A Clever Word for the Season of Lent
λιμός (limos) hunger, famine A Clever Verse for Context When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need (Luke 15:14) Spiritual Famine (limos) is a common occurrence in biblical storytelling. In Genesis, the repeated occurrence of famine causes the patriarchs and matriarchs to move from place to place, repeatedly leaving the Promised Land of Canaan and going down to Egypt. In the story of Joseph, it is famine which both causes Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt and leads to his reunification and reconciliation with his brothers (Genesis 41-45). In the parable of the lost son, famine forces the younger son to reexamine his life choices and remember the mercy of his father. Whatever form crises may take and however they come about in our own lives, God is with us offering encouragement, instruction, and even transformation. Literary In Greek the word for famine (limos) is very close in appearance and sound to the word for plague (loimos). The historian Thucydides notes this similarity when he describes a plague which ravages the city of Athens made worse by the ongoing Doric war. Thucydides explains that an often recited prophecy predicted that with the Doric War would come either a plague or famine. It was never certain if the word in question was limos or loimos. Thucydides remarks that “as men suffered, so they made the verse to say. And I think if after this there shall ever come another Doric war and with it a famine (limos), they are like to recite the verse accordingly” (Thucydides, 2.54.3). Clever Questions for Further Reflection When have you experienced crises and how has that crises changed how you view your loved ones and God? How have you made sense of suffering? What has been helpful and what has been harmful? A Clever Prayer to Close My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. Psalm 22:1-5
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A Clever Word for the Season of Lent
καταλλάσσω (katalasso) to change a person from enmity to friendship, to reconcile. A Couple Clever Verses for Context All this is from God, who reconciled (katalasso) us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Clever Reflections Spiritual In just two verses, Paul has a lot to say about reconciliation: God’s reconciliation with us and our vocation to then bring that reconciliation into the world. Reconciliation, the exchange of enmity for friendship is hard work for everyone involved. It takes Jesus’ knowing us and loving us in our own skin to mend the rift between us and God. Similarly, when it comes to reconciling with one another we too need to know each other: our stories, our struggles, our baggage, our regrets and hopes. Jesus is both the agent of our reconciliation with God and one another and our guide in the ministry of reconciliation we are called and baptized into. Literary The ministry of reconciliation is no easy undertaking, requiring commitment and thought. Herodotus describes how the Milesians, troubled by civil strife, call on another group of Greeks, the Parians to reconcile (katalasso) their troubled land. The Parians do so by going about the country and observing which farms have remained prosperous and have not been destroyed by the fighting. They then appoint the owners of these farms as rulers of the state, in the hope that they would care for their country as well as they cared for their private lands (Herodotus 5.29) Clever Questions for Further Reflection When have you experienced reconciliation? Who do you still need to be reconciled with? What makes reconciliation so hard? A Clever Prayer to Close Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” ~Luke 11:2-4 |
About the Blog
Journey through the season of Advent with daily updates on the adventures of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Belliacre, MI as they attempt to cobble together a Christmas Pageant with an unlikely cast of characters. AuthorsAmelia Corbett Illustrator
Stephanie Dubbs
Stephanie is an art educator and a landscape/portrait artist. Her inspirations come from the amazing people she meets and the gorgeous state of Michigan as well as her home state of Florida. She and he husband love nature. They are out in the water during the summer months and on the snow in the winter enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Archives
December 2021
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