ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 15, 2024
Walter Bruegemann is probably the most respected Old Testament scholar alive. He is brilliant, engaging, and capable of taking difficult Biblical concepts and making them accessible. In a time when people are suggesting we need to post the Ten Commandments in public places, as if they represent the core teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), Bruegemann summarized what he believed to be the primary ethical ideas found in the Hebrew Scriptures. They are:
- Don’t keep all your food for yourselves
- Remember the poor and the immigrant
- Don’t steal, lie, or defraud one another
- Don’t exploit your workers
- Be mindful of those with special needs
- Be fair and just in your dealings with others
- Don’t slander, seek revenge, or carry grudges
- Love your neighbor as yourself
Allow yourself time enough to really reflect on that list, and then ask yourself if those are the key ethical mandates that most Christians are both seeking and living? I find it interesting that the only scriptures Jesus had were the Hebrew Scriptures, and this list sure sounds a lot like Jesus.
Holy God, when what some people claim to be your central teachings do not seem match the ethic of love, invite me into a deeper study of the scriptures. Allow for the extraordinary acts of self-giving love to be the measure of what you expect of me. Amen.
