Biblical Interpretation – Not All Words Are Equal

Sermon by Rev. Steven McClelland on Psalm 137: 1, 8 – 9, Mark 9: 31 – 37.  Focus on why we do great damage to scripture when we fail to admit we are all interpreting it.

Many people over the years have tried to show how seriously they take their Bible by saying that they take it literally. But over the years this has caused a great deal of harm to whom Jesus is and to the purpose of the Bible.

The Bible is actually a book made up of 66 books in the Protestant canon, 73 books in the Roman Catholic canon and 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox canon. And those books were written over thousands of years and contain various types of literature. For example, there are poems in the Bible, the book Song of Solomon is an example, still others are letters and if it’s a letter who wrote it and who was the letter addressed to? And when was it written? Why was it written?

What was the culture and history surrounding the literature of the Bible? Is everything God’s word or are their human words in it too? And how do you tell the difference? And all of these texts have to be interpreted. What I am doing right now with you is an interpretation of scripture. What I do every Sunday is try my best to interpret the scriptures for you.

To deny human interpretation is to deny reality. Why do we have different books in different order in this book we call our Bible? Why are there two creation stories in Genesis? Why are the Gospel’s different in how they present Jesus to us?

When we take the Bible literally we end up doing great damage to people. We end up with things like the Spanish Inquisition and the denial of science and reason. We end up with arrogance rather than literacy. We end up with oppression rather than freedom. So scripture needs to be interpreted and has always interpreted.

Jesus often speaks in paradox. He says thing like: “If you want to save your life you must lose it. Those who are the last will be first and the first will be last.” He speaks in parables about God’s kingdom plans. And because his words are not always obvious, I have come to realize that it takes both insight to discern their meaning and patience to wait for the meaning to emerge. It can change over time too. How I understand a passage of scripture today is different than when I was in my twenties.

I find the best word to describe the experience as insight. Insight isn’t something we can give ourselves. Insight is a gift from God’s Holy Spirit, which comes and goes as it pleases, but is always in us as evidenced by every breath we take.

Today when I listen to many of who claim the label of Christian I don’t think of Jesus or of a disciple of Christ. I think Pharisees or scribe. For the Pharisees and scribes knew their Bible verses very well. They could recite chapter and verse but yet they bring no insight to the text. That’s why Jesus says to the crowds: “You have heard it said, but I say to you.” This is Jesus pointing to a new interpretation of scripture and new way of understanding the ancient texts of his day.

There is so much more to knowing scripture then simple spewing chapter and verse. There is this thing we call the living word of God, which means not all of the words carry the same weight at the same time. Some words are meant to reflect the human condition rather than God’s intent. For example: “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against a rock.” (Psalm 137: 9). This statement is not the will of God it is the statement of an enemy reflecting on how much they hate their enemy.

It is not equal to Jesus words: “Then Jesus took a small child in his arms and said to his disciples: Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes not only Me but also God.” (Mark 9: 36 – 37). The words of the Psalmist are the words of humanity’s hatred. The words of Mark’s Gospel are words of God’s delight in children!

And still other words are directives from God. Words like – “Come and follow”. “Love God by loving your neighbor and by loving yourself.” “Go feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit those in prison…” “Make disciples of all nations.” Go! Do! Train others! Repeat directives!

In this way we learn what scripture means and we are constantly learning it a new every time we open our Bibles. It’s called experience, which comes by doing as Jesus did. When people truly follow the way the truth and life of Jesus they stop making their own personal biases the biases of God and they begin to look, listening and question, which leads to learning and wisdom. That’s why Jesus tells us, “these things I have spoken to you are revealed to those who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. And how do we get those eyes and ears? By asking questions, by revising our thinking based upon new experience and new insight.

We call our Bible the Revised Standard Version, which means the Bible can and has been revised. Can the same be said for our opinions of the Bible?

My ultimate cynicism isn’t with the Bible. It’s with those who claim to believe in Jesus, and then do and say everything that contradicts the way he is depicted in scripture. Just knowing the literal words of the Bible is not enough. You must discern their meaning. “Love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself” is not equal to “I will take great delight in dashing thy little ones against a rock”. That’s what this season of Pentecost is all about! It’s about insight, change, and growth. God is in the human transformation business! His goal – to make us wise and loving! Amen