Pittsburgh

What follows is a message written by my wife, Jill in memory of those killed in Pittsburgh. I fully concur.

When Christians pray – separately or together - they pray, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.” Or they sing, “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! 

Jewish prayer is very different, because in Jewish prayer, there is no ‘I’ or ‘me.’ Additionally, according to Jewish tradition, prayer is an act most fittingly performed in the presence of a community. In fact, certain key prayers may only be recited in the presence of a minyan – a quorum of ten adult Jews. If the quorum isn’t present, meaning if the community isn’t present, the prayers may not be said. 

When my community gathers to confess our sins on Yom Kippur, we are not just confessing our individual sins. We are confessing sins for the entire community of Jews across the entire world. “Adonai, we come to you aware of our failings. We are careless, false, heartless, insolent and joyless.  May it be your will, God of all generations, to pardon all our sins and to forgive all our wrongdoings.” And when we ask for blessings, we ask for the worldwide community of Jews as well. “Grant us life, well-being, lovingkindness and peace. Bless us, Adonai our God, with all that is good.”  

It is among the sacred duties of every Jew to show up and be counted so our prayers can be said -- so they can be said on behalf of all Jews, everywhere. Remember, there is no ‘I’ or ‘we’ in Jewish prayer. Without exception, Jewish prayer is about the greater whole – the corporate body of Jews throughout the world. 

So ~ thank you to all of you who have reached out to comfort us and our community in the last few days.  In doing so, you have comforted not only us, but Jews everywhere, all over the world.  

Who's Testing Whose Reliability

In the Genesis account of the story, Abraham is tested by God.  He is told to take his son, his only son, the one he loves, Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham does not discuss what to do with anyone.  He does not debate whether the voice he is hearing is real or unreal.  He obeys, takes his son along with a few young men, necessary supplies and heads for a place to slaughter his boy.  He seems calm and without concern.

In Jewish tradition, this event is called the Akeda, the binding of Isaac.  This test of Abraham’s faith and loyalty is a story with deep and controversial meaning for Jews and Christians.  

Maybe the story has less to do with Abraham’s faith than God’s reliability.  God has promised Abraham descendants as plentiful as the stars in the sky, as the dust on the earth, and Abraham believed and trusted God.  He trusted God so much he decided to test God.  So, he remained calm, took his son to Mount Moriah, prepared the fire and bound his son, and bet all he had on God’s reliability. 

God was testing Abraham, but Abraham was also testing God.  Who would blink first? Abraham won the wager.  God was reliable.  Abraham was reliable.

Whether Abe testing God is true or not, what can we say today about God’s reliability?   In our times and in our lives, many have experienced the silence of God.  But, are we right?  It depends how you want to talk about God working in our world.

In Jewish tradition we are taught, every time one of us cares for the neighbor, one of us is kind rather than angry, one of us stands up for justice, one of us changes his or her life for the better, there, right there is the presence and influence of God.  God has faith in our capacity to act.  And what if God’s reliability is tied to our reliability?  What if God needs us to act for God to be reliable?  I’m not sure but it’s something to think about.

A Few Thoughts on Religion

1.        Religion is not about getting but about giving.  Ask not what you can get from religion, ask what you can give to care for the neighbor and make the world a bit more just.  

2.       If you want to know what someone believes, do not listen to the mouth, follow the feet.

3.       Keep trying to change what is wrong even when you fail, or what is wrong will ultimately change you. That means vote, vote, vote!

4.       Faith is trusting without knowing for sure.  Theology is talking about God without knowing what you’re talking about.  A true theologian is haunted by the silence of God and knows that she or he does not know.

5.       Whether we like it or not, there are different religions and different ways to be religious.  Some ways of being religious are helpful and wise, while others are not.  The key lies in the communal argument not the conclusion.

6.       In religion, the question is more important than the answer to the question.

7.       Arguing about which religion is the best, the truest, the right one, is like arguing about which star is brightest in the dark sky.  They each have their moments, some constructive, some destructive, some explosive, some implosive.

8.       Religion is a mysterious romantic adventure.  It gives people hope, keeps them sane, trains them to act well.  But it can make other people crazy, mad or insane.  Pascal was right, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

9.       Facing the limits of religious truth takes wisdom and courage.  The serious religious person searches for truth and is skeptical about any unsupported assertions. 

10.   Do not be too religious.  Religions offer us but a glimpse into the mystery.  At the same time, do not dismiss the power and force of religious truth.  Religions were invented by human beings; what God has to do with each religion, only God knows.

Problems with Jesus

Jews, Christians and Muslims who think about their religious traditions will have problems with Jesus.  The problems are not talked about much in public, but they are substantial.

For Jews, Jesus lacks the credentials to be the Messiah or Christ.  Jesus did not rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.  He did not bring peace throughout the world.  He did not cause all Jews to live in peace in the land of Israel and he did not cause non-Jews to flock to Israel to study Torah.  Historically, many Jews have been persecuted and killed in the name of Jesus.  And the Christian Gospels have many texts that are anti-Jewish.  Jesus may have been a prophet.   He may have been a charismatic divine instrument trying to make gentiles as Jewish as possible.  But for most Jews, as the messiah, Jesus is problematic.

For Muslims, Jesus was born of a virgin and is the Christ, but he is also not divine.  According to the Quran, Jesus did not die on the cross but was saved at the last minute and someone else died in his place.  Jesus as part of the Trinity is a problem because it means Christians are worshipping a man and engaged in idolatry. There is tremendous respect for Jesus within Islam, but for Muslims, the Christian Jesus remains problematic.

For Christians, the problem with Jesus is subtle and complicated.  The problem is Jesus was an incomplete and insufficient Messiah.  Christians are assured by their scriptures and traditions that God sent Jesus into the world to die for their sins and to be raised for their justification and eternal life.  But, every Advent, Christians face the fact that Jesus came but has not come back to complete his work.  Some have called this waiting for Jesus’ return, “the delay.”  It has been over two thousand years and this delay is a problem.

Yes, there are problems with Jesus.  But, despite all these issues, we have before us three communities, with something in common.  They are waiting for God to act.  There is an old Jewish prayer called Ani Maamin (I believe).  “I believe in the coming of the messiah and though he tarry I shall wait, I shall wait, I shall wait.”  For all the unresolved problems with Messiahs, and there are many, the secret still resides in the waiting. And maybe that is enough for now?

Interpreting the Bible and Staying Sane

There is a common phrase among some religious people: “the Bible says.”  But our scriptures without exception cannot speak unless they are interpreted.  When someone says, “the Bible says”, what they are saying is, “This is what I hear or think the Bible is saying.”  And it seems so clear to that person that they shorten the sentence to “the Bible says.”

This is important because I have had people say to me, “Dr. Haar, you interpret the Bible, I read it.”

As soon as you have a text, and someone reads that text, you have interpretation.  Interpretation asks, “What does what I just read mean?  And as soon as you’ve decided what the text means, you have interpreted the text.

I suppose what bothers some people is they want to believe the Bible comes directly from, God, word for word. They want to believe they have in their hands the literal word of God and they can therefore interpret that word literally.  They may also think the word, interpretation, weakens the power and authority of that word. 

But, our Bibles were made to be interpreted.

At best, our Bibles were written by human beings and inspired by God.  That means we are not only compelled to interpret the text; we can argue and disagree with the text.  The Bible is not God and we ought not worship it.  Whenever the Bible points us to faith in God and teaches us to be people of character, we respect it.  Whenever it does not, we may dispute with the text.

Whenever we wrestle with and study the scriptures; whenever we interpret the text we can be assured we are taking the Bible seriously and staying sane.