Eye in the sky vs. the Hidden Agenda (Luke 12)

An Irish writer described a vivid childhood fear. Suppose inappropriate thoughts were visibly displayed in a balloon over her head? Perhaps, she admitted, her fondness for American comic books created that nightmare! The words of İsa brought this to mind:

Luk 12:1 O sırada halktan binlerce kişi birbirlerini ezercesine toplanmıştı. İsa önce kendi öğrencilerine şunları söylemeye başladı: "Ferisiler'in mayasından -yani, ikiyüzlülükten- kaçının.
Luk 12:2 Örtülü olup da açığa çıkarılmayacak, gizli olup da bilinmeyecek hiçbir şey yoktur.
Luk 12:3 Bunun için karanlıkta söylediğiniz her söz gün ışığında duyulacak, kapalı kapılar ardında kulağa fısıldadıklarınız damlardan duyurulacaktır.
Luk 12:4 "Siz dostlarıma söylüyorum, bedeni öldüren, ama ondan sonra başka bir şey yapamayanlardan korkmayın.
Luk 12:5 Kimden korkmanız gerektiğini size açıklayayım: Kişiyi öldürdükten sonra cehenneme atma yetkisine sahip olan Tanrı'dan korkun. Evet, size söylüyorum, O'ndan korkun.
Luk 12:6 Beş serçe iki meteliğe satılmıyor mu? Ama bunlardan bir teki bile Tanrı katında unutulmuş değildir.
Luk 12:7 Nitekim başınızdaki bütün saçlar bile sayılıdır. Korkmayın, siz birçok serçeden daha değerlisiniz.
Luk 12:8 "Size şunu söyleyeyim, insanların önünde beni açıkça kabul eden herkesi, İnsanoğlu* da Tanrı'nın melekleri önünde açıkça kabul edecek.
Luk 12:9 Ama kim beni insanlar önünde inkâr ederse, kendisi de Tanrı'nın melekleri önünde inkâr edilecek.

And, a few words:

• ikiyüzlülük -- hypocrisy. iki -- two. yüzlü -- faced. lük -- ness.
• kapmak -- to close. kapalı -- closed.
• kapı -- door. kapılar -- doors.
  

Even when the hypocrites are in power, the righteous need not fear. A fortuitous tornado will open the trunk of a car in a junkyard, revealing the missing records of the Rose Law Firm. Time Magazine may spike[1] a story that is unflattering to their fair-haired boy, but an upstart internet journalist will make his reputation by exposing sexual harassment in the workplace at the highest levels.

It's also bad policy to conceal good news. The Creator has broken into the world to set things right. Nothing is the same. The powers of evil are backing away from the fumigating disinfectant of light and, despite frequent setbacks, the world is becoming a better place.

It might be scary to live under the benevolent gaze of a Heaven that knows everything, including the price of sparrows, and the number of hairs on our head. However, this God is good, loves us, and has our eternal happiness at heart. The bad guys can bluff, bluster, and posture. Hey, they can even kill our bodies now and then. Big deal. The God we serve has taken steps to secure eternal bliss for His own.

____________

[1] To "spike" a story means to withhold it from publication. Old-time newspaper editors had a spike mounted on their desks to hold papers that did not need further attention. The Spike is also a novel (with a few steamy scenes) by Arnaud de Borchgrave that describes the collusion between American journalists and the enemies of our country across decades and generations.

Let's hear it for chutzpah ! (Luke 11)

English, a wag once said, does not "borrow" words from other languages. Rather, English follows other languages into dark alleys, beats them up, and forcibly takes the words it wants. America is a nation of immigrants, and every major immigrant group has enriched our common culture with its cuisine and its vocabulary.[1] A century ago, quite a few Jewish folks got tired of the pogroms[2] in Russia and took steerage[3] passage to these shores.[4]

One of the things the Jewish folks brought with them, in addition to a formidable work ethic, was Yiddish -- an energetic German dialect written with Hebrew characters. As Jewish folks rose to prominence in a number of fields, including entertainment, was a number of words that have passed into vernacular English. Many words that begin with sch- were originally Yiddish.

Then, there's today's word, chutzpah. The standard definition goes like this: "If a man is on trial for murdering his parents, and asks the judge for leniency because he is an orphan, that's chutzpah!"

Which brings us to today's İncil selection:

Luk 11:5-7 Sonra şöyle dedi: "Sizlerden birinin bir arkadaşı olur da gece yarısı ona gidip, 'Arkadaş, bana üç ekmek ödünç ver. Bir arkadaşım yoldan geldi, önüne koyacak bir şeyim yok' derse, öbürü içerden, 'Beni rahatsız etme! Kapı kilitli, çocuklarım da yanımda yatıyor. Kalkıp sana bir şey veremem' der mi hiç?
Luk 11:8 Size şunu söyleyeyim, arkadaşlık gereği kalkıp ona istediğini vermese bile, adamın yüzsüzlüğünden ötürü kalkar, ihtiyacı neyse ona verir.
Luk 11:9 "Ben size şunu söyleyeyim: Dileyin, size verilecek; arayın, bulacaksınız; kapıyı çalın, size açılacaktır.
Luk 11:10 Çünkü her dileyen alır, arayan bulur, kapı çalana açılır.
Luk 11:11 "Aranızda hangi baba, ekmek isteyen oğluna taş verir? Ya da balık isterse balık yerine yılan verir?
Luk 11:12 Ya da yumurta isterse ona akrep verir?
Luk 11:13 Sizler kötü yürekli olduğunuz halde çocuklarınıza güzel armağanlar vermeyi biliyorsanız, gökteki Baba'nın, kendisinden dileyenlere Kutsal Ruh'u vereceği çok daha kesin değil mi?"

And that brings us to today's Turkish word:

• yüzsüz -- chutzpah. Impudence. Shamelessness.
  

Grace means divine mercy to those who don't deserve it. Most of the time, we create most of our problems for ourselves. If we could only pray for mercy when we deserved it, we'd never pray.

As this selection shows, our Creator loves to hear from us, and to respond to us. Sometimes, though, He expects us to show a measure of persistence. Faith. And sheer chutzpah.

May your prayers be aggressive, bold, blessed, and answered, today!

__________

[1] Well, the folks who were already here added place names to our vocabulary.

[2] pogrom is one of the very few Russian words that has passed unchanged into English.

[3] That's where the ship gives you a place to sit for the trip, and you bring your own food.

[4] One Jewish American poet, Emma Lazarus, wrote the poem The New Collosus that is found on the tablet at Statue of Liberty:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

a man of peace (Luke 10)

Round one went well. The Twelve went out, worked miracles, and preached God's Kingdom. So Luke reports another cycle of itinerant evangelism, this time with 70 messengers. This number is, in Biblical terms, another word picture. Genesis 11 lists 70 distinct nations that developed after the dispersion at the Tower of Babel. SO our Lord is telling us, by this second round, that His message was intended for Israel first, and then for the whole world.

Missionary is a foul word in many societies. An agent of an alien ideology is at the door, determined to destroy our families and our culture. During the 19th century, the American obsession with polygamy led to the warning cry heard in many African villages: "The destroyers of families have come." Benjamin Fortna's incredible book The Imperial Classroom discusses how a hard-pressed Ottoman Empire somehow found the will, and the resources, to build 10,000 modern schools almost overnight. The rulers were threatened by restive people groups around the edges, unhappy minorities within, commercial competition from the new global environment, and the missionary schools. These institutions, lavishly funded from abroad, transparently sought to undermine the Islamic faith and culture of the people.

On the one hand, Christians view God's Kingdom as a new reality, a new culture, supernaturally lowered from the heavens. Yet so often the "new culture" we have brought to "the benighted heathen" has been western culture that confuses our idiomatic (and sometimes idiotic) preferences with God's eternal standards. Yes, American missionaries helped the Hawaiian people to become literate, and mostly Christian, within a few decades. They also insisted that the tropical ladies wear "mother hubbards," neck-to-ankle long-sleeved dresses.

Today's "Christian exemplars," like Baptist singer Brittany Spears, go to strip joints to refine their stage gyrations.

Bruce Olsen refused to buy into the "witch doctor vs. Enlightened Missionary" paradigm. The traditional healers, he saw, were "the backbone of tribal morality." During a pinkeye epidemic in his adopted tribe, he noted how the shaman worked herself to exhaustion seeking to help her people, calling out to heaven for healing. Olsen infected himself, then asked the witch doctor to chant for his healing -- and anoint his eye with tetracycline. He honored her position in the tribe, enhanced her effectiveness, and eventually saw the entire tribe embrace the gospel in its own way.

Perhaps, this chapter suggests the best way to persuade people to give thought to the Creator's "graphic user interface" with the created order, İsa. The One through whom we see the Almighty's character and personality, and the One in whose name we lay hold on the eternal order. When you want to bring the good news of salvation to a new community, find a "man of peace."

Luk 10:5 Hangi eve girerseniz, önce, 'Bu eve esenlik olsun!' deyin.
Luk 10:6 Orada esenliksever biri varsa, dilediğiniz esenlik onun üzerinde kalacak; yoksa, size dönecektir.
Luk 10:7 Girdiğiniz evde kalın, size ne verirlerse onu yiyip için. Çünkü işçi ücretini hak eder. Evden eve taşınmayın.

And, a few words:

• Hangi eve girerseniz, önce, -- Whichever house you go into, first,
  
• 'Bu eve esenlik olsun!' deyin -- 'This house peace be upon!' say.
  

Every community has influential people already in place. People who are known for their nobility and hospitality. Win their trust, and the whole village will listen. Ignore them, and the people will ignore you (except for a handful of malcontents, rejects, and misfits).

Bruce Olsen's tribe discarded the seven-day week as irrelevant to their Amazonian climate. Frankly, I see no reason why other cultures would need to embrace such things as Christmas and Easter, holidays that we confiscated from pre-existing pagan orders. Someday, I would love to observe Ramazan with people who share my delight in İsa.

"A man has got to know his limits ... " (Luke 9)

"RJR, you are like a man who sees a freight train heading for a cliff. And you don't know the first thing about freight trains. You just know it's going in the wrong direction, and you are determined to jump on board and turn it around!"

A wise friend gave me this perspective decades ago, when I was determined to "reform" an American denomination by pursuing ordination therein.

As another of Luke's lengthy chapters winds down, we see the Lord inviting people to follow Him, and the responses of the recruits:

Luk 9:59 Bir başkasına, "Ardımdan gel" dedi. Adam ise, "İzin ver, önce gidip babamı gömeyim" dedi.
Luk 9:60 İsa ona şöyle dedi: "Bırak ölüleri, kendi ölülerini kendileri gömsün. Sen gidip Tanrı'nın Egemenliği'ni duyur."

And, a few words:

• önce -- First
  
• gitmek -- to go
  
• babamı -- my father (direct object)
  
• gömek -- bury

The context makes it plain that the called one's father was still alive and kicking. The guy was willing to follow Jesus, after making sure that his own nest was feathered. There was some matter of business that needed attending to, first.

To which Jesus replied, "Let the dead bury their own dead, and go, preach the Kingdom of God." Or, as my beloved mentor R. J. Rushdoony paraphrased it, "Let the dead bury the dead. The living have work to do."

American humorist Al Capp caricatured the campus radicals of the 60's, in his L'i'l Abner comic strip, as Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything (S.W.I.N.E.) . It's easy to get worked up concerning tempting targets. Sanity, however, sometimes requires us to walk away from other people's problems, and mind our own business as well as we can.

the power of small things (Luke 9)

OK, so I like science fiction, that epitome of juvenile boy's literature! Michael Flynn, a Catholic novelist in this genre, imagined aliens landing in a medieval German monastery, and the theological discussions that ensued. At one point, the wise abbot tells one of his people, "Yes, this is a small thing. But faithfulness in small things is a great thing." (Eifelheim)

This is wholesome advice to those of us who wrestle with grandiose notions of self. We get tempted to look for that perfect pitch that we can slam out of the ballpark, and fail to take advantage of the base hits that come our way.[1] Most progress, it turns out, depends on nibbling at things around the edges. Doing something every day.

Let's look at today's scripture:

Luk 9:12 Günbatımına doğru Onikiler gelip O'na, "Halkı salıver de çevredeki köylere ve çiftliklere gidip kendilerine barınak ve yiyecek bulsunlar. Çünkü ıssız bir yerdeyiz" dediler.
Luk 9:13 İsa, "Onlara siz yiyecek verin" dedi. "Beş ekmekle iki balıktan başka bir şeyimiz yok" dediler. "Yoksa bunca halk için yiyecek almaya biz mi gidelim?"
Luk 9:14 Orada yaklaşık beş bin erkek vardı. İsa öğrencilerine, "Halkı yaklaşık ellişer kişilik kümeler halinde yere oturtun" dedi.
Luk 9:15 Öğrenciler öyle yapıp herkesi yere oturttular.
Luk 9:16 İsa, beş ekmekle iki balığı aldı, gözlerini göğe kaldırarak şükretti; sonra bunları böldü ve halka dağıtmaları için öğrencilerine verdi.
Luk 9:17 Herkes yiyip doydu. Artakalan parçalardan on iki sepet dolusu toplandı.

Let's look at vs. 13:

• Beş ekmekle -- with the five loaves, (and)
• iki balıktan -- apart from the two fishes
• başka -- other than
• bir şeyimiz -- one thing of ours
• yok -- there is not.
  

Ah, I can see all of my American friends running off to learn Turkish now, and my Turkish friends eagerly reading İncil! After all, both are so fascinating!

That which looks so little, so futile, can make all the difference in the world when God's favor rests upon it.

Have a great day, friends!


__________

[1] I need to use baseball metaphors every now and then to demonstrate my American heritage -- even though I hate the game, and was usually the last one chosen!

Dikkat edin! (watch out! Luke 8)

Kids may not have been brighter a century ago, but they sure learned a lot more. At least, this is the American experience. It's a matter of character. Maturity. The self-discipline it takes to apply focused attention to the task at hand, despite a plethora of distractions.

Our generation has seen the explosion of "ADD" -- attention deficit disorder. There are many theories. Flouride in the water? Or has television trained our brains to only function in burst mode, and only as long as a jiggling shifting image can hold our attention hostage? Or, have other factors trained us to cope with boredom by cutting lose our mental moorings, and letting our minds wander?[1]

Yet what makes us think we have cornered the market on[2] distractability? One of the fascinations of sacred texts is -- you can read them hundreds of times, and still see fresh insights embedded in the familiar words.

For example, we can read the Parable of the Sower as an essay on discractability, on ADD.

Luk 8:4, 5 Büyük bir kalabalığın toplandığı, insanların her kentten kendisine akın akın geldiği bir sırada İsa şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Ekincinin biri tohum ekmeye çıktı. Ektiği tohumlardan kimi yol kenarına düştü, ayak altında çiğnenip gökteki kuşlara yem oldu.
Luk 8:6 Kimi kayalık yere düştü, filizlenince susuzluktan kuruyup gitti.
Luk 8:7 Kimi, dikenler arasına düştü. Filizlerle birlikte büyüyen dikenler filizleri boğdu.
Luk 8:8 Kimi ise iyi toprağa düştü, büyüyünce yüz kat ürün verdi." Bunları söyledikten sonra, "İşitecek kulağı olan işitsin!" diye seslendi.

A few words:

• büyük -- big
• kalabalık -- crowd
• akın -- raid. Rush upon. Run up to. Double the word to instensify the meaning. İsa was getting mobbed!
  

Bottom line: if you have ears, you had better listen! Or perhaps the Teacher was saying, "I'm wasting my time with 75% of you out there!"

We are certainly being told to pay attention what God wants us to hear. You know, it would be the tragedy of a lifetime if God was to whisper the next step towards achieving our dearest and most cherished dreams, and we missed the point. Failed to do what was required. Distracted by the shallowness of our own thinking, the rigidity of our preconceived notions, or the multitude of distractions swarming around us. But, there's hope.

Luk 8:18 Bunun için, nasıl dinlediğinize dikkat edin. Kimde varsa, ona daha çok verilecek. Ama kimde yoksa, kendisinde var sandığı bile elinden alınacak."

We can fine-tune our hearing, by careful attention to it. Once we "get it," once we get the point of life,[3] we can get feedback loops working for us. The better we listen, the better our lives work, and the more we heed that which our Creator intends for us to hear. The process of reprogramming our thinking, of renewing our minds, is a life-long project. But the payoff is wonderful in this life, and the next.
____

[1] "Don't let your mind wander. It's too small to be out on its own!"

[2] American idiom. To "corner the market" means to acquire a monopoly on some good or service.

[3] God is God, I am not, and His purposes are the supreme reason for my life.

Reaction shots (Luke 7)

Good video journalism makes an effort to capture "reaction shots," footage of observers to some newsworthy event or utterance. President Kennedy takes a round to the head -- and suddenly, the secret service agents in the car behind are staring, aghast, at one of their own number. An agent holding an automatic rifle that fires a small-caliber, high-velocity round that would shatter into fragments after penetrating a skull. Not the large-caliber, jacketed rounds that inflicted the other injuries on the targeted dignitaries. Rounds with a wider diameter than the wound in the back of the president's head.

You know, we might could[1] learn a few things by re-examining reaction shots.

In today's story, the sideshow was the main event.

Luk 7:36 Ferisiler'den biri İsa'yı yemeğe çağırdı. O da Ferisi'nin evine gidip sofraya oturdu.
Luk 7:37,38 O sırada, kentte günahkâr olarak tanınan bir kadın, İsa'nın, Ferisi'nin evinde yemek yediğini öğrenince kaymaktaşından bir kap içinde güzel kokulu yağ getirdi. İsa'nın arkasında, ayaklarının dibinde durup ağlayarak, gözyaşlarıyla O'nun ayaklarını ıslatmaya başladı. Saçlarıyla ayaklarını sildi, öptü ve yağı üzerlerine sürdü.
Luk 7:39 İsa'yı evine çağırmış olan Ferisi bunu görünce kendi kendine, "Bu adam peygamber olsaydı, kendisine dokunan bu kadının kim ve ne tür bir kadın olduğunu, günahkâr biri olduğunu anlardı" dedi.
Luk 7:40 Bunun üzerine İsa Ferisi'ye, "Simun" dedi, "Sana bir söyleyeceğim var." O da, "Buyur, öğretmenim" dedi.
Luk 7:41 "Tefeciye borçlu iki kişi vardı. Biri beş yüz, öbürü de elli dinar borçluydu.
Luk 7:42 Borçlarını ödeyecek güçte olmadıklarından, tefeci her ikisinin de borcunu bağışladı. Buna göre, hangisi onu çok sever?"
Luk 7:43 Simun, "Sanırım, kendisine daha çok bağışlanan" diye yanıtladı. İsa ona, "Doğru söyledin" dedi.
Luk 7:44 Sonra kadına bakarak Simun'a şunları söyledi: "Bu kadını görüyor musun? Ben senin evine geldim, ayaklarım için bana su vermedin. Bu kadın ise ayaklarımı gözyaşlarıyla ıslatıp saçlarıyla sildi.
Luk 7:45 Sen beni öpmedin, ama bu kadın eve girdiğimden beri ayaklarımı öpüp duruyor.
Luk 7:46 Sen başıma zeytinyağı sürmedin, ama bu kadın ayaklarıma güzel kokulu yağ sürdü.
Luk 7:47 Bu nedenle sana şunu söyleyeyim, kendisinin çok olan günahları bağışlanmıştır. Çok sevgi göstermesinin nedeni budur. Oysa kendisine az bağışlanan, az sever."
Luk 7:48 Sonra kadına, "Günahların bağışlandı" dedi.
Luk 7:49 İsa'yla birlikte sofrada oturanlar kendi aralarında, "Kim bu adam? Günahları bile bağışlıyor!" şeklinde konuşmaya başladılar.
Luk 7:50 İsa ise kadına, "İmanın seni kurtardı, esenlikle git" dedi.

We'll skip the vocabulary lessons, today, and try to move right along.

A society reporter would note how a local prominent citizen had invited the latest novelty act over for dinner. Sophisticated readers would chuckle over the etiquette gaffs, the faux pas,[2] of the rustic entertainer.

Yet, the focus of Luke's narrative is on the one person who did understand what Jesus represented -- the opportunity for a new start in life. This is really important to some people, to those who have endured the sneers of their neighbors, and their own shame. To those who find in forgiveness a new lease on life, a new life.

______________

[1] "might could" juxtaposes two subjunctive words for humorous effect, for exaggeration. It's not good standard English.

[2] Pronounced "foe paw" -- French for "false step." The French aristocracy of the 1770s was obsessed with skill at dancing the intricate minuet. History demonstrates that their priorities were askew!

The view from the edge (Luke 7)

One communication theory suggests that people who are outside of the ruling class of a society have a better grasp on what's actually going on. After all, they have to navigate their own strata of society, as well as knowing how to work around "the powers that be." In the United States, people of color often use an impenetrable, dialect English to conceal their conversations from white supervisors in the room. As Bob Dylan sang in his memorable portrait of degradation Like A Rolling Stone,

You never turned around to see the frowns on the jugglers and the clowns
When they all come down and did tricks for you
You never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you.

Those who think they run the world are being watched by those whose lives they presume to manage. A poignant Turkish proverb, İt ürür, kervan yürür, talks about the futility of complaining -- the dogs can bark, but the caravan will keep moving right along.

Feodor Dostoevsky sought to warn his people about the contagion of demonic notions infiltrating his culture from envied, emulated, western Europe. In vain. The Marxism cooked up by a German parasite in a British library plunged Russia and her neighbors into a 70-year totalitarian nightmare. These same ideas are acting like a slow poison in Europe. When The State becomes both Parent (provider) and Child (legitimate heir of all accumulated wealth), the need for real parents and children is less obvious. None of the major western European nations are replacing themselves.

Luke, author of the gospel that bears his name, the Acts of the Apostles, and (possibly) The Epistle to the Hebrews, had that outsider's perspective. He associated closely with Paul, and was apparently a native of Troas. It is in this city that the voice of the narration changes from "he" or "they" to "we." Luke's gospel gives more attention than the others to people on the fringes. To women. To the occupying Roman soldiers. Consider today's reading:

Luk 7:2 Orada bir yüzbaşının çok değer verdiği kölesi ölüm döşeğinde hasta yatıyordu.
Luk 7:3 İsa'yla ilgili haberleri duyan yüzbaşı, gelip kölesini iyileştirmesini rica etmek üzere O'na Yahudiler'in bazı ileri gelenlerini gönderdi.
Luk 7:4 Bunlar İsa'nın yanına gelince içten bir yalvarışla O'na şöyle dediler: "Bu adam senin yardımına layıktır.
Luk 7:5 Çünkü ulusumuzu seviyor. Havramızı yaptıran da kendisidir."
Luk 7:6 İsa onlarla birlikte yola çıktı. Eve yaklaştığı sırada, yüzbaşı bazı dostlarını yollayıp O'na şu haberi gönderdi: "Ya Rab, zahmet etme; evime girmene layık değilim.
Luk 7:7 Bu yüzden yanına gelmeye de kendimi layık görmedim. Sen yeter ki bir söz söyle, uşağım iyileşir.
Luk 7:8 Ben de buyruk altında bir görevliyim, benim de buyruğumda askerlerim var. Birine, 'Git' derim, gider; ötekine, 'Gel' derim, gelir; köleme, 'Şunu yap' derim, yapar."
Luk 7:9 Bu sözleri duyan İsa yüzbaşıya hayran kaldı. Ardından gelen kalabalığa dönerek, "Size şunu söyleyeyim" dedi, "İsrail'de bile böyle iman görmedim."

As Luke tells the story, the "ruler of a hundred" (yüzbaşı) sent a delegation of Jewish elders to make his request. They told Jesus, Bu adam senin yardımına layıktır. Çünkü ulusumuzu seviyor. Havramızı yaptıran da kendisidir. Let's look at a few of the words:

• Bu adam -- This man
  
• senin yardımına -- of your help
  
• layıktır -- worthy is.
  
• Çünkü ulusumuzu -- because our nation
  
• seviyor -- he loves.
  
• Havramızı -- Our synagogue
  
• yaptıran -- he built
  
• kendisidir -- at his own expense.
  

An occupying soldier saw how the God of Israel, the true God, vastly surpassed the pagan idols he'd been raised in. His reverence for God showed itself in a love for the people of Israel, an affection that was returned.

When Jesus approached this officer's home, he sent out another message: Ya Rab, zahmet etme; evime girmene layık değilim. Let's look at the words:

• zahmet etme -- don't trouble yourself
  
• evime -- my house
  
• girmene -- to enter
  
• layık -- worthy
  
• değilim -- I am not.
  

Unlike so many in Israel, particularly the rulers of this nation, the Roman officer recognized the authority of Jesus, and appealed to the chain of command. And Jesus was surprised, and said to those around him, Size şunu söyleyeyim, İsrail'de bile böyle iman görmedim.

Cultural transformations were hastening towards Israel -- and when the dust settled, God's purposes would outlive Israel, and be carried forward by many like this one-time outsider. The Jews settled into a petulant sulk that has lasted nearly 2,000 years, while the Messiah, and the Message, they rejected was embraced eagerly by the rest of the world.

Sometimes, the outsiders inherit, and have the last laugh.

Counterculture (Luke 6)

OK, what does it take to make you hop, skip, and jump with wild enthusiasm?

How about -- being insulted? Let's reverse our usual order, and look at a few words, first, today:

• zıplamak -- well, my new favorite online dictionary provides these meanings: bounce, bound, cavort, leap, gambol, etc. Definitely an action verb! And a lively one at that. The English word "zip" has similar connotations of zesty liveliness, and provides a convenient artificial cognate for those of us who need such memory hooks!
• coşku-- well, my new dictionary will see[1] my paper dictionary's enthusiasm, and raise it with exuberance, vigor, ebullience, fervor, kick, ecstasy, effervescence, etc.
  

The Greek verb σκιρτήσατε is translated in the KJV as "leap for joy." Well, this is a command that requires a context! Let's take a look at Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount:

Luk 6:22 İnsanoğlu'na bağlılığınız yüzünden İnsanlar sizden nefret ettikleri, Sizi toplum dışı edip aşağıladıkları Ve adınızı kötüleyip sizi reddettikleri zaman Ne mutlu size!
Luk 6:23 O gün sevinin, coşkuyla zıplayın! Çünkü gökteki ödülünüz büyüktür. Nitekim onların ataları da Peygamberlere böyle davrandılar.

One of the more evil influences on American popular culture, John Dewey, rejected Christianity because he considered it "divisive." Like Muslims, Christians assume that the world is divided between people who are on the road to eternal bliss, and the servants of İblis who are heading in the other direction.

I'm reading Orhan Pamuk's book Other Colors. This great Turkish novelist feels a kindred spirit with the Russian writers of the 19th century. In both cases, cultures on the fringe of Europe yearned for full inclusion. Some of the writers and thinkers got tired of the effort, and decided to celebrate their own culture to the fullest. Dostoyevsky portrayed the European "enlightenment" influences as demonic.

In like manner, the American "countercultures" of the late 60s embraced the rejection of the ruling establishment as a badge of honor. In the words of American epigramist Yogi Berra, "I wouldn't want to belong to a club that would have me for a member!"

In this chapter, Jesus tells his followers to disdain the approval of the ruling elites. You're not going to get it anyhow, and they're on the wrong track. Expect the schism, rejoice in it, and overcome by framing your responses in expansive, generous, and kindly terms.

__________

[1] OK -- a poker metaphor. One player bets a certain amount. Another agrees to equal ("see") that bet, and increase ("raise") it.

Gentlemen, be seated. (Luke 5)

In many cultures, teachers sit when addressing their audiences. For example, in the synagogues of our Lord's day, everyone would stand to hear the day's reading from the sacred scroll. Then, the teacher would sit down, and begin to apply the scripture. The great Native American leader Sitting Bull was a "wise teacher." The buffalo bull was the emblem of wisdom, and teachers sat when giving instruction.

Luk 5:3 İki tekneden Simun'a ait olanına binen İsa, ona kıyıdan biraz açılmasını rica etti. Sonra oturdu, teknenin içinden halka öğretmeye devam etti.

And a few words:

• binmek -- to mount (a horse, camel, etc.); to get in (a car); to get on (a bicycle, motorcycle, etc.); to board (a ship, train, airplane); to get on (a mobile thing such as a seesaw, swing, etc.); (for an animal) to enter (a truck, trailer, etc.)
• inmek -- the opposite of binmek.
  
• oturmak -- sit, seat, reside
  
• tekne -- boat.
• teknenin içinden -- from the boat's inside
• halka -- to the people
• öğretmeye devam etti -- he a teaching gave
  

Jesus got into the boat, then sat down to teach.

American preachers are noteworthy for lively pulpit mannerisms. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a number of well-wishers from the States flocked to the former Soviet republics with a message of new hope. And the local Orthodox priests began to adopt their peripatetic[1] style of oration.

Yes, an exciting message can make it hard to keep one's seat. Still, I wonder if some of the reverence due God's word and its proclamation is lost when preachers act like cheerleaders.

And, I'd like to ask my Turkish readers -- do your imams sit, walk, or stand, when they preach? Thanks!

_________

[1] from the Greek -- means "walking around."

Local Boy Breaks Bad (Luke 4)

Since I just returned from a family vacation at one of the North Carolina barrier islands, today's portion has added poignancy. The people you most wish to hear, and appreciate, your perspective on those things that are most important to you may be the hardest to persuade. In fact, Jesus didn't even try.

Luk 4:23 İsa onlara şöyle dedi: "Kuşkusuz bana şu deyimi hatırlatacaksınız: 'Ey hekim, önce kendini iyileştir! Kefarnahum'da yaptıklarını duyduk. Aynısını burada, kendi memleketinde de yap.'"
Luk 4:24 "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim" diye devam etti İsa, "Hiçbir peygamber kendi memleketinde kabul görmez.
Luk 4:25 Yine size gerçeği söyleyeyim, gökyüzünün üç yıl altı ay kapalı kaldığı, bütün ülkede korkunç bir kıtlığın baş gösterdiği İlyas zamanında İsrail'de çok sayıda dul kadın vardı.
Luk 4:26 İlyas bunlardan hiçbirine gönderilmedi; yalnız Sayda bölgesinin Sarefat Kenti'nde bulunan dul bir kadına gönderildi.
Luk 4:27 Peygamber Elişa'nın zamanında İsrail'de çok sayıda cüzamlı* vardı. Bunlardan hiçbiri iyileştirilmedi; yalnız Suriyeli Naaman iyileştirildi."
Luk 4:28 Havradakiler bu sözleri duyunca öfkeden kudurdular.
Luk 4:29 Ayağa kalkıp İsa'yı kentin dışına kovdular. O'nu uçurumdan aşağı atmak için kentin kurulduğu tepenin yamacına götürdüler.
Luk 4:30 Ama İsa onların arasından geçerek oradan uzaklaştı.

And, a few words of interest:

• Kuşkusuz -- without a doubt! Kuşku -- doubt. -suz -- without.
  
• bana -- to me
  
• şu deyimi -- this to say
  
• hatırlatacaksınız -- you are preparing

OK, boy. So you can impress those rubes over at Caphernaum. But we know you better. Let's see what you can do here!

Jesus refused to play. Our Lord knew his audience, and had no interest in catering to their whims. It is impossible to argue an unbeliever into faith, since unbelief is an ethical matter at heart, immune to facts, immune to evidence. People refuse to believe because, as one of Darwin's supporters frankly admitted, faith in a meaningful, created universe puts limits on one's sexual freedom. John Milton's Satan argues that it is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven. A disturbing God with an agenda of His own can wreak havoc[1] with our own plans and schemes.

_______________

[1] For my Turkish friends -- "wreak" is a very strange English verb usually combined with an unpleasant noun, such as havoc or vengeance. It's pronounced just like "wreck," and you will often seen the two verbs confused, even by native English speakers.

(parenthetically, English words beginning with wr- usually refer to some kind of twisting: wrist, wrestle, wreck ...)

to be continued ... Luke 1

In one of the better Simpsons episodes, Homer suspects that he may have only 24 hours to live. He fills the day meeting overdue obligations to family and friends, then settles down for the night to listen to the Bible on cassette tape. The Bible as narrated by Larry King, fabled talk-show host, born Larry Koenig, Jewish. As the sun rise, we hear Larry reading the last verse of the last book of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi ... "lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse. The end. That's all their is!"

Actually, that's not all there is. In Luke Chapter 1, an angel delivers a message to a priest, that takes up where Malachi ended. Zecharia is promised a son will ... well, let's see how it looks in Turkish:

Luk 1:10 Buhur yakma saatinde bütün halk topluluğu dışarıda dua ediyordu.
Luk 1:11 Bu sırada, Rab'bin bir meleği buhur sunağının sağında durup Zekeriya'ya göründü.
Luk 1:12 Zekeriya onu görünce şaşırdı, korkuya kapıldı.
Luk 1:13 Melek, "Korkma, Zekeriya" dedi, "Duan kabul edildi. Karın Elizabet sana bir oğul doğuracak, adını Yahya koyacaksın.
Luk 1:14 Sevinip coşacaksın. Birçokları da onun doğumuna sevinecek.
Luk 1:15 O, Rab'bin gözünde büyük olacak. Hiç şarap ve içki içmeyecek; daha annesinin rahmindeyken Kutsal Ruh'la dolacak.
Luk 1:16 İsrailoğulları'ndan birçoğunu, Tanrıları Rab'be döndürecek.
Luk 1:17 Babaların yüreklerini çocuklarına döndürmek, söz dinlemeyenleri doğru kişilerin anlayışına yöneltmek ve Rab için hazırlanmış bir halk yetiştirmek üzere, İlyas'ın ruhu ve gücüyle Rab'bin önünden gidecektir."

As the highlighted phrase indicates, this miraculous lad will turn the hearts of the father to their children, and fools to the words of the wise, in order to prepare a people ready for the Messiah.

I'm going to be away from my computer for the next few days, but look forward to updating this blog as soon as I get back.

Have a great week!

Who will roll away the stone? (Mark 16)

OK, so I can paste big chunks of text in various languages into my blog, thanks to the good folks at e-sword.net. Perhaps, though, it's time to return to the original spirit of this blog, and take apart a single Turkish sentence in order to savor its linguistic delights.

Mar 16:3 Aralarında, "Mezarın girişindeki taşı bizim için kim yana yuvarlayacak?" diye konuşuyorlardı.

And, a word list:

• Aralarında -- Among themselves. ara -- directs the reader's attention to the surroundings. lar -- the plural suffix. ında -- the "while" (at the time of) suffix.
  
• Mezarın girişindeki -- when we get to the tomb. Mezar -- tomb. Girmek -- to go to. To enter.
  
• taşı -- rock, with direct object suffix
  
• bizim için -- for us. için is one of those fascinating postpositions, words placed directly after the word they affect, even as English prepositions go ahead of such words.
  
• kim -- who? Unlike other languages I could name, such as French, Turkish does not have throwaway syllables. Here we have the central point of the conversation. Who can, or is willing to, to do something that these speakers urgently want done?
  
• yana -- to the side. "yan" is a strange little word that is never, to my knowledge, found on its own, but only in combined or inflected forms.
  
• yuvarlayacak -- future tense, third person singular, to roll.
  
• diye -- speaking (Turkish readers are invited to correct me at any point when I miss the point!)
  
• konuşuyorlardı -- they were saying to one another. konuşmak -- to converse. -uyor -- continuous action indicator. -lar- -- plural indicator. -dı -- past definite tense indicator.
  

OK, so the Turks are a likeable people, given my small sample size, and from what others say. And Turkish is a fascinating language that snaps together predictable suffixes, like Lego blocks of different colors, to assemble single words and pithy phrases that carry a lot of linguistic weight. I hope this blog will encourage more readers to get to know Turks and Türkçe.

YAHUDİLER'İN KRALI (Mark 15)

Chris Sanford, a scholarly neighbor, pointed out how the events of the crucifixion echo, imitate, and perhaps parody the ritual by which a Roman emperor was installed. Pilate, the Roman governor, asks the mob about this "King of the Jews." What do they want to do with him?

Mar 15:12 Pilatus onlara tekrar seslenerek, "Öyleyse Yahudiler'in Kralı dediğiniz adamı ne yapayım?" diye sordu.
Mar 15:13 "O'nu çarmıha ger!" diye bağırdılar yine.
Mar 15:14 Pilatus onlara, "O ne kötülük yaptı ki?" dedi. Onlar ise daha yüksek sesle, "O'nu çarmıha ger!" diye bağrıştılar.
Mar 15:15 Halkı memnun etmek isteyen Pilatus, onlar için Barabba'yı salıverdi. İsa'yı ise kamçılattıktan sonra çarmıha gerilmek üzere askerlere teslim etti.

And that's what happened. As Peter explained to them a bit over 50 days later, they rejected the Lord of life, and begged for a murderer. History has proven this choice to be terribly short-sighted. As Napoleon later wrote,

I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."

Mysterious naked stranger (Mark 14)

Alfred Hitchcock, the great director, loved to play cameo roles in his own movies. Careful watchers can spot him in Lifeboat on the back of a newspaper one of the survivors is reading -- as "before and after" pictures in an advertisement for a weight-loss program!

Mar 14:50 O zaman öğrencilerinin hepsi O'nu bırakıp kaçtı.
Mar 14:51 İsa'nın ardından sadece keten beze sarınmış bir genç gidiyordu. Bu genç de yakalandı.
Mar 14:52 Ama keten bezden sıyrılıp çıplak olarak kaçtı.

A mysterious, unnamed "young man wearing a white linen robe" shows up in this account of our Lord's arrest. Since none of the other gospels include this event, the best guess is that the one who wrote the story was the one in the story. Mark was, after all, Peter's nephew.

Later on, at the trial, an enigmatic exchange takes place between Jesus and his principle accusers:

Mar 14:61 Ne var ki, İsa susmaya devam etti, hiç yanıt vermedi. Başkâhin O'na yeniden, "Yüce Olan'ın Oğlu Mesih sen misin?" diye sordu.
Mar 14:62 İsa, "Benim" dedi. "Ve sizler, İnsanoğlu'nun Kudretli Olan'ın sağında oturduğunu ve göğün bulutlarıyla geldiğini göreceksiniz."

To understand Biblical metaphors, read the Bible. Throughout the sacred text, when we read of God appearing "in/with clouds," it's a reference to God's presence made manifest by visible, and spectacular, events. Jesus was giving His accusers a "heads up" -- they might appear to have the upper hand at the moment, but they could expect, within the near future, to see God's response.

John Calvin once wrote that God punishes some sins openly and immediately, so that men will not have grounds for questioning His justice. Other sins are punished in the next life, since we do need to walk by faith, not by sight. Finally, still other sins are punished years after they are committed. On 9/11, we got to see in one hour the thing that grieves God's heart every day, the murder of 3,000 innocents. Nearly 50 million of our fellow Americans were killed before they saw the light of day -- and their blood cries out to a God who values life above "privacy." I suspect that a terrible day of reckoning lies before us, but also have confidence that God has good things in mind for these United States afterward.

Partitions (Mark 14)

The book A Man Called Intrepid tells the sad story of a female agent who parachuted into occupied France with a code book and a radio. Of course, she was soon captured and died miserably in a prison camp. What the book does not tell you is -- the entire espionage network was compromised. The Germans captured each agent soon after he or she landed, and used that agent to feed poisoned information to the Allied listeners. And the Allied listeners bought it. Even though the agents dutifully misspelled every tenth word or so, in the prearranged alert signal. And, of course, each agent sent the instructions as to where the next agent was to land.

The Germans kept the scam going for months, feeding just enough genuine intelligence back to the listeners to keep them listening. When the game was up, they broadcast a clear (uncoded) message over all channels, thanking the Allies for the pleasure of working with them, and regretting that the delightful partnership had now come to an end.

In a hostile environment, who do you trust? Who needs to know what? How can you minimize risks to yourself, and to those working with you? Suppose you already know that you have a turncoat in your circle of closest associates? How can you find a safe place to meet for a final briefing?

Mar 14:13 O da öğrencilerinden ikisini şu sözlerle önden gönderdi: "Kente gidin, orada su testisi taşıyan bir adam çıkacak karşınıza. Onu izleyin.
Mar 14:14 Adamın gideceği evin sahibine şöyle deyin: 'Öğretmen, öğrencilerimle birlikte Fısıh yemeğini yiyeceğim konuk odası nerede? diye soruyor.'
Mar 14:15 Ev sahibi size üst katta döşenmiş, hazır büyük bir oda gösterecek. Orada bizim için hazırlık yapın."
Mar 14:16 Öğrenciler yola çıkıp kente gittiler. Her şeyi, İsa'nın kendilerine söylediği gibi buldular ve Fısıh yemeği için hazırlık yaptılar.
Mar 14:17 Akşam olunca İsa Onikiler'le* birlikte geldi.
Mar 14:18 Sofraya oturmuş yemek yerlerken İsa, "Size doğrusunu söyleyeyim" dedi, "Sizden biri, benimle yemek yiyen biri bana ihanet edecek."

Note the sequence. Jesus first, apparently, had a private conversation with a wealthy friend. We know that a number of people followed Jesus "secretly, for fear of the Jews." Nicodemus snuck in to talk with Jesus at night, for example, as reported in John 3. Joseph of Arimathea appeared from out of nowhere to care of our Lord's body after His death, providing a brand new tomb near the place of execution. This secret friend agreed to discretely cater a passover meal in a secure location, on an upper floor. They agreed on a recognition signal that would enable the next step.

As evening drew close, the disciples were still in the dark. This was an important ceremonial meal, but Jesus had not yet told them where or how they would have it. Now, Jesus picked out two (Peter was probably one of them, since so much of Mark's Gospel is seen through his eyes), and told them to look for a man carrying a water jug. Follow him.

After they were safely indoors, use a recognition phrase. "The Master says, ..."

Then return and bring the rest of the party to the designated place, where they would find all things ready.

Since Jesus Himself did not know ahead of time where the event would take place, His enemies had no way to find out, and his wealthy friend was protected.

Finally, Jesus alerted the group to His impending betrayal. Suddenly, each watched all the others, and the traitor could not find a quiet way to slip away, until the moment when Jesus specifically sent him out.

You better watch out! (Mark 13)

"A young man can never imagine that twenty pounds or twenty years could be so easily spent," said Benjamin Franklin. Today's food for thought, as the title indicates, comes from the Olivet Discourse, again.

Mar 13:33 Dikkat edin, uyanık kalın, dua edin. Çünkü o anın ne zaman geleceğini bilemezsiniz.
Mar 13:34 Bu, yolculuğa çıkan bir adamın durumuna benzer. Evinden ayrılırken kölelerine yetki ve görev verir, kapıdaki nöbetçiye de uyanık kalmasını buyurur.
Mar 13:35 Siz de uyanık kalın. Çünkü ev sahibi ne zaman gelecek, akşam mı, gece yarısı mı, horoz öttüğünde mi, sabaha doğru mu, bilemezsiniz.
Mar 13:36 Ansızın gelip sizi uykuda bulmasın!
Mar 13:37 Size söylediklerimi herkese söylüyorum; uyanık kalın!"

Be careful / attentive, stay awake, pray. Because you can not know when the moment will come.

In context, Jesus warned His disciples about the doom of Jerusalem. Imagine standing on a hilltop, watching a car racing a train to a railroad crossing -- and you can see that the race is going to end in a tie. Since life continued pretty much as usual for the next 40 years, though, the urgency of the warning diminished. Only those who were faithful enough to remember our Lord's words were able to escape with their lives.

In a broader sense, life is full of surprises. "He who plans to repent at the 11th hour, dies at 10:59." This can create hidden mines for the unwary. It's all too easy to "go on autopilot," even when wisdom requires us to remain alert, and purposeful, with every moment of every day. In the last few months, two planes went down in the state of New York. One landed in the Hudson River, with no lives lost. The other bored into the ground near Buffalo, with no survivors. The difference? The doomed plane was on autopilot until the last minute. The computer on board compensated for the gradual buildup of ice on the wings, until it could not cope any more -- then released the entire mess to human control.

And so many wonderful opportunities come across our path at unexpected moments. My prayer for myself, and for all those who read these lines of wit, is that we might be ready to profit from the doors that open for us.

The last word in this chapter, in Greek, is the imperative verb γρηγορεῖτε -- be alert. It's the source of a popular Christian name, Gregory. As I've often told my firstborn, "Son, be alert. The world needs more lerts."