{"id":25245,"date":"2025-05-20T10:29:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T14:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25245"},"modified":"2025-05-20T10:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T14:46:12","slug":"25245","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=25245","title":{"rendered":"Interpreting Scripture Through Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sinach - Way Maker with lyrics (Gospel)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DFGDU3XZmms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Authors and activists Alexia Salvatierra and Brandon Wrencher describe how enslaved Africans interpreted the Bible through their experience and found a promise of dignity and liberation.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>By seeing themselves in biblical stories \u2026 enslaved Africans engaged the Bible as a living text<\/strong>. They were in relationship with the Bible, talking back to its stories and its God. God was not seen as a distant, malevolent deity. The God of enslaved Africans was ever-present, would deliver them, and would punish their oppressors. The companionship of God was seen especially in how enslaved Africans interpreted Jesus, whom they saw as a friend on the journey with them to survive and be liberated from their oppression. The Spiritual \u201cI Want Jesus to Walk with Me\u201d depicts the deep friendship the enslaved had with Jesus:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>I want Jesus to walk with me&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>I want Jesus to walk with me&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>All along my pilgrim journey&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>I want Jesus to walk with me. [1]&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Enslaved Africans demonstrated their resilience and innovation in crafting a folk theology from the Bible in the form of folk songs called Negro Spirituals. They sang the Spirituals in both the hush harbors in the wilderness and the mystical hush harbors of their souls while in the fields and on the plantation. The Spirituals allowed them to put biblical stories in a medium that made them alive, bodily, and thus their own. And it allowed enslaved Africans to offer creative new interpretations of biblical stories.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>The Exodus story of freedom spoke in a powerful and particular way to the experience of the enslaved:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the exodus story, Moses gained power from God to part a sea, allowing the Hebrew people he was leading to escape from their oppressors, Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The sea collapsed on and drowned Pharaoh and his army as they chased the Hebrew people. The Hebrew people were set free with God\u2019s help. In step with their radical interpretation of biblical stories, <strong>enslaved Africans would weave their own conditions into the biblical story through song<\/strong>\u2026.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>One of these mornings, bright and fair&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>Gonna take my wings and cleave the air&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>When I get to heaven gonna put on my shoes&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>Gonna run around glory and tell all the news&nbsp;<br>When I get to heaven gonna sing and shout&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>Ain\u2019t nobody there gonna turn me out. [2]&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The message is clear: in the <strong>same way that God gave victory to the Hebrews over Egypt and to Jesus and the church over Rome, God will give victory to enslaved Africans over their bondage to white Christian American tyranny<\/strong>. And this victory, just like the victory God gave the Hebrews and Jesus and the disciples, <strong>will not be in \u201cthe sweet by and by\u201d but in the present world.<\/strong> Enslaved Africans believed God would work through them to bring this deliverance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>==========================<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/app-link\/post?publication_id=2863497&amp;post_id=163856413&amp;utm_source=post-email-title&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=2dkj2&amp;token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozOTkyMzY2LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoxNjM4NTY0MTMsImlhdCI6MTc0NzU4Nzc3OCwiZXhwIjoxNzUwMTc5Nzc4LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjg2MzQ5NyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.BuK-2dtGBMcYpGAylvWQSdPQiQ7Ts1TV1fBICH7XshU\">Why Ask? Brad Jersak<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why pray for gifts God has already given?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak124315\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>\u201cForgive us our trespasses\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>\u201cLord, have mercy.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>\u201cCome, Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The prayers of God\u2019s people are replete with requests for that which God has already graciously and abundantly provided. So why bother? Is praying for the gifts God has already given an act of unbelief, a confusion of theology or an offence to God? Some seem to think so and in a sense,&nbsp;<em>may<\/em>&nbsp;be right. But <strong>both the question and answer are important and far more nuanced than an either\/or knee-jerk reaction<\/strong>. What are the perils and what is the point of asking for what we\u2019ve already been given?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE PERILS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two obvious perils accompany requests for forgiveness, mercy and the Holy Spirit\u2014given that all three are among the many examples of God\u2019s outpouring of grace into the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The first peril is if we make these requests without understanding or believing that they have happened.<\/strong>&nbsp;It\u2019s a serious omission when our prayers smuggle in the assumption that God has not yet forgiven, not yet been merciful and not yet given the gift of the Spirit. Christ and his apostles <strong>could not have been more straightforward: Christ taught that God\u2019s mercy has been given to ALL (\u201cthe righteous and the wicked\u201d); on the Cross, Christ forgave ALL (\u201cwhile we were yet sinners\u201d). And on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was \u201cpoured out on all flesh\u201d (<\/strong>Acts 2). If our prayers imply a negation of these great truths, we\u2019ve made a grave mistake\u2014the main fruit of which is that <strong>our invocation devolves into desperate begging and paints God as someone less than our generous heavenly&nbsp;<em>Abba<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The second danger when we ask for what has been given is that in receiving them, we<\/strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong> imagine that our prayers actually secured God\u2019s gifts<\/strong>\u2014<\/span>that praying right or praying long or praying hard somehow caused the forgiveness, mercy or Spirit to come. We then seek to establish a cauldron of correct prayers, incantations or mechanisms to seal the deal. We paint a picture of prayer as an acquisition or transaction rather than a grace-gift from heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who become aware of these perils sometimes end up rejecting all such prayers as wrong-headed and develop theologies to avoid them. For example, some of my friends find the Lord\u2019s Prayer offensive because it includes the request for forgiveness. They reason that since the Cross established forgiveness once and for all, that the Lord\u2019s Prayer is inappropriate for New Covenant believers. Some even imagine that all Christ\u2019s instructions to his disciples prior to the Cross should be relegated to the dung heap of the Old Covenant that\u2019s been abolished. Such a leap is shocking and mistaken\u2014I\u2019ll address that misstep in a follow-up post next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">THE POINT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, having noted the perils, we ought to ask, \u201cThen what\u2019s the point? Why pray for that which God has already freely given?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, let\u2019s start with the unwavering conviction that <strong>forgiveness is forever and finally established in the \u201cfinished work of Christ.\u201d Let\u2019s be unbending in our belief that God\u2019s mercies are a superabundant, infinite spring that never ceases. Let\u2019s acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is everywhere and always present. <\/strong>Then what\u2019s the point of asking? I\u2019m glad you&nbsp;<em>asked<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First, because Jesus said so.<\/strong>&nbsp;He instructs us to pray, \u201cFather, forgive,\u201d invites us to repeatedly ask, seek and knock for mercy and calls us to open our hands to receive&nbsp;<em>Abba\u2019s<\/em>&nbsp;good gifts, chief of which is the Holy Spirit. As a Christ-follower, I believe no one knows how and why to pray better than our Lord Jesus Christ and his instructions in prayer are the most important ever given\u2014even when I don\u2019t understand the \u201cwhy?\u201d To think we know better than Christ and explain away his teaching on prayer is, frankly, spiritually silly. But if we need speculate on the \u201cwhy?\u201d read on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Second, asking is an act of awareness and belief.&nbsp;<\/strong>Praying, \u201cFather, forgive\u201d reminds us that Abba has indeed done everything necessary to forgive. <strong>Praying, \u201cLord, have mercy\u201d reminds us that \u201chis mercy endures forever.\u201d<\/strong> Praying, \u201cCome, Holy Spirit\u201d reminds us that the Spirit is an indwelling river of living water that flows from within those who believe (John 7:38). Asking asserts our belief that this is who&nbsp;<em>Abba<\/em>&nbsp;is and what&nbsp;<em>Abba<\/em>&nbsp;gives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Third, asking is an orientation of humility and receptivity.<\/strong>&nbsp;It\u2019s not just that we&nbsp;<em>know and believe&nbsp;<\/em>God is generous\u2014it\u2019s that we&nbsp;<strong><em>posture ourselves to receive<\/em>&nbsp;the gifts already given. <\/strong>It\u2019s like opening our eyes to see the sun that\u2019s already shining. It\u2019s like opening our mouths to partake of the feast already provided. It\u2019s like turning and opening our hearts to the love that has never once turned from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Finally, asking is critical because God is love and love\u2013even God\u2019s love\u2013requires consent.&nbsp;<\/strong>God does&nbsp;<em>not<\/em>&nbsp;require consent to forgive or show mercy or send the Spirit. God\u2019s unfailing pursuit of his beloved and his relentless wooing continue even without our permission. <strong>But at some point,<em>love by nature must wait on our willing \u201cYes!\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;or it would be a violation of our God-given freedom. And&nbsp;<em>our love for God is not love if it\u2019s not consensual.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t know where that line falls exactly, and neither do you. I just know that<strong>&nbsp;<em>Abba<\/em>&nbsp;did not even impregnate the Virgin without her willing \u201cYes.\u201d<\/strong> Mary the mother of Jesus is a beautiful example of perfect surrender to the Father\u2019s love\u2014but so too, in that narrative,&nbsp;<em>Abba<\/em>&nbsp;demonstrates his commitment to Mary\u2019s consent and ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Similarly, prayer, for us, becomes an act of mutual surrender and consent&nbsp;<\/strong>between Christ and his Bride. \u201cAsking prayer\u201d&nbsp;<em>welcomes<\/em>&nbsp;the goodness of his already-given gifts into our lives.&nbsp;<em>Asking<\/em>&nbsp;is the Christ-taught means by which we receive those gifts. \u201cAsk and you will receive\u201d forgiveness, you\u2019ll receive mercy and you\u2019ll receive the Holy Spirit. And&nbsp;<em>Abba\u2019s<\/em>&nbsp;beautiful answer\u2013the answer that Christ voices from the Cross\u2013is simply this:&nbsp;<strong>\u201cConsider it done!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authors and activists Alexia Salvatierra and Brandon Wrencher describe how enslaved Africans interpreted the Bible through their experience and found a promise of dignity and liberation.&nbsp;&nbsp; By seeing themselves in biblical stories \u2026 enslaved Africans engaged the Bible as a living text. They were in relationship with the Bible, talking back to its stories and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25245"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25249,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25245\/revisions\/25249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}