Preaching the New Testament Again

Faith, Freedom, and Transformation

Yung Suk Kim

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781532652509
• eBook ISBN: 9781532652523
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

This book combines critical New Testament scholarship with homiletic concerns. Kim unravels complexities of the most prominent themes in the New Testament such as faith, freedom, and transformation, and brings them into dialogue with modern preaching contexts, ranging from personal identity to social justice to global issues. This book invites readers to reinterpret the most familiar themes that have not been thoroughly explored in scholarship and to make an informed choice about what to preach to whom in what context.

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Introduction

I am a New Testament scholar, teaching in a predominantly African American school of theology in a university setting. Most students are enrolled in an MDiv program, and their goal is to become pastors, Christian educators, pastoral caregivers, and social workers. I teach them foundational biblical courses such as Introduction to Biblical Studies and Introduction to the New Testament. My goal is to help them interpret biblical texts confidently and critically. We explore all kinds of meaning possibilities from biblical texts: “meaning behind the text”; “meaning within the text”; and “meaning in front of the text.” For example, they critically reread Ruth and Naomi in the book of Ruth for the first time in their lives. On the one hand, Naomi and Ruth can be read as models of faith or loyalty, as they are faithful to God and to each other. They go through difficult times of suffering and hardship, but they support each other and survive well. On the other hand, Ruth seems not fully accepted by Jews. She never becomes a full Judean, even after delivering a child to Naomi. She seems a model foreigner to the Jewish society. Considering racism and immigration issues in America, students raise questions about Ruth’s decision to follow her mother-in-law. The book of Ruth is a complex story that can be retold and reinterpreted carefully in context. In the New Testament course, we talk about Matthew 15:21–28 (the Canaanite woman and Jesus). In this story, Jesus and his disciples are narrow-minded and are generally unhelpful to a very marginalized Canaanite woman because of their theology of exclusive salvation. Jesus says his mission is for Jews only, as in Matthew 10:5–6: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”1 He limits the mission to his people only, as he says in 15:24: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” More than this, he calls the Canaanite woman “dog.” Is Jesus mean to her? Students are perplexed about this question because they have never thought about this view of Jesus. Usually, they think Jesus is testing her in a derogatory manner. But I challenge them to rethink it, digging in deeply in view of the Matthean context. The Matthean Jesus was mean to her because he reflects the Matthean community’s struggle to open its mission to the gentiles. It is also possible that the historical Jesus actually said these things to her. But in either or both cases, she was persistent in seeking healing for her daughter. Finally, Jesus accepts her request and praises her faith. What kind of faith is this? What kind of faith does he praise? Was he transformed because of her faith and challenge? Answering these questions will be moments of preaching.

New Testament for Preaching

The New Testament can be studied variously, depending on the reader’s purpose for study.2 It can be studied to know the history behind the Gospel communities or to trace back to Jesus to locate his authentic teaching.3 It can be also read as literature that comes with diverse stories about early Christian communities. Namely, four Gospels communicate the significance of Jesus differently depending on their community context. Mark characterizes Jesus as the suffering Son of God because the Markan community is placed in a situation of persecution and needs to recognize the difficulties of discipleship. Matthew depicts Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who fulfills the Scriptures because the Matthean community is primarily a Jewish community. Luke characterizes Jesus as the savior of the world because the Lukan community is a gentile community and aims to preach the gospel to the whole world. John depicts Jesus as the Son of God who testifies to the truth of God because the Johannine community conflicts with the synagogue and needs to continue in Jesus’s teaching. Paul’s letters and other writings in the New Testament also reflect various stories about their communities.4

In all these diverse readings, we may find various preaching themes in the New Testament among which faith, freedom, and transformation stand out. Faith in the New Testament is more than what to believe, and the concept of faith covers a diversity of things such as knowledge, conviction, action, and trust. Indeed, God is the most faithful character in the New Testament, and Jesus is faithful to him. All other characters express their faith (or lack of faith) in one way or another. Indeed, faith can be a vehicle for human transformation. Paul Tillich captures this point well: faith is a “total and centered act of the personal self, the act of unconditional, infinite and ultimate concern.”5 Faith involves the whole being of who we are as we contemplate how to live in this hostile world. Faith is more than knowledge about God or Christ and goes beyond the solitary individual salvation of the soul. Faith is that which seeks freedom and transformation, not only for individuals or the community, but for the whole world.

Freedom in the New Testament is more than personal or existential freedom. Usually, what is emphasized is “freedom from something”; for example, freedom from oppression or evil. But freedom also has to do with “freedom for something,” as Paul asks his congregations to use their freedom in edifying community. It also has to do with “freedom in someone,” as he exhorts them to imitate Christ in all their works. We need to explore various aspects of freedom from the New Testament.

Transformation is also a complex term that needs critical exploration in our study of the New Testament. It can be personal, communal transformation because of God and Christ. But we can also think about Christ’s own transformative experience during his ministry. Obviously, Paul is an important source for transformation because he lived a new life after he was called by God. Usually, transformation has been understood in two ways: individual salvation because of repentance, and communal transformation because of social justice. But the concept of transformation goes farther to include Jesus’s and Paul’s experience of transformation, as well as the transformation of various Christian communities. We may also think about the ultimate transformation on the last day, as envisioned by Paul and the Gospel writers.

This book seeks to explore diverse yet divergent aspects of faith, freedom, and transformation entrenched in the New Testament. Indeed, almost every text in the New Testament can be approached from the eyes of faith, freedom, and transformation. For instance, in Jesus’s initial sermon in Mark 1:14–15, we can think of all these themes together: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’” After John was arrested, Jesus continued his ministry and began to proclaim “the good news of God,” which is the key to his preaching. This good news is not the gospel of Rome or Jerusalem, but the good news about God; for example, salvation coming from God. God’s good news means that God is faithful and righteous, and that he will therefore save humanity. In Mark 1:15, we see a compact word of his sermon in which he explains the good news of God. In this verse, he preaches that the time (kairos) is fulfilled (perfect tense). This is the proper time that God is working now. People can now live in a new time. Such a time has come and will continue to come. Jesus does not say that the time will be coming in the remote future. This view of Jesus differs from his contemporaries, who emphasize the future completion of God’s time. Jesus goes one step further and explains what such a time looks like, saying, “the kingdom of God [basileia tou theou] has come near.” Here again, we see with the use of the perfect tense that God’s rule has come now. Basileia tou theou is a technical term and is often translated as “the kingdom of God.” An important connotation to consider is this phrase does not refer to a place or time, rather it is an abstract noun pointing to God’s rule or activity. A better translation may be “the reign of God,” “the rule of God,” or “the activity of God.” Jesus’s point is that God now rules the world with justice, peace, and love. Wherever and whenever this rule is realized in the world, people live in a new time. But this new life cannot become a reality without faith. That is why Jesus asks people to change their mind and action. “Repent” in Mark 1:15 does not convey what Jesus tries to communicate. The Greek verb used here is metanoeite (second person plural, imperative verb), whose root meaning is “to change a mind”; it is not a prayer of confession. Thus, since God’s rule has come down, people must embrace it by changing their mind, which means to seek the way of God. This concept of repentance/metanoia (change of a mind) must be a holistic change of mind and action. The concept of metanoia is close to the Hebrew shub, whose meaning is “to turn back.” Classical prophets such as Isaiah or Amos exhorted people to turn back to God, seeking the way of God. Faith involves changing a mind (repenting!) and embracing God’s rule. This aspect of faith includes freedom and transformation because people are transformed from an old life to a new life of freedom. They are freed from selfish desire and shackles of evil spirits. They will be engaged in freeing others from the grips of evil powers.

John 14:6 (“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”) can be another example in which we may explore all these aspects of faith, freedom, and transformation. Jesus’s point here is not that he is literally the way, as if people may go to heaven by going through him, but that he embodies and exemplifies the way, the truth, and the life of God through his own life.6 The invisible word of God (logos) was visible through Jesus’s life. God’s way, or love, is seen and felt through his life. He is the way because he lives a life of the way. His point is not that he owns the way or the truth, but that he testifies to the truth, as he says in John 18:37: “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Jesus discerns the way of God and reveals it to the world. If people see and follow what he does, they will find the way, the truth, and the life of God. Understood this way, faith in John 14:6 does not mean to believe in Jesus as a savior, but it means to follow him in a holistic manner as he embodied God’s word in the world. Then those who follow Jesus must continue in his teaching: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31–32). If they are faithful to his teaching, they are his disciples who will testify to the truth and experience freedom. This faithful life is also a life of transformation, personally and communally. If we read John 14:6 this way, it is not a statement of exclusivism, but of Christian inclusivism that stresses faith’s testimony to God, seeking freedom and transformation.

Outline of the Book

In chapter 2, we will explore the concept of faith in various writings of the New Testament. For example, we will look into God’s faithfulness, Jesus’s faith, and Christians’ faith. In what sense is God faithful? What do Jesus and Christians have to do with it? Often we do not pay attention to Jesus’s faith, with which he strives for God’s rule and his righteousness (Matt 6:33). He proclaims the good news of God because he trusts God. According to Paul, God’s righteousness has been disclosed through Christ’s faith (Rom 3:21–22). Christian faith is more than the knowledge about God or Jesus. It is shared faith with Jesus, as Paul says that God justifies the one who shares the faith of Jesus (Rom 3:26). After exploring various aspects of faith in the New Testament, we will explore the contemporary preaching contexts about faith.

In chapter 3, we will explore the concept of freedom in the New Testament. There are three important issues about freedom that we can explore in the New Testament: “freedom from something”; “freedom for something”; and “freedom in something/someone.” “Freedom from something” means the need for liberation from enslaving conditions such as oppression, fear, poverty, or violence. “Freedom for something” means that once-freed people must work to liberate others or to build up a beloved community of God. “Freedom in something/someone” means that Christian freedom must be rooted in God’s sovereignty and maintained based on Christ’s faith and his spirit. In the end, we will explore the contemporary contexts to which freedom relates....

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Faith
• Chapter 3: Freedom
• Chapter 4: Transformation
• Chapter 5: Concluding Remarks
• Bibliography