Remember, there's not there's not police, there's no wardens, there are dungeons, but those are temporary. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:16.079 You know, they don't you don't stay in a dungeon for years. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:18.880 That would cost the state too much money. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:19.839 Yeah. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:22.799 And then interesting to think about. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:30.319 The Roman government was not willing to pay for correctional institutions that supported life sentences. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:34.640 Well, they could put a tracker on your ankle, so they just said you need to stay home. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:36.079 Well, you run away, they kill you. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:37.839 I mean, that's sort of a deal. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:39.599 You better run way far away. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.799 And if you do, then you're no longer a problem for them anyway. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:43.359 Okay. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.200 You know, I mean, no loss. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:50.640 If you want to go, you know, run outside the Roman Empire and live, well, we don't have to deal with you anymore. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:56.720 How were they able to date the letters? 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:58.160 Great question. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.599 Um, part of it has to do with themes. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:06.559 And uh sometimes we'll see Paul's own thoughts develop over time. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:08.880 So some seem to be earlier. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:13.119 Um we don't have the original that we know that's from any of these letters. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:19.039 Reminder, we have copies of copies and we don't know, none of them would say, I'm the original letter. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:22.160 Um, so that's our best, that's our best guess. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:29.279 The other way we try to do it is by tracking acts where Paul goes, and so then we kind of short up the writings through that. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:35.920 So as we read these letters, we'll return to Acts each time to see what Paul's interface was according to Acts. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:20:01.599 The um the biographical information we have on Paul do they come mainly from the letters or and and and the acts are a backup or yeah, that's a real problem for scholars because acts is a secondary source. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:02.319 Right? 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:04.319 It's about Paul and not by him. 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:10.720 Um the letters would be primary sources, but as I identified last week, scholars are not clear. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:18.160 They're pretty in consensus about which ones Paul did write, but some people disagree about which ones his students wrote. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:20.559 Um so that's how it parses out. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:22.880 Do we have external sources about the guy? 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:23.440 No. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.160 So those are our two sources, primary and secondary. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:37.200 And remember, like I told you in Acts, Paul's conversion story is told three times and it differs each time. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.680 That doesn't mean it's wrong. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:47.599 Any good storyteller does not tell the same story twice. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.880 Any good storyteller changes the story to fit the audience. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:59.119 Doesn't mean changes the facts, but all storytelling is contextual. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:00.559 Always. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:09.440 Sometimes we think in this postmodernist area, no, there's one correct version of a story, and that's ludicrous. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:19.680 Because if you don't have sensitivity to your audience's vocabulary, then you can share a story that's completely unintelligible. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.480 Try reading Finnegan's Wake, for example. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:23.839 James Joyce wrote that. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:29.839 It's a combination of like three languages and a made-up one, and there's 20 people in the world that can read it. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:30.880 So what? 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:33.680 I mean, you know, like it's inaccessible. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.000 It may be a wonderful story, but you can't read it. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:37.200 So what? 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:48.240 And you use, if you're a good storyteller, you use examples that are congruent with the history, the culture, the mindset of the people you're telling the story to. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.720 So that's what it has meaning to the end of the day. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:51.839 That's what I think. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:55.839 Yeah, and so part of our task has to be to retrieve some of that. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.920 Again, when we hear Jesus talk about shepherding, none of you have been shepherding. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:00.640 Before. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:02.880 I don't know you very well, but I know that. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:07.440 Because we did away with that in the 1930s in this country. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:14.799 So we make presumptions about shepherding that, frankly, are usually false because we don't do that. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:17.759 Same with the agricultural lifestyle. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:25.519 I mean, my parents are two generations a generation older than they actually are, and they're really not in the agricultural get-go. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:30.480 I mean, they grew up in rural Kentucky, they grew tobacco when that was profitable, it's not anymore. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:36.799 My great my grandfather was sort of like a sharecropper, but not quite. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:38.640 But my mother wasn't. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:42.240 So that's even secondhand lifestyle to her. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:45.039 I hope that makes sense what I'm saying. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:48.720 The farming lifestyle is nostalgic for us. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.640 And some people think it's real sweet and cute because they didn't do it. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:58.559 And don't exactly understand what it involves, but these people, that was that's what they did. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:03.359 And they didn't own big farms, but they were subsistence farmers. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:22.480 And he seems to not have had a lot of contact with the impossible Jerusalem. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:36.240 A lot did he hear stories about what Jesus did in his preachings or we have to take for granted he knew something about Jesus. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:43.359 But what he knew, the only thing we know for sure, is that on the night before he died, Jesus took bread. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:44.000 Right. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:46.240 I mean, that's our one story. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:48.240 So what else did he know? 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:58.400 We're not sure, but he did sure make meaning about Jesus being wounded and Jesus being resurrected and what that means for us. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:06.880 We don't know if Paul was familiar with the parables of Jesus. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:08.880 We don't know if he knew any of that. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:14.880 We don't know if he was familiar with Jesus healing that guy on the mat. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:16.799 We just don't know. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:18.079 Because he never says. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:43.039 That's how they made it into the Bible. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:45.599 Did he write other letters we don't have? 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:46.559 Probably. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:57.119 And those either weren't considered helpful to everybody else, or they got rid and lost, you know, and we're not we're not sure. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:02.079 It was he some kind of um, you know, Billy Graham figure. 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:04.640 We don't know. 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:10.720 I mean, the the church is the church, like the Christian movement starts really small, probably. 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:14.799 We get these numbers in Acts that are probably not credible. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:15.440 I'm sorry. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:17.359 Like they're just probably not credible. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:23.519 What most people think is Christianity grew like the Mormon Church at a steady rate of like 10% a year. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:30.559 Well, sure enough, if you keep doing that over time, right, within 300 years, you get to be pretty big. 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:36.000 Like the Mormon Church, which is 200 years old. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:38.480 And sizable now. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:43.039 And it continues to grow 10, 12% a year worldwide. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:46.000 It's a pretty good return on investment. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:53.680 It seems to me he would have had to possibly have some kind of education because I'm kind of talking about. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:54.559 He claims he did. 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:55.440 He claims he did. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:56.640 We get that in Acts. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:26:02.079 He claims he's educated by Rabbi Gamaliel, who was a well-known rabbi. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.960 Um in Acts he speaks Hebrew. 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:06.160 That's a dead language. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:09.920 So if he can communicate in a dead language, he's educated. 00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:16.640 His family, he claims, he's a born Roman citizen, which means someone bought in a while ago. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.400 So they've got resources. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:28.960 When he goes back to Tarsus, you know, he has this conversion, goes back to Tarsus, he's there for a couple of years before he does any of these journeys, presumably studying. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:32.799 So we think he knows how to study. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:34.960 So I think that's really fair. 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:37.680 He writes a conclusion in his own hand. 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:44.079 I don't know if you noticed that, but most scholars think he wrote just the conclusion, not the whole letter. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:45.359 So he's literate. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:48.000 This is the things that we believe. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:55.680 He can speak Greek, probably spoke Aramaic because that's what people spoke, and he can speak Hebrew. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:08.079 It just seems to me, just from living today, that he would have had to have work people with other men with him. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.160 He had to make, but but maybe not. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:11.920 Nope, nope, he definitely does. 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:19.599 Remember, um we we get to hear in one of them, this is written by a scribe, he talks about um he's riding with Sosthenes. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:21.920 We get to hear he's also with Timothy. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:28.720 So he's got these compatriots, absolutely, who were who are with him, and those are the people on his vestry. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:34.880 Does he have a friend to Luke? 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:36.160 No. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:39.119 But that doesn't mean he didn't know Luke. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:40.079 He just didn't mention. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:44.559 Okay, that's our salutation. 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:54.720 Notice it is contextual, and again, the way he describes himself depends on the tone and tenor of the letter. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:57.119 How about Thanksgiving? 00:27:57.359 --> 00:27:59.200 How about Thanksgiving? 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.240 Notice, he's not thankful for the Galatians. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:04.400 This is really important to remember. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:10.160 He says things like, Your faith has been proclaimed through the world. 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:13.599 So the world knows that the Romans are faithful. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:17.759 Paul wants to mutually encourage them. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:21.039 So he wants to give them something. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:28.480 He tells the Corinthians, you're enriched in every way by Jesus in speech and knowledge. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:32.160 God will strengthen them to the end. 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:41.440 He tells them again in 2 Corinthians, God considers your afflictions, and please know we are suffering on your behalf. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:44.319 So you're not the only ones we're suffering for you. 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:46.640 That's a funny Thanksgiving, isn't it? 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:50.400 He tells the Philippians, God will finish a good work in you. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:53.359 I hold you in my heart, and I long for you. 00:28:54.720 --> 00:29:02.079 And he tells the Thessalonians, we constantly remember and thank God for you, be imitations of us. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:03.839 So that's nice. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:09.200 What's nice to note is because he doesn't feel that way to the Galatians, he doesn't include that. 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:15.039 So in some ways we can say, hey, some of this is formulaic, but please notice it's adaptable to. 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:45.680 We had to read a monograph a week, which was a lot when I had 18 hours of classes. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:52.480 So I was reading like a 200-page book and having to write a paper on it every week. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:54.720 That was my entrance to class. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:59.359 And uh I will tell you, my spiritual gift is probably criticism. 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:02.000 If I wanted to call it positive, it would be analysis. 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:08.240 I was super good at reading a book and saying, this is wrong, this is specious, and etc. 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:17.279 But what we had to do in this class is we had to start with an appreciation for what the author was contributing that was new or different. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:22.880 Sometimes I thought, well, that's just buttering somebody up for what's going to come next. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:39.519 But I think it actually was a really great spiritual discipline to do, and I sure have, as I've reacted with employees, found it very helpful to do both, not as a way of buttering them up, but just to let them know that I am both appreciative and concerned. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:58.319 So I would put to you that Thanksgiving is an interesting spiritual practice, and we could say it's formulaic, but I would I would say whether it is or not, it's an interesting spiritual practice that Paul invites us to do ourselves. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.400 Especially when we're upset. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:04.079 Again, it doesn't show up with the Galatians because he's so mad. 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:09.759 Yeah, I mean, that's just one of those emails. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.920 Galatians is written in all capital letters. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:13.440 I mean, that's that's the deal. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:16.559 By the way, they're all written in all capital letters in Greek. 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:18.640 Um but this one especially. 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:21.920 So I just want to raise to you that's a way we could take this home, right? 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:30.559 Is to make sure we're mindful, particularly in moments of criticism or critique, what the person is trying to do as we perceive. 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:44.160 I think it's a spiritual practice that that is really validated by human ability to hear or not hear criticism. 00:31:45.039 --> 00:31:55.759 I like to teach the sandwich technique of if if you've got something that's gonna be hard to hear, say something that aligns you with them first. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:58.480 I appreciate how you do this. 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:04.079 I'm concerned, and then the third step is something positive. 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:08.400 I think we can work together on this because you have the ability to do conference. 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:09.680 Yeah. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:18.880 So I think that's what it opens our heart, yeah, it it keeps us from going like this to begin with. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:23.839 So we're connected, we hear what we don't want to hear, and then we connect again. 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:24.400 Yeah. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:39.039 You mean Brene Brown offers this way of doing it that sort of says, here's this gift I see in you, and here's this challenge that that gift is expressing, and let's think of ways you could use that gift to overcome that same challenge. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:40.400 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:43.519 That used to help me as a principal when I had lesson plans. 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:43.839 Yes. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:55.119 When I was going through people's, I mean, I'd say, let's talk, you know, or I'll be it in your class, you're off time, let's do something together so that we can talk it out more. 00:32:55.279 --> 00:33:03.839 And that kept the staff kind of more co- you know, together and more connected to me, uh, I hoped. 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:11.440 And this is why I would rather do things myself than work in a group. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:13.200 I'm just gonna let you know. 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:16.640 Because I trust my own work ethic and I don't trust anybody else's. 00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:17.599 Sorry. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:21.680 So there we are, and we all have areas we get to grow into, you know? 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:27.119 Because when we don't trust the work ethic of others, we create something that's not sustainable without ourselves. 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:28.960 And that's no good, right? 00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:37.839 I mean, we end up becoming piepers in ministry or in life, and there's certain things I don't need other people to help me in, like how to build my kitchen cabinets that can die with me. 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.720 But when it comes to ministry, that's not great. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:44.400 So how it is that we get there is tough. 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:45.920 It's really, really tough. 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:59.359 And particularly in church where there are structures, and I hope this is okay to say because church is not just a business, even though we sometimes run business like, we are a mission and ministry, school is like that. 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:04.000 There are many people you know in your lives that you might employ that are like that. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:05.920 So I'll just give you an example. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:13.199 If I know somebody is under financial duress and I'm not happy with their performance, it's much harder for me to dismiss them. 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:14.960 As a church. 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:21.440 If somebody worships at my church and they also work here, I have to treat them differently than if they don't. 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:23.519 I hope that makes sense. 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:28.400 Sometimes we say the blowback's worth it because this is so not good. 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:30.239 I've done that once. 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:32.159 It was really unpleasant. 00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:35.760 Really unpleasant, if you know what mine is saying. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:42.000 Even though I'm going to tell you it was the right decision, people didn't think about the rightness, they thought about the relationship. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:44.320 And this is something we we struggle with. 00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:52.079 Um Thanksgiving is helpful, but but um life is still tough. 00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:53.679 I hope that's okay to say. 00:34:54.719 --> 00:35:02.320 Sometimes I'm not super satisfied with my house cleaner, but I know if I change house cleaners, I uh we'll have to start over. 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:05.920 And she shows up, so I appreciate that. 00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:06.400