Tag Archives: Paul

One Great Sentence

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Once, somebody wrote a whole novel using one long sentence. Since it’s written in Czechoslovakian I can’t confirm. However, that book inspired English author Jonathan Coe to pen a novel composed of one 13,955-word sentence spanning 416 pages. Impressive, right? Maybe not. My sixth grade English teacher would have been all over that with a red pen.

In my opinion, the best run-on sentence ever is found in Ephesians chapter one, where Paul expounds—in Greek—for twelve verses without a period. The English translation, thankfully, divvies up the passage into eight sentences.

Bible scholar E. Nordon called it “the most monstrous sentence conglomeration I have ever met in the Greek language.”

Eugene Peterson said, “Who can resist this marvelous, tumbling cataract of poetry?”

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Monstrous or marvelous? That depends on if you’re an English teacher or if you are a friend who enjoys listening to a loved one who is so excited about a topic that they just can’t stop talking and you can’t get a word in edgewise but it’s ok because you don’t really have anything to add so you simply nod your head and smile the whole time. <Gasp>

The Apostle Paul wasn’t writing a term paper to the Ephesians.
He was communicating such astounding truth
that he couldn’t stop to come up for air.

I’m taking a little bit at a time
so I don’t hyperventilate.

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“It is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:5

My Bible Reading Plan has me on a slow stroll through Ephesians during February and March. You’re invited to walk with me!

Paul’s Pause

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pause-buttonI wish I had a pause button.  It would be handy to have a way to “check out” for a few moments during the day and not miss anything in the process.  All the activity would go into freeze mode while I catch up or take a breather.  Of course, I would like to be in charge of my pause button.  I would not be so keen on someone else having control of when the pauses come.

Periods of waiting are really just temporary pauses.  The power is still on, the disc is still in the player and in a moment, things will pick right back up where they left off.  We just need to be careful not to give up and shut down during the pauses.  God does some of His best work during lulls.

Saul was on his way to persecute Christians when the light of Christ knocked him flat.  He experienced a radical conversion and then made a complete u-turn.  Immediately, Saul began his work of building churches and writing a good portion of the New Testament.  Right?  Push pause.

After a few days, Saul-the-hunter became Saul-the-hunted. Evidently the head honchos at the synagogue didn’t like the idea of their up-and-coming persecutor going soft on them.  Saul changed his name to Paul and got outta town.  Acts 9:23 says, “After many days had gone by…”   Yeah, it was many days, all right.  Galatians 1:18 is a little more specific, “Then after three years….”

Wait a minute….. or three years.  What did the fresh convert do all that time?  Why did Paul go off to the Damascus desert and hole up for thirty-six months?  Was that really the best use of his time and talent?  There were churches to plant and sermons to preach.  The world needed his brilliance and leadership.

I don’t know what Paul did during that long pause, but it probably had something to do with re-programming his Pharisee-driven thinking.  Most likely, he studied the scriptures with unveiled eyes and sharp understanding.  He learned how to make tents so he would be able to support his own ministry.  He wrestled with guilt and found forgiveness.  Paul discovered how to abide in the life-giving freedom of the Spirit instead of the suffocating legalism of the law.  Only then was he ready to go out and change the world.

God provides built-in pauses for His people — sleeping at night, the Sabbath Day, Advent season.  If we don’t embrace these times of waiting, we won’t be ready to change our world.