Which Christmas Story do you Want me to Tell?

Today's question is: Read the birth narratives of Jesus in the four gospels. What do you think each author wants us to know about Jesus by telling the story the way he does? How are the messages similar/different?

Wow. This is such a good exercise for us! The birth narratives are so different from one another. Each one emphasizes something different and reveals something about each community that produced that particular gospel.

Here's the quick and dirty on each of the birth narratives and what they might mean:

Matthew starts with a genealogy that traces Jesus, through King David, back to Abraham. It concludes with the visit from the Wise Men and the flight to Egypt. So, my bet is that Matthew's community wanted to emphasize the kingliness of Jesus.

Mark's gospel doesn't have a birth narrative. (Did you know that?) Instead, this gospel begins with John the Baptizer and the baptism of Jesus, two sentences about 40days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted, the launch of his ministry and calling the first disciples. Mark gets down to business. So, my hunch is that the Markian community wanted to emphasize Jesus' ministry and the urgency that surrounds it in the storytelling.

Luke's gospel gives the back story on the births of Jesus and John. This is the most magical of the birth narratives because it's the one with all the angels. Form Gabriel to the throngs of angels singing to the shepherds in the hills, this story is chalked full of them. That's why I think the Lukeian community wanted to emphasize the holiness of Jesus. At the same time, the emphasis on Mary uplifts his humanity and royalty - it's through Mary that Jesus' roots can be traced back to King David.

The gospel according to John also lacks a birth narrative. Instead, we find that beautiful poetry about the Word being with God. Without a doubt, the folks who wrote this gospel must have wanted to emphasize the divinity of Jesus the Savior.

Not a Ouija Board....

How might Borg’s historical-metaphorical approach help you interpret a passage of scripture? How is it different than the way you have interpreted scripture in the past?

First, let's clarify what Borg means by historical-metaphorical approach to reading scripture. When taking a historical approach, we should ask the question, "What did this text mean in the ancient historical setting in which it was written?" When taking a metaphorical approach, we should ask the question, "What does this story mean as a story, independent of its historical factuality?"

When we are taking a historical-metaphorical approach to scripture, we ask both questions. This is very different than how I used to read the Bible. I used to read the Bible wondering, "What is God saying to me, today, through these words, about this particular situation in which I find myself...?"

And, yes, the Spirit may add understanding to our reading of scripture, but, we should not confuse cracking open our Bible with cracking open a fortune cookie. See, the problem with my old approach is that I was treating the Bible like one of those fortune telling machines you find in arcades. Furthermore, the Bible is not a Ouija Board - we can't ask a question, randomly open the book and expect to find an answer. (Actually, we shouldn't expect to be able to do that with a Ouija Board either...but that's another story for another blog entry.

The Bible is a relevant tool we can and should employ to navigate faithful lives. But, we must do so knowing what this tool will and won't do. Using the historical-metaphorical approach to reading scripture and avoiding reading the Bible like a our daily horoscope will help. Using this approach helps us utilize the Bible appropriately.

Unlocking History

Today's question is: The Historical approach focuses on the question, “What did this text mean in the ancient historical setting in which it was written?” The Metaphorical approach focuses on the question: What does this story mean as a story, independent of its historical factuality.” Which of these two approaches are you most/least comfortable with? Why?

I am very comfortable with the historical approach to scripture. However, I have a Masters of Divinity degree and minored in theology in undergrad. Learning about the importance of the historical approach to scripture and how to find such information was a regular part of my theological education. When we look through the lens of history, we find a depth and richness in the text that an otherwise cursory read would overlook.

The problem is this, if I were I lay person, I don't think I would be comfortable in this arena at all.

So - how can lay people get more comfortable unlocking the historical context of a text? It's all about the tools. For starters, everyone needs to have a good Bible. If you are still using the Bible that your church gave you in 1972, it's time to get a new one. And for goodness sake, if you are trying to read the King James version of the Bible, unless you like reading Shakespeare in your spare time, run, don't walk, to your local book seller and get a New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. When looking for an NRSV, I would suggest getting a study Bible with hearty footnotes. For the casual reader, all the historical background you will ever need will be in those footnotes. For the more curious reader, you can buy a good commentary, or check some online source like www.textweek.com.

When you begin to read the Bible with its historical context in mind, how does that change your reading and interpretation of it?

Taking the Red Pill

Today's question is this: Borg concludes with three metaphors for seeing the bible (Finger Pointing the Moon, Lens, Sacrament). What metaphor would you use to describe the Bible? Complete the sentence: To me, the Bible is like...

To me, reading the Bible is like taking the red pill in "The Matrix". Now, if you haven't seen this movie, stick with me...and if you have, hear me out - the metaphor works, I promise.

In the movie "The Matrix", taking the red pill frees a person from the Matrix, a computer-generated world within which people, unknowingly, live their entire lives. If you take a red pill, you'll be awakened from the Matrix to the truth of reality. If you take the blue pill, you'll still be connected to the Matrix and remain blissfully ignorant in the midst of the grand illusion.

Reading the Bible, for me, is like taking the red pill: it enables us to see the world form God's point of view -- from the viewpoint of God's greater justice and mercy. We get to see the world from Jesus' point of view -- from the viewpoint of one who insisted upon loving our neighbors and our enemies. Most importantly, instead of seeing the world from the viewpoint of consumerism, which has become the overriding qualifier of what it means to be American in 21st century life, we see the world from the viewpoint of God's preferential love for the poor. If God cares for the poor, then we, as lovers of God, must figure out how we will care for the poor of the world. When we figure out that this is one of the biggest responsibilities of the faithful, the whole world changes.

So, which pill will you be swallowing?

With a Capital "W"

Today's question is: What does it mean for you to call the Bible “the Word of God?” What doesn’t it mean for you?

Flipping through an art history book long ago, I came across a painting of Saint so-and-so writing the Bible. In this depiction, an ethereal hand reaches down out of the heavens. It grasps the saint's hand and the quill pen therein. The painting was commissioned as a teaching tool - to let the common folk know that this book contained The Word of God as written by God himself.

This is not what I think of when I think of the Bible being The Word of God with a capital "W".

When I think of the Bible being the Word of God, I think of the millions of faithful people who, for millenia, have looked to the words of the Bible to reveal something about the "character and will of God" as Marcus Borg puts it. In those stories, letters and poems, there are profound glimpses of who God is, how God works, what we can expect from God, and what God expects of us.

Sacred Contextual Texts

Today's question is: Does scripture ever function as a sacrament in your life? What helps you listen for the Spirit of God speaking through the words of the biblical text?

Have you ever been driving along, listening to the radio and, all of a sudden, the perfect song comes on? The song seems to fit the exact moment of life you are living in, as if some divine intervention was at work when the DJ picked the next tune. It's like those words were written just for you. When that happens with scripture, that's when the text becomes sacramental for me.

In order to listen for the Spirit of God speaking through the words of the biblical text, I have to start new every time. I have to stop thinking that I know what this particular passage is about, forget that I've read it before, and start over. I have to have an open mind and open heart. But, I also have to bring my life to the text and be willing to let the text speak to me and my situation in life. In other words, I have to provide my own context in which to hear the text. Again, when I do that, there is a sense that the text really is speaking to me.

The Holy in the Everyday

Today's question is: Where do you experience the presence of God in your life? Are there sacred spaces, objects, rituals, relationships, activities that are ‘mediators of the sacred’ - vehicles by which God becomes present to you?

What is sacred to me? Since writing is one of those sacred activities, I thought I would offer this poem about what is sacred to me....

Birthing, breathing, creating. Cooking, conversing,
love-making. Soul-tending, gardening,
greeting the day.
Smiling,
engaging,
embracing. Justice-making.
God-bearing.
Believing.

What's Holy?

Today's question is: What does it mean for you to call the Bible “holy?”

Just about every Bible I've ever seen has the word "Holy" inserted in front of the word Bible on the front cover. Is it holy because God made it so? Because it says so on the cover? Or is the Bible holy because we make it holy?

I opt for #3.

Take anything that is considered holy - it is only considered so because we make it so. When we pour out the waters of baptism (which is just tap water by the way) we ask God to bless the water and to help us receive God's inward and invisible grace through this outward and visible sign.

It's the same with scripture. When we come to the text, we should be asking the Spirit to move through us and for God to open us the Word for us. When we experience God's grace in the text, I think that's the moment when it becomes holy.

Something Sacred

Today's question is: Does the process of how the Bible was developed and the history of how it became viewed as authoritative by the church affect your views on the sacred status of scripture?

The short answer to this question is: nope, not at all.

The long answer is this: half the battle is accepting the fact that the Bible did not drop from the sky one day, whole, intact and perfect. Once we understand how the canonization process worked, we've taken a big step. But, there's still another hurdle. The canonization was a messy, imperfect process. It's hard to be at peace with that.

As one of my Seminary professors often said about scripture, "We are passive recipients of someone else's choices." I try to keep that very ambiguous fact in balance with the fact that this book has been trusted for millennia. When tragedies occur, when we are at a loss to explain what happens in life, when people have been at a loss for words, time and again, people have gone to the Bible to find words of comfort, assurance and insight.

What's important when reading scripture is that we remain open to the movement of the Spirit. We must ask how God is still speaking to us today in the text. Does God have a Word for us today? That's the question that transforms just another book into something sacred.

Response to? Inspired by? Both?

Today's question is: How does Borg’s description of the bible as “a human response to God” fit your own understanding of the relationship between God and the Bible?

Borg takes the approach that the Bible is purely a human product. If the Bible is a human product, it makes the difficult sections easier to stomach. If we find out the historical context of the text, it may unlock some of the mystery as to why someone would attribute certain things to God.

But, I must admit that I don't entirely agree with Borg's assertion that the Bible is purely a human product. I understand his point. If we think that some of the Bible is inspired and some is not, then we're stuck in a vast gray area of wondering what is and what is not inspired.

I'm ok with that gray area. I am ok wit the ambiguity of some of the Bible being human response to God and some of it being inspired. As a writer and preacher, I have certainly experienced this phenomenon. I have preached sermons that were clearly the work of the Holy Spirit, when it felt as if the words were not mine, but truly God's. I have also phoned it in. I would assume the same is true for the texts we deem sacred.

Beloved texts

Today's question is: Are there particular passages of scripture that you cherish? If so, what makes them significant for you?

If have several passages that I cherish. Ruth's promise to Naomi, "Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God shall be my God," was the passage David and I chose to have read at our wedding. That makes it foundational in my life.

There's also Jesus promise in Matthew which read, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I shall give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light, " is also key. I had to memorize it for a worship service I was doing. So, I had it there, rummaging around in my brain. The first time I ever felt really burnt out, I remembered it. It became life savingly true for me.

Then, there's the section of Paul's' letter to the Romans wherein he states, "For I am convinced that neither death, not lie, nor angels, not rulers, not things present, not things to come, nor powers, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." That passage made me trust in God at a time in my life that was characterized by overwhelming fear.

I could go on and on. I am discovering new things every day!

Seriously? Seriously.

Today's question is: What are some of the barriers that keep you from taking the Bible more seriously than you do?

Oof. That's a rough one.

I get hung up with the texts of terror in the Bible -- the ones where God does something violent, or instructs someone to do something horrific in God's name.

What do you do with that?

How do you preach that?

Seriously?

For someone who believes in a loving, caring, compassionate god, i have a hard time taking these references to a vengeful, violent God seriously.

My gut reaction is to ignore those passages. But ignoring them does no one any good. To take those passages seriously, I need to dive into them. I need to unlock them.

One way to do that might be to ask this question: why might the people have thought God would want them to act violently? Recently in an email devotional from our United Church of Christ, Ron Buford remarked, "...the ancient Israelites living among people who honored their gods in these ways may have begun thinking that their God deserved similar devotion, zealously attributing such words to God."

Ron's response helped me so much, and I hope it helps you too.

For the Bible Tells Me So

Today's question: How has your own understanding of the Bible changed over the course of your life?

Even though no one in my immediate family was a literalist when it came to scripture, I am pretty sure I went through a literal phase when I was younger. But, then again, I literally thought Santa Claus was real too. We tend to be literal creatures as children. At some point, we figure out that the world is not always what it seems. We also figure out how, as children, to take the grain of truth from a story while simultaneously understanding that it's just a story. But, for some of us, we aren't able to do that with the Bible. We set the Bible apart and can't seem to say, "I don't know if it happened in exactly this way, but I know this is true."

In college, I took a lot of theology classes and learned to love the meaning of the text beyond the literal word on the page. I craved the way we approached texts in school as something to be dissected. But, that made my devotional reading of scripture take a nose dive. It took years for me to be able to let me experience interact with the text on face value. Most days, I do a combination of both. But, always, i have to open myself up to the presence of the Holy Spirit in reading, asking god to "add blessing" to my reading and understanding of the text.

The Bible says...WHAT?!

First, let me apologize for being lax on blog postings. It was part my fault, and part technical difficulty -- our Blogger site insisted for several days that they were "unable to upload new posts at this time."



Now, onto the question at hand. Today's question is this: When have you experienced the conflict between the different ways that people read and interpret the Bible?



If you were in church a couple of weeks ago for my first sermon in this series, then you've heard this story. But it bears repeating because it addresses this question so completely.



When I first discerned my call to ministry at age 17, excitedly, I shared my revelation with my friends. Everyone was positive, except for one friend who said the following to me:



"It's really great that you've figured out that God has placed a call on your life. But I doubt God would be calling you to be a pastor because, you know, in the Bible it says "women should not speak in church"...so maybe, God is calling you to be a Christian Educator, or maybe..."



...he said the following with great enthusiasm...



"...a Pastor's Wife."



So, if you ask me whether or not I have experienced conflict in the different ways people read the Bible, undoubtedly, my answer is, "YES, yes, I have!" It took me a long time, a lot of prayer, conversation, and learning to get past this one.



What became critical for me and my relationship to the Bible was to learn about the history an context of Biblical texts as I read them. Take the passage my friend referred to, for instance. In context, this text doesn't say anything about women preaching. It's referring to women who were interrupting worship with their questions. Without understanding the history related to and context of the passage, it would be easy to misinterpret.



You should know that I am still friends with the person who said that to me. That may seem unfathomable to you. But, I really believe in the Unity of the Body of Christ. Maintaining relationship with people who are different from me expands my worldview and enables me to better understand what I, personally, believe. It also allows me to experience the grace of God in profound ways. There's a lot of grace involved when you are in relationship with people who are diametrically opposed to who you are. That grace is real and so is the relationship that follows even if we disagree on how we read our Bibles.

It's Complicated

Our summer sermon series draws from the Marcus Borg book Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. Throughout the summer, I'll be blogging about the issues raised by the book. My friend and colleague Rev. Tom Ott, Sr. Pastor of the church I served in Battle Creek, developed the questions I'll be blogging about. Join in the conversation!

Here's today's question: How would you describe your own relationship with scripture? What feelings, experiences, or reactions does it evoke in you?

My relationship to scripture has been...complicated. Even though I was raised in your average, middle of the road UCC church, I went though a literalistic phase. That didn't last long. Then, when I went to college and took a bunch of theology classes, I had a crisis of faith. I could not reconcile all the things I was leaning in college with my Sunday School education. How could no one have ever taught me about the canonization process, the way in which the Bible came to be? How could no one have ever told me there were feminine references to God contained in scripture? I felt lied to and I was angry. Now, in all fairness, knowing my pastors, it could be that someone did teach me these things. I just wasn't paying attention at the time. Regardless, at that point in my life, I had very mixed emotions about my faith. I loved my theology classes, but they became a substitute for my own experiences of worship and personal devotions.

I think that's when I stopped reading my Bible. When I moved to Florida, I started going to St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Bill Barnes' preaching was revelatory to me. I started picking up my Bible again. Throughout my time in Florida and Seminary in Chicago, I finally felt like I was able to reclaim scripture as important in my life. I figured our how to believe in the truth of the Word even when the words were not factual. I also figured out how to argue with the text. I began to understand that I could disagree with the text. But, I also, finally, understood that I could dig deeper into the text, discovering its historical and cultural context. When I did that, I would always come away with a fresh perspective on the text.

These days, I go to scripture for insight when I need help figuring life out. I also go to it for comfort when I feel as if the whole world is falling apart. Mostly, though, I read the Bible because I can. It informs my faith journey. So, most days, I read the Bible devotionally, not looking for anything in particular. That's when I find the most wonderful things.