Scripture Romans 12:1
Brothers and Sisters
Let’s begin with the second part. If you read the NIV translation, it says brothers. I learned it as “I urge you therefore, brethren,” So why does ours say brothers and “sisters”? Did we add it to be contemporary and inclusive? NO, if we had done that I would have said so. Let’s see why I believe brothers and sisters is a better translation which several translators use.
You know that Philadelphia is the city of…brotherly love. Phileo is love / adelphia is brotherly - How do I know that? Not because I am an expert linguist but because I know a little bit of Greek. Phileo-adelphia come from two Greek words.
In Romans 12:1 it could read “I urge you adephos” which would mean brother. If it read “I urge you adelphe” it would mean sister. It doesn’t say either one of those.
The word used is adelphoi which technically is the plural of brother. However, read in context, adelphoi = the collection of a group of people who share the same parentage - viz God. In Rom 12:1 adelphoi would mean Christians - hence “brothers and sisters” works well. This Christian movement that saw men and women as equal before God was still being crafted in the midst of a very patriarchal society and masculine word forms would have been used in the collective sense of men and women as we clearly see hear…Therefore, I urge you “brothers and sisters.”
This is important to understand that translators make choices - in large part because we lose words, gain words and change words. Examples: LOST: apothecary = a person who prepared and sold medicine now a pharmacist. NEW: Infomania = The compulsive desire to check or accumulate news and information. CHANGE: audition = the power of hearing; but now to try out for a play.
In the Greek word order, the 2nd word is “Therefore” and can work as the first or second word in the English translation.
URGE
Have you ever had an URGE to do something? I don’t mean an inkling or a curiosity.
I mean (noun) a strong desire or impulse.
(verb) try earnestly or persistently to persuade (someone) to do something.
Paul had a strong desire or impulse to try earnestly and persistently to persuade someone to do something to undertake the accomplishment of with energy, swiftness, and enthusiasm. He wanted to solicit, entreat, stimulate, provoke us. The NIV translators made a good choice: “URGE”
Why is Paul so passionate about urging us toward worship? What is it we do here in worship that is so important? Why have we made MILESTONE # 1 about worship?
In worship we open the scriptures (meaning someone who has prayed over them and studied them and considered how best to present them, does so - it is called preaching). And Christ Jesus is always at the center of that preaching and Jesus is always at the center of our worship. As passionate as Paul is about having us worship, Jesus is more passionate about it because it is where he can best commune and communicate with us individually and collectively.
Consider the two disciples, Cleopas and another who were on their way home after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (STORY of the ROAD TO EMMAUS)
Luke 24:32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Is your passion for worship as strong as Jeremiah’s passion to preach?
Jeremiah 20:9 But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
In the late 1990s, Matt Redman’s home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England was going through a period of apathy. “There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,” he recalls. “He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.”
Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”
Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.
“Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we’d gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. ‘The Heart of Worship’ simply describes what occurred.”
When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart… / I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, Jesus
Recording the song in the studio “We decided to not get all complicated, and just let the song ‘breathe.’ We’re always trying to create more of a church atmosphere in the studio rather than just a technical musical gathering. Something happens when the people of God gather together and play out the praises of God in the presence of God. Hopefully something of that passion and purpose transcends beyond that studio room and into churches where od’s people are coming back - to the Heart of worship.”
Altar Call: “Heart of Worship”
No comments:
Post a Comment