Wesleyan Rooted: Read Faithfully (Rev. Andy Whitaker Smith)
When I was new to the whole “church” thing, I didn’t receive much explanation about what we were doing or why. It look me a while to feel like I fit. Then one afternoon our Youth Group was down in the church basement, and some UMW ladies were putting away some leftover chicken noodles, and told us we could have some.
After my first bite, I thought: “This is my Grandma’s recipe! How did they do this?!” So the next time I saw my grandmother, I asked; and she said: “That’s where I learned to make it. I was in UMW.” I also learned she was an adult leader in Youth Grou (UMYF) when my dad was a kid at that church. That’s when I really became aware of the UM Connection—the little things like having cookies after worship, but not too long after that, helping me in an odd time when I lost my first job.
When I went to college, I attended the First UMC at a time when a Young Adult Group was first forming, and we all decided to take Disciple Bible Study. It was such an incredible experience, and the first time I learned about Biblical Interpretation, which is rooted in our Wesleyan heriage.
Albert Outler, a religious professor from Duke, Yale, and Southern Methodist, created the term “Quadrilateral” from John Wesley’s teachings about interpreting scripture. The best image I’ve seen is thinking about it like a kaleidoscope: Scripture is the outer scope—as it’s primary, but then depending how we turn it, the inside images come through in ever-changing shapes and patters. Those shapes are Tradition—what of our past and upbringing, our Reason—what makes sense and what we question, and our Experience—how have we lived this?
All this helps us to ask: Are we aware of what we’re bringing when we Read Faithfully?
Pastors and Seminarians are aware of the word “Exegesis.” It’s a rigorous method of intensely studying and researching a particular passage of scripture to learn its historical and literary contexts (who wrote it, to whom, at what time, and why), and how it impacts the rest of the book or letter. One of the reasons for this is to best understand the original intent, before we try to fit it into our own context or lives.
When we do that second part, first, that can become more of what has been coined as “eisegesis,” where we try to make the Bible fit us and our current understanding. In other words, is it God’s voice, or just our own? Are we open to learning the difference?
There’s an episode of The Simpsons where Ned Flanders and his family lose their home in a tornado. As his family sleeps in the local church, Ned goes into the sanctuary and prays to God: “I don’t understand! I’ve done everything the Bible says. I even do the stuff that contradicts the other stuff!”
Have we ever encountered that in scripture? Here are some examples: Jesus is referred to as the Prince of Peace, and yet in Matthew 10:34, he says: “I did not come to bring peace, I came to bring a sword.” But then in Matthew 26:52, Jesus says, “Those who live by the sword die by the sword.” One of the 10 Commandments states to Honor Father and Mother (Exodus 20:12), and then Jesus says in Luke 14:26: “Whoever doesn’t hate father and mother cannot be my disciple.”
Perhaps the deeper reality is with the “storms” in our lives. What happens when life doesn’t match scripture?
Our Neighborhood Ministries groups have Chapel every Tuesday; and this semester they’re looking at Paul’s description of The Armor of God, from Ephesians 6. I was up to talk about the Belt of Truth, and how the belt goes around your core, so it makes sense that if you need a strong core, that’s Truth. I asked if any of the students had any questions, and one of them said: “What happens when truth doesn’t feel like truth?”
Let me just say I would take our Board of Ordained Ministry ANY DAY over the youth of our church for easier questions, because our youth don’t pull any punches.
There are those days. The Bible becomes the living Word as we engage it under the guidance of the Spirit and are transformed into the image of Christ. HOW DO WE APPROACH?
2 Timothy 3:16-17–Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.
Reading Faithfully doesn’t have to be the same as “getting the right answer.” What’s the quote: 90% of success is showing up? Do we show up to scripture? Do we show up to share our thoughts of scripture?
In our Chapel, one of the windows is of the story of The Prodigal Son; and for years, I never realized that the Older Brother was in the background, watching Father and Younger Brother hug each other. As we show up, and whatever we bring, it will impact how we see scripture….but then scripture will impact how we see whatever we bring.
That’s the beauty of ALWAYS COMING BACK. A passage we’ve read a thousand times suddenly has a new revelation, even if it’s just a word or phrase, not because the words have changed….but WE have. That’s the magic/spirit of the METHOD. Through the METHOD, we see transformation. And we see ourselves and other people in a new way.
Last week, Bishop Berlin and Rev. Dr. Sharon Austin posted a letter to the Florida Conference clergy and laity about some recent statements toward a specific community of people. You can find that letter on our church’s Facebook page. What was helpful for me in that letter was the Bishop quoting the scripture: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-39)
We go on the journey TOGETHER, and each of us have a part of the map. It’s like Pastor Kim’s first sermon, with the Lego pieces—how we all get one, because everyone gets to play. We need piece to hold the structure up. If a part of the map is missing, we don’t know where to go. If a piece of the puzzle is missing, it doesn’t matter how large or small it is—all we notice is that missing piece….because the Image is not complete.
Everyone’s piece is important, because that’s how we hold each other up.