The Only Name?

Thursday, August 10, 2006 -- Week of Proper 13 (Laurence)

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 979)
Psalm [83] or 145 (morning) // 85, 86 (evening)
Judges 8:22-35
Acts 4:1-12
John 1:43-51

At the end of today's reading from Acts, we have one of two verses in the Gospel that express our confidence and faith in Jesus in its most exclusive form. (the other is John 14:6) Peter is talking to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish authorities with whom Jesus and the early church had their most severe conflicts. Peter tells them that the healing of the lame man was done by the power of the name of "Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead." He quotes a favorite text of the early church, Psalm 118:22 -- "the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone." The Peter closes: "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."

There are some who interpret this verse, along with John's text, "No one comes to the Father except through me," to mean that unless a person commits to Christianity and to Jesus specifically, that person cannot come to the Father, cannot be saved. Gandhi, Rumi, and eventually the Dalai Lama when he dies -- all are destined for eternal hell.

I am among those who are bothered by that interpretation. First of all, it is contrary to the kind of person we see in Jesus, who is God incarnate. Second, it seems contrary to the God that Jesus points us to.

There are many other verses that have a more inclusive flavor -- whoever is not against me is for me, I have sheep that are not of this fold, whoever does the will of God is a friend of God, I will lose nothing, etc. (On my "to-do-one-of-these-days checklist is to make a study of the inclusive passages of both testaments.) Jesus' own activity is profoundly inclusive toward those outside his circle of disciples and outside Judaism. He typically directs loyalty and thanksgiving toward God, not to himself.

To me, these verses are a way the early church had for expressing the fullness of its experience of the saving power of Jesus. "Can anything or anyone be more wonderful?" they exclaim. It's a little like saying, "You are the best Mom in the world. My wife is the most beautiful woman in the world."

In this passage attributed to Peter, we have the additional element that he is challenging the authority of the Sanhedrin and the authority of the law. The Sadducees assert that there is no resurrection. They are the conservative party of first century Judaism, accepting the authority only of the Torah, which makes no claim of resurrection. Peter is challenging them. Peter is challenging their theology. We tend to make our most polemical statements in such scenes of debate.

I'm bothered by the exclusivist interpretations that tend to picture God in such tribal terms. We shouldn't limit God's mercy.

Lowell
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The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, AR