As most of you know, there is a wide range of thinking within Christianity about how to understand Scripture. Some Christians argue that every word is to be understood literally and followed to the letter. Other Christians argue that Scripture was inspired by God but written by humans and is therefore filtered through human culture and imperfect thinking. It is full of texts that are ever changing because as the Biblical scholar, Garrick Allen puts it in his book Words Are Not Enough:
There are thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament in Greek (the language it was initially written in), alongside thousands of manuscripts copied in other languages, and millions of printed copies produced in hundreds of languages, not to mention the proliferation of digital Bibles. Bibles are everywhere, and the differences between any two copies can be significant (or not) for any number of reasons. It’s best to think of the Bible not as a monolith but as a diverse set of ancient works whose texts and materials are subject to constant change. Change has been central to the New Testament from the first time these works were first copied through to the modern publishing industry, which underwrites new translations and repackages old ones to appeal to more niche audiences. The book I encountered first in my grandparents’ basement is only one of the many modern versions of the Bible that exist in numerous translations and modern languages, not to mention the many thousands of manuscripts that have parts of the New Testament, in dozens of languages, dating back to the second century CE.[1]
Those who see Scripture as the living word of God that moves and changes just as the people who translate and read it move and change understand that Scripture is true, but not in a literal, stagnant, and fixed sense. Instead Scripture is true as the ever changing, never graspable, revelation of a loving God.
For those of you who have been following my sermons for the past 5 years, you have probably figured out that I fall in the second camp. I believe Scripture to be inspired by God and to be true, and to have been written down by imperfect human beings who cannot separate themselves from the place and time in which they were born and who are trying to express in imperfect human words things that are beyond human expression. I believe that Scripture reflects the mystery, love, and limitlessness of a God who is bigger than anything that can be held onto or understood by human beings. I also believe that those who claim that they follow every word of Scripture actually do not.
As I have read the Gospel readings over the past few weeks this has become even clearer to me. Two weeks ago, we would have had a reading about divorce if we hadn’t been observing St. Francis Day. Many literal minded Christians quote this passage as evidence that divorce is absolutely forbidden by God, and they will exclude from the church anyone who is divorced. But then these same Christians don’t seem to take other messages from scripture quite so literally.
For example, last week we heard the story of the rich young man. Jesus tells this young man that to find salvation he needs to sell all he has and follow Jesus. There are a few Christians who follow this instruction to the letter, but there are very few. The same Christians who argue that divorce is absolutely forbidden, don’t seem en masse to be embracing a life of poverty. Indeed, many of these same Christians are actually quite wealthy and actively work against programs for the poor that might require them to pay more taxes. I see the same thing when I read our gospel reading for today where Jesus tells his disciples that they are to follow his model and be a slave to all. Again, a lesson that I don’t see millions of literal minded Christians taking literally.
So, if Scripture is not a step-by-step instruction book for living life, never changing, like a manual for putting together a bookshelf is, how are we to understand it and apply it to our lives? Well, I think we have to look at the bigger messages that come forth in story after story in Scripture. Jesus actually speaks very little about sexual mores and the like, and when he does it seems to be more about how we treat one another and in particular how we treat those who have less power in the world, than it is about a strict adherence to a purity code.
What he does talk a lot about is money and power. Two subjects that most Christians, literal minded and less-literal minded alike, don’t really want to hear about. It is actually easier for most of us to believe that all God cares about is how “pure” we are than it is to understand that what God really cares about is how we use the things that have been given to us. What God really cares about is how we care for those in the world who have less—less material resources and less power. What God really cares about is the extent to which we are making real right here and right now His vision of enough for everyone—enough food, enough shelter, enough clothing, enough love, enough health care, enough opportunity, enough education, enough safety and security, enough peace.
This is what almost all Christians, literal minded or not, have trouble understanding. And this is what James and John have trouble understanding in our Gospel reading for this morning, and they are not the first of Jesus’ disciples to do so. Prior to our reading for today in the Gospel of Mark we see similar stories of misunderstanding. First Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah, but then rebukes Jesus because Jesus tells them that he will die and be raised from the dead after three days. Jesus says in reply, “Get behind me Satan.” Jesus again tells his followers that his life will lead to his death, and in response the disciples have a lively argument with each other about who is the greatest of Jesus’ followers. Again, they just don’t get it. And finally, we have James and John asking Jesus to give them seats of honor next to him. Jesus tries to explain to them that they don’t understand what they are asking him to do. He explains that to follow Jesus, to live a Christ-like life, is to open oneself up to ridicule and possible persecution in this world. To achieve power in the Jesus way is a paradox—they must relinquish power and all desire for it. They must be servants and be willing to be last.
Parker Palmer, the great educator, tells a wonderful story that illustrates well what Jesus was trying to explain to James and John and his other followers. At one point in his career Palmer was offered the presidency of a small educational institution. He really wanted this job and he thought he should take it. However, Palmer is a Quaker, and so he turned to his tradition to help him discern how he should respond. He assembled a “clearness committee” of a half-dozen trusted friends. Their role was not to give him advice and to tell him what to do, but instead to ask honest, open-ended questions that would help him discern what decision he should make for himself.
The meeting was three-hours long, and halfway through one of the members of this clearness committee asked Palmer what he would like most about being president. Palmer mentioned several things he would not enjoy such as wearing a tie. His friend pointed out that he wasn’t answering the question. Palmer reflected on this a bit and then he said he “gave an answer that appalled even me as I spoke it: ‘Well,’ I said in the smallest voice I possess, ‘I guess what I’d like most is getting my picture in the paper with the word ‘president’ under it.”
Palmer concludes: “I was sitting with seasoned Quakers who know that though my answer was laughable, my mortal soul was clearly at stake! They did not laugh at all but went into a long and serious silence—a silence in which I could only sweat and inwardly groan. Finally, my questioner broke the silence with a question that cracked all of us up—and cracked me open: ‘Parker, can you think of an easier way to get your picture in the paper?’ By then it was obvious, even to me, that my desire to be president had much more to do with my ego than with the ecology of my life.” The clearness committee had helped make things clear for Palmer, and he withdrew his name from the search (Let your Life Speak, 2000).
There was nothing inherently sinful or bad about the position Palmer was considering taking. The problem was his motivation for taking it. And Palmer isn’t alone, he was just more honest than most of us, and more in touch with the larger message of Scripture. Scripture calls us to rethink what winning, success and being great look like. For you see, the world’s way of looking at winning, success and being great usually brings harm to other people. You might wonder what harm it would have done others if Parker Palmer had accepted that position because he wanted his picture in the newspaper. But you see, if his ego was motivating his desire to accept the position, then it is likely that it would have motivated most of the decisions he would have made in that position. Ego is not the best motivator for making decisions. When we make decisions from a boosting-our-ego perspective usually someone else is lessened in the process.
Think about what the world would be like if everyone defined greatness and winning as Jesus does. It would be a world without war, a world with violence, a world in which everyone willingly shared what they have with others who don’t have enough. It would be a world therefore in which everyone has enough. This is the world that God envisions for us. Now, I am not a Pollyanna. I don’t expect to see this world in my lifetime. But I do think that as a follower of Christ, I am supposed to try to live as if this world exists. I am supposed to try to live this way. Of course, like the disciples, I won’t always succeed, but I need to keep trying.
That is the larger message of Scripture for me. Strive to be first but strive to be first not in power but in love. Strive to be great but strive to be great not in status but in giving. Strive to be the best but strive to be the best not in material possessions but in servanthood. And when you don’t quite live up to this call remember this prayer written by Thomas Merton:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen (Thoughts on Solitude).
[1] Allen, Garrick, Words Are Not Enough, p. 23.
