LEARNING TO FOLLOW JESUS’ LEAD IN READING SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 6:9-10; Mark 8:14-18b, 21
Rev. Paul Wrightman 1/7/24
KENTON ANDERSON WRITES:
“MY FAMILY AND I RECENTLY SAW THE PRIME MERIDIAN
AT THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY IN GREENWICH, ENGLAND.
I TOOK A PICTURE OF MY CHILDREN STRADDLING THE MERIDIAN,
EACH WITH ONE FOOT IN THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE
AND THE OTHER FOOT IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
THE PRIME MERIDIAN ITSELF IS NOT IMPRESSIVE.
YOU WOULD NOT REALIZE IT WAS THERE
IF IT WERE NOT FOR A BOLD LINE CUT ACROSS THE PAVEMENT.
THE DEMARCATION IS A HUMAN INVENTION.
PRIOR TO THE INTERNATIONAL MERIDIAN CONFERENCE OF 1884,
EACH LOCAL REGION KEPT ITS OWN TIME, A SYSTEM THAT,
IF CONTINUED, WOULD HAVE RENDERED IMPOSSIBLE
OUR CURRENT ARRANGEMENTS FOR TRADE AND COMMERCE.
WHILE THE MERIDIAN IS HUMANLY DERIVED,
ITS RELATION TO THE STARS IS NOT,
AND THAT HEAVENLY CORRESPONDENCE ALLOWS US
TO FIND OUR PLACE ON THE MAP AND IN THE WORLD.
THE PRIME MERIDIAN IS THE WORK OF JOHN FLAMSTEED,
THE FIRST ASTRONOMER ROYAL, WHO MADE IT HIS LIFE MISSION
TO PRODUCE A PROPER NAVIGATIONAL CHART OF THE HEAVENS,
MAPPING THE LOCATION OF THOUSANDS OF STARS.
BASED ON FLAMSTEEDS WORK, SCIENTISTS WERE ABLE
TO HELP PEOPLE FIND THEIR POSITION ON THE PLANET,
ALLOWING THEM TO ANSWER THAT FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION
OF PHILOSOPHY AND PHYSICS: WHERE AM I?”
(End Quote)
MANY EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS USE ILLUSTRATIONS
SIMILAR TO THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIME MERIDIAN
TO MAKE THE POINT THAT THE BIBLE IS THE PRIME MERIDIAN –
THE STANDARD POINT OF REFERENCE – FOR OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES.
BUT CLAIMING PRIME MERIDIAN STATUS FOR THE BIBLE
IS A MISTAKE BECAUSE THE BIBLE IS WAY TOO DIVERSE,
WAY TOO CONTRADICTORY, FOR IT TO SERVE AS A SURE GUIDE
FOR ETHICS OR THEOLOGY.
TO GIVE JUST TWO OUT OF ENDLESS POSSIBLE EXAMPLES:
CONCERNING ETHICS, THE BIBLE TELLS US IN DIFFERENT PLACES
BOTH TO TURN OUR WEAPONS INTO FARM IMPLEMENTS
AND TO TURN OUR FARM IMPLEMENTS INTO WEAPONS.
WHICH SHOULD IT BE? HOW SHALL WE DECIDE?
CONCERNING THEOLOGY, ST. PAUL WRITES ABOUT THE PARTNERS
IN A MARRIAGE BOTH “BE SUBMISSIVE TO ONE ANOTHER,”
AND “WIVES, BE SUBMISSIVE TO YOUR HUSBANDS.”
WHICH SHOULD IT BE? HOW SHALL WE DECIDE?
CHURCHES THAT HAVE DEEP ROOTS IN THE WHOLE HISTORY
OF CHRISTIANITY, AND NOT JUST THE FEW CENTURIES
EXPERIENCED HERE IN THE UNITED STATES,
HOLD THAT THERE IS, INDEED, A PRIME MERIDIAN –
A STANDARD POINT OF REFERENCE – FOR OUR FAITH.
THEY SEE THIS PRIME MERIDIAN OF OUR FAITH
NOT IN TERMS OF A BOOK, THE BIBLE,
BURSTING WITH MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW
OFTEN AT WAR WITH ONE ANOTHER,
BUT IN TERMS OF A PERSON, JESUS OF NAZARETH,
WHOSE ACTIONS AND TEACHINGS,
WHOSE LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION,
GIVE US THE INTERPRETIVE KEY THAT WE NEED
TO MAKE SENSE, NOT ONLY OF THE BIBLE,
BUT OF OUR INDIVIDUAL LIVES AS WELL.
AND JESUS HIMSELF DOES NOT HESITATE TO DECIDE
WHICH DIRECTIONS IN SCRIPTURE ARE GATEWAYS TO GOD
AND WHICH DIRECTIONS IN SCRIPTURE ARE DEAD-ENDS.
THUS, FOR JESUS, BEATING SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES
IS THE GATEWAY TO GOD AND TURNING PLOWSHARES INTO SWORDS
IS LITERALLY A DEAD-END.
FOR JESUS, MUTUAL SUBMISSIVENESS IN MARRIAGE
IS THE WAY TO GO, AND THE ONE-SIDED SERVITUDE
OF WOMEN TO MEN SIMPLY A REFLECTION
OF ONE OF THE DEAD-ENDS IN JESUS’ CULTURE – AND OURS.
THROUGHOUT HIS MINISTRY JESUS MAKES IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR
THAT HE HAS THE AUTHORITY TO “CORRECT” SCRIPTURE.
HE CORRECTS SCRIPTURE DRAMATICALLY
IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT WHEN FIVE TIMES HE STATES
“YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID . . .”,
QUOTES A WELL-KNOWN TEACHING FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
GOES ON TO SAY, “BUT I TELL YOU . . .”,
AND THEN SUPPLIES HIS OWN TEACHING IN ITS PLACE.
HERE’S JUST ONE EXAMPLE:
“YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID,
‘EYE FOR EYE, AND TOOTH FOR TOOTH.’
BUT I TELL YOU, ‘DO NOT RESIST EVIL WITH EVIL.’”
(Matthew 5:38-39a)
ALMOST AS DRAMATIC ARE THOSE CORRECTIONS
WHICH JESUS MAKES WHEN HIS HEARERS SIMPLY ASSUME
A WELL-KNOWN BIBLICAL “PRINCIPLE,”
SUCH AS GOD BLESSING THE GOOD WITH HEALTH AND WEALTH
AND GOD CURSING THE BAD WILL ILLNESS AND POVERTY –
AND JESUS TELLING HIS HEARERS IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS
THAT GOD DOES NOT OPERATE THIS WAY.
ALL THROUGHOUT HIS MINISTRY, HOWEVER,
ARE MORE SUBTLE EXAMPLES OF JESUS NUDGING HIS HEARERS
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION CONCERNING UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURE.
TODAY, FOR EXAMPLE, I’VE CHOSEN TWO SCRIPTURE TEXTS.
THE ONE FROM ISAIAH WAS OFTEN MISINTERPRETED
IN JESUS’ DAY, AND CONTINUES TO BE MISINTERPRETED
IN THIS WAY IN OUR OWN DAY,
AS GOD SPEAKING IN ANGER AND CURSING THE PEOPLE
BY STOPPING THEIR EARS AND SHUTTING THEIR EYES
TO A HEALING RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR CREATOR.
TODAY’S BEST BIBLICAL SCHOLARS COMMENT
THAT THESE WORDS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET ISAIAH
WERE INTENTIONALLY IRONIC: GOD WAS USING
‘NEGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY,” IF YOU WILL, TO INCITE
A DEEPER DESIRE IN THE PEOPLE
TO RETURN TO GOD AND BE HEALED.
BUT BY THE TIME OF JESUS BIBLICAL LITERALISM
WAS ASCENDANT IN ISRAEL AND THE PEOPLE MISUNDERSTOOD
THESE WORDS IN ISAIAH TO MEAN THAT GOD WAS SO ANGRY
AT THE PEOPLE THAT GOD HAD PURPOSEFULLY SLAMMED THE DOOR
ON THEM.
JESUS WANTS TO REDEEM THIS READING FROM ISAIAH,
AND HE DOES SO IN HIS TYPICALLY PLAYFUL WAY.
IN TODAY’S READING FROM THE GOSPEL OF MARK,
JESUS CONNECTS ISAIAH’S WORDS TO HIS OWN
IN SUCH A WAY THAT REVEALS THEIR ORIGINAL
AND CONTINUING INTENT.
HE TURNS GOD’S (SUPPOSED) CURSE INTO A CHALLENGE
BY SIMPLY ASSUMING (AS DID THE PROPHER ISAIAH)
THAT HIS RATHER DENSE DISCIPLES STILL HAVE THE OPTION
TO CHOOSE TO REALLY HEAR, TO REALLY SEE,
TO REALLY UNDERSTAND.
THE CONTEXT FOR OUR READING FROM MARK
IS THAT JESUS HAS JUST PROVIDED BREAD
FOR A VERY LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE.
HE AND HIS DISCIPLES ARE CROSSING THE SEA OF GALILEE.
THE DISCIPLES HAVE FORGOTTEN
TO BRING ANY BREAD OF THEIR OWN.
JESUS SAYS TO THEM IN WARNING:
“WATCH OUT FOR THE YEAST OF THE PHARISEES
AND THAT OF HEROD.”
THE DISCIPLES, FIXATED ON THE LITERAL,
IMMEDIATELY JUMP TO THE WRONG CONCLUSION –
THAT JESUS IS CRITICIZING THEM FOR THEIR FORGETFULNESS.
JESUS, HOWEVER, IS THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING
WAY BIGGER, WAY MORE IMPORTANT, THAN THEIR LACK OF BREAD.
“YEAST,” IN THE JEWISH TRADITION, WHEN USED AS A METAPHOR,
ALMOST ALWAYS REFERRED TO SOMETHING EXTREMELY BAD,
SOMETHING EQUIVALENT TO POISON.
BY USING “YEAST” IN CONNECTION
WITH THE PHARISEES AND HEROD,
JESUS IS CONTRASTING THEIR VISION OF GOD’S KINGDOM
WITH HIS OWN.
MANY OF THE PHARISEES WANTED TO TURN ISRAEL
INTO A THEOCRACY – A RIGID HIERARCHIAL SYSTEM
WHERE EVERY ACTION AND ATTITUDE WAS DICTATED BY GOD’S LAW.
THIS FINDS AN EXACT PARALLEL TODAY
IN THE EXPANDING “CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM” MOVEMENT
WITHIN OUR OWN COUNTRY.
KING HEROD AND HIS FOLLOWERS SAW GOD’S KINGDOM
IN TERMS OF THE SPLENDOR OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM
AND THE MAGNIFICENCE OF THE TEMPLE.
JESUS WAS HOPING THAT HIS OWN DISCIPLES
WOULD BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS PRESENTED BY THE PHARISEES AND HEROD
AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS PRESENTED BY HIMSELF.
IT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A KINGDOM
WHOSE DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC WOULD BE
METICULOUS OBSERVANCE OF ALL THE 613 COMMANDMENTS
MENTIONED IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
AS INTERPRETED BY THE PHARISEES,
OR A KINGDOM WHOSE DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC WOULD BE
THE GRANDIOSITY OF THE TEMPLE AS RECONSTRUCTED
BY THE HERODIAN REGIME,
OR OF JESUS’ OWN VISION OF GOD’S KINGDOM
AS A KINGDOM OF HEALING, COMPASSION, JUSTICE,
NONVIOLENCE, FORGIVENESS, AND LOVE.
JESUS’ DISCIPLES WERE SO BUSY FOCUSING ON THE “TREES” –
WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD THEIR DAILY PROVISIONS –
THAT THEY MISSED THE “FOREST” – THE MUCH BIGGER REALITY
OF BUILDING GOD’S KINGDOM.
THOSE OF US WHO TRY TO FOLLOW JESUS IN 2024
FACE CHALLENGES VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE
OF JESUS’ ORIGINAL DISCIPLES.
BUILDING GOD’S KINGDOM HAS BOTH
SOCIETAL AND PERSONAL DIMENSIONS.
ON THE SOCIETAL SIDE OF THINGS,
IT IS SO EASY TO GET CAUGHT UP IN THE “TREES”
OF MAINTAINING OUR STANDARD OF LIVING
AND OUR STATUS AS A NATION
THAT WE MISS THE “FOREST” OF GOD’S CONCERN
FOR THOSE WHO ARE POOR AND THOSE WHO ARE STRANGERS.
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE OF THINGS,
TIM SANDERS, FORMER CHIEF SOLUTIONS OFFICER AT YAHOO!,
OFFERS SOME GREAT PRACTICAL ADVICE:
“TAKE YOUR LIFE AND ALL THE THINGS
THAT YOU THINK ARE IMPORTANT,
AND PUT THEM IN ONE OF THREE CATEGORIES,
REPRESENTED BY THREE ITEMS:
GLASS, METAL, AND RUBBER.
THINGS OF RUBBER, WHEN YOU DROP THEM, WILL BOUNCE BACK.
NO HARM IS DONE WHEN THESE THINGS ARE DROPPED.
SO, FOR INSTANCE, IF I MISS A SEAHAWKS GAME,
MY LIFE WILL BOUNCE ALONG FINE.
MISSING A GAME OR A SEASON OF FOOTBALL
WILL NOT ALTER MY MARRIAGE OR MY SPIRITUAL LIFE.
I CAN TAKE ‘EM OR LEAVE ‘EM.
THINGS OF METAL, WHEN DROPPED, CREATE A LOT OF NOISE.
BUT YOU CAN RECOVER FROM THE DROP.
IF YOU MISS A MEETING AT WORK, YOU CAN GET THE CLIFFNOTES.
IF YOU DON’T BALANCE YOUR CHECKBOOK
AND LOSE TRACK OF HOW MUCH YOU HAVE IN YOUR ACCOUNT,
AND THE BANK NOTIFIES YOU OF AN OVERDRAFT –
THAT WILL CREATE SOME NOISE IN YOUR LIFE,
BUT YOU CAN RECOVER FROM IT.
THINGS OF GLASS, WHEN DROPPED, SHATTER INTO PIECES
AND WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.
THEY CAN BE GLUED BACK TOGETHER,
BUT THEY ARE ALTERED FOREVER.
THEY MAY BE MISING SOME PIECES,
AND THEY PROBABLY CAN’T HOLD WATER AGAIN WITHOUT LEAKING.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS BROKENNESS
WILL FOREVER AFFECT HOW THE GLASS IS USED.”
(End Quote)
THE MORAL OF THIS METAPHOR IS CLEAR.
WE HAD BETTER TAKE GREAT CARE
IN CHOOSING WHICH ITEMS OR REALITIES
TO PLACE IN EACH CATEGORY.
IT’S RELATIVELY EASY TO GET SO CAUGHT UP
IN THE “RUBBER” AND “METAL” PARTS OF OUR LIVES
THAT WE LEAVE THE “GLASS” DIMENSION OF OUR LIVES
UNATTENDED.
AND LEAVING SOMETHING UNATTENDED
IS ABOUT AS GOOD A WAY AS WE CAN FIND
TO INSURE THAT WHAT IS LEFT UNATTENDED
WILL EVENTUALLY BE BROKEN AND PERHAPS LOST.
C.S. LEWIS HAS SOME VERY WISE WORDS
ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING
THE FIRST THINGS IN OUR LIVES FIRST.
ACCORDING TO LEWIS, THERE IS ONLY ONE FIRST THING IN LIFE,
AND THAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
IF WE PUT AND KEEP OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD FIRST,
ALL THE OTHER THINGS IN OUR LIVES
WILL BE ABLE TO FIND THEIR PROPER PLACE.
BUT IF WE MAKE FIRST IN OUR LIVES
SOMETHING THAT IS SECOND OR THIRD,
OR FIFTEENTH OR SIXTEENTH,
WE LOSE WHAT IS FIRST,
AND ALL THE REST IS HOPELESSLY MUDDLED.
I’D LIKE TO CLOSE WITH AN ILLUSTRATION FROM CHARLES SWINDOLL.
I THINK IT IS BIG ENOUGH TO ECHO AND BRING TO COMPLETION
ALL THE METAPHORS THAT WE’VE BEEN WORKING WITH THUS FAR.
SWINDOLL WRITES:
“THERE ARE FEW THINGS WORSE THAN LIVING IN A CITY
AND NOT KNOWING YOUR WAY AROUND.
THIS HAPPENED TO US WHEN WE LIVED IN SAN FRANCISCO
FOR A FEW MONTHS IN THE LATTER PART OF 1957.
IT IS EASY TO GET LOST.
ALL THE STREETS ON ONE SIDE OF MISSION RUN IN ONE DIRECTION –
ON THE DIAGONAL.
AND ALL THE STREETS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF MISSION
RUN IN THE PERPENDICULAR.
THEN YOU ADD ALL THOSE INCREDIBLE HILLS
AND THE WINDING STREETS AND THE TINY SIGNS
THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPAINTED YEARS AGO,
ALL THE BUILDINGS, MANY OF WHICH LOOK ALIKE,
AND THE FOG AND THE HILLS AND THE FOG AND THE TROLLEYS
AND YOU’RE APT TO GET LOST.
CYNTHIA AND I WERE WITH SOME FRIENDS
ATOP THE NEW SAN FRANCISCO HILTON ONE YEAR
AND THINGS CHANGED.
THE HILTON HAS OVER TWENTY STORIES.
FOR THE FIRST TIME THE LAYOUT OF THAT CITY
FELL INTO PLACE FOR ME . . .
OFF IN THIS DIRECTION WAS THE GOLDEN GATE.
OVER HERE WAS THE BAY BRIDGE.
DOWN HERE WAS FISHERMAN’S WHARF,
AND THEN NOB HILL AND THEN CHINATOWN,
AND DOWN BACK SOUTH WERE DALY CITY
AND POINTS DOWN THE PENINSULA.
FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE WE COULD SEE EVERYTHING AT ONCE,
[WE COULD GET A SENSE OF THE WHOLE].”
(End Quote)
TO ECHO SWINDOLL, WE COULD SAY THAT THERE ARE
FEW THINGS WORSE THAN LIVING LIFE
AND NOT KNOWING YOUR WAY AROUND.
IT IS EASY TO GET LOST AMONG THE “TREES” IN THE 31,102 VERSES
OF THE PROTESTANT BIBLE.
INVITING JESUS TO BE OUR GUIDE, HOWEVER,
ENABLES US TO SEE THE “FOREST,”
WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN SCRIPTURE AND WHAT IS NOT.
IT IS TRICKY TO MAKE THE MOST LIFE-GIVING CHOICES
AS TO WHAT TO PLACE IN THE “RUBBER,” “METAL,” AND “GLASS”
DIMENSIONS OF OUR LIVES.
INVITING JESUS TO BE OUR GUIDE –
OUR WAY, OUR TRUTH, AND OUR LIFE –
EMPOWERS US TO PUT WHAT IS FIRST FIRST
AND WHAT IS SECOND SECOND.
AND LIKE THE HIGH VANTAGE POINT THE SWINDOLL’S DISCOVERED
IN 1957 SAN FRANCISCO,
ACCEPTING JESUS’ INVITATION TO SEE THROUGH HIS EYES
GIVES US A SENSE OF THE WHOLE,
A MAP BY WHICH TO NAVIGATE,
AND A HAND TO GRASP WHEN IT’S FOGGY AND COLD.
AMEN.