Every year after Christmas, it was time to write thank you notes. When I first started writing thank you notes, they looked like the following, minus the verse numbers I’m adding to ease discussion:
(1) Dear Aunt X and Uncle Y,
(2) Thank you for the ____ you gave me for Christmas.
(3) I like it a lot. It’s great. It’s fun to play with. Thank you very much.
(4) Sincerely, Michael
So, a few notes. (1) & (4) are your clues that this is a letter. It says who the letter is addressed to and who it is from. (2) is the point of the letter. Thank you letters have a very definite reason for being – My parents said, “You need to write a thank you letter.” Line 2 is an acknowledgement that I have done what they told me to do, and now I can get back to playing with the ___ they gave me. (3) is the hard part of the thank you letter. I suspect you know the feeling. You’ve gotten through the stuff that’s always in a letter, and now comes the hard part. You have the fill up the rest of the card. What do you say? In my case, just about anything that would fill up the card!
As I got older, the form didn’t change that much, although I hope the following shows some improvement:
(1)Dear Jean,
(2) Thank you so much for the Alton Brown cookbook you gave Susan for Christmas.(3) I don’t know if you realize this – but you have a gift for knowing exactly what to give at Christmas. Every year you seem to pick that one thing I never would have put on my list, but the thing that makes me smile the most. (4) I have to tell you, I spent more time poring over Susan’s gift than the stuff people gave me from my list! I am a huge Good Eats fan, and have spent many a time trying to copy down his ‘applications.’ The book you sent me is going to stay right in the kitchen. I’ll be thinking about you at dinner for a long time to come.
(5)Thanks again, Michael.
Notice how little the form has really changed. (1) & (5) are the same, and the point of the letter (2) is still the first thing I say. What has changed is that I have learned that the filling of a thank you letter really isn’t as much about the point as it is about the relationship. Notice in (3) I am telling Jean something she may or may not know, but something that characterizes our relationship. She really is amazingly good at picking out presents, as my kids and I can both attest. I really don’t have to tell her all the gifts she’s given me – she knows that because of our past relationship. (4) is a little slice of information that is indicative of how our relationship has grown through that gift (She lives in Richmond so she needs me to articulate that!) but it is by no means everything. The point of writing the letter has changed a bit – and I think for the better – because I have learned that a note must be in the context of a relationship, and the point is to talk about the relationship over the information.
Most of the “books” of the New Testament are actually letters, not too unlike thank you notes. If we called them “letters,” they wouldn’t sound so grand – so they’re called “epistles,” but they mean the exact same thing. Just like thank you notes, “epistles” have a very standard structure. I’m going to have you read one such letter – the book of Second John. One point of clarification: There are actually four books in the NT called John (and a fifth one he wrote called Revelation!) – There is the Gospel of John which we’ll talk about later, and then three letters from John called, oddly enough 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. It is common to mix them up – but remember that the Gospel of John is a big old story at the beginning of the NT, and his letters are much, much shorter and towards the end. I have removed the verse numbers, but there are a few points I want to come back to, so I’ve inserted my own numbers.
Anyways, enough with the commentary, let’s read.
(1) This letter is from John, the elder.
(2) I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth— because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.
(3) Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.
(4) How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.
(5) I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.
(6) I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.
(7) Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.
(8) I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.
(9) Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.
That’s it! Guess what. Of the 66 books of the bible, no matter what else, you have read a full book of the Bible today. One of the first things you should note is this: Most of the books of the New Testament are very, very short. You can most of them in just a few minutes. And, before you delve too much into any one part, you really should.
Now that you’ve read it, let’s answer a few questions.
1. When John says he’s writing this “to the Chosen Lady and her children,” (2) who do you think he’s talking about? (Hint: Revelation 21:2, also written by John, uses the same sort of language)
Obviously (1) & (2) are like the Dear X & Sincerely, Y of our letters. Back then, you put that at the very top, because there were no envelopes (paper was expensive!) and you didn’t want to have to read the whole thing to deliver it! Part (3) is equally as formulaic – it’s sort of like an extended “Hello,” and (9) is a standard goodbye. You’ll find that these parts in every epistle. It’s important to understand the formula, because these set the context, but you don’t want to get lost in them.
2. As an “extra credit” exercise, flip through the ‘epistles’ and fill out this basic chart:
| Book | From | To | Who is that? |
| Romans | A church in Italy[1] | ||
| 1 & 2 Corinthians | A church in Greece | ||
| Galatians | Several churches in Central Turkey1 | ||
| Ephesians | A church on the Turkish coast1 | ||
| Phillipians | A church in Northern Greece | ||
| Colossians | A church in Central Turkey1 | ||
| 1 & 2 Thessalonians | A church in Northern Greece | ||
| I & 2 Timothy | His protégé | ||
| Titus | A pastor he knew | ||
| Philemon | A slaveowner | ||
| Notice I am skipping Hebrews – Hebrews is not really a letter so much as a sermon. Traditionally, many people have said Paul is the author – but you’ll notice that it never says that! | |||
| James | |||
| 1 Peter | |||
| 2 Peter | |||
| 1 John is also more of a sermon than a letter. | |||
| 2 John | |||
| 3 John | We don’t really know who “Gaius” is. | ||
| Jude | |||
| Rev. 2: 1-7 | (Jesus speaking though and angel to John) | A church on the Turkish coast1 | |
| Rev. 2: 8- 11 | A church on the Turkish coast1 | ||
| Rev. 2: 12–17 | A church in Turkey1 | ||
| Rev. 2: 18-29 | A church in Turkey | ||
| Rev. 3: 1-6 | A church in Turkey | ||
| Rev. 3: 7-13 | A church in Turkey | ||
| Rev. 3: 14-20 | A church in Turkey, right next to Colossae1 | ||
By the way, did you notice any pattern to how these books are arranged? Everything before Hebrews is from Paul, everything afterwards is from someone else who was close to Jesus in some way. Within each author, the books are arranged in descending order of length. Just helpful to know.
3. Why do you suppose so many books were written by Paul to churches in Turkey & Greece? (Hint: If you’re Bible has some maps at the end, take a look)
By the way, I’m purposely trying to focus you on the ‘formula’ for a bit so that frankly you can know what not to pay too much attention to. I’m not saying you should ignore – because you need to know the context in which the book was written, but you don’t need to be looking for theology in those places as much as context. One very helpful thing to do if you find yourself a little stuck at the beginning or the end of a letter is to read a quick Bible Overview synopsis, usually found in many Study Bibles, to get that ‘context.’ Anyways – that’s my overview of ‘all’ the letters. Let’s get back to 2 John. Specifically, go back and look at (4).
4. What kind of relationship does John have with these people?
5. What does he do first? Why is that important? Is there a pattern we can apply to our own lives based on the “nature” of that interaction?
Look again at (5).
6. What is it that John wants these people to do? Does he give a practical example of that earlier in this letter?
7. Look at John 13:34. When, where and from whom did John first get this “command?”
8. Look at John 14:15. What is the basis for our obedience to Christ?
9. What is the difference between these two statements:
- If you love me, keep my commandments
- If you keep my commandments, I will love you.
10. Which one is the Biblical teaching? What difference does that make in how we approach Christ?
11. What is love? (Yeah, I know – that’s an easy one… NOT!)
Look again at (6).
12. Does there seem to be a change in tone? Why? How can this be consistent with (5)?
13. What is the reward that John is afraid his church would lose?
14. Why is it that encouraging unbelievers would be unloving?
Look again at (7). Notice here that John is going to give some practical advice on the implications of (6). This is normal in just about every epistle in the Bible. There is a greeting (1-3) and a relationship(4). That is followed generally by a specific point that the writer really wants the recipient to get (5). Usually this is done because there is some kind of a problem (6) that could really screw things up. But high-minded theology needs to be worked out in simple, practical, concrete applications, like in (7).
If you were to go back and read 2 Timothy, for example (and it’s a very good book – and almost as short), you’ll see this same pattern. Paul – about ready to be killed incidently – writes a letter to Timothy. You will see Paul & Timothy’s relationship, and then you will see that the entire letter can be boiled down to 2 Timothy 1:14 – HOLD FAST TO THAT WHICH YOU HAVE. But that principle is only as good as how well you see that borne out in day to day stuff. The rest of the book are some suggestions on how that happens.
Back in 2 John, in my (7) ask yourself:
15. What is this “relationship” anyway?
16. How do you know when love means to be in relationship and when it does not?
17. Again, why is it loving to not encourage someone who is anti-Christ?
Finally, just a note about (8).
It’s also worth thinking through in (8) what John – one of the Twelve remember, a very busy man – thought about the in-person component of being church with other believers. Clearly he could write – but he sees the in-person part as the more important thing to do. Any implications you take from that are your own J
John clearly has more that he could say. Do you feel a little gipped that he doesn’t say it? Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a how-to manual for every action we would take? But then again, is God’s purpose really to give a set of rules and regulations, or is it to have relationship with us?
Just imagine, for instance, if I had a computer simulation from Susan, one which would tell me the appropriate answer for every situation, like when she asks, “Does this dress make me look fat?” Even if I knew the correct answer[2] to every situation, how would I start feel about that relationship, every time the program chimed in with the answer?
If God’s plan is that our joy might be complete, is a how-to manual really the right answer?
Yes, we can reduce what we read to principles and even applications for how we should behave – but ask yourself this: Is that all that Bible Study is? Is not perhaps a means of just enjoying a relationship with the God who inspired each of these letters? The point of Susan asking me about the dress has nothing to do with how she looks – it’s about the fact that I’m looking at her.
Once more, thanks everyone, and looking forward to seeing you on January 10, 2010.
[1] I have pictures if you want. J Laodecia, in particular, is possibly one of the coolest places I’ve ever been.
[2] The answer to that question, by the way is: “I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”