The Salon

This past Sunday, I pointed out the Greek word “battalogeo” in Matthew 6:7 which the NRSV translates “empty phrases” and the King James translates “vain repetitions.”  This word in the Sermon on the Mount is used to describe a way NOT to pray.  The root word batta is the word used for one who stutters.  I think babbling is a great translation.  “Don’t babble,” Jesus says.  If you are going to pray, you need to mean what you say. 

This is a tall order when we pray the Lord’s Prayer (which, by the way, we often babble.)  “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done” - what would that look like if we meant that each time any of us prayed it.   How would earth look more like heaven?

This is going to be part of our Lenten discipline at the Vermillion UCC.  How do we mean what we pray?  I hope you will come walk with us.

Don’t forget - there is a great Salon at the church this Friday night (2/27/09) at 7:00 pm.  We hope to see you there.

For those of you who were at church yesterday, I meant Rolex.

Unfortunately, I kept saying Rolodex.  I am sure it was the excitement of the preaching moment and I am sure you knew what I meant because I kept pointing at my wrist.  But still, I was using the wrong word.

My question for our salon this week is about words.  How important is using the the right word for the right idea?  Most especially, I am interested in the phrase that is our worship and education theme this year “Kingdom of God.” We actually began talking about this idea at last month’s gathering.  Does that translation of the Greek and/or the Aramaic which was coined for us by the King James version of the Bible still express the foundational teaching that Jesus intended?  Kingdom language is familiar and comfortable why not just leave it alone?

We are talking about the central metaphor in the New Testament and perhaps “familiar and comfortable” is the problem - is the power and meaning of this idea lost because our language is obsolete. Several New Testament scholars have written about this issue and offer some wonderful alternatives (I’ll bring some examples on Friday) but my deeper question is this: With a tradition as rooted as the Christian church (even in our progressive community), how do we change language to express deeper meaning without alienating a large segment of folks who don’t see a problem (think New Century Hymnal.)

So I am interested in your ideas, not just about which words to use but how to make the change.

Hope to see you Friday.

Steve will be back online this week.  Please join our conversation.