Not So Cut and Dry

"Be careful to do everything I have said to you." Exodus 23:13

Not So Cut and Dry
By Rev. William Dohle

There's a song I just loved growing up.  It has the most familiar tune to it too and sometimes, if you've had even just a smidge of Sunday School, you'll sing right along with it.  It's words go like this...

Jesus Loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him be loved
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.

I love that song!  It really hits at the heart of our faith as children.  Jesus loves me...so all can be right with the world.  And I know it because the Bible (and most of the time Mommy and Daddy and that nice guy or gal who stands up front in church) tells me so.

That simple faith, based on the Bible, can be found too in a popular Fundamentalist bumper sticker too.  It reads:

"God Said it.  I believe it.  That settles it!"

Unfortunately, read through that book called the Bible, the book we claim God wrote, and we come across a number of things that we don't believe and, quite frankly, don't follow at all.

Take, for instance, some of the laws we find written in the book of Exodus.

Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death. (21:15)
Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. (21:17)
If a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death. (21:14)
Do not allow a sorceress to live. (22:18)
Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed. (22:29)

All of these have the penalty of death attached to them.  No exception.  If we are to do what the Bible says.  If God said it and we believe it and that settles it, shouldn't it also settle that we are to kill our children if they attack us or even curse us?  Shouldn't that settle most murder cases?  Take them out and kill them, according to this reading of Scripture.

Of course, even if you agree and say we should follow these statements, there are still other politically charged statements to consider like...

"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt."(22:21...concerning immigration)
Or...
"Do not take advantage of a widow or orphan."(22:22...concerning possibly welfare?)
Or...
"Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people."(22:28...even if you disagree with them?)

The list goes on and on.  How do you handle these statements if "God said it...I believe it...that settles it?"  It's hard to reconcile an unwavering, uncritical view of Scripture with these statements that we clearly do not follow.

There is, though, another way of looking at it.  One described in the graphic above.  That way involves taking the text and interpreting it.  Here you take what is written and ask yourself, "What am I hearing in this text?  How does it speak to me?"

For example, the rabbis of old would often interpret the texts concerning capital punishment this way.  If the Torah(Bible) said it once, it was a warning.  If it said it twice, it meant that punishment should ensue if the commandment was broken.  And every(or nearly every) instance of capital punishment could be resolved with a monetary fine.

Christians often do the same by ignoring the sections of the Bible that don't speak to them.  We dismiss them as ancient laws and rules of a by-gone era.  We hold the first ten sacred, but fall off when it comes to following the rest.  Martin Luther interpreted Scripture through Christ.  A "canon within a canon" was what he called the pieces of Scripture that spoke of Christ the clearest.  The rest could be discarded if need be.

So, how do you read Scripture?  What do you do with these texts?  Instead of coming up with a iron-clad rulebook, I think it might help if we follow a process.  First we read what is written.  Not what we think has been written.  What is actually there.  Then we read before and after it to take in into context.  We look further into Scripture to see how others have interpreted this passage.  Then, with tradition and the words of the saints, you work through what you feel this passage might mean now for you.  Not for others, but for you.  You apply the words you read first to yourself and your life.  Then you turn to the community of faith, the church, to ask them what they think of your interpretation and what modifications need to be made.  And then you apply said interpretation, bring these words to life through your example.

If we're honest with ourselves and really attempt to follow what God in all of Scripture has taught us, through the Holy Spirit we may slowly become more loving, graceful, and forgiving of others.  We may work for justice for the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner in particular.  We may see God's big plan for the world being, not condemnation, but benevolent salvation.  And, ironically, we may begin to look more and more like his Son, Jesus the Messiah.

Just a thought as you are reading through the best library of religious writing ever compiled.  The one and only Bible!

I am confused, Lord, most of the time I open Scripture, and yet I come to you with an open heart, asking you to speak to me through the words written so long ago.  Amen.