Our English Bible is a translation of Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) originals and it is impossible to completely convey all of the meaning of one language into another. That’s why a computer will never replace a human interpreter.

 

There is a very funny example of what happens when once scholars tried to use a computer to translate the phrase, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” from Matthew 26:41. The scholars fed the Greek original into the computer and the computer printed out its translation: “the wine is good, but the meat is lousy.”

 

Preachers – myself especially – often try to explain the meaning of the original languages. How often have you heard me say, “The Greek word means …”? My grandfather hated it when preachers did that. Papa would shake his head and say, “It could mean peanut butter for all I know.” He felt the minister was just showing off; then he’d add with a twinkle in his eye, “I know a little Greek – he owns a restaurant down on the corner.” Later, when his grandson became a Greek major, he changed his mind and was very proud of me. I miss Papa.

 

There are some great word pictures in the Greek Bible though and I’d like to share another one with you. The word for today is hypogrammos and is only found in one place in the New Testament:

 

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. – 1 Peter 2:21

Here it is translated “example,” but it literally describes a model or pattern to be copied. In Peter’s day, they didn’t have paper and papyrus was far too expensive to let a child scribble on, so they would fill a small wooden frame with colored wax. The teacher would use a stylus to scribe the alphabet into the wax. Then the student would put his pen in the grooves and trace the letters until his hand remembered their shapes. That line of letters – the perfect example – was called the hypogrammos, the “above writing.” Then the student would try to write the sentence on his own on the line beneath.

 

Jesus is our example. We practice following in his footsteps and then launch out into our lives looking at the line above ours asking, “What would Jesus do?” Are we following the perfect pattern?

 

By the way Papa, the Greek word for “peanut butter” is fystikovoútyro, but I promise I won’t use it in a sermon!

Occasionally I am asked questions about what the Bible teaches. Here is one from my inbox.

“I would like to put up a Christmas tree, but my boss says it’s not a Christian symbol. In fact, he says the Bible teaches against it. I think he’s just cheap.” – R. Cratchit.

Bob, you’re really asking two questions. The first one asks, “Is it wrong to celebrate Christmas?” Let’s deal with that question before we look at your second question, “Are Christmas trees sinful?”

First, there are no commands or examples of Christians celebrating the birth of Jesus in the New Testament. The Christmas holiday probably didn’t exist. On the other hand, we can reason, Jesus had a birthday and the story of his birth is an amazing part of the Bible. (See the first three chapters of Matthew and Luke for more details.) Why not set aside a day to re-tell the story and celebrate this incredible event?

Historically, Christmas was an early Christian attempt to re-frame a popular pagan holiday (the winter solstice) in Christian clothes. This practice of taking something from the culture and giving it a new meaning is called “co-opting.” It’s very common. For example, the popular hymn, “He’s the Lilly of the Valley” was actually taken from Jack Thorpe’s 1908 song, “Little Joe the Wrangler” (from the first published collection of cowboy songs). We just changed the lyrics. This has been a common practice for millennia and if it is acceptable to co-opt music, why isn’t acceptable to do the same thing with a holiday too?

Second, it is also important to note the distinction between a “holy day” and a “holiday.” Holy days serve an efficacious purpose: if you observe it properly, you will receive a blessing. Yom Kippur and the other Jewish holy days are examples of just that.

As far as I can see, we have no commands or clear examples of the early Christians observing holy days, although the Apostle Paul told the Romans: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord,” (Romans 14:5, 6). The closest thing we have in Christianity to a holy day would be Sunday – the Lord’s Day, which is celebrated in worship every week.

Third, Bob, perhaps your boss is thinking about Ezekiel’s condemnation of the Israelites: “they put the branch to their nose,” to object to Christmas trees (Ezekiel 8:17). In Ezekiel’s day, people falsely worshiped trees by breaking off aromatic branches and sniffing them, but I fail to see how that is relevant in rejecting Christmas trees, unless people are worshiping their holiday decorations!

Likewise some people say the Christmas tree traces its roots to dendrolatry (the worship of trees). These people claim the old, pagan, Germans worshiped trees and this story claims when the Germans became Christians, they continued dendrolatry by dressing up evergreen trees in Christian garb. This, they claim, is the origin of Christmas trees. Yes, the Germanic people worshiped trees (see “Donar’s Oak” in Wikipedia), but they worshiped oak trees not evergreens.

So let’s come back and look at symbols again. What does a Christmas tree represent in modern times? Hold up a picture of a Christmas tree and ask 100 people what it represents. How many people would answer: “Christmas!” Even if the evergreen tree was a pagan symbol a thousand years ago, it’s not now. That is crucial. What does it represent today? “It’s a Christmas decoration!” is the overwhelming answer.

Finally, let’s look at another symbol: the heart. Hearts represent love and romance, but the heart symbol looks about as much like the human organ as Teddy Roosevelt looks like the MGM lion. So where did this symbol come from? The answer is, it came from the giant fennel seed. You’ve probably never seen giant fennel since Nero ate the last one at one of his famous suppers in the First Century. So how did the “heart-shaped” giant fennel seed come to represent love? Because it was used as a birth control drug in Nero’s day! It represented love, but it represented a very erotic form of love.

Does that mean when someone gives you a heart-shaped valentine, they are suggesting something illicit? No more than erecting a Christmas tree means you want to worship an ancient fertility goddess. Bah humbug!

Today’s post is from Philip Clarke Brewer.

God uses
what you have
what you have
to fill a need which
you never could have filled.

God uses
where you are
to take you where
you never could have gone.

God uses
what you can do
to accomplish what
you never could have done.

God uses
who you are
to let you become who
you never could have been.