JESUS READS THE BIBLE DIFFERENTLY
THAN MOST CHRISTIANS IN THE UNITED STATES.
WHAT ARE WE TO DO ABOUT THAT?
Matthew 5:38-39, 43-48; Matthew 9:13, 12:7; Matthew 18:21-22
Rev. Paul Wrightman 9/5/21
COMMUNITY CHURCH WANTS TO ESPECIALLY WELCOME THOSE
WHO ARE HERE IN SEARCH OF A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHRISTIANITY –
ONE THAT IS NOT BASED ON FEAR;
ONE THAT IS NOT OUT TO CONVINCE PEOPLE OF THEIR SINFULNESS
AND THEN COERCE THEM
INTO BELIEVING CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT JESUS
TO SECURE A PLACE IN HEAVEN AND AVOID THE FLAMES OF HELL.
MANY OF US HERE AT COMMUNITY CHURCH
ARE REFUGEES FROM A VARIETY OF CHURCHES
THAT TRIED TO PUSH US INTO A ONE-DIMENSIONAL
APPROACH TO THE BIBLE, TO JESUS, AND TO GOD.
WE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE A PENCHANT FOR ASKING QUESTIONS
AND FOR QUESTIONING AUTHORITY,
WHETHER THAT AUTHORITY COMES FROM
A PARTICULAR WAY OF LOOKING AT THE BIBLE,
FROM THE TEACHINGS OF A PARTICULAR DENOMINATION,
OR FROM THE THEOLOGY OF A PARTICULAR PASTOR.
HERE AT COMMUNITY CHURCH, RESPECTFULLY DISAGREEING
WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH THE PASTOR
IS NOT ONLY ACCEPTED, BUT ENCOURAGED.
WE ENJOY A WILD DIVERSITY OF THEOLOGICAL OPINION.
UNDERNEATH OUR THEOLOGICAL MULTIPLICITY, HOWEVER,
MANY OF US ARE SENSING THAT OUR QUESTIONS AND QUESTIONING
ARE TENDING TO LAND IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION
OF WONDERING IF ONE HAS TO ACCEPT THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE –
LOCK, STOCK, AND BARRELL – IN ORDER TO BE A CHRISTIAN;
OF WONDERING WHY THERE IS SO MUCH VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE,
AND WHY VIOLENCE IS PORTRAYED AS PART OF GOD’S VERY NATURE
IN BOTH THE “OLD” AND “NEW” TESTAMENTS;
OF WONDERING AT THE HUGE NUMBER
OF SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE,
AND WONDERING IF THERE MIGHT NOT BE
AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO SCRIPTURE AND TO GOD,
AN APPROACH WHICH FREES BOTH GOD AND SCRIPTURE
FROM THE VAST AMOUNT OF VIOLENT BAGGAGE
WITH WHICH THEY HAVE BEEN SADDLED
THROUGHOUT MUCH OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY.
AS WE SAW A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO WHEN WE LOOKED AT
THE CURRENT STATE OF CHRISTIANITY IN AMERICA,
MORE AND MORE YOUNGER PEOPLE ARE BECOMING
DISILLUSIONED WITH THE PREVALENT FORM
OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE UNITED STATES –
A REPRESSIVE FORM OF FUNDAMENTALISM AND EVANGELICALISM.
THE FEEDBACK I RECEIVED ABOUT THAT SERMON –
ESPECIALLY THE PART ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY – ALERTED ME TO THE FACT
THAT MANY IN OUR OWN CONGREGATION
WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
HOW TO RESPECTIFULLY DISAGREE WITH
A FUNDAMENTALIST OR EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN
WHO CHALLENGES THE APPROACH TO CHRISTIANITY
THAT WE PRACTICE HERE AT COMMUNITY CHURCH.
RIGHT OFF THE BAT I NEED TO SAY
THAT ENGAGING IN DEBATE WITH A CHRISTIAN
FROM A HUGELY DIFFERENT BACKGROUND
IS NOT THE WAY TO GO.
SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE, THE ONLY THING THAT DEBATE
WILL ACCOMPLISH IS TO MAKE BOTH PARTIES FEEL
EVEN MORE ESTRANGED FROM THE OTHER.
ONE OF THE MAJOR TENETS OF MANY EVANGELICALS
IS THAT ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH THEM
IS BY DEFINITION A HERETIC AND GOING TO HELL.
I THINK YOU CAN SEE HOW TRYING TO DISCUSS THEOLOGY
WITH SOMEONE WHO ALREADY HAS THEIR MIND MADE UP
THAT ONLY THEY CAN BE RIGHT BECAUSE ONLY THEY
ARE “REAL” CHRISTIANS IS ONLY GOING TO LEAD
TO ARGUMENT AND ANIMOSITY.
AS EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY IN THIS COUNTRY
BECOMES MORE AND MORE ANTI-SCIENCE,
INDULGES MORE AND MORE IN WILD CONSPIRACY THEORIES,
AND BECOMES INCREASINGLY WEDDED TO THE VISION
OF TURNING OUR DEMOCRACY INTO
A FUNDAMENTALIST THEOCRCY,
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT CHRISTIANS OUTSIDE THE EVANGELICAL CAMP
LEARN WHAT WE BELIEVE AND WHY.
THIS IS NOT TO CONVERT OTHERS TO OUR WAY OF THINKING,
BUT SO THAT WE CAN REMAIN CALM AND AT PEACE
WHEN CONFRONTED BY PERSONS OR BY NEWS
THAT WANT TO TELL US THAT WE ARE BENEATH CONTEMPT
BECAUSE WE DON’T AGREE WITH EVANGELICAL
THEOLOGY, ETHICS, OR POLITICS.
PLEASE DON’T MISUNDERSTAND ME HERE –
I’M NOT DISPUTING THE FACT THAT EVANGELICALS ARE SINCERE –
THEY ARE AMONG THE MOST PASSIONATELY SINCERE PEOPLE
ON THE PLANET!
I AM SAYING, HOWEVER, THAT MUCH OF EVANGELICAL
THEOLOGY AND POLITICS IS WRONG,
WRONG BECAUSE IT CONTRADICTS THE TEACHING
OF JESUS HIMSELF.
GIVEN THE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STATE
OF POLITICS AND RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY,
I THINK IT CRUCIAL THAT THESE ISSUES BE ADDRESSED.
THUS, I SEE OCCASIONALLY GIVING A SERMON LIKE TODAY’S –
ATTEMPTING TO GRAPPLE WITH ISSUES THAT WE NEED
TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO BE THE BEST POSSIBLE
CHRISTIANS AND CITIZENS THAT WE CAN BE.
ANY SERMON WORTH ITS SALT
CANNOT BE JUST STRAIGHT THEOLOGY,
BUT MUST MEET THE TEST OF APPLYING TO LIFE AS WELL.
TODAY, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU WILL BE CHALLENGED
TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND THEN LET GO OF FEAR –
SPECIFICALLY, ANY FEAR THAT YOU MAY HAVE
CONCERNING BOLDLY QUESTIONING
WHAT YOU MAY HAVE BEEN TAUGHT ABOUT THE BIBLE,
AND ABOUT GOD’S BEING ANYTHING LESS
THAN THE EMBODIMENT OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
(PAUSE)
THE FIRST OBSTACLE WE NEED TO FACE AND TO OVERCOME
CONCERNING SCRIPTURE IS THE OFT-REPEATED CLAIM
THAT THE BIBLE IS INERRANT, THAT IS, WITHOUT ERROR,
IN ALL RESPECTS.
THIS DOCTRINE OF “BIBLICAL INERRANCY” IS VERY RECENT,
HAVING BEEN PUT FORWARD BY AMERICAN FUNDAMENTALISTS
ONLY IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
TO OPPOSE DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION.
FUNDAMENTALISTS IN THIS COUNTRY WERE – AND STILL ARE –
SO UPSET AT THERE BEING NO ROOM
IN THE SCIENTIFIC THEORY OF EVOLUTION
FOR GOD CREATING THE WORLD IN A LITERAL SEVEN DAYS
THAT THEY SET UP AN EITHER/OR SITUATION
BETWEEN BELIEVING IN EVOLUTION AND BELIEVING IN GOD.
NO MATTER THAT HISTORICAL CHRISTIANITY
DURING ITS FIRST EIGHTEEN-HUNDRED YEARS
HAD NO SUCH DOCTRINE OF BIBLICAL INERRANCY.
FUNDAMENTALISTS WOULD SIMPLY SAY
THAT ALL THEOLOGY UNTIL THEIR OWN WAS WRONG,
AND THAT THROUGH THEM GOD HAS FINALLY SET THINGS STRAIGHT.
UNTHINKINGLY ACCEPTING THIS CLAIM OF SCRIPTURAL INERRANCY
HAS LED MANY CHRISTIANS TO CONSIDER ALL PARTS OF THE BIBLE
TO BE FULLY AND EQUALLY INSPIRED.
WHAT THIS BOILS DOWN TO IS THAT EACH SEPARATE VERSE
BECOMES A TRUTH UNTO ITSELF,
OF EQUAL VALUE WITH ANY OTHER VERSE.
THE SCRIPTURE TEXTS YOU HEARD THIS MORNING
DEMONSTRATE THAT THIS BLANKET CONCEPT
OF BIBLICAL INERRANCY WAS NOT SHARED BY JESUS.
SEVERAL TIMES IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT,
JESUS QUOTES EARLIER UNDERSTANDINGS OF GOD’S WILL
CONTAINED IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
ONLY TO CORRECT THEM WITH HIS OWN UNDERSTANDING:
THUS, “YOUR ANCESTORS HAVE BEEN TAUGHT,
‘TAKE AN EYE IN EXCHANGE FOR AN EYE
AND A TOOTH IN EXCHANGE FOR A TOOTH.’
HOWEVER, I SAY TO YOU, DON’T REPAY AN EVIL ACT
WITH ANOTHER EVIL ACT.”
(Matthew 5:38-39)
EITHER JESUS HAS THE AUTHORITY TO MOVE BEYOND THIS TEXT
TO A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S WILL –
OR HE DOESN’T.
IF WE REALLY BELIEVE
THAT GOD BECAME A PERSON IN THE PERSON OF JESUS,
OR, IF THAT IS TOO MUCH FOR US TO HANDLE,
IF WE SIMPLY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE HIGHEST AND DEEPEST
REVELATION OF THE HEART OF GOD THAT WE HAVE,
IF WE BELIEVE EITHER OF THOSE TWO POSSIBILITIES,
IT IRREVOCABLY FOLLOWS THAT WE ARE CALLED TO FOLLOW
THE LEAD OF JESUS HIMSELF.
JESUS BECOMES THE INTERPRETIVE KEY TO ALL OF SCRIPTURE.
FOLLOWING HIS LEAD, WE CAN SEE WHAT HE CONSIDERS
TO BE THE CRUCIAL REVELATORY TEXTS OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
TEXTS LIKE HOSEA 6:6, BRILLIANTLY RENDERED BY EUGENE PETERSON
AS “GO AND LEARN WHAT THIS MEANS:
‘I’M AFTER MERCY, NOT RELIGION.’”
THE FACT THAT JESUS QUOTES THIS TEXT TWICE
SHOWS THAT IT A KEY TEXT FOR HIM,
A TEXT WHICH HE USES AS ONE OF HIS OWN INTERPRETIVE KEYS
TO THE REST OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
THE IMPORTANT POINT TO BEAR IN MIND
IS THAT AS FOLLOWERS OF JESUS WE ARE CALLED TO FOLLOW HIM
IN HIS INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.
FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN JESUS CLAIMS THE AUTHORITY
TO CORRECT PETER WHEN PETER SUGGESTS LIMITING
THE NUMBER OF TIMES WE FORGIVE SOMEONE ELSE TO SEVEN,
JESUS IS ALSO CORRECTING US,
AND CHALLENGING US TO FORGIVE NOT SEVEN TIMES,
BUT SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN, OR TO FORGIVE WITHOUT LIMIT.
IF GOD ACTUALLY BECAME A PERSON IN THE PERSON OF JESUS,
OR EVEN IF JESUS IS MERELY THE DEEPEST REVELATION
OF GOD’S OWN HEART,
WE ARE BEING GIVEN TEACHINGS OF THE HIGHEST ORDER HERE.
IF JESUS CHALLENGES US TO BE AS INCLUSIVE
IN OUR LOVE FOR OTHERS
AS GOD IS INCLUSIVE IN GOD’S LOVE FOR OTHERS –
INCLUSIVE ENOUGH TO SEND SUN AND RAIN
ON GOOD AND BAD ALIKE –
IN OTHER WORDS, INCLUSIVE ENOUGH TO LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY,
WE ARE BEING GIVEN AN ALL-IMPORTANT KEY TO
UNDERSTANDING THE VERY NATURE OF GOD.
GOD, SAYS JESUS WITH AUTHORITY, IS LIKE THIS.
AND IF GOD IS LIKE THIS, WE CAN TRUST THAT WHEN GOD’S DESIRE
IS THAT WE PRACTICE UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS,
GOD WILL ALSO PRACTICE UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS.
ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THIS WOULD BE TO SAY
THAT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE CAN DO
THAT WOULD MAKE GOD LOVE US
ANYTHING LESS THAN UNCONDITIONALLY.
WE NO LONGER HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF GOD,
FOR GOD IS PERFECT LOVE,
AND PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR.
(1 John 4:18)
IF SOME OF US STILL NEED TO HOLD ON TO THE NOTION
OF BIBLICAL INERRANCY,
LET IT NOT BE THE INERRANCY OF EACH BIBLE VERSE
AS A TRUTH UNTO ITSELF,
BUT INERRANCY UNDERSTOOD AS THE BIBLE’S
UNEQUIVOCAL AFFIRMATION OF GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
MANY CONTEMPORAY COMMENTATORS HAVE OBSERVED
THAT AMERICAN EVANGELICALISM IS A FEAR-BASED RELIGION,
AFRAID OF PERSONS WHO LOOK DIFFERENTLY
AND THINK DIFFERENTLY THAN THEY DO,
AFRAID EVEN OF A GOD WHO MANAGES TO SLIP OUTSIDE
THE BOUNDARIES OF AN APPROACH TO THE BIBLE IN WHICH LITERALLY EVERYTHING IS NAILED DOWN.
CONCERNING THE OVERSOMING OF FEAR,
A STORY FROM DR. RACHEL NAOMI REMEN COMES TO MIND.
SHE WRITES:
“AFTER LISTENING TO [DONNA’S] FEARS
FOR MORE THAN SIX MONTHS,
ONE DAY I TOLD HER THAT FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS
SHE WAS SIMPLY NOT ALLOWED TO BE AFRAID.
SHE HAD LOOKED AT ME IN CONFUSION,
UNABLE TO IMAGINE WHAT I HAD MEANT.
CAREFULLY I EXPLAINED THAT I HAD OBSERVED
THAT HER FIRST REACTION TO JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING WAS FEAR
AND THAT WHEN PEOPLE HAD ONE REACTION TO EVERYTHING,
THAT REACTION BECAME SUSPECT.
IN SHORT, I DID NOT BELIEVE THAT ALL HER FEAR WAS TRUE.
ABRUPTLY SHE HAD BECOME ANGRY,
TELLING ME THAT I WAS NOT COMPASSIONATE
AND INDEED DID NOT SEE HER OR UNDERSTAND HER.
‘NO,’ I SAID,
I BELIEVE THAT AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS I DO SEE YOU.
THIS FEAR THAT HAS SO LITTLE TO DO WITH WHO YOU ARE
HAS GOT IN THE WAY.’
CALMER, SHE ASKED AGAIN WHAT IT WAS
I WAS SUGGESTING THAT SHE DO.
SHE REMINDED ME THAT SHE EXPERIENCED FEAR
MANY TIMES EVERY DAY.
‘I KNOW,’ I TOLD HER, ‘AND I AM PROPOSING AN EXPERIMENT.’
I SUGGESTED THAT WHENEVER SHE FELT FEAR
THAT SHE THINK OF IT AS ONLY HER FIRST RESPONSE
TO WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING.
THE MOST FAMILIAR RESPONSE, AS IT WERE.
I ENCOURAGED HER TO LOOK FOR AND FIND
HER SECOND RESPONSE AND FOLLOW THAT.
‘ASK YOURSELF, “IF I WAS NOT AFRAID,
IF I WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BE AFRAID,
HOW WOULD I RESPOND TO WHAT IS HAPPENING?”
SHE WAS RELUCTANT, BUT SHE AGREED TO TRY.
AT FIRST, [DONNA] HAD BEEN DISCOURAGED TO NOTICE
HOW MANY TIMES SHE EXPERIENCED FEAR EVERY DAY.
BUT SHE WAS SURPRISED TO FIND
THAT OFTEN SHE COULD STEP PAST HER INITIAL STAB OF FEAR
WITH SOME EASE
AND THAT THEN SHE HAD A WIDE VARIETY OF DIFFERENT REACTIONS
TO THE EVENTS IN HER LIFE.
IT HAD NEVER OCCURRED TO HER TO CHALLENGE HER FEAR
IN THIS WAY BEFORE.
AFTER A FEW WEEKS, SHE EVEN BEGAN TO WONDER WHETHER SHE,
HERSELF, WAS AFRAID.
FOR THE FIRST TIME SHE QUESTIONED IF THE FEAR
THAT HAD BEEN HER LIFE’S COMPANION WAS JUST A SORT OF HABIT,
A KNEE-JERK RESPONSE TO LIFE THAT SHE HAD LEARNED YEARS AGO.
OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS WHENEVER SHE FELT FEAR,
SHE WOULD STOP AND ASK HERSELF IF IT WERE TRUE,
LOOKING CLOSELY TO SEE IF SHE REALLY WAS AFRAID.
SURPRISINGLY OFTEN, SHE DISCOVERED SHE WAS NOT…
[FEAR] HAD BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
IN HER MOTHER’S LIFE.
SLOWLY [DONNA] CAME TO REALIZE THAT IT WAS NOT
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN HERS.
HER MOTHER HAD LIVED A NARROW AND UNHAPPY LIFE.
IT HAD BEEN A CLOSE CALL.
‘RACHEL,’ SHE TOLD ME, ‘IF YOU CARRY SOMEONE ELSE’S FEAR
AND LIVE BY SOMEONE ELSE’S VALUES,
YOU MAY FIND THAT YOU HAVE LIVED THEIR LIVES.’”
(Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., My Grandfather’s Blessings, pp.155-156)
LET’S LOOK AT THIS STORY AS A METAPHOR
FOR OBSERVING THE SPIRITUAL COMPONENT
OF OUR OWN LIFE’S JOURNEY.
MANY OF US WERE INDOCTRINATED BY THE PERVASIVE
FUNDAMENTALISM OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES
OF OUR CHILDHOOD, YOUTH, AND YOUNG ADULTHOOD
TO BELIEVE THAT GOD WAS INCREDIBLY ANGRY WITH US,
AND THAT ONLY JESUS STOOD BETWEEN US
AND GOD’S JUST JUDGMENT THAT WE BURN IN HELL.
GOD WANTED TO FORGIVE, BUT ONLY ON CERTAIN CONDITIONS.
THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THESE CONDITIONS
WAS BELIEVING CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT JESUS,
THINGS USUALLY FOUND NOT IN THE GOSPELS
OF MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE, BUT IN THE LETTERS OF PAUL.
MANY OF US WERE ALWAYS A BIT UNSURE,
AND THEREFORE ALWAYS A BIT FEARFUL,
IF WE REALLY BELIEVED THE THINGS ABOUT JESUS
THAT WE SAID WE DID,
OR IF OUR DENOMINATION’S, OR CHURCH’S, OR PASTOR’S VERSION
OF WHAT WE HAD TO BELIEVE WAS REALLY THE CORRECT ONE.
THERE WERE SO MANY DIFFERENT CHURCHES
SAYING SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS
THAT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFINITIVELY KNOW
IF ONE WERE “IN” OR “OUT” WITH GOD.
FOR MANY OF US, BY FAR THE MAJOR EMOTION
WE FELT TOWARD GOD
WAS ONE OF UNRELENTING, PERVASIVE FEAR.
MANY OF US EVENTUALLY BECAME SICK-AND-TIRED
OF BEING BULLIED THIS WAY,
AND CHUCKED THE WHOLE “RELIGION” THING ALTOGETHER.
BUT A SMALL, YET CRUCIAL PART OF US
WAS ALWAYS A BIT SAD AT BEING FORCED TO GIVE UP ON GOD.
WE NEED TO RE-PROGRAM OURSELVES.
INSTEAD OF TRUSTING A DENOMINATION, OR CHURCH, OR PASTOR
TO TELL US WHAT GOD IS LIKE AND WHAT WE HAVE
TO BELIEVE OR DO TO GET ON GOD’S GOOD SIDE,
LET’S BY-PASS ALL THAT AND GO STRAIGHT
TO THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS.
WE HAVE A BIG ENOUGH SAMPLING OF THOSE TEACHINGS
IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READINGS
TO KNOW WITH ASSURANCE THAT GOD LOVES US
WITH A LOVE THAT IS UNWAVERING AND UNCONDITIONAL.
AT SOME POINT IN OUR LIVES DUE TO BAD TEACHING
WE MAY HAVE GIVEN UP ON GOD,
BUT GOD HAS NEVER AND WILL NEVER GIVE UP ON US.
WHENEVER WE ARE TEMPTED TO REVERT TO OUR FEAR OF GOD,
WE CAN REMIND OURSELVES THAT GOD’S LOVE
IS ALL-INCLUSIVE,
AND THAT WE CAN TRUST THAT LOVE
TO CARRY US THROUGH THE BEST AND THE WORST
THAT LIFE HAS TO OFFER.
AMEN.