“Old Testament Stuff”

Did anybody’s feathers get ruffled by Sunday’s sermon?  If not, then I guess my week of worry leading up to Sunday morning was just a waste of time.  

 Actually, it was not my intent to ruffle feathers.  Instead, my hope was to challenge us to be very careful about the Biblical matters we believe “to be self-evident”.  As we saw Sunday, many people in the time of Jesus were convinced of a religious doctrine that said that blindness and other forms of physical suffering were sent directly from God as punishment for sin.  Jesus had to point out to His disciples that this religious doctrine was [and still is] false.  And, it didn’t matter how many believed it to be true, or how many could say, “We were always taught this”.  It was still not true.  The same problem potentially exists for us today.  

 Is “sticking with The Bible” the way to prevent being caught up in such error?  Yes, but that might not be as easy as it sounds.  In many instances, we pick and choose which parts of The Bible we’ll accept and try to live, and which parts we don’t.  We might be surprised at the things The Bible teaches that we apparently ignore, or perhaps more precisely, that we “adapt” to our own way of thinking and doing things.  

Don’t believe me?  Here’s one from the Old Testament.  We [pretty much] have no problem saying that The Ten Commandments are still in effect today.  In Leviticus 19, you will find what many refer to as “The Second Ten Commandments”.  That Chapter contains some commands we would probably agree are still in effect today such as: be holy, and don’t slander.  But the same Chapter also contains commands that we don’t even begin to try to follow today, such as: don’t wear clothes woven of two kinds of material, and don’t get tattoos, and stand up in the presence of the aged.  Yet each of the commands in this Chapter are founded upon this profound theological statement – “I am The Lord your God”.  Since all of these commands are anchored in the holiness of God, how do we say that some of them are not applicable to us today?

“But that’s Old Testament stuff”.  OK.  Here’s one, from the New Testament.  In Luke 11, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  Here’s what Jesus literally said to them in verse 2: “Whenever you pray, recite this”, and then He gave them a version of what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”.  For much of Church history, the followers of Jesus did exactly what Jesus said – they recited The Lord’s Prayer whenever they gathered for worship.  In many places, this is still done.

 Except, we don’t do this.  We have [apparently] chosen to apply these particular words of Jesus in another way.  We take them as a general principle, and we take the words of The Lord’s Prayer as a model rather than as a prayer to be recited whenever we gather to worship.  

Is this “right”?  Well, the answer to that question is not my point right now.  The point is that we have, for whatever reason, made a decision about something that is in the Bible [The New Testament even!] that is contrary to both what Jesus said, and to what The Church has historically done.  And you probably did not know this until right now.  [I did not know this until I read it recently in a book by Theologian, and Chairman and Professor of the New Testament Department of Northern Seminary in Illinois, Scot McKnight.]  

Want another one? Right smack dab in the middle of the context of the only place in The Bible where it “seems” to say that women are prohibited from teaching men [1 Timothy 2], The Apostle Paul issues a command to men – pray with your hands lifted. This command is ignored by virtually every man at TOCC, and by most men in most of the churches in America.

The list of similar things could go on and on.  How is it that we, as “Bible believing, Bible following, Christ loving disciples” sometimes find ourselves not doing what Christ and The Bible says?  

Professor McKnight suggests that what is necessary is a “pattern of discernment”.  As we read The Bible and locate each item in its place in The Story, as we listen to God speak to us in our world through His ancient Word, we discern – through God’s Spirit and in the context of our community of faith and the Great Tradition handed down through Church History – a pattern of how to live in our world.  The Church in every age is summoned by God to listen and discern a pattern that is appropriate for our age.  Discernment is called for on issues that are unclear.  And, in perhaps his biggest understatement, McKnight says, “Discernment can be very messy”.  

Listen – I want TOCC to be a happy church.  Nothing would make me happier than to speak and think of only joyful things.  It gives me no pleasure to speak of things that are difficult, or to remind us that life within The Body of Christ will, at times, get messy.  In fact, I have been warned repeatedly, and even as recently as last week, of just how “messy” things might get at TOCC if I’m not careful.  And it hurts my spirit to think about these things.

 But my encouragement comes from believing that The Family of Faith that gathers at TOCC is bound together by love.  It comes from believing that we are aware of the presence of The Holy Spirit within us, and that we can hear and see how The Spirit is leading this Body as we strive to discern difficult matters.  And it comes from believing that we are committed to one another, no matter what, no matter how “messy” things might get, because we know that the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love – Galatians 5:6.  

I believe.  I pray that you, and The Lord Himself, will help my unbelief.           

~Shepherd Ambrose Ramsey