Misusing the Bible

Misusing the Bible

2 Timothy 3:14-17

            Paul understood Scripture.  He undoubtedly understood it better than the other early apostles.  They were mainly from the working class and had little formal education.  Yes, they would have known Scripture.  That would have been a significant part of whatever education they received—perhaps the most significant part.  Paul, however, had been trained as a Pharisee and had great credentials as a scholar.  He had studied with Gamaliel, one of the leading experts of his day.    This is part of what enabled him to develop a theology which encompassed both Jews and Greeks.  In today’s parlance, he knew the word!

            Remember, when we speak of Scripture in the first century, we’re speaking of the Hebrew Scriptures—what Christians usually refer to as the Old Testament.  That was the only Bible there was.  It was well into the fourth century C.E. before what we now know as the New Testament became canon.

            Paul’s advice to Timothy is excellent:  “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness….”  Whether we believe that God dictated Scripture to the sacred writers, or that they wrote as human beings under divine inspiration, the Bible is our record of God’s relationship with humankind.  Whether we believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, or feel that some of its stories are allegorical and some of its language figurative, the Bible is where we find God’s attempts to redeem humankind and reconcile us with our Creator.

            We must be careful, however, not to misuse the Bible—and it is easy to do that.  Here are some ways people have misused God’s word over the centuries.

            The Bible as Science Text.  The Bible does not claim to be a science textbook, and should not be used as such.  Even those of us whose science education doesn’t extend further than a couple of basic courses in high school know that Scripture’s descriptions of the way the world works are more figurative than accurate.  Galileo proved long ago that the sun does not revolve around the earth.  The Church did itself a disservice by maintaining that the Bible said it was the other way round.  Church leaders compounded the error by waiting until nearly the end of the twentieth century before stating that Galileo was right.

            Let us realize that scientific discoveries are God’s way of revealing to humankind how things work.  Science is not anti-Bible, even if some scientists take that stand.  The more we learn about science, the more we should realize how awesome God  is to have created a universe that works in such a wondrous, marvelous way.

            The Bible as History Text.  The Bible does not claim to be a history textbook either.  Other historical records show that the Bible is not entirely accurate in its description of events.  That was never its purpose.  The Bible was given to humankind to be a record of our relationship with God, not a record of humans’ time on earth.  Because we demand our historical records (such as newspaper stories) be as accurate as possible, let us rely on Scripture to tell us how we should live, and not how our societies developed.

             The Bible as Support of Ungodly Stands.  Krister Stendahl, the eminent Swedish theologian and New Testament scholar, said:  “The last racists in this country, should there ever be an end to such, will be those with Bible in hand.  There has never been an evil cause that has not been made more evil when it could use the Bible to support its arguments.” 

            We must be careful not to use Scripture to support positions which in any way denigrate any of God’s children.  Thank heaven we no longer burn heretics at the stake—although some religious extremists still insist on executing those who do not believe as they do.  Over the centuries since Christ walked this earth the Bible has been used to shore up some pretty un-Christlike beliefs.  Not only racism, but slavery, abuse of women, and many other inequalities have been supported by verses taken from Scripture.  Paul knew what he was saying when he insisted that there was no difference between people in God’s sight.  Men and women, Jews and Greeks, Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, straights and gays—all are God’s children, and all are to be respected as such.  We have no right to demean those whom God has made.

Be Careful What You Sing

Be Careful What You Sing

Psalm 96

            We are frequently reminded to be careful what we say—and it’s a good reminder.  If you’re anything like me, you have a tendency to start your mouth before engaging your brain.  That can be dangerous.  I sometimes say things I wish I hadn’t.  If only I had thought before I opened my mouth, I would have been better off.  How much trouble—and anguish and sorrow—we would save ourselves if only we thought first and spoke second.

            It’s not speaking I’m concerned with today, but singing.  I believe we also suffer from the same lack of thought when we sing as when we speak.

            Professional performers don’t have to believe what they sing.  They just have to sing the song in a manner that convinces their audience that they believe—or they could believe—what they sing.  After all, audiences want to believe that the singer is sincere.  In theatre it’s called the “willing suspension of disbelief.”  The audience knows that the actor is not really who he says he is in the play, but, for the sake of being entertained, accepts the performer’s words as truth.  Professional singers are, after all, actors.

            When we sing in church, however, we’re not professionals.  When we sing as members of a congregation, we fulfill another role, and it has nothing to do with acting.  On these occasions we lift our hearts and voices to God.  Sometimes, as in Psalm 96, we raise our voices in praise of God’s power, and love, and glory.  We might find ourselves singing, “Praise my soul the God of Heaven, to God’s feet thy tribute bring” or “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation” or “When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, may Jesus Christ be praised.”  We might also express our praise with old favorites such as, “To God Be the Glory,” or “How Great Thou Art.”

            Sometimes our voices are lifted in prayer.  On such occasions we might sing “My Faith Looks Up to Thee,” or “I Need Thee Every Hour,” or “Lord I Want to Be a Christian.”  At other times we find ourselves singing words of encouragement, such as “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” or “Christians We Have Met to Worship,” or “He Lives.”   

            In each of these cases, it is assumed that we believe what we sing.  There’s no acting here, no pretending, no playing a part.  We are believers (isn’t that what we call ourselves?) expressing our deepest longings, our heartfelt praise, our sincerest thoughts.  Or are we? 

            Do we really mean what we sing?  Do we think about the words we’re saying?  Do these statements come from our hearts or are we thoughtlessly repeating words and melodies we’ve sung so many times that they’ve ceased to mean anything to us.  It’s easy to lose ourselves in familiarity, to become so accustomed to text and tune that we lose the freshness of sincere expression.

            I think we have to be especially careful with hymns of commitment.  When we sing “Have Thine Own Way, Lord,” do we mean it?  Are we really turning everything over to God?  Are we singing in complete surrender, or just mouthing familiar words?  If we mean what we sing won’t it make huge changes in our lives?  Are we ready for those changes, for the complete surrender to God’s will that these words imply?  What about “I Am Thine, O Lord,” or Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to Thee,” or Where He Leads Me I will Follow?’  Are we ready for such a commitment?

            What about “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus?”  Do we have the courage to go through with it, and can we with our whole hearts promise, “no turning back”—and keep that promise?

Gardening: Getting Down and Dirty

Gardening:  Getting Down and Dirty

Mark 4:1-20

            There are two things we know about this Scripture.  We know this parable.  We’ve heard it preached many times.  We know how seed was sown then—by hand, with the sower reaching into a bag and scattering the seed by throwing it.  We know that wasn’t efficient because he couldn’t always control the direction of the seed or where it fell.  We know about the four kinds of soil.  We know three of the four kinds were not conducive to producing a crop. 

-The seed that fell on the dirt path, which had been packed down by the tramp of many feet, was eaten by birds. 

-The seed that fell on rocky ground couldn’t take root, so the plants withered and died.

            -The seed that fell among thorns and weeds had no room to grow, so the plants were choked off before they could produce fruit.

We know this parable so well that we don’t even need Jesus’ explanation to his disciples. In fact, we wonder why people living so close to the land couldn’t figure out the meaning.

            We know that Jesus wanted his listeners to understand that they were the soil.  They were to receive the words that Jesus spoke and in turn share them with others, thereby bearing fruit for God’s kingdom.  We also know that at different times in our lives we’ve probably been all four kinds of soil.  There have been times when our lives have borne fruit for God, but there have also been times when we’ve been hard hearted.  There have been times when we have been “good soil,” and times when the rocks of tribulation have gotten in the way of our being fruitful.  There have been times when we have been attentive to God’s call, and times when other interests choked off God’s words to us.

            The other thing we know about this Scripture has to do with gardening.  In this parable the sower is not the main character.  He only exists to move the story along.  The central “characters” are the four kinds of soil.  True, the story couldn’t get started without the sower, but once he scatters the seed, his part in the tale is over.  He goes home and lets nature take its course.

            That’s not the way a gardener works.  A person who is truly committed to gardening spends hours with the plants.  He/she prepares the soil to receive the seeds or young plants.  The ground has to be tilled, either by hand or by machine.  Rocks and other obstacles to growth must be removed.  Sometimes fertilizer must be added. 

Once the seeds or plants are in the ground the gardener’s work is not over.  Everything must be watered regularly.  Weeds spring up in places where they shouldn’t, and must be removed—not just once, but many times during the growing season.  Certain kinds of grass love to sneak under garden borders and invade plant beds.  It has been my experience that grass often won’t grow where you want it, but is prolific where you don’t want it.

            The fruit, whether ornamental flowers or food for the table, doesn’t grow by accident.  It must be cultivated, tended, cared for, watched over, and then, if everything works out, the garden produces thirty fold, or sixty fold, or a hundred fold.

            Gardening is hard work, and you can’t do it properly without getting down and dirty—getting down on your knees and getting your clothes and your hands dirty.  That’s the nature of gardening, and that’s the nature of working for God’s kingdom.  We have to spend time on our knees in prayer and in service.  We have to get our hands dirty with people and tasks that might not always be as clean as we would like.  But down and dirty we must get.

            How else are we going to bear fruit?

Love Your Enemies

Love Your Enemies

Mark 12:28-34

            Remember, this wasn’t a friendly question asked by one of Jesus’ followers because he wanted to learn from the Master.  When a religious leader asked Jesus a question it was usually a trap, a trick designed to stump Jesus, make him look foolish, and use his answer to discredit him—sort of like politicians do to each other today.  They figured that whatever answer Jesus gave they could come up with a reason it was the wrong one.  “Back him into a corner,” they thought, “and make him squirm.”

            Their problem was that Jesus was too smart for them.  Every trap they set for him, he avoided, coming up with the perfect answer to squelch his opponents and make them look foolish.  By the time he finished with them, they were squirming, and the people, who they were trying to impress with their cleverness, were more solidly in Jesus’ camp than before.

            Why is Jesus’ answer so perfect?  He avoided choosing one of the Ten Commandments (which was the direction the scribe was sure he would go) and chose instead the statement that more than any other defines Judaism from the beginning and for the ages.  “God is one, and you are to love this one God with every fiber of your being.”  That sums up the first three commandments.  Then Jesus added, “Love your neighbor as yourself”—and that sums up the other seven.  If we love God we will place God first in our lives, will not try to replace or demean God in any way, and will honor God with at least the one day of the week set aside to do so.  If we love God we will love God’s children—our neighbors—and we will demonstrate that love by treating them as we would want to be treated ourselves. 

At the end of the encounter Jesus’ questioner had to admit that Jesus got it right.  He was probably shocked when Jesus complimented him by saying, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 

            Luke’s version (10:25-37) is different.  The scribe (lawyer) doesn’t give up after the first answer.  He asks, “And who is my neighbor?”  Jesus gives him an answer which was sure to upset most of those who were listening.  It’s the parable of the Good Samaritan—a story so familiar that we don’t have to review it here.  Suffice to say that with this story Jesus identified enemies as neighbors.

            Isn’t that the way life often works?  We’d love to choose our neighbors, to only live close to people we care about, get along with, and/or agree with; but unless we live in an isolated community, walled off from everyone but those like-minded individuals we couldn’t possibly disagree with, that’s impossible.

            Even if we could create such a community it wouldn’t isolate us enough from potential enemies.  We’ve all known families where members fall out with each other. We know that family feuds can be the worst kind.  They often go on for generations—well after everyone alive has forgotten the cause of the original quarrel.

            In addition to family members we’d rather not have to interact with, there are people who live next door, or down the block, or around the corner who we’d just as soon not run into.  There are co-workers who we avoid as much as possible.  On a daily basis we encounter those who, if not outright enemies, are certainly people we wouldn’t consider friends.

            Jesus says, “Love your neighbor.”  He doesn’t say, “Love the neighbors you can get along with.”  He says, “Love your neighbor—friend or foe, pal or enemy, love them all.”  And it’s not enough to love them “for Jesus’ sake.”  We have to love them wholeheartedly—and we have to love them for our own salvation.

            

Crossing the River

Crossing the River

Joshua 3:1-17

            As the family sat around the dinner table one Sunday after church, father asked young Bobby, “What did you learn in Sunday school today?” 

The boy answered, “Well, Moses and the Israelites were camped on the bank of the Red Sea, and the Egyptian army came after them with tanks and artillery.  The Israelite army quickly built a pontoon bridge over the water.  Moses loaded all the people into trucks, and they made it across.  When the Egyptians got to the middle of the bridge, Moses sent the Israelite air force to bomb the bridge, and the Egyptian army drowned.”

“Bobby,” his father said.  “That’s not the way your teacher told the story, is it?”

“No, dad,” Bobby replied, “but if I told it the way she did, you’d never believe it!”

He’s right, of course.  The story we read in Exodus 14 is pretty unbelievable.  How could the sea be held back and the people walk across on dry ground?  The simple answer is that the God who set in motion the physical laws of the universe ought to be able to suspend those laws when circumstances require.  We don’t have to get any more technical than that.

It’s important to remember that there were two water crossings in the Exodus story.  The Israelites crossed the Red Sea in their escape from Egypt (the actual Exodus).  Forty years or so later they crossed the Jordan River into Canaan—the Promised Land.  In some ways these two stories are similar.  In others they are very different.

The most obvious similarity is that in each case the waters were held back so the people could cross over on dry ground.  However God accomplished that feat (and who are we to question God’s power to do whatever God pleases), the crossing was accomplished.  Psalm 29:3-4 speaks eloquently about God’s control over water.  The instances in Exodus and Joshua are examples of that power.

What about the differences?  The most obvious one is that, when crossing the Red Sea, Israel was escaping from bondage in a foreign land.  They became a free people  Also, they were being pursued by a Pharaoh who realized he had made a mistake in letting them go.  Without the slave labor they provided, how was he to get his building projects completed?

The Jordan crossing was quite a different matter.  After years of wandering aimlessly through the wilderness—punishment for disobeying God’s commands—the Israelites, minus their leader Moses, were finally ready to claim their inheritance.  Once again a body of water stood in their way.  This time it was the Jordan, swollen to unmanageable width and depth by seasonal rains.  Once again God’s power sufficed to bring them safely across, this time led by Joshua.  We can imagine their relief and excitement as they stood for the first time on the land God had promised them so long ago.  They were not only free, but home.

In our spiritual lives we must also cross both the Red Sea and the Jordan.  When we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and recognize God’s claim on our lives, we escape from the bondage of sin just as Israel escaped from slavery.  That isn’t the end of things, however; it’s only the beginning.

For the rest of our lives we wander, sometimes drawing close to God, sometimes getting lost in a wilderness of our own making.  Sooner or later we find ourselves on the banks of the Jordan, ready to cross over into the Promised Land.  Many of our hymns celebrate this moment:  “When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside,” is from one of my favorites, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. It continues, “Death of death and Hell’s destruction, land me safe on Canaan’s side.”

God has given us this promise:  if we remain faithful, at the end of our wandering we will see the home God has prepared for us.

Condemned Out of Our Own Mouths

Condemned Out of Our Own Mouths

Genesis 3:1-13

            A minister colleague of mine once said that it makes no difference whether the story of Adam and Eve is actually true or an allegory.  The lessons to be learned are the same.  I agree.  We spend too much time trying to prove biblical facts and not enough time trying to understand God’s message to us in the Bible.

When we consider this story we usually focus on the encounters between Eve and the serpent, and between Eve and Adam.  There are certainly lessons to be learned from them. 

Satan knows just what temptation will get through our defenses.  In Eve’s case it was an appeal to her ego—as, in a way, is all temptation:

            “God said you will die?  Surely not!  You won’t die.  God doesn’t want you to eat of that fruit because it will make you too wise.  You’ll know everything—understand everything.  Why, you’ll know so much you’ll be like God.  Wouldn’t that be something!”

            Here’s a problem:  if God had created humankind without an ego we would have been puppets, hanging around waiting for God to pull our strings and move us from one place to another.  On the other hand, it is our ego that makes us want our own way instead of following God’s commands.  God allows us to choose which path we will take.

            When Jesus said (Matthew 11:29), “Take my yoke upon you; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” he was, in a way, echoing what God had said to Adam and Eve.  “The rules are simple.  Enjoy the world that I’ve created for you.  Only one thing I command:  Don’t eat of this tree.  Stay away from it and all will be well.”  What could be simpler?  What could be easier?

            The promise of wisdom was too much of a temptation for Eve.  She couldn’t resist.  Adam joined her in disobedience.  In Paradise Lost, John Milton argues that Adam found out that Eve had broken God’s commands he was sure God would carry out the sentence of death.  Because he loved Eve so much he couldn’t bear to face life without her.  Rather than be left alone he ate of the fruit in order to share her punishment.  Sounds reasonable, but we’ll never know this side of heaven what really happened.

            Let’s look at what happened after Adam and Eve disobeyed.  They realized they were naked.  That was the extent, it seems, of their newfound wisdom:  they knew they had no clothes.  Rather than continue in that condition, they made themselves coverings of fig leaves, then hid when they heard God’s voice.  When God asked them where they were, Adam replied, “I heard your voice and was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

            That’s all he needed to say to demonstrate his guilt.  He was condemned out of his own mouth.  He didn’t have to say, “I disobeyed your command.”  When he said he was naked he admitted that he knew more than he had before.  God knew immediately what he and Eve had done.

            When we were children we frequently condemned ourselves out of our own mouths.  Those of us who are parents have watched our children replicate this behavior.  No one has to accuse us.  In trying to avoid the consequences of our actions we say the words that let everyone know we did wrong.

            How often we do this with God!  God knows what we’ve done.  God sees it in our faces, hears it in our voices, and observes it in our actions.  Like Adam and Eve we stand before God, accused by our own behavior, knowing we are guilty, but hoping to be forgiven.

Where Do You Fit?

Where do You Fit?

Luke 2:1-7

            A certain radio sports commentator has a character he calls “The Old Curmudgeon.”  Whenever he wants to let off steam about an issue (or a bunch of issues) he becomes The Old Curmudgeon.  This allows him to be a grumpy old man and get away with it.  Today I’m going to be a grumpy old man—at least for a while.

            I’m writing this four days after Christmas.  This afternoon we were in one of the local grocery stores to pick up a few items.  There was not a Christmas decoration to be seen.  I expected to find the leftover Father Christmas and snowman figures at a greatly reduced price.  Not one was in view.  The shelf space devoted to Christmas stuff was either empty or already filling up with boxes of Valentine’s Day candy.  I didn’t check out the greeting card display, but I imagine the same thing was true there.  In stores where they have been playing Christmas music all day every day, those recordings have been put away for another year, or the radio station has been changed.  Carols are so last week. Actually, I suspect the people who work in those stores are relieved.  I know I couldn’t spend every work day for a month listening to the same—mostly inane—songs endlessly repeated.

            “Christmas is over!  Clear out the leftover merchandise.  Let’s get on to the next big holiday.  No time for sentiment or contemplating what Christmas should mean.  Time to get busy promoting the next occasion to overspend—and Valentine’s Day is a good one!  Candy! Flowers! Cards! Jewelry!  Come on, folks!  Sell!  Sell!  Sell!  Spend!  Spend!  Spend!”

            Have you noticed that Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, for those of you who have been in isolation for the past two months) isn’t special anymore?  Stores open Thanksgiving night for people who want a head start.  Even worse, stores offer “Black Friday Sale Prices” for weeks ahead of the actual day.  They’re afraid they’ll miss out on making money.  They bombard us with advertising and special pricing so early that Thanksgiving might just disappear.  If this goes any further we’ll have Christmas sales beginning right after July Fourth.

            I’m a great fan of the newspaper comic strips.  For the past few days Curtis (about an African-American family living in a big city) has shown the TV set advertising Kwanzaa sales just like Christmas sales.  The father is bemoaning the fact that not even Kwanzaa (a non-sacred holiday by the way) is sacred anymore.  Commercialism knows no bounds.

I have no problem with the secular celebration of Christmas.  While my wife and I stopped buying each other Christmas presents years ago (not in protest, but because we enjoy shopping together), I still remember my excitement as a kid on Christmas morning—and I wouldn’t deny any child (or adult either) that feeling of joy. 

            I wish those of us who call ourselves by Christ’s name would spend as much time contemplating what the birth of Jesus Christ has meant—and continues to mean—to the world.  Perhaps we could spend the week between Christmas Day and New Years’ Day focusing on Jesus’ birth and its meaning.

To be a Christian means to stand apart from the crowd by refusing to be dominated by the prevailing culture.  It means living in the reality that we are different from the majority of people.  We understand that the birth of the Christ Child more than two thousand years ago has not only changed the world, but has also changed us.

            Recently I saw a sign outside a church.  It asked: “Are you part of the inn crowd or one of the stable few?”  It’s time to make up our minds which group we belong to.