Minutes of Meetings with God
and with Myself

<Click here for another "Minute">

Five Lost Words

On the eve of a major holiday and in the midst of the holiday rush, a university professor dutifully posted the announcement of his next public lecture where, hopefully, at least a few people would see it. Most likely, he didn't think that the lectures would draw much attention. After all, he would be dealing with esoteric subjects related to the church. He was going to talk about what he thought was core to being a Christian, because he thought that Christians were pretty much forgetting what it meant to follow Jesus. He was going to talk about sin, grace, the Cross, and forgiveness. That public lecture started something that would change the Christian world forever.

The year was 1517, the major holiday was "All Saints Day" (which back then, people celebrated almost like Christmas and Easter), the university professor was the Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, and the place he posted the announcement of his lecture was the door of the Church at Wittenberg Castle. The lecture began what is now called "the Protestant Reformation."

Martin Luther has been both lauded and reviled for what he started by nailing his 95 theses to the church door on "All Hallows Eve" so long ago. Mostly, he was probably just trying to do his job as a college teacher; and, he was trying to sort out what it means to be a Christian in an increasingly complex world where answers seem harder to come by and the truth becomes more elusive as it gets distorted by politics and greed.

Martin Luther was looking for a faith that would satisfy his soul. He found what he was looking for by returning to the witness of the earliest Christians about Jesus, the Christ. He studied their witness in depth and with much prayer. Martin Luther found what satisfied his soul in the words he read about sin, grace, the Cross, and forgiveness. When he read those words, he heard the voice of God speaking to his heart.

We call that witness, the New Testament. The witness of the earliest Christians touched Martin Luther so deeply, that he translated the entire New Testament into the common language of everyday people so they could hear the voice of God, too. He became a changed man; one who literally put his life on the line for his faith in Jesus. Martin Luther's simple act, doing his job on that "All Hallow's Eve" so long ago, forced the world of his day (both inside and outside the Church) to remember Jesus and to take seriously what Jesus has done for each and every one of us, reconciling us to God, making us "at one" with God, and making us Christians.

The better part of 500 years have passed since Martin Luther posted the announcement of his lecture. In those centuries, evidently, people (both inside and outside the Church) are forgetting Jesus, again. People are forgetting what it means to be Christian, again. In an outrageously complex modern world where answers seem harder than ever to come by and the truth becomes even more elusive as it gets tortured and bent by politics and greed, we are left to sort out what it means to be a Christian now.

Clearly, it is time to return to the witness of the earliest Christians about Jesus, to study in depth and with prayer, and to let ourselves hear the voice of God speak to our hearts.

When we study the New Testament, it's important that we rediscover the meaning of 5 particular Greek words that seem to define what Jesus and the earliest Christians were all about. The five words were core to the every day living of Jesus and those who followed him. But, mostly, Christians have lost them.

The first of those words is "agapao." It used to be translated as "charity," before charity lost it's true meaning. "Agapao" means "self-transcending love." It is a love that reaches out to others selflessly and seeks only the good for the one to whom it reaches out. It is best described in I Corinthians 13. Jesus used the word to describe God's love for every human being; and Jesus said that we human beings should love God, and each other with that kind of love.

The second word is "metanoia." Most often, this word has been translated as "repent." However, now "repent" has lost it's deepest meaning and mostly describes saying, "I'm sorry." "Metanoia," to Jesus and earliest Christians, apparently meant a total change in heart, mind and life; a change that pointed a person's total life in the direction of God and God's work. The change was so complete as to also be called "being born again.

"The third word is "diakonos." Most often it is translated "servant" or "minister" or "deacon." Jesus used this and related words to describe the relation-ship he wanted his followers to have with God, to himself, and the way they would be expected to relate to each other. Core to the ancient meaning of this word is the idea of "providing service to" or "attending to." Jesus described the greatest person in the Kingdom as the one who is "diakonos" of all (Mark 9:35). Jesus, himself took "diakonos" to the extreme of washing his disciples' feet (John 13:5).

The fourth word is "koinonia." Most often it is translated "fellowship" or "communion." This word was used by Christians after Jesus' Resurrection to describe "how they were together in Christ." The word did not have the meaning of a superficial, social connection that "fellowship" most often has now. Rather, "koinonia" held the meaning that Christians were in a close partnership with each other in which, sometimes, everything was shared. One Christian's loss was everyone's loss. Another Christian's blessing or gain was everyone's blessing or gain. The earliest Christians, after the Resurrection, pooled everything they owned and shared it with each other. Christians were invited to the "koinonia" of the Holy Spirit (II Corinthians 13:14).

The final word is actually two words, "Marana- tha." These two words only appear once in the New Testament, I Corinthians 16:22. However, they comprised what was apparently a common prayer among earliest followers of Jesus who anticipated his immediate return. The two words simply mean, " O Lord, come!" The earliest Christians wanted the Kingdom of God as soon as possible and believed to the core of their being that Jesus' return would signal to all the world that the reign of God is arriving.

Modern Christians rarely use any of these 5 words anymore, much less study them and pray about them.

Martin Luther proposed 95 theses to help Christians rediscover themselves. Perhaps, we moderns can do it by rediscovering the five words?