For a book that so strongly emphasizes pilgrimage, moving on, and going to Jesus "outside the camp" (13:13), the places where paraenesis is most explicit in Hebrews seem to have a lot to say about gathering in. "Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together" (10:25), "Keep on loving one another as brothers" (13:1), "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you" (13:7), and "Submit to leaders" (13:17), not to mention the praise of the table from which the church ("we") have the right to eat.
If, according to common practice in deliberative rhetoric, the intended action is hinted at early in the letter but becomes clearer as the letter goes on, then all of this "together" rhetoric cannot be insignificant. Indeed, if deliberative rhetorical techniques are operative here, then it is arguable that the more cryptic imperatives ought to be interpreted in light of the clearer versions of them later on. Is "drifting away" (2:1) a drift away from the gathering church? Is the "turning away from the living God" (3:12) a way of speaking about turning away from the brothers? Is the "falling short of God's rest" a typological reading of an on-the-ground reality of pulling away from a united church?
The "tabernacle" motif has a deep history in Protestant typology. When the insitution becomes corrupt, the thing to do,(so the reasoning goes) is to go to Jesus outside the camp, to come out from among them and be separate. But what if we have to go in to go out? It might be in fact that the best way to deal with weakened brethren is to cling to them with all the might of the cross. Could it be that Hebrews actually tells us that the biggest danger facing the church wasn't apostasy but schism?
No comments:
Post a Comment