Why Bother with the Bible?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
January 27, 2013
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
“Why Bother with the Bible?”

     I don’t know what to tell you other than give you a bit of a witness.  What are we supposed to do with this book?  We call it an authority and a rule for faith and life.  But in our honest moments most of us cannot tell you what that means.  What we say and believe about this book will have a tremendous impact in our relationship with it.  So I am going to tell you a bit about my own journey.  Hopefully you will find it interesting and, I hope, may even be able to connect with it – hopefully it doesn’t drive you running for the hills.

            One of my first memories of the bible was of a little blue gift bible that was given to my parents when I was born.  I remember flipping through it – mostly the pictures.  One night, we were on our way home from church and it was raining.  I took that bible and held it over my head to keep my head from getting wet.  I got in trouble for that and wasn’t allowed to have the bible back for a long time.  So my first learning about the bible was that the book was special, different from other books and intended to be protected. 
     I also remember being deeply fascinated by the stories in the bible.  Particularly the stories about Jesus, baby Moses, and David and Goliath.  The pictures from another children’s bible still remain with me today.  So my early understanding was that it was a fascinating book with possible magical powers – though I never fully figured out what those powers were.
Then, my relationship with this book began to ossify.  Beyond bible school and Sunday school the bible, its stories, its way of viewing the world became fixed.  Or more like they were settled in a way that each story meant what it meant and the idea of interpretation seemed like heresy since every bible story had one meaning. 
            I was always a questioning child and so as I grew older and got into high school there was something about the settled nature of the bible and the stories that did not seem quite right.  I began to distrust some of the authority figures who told me what the bible meant.  This led me to spend time reading beyond the bounds of what was read on Sunday morning in church or in Sunday school.  (That is a dangerous thing… trust me…)  And then add to that, somewhere along the line I had learned that the bible was not actually written by King James - or even originally in English.  And one day in a very arrogant way I said that I would not fully believe what the bible said until I could read it in the original Greek and Hebrew.
            The truth was that I had come to the very educated belief that anyone who believed what the bible said was probably a fool.  Fortunately God was not finished with me yet and I found my way back around to the stories of Jesus.  Not to bore you with details of that part of the journey, let me say that I became very fundamentalist in my interpretation as I re-read a number of the stories of Jesus.  (hold up Black Bible).  It was during this period that this book began to be my constant companion.  I was a really pleasant person to be around – as long as you thought like me and believed like me… and of course liberal Christians were not really Christians… Indeed, God has quite a sense of humor.
            When I was living in Northern Ireland, a local pastor told me to go home and underline every instance of the words poor, widow and orphan and then come back and tell him what I found.  Using a concordance I did that in this blue bible.  And for the first time in my life I found out that I did not actually have a clue about the bible at all.  It turns out that God seems to get really angry when the rich hoard things and the poor suffer.  In fact, nations are destroyed when they do this… it happens on a couple of occasions.  I was shocked to find out that the bible I knew so well was a book that was completely foreign to me. 
            And then I went to seminary.  (Pull out your big bible and slam it down)  I found out everything I learned so far was wrong.  Or, that is the way I heard it, even if my professors never really said that.  I found out that we do not have the original manuscripts and that the scrolls we do have are often corrupted texts.  I learned that not all Christians use the same books of the bible.  I learned about the history, setting, style, background, and different ways of interpreting and I wrote papers just to prove my knowledge… LOTS of papers.
            And when the papers and the theologians and classroom discussions became too much I found that it all made a LOT more sense when I was doing something for other people.  I went back to the stories of Jesus and realized he spent a LOT of time with people on the margins of society.  So I spent time on the streets getting to know people who lived and survived on the streets of Atlanta.  I read the bible with homeless men and women and listen to them talk about how God was active and alive in the world.  I had deep theological conversations with men in homeless shelters and it was there that the Word of God written in the bible became alive for me in ways it never had before.  And that is where this pocket bible came in so handy.
            So why bother with the bible?  If you came hoping I would tell you why we can’t toss out the bible as an ancient relic, I won’t do it.  No amount of trying will convince you that is a bad idea if you are already flirting with it.  If you came worried I was going to question the inerrancy of the bible – too late.  But what I will say is this.
            The bible did not change at all from this bible to this bible. (go through the stack)  What changed?  Me, my understanding, my social location, my education, and the people with whom I read the bible.  What was the constant?  I actually kept reading it.  And what this taught me is that everyone has a lens a view and understanding of this bible –interpretation – your experience – your language - your economic status – your race – your gender – your sexual orientation - and even what high school you went to impacts your interpretation. 
            For those willing to take the bible on its own terms it has the power to bring life and transformation.  In the end it is an alien book.  When we assume to know what it is all about or become too familiar we only make ourselves look foolish.  In the end the bible is a witness written by human beings in community that have tried to convey their encounter with the divine.  We look to the life of Jesus to inform our interpretation and do so with humility.  And the next time someone says… “Well, the bible says”… your response can be… “Oh really…”  How is it changing you.. how is it changing the world around you… take it on its own terms…
 

Called to...

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
January 13, 2013
Baptism of the Lord / Installation and Ordination of Officers
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

            Calling is a word that is rather troubling to me.  When we use that word it carries a heavy religious weight.  The language we use for church leadership is that of “calling.”  A church looking for a new pastor or a pastor looking for a new church is called, interestingly enough, the “call process.”  If we talk about a sense of biblical calling, we might think about the prophets who receive a call to proclaim God’s peace and justice.  There is also Paul who is said to have received a calling on the Damascus road.  And a little later on in the gospels Jesus will call disciples to come and follow.  Even in our passage this morning we even refer to the baptism of Jesus as Jesus’ call story.  So it seems that calling has something to do with a special mission for a few specially chosen few. 

But is this what we really believe about calling?  What is it that we believe about calling?  How is it that we are to understand this word?  In the reformed tradition, of which Presbyterians are a part, calling was something for all followers of Jesus.  Calling is not something reserved for session members, or preachers, or ministers of music, or seminary students.  Calling is not something reserved for the especially religious or those who are worthy.  Calling did not have to include a flash of light and the voice of God.  Though, for some, that could very well be the case.   

So if this is what calling is not, what is it?  In our tradition we place a high value on what is called, “the priesthood of all believers.”  This concept really turns the sense that only some are specially called on its head.  Despite having ruling elders, teaching elders, deacons, and people who are needed to fulfill all ministries inside and outside of the church; calling involves everyone who has been baptized.  This is why we say, “Your baptism is sufficient for your calling.”  In other words, everyone who has been baptized has been called.  However, this only answers the question of who, not the question “to what?”

As good Presbyterians we often want details.  We form committees, we create work groups, we love standards, and credentials.  The details are where we spend a lot of our time.  We crunch numbers and do not let spell check have the last word.  So when it comes to working out to what we have been called we get a bit, well, edgy.  We get edgy because calling cannot be reduced to a job description.  It cannot be reduced to a position on the session; it cannot be reduced to any particular job in the life of the church, or in society.  In truth, calling has little to do with those things at all.  So what is it then?

Calling is not really about a specific job, or task, or responsibility.  It is a way of life.  When Jesus says come and follow me he does not give each disciple a specific work to do.  Instead, Jesus shows them how to live their lives.  Jesus teaches them essential values on which to base their life.  And what are those values, what is a way of life built on hospitality, generosity, and no vengeance. 

Being called, means being called to enact these values in all areas of our lives.  It means that no matter what job, what work, what role, we are fulfilling, these values inform it all. 

The Wonder of Mary

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 9, 2012
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Luke 1:33-65
“The Wonder of Mary”

            We have heard the announcement of a royal birth!  A child will be born who will rule!  A new King will be born… or a queen depending on the sex of the child of Kate and William.  The world is dying to know about this child.  Will Kate’s morning sickness be something graver?  And those who are truly interested in the lives of British Royal family can add to this list.

The best news is that this is Advent… and Christians know something about waiting for the birth of a child.  The problem is that no one was really waiting for the birth of Jesus except Mary and Joseph.  The world did not get a play-by-play of Mary’s morning sickness.  The world press of Rome did not take notice of this upcoming birth.  No one noticed that a young, soon to be married woman was going to have a child.  No one noticed and no one cared. 

And why should they care?  After all, this woman and her family came from a village of less than two hundred people.  Nazareth was a small village where most, if not all people, still lived in caves.  To make matters worse, the hill country of Judea was known for little else than bandits, revolutionaries, and backwoods troublemakers.  Who would or even should notice the upcoming birth of a person who had no value to the Roman Empire?  The life of this child, let alone the mother, and even her whole village, wasn’t worth noticing at all.

In a world based on balance sheets, and insurance formulas, the life of Mary and the future life of Jesus her son had no value.  But the good news is that God is not bound by such foolishness.  Where we see waste, where we see death, where we see loss … God is at work turning the whole world upside down.  And the good news is that Mary new her faith well enough to recognize when God was at work.

Maybe it was the stories she had heard on the Sabbath … stories about Sarah … Leah, Rachel, and Hanna … stories where God had done the unexpected … stories of the Exodus … And now, stories of her cousin Elizabeth.  God was going to work through her.  Someone no one expects, someone no one knows, someone no one, outside of the Judean hillside and cave dwelling town had ever heard about.  It is this person who God calls, the most blessed woman. 

It is safe to assume this because of what we call the Magnificat.  This beautiful piece of poetry that has been set to music in so many memorable ways is one of THE most revolutionary statements ever made.  I say one, because there is another woman who has spoken in similar ways.  Instead of proof texting let me read it for you here.  I Samuel 2:1-10.  “The bows of the mighty are broken and those who stumble are lifted up … those who are full are hungry and the hungry are filled with good things.”  Mary clearly knew the song of Hannah but takes it and makes it her own.  The power of knowing the stories of our own faith is that we are able to see more clearly when God is at work all around us.

Mary must have been in awe and wonder.  Mary probably felt fear and uncertainty as well because, despite having heard the word from the angel, she was going to have to tell other people as well.  This would mean the possibility of ridicule, shame and possibly being shunned from her village.  We have no record of what happened or who the first person was she told.  But it is clear that others had heard of Elizabeth and that is why Mary goes to see her cousin.  Despite the community talk Mary knows that Elizabeth will understand. 

 It is a pretty incredible story.  Not the part about how Jesus is born, but just about everything else.  We know the story so well that we forget the raw power and frightening implications of how this happens.  The creator of the universe, the author of love, becomes vulnerable in the form of a baby.  This happens not where anyone is going to notice but in the person of a poor young woman on the outskirts of the Roman Empire.  No one waits for the birth of this child except those closest to Mary.  God is born in obscurity, risk and even scandal.  And that is how it all started.

The problem is that the church throughout history has taken this revolutionary story, this revolutionary ballad, and this revolutionary woman and domesticated it all.  We tell stories about how Jesus was born on a quiet night when all was beautiful.  I have seen a couple of births – three to be exact - and while a beautiful thing, it was not neat clean or remotely quiet.  And then with Mary the church has focused on her virginity, her purity, and so obscured the fact that she is God’s first disciple that we either scorn her as unimportant or domesticate her into fairly harmless intercessor.  So what are we to do with the revolutionary ballad?

With all due respect to Handel and to the versions we use this morning, I think that it is time someone does a version of the song that expresses the struggle, the anger, and the hope for our own time.  I have heard it said that the reason it was sung in Latin for so long was to keep people from hearing how dangerous it was for those in power.  But more importantly than how the story is told is that it is told in each and every age.

If God chose to enter the world in this way it has very serious implications for our lives, and our journey of discipleship.  Because of Mary we are reminded that god is always working on the margins of our world.  God’s revolution of love will not be televised.  It will be ignored, and ridiculed and be risky.  It will not occur in the great cathedrals or in the transformed sports stadiums but in the least expected places... the abandoned houses in forgotten places… rural hamlets… but what is more important than the place will be the people.

I love nativity scenes.  I like to see how people interpret what happened when God entered into the world in such a strange and obscure way.  All our attempts at historical accuracy really do not matter all that much.  What matters is figuring out how we can enter and how we tell the story.  Having the announcement of the impending royal birth gives us the opportunity to remember that Jesus was born in desperate times and was not chronicled in the 24 hour news cycles.  And so this week … as you remember the witness and wonder of Mary … as you hear the music of the Magnificat … ask yourself – if God was going to be born today … where would it be?  What would it look like?  And how should I respond?   We answer that question most faithfully when we answer it with our whole lives.  Amen.

 

 

 

Was Ruth and Illegal Immigrant?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
November 4, 2012
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Ruth 1:1-18
“Was Ruth and Illegal Immigrant?”

            When we take scripture out of context we can make is say what we want.  We can take a single passage, divorce it from the passages around it, and turn it into something strange and unrecognizable to the original text.  This has always been a problem for the followers of Jesus.  And while I am aware that it happens in other faiths and with the rise of new atheism, that is a topic for another day.  I want to focus on Christianity particularly in the political season that has seen an explosion of ignorant fundamentalism.  But this error is not limited to fundamentalist interpretations.  This beautiful passage from the beginning of the book of Ruth has been used for marriage ceremonies and commitment ceremonies.  But this passage does not express that sort of love and frankly is not appropriate for a marriage ceremony, unless you hack off the rest of the book.  So, let’s find out why that is the case.

            The book of Ruth is a story about famine.  It is set in a time of insecurity, dislocation, despair and death.  It is a story about immigration, economic migration, and how the people of God are called to respond to those events.  Naomi has lost her husband and all her sons.  She is left with two daughter-in-laws and no way to support herself in a foreign land.  And, she is not only in a foreign land; she is in an enemy land. 

The Moabites have a low reputation in Israel.  Even the name Moab indicates the scandal of their founding.  Moab means “of the father.”  It is meant to remind us that the people of Moab came into being through the union of Lot and his two daughters during a drunken stupor.[1]  But despite this reputation, the famine was so bad in Israel that the land of Moab offered the only hope for Naomi and her family.  But now things have changed.  Her sole means of support – her husband and sons – are dead.  So Naomi changes her name to “bitter” and decides to head back to Israel.

When faced with dislocation and devastation the natural reaction is to return to your own kind.  But this turn for Naomi is deeper than xenophobia.  She turns back to Israel because she knows that in a time of nation crisis, famine and economic struggle, the followers of God will not choose the way of austerity.  At least in Israel, the poor, the widow, and the immigrant alien, will not become a national scapegoat but instead have enough to survive.

Throughout Leviticus and Deuteronomy, the law is very clear.[2]  When the harvest comes in, you are not to take everything from the olive trees and fields.  God demands that enough of the harvest be left so that the poor, the widow, and the immigrant alien, be able to eat.  There is no conversation about creating a culture of dependency.  There is no tirade about taking away initiative if you provide for those people.  No, in fact, God does not suggest, or say it would be a ‘nice thing to do.’  God DEMANDS that the people of God leave enough so that those who do not have enough will have enough.  PERIOD!  And this is not conditional on whether or not there is a famine in the land.    

            In times of national struggle and financial difficulty we have been told everyone, with the exception of the richest one percent, has to tighten their belts.  God says that is hogwash.  So it might mean that those who lounge on ivory couches will have to give up weekend home in the Galilean mountains.[3]  You may have to check the book of Amos on that one if you think I am making this up.  But let me get back to Ruth.

            Naomi knows that she can find food, so she returns home.  But now with Ruth by her side, pledging fidelity to her and to God, she has a problem on her hands.  She has to explain why she left Israel for Moab, the enemy territory, why she allowed her sons to take foreign wives and why she brought one of those people, home, not just to dinner, but for good.  And yet, despite this expectation from this reader, Naomi does none of that.  She does not do it, because Naomi knows that people who follow God protect the vulnerable.  She goes, and will eventually arrange for a leading citizen, a relative, to marry this Moabite woman.  And this Moabite woman becomes the great-grandmother to the great King David.  It is a scandal that needs no explanation to those who first heard this story.

            About the same time that the story of Ruth was put into its final form, a couple of other books came into being.  Those books are those of Ezra and Nehemiah.  This is important because they have a very different take on what to do with outsiders.  In Ezra and Nehemiah the leaders – the politicians and priests – seem to know well what had caused all their trouble.  They know why the economy is bad and the standing in the world has fallen.  They know – but God never actually agrees with them in the book.  The issue was purity.  If they could just remove the impurity, God would surely be on their side once again.  So they did everything in their power to purify the land.  And in this great scapegoating it was decided the cancer was foreign women and their children.  So in a national move to please God they expel them all.  But God never says this is what I want.  It is always the people of God putting words in God’s mouth when it comes to such things.

            So, in many ways Ruth is a protest against the expulsion of foreign women.  Ruth, an enemy, a foreign woman, a Moabite is the model of faithfulness to God.  It is this woman who shows all of Israel what faith in action looks like.  It is this woman who reminds even Naomi that bitterness is not God’s last word.  It is a story that needs a retelling anytime the national mood becomes exclusivist or begins to bang the drums for purity or suggests that the poor, the widow, or the alien immigrant are the problem that can be solved with austerity. 

So is Ruth an illegal alien?  After all, that was the title of the sermon.  Well, the answer to that is quite simple.  In the bible, no people are illegal.  In the bible God isn’t concerned about green cards and proper identification.  In the bible God isn’t concerned about the taking of jobs.  God is concerned that all people have enough to eat and to survive.   This is not to suggest national policy, but to put the whole conversation in a different light.  And to say, those who wish to talk policy with the bible better be prepared to find out . . . that God isn’t on their side.  I am not suggesting that I have a plan for our nation’s leaders.  That is way above my pay grade.  However, it is a simple truth that God is always on the side of the most vulnerable.  God is always on the side of the silenced.  God is always on the side of those we call enemy.  God is always calling us to do the same.  This is the way of our faith.  Amen!

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[1] Genesis 19:30-37

[2] There are many references to glean in the Old Testament.  Two that illustrate this are Leviticus 19:9-10 and Deuteronomy 24:19-31. 

[3] This is an allusion to Amos 3:12-15