DownloadApril 13, 2009 issue
Word in the neighborhood
By Jason EvansPage:
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I like Eugene Peterson’s take on John 1:14 in The Message — “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” It adds earthiness to the incarnation.
Evans
Today, even in dense urban areas, many of us don’t know our neighbors. We pull up the driveway and into the garage, closing it before we even get out of the car. We do this week in and week out, nodding politely to our neighbors as we drive by.
Though our neighborhoods may not have the sense of community they once did, we do feel we have something in common with our neighbors: an understanding of our common geographical space.
On those rare moments that we do banter with our neighbors, we can talk about the landscape, stores and other neighbors, all the while knowing these people will understand what we are talking about.
That is what lies behind the idea of incarnation. As we seek to be more like Christ, we too incarnate the good news of God in our neighborhoods.
But what does that look like? How does the Word become flesh and blood, and move into my neighborhood — through me?
Before we answer that question, let’s look at another word: “exegesis.”
To exegete something is to provide analysis and explanation of that thing. We most often relate this term to the Bible. Our scholars and pastors pour over the Scriptures, intending to explain what it means for our lives today.
Jesus applied this discipline to something else. His exegesis was of the situation he was within. He knew the place and the people around him well enough to explain the good news of God in a way they could understand. Even more, he showed them where it was happening right in front of them.
I was once discussing urban church planting with a young man who had just moved to San Diego. He had taken workshops from a church in Boston or New York, I don’t remember exactly. But what struck me was how confident he was about his ability to grow a thriving congregation after living here for only a few months and learning from people in a very different urban context.
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Comments
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This is the time to have cleansed souls in order for this to occur all must name their sins to God in prayer in the Name of His Son then be baptized. Test and prove this to be the truth for we are debters to the Commandments,Statues and Ordinances
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