Scripture as Telescope

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16

Been thinking about what you anticipate, expect, or think about Scripture?  Did you get your Bible off the shelf?  Been flipping through the pages?  If Scripture can be stain-glass or a kaleidoscope, what other images might we draw upon to help us as we prepare to open the pages to read?

Perhaps a telescope.  This amazing invention helps us see things far away, brings them close as our next breathe.  Too often, it is easier to hold Scripture at arms length, less it gets too close and starts rummaging around, rearranging our lives.  (Jesus talking about not worrying, considering the lilies of the field...does he not understand, I am REALLY good at worrying...would totally make the Olympic team in worrying.  But I digress.)  It is safer to keep the Bible on the shelf, less it start speaking to the decisions we make regarding money or that co-worker you poke fun at or how we treat God's good creation.  If you start breathing in Scripture, it will wreak-havoc on our carefully planned lives.  

C.S. Lewis said the Bible is a book for grown ups...but outside of church how many of us study it?  Do we really believe that eight to ten years of Sunday School was enough?  Do we think that one class in college to meet our liberal arts requirement was enough?  We have privatized Scripture and I confess that the usual Sunday morning sermon does little to counter-act that movement.  There I am, all alone, trying to interpret.  I have pushed back on definitions of preaching as me standing at the cross roads of the people of God and the word of God, as though only I can bring the two together.  Baloney.  I want Scripture to be a dance between the church and I together, and somehow I help teach a new step, but that the People of God take, embody, breathe in and most importantly - make their own!  But, it does not always feel that way.

Usually, Scripture feels like that foreign planet we visit for an hour on Sunday...only to go back into the "real" world for a nice lunch after church.  How do we make our home in Scripture?  It starts by gazing through the telescope or kaleidoscope or stain-glass for more than a few moments once a week.  And it deepens by doing this with others.  When I look at stain glass or art or through a telescope, I want OTHERS around to talk about this with.  I don't want to individualize or privatize that experience.  Scripture has always been a communal book.  That is one of the reasons it works so well at the communal gathering on Sunday mornings.  We are all together, listening together, breathing in together...but unfortunately, convention and tradition says, the pastor alone should speak.  If our God is still speaking, I don't think I am the only mouthpiece...thanks be to God!  You are too.  I try to encourage people to read the passage BEFORE coming to church because I want the church to come with ideas, insights, and interpretations of their own.  I want you to lay those beside mine.  Where is there agreement?  Where do we differ?  That kind of exercise brings Scripture as close as our next breathe...and if we do that kind of practice I think there will be more than a trace of God's grace we sense/experience/encounter.

Blessings ~ 

Scripture as Kaleidoscope

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16

Over the next few posts, I want to explore Scripture.  In particular, how we approach Scripture.  What happens the moment your fingertips touch the cool, smooth leather-bound Bible?  What is racing in your heart and mind and soul as you begin to flip through the thin pages?  Noticing what is awoken within us before we even read a word of Scripture is vital because that frame effects/affects how we interpret.  Is Scripture some divine rule book?  Some wiki-like source of divine instruction?  Lots of people are fond of the St. Augustine approach.  When he was wrestling with life, and life was wrestling back and winning, he heard a voice say, "Pick up and read."  He did.  He read Romans 13, which talks about putting on Christ and setting aside the desires of the flesh (apparently, Augustine caroused and lived a loose live...he might have just as well turned to the Parable of the Prodigal Son).  That moment changed his life.  So, if it "worked" for him, it might "work" for us, right?  Depends on what you mean by "work"?

What do you expect to encounter when you open the Bible?  That question is vital!  If we don't name and claim our expectations, they will continue to surge beneath the surface, impacting without really being noticed.

Recently, I have been especially fond of thinking about Scripture as a stain-glass...God's light shining through, but in different ways depending on the day.  You could also think of Scripture as a kaleidoscope, with each turn reveals something slightly new.  Or maybe Scripture as a piece of art that beckons to be studied slowly.  The tension starts with the realization that because Scripture is written in our language, we think we should immediately understand.  But, miscommunication happens all the time...just ask my family.  I send a text my wife reads one way, I meant it another.  And it is tough to try to clarify with something a thousand years old.

2 Timothy talks about Scripture being God breathed.  You may have heard this translated as "God inspired" (which usually is used as a defense for taking the Bible literally, as though any other option is less than).  But to breathe in Scripture would mean something different.  To breathe in makes it a part of who we are, not just some ancient text to be studied from a distance (more on that in the next post).  Theologian Karl Barth is oft-quoted as saying, "I take the Bible too seriously to take it literally."  I like that quote, because I want there to be some mystery when I open the pages.  I don't assume I know fully the intention or sacredness inscribed in each tiny word.  I don't assume I get it.  As a matter of fact the disciples in the gospels often miss the point continually, that pretty well describes me too!  I miss the point because there is beautiful mystery that beckons me.

Just as a kaleidoscope is not exactly a picture, but still visually beautiful, so can Scripture be too.  So, what are you waiting for.  Go get that Bible off your shelf...wipe off the dust...and before you open it, what do you hope, pray, anticipate, desire to breathe in as you open the pages?

That question holds more than a trace of God's grace for us.

Blessings ~