The Waking Dreamer: Scripture

Showing posts with label Scripture. Show all posts

Monday, April 27, 2026

Listening

Matthew 17:1-13; 2 Peter 1:12-21[1]

I had an experience growing up that I think some of you might be familiar with. I would be engaged in something, completely immersed in what I was doing. My mother would be talking to me about finishing my homework or doing chores, and she would ask me, “Are you listening?” I would answer yes, but the truth of the matter was that while I may have been “hearing” her speak, I wasn’t “listening” to what she was saying at all. I wasn’t trying to be rude; I was just so immersed in what I was doing that I simply couldn’t hear her. As a parent, like many of you, I’ve had the joy of experiencing the other side of that conversation. With my children I learned that it worked best for me to actually touch them on the shoulder to get their attention before trying to communicate something important. That seemed to work for them. I would imagine a lot of us have been on both sides of that conversation.

When you read the stories from the Gospels about Jesus teaching his disciples, it can feel like something similar was going on. While they were paying attention to him, they really didn’t understand what he was telling them. They were distracted by their own concerns, their own expectations, and their own preconceived ideas. One of the classic examples of this is when he told them (not once but several times) that his path of obeying God was going to lead to his dying on a cross. That just didn’t make any sense to them. They heard the words he was saying, but they didn’t have the ability to actually “listen.”

We see something like this in the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. In Matthew’s version of the story, Peter is overwhelmed by what he’s witnessing and wants to stay there on the mountain. He even offers to build three tents for them. That might seem like a strange request. But it might not have been that strange to Peter. One of the great festivals in Judaism still today is called Sukkot, or the “festival of booths.” In Scripture it was related to the idea that the people lived in tents when they came out of Egypt (Lev 23:42-43). It’s not much of a stretch to think that when Peter and the others saw Jesus transformed, and when they saw Moses and Elijah him, they believed that God was fulfilling their hopes and dreams for a new Exodus to liberate the people from the Roman Empire. It’s not surprising that Peter wanted to set up tents and stay on that mountain!

But in Matthew’s Gospel, Peter’s request was answered by the voice of God himself: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (Mt 17:5). I would say that this voice responds to Peter with a (gentle) rebuke. He wanted to stay on the mountain, where he believed he was witnessing the beginning of his hopes and dreams coming true. But the voice from the cloud instructed Peter and the others to direct their attention to Jesus. More than that they were to “listen to him.” And the implication here is that they were not only to listen to him but also follow his instructions. Afterwards, Jesus took them down the mountain where they were to engage with people he called a “faithless generation” (Mt 17:17). It’s no wonder they had difficulty hearing and understanding what he was trying to teach them about how they were to live and serve in that setting.

When I think of that situation of hearing but not really listening, it reminds me also of our reading from 2 Peter for today. Apparently, 2 Peter was written long enough after Jesus’ resurrection that many were beginning to deny that there would be a “second coming” at all (2 Pet 3:4). In response, our reading for today reminded them that Jesus’ transfiguration on that mountain was a kind of a foreshadowing of his “second coming.” What those who were there saw and heard left them with no doubt that Jesus would indeed return in the full majesty of his glory as Savior and Lord.

Unfortunately, some have approached this passage as if it advocates that Scripture is to be accepted at face value, simply embracing the “literal meaning” of the words. The truth is any written document has to be interpreted. That’s especially true for a document written as long ago and in such a different setting from ours as the Bible. More than that, the Bible itself raises some questions that we cannot readily answer. That makes it difficult if not impossible to simply embrace the “literal meaning.” I think what all this means is if we’re going follow the advice to “pay close attention” to Scripture we’re going to have to put forth some effort (2 Pet. 1:19, NLT). We’re going to have to be intentional about it. I think that means more than a casual reading of select verses. It means serious and sustained study of the Bible!

Listening closely to Scripture has never been easy. There have always been those who raised objections that seem to call into question the validity of the Bible as a source for faith. And there will always be a wide range of voices claiming to speak on behalf of the Bible. It takes some effort to sort through the tangle of conflicting messages out there. But it seems to me that our lesson for today points us in the right direction. As those who have gone before us have framed it, “the clear teaching of Scripture” has always been there to guide us. There are some things that are clear. There are some things we can say confidently that “the Bible teaches this.” Those who have gone before us have called that “the clear teaching of Scripture.” That doesn’t mean we’re going to automatically find the answer to our questions simply by flipping through our Bible. It’s going to take intentional study of the Bible if we’re going to do a better job of “paying attention” to Scripture.

I guess the place to start is making time to listen to the Scriptures. Most people would just try to “read through” the Bible. But if you start with Genesis chapter 1, the likelihood that you’ll make it all the way through to Revelation chapter 22 is fairly small. Most people don’t succeed at reading through the Bible in that way. That’s where Bible reading plans can help us. We do hear the Scripture in worship on Sunday morning, but I dare say that we may not always be “listening,” even in this place. Sacred music, whether traditional or contemporary, can contain scripture. But musicians aren’t always the best Bible teachers. Let’s face it, sometimes Pastors aren’t always the best Bible teachers! I’ve found the Bible itself to be the best teacher. And the way we “let” the Bible teach us is by reading it. Over and over again. And preferably in different versions. We do that until what is the “clear teaching” in the Scriptures begins to stand out in contrast to some things that aren’t so clear. Our faith can focus on those clear, foundational teachings, and we don’t get so bothered by what may be not so clear. That’s how the Bible teaches us to read the Bible. Paying close attention to the voice of the Bible is a bit like actually listening to someone who’s talking to us. We have to “tune in” rather than “tuning out.” As it turns out, really listening always takes effort on our part. If we believe the Bible is the basis for our faith, then we’d better get with it when it comes to “paying closer attention.” Our lessons for today challenge us to start being much more intentional about listening for the “word of the Lord” through Scripture!

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Keeping God's Word

Keeping God’s Word

John 14:15-29[1]

One of the criticisms regularly leveled against the church by those who avoid it is that “the church is full of hypocrites.” That notion has been around for a long time, and we’ve developed a lot of ways to deflect that criticism. One of them is by responding that we know we’re sinners, but we’re here because we’re forgiven, not because we’re perfect. While I agree with that statement one hundred percent, I think it misses the point. It doesn’t really address the criticism that we in the church are “hypocrites.” That’s because we don’t typically take the time to find out what people mean when they level that criticism against the church.

I think when people call us “hypocrites,” they may be referring to the fact that they hear us say one thing but they see us doing something very different. We claim to follow Jesus, but we fail to practice the love that Jesus said would be the defining characteristic of those who follow him, as the Gospel lesson from last week reminds us (Jn 13:34-35). We say we believe the Bible to be the “Word of God,” but we fail to live out the fundamental principles of the Bible in our daily lives. Principles like “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). Or, “See that justice is done—help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows.” (Isa 1:16-17, GNT). Or, “The Lord God has told us what is right and what he demands: Seeing that justice is done, letting mercy be your first concern, and humbly obeying your God” (Mic. 6:8, CEV). Or, as Jesus put it, “In everything, do to others what you would want them to do to you” (Mt 7:12, NIRV). When people see us living in a way that contradicts those basic principles, I’m afraid our actions speak much louder than our words.

In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus addresses this issue. He says quite bluntly that “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). That might sound strange to those of us who are used to the language of grace promising us salvation as a gift and freeing us from the bondage of living by rules. But in Jesus’ day, “keeping” the commandments was a perfectly normal way of expressing a life of faithfulness to God. “Keeping” God’s word meant internalizing God’s truths to the extent that they shaped every aspect of one’s daily life. It meant practicing God’s love and God’s mercy in every aspect of life. I think that’s what Jesus had in mind when he told his disciples that others would know that they follow him by how well they practiced the love he showed them.

I think we can get confused about how the gift of salvation relates to how well we keep God’s word. There seem to be two extremes. On the one hand, there are those who obsess about every little detail of Scripture in a compulsive effort to obey God perfectly, as if their very souls or their eternal destiny depended on getting it all just right. At the other extreme are those who think of biblical teachings as “suggestions” and instead adopt a way of life that looks more like “doing your own thing.” Of course, life is rarely “clear-cut” enough for us to know what the “right” thing to do is in an absolute sense. But that doesn’t mean we throw out the teachings of Scripture altogether.

I would say the true test of how well we keep God’s word is not how much we read it in worship, or how well we can quote it from memory. The true test is whether our actions back up our words. That only happens when we’ve internalized the central principles of Scripture enough, we’ve made them so much a part of who we are, we’ve taken them into our hearts and lives so deeply that we follow them as guides for living when it’s not always clear what the right thing to do is. In our ever-changing world, we are going to be placed more and more into situations where that’s the case. I think when we have truly embraced God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s kindness, God’s fairness, and God’s forgiveness as our basis for living, then those are the principles that will define our actions.

One of the challenges we face when it comes to “keeping God’s Word” is that many of us still think that Jesus somehow makes it “easier” for us. But in my mind that’s clearly not the case. If we just look at the way Jesus deals with some of the Ten Commandments in his Sermon on the Mount, we can see this. When it comes to the commandment, “You shall not kill,” Jesus said not only should you not kill anyone, you should also not give in to the hateful anger that devalues the life of others by the way you speak to them or about them! That one can be pretty hard to live up to! And we might also wonder about what it means to “keep” Jesus’ commandments. In case there’s any doubt, I would say there’s really no distinction at all between the essential commands of God in the Hebrew Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Throughout the Scriptures, the calling is to love God with everything we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

The fact that Jesus said that one of the distinguishing marks of those who follow him, of those who love him, is whether or not we “keep” his word doesn’t mean that our relationship with God is something we have to earn. One of the hallmarks of our Reformed tradition is that it teaches us we can never do that. Rather, it’s like a relationship where two people love each other and want the best for each other—not because of some external rule or code of conduct, but because of the love they have for each other. Jesus said that if we love him, we’ll follow his teachings, his way of life, his example—simply because the love we have for him compels us to do so. When we do that, then the people around us will see our actions line up with what we say we believe.

Mohandas Ghandi famously said that he would become a Christian if he ever met one. Of course, he had met many who professed to be Christians. But his point was that he never met anyone who actually put Jesus’ teachings into practice. He may have been a little hard on some folks, but that’s the challenge we all face. When our love for God and for Jesus Christ truly define who we are, from the inside out, then our lives will publicly display what it means to keep God’s word. We will do it just because that’s who we are, because our love for God and for Jesus compels us to live that way. Fortunately, learn in our Gospel lesson that it’s not a do-it-yourself project. Jesus promised the disciples that “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything” (Jn. 14:26). And the idea is that the Spirit is the one who will help us live this way. With the Spirit’s help, with the guidance of Scripture, we can live a life of keeping God’s word, which means a life where our actions line up with what we say we believe.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Words of Life

Psalm 19[1]

You may not know that the American Bible Society has conducted a survey called “The Bible in America Today” every year since 2011. In their survey, they measure adults who use the Bible in some way outside of church. They measure those who believe the Bible impacts their relationship with God and others, and those who make decisions about their life based on the Bible. Up to 2021, the percentage of adults who reported using the Bible outside of church was about 50 percent. Since 2022, that number has dropped to under 40 percent. Ironically, at the same time, many report that their use of the Bible outside of church has increased. That’s not unusual for a survey. What we want to think about ourselves doesn’t always match up with reality.

While the decline in Bible use is bad enough, the survey itself is troubling for several reasons. For one thing, the threshold to qualify as someone who “uses” the Bible outside of church is only three or four times a year. I shudder to think what the survey would report if that threshold were raised to monthly or even weekly! Another result of the survey is that while people are using the Bible to help them with decision-making at about the same level as last year, more adults are reporting that the Bible does not help them feel more connected to God or help them act toward others in more loving ways. That is, the Bible doesn’t help them “love God” or “love their neighbors as themselves.” It’s sad to say, but the report points us to the conclusion that ,, for a majority of Americans, rather than words of life, the words of the Bible for are just dead words on the page of a book that sits largely unused.

For some reason, there’s a significant “disconnect” between what the Bible says about itself and how people in our culture see it. Throughout the ages, people of faith have turned to the Scriptures in times of trouble for guidance, for encouragement, and for strength. And the Bible offers not only the promise that God’s love for us never fails, and that God will never abandon us, but it also offers us insights about living that can help us in the real-life situations we face. We’ve seen some of that in our interactions with Scripture readings on Sunday recently. Especially the readings from Ephesians, which were fairly down to earth and specific. But experience and time have shown us again and again that for us to benefit from the Bible’s wisdom, comfort, and encouragement, we have to actually pick it up and read it on a regular basis.

Our Scripture reading from the Psalms for today addresses this question. The Psalmist views the Scriptures as a source of life, joy, and wisdom. You might find that statement confusing, because the passage actually speaks in praise of “Law of the Lord.” We’re used to thinking of the “Law” in the Hebrew Bible as obsolete at best, and oppressive at worst. You can find New Testament passages where St. Paul speaks of the “Law” as a “dead letter” or as something that only brings condemnation. In fact, however, if you examine St. Paul’s views more closely, I think you’d find him in full agreement with the sentiments expressed in our Psalm for today.

Part of what we have to understand is that the Hebrew word that has traditionally been translated as “law” should probably be rendered as “instruction.” When the Hebrew Bible speaks of the Torah, it means much more than a bunch of rules that might seem irrelevant or burdensome. If you’ve read through that portion of the Bible, you know that there are a lot of rules that actually do seem burdensome or irrelevant. But the Torah is more than that. The Torah in the Hebrew Bible is God’s truth, God’s wisdom, God’s instructions for living. And, as the Psalmist says in our lesson for today, the Torah is not something oppressive, but rather it is a guide that helps us find our way to fulfillment in life. In a very real sense, God’s Torah consists of life-giving words that help us find faith, and hope, and love, comfort, and strength when we feel like our resources are failing. And what this Psalm says about God’s Torah applies to Scripture as a whole, not just a portion of it.

The other significant concept we have to grasp in order to make sense of our Psalm for today is that God’s grace and mercy stand behind everything in Scripture, including the Torah. It’s a common mistake to think that in the days of the ancient Israelites, the “law” taught them what they had to do to get God’s acceptance and love. Many of us have been misled to think that the Torah was the means by which one had to earn salvation through good deeds. Nothing could be further from the truth! The commandments that God gave to the people of Israel were always based on God’s love for them. Their salvation was always based on God’s love for them. Obeying the instructions for living in God’s Torah was the way they demonstrated that God’s love had truly made a difference in their lives.

I think that with those two perspectives in mind, we can better understand what the Psalm for today has to say about God’s Torah. As is often the case, I like the way Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message: “The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.” (Ps. 19:7-8). When you hear it that way, the Psalm clearly points us to God’s Torah in the Bible as our source for life the way God intended it to be. Following God’s way is not something burdensome, but rather it is a gift—it restores us, it grants us wisdom when we’re confused, it brings us joy when we are struggling, it gives us the light we need to find our way, and it gives us strength when we are feeling weak. In a sense, the Bible is a kind of sacrament like the Lord’s Supper. When we read the Bible, we often find ourselves refreshed with a renewed sense of God’s love for us and God’s presence in our lives.

While the 2024 report on “The State of the Bible in America Today” can be discouraging, there are also some hopeful signs. One of the most important is that there was a significant increase in the number of the youngest generation of adults who reported that the message of the Bible had made a difference in their lives. These “Gen Z” adults aged 18-27 are often disparaged by cultural observers who fault them for not doing things the way older generations used to. Perhaps in this case, our youngest adults will lead the way to a resurgence of the Bible’s influence in our lives. But for that to happen, we all will have to stop thinking of the Bible as a sacred relic, and start using it more as a guide for living. When we do, we’ll find that the “words of life” in the Bible are in fact life-giving words!

Sunday, June 11, 2017

We are Witnesses

Acts 2:22-32[1]

We Presbyterians get pretty nervous around words like “witness.” It reminds us of people who go door-to-door, rather too confidently professing their own faith and assuming those they are “visiting” are spiritually “lost.” When I was a Seminary Professor, a young lady came to my door one night to ask me, “If you died tonight, are you sure that you would go to Heaven”! Of course I was polite with her, but I found it ironical that someone who was just starting her faith journey presumed that I needed “saving.” At the time I had been serving the gospel in a wide variety of ways for over twenty years! I give her credit for her effort, but I think that’s the kind of “witness” that makes us cringe.

I would say part of our problem is that is the only model we have for what it means to bear witness to our faith. We assume we have to go door-to-door behaving in a way that is at least disrespectful and perhaps worse. From another point of view, we may think that only those who have had an exceptional spiritual journey actually have something that’s worth sharing. When we think that’s what “bearing witness” to the gospel means, we may assume that we don’t have much to say. Or at least we don’t think that what we have to say counts as bearing witness to the gospel. For whatever reason, we don’t feel comfortable with the idea that “we are witnesses” to the gospel.

When we look at our Scripture reading for today, at first glance we may think it confirms our hesitation. Our lesson from the Book of Acts is part of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. In this part of the sermon, he talks about “deeds of power, wonders, and signs” (Acts 2:22) that they saw Jesus perform in order to demonstrate that he truly was sent from God. He also speaks fairly confidently about God’s “definite plan and foreknowledge” demonstrated in Jesus’ death and resurrection. All of this makes it sound like his witness to the good news about Jesus is way out of our league. Surely he must have some kind of insight that we are not permitted to attain. When Peter says “we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:32), he must be referring to a select group of Christians here.

But if you look at the passage a little more closely, Peter is doing something fairly common. He’s interpreting the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection in light of Scripture. In this case, it’s one of the Psalms. Peter quotes from Psalm 16 to make the point that it was God’s intention to raise Jesus from the dead all along. I think that makes sense, because Psalm 16 was a declaration of hope for anyone who trusted that their life was in God’s hands. The faith expressed in the Psalm was that nothing, not even death, could snatch them from the safety and joy they had in God’s presence.

In Peter’s case, the Psalm provided him with the language to bear witness to his experience that Jesus had in fact been raised from the dead. More than that, it helped him to give words to his conviction that this was God’s plan all along. So from one point of view, you could say that Peter’s witness was rather ordinary. By that I mean that in his “witness” Peter was not claiming some supernatural revelation. He was simply sharing his own experience as he understood it in light of Scripture. He was bearing witness to what he had seen and heard. That’s really all any of us can do: share our experience as we understand it in light of Scripture.

Of course, Peter and the others whose witness serves as the basis for our New Testament did have some extraordinary experiences. Peter’s “witness” in our lesson for today is part of his sermon on the day of Pentecost. We know that what made Peter’s “witness” so effective that day was he was “filled with the Spirit.” And we would say that it was the Spirit who empowered the testimony of the all the Apostles. Most of us would be uncomfortable claiming that we are “filled with the Spirit.” I doubt that we would say that our words of witness to the gospel are empowered by the Spirit. But I think this is an example of how we tend to take ourselves for granted. The Scriptures tell us that the Spirit has been poured out on us all. The Spirit is working to empower every one of us in whatever we may do in service to God and one another. And that includes our “witness.” The Spirit is at work when we share our experience of Christ with others.

I realize that, to many of us, our own faith journey may seem too “ordinary” for us to be able to “bear witness to the gospel.” It may seem like sharing our experience doesn’t count as a “witness” for Christ. But while our experiences may be similar, no two people have the same journey. That means each of us has insights into what it means to be a Christian that are unique. And it is our calling to share those experiences with those around us. They may seem insignificant to us, but we never really know what people are dealing with and how our words of encouragement might help them. Our very simple and ordinary “witness” might make all the difference in the world.

The truth of the matter is that “bearing witness to the gospel” is an entirely ordinary aspect of the Christian life. It’s as simple as telling the story of what you have seen and heard, as you understand it in light of Scripture. It’s as ordinary as talking about how God has worked in your life. The truth is we all have a story to tell, the story of our own faith journey. If nothing else, we all can relate to someone how we have experienced God’s love in our lives. Bearing witness to the gospel doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that. As Peter said so long ago, “We all are witnesses” (Acts 2:32).

Monday, April 03, 2017

Paying Attention

2 Peter 1:16-21[1]

One of the benefits of living in the “information age” is that we have relatively quick and easy access to a lot of information. Many of us have at our fingertips the equivalent of an unimaginably large library with just about anything you might need. But at the same time, I think one of the great challenges of living in this age is that we have access to so much information. Without a proper framework for making sense of it all, it can just become overwhelming. Rather than putting forth the effort to sort out fact from farce, we accept as truth whatever seems convenient. Or what’s worse, we simply tune out.

Unfortunately, this also applies to our faith. With all the different voices claiming to represent Christ in our world, it can be confusing. Between television, radio, the internet, social media, books, and magazines, the fact is that those who speak for Christ do not speak with a consistent voice. To some extent, variety in the Christian message is to be expected. It comes from our different backgrounds and experiences and perspectives. That’s a healthy thing. But I’m afraid it goes beyond that. The collective voices of all those who speak for our faith disagree on matters that are fundamental, ranging from how we experience new life to what living out that life looks like to what our ultimate hope is. The resulting confusion can lead us to tune out rather than paying attention and trying to find a perspective that makes sense out of the teachings of Scripture.

The fact of the matter is that the Christian community has always had to deal with divergent voices that have made it challenging for people to know what to believe. Most of the apostolic writings in the New Testament bear witness to this. There was no mass communication technology in that day. The only methods the apostles had for dealing with this problem were to personally visit a church, to send a representative, or to write a letter. That’s why many of the New Testament letters were written in the first place: to clear up the confusion caused by rival preachers and teachers presenting views that called the apostolic faith into question.

This was the case for 2 Peter. In fact, much of the letter is devoted to refuting “false teachers” who contradicted the message of the apostles, who advocated a blatant disregard for the most basic ethical principles of the Bible, and who did all this in order to enrich themselves at the expense of their audience. As you can imagine, the response to this kind of flagrant deception was less than polite. In fact, 2 Peter is not unique in that. Most of the apostles saw those who were teaching with a different voice as a threat—primarily a threat to the well-being of those who were led astray by their “deceptive words” (2 Pet. 2:3).

In the case of 2 Peter, the primary problem had to do with the Christian hope. In the New Testament, that hope was focused on the return of Christ. Of course, throughout the history of the church, our faith in the return of Christ and the final fulfillment of God’s saving work has raised basic questions. What happens to believers when we die? Do we have to wait for the day when Jesus returns to be raised to new life? Are we looking forward to all of this taking place in heaven or on a new earth? It’s not hard to find conflicting views on these and many other aspects of our hope.

Apparently, 2 Peter was written long enough after Jesus’ resurrection that many were beginning to deny that there would be a “second coming” at all (2 Pet. 3:4). In response, the letter pointed to the transfiguration of Jesus as a foreshadowing of his return. Claiming to be a witness of the glory revealed at that time as well as the voice that attested Jesus’ identity as God’s beloved son, 2 Peter insists that “we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed” (2 Pet. 1:19). What those who were there saw and heard left them without doubt that Jesus would indeed return in the full majesty of his glory as Savior and Lord.[2]

Unfortunately, some have approached this passage as if it advocates that Scripture is to be accepted at face value. The truth is that kind of simple faith works for some people. But I find that unquestioning belief doesn’t go over too well with most of us. Scripture itself raises questions, some of which we cannot readily answer.[3] And any written document has to be interpreted—especially ancient writings that addressed a very different time or place. I think what all this means is that we’re going to have to put forth some effort if we’re going to “pay attention" to the apostolic message, "because it is like a lamp shining in a dark place until the Day dawns” (2 Pet. 1:19, TEV). I think that means more than a simple casual reading of select verses. It means serious and sustained study of the source of our faith.[4]

Cultivating faith has never been easy. There have always been those who raise objections they think clearly refute what we believe. There will always be a wide diversity of voices claiming to speak on behalf of Christ. It takes some intentional effort to sort through the tangle of sometimes conflicting messages out there. But it seems to me that our lesson for today points us in the right direction: the fundamental teachings of the Scriptures have always been our guide. That doesn’t mean we’re going to automatically find the answer to our questions simply by flipping through our Bible. We have to do more than that to be able to sort through the chaotic voices in our day. It takes systematic and serious study of the Bible. In order to find clarity, we have to do a better job of “paying attention” to Scripture.

[2] Cf. Jerome H. Neyrey, “The Apologetic Use of the Transfiguration in 2 Peter 1:16-21,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 42 (1980): 509-514.

[3] Cf. Neyrey, “ Apologetic Use,” 517 (fn 50), where he points out that “the position of Peter as an intelligent interpreter of oracles and tradition stands in tension with other traditions that portray him as not understanding what he sees or hears” (e.g., in the Gospels).

[4] In this particular context, Neyrey, “Apologetic Use,” 518-19, makes a persuasive argument that the “prophecy” that is at issue is the transfiguration as a foreshadowing of the return of Christ. He says, “The parousia-prophecy has already been defended as regards its source (i.e., God, vv. 17-18) and its authenticity (έπόπται, v. 16); vv. 20-21 add the author’s apology for his interpretation (see 3:1-2, 9-13,15-16). In this framework, the author senses that his opponents consider this interpretation of eschatological materials idiosyncratic and self-serving; hence it is incumbent upon him to continue to defend his own credentials for leaving an accurate remembrance of these matters.” Contrast R. J. Bauckham, 2 Peter, Jude, 224. While he recognizes that Neyrey’s view is held by the majority of NT scholars, he argues that the “prophetic word” refers to passages from the prophets of the Hebrew Bible which the NT authors used along with their eyewitness experience to confirm the promise of the return of Christ.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Useful

2 Timothy 3:10-17[1]

The concept of “truth” has become quite small in our day. In a world of “instant everything” we seem to believe that truth can be reduced to a “sound bite.” We feel justified in thinking that we can capture in a word or phrase the full truth of a human being with all of his or her thoughts, feelings, history, and aspirations. We don’t have as many bumper stickers these days as we once did, but it seems that our conception of truth is something that can be reduced to a slogan. We like our truth bite-sized, cut-and-dried, and simplified so that we really don’t have to think too much about it. Unfortunately, life is far more complex than a slogan that can fit on a bumper sticker.

That kind of simplification of truth seems to apply to all topics generally, from human relationships to politics to science to history to religion. Yes, we take this approach to our faith as well, as if a slogan can somehow satisfy the questions about God, redemption, and the meaning of human life. And our approach to the Bible is very similar. If we can quote some snippets of Bible verses, then we “know” our Bible. And we dutifully say, “The word of the Lord, thanks be to God!” And yet, I’d have to say that in my opinion this perspective on the Bible effectively nullifies any real authority biblical teaching might have in our lives. The real authority for most of us is our own opinion.[2] And if we make any reference to the Bible at all, its actual impact on our lives is quite minimal.[3] It’s become essentially a useless book.

Our lesson from 2 Timothy reflects a very different approach to the Bible. All of the New Testament writers look to the Hebrew Bible, which was the “Scripture” of their day. When they make a point, whether it’s theological or practical, they appeal to Scripture to back it up. They also appeal to life and nature and the way things tend to work, but when they really want to make a point with authority, they appeal to the “Scriptures.” Some scholars have accused the writers of the New Testament of simply trotting out their favorite snippets of Scripture as a “proof text.” But a more thorough study makes it clear that the apostolic writers were much more familiar with their Bible than most of us are.

In fact, the point of our lesson is to encourage Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and firmly believed” (2 Tim. 3:14). The reason for that is two-fold: first, Timothy knows the character and the life of those from whom he had learned his faith.[4] But the second reason our lesson cites for his continued confidence in the faith is because “from childhood you have known the sacred writings” (2 Tim. 3:15). The idea here is not just simply pulling out memory verses, but rather that Timothy knows the Scriptures, and knows them well. The idea of “knowing” Scripture in the New Testament has much more depth than we may assume. For example, James speaks of know the Scriptures so well they are able to become “doers of the word” and not simply “hearers who forget” (Jas. 1:22-26). This, of course, echoes the words of Jesus at the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, where he praises those who “hear these words of mine and act on them” (Mt. 7:24-27). “Knowing” Scripture is something that makes a difference in the way you live.

When we know Scripture in that way, it becomes “authoritative” for us. I’m afraid that we may have some problems with our understanding of the Bible’s authority as well. We hear that “All scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16), and we may tend to think of a secretary taking down dictation. That makes it seem settled and beyond question or doubt. But if you’ve ever given the Bible any really serious study, you know that it raises all kinds of questions and its truth is something that’s far from “settled.”[5] We continue to study the Bible over a lifetime, and at the end of it all, if we’re honest with ourselves, we have to confess that we’ve only touched the hem of the garment.

In our lesson for today, the Bible’s authority is presented in terms that are far less definite than words like “inerrant” or “infallible” imply. Our lesson says it differently: the Scriptures “are able to instruct you for salvation through Jesus Christ.” That is the primary purpose of the Bible: to teach us what it means to know God, to follow Christ, and to experience salvation.[6] The other purpose of the Bible here is very practical: it is “useful …so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).[7] The Scriptures are not meant to be the final word on every matter of truth or knowledge. They are intended to introduce us to God through our faith in Jesus Christ, and to teach us how to live out that faith.[8]

From that perspective, the Bible is meant to be a truly useful book. But for it to be useful to us in this way, we have to spend time actually reading it—to be precise, studying it. That means we have to think about what we’ve read. We have to do so enough to raise questions about what it says, because we learn best when we ask questions. The Bible is not something that is meant to be read once in 90 days and then you’re done with it. The way for us to actually learn what it means to live out our faith is to continually read and study portions of the Bible.[9] Sound bites and slogans can’t come anywhere close to getting us there. The Bible only unfolds its truths gradually, over time to those who practice regularly studying it. When we do that, it will become more than just a table ornament or an accessory we carry to church. It will become useful precisely because it prepares us to be useful in living out the Christian life.

[2] Cf. Langdon Gilkey, Naming the Whirlwind: The Renewal of God Language, 60: “The assertion of autonomous freedom and self-direction as the key to human self-fulfillment is subversive of many of the historic forms of religion with their traditional authorities of various sorts stemming from the distant past—and their insistence that man is fulfilled when he patterns himself according to the divine image” (cited in J. Christiaan Beker, “The Authority of Scripture: Normative or Incidental?,” Theology Today, 49 [Oct 1992]: 378).

[3] Cf. Sharon H. Ringe, “The Word of God May Be Hazardous to Your Health,” Theology Today, 49 (Oct 1992): 368, where she reminds us that “If what a speaker or author says is to have authority, it has to find an echo in his or her audience’s experience or longing.”

[4] The primary reference here is to St. Paul. Cf. James D. G. Dunn, “The First and Second Letters to Timothy and The Letter to Titus,” New Interpreters Bible XI:850: “Thus is picked up again an emphasis running through both letters to Timothy, where Paul is put forward, not only as Timothy's father and teacher in the faith, but also as a model for subsequent generations (1 Tim 1:12-16; 2:7; 2 Tim 1:11-12; 2:9-10; 3:10-12; 4:6-8).”

[5] Cf. Ringe, “The Word of God,” 371: “Clearly such readings that find in the Bible support for abuse, slavery, apartheid, and other death-dealing institutions are misreadings and, indeed, abuses of the Bible. But the fact is that the requisite words are in there.”

[6] Cf. Dunn, “First and Second Timothy and Titus,” NIB XI:850: “Obviously implied is the continuity between Timothy’s instruction from the Jewish Scriptures and his belief in Christ; it was because the two were so closely coordinated that Paul could defend and expound the gospel by referring to the Scriptures.” He continues (ibid.), “the assumption is that the gospel is the outworking of Scripture, so that the wisdom, salvation, and faith held out in the gospel are continuous with that inculcated in the holy writings. That is also to say that the gospel's saving power is of a piece with the saving power of Scripture, or it is not the gospel.”

[7] Cf. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 1.2:504, where he explains the authority of Scripture in terms of the fact that “they have already given the proof of what they claim to be, that they have already shown their power, the specific power of instruction in the faith which saves him [Timothy],” and yet when this text describes the Scriptures as useful for instruction, “The same Scriptures have now become the object of expectation. The content of the expectation does not differ from that of the recollection of which he spoke earlier, but all that was previously represented as a gift now acquires the character of a task which has still to be taken up and executed.” The reason the Scriptures can carry out both of these functions is because they are “given and filled and ruled by the Spirit of God, and actively outbreathing and spreading abroad and making known the Spirit of God.”

[8] Cf. Dunn, “First and Second Timothy and Titus,” NIB XI:852: “The sacredness of the writings is directed to the end of ‘making wise for salvation’; the point of Scripture's inspiration was that the Scriptures should be beneficial for teaching and equipping the student believer for effective living as a Christian.”

[9] Cf. Beker, “Authority of Scripture,” 381: “when we posit that the authority of Scripture is to be located in the dynamic interrelation between coherence [which he defines as ‘the abiding, constant, and normative elements of the gospel’] and contingency [which he defines as ‘those elements of Scripture that comprise the time-bound, culturally specific situations into and for which the gospel is addressed’], the question of the authority of Scripture is directly connected to the interpretation of Scripture. And so it follows that Scripture is only authoritative when we obey its command to engage in the same risks of interpreting the gospel that it is itself engaged in all its parts.”

Monday, October 05, 2015

A Life of Joy

Psalm 1[1]

When you look at the way we as a people live these days, I’d say we’re obsessed with happiness. Self-fulfillment is the number one item on most agendas. We are healthier and wealthier than any other generation in the history of the world. So you’d think that would translate into our being the happiest people ever. But the sad reality is that the more we have, it seems like the more unhappy we are. More than that, it seems that we grow more insistent that we know what’s best for us, and that we don’t need anyone or anything—even the Bible—to teach us how to live. When we insist that we know what’s best and refuse let anyone tell us how to live, we’re only digging our ruts deeper. I would say that approach to life typically doesn’t pay off.

Our Scripture lesson from the Psalms today insists that true happiness, what I would call joy, is found only in one place. The Psalm makes it clear that joy is found only through “delighting” in God’s truth, in God’s instruction found in Scripture.[2] Now, “delight” is a word that we don’t hear much these days, so it may not communicate to us. I would say that “delighting” in God’s truth refers to the practice of spending time every day, in fact “day and night,” reading and studying and thinking about the truths of Scripture. And the reason for this is to be able to live a life that is more closely aligned with God’s will. The outcome of that kind of life, according to our Scripture lesson for today, is true joy.

Now, if you’re like me, you may find yourself wondering about this passage. It makes some pretty big claims. It promises that those who follow this approach to life will not only find true joy, but also “In all that they do, they prosper” (Ps. 1:3). And yet the reality of life is such that there are plenty of people who faithfully align their lives with God’s will but do not seem to prosper, outwardly at least. And we can bear witness to the frustration found in other Psalms that there are plenty of people in this world who live their lives with little or no thought to God’s ways but, outwardly at least, they seem to prosper. Some of them prosper greatly.

So it would seem that we face some obstacles to the way of life prescribed by this Psalm in the realities of our world. For many of us, trying to read the Bible can seem like an exercise in futility. We may start off with all the determination in the world to make devotion to Scripture a regular part of our lives. But when we actually sit down to read the Bible, it can often leave us feeling cold. In fact, it may leave us feeling bored. Let’s face it, the Bible is not an easy book to read, especially in some translations. And there are some passages of Scripture that leave you feeling less than uplifted.

In light of this, what are we to make of the claim our Scripture lesson for today makes? I think we have to start by getting clear about what it is that we’re hoping to gain from a discipline of regular Bible study—day and night, as the text puts it. We may not always understand everything we read, even though we have an abundance of resources available to us. We may not always find that our devotion to Scripture gives us some “takeaway” to help us at the time. But then, that’s not always the way Bible study works.[3] If we expect that every time we read the Bible we’re going to be “blessed” in a specific way, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. The discipline of studying and meditating on Scripture “day and night” is one that changes our lives over time, as we continue to practice it over weeks and months and years.

I think another aspect of this has to do with the real-life benefits a regular discipline of Bible study. We are a results-oriented people in many ways, and we want to know what we will get if we invest the time to actually engage with Scripture “day and night” as the psalmist suggests. I have to say that it’s unlikely that we will find ourselves understanding all that there is to know about the Bible. There are Bible Dictionaries and Bible Handbooks that can help us here, but we’re not going to emerge as an expert who can answer any question about the Bible. I have a doctorate in biblical studies, and there are plenty of questions about the Bible I can’t answer! Rather, the outcome of this kind of regular engagement with the Scriptures is that it opens us up to the life-giving, transforming presence of God.[4] When we devote ourselves to the discipline of taking in the Scriptures “day and night,” we are connecting ourselves with the true source of life, and well-being, and joy. I think that’s what the promise of “prospering” is about—it’s about knowing true joy in life regardless of our outward circumstances.[5]

I’ll be the first one to admit that making this discipline a regular part of your life is challenging. I’ve spent many years, even decades, seeking to make reading, and meditating on, and praying through the Scriptures a part of my life “day and night.” And I can bear witness that it takes a definite commitment and the will to persevere in order to continue to do this year after year. But I can also bear witness to the fact that when I maintain this discipline, I definitely experience more joy in life than when I let it slip. As our Psalm for today advises us, this is a serious matter.[6] The Bible is not something we read just because we have nothing better to do. Our Psalm for today warns us that turning from Scripture and living by our own counsel is a way of life that “perishes.” It’s simply not sustainable. But on the other hand, embracing God’s truth with one’s whole heart leads to a life of joy. It’s up to us to decide which path we will take.

[2] J. Clinton McCann, Jr., “The Book of Psalms,” New Interpreters Bible IV:684, where he says that the word typically translated “Law” is the word Torah, and would better be translated as “Instruction.” He says, “‘Instruction’ here refers not to a particular corpus of stipulations, but more broadly to the whole sacred tradition of God’s revelation. It is helpful to recall that the Torah for Judaism—the Pentateuch—contains both stipulations and identity-forming stories of God’s dealings with the world and God’s people.” Moreover, (ibid, 685), he says that the use of the word Torah in this introduction to the Psalms indicates that “the psalms are to be received in a manner analogous to the Pentateuch—that is, as an identity-forming, life-shaping source of God’s instruction.” Cf. also James L. Mays, Psalms, 41: “Here, ‘torah of the Lord’ is used in a comprehensive sense to refer to the whole body of tradition through which instruction in the way and will of the Lord is given to Israel. … This psalmist knows torah in the written form, Scripture that one can read and absorb (see Josh. 1:8). It is from this written torah that wisdom for the living of life can be gained. It is the medium from which one can learn the way and will of the LORD and store up that learning in one’s heart so that it shapes the structure of consciousness (40:9; 37:31).”

[3] As Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 1.1:123 reminds us, “[the] very fact of the language of God Himself becoming an event in the human word of the Bible is … God’s business and not ours. … The Bible is God’s Word so far as God lets it be his Word, so far as God speaks through it.” In other words, God speaks to us through the Bible on God’s terms, not ours! Cf. similarly, Cf. Anthony B. Robinson, What’s Theology Got to Do With It?, 55: “the Word of God is something that occurs when the Spirit and the Scriptures connect in listening and speaking.”

[4] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 41-42: “This is the reason why torah is the cause of delight, not because it is an available instrument of self-righteousness, material for a program of self-justification, but because the LORD reaches, touches, and shapes the human soul through it. For this psalm, torah is a means of grace.” Cf. also McCann, “The Book of Psalms,” NIB IV:684. He says, “In contrast to scoffers who arrogantly refuse all instruction, happy persons delight in God’s instruction, having it always before them. What is commended, therefore, is not a close-minded legalism, but a posture of constant openness to God’s instruction.” Cf. also the now classic R. McAfee Brown, The Bible Speaks to You, 48, where he says that the Bible itself is “a means by which God reveals himself to us, since it is by reading the Bible that we find him confronting us.” Cf. also Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book, 23-24: “In our reading of this book we come to realize that what we need is not primarily informational, telling us things about God and ourselves, but formational, shaping us into our true being.”

[5] Cf. Mays, Psalms, 43-44, were he says that according to this Psalm there are only two ways for life’s journey to take; the way of the righteous “leads to the fulfillment of life” as depicted by the tree which constantly bears fruit. He continues, “The fulfillment is not so much a reward as a result of life’s connection with the source of life. The second way is really an illusion. It has no more substance than chaff that the wind drives away…. The wicked are grounded and guided within themselves, a way that has no connection with the source of life. That way will perish.”

[6] Cf. McCann, “The Book of Psalms,” NIB IV:685. He summarizes the message of the Psalm by saying, “The happy or righteous persons are those who are constantly open to God’s teaching, thus always connected to God, who is the source of life. … The wicked, on the other hand, are those who refuse to attend to God’s teaching, thus cutting themselves off from the source of life. That they ‘perish’ is not so much a punishment, but the inevitable outcome of their own choice not to be related to God. In short, wickedness in Psalms is fundamentally to be self-centered rather than God-centered.” He points out that this understanding of life is one that “differs profoundly” from the typical outlook in our culture. He says (ibid., 687), “What is so unsettling about all of this is that what Psalm 1 and the rest of the psalter call ‘wickedness’ is perhaps what North American culture promotes as the highest virtue—autonomy. … The irony is tragic—the pursuit of self-fulfillment yields self-alienation. … Failing to trust God and to make connection with God as the source of life, persons cannot be ‘happy.’ … In biblical terms, to be autonomous, to be alienated from God and other people, is to ‘perish.’”

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Selective Listening

Heb. 12:18-29[1]

Anybody who has spent any time at all around teenagers knows the phenomenon called “selective hearing.” It’s what happens whenever adults open their mouths to convey important information. You know the drill—Teenager: “The teacher gave me a message and she said it’s important.” Parent: “Okay, what is it.” Teenager: “I dunno. I forgot.” Or there’s this one—Parent: “Did you clean up your room.” Teenager: “No—you didn’t tell me to.” Parent: “Yes I asked you to do it this morning.” Teenager: “Oh. I forgot.” As a parent, you know that it’s not a matter of “I forgot.” They didn’t even hear you in the first place. They were exercising their “selective hearing.”

To some extent it’s a skill we all have to develop in order to navigate the (post)modern world. We are bombarded with so much information from so many competing voices that we simply cannot possibly process it all. We have to tune some of it out; that means we have to choose which of it we will pay attention to. We have to develop the skill of “selective listening.” But it seems to me that “selective listening” is not only important for surviving the information explosion. It’s also something we need to keep our faith vital and alive. In the midst of all the competing voices in our world—voices of fear and anger, voices of hatred and violence—God calls us to a different way of life with the voice of joy, and love, and justice, and peace.

But our “selective listening” is even important if we want to make sense out of the Bible! Our lesson from Hebrews for today recounts the story of the people of Israel at Sinai. It was an experience that was terrifying for them; even Moses was afraid! And the voice that came to them was a voice of warning: “Any who touch the mountain shall be put to death.” (Exodus 19:12). The gist of the message was clear—don’t you dare try to get close to God, or you will die. But the apostle to the Hebrews encourages his audience to do just that—to draw near to God—on another mountain, Zion, the place where God’s promises of salvation are realized.[2]

While there is a lot going on behind the scenes here, what I want to point out is that the apostle to the Hebrews encourages some “selective listening” on the part of Christians who need help holding onto their faith. He doesn’t want them to take the warnings at Sinai as the “final word” about God’s demeanor toward them. He doesn’t want them to run away for fear that if they get too close to God, they will die. Rather he wants them to draw near to God through Jesus Christ.[3]

This is the essence of my class on “Reading the Bible in a Decent and Orderly Way”—we all engage in some kind of selective listening when it comes to Scripture. Of course, the question arises whether we just “pick and choose” in this process. While some people definitely do—and it usually seems to be those who insist the loudest that they take the Bible “literally”—that is not going to help us make sense of Scripture. In a very real sense, we must discern the principles within the Bible itself for this process of selective listening. They include:

· The Bible’s message is conveyed through the plain sense of the words.[4] That means we don’t need a supercomputer to find some hidden “Bible Code!”

· The Bible’s message must be sorted out from the setting in which it was spoken.[5] That means not every word of Scripture reflects enduring truth!

· The Bible should be read under the guidance of the Spirit and in the context of the church.[6] This means we have to go beyond just “that’s what it means to me.”

· The Bible teaches us that we are to live with justice, mercy, and love.[7] If our reading of Scripture produces actions or attitudes that are not consistent with that, we need to go back and read it again.

· The Bible’s message is focused on the person of Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word of God.[8] In a sense, I think we can apply a version of “what would Jesus do” here—if what we think is the “truth” of Scripture is something we cannot envision Jesus endorsing, then we have missed something.[9]

These are just the most obvious principles for our selective listening, but if we use them to develop this art and skill, I believe, and it has been my experience, that it can help us keep from “missing the forest for the trees.” It helps us stay on track with our faith and our lives, if for no other reason than it reinforces the conviction that God is a God who is working to bring grace and mercy and peace into all our lives. A good dose of “selective listening” helps us tune out some of the voices of fear and anger in our world, and hear the voice of God speaking words of life to us.

[2] See Craig Koester, Hebrews, 550; cf. also Thomas G. Long, Hebrews, 140: from the perspective of the apostle to the Hebrews, “not only is there but one God; astonishingly there is actually only one mountain. Sinai and Zion are the same place: the dwelling of the Holy God. … Mount Sinai is transformed into Mount Zion—if we go there with Jesus.”

[3] Cf. Koester, Hebrews, 549: “The voice at Sinai warned people not to draw near, while the voice of Christ’s blood conveys a sense of grace through the new covenant, encouraging listeners to draw near.”

[4] Cf. Jack Rogers, Reading the Bible & the Confessions the Presbyterian Way, 35: “If we are going to read the Bible, we must read the Bible as it is given to us, not just look for what we wish it said.”

[5] Cf. Rogers, Reading the Bible, 37: because of difficulties of interpretation, we cannot “just pick up the Bible and read it as if it were written today.” Cf. also Karl Barth, Homiletics, 76: “From first to last scripture says the same thing, but it constantly says the one thing in different ways.”

[6] Cf. Herbert W. Farmer, “The Bible: Its Significance and Authority,” The Interpreter’s Bible, I: 26-29, where he elaborates principles to guide “the duty and the right to discriminate” the message of Scripture, though he adds “always … from within the fellowship of the church and under the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit.” Cf. also Rogers, Reading the Bible, 40: “The Scriptures are always to be interpreted by and in the community of the church, the Body of Christ.”

[7] Presbyerian Use and Understanding of Holy Scripture, 20: “No interpretation of Scripture is correct that leads to or supports contempt for any individual or group of persons.”

[8] Cf. The Theological Declaration of Barmen (Book of Confessions 8.11): “Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.” Cf. also The Confession of 1967 (Book of Confessions 9.27).

[9] Cf. Rogers, Reading the Bible, 33: since we all tend to read the Bible through the lenses of our own cultural assumptions, the only way to avoid the temptation against using Holy Scripture to justify one’s own prejudices (slavery, subordination of women, etc) is to “look freshly at all of God’s Word through the perspective of the living Word of God, Jesus Christ.”

Friday, February 26, 2010

Highlights from "Living Faith" on Scripture:

"Jesus Christ as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture is the one Word of God whom we have to hear, and whom we have to trust and obey in life and in death" (Barmen Declaration, 1934, article 1)

The Bible's "basic function is to deepen our love, knowledge and service of [Jesus] as our Savior and Lord" (The Study Catechism, 1998, question 57)

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Null and Void

Ps 15; Jas. 1:26-27; Mk. 7:1-13[1]

We live in a society that is saturated with words. Cable television and satellite radio, broadband internet and digital cell phones—we are surrounded by words. Whether you’re driving to work or eating in a restaurant, shopping for a pair of shoes, riding in an elevator—or even pumping gas in your car—we are surrounded by words. But the more words bombard us, the less they mean to us. In a very real sense, words have become null and void in our culture. Part of the problem is the way we use our words. With our words we profess our love for others, or we foster hatred for others. With our words we make promises to reassure others and we try to persuade others to do something that may not be in their best interest. With our words we inform and we deceive. Because of our misuse, words are virtually null and void. They mean next to nothing.

Unfortunately, that applies to words of faith just as much as they apply to words in advertisements or campaign speeches. It is all too easy to turn the words of our faith—words of Scripture and worship, words of admonition and assurance—into just another means to manipulate people. All you have to do to confirm that is to listen to a few sermons! Even the way we profess to revere Scripture often becomes a means of misusing it to achieve our own ends. We call it “the word of the LORD,” and “the word of God,” but what we really mean is “I’m right and should agree with me.”

It seems to me that kind of attitude toward words is at least part of what Jesus had in mind when he criticized the religious leaders of his day for nullifying the word of God. The particular example he cites is actually quite blatant. Jewish tradition had interpreted the fifth commandment, “you shall honor your father and mother,” to include supporting them financially in their old age. But in Jesus’ day, there was a procedure called “Corban” by which someone could “dedicate” their possessions to the Temple. It is unclear, but it seems that it is the original “charitable annuity,” where you give your assets to an organization, but you get to continue using them until you die.[2] Jesus completely dismantled this rather elaborate and insidiously pious means of subverting the fifth commandment—the word of God.[3]

James and Jesus were in complete agreement about those who profess to be pious but their words and actions betray their hypocrisy. They not only make their own words null and void, but in the process they make “God’s word” null and void! Let me hasten to add that I don’t think this was confined to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day![4] This problem is still very much a part of religion today. [5] I find it interesting that words—the very means by which they portray themselves as pious—are what betrays them. As James puts it, “If you think you are being religious, but can’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and everything you do is useless.” (Jas 1:26, CEV). And the Psalm gives us a concrete example—using our words to slander another is blatant contradiction of the kind of piety that is genuine (Ps. 15:3). Among other things, by our words we make “God’s word” null and void!

The flaw in that kind of piety[6] is the fact that it misses the point of it all: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). I like the NIrV: “You must treat people fairly. You must love others faithfully. And you must be very careful to live the way your God wants you to.”

The point of it all is that true piety translates into action.[7] That’s always been the point of the commandments, the teachings of prophets and apostles, even the gospel—to create a community of people who put into practice the commitment to “live the way your God wants you to.” Call it what you will: in Deuteronomy it’s “keeping the commandments” (Deut 4:1); in the Psalm it’s doing “righteousness” from the heart (Ps. 15:2). [8] Elsewhere in Scripture it’s called living in covenant with God (Exod. 19:5), doing the will of God (Matt. 7:21), and seeking God’s kingdom (Matt. 6:33). What it boils down to is making God’s ways the guiding orientation to all of life.[9] Anything less than a sincere effort to do so inevitably turns into making “God’s word” null and void. James is convinced that what God considers “pure and genuine religion” is demonstrated not by words but by actions: it means “taking care of orphans and widows in their suffering and keeping oneself from being corrupted by the world” (Jas 1:27 TEV).[10] It’s when we miss that this is the point of it all that we tend to make “God’s word” null and void.[11]

You may be thinking, “How can anyone ever attain ‘pure’ religion”? That’s a natural reaction. But I don’t think James was insisting on perfection here.[12] I think James points us in the right direction when he says that the way to respond to “the word” is to “humbly accept” it (Jas. 1:21, NIV).[13] I don’t think that means that we are to swallow at face value everything that is presented to us as “word of God,” but rather we are to humbly seek to understand and then put into practice the teachings we discern in our faith and in Scripture. I think the humility has to come from the realization that we are all fallen and therefore also flawed our endeavor to do that.

One of my heroes is a German scholar named Adolf Schlatter. Prof. Schlatter was fervent Christian, so scholars of the day looked down on him; but he was also a genuine scholar, so faithful also looked down on him. Schlatter sought to hold together the two—deep respect for Scripture together with the integrity of a scholar. There’s a story about Schlatter that I’ve always felt illustrates the kind of humility Scripture has always encouraged. Supposedly, Prof. Schlatter shared a cabin on a train with a gentleman, and in the course of their discussion, the other man discovered that that he was talking with the great Professor. At that point he expressed his pleasure by saying rather piously, “I understand that you take your stand on the word of God”—apparently to indicate his own orthodoxy and his agreement with Schlatter’s outlook. As the story goes, Prof. Schlatter simply replied, “I take my stand under the word of God.” It seems to me that those who “stand on the word of God” are those who trample it underfoot and make it “null and void.” Only by humbly standing under it can we hear it in a way that transforms our hearts and is translated into the way we live our lives.

[2] Cf. Jon Nelson Bailey, “Vowing away the Fifth Commandment,” Restoration Quarterly (2000):193-209.

[3] Cf. David E. Garland, Mark, 274.

[4] Cf. Garland, Mark, 282: “we should be careful not to belittle first-century Judaism as a dead letter, awash in legalism, when our own Christianity can be just as dead and just as legalistic.” He adds wisely, “We should recognize that what we derisively call legalism today was to the Pharisees a sincere effort to apply God’s will to everyday life.”

[5] Cf. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 1.2:365, describes this problem when he says that to hear the word only and not obey it “would mean that we maintain our autonomy over against it as those who know the Word and are interested in it and reverence and adore it. But although we can do this with the word of man, we cannot do it with the Word of God. Because it is the Word of the Lord, to hear the Word of God is to obey the Word of God.”

[6] Cf. Luke T. Johnson, James, 214, where he translates “deceive” themselves as “indulge” themselves. Perhaps there is some truth to this perspective, for typically this kind of superficial piety is incredibly self-indulgent.

[7] Cf. also James L. Mays’ comment on Psalm 15: “The insistence on the correlation between righteous God and righteous people in the psalms is unrelenting in its pervasiveness.” See James L. Mays, Psalms, 85.

[8] Cf. Patrick D. Miller, “Poetic Ambiguity and Balance in Psalm XV,” Vetus Testamentum 29(1979):422, where he argues that all of the phrases in Ps. 15:2 “describe right conduct in general or abstract fashion”: walking blamelessly, doing righteousness, and speaking truth.

[9]Patrick Miller, Deuteronomy, 213; cf. James L. Mays, Psalms, 98-99, 126-27, 168, 254-57, 301, 381-84.

[10] The Bible demands compassion toward the vulnerable: the orphan, the widow, and the alien are named in the Bible, but we could add the unjustly convicted or the mentally ill. See Exod 22:21; 23:9; Lev 19:10, 33; 23:22; 24:22; Num 15:29; Deut 1:16; 24:17, 19, 21; 27:19; Jer 7:6; 22:3; Ezek 22:7, 29; Zech 7:10; Mal 3:5.

[11] Cf. William Barclay, James: “the finest liturgy you can offer God is service of the poor and personal purity.”

[12] Cf. the discussion of “perfection” in James and the NT in David E. Garland, “Severe Trials, Good Gifts, and Pure Religion: James 1,” in Review and Expositor (1986): 387.

[13] Cf. Sophie Laws, James, 82: the “implanted word” is most naturally the gospel; yet Johnson, James, 205 makes a good point when he insists that there is no hard and fast distinction in James between the word of creation, the word of Torah, and the word of the Gospel.

The Waking Dreamer