1 July 2007

1 July 2007                                              
Glen Pearcy

 

Sermon Text: John 1:1: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

 

            In our tradition - in most religious traditions - there are a number of ways to know God.

            The most dramatic is when God comes to you, grabs you by the collar and says, “Hey!” Paul on the road to Damascus. Even more dramatic: Jacob wrestling with God - and beating him! And then, seeing God face-to-face.

            Personal confession: this has never happened to me. Upon learning I am ordained, some people ask me, “When did you get The Call? How did you know?” I confess, I have never had a very good answer - and certainly not a dramatic one.

            Prayer is another way. But I am not good at prayer. And prayer doesn’t work well for me. Maybe 2 or 3 on a scale of 10, I confess. Occasionally higher, but not often. I probably should try more and pray harder.

            Worship. A little better for me than prayer: after all, you’ve got Johann Sebastian Bach helping you out. But still not a biggie for me - 3 or 4 on that 10 scale.

            What works for me is the Word, the Biblical texts. The stories. The parables. Now we’re talking a 9, at least. Maybe an 11.

            In this I’m in synch with the Jewish tradition. If you have ever been to a Jewish service you know what I am talking about. At some point there is quite a dramatic ritual where the rabbi, with some assistants, opens a special booth and removes a scroll of the Torah - the first five books of our Old Testament. This is a hand copied Hebrew text, often on parchment or velum. Then the reading of the week is read from it, and even more dramatic, the rabbi takes the scroll in his arms and walks among the worshipers, many of whom crowd to the aisle and reach out to touch the holy manuscript. They know that these words are the bedrock not just of their faith, but of their identity and even their existence.

            Now that’s a worship service I can appreciate - probably bumps it from a 3 to a 5 or even 6 for me.

            Since the word is my way of knowing God, you can understand how upset I get when other Christians try to take it away from me. Tell me they know exactly what it means, and if I don’t understand or interpret it precisely the way they do, the word is not mine. And I’m not “saved.”    These are usually the same folks who insist that the scriptures are to be taken literally. The words mean exactly what they say, and obeying them in full is the only way to get right with God and achieve salvation. They are the ones who take the word so seriously they inscribe it on stone and place it atop the court house steps in the middle of the night.

            The problem is, as soon as you start reading the scriptures, you begin to wonder whether or not they have.

            Some scriptures are quite specific, like Leviticus 11:9-12: it prohibits eating anything from the seas or rivers that doesn’t have fins and scales. There goes the Maryland crab and clam industry.

            Or read Leviticus 19:19: it prohibits wearing any garment that contains both wool and linen. My guess is that there is more than one of you violating that commandment right now.

            Many Orthodox Jews takes these commandments very seriously. Here is a list of clothing retailers that they must avoid, because they do not observe the commandments on the composition of apparel. And we all know that Orthodox Jews - and many Conservative and Reformed also - take the culinary laws seriously, and observe kosher.        How many fundamentalist Christians, the literalists who claim the Word of God means exactly what it says, do so? It is not an idle question, because these rules are not idle pronouncements thought up by some ancient rabbi. They are all preceded with these words: “The Lord said to Moses.” - the very  same words as recorded in Exodus 19:21, as the Lord prepares to deliver the Ten Commandments to Moses. Could it be any clearer that these are the direct commandments of God himself, to be ignored at your eternal peril? Yet when have you heard any television preacher lay them before you?

            Speaking of the Ten Commandments, a mere ten verses following them are a series of commandments regulating slavery. Exodus 21:7-11 sets forth the rules for fathers selling their daughters into slavery. Not prohibitions against that, the rules regulating the practice. All these things are spoken with the same authority as the Ten Commandments: they are direct quotes from the mouth of God.

            What’s my point? Actually, there are several.

            1. You can’t read very far in the Bible before recognizing that the scriptures are heavily influenced by the era and culture in which they were written. They may be the Word of God, but there’s an awful lot of stuff about how to herd your sheep and goats, and we don’t do that much any more.

            Now this is very upsetting to the folks who preach to you and me that that the scriptures are to be taken literally. They are the eternal word of God, unaffected by time and place. The scriptures mean exactly what they say, and obeying them in full is the only way to get right with God and achieve salvation. Because once they admit that the Word of God has been affected by the human hand, their whole superstructure starts crumbling.

            2. These folks don’t really take their own worldview seriously. If they did, they wouldn’t be wearing clothing made of blended fabric, eating shellfish, or going to church on Sunday (Saturday is the sabbath day).

            So I have a very simple test for taking anyone who calls him or herself a Christian fundamentalist, a scriptural literalist, seriously: do they live like an orthodox Jew? Do they keep kosher? Do they strap that little box on their forehead when they pray? Are they taking ALL the commandments seriously, not just the ones that fit with their worldview, their culture and their era? If they really believe what they say about the Word of God, living as an Orthodox Jew is the MINIMUM test for taking them seriously.

            3. But my primary objective is not to denigrate them, but to uphold you. To say to you, Do not be cowed by those who know it all and can tell you exactly what the Word of God means, period. Because it’s not that easy. In fact, it’s hard.

            It’s hard because the scriptures were written by humans who were influenced by their era, their culture, and their tribe. There’s no getting around that. And that means that we have to read the scriptures critically,  we have to work hard to understand the Word of God that has been recorded in an ancient tongue we do not speak and by people whose culture is so different from ours. The Word is there, but it’s hard work to hear it.

 

            And, if it’s hard to hear the Word, it’s harder still to know God.

            It was hard for Jacob, who actually wrestled with God. Yet there is no indication in the Bible that Jacob’s knowledge of God was better than any of the other fathers and mothers and prophets of our Old Testament - and he saw God face-to-face.

            It was hard for the disciples, who not only saw Jesus face-to-face, but lived and worked with him, were taught by him, loved him and were loved by him. Yet Peter, perhaps the greatest of all, denied he even knew him.  And Thomas - this is a disciple, remember - would not believe until he put his hand in the side of the Risen Christ.

            How hard must it be for us, none of whom knew Jesus in the flesh, and few of whom, I would guess, have put our hand in the side of the Risen Lord or have wrestled with God and won.

            But don’t be afraid, because we are not alone. The very people whose limitation of time and place permeate the scriptures, and whose weaknesses of faith are so faithfully recorded, have left us the stories and parables through which we can rise above our own limitations and weaknesses and know God.

            No, it is not easy. Not as easy as saying, Each and every word (with a small ‘w’) is The Word (with a big ‘W’); each and every word must be taken literally and obeyed to the fullest. Those are the dictates of people who are afraid of complexity, frightened by their own doubts and weak faith, and unwilling to do the hard work to find The Word amongst the words.

            Thank God for both The Word, and the words.