LISTENING IS ONE of the most important postures in engaging with the gospel. As Jesus says, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!” (Mark 4:9). This month, we listen to the cloud of witnesses who have shared with us their encounters of the divine. We listen not as passive recipients who accept what is presented unquestioningly; only oppressive systems demand that people listen without asking questions. Rather, Jesus invites us to listen (as we ask and question) because doing so acknowledges the presence of the divine in each one, no matter how different their thoughts may seem from ours.
These reflections open by listening to African American ancestors who have taught us how to read the Bible in ways that are liberating and just. We will also listen with the biblical Samaritans, considered “outsiders” at the time, who provide us with opportunities for self-critical reflections. Next, we recall the breath of God, the Holy Spirit, who inspires us to do good works. Finally, the wise words of the so-called Korean “comfort women” also teach us to listen.
In our world we are bombarded by noise and loud opinions that smother the soul. Listening these days may seem an overwhelming task. We crave quiet and peace. But Jesus calls us to listen carefully and intentionally to voices that are silenced and suppressed. We also must listen wisely.
October 5
On the Side of Liberty
Lamentations 1:1-6; Psalm 137; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10
I AM NOT ashamed of the gospel, “of the testimony about our Lord,” as the author of 2 Timothy puts it (1:8). I believe in God who calls us into the life of faith and love. I seek God’s enduring presence in my life as the Holy Spirit guides me, day by day. I am also responsible for faithfully and critically seeking the ways of the divine. In that spirit, I cannot read Luke 17:7-10 literally or simplistically, because it condones slavery. Although some English translations of doulos (verse 7) use “servant,” I translate doulos as “slave” or “enslaved person” (as many others have done). I do not want to minimize the atrocities doulos experience every day.
Spiritualizing the Lukan passage by identifying myself with the slave who is “worthless” (verse 10) does not wash away the oppressive tone of the passage. We know of far too many people today who are treated as worthless. In African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation by Lisa Bowens, she provides a balanced and hermeneutically reconciling way to approach our dilemma. Bowens argues that African Americans throughout the years have used scripture passages to protest and resist oppression and slavery. Even though Luke 17 and some Pauline passages appear to condone slavery, Bowens provides counternarratives in which many African Americans re-signify the Bible as a tool for justice and freedom. Bowens neither condones nor neglects the apparently harmful passages. Rather, she explains that many African Americans understand the Bible through, among other things, the lens of their own experiences. As Frederick Douglass put it, you read the Bible “all the time more diligently; and prove from its pages that it is on the side of liberty — and not the side of slavery.”
October 12
Who Needs Mercy?
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-12; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19
AS MUCH AS I struggle at times to admit it, MAGA-movement Christians are also beloved children of God. Since God’s love knows no bounds, I cannot question God for caring, blessing, and healing them. I’ve seen many social media clips and reels that show former MAGA-movement members regretting their support for Donald Trump. While their reasons are usually personal, some of them, such as self-proclaimed “MAGA junkies” in West Virginia, say they can no longer tolerate the callousness of the president.
The gospel of Luke is radical because it declares that Samaritans, foreigners, and the disdained — such as the 10 men affected with leprosy in 17:11-19 — are models for people of faith. I would love to say that I am like the one Samaritan who turned back to thank Jesus for the healing; that way, I could virtue-signal to everyone how amazingly ethical I am. But this would be exactly the opposite of Luke’s lesson. Luke declares (verse 15) that those I may perceive as inferior (ethically or otherwise), also praise God for being healed. The lesson here is that gratitude and reverence for God’s love can be and is modeled by a repentant MAGA supporter. This is a hard pill for me to swallow. It would have been difficult for Luke’s audience as well. And yet, the gospel is radical because it reminds us that we are not the “righteous ones.” We are among the needy recipients of God’s mercy and healing.
October 19
Breath of God
Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5; Luke 18:1-8
THE APOSTLE PAUL proclaims, “All scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). The word “inspired” sounds benign. Some Christians assume that this word is the basis for biblical inerrancy: Since God inspired it, then it must not have errors. However, much meaning gets lost in translation. The Greek word for “inspired” (theopneustos) means “God-breathed.” This is not about error or perfection. In Genesis 2:7, we read that God “breathed” (in Hebrew, nāpah) on humans to give them life. Humans are God-breathed creatures. I can boldly state that humans are far from inerrant.
The effect of receiving God’s breath does not equal perfection, whatever that means. Rather, we must read what follows. Paul continues that all God-breathed scripture, “is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Verse 17 doubles down by encouraging the use of scripture for good work. The goal is “righteousness” (dikaiosynē), not dogmatic declarations of inerrancy.
We are invited to meditate on and proclaim the gospel at all times; to “be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable” (2 Timothy 4:2). We teach with humility and patience because a time will come when “people will not put up with sound teaching, but ... will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires ...” (4:3-4). Psalm 119 invites us to meditate upon the word of the Lord all day long. God’s word “is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (verse 105). In Jeremiah, God promises to “put my law within them” and write it on our hearts so that we never forget to whom we belong (Jeremiah 31:33).
October 26
Our Grandmothers
Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, a group of women and their supporters gather every Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy. They protest the Japanese government’s enslavement of Korean (and those of other nationalities) women into large-scale sexual slavery during World War II. They also seek reparations. Their first demonstration was held on Jan. 8, 1992. It’s one of the longest, continuously running demonstrations in the world.
Included among the women who gather are those known as the “comfort women,” a euphemism for those who were enslaved and sexually exploited as part of Imperial Japan’s military brothel system. In an honor-based culture, to publicly announce that one was a comfort woman is akin to social death, a decimation of honor. And yet, as the prophet Joel declared, these women decided to “prophesy” in public (2:28). They “dream dreams” of a just future and envision a world in which all women are treated with dignity and honor.
Many comfort women are now passing away due to age and health. (For more on the comfort women, see Pyong Gap Min’s Korean “Comfort Women”: Military Brothels, Brutality, and the Redress Movement.) We who are the next generation of Korean descent must continue the justice struggle started by our halmoni (“grandmothers”). Koreans say “our” halmoni because our definition of family extends beyond the private into the social. We demonstrate our interconnectedness by listening to the comfort women halmoni, to their stories and admonitions to fight the good fight. I hear our halmoni’s voices in Paul’s second letter to Timothy: “[We] have fought the good fight; [we] have finished the race; [we] have kept the faith” (4:7).
Dong Hyeon Jeong is an associate professor of New Testament Interpretation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Illinois. He is the author of Embracing the Nonhuman in the Gospel of Mark.
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