Faith Works 9-9-17
Jeff Gill
Passages of mystery and wonder
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As a preacher in a Christian congregation, a big part of my calling is to preach, obviously.
Most Sundays, those gathered as part of our worship hear me present a message taking the hearers deeper into the passage of Scripture selected for that week, whether a choice I've made based on the season or situation we're in, or more often from a three year cycle of readings encompassing the whole Bible called a "lectionary." My usual comment on that is that I follow the lectionary every week, except when I don't.
Even with a three year cycle of over 150 sets of readings from the Old Testament and the New, Gospels and Psalms, you don't quite get everywhere. Nahum isn't heard from much, let alone Titus. Obadiah and Philemon can be missed, but there are also the chapters from Isaiah and Luke which may not get as much attention as the 53rd or 10th, and themes are sometimes hard for even a trained clergymember to discern from what the lectionary selection gives us.
Advent is still a long ways away, so right now we can venture into a topical series or travel through the life of a figure from the Bible, that either our own spiritual disciplines are pointing us towards or sometimes we just want to challenge ourselves and the congregation with passages we're not familiar with.
Bruce Wilkinson did this a few years back with the Prayer of Jabez, a short passage from I Chronicles hidden in plain sight, where in chapter 4 verse 10 this man of God says "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!" There was much gold in that vein, as it turned out on further delving.
Feminist theologians and preachers like Barbara Brown Taylor and Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza have invited us to look more closely at Jael in Judges (chapter five, and you'll need a strong stomach!), at Matthew 14:21 where there are five thousand men numbered "besides women and children" who are left uncounted, and at the woman by the well in John chapter four.
My wife has friends from her National Park Services days who worked at Carlsbad Caverns, whose favorite visitor question, often asked, was "how many miles of unexplored passageway are there?" Exactly.
One metaphor that sticks in my mind for exploring the Scriptures is a vast system of subterranean passageways, like Carlsbad or Mammoth Cave. There are the large "historic" entrances that most visitors start with: the Twenty-third Psalm, the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, the "Christmas" stories of Matthew & Luke 2 and the Holy Week accounts concluding all four Gospels.
Once you get into the heart of the caverns, there are the grand galleries and main passages, well trodden, clearly marked, with plenty of guidebook entries and lots of stories about the stories as the rangers and signage tell you. The Psalms as a whole, Ecclesiastes chapter three, the stories of Joseph in Genesis and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is Daniel; the parables of Jesus dotted through the gospel accounts and the best known teachings of Paul in Romans 8 & I Corinthians 13.
Then you start to explore side chambers, not alone but off the beaten path, of the prophets speaking truth to power (five major, twelve minor, each with a unique message but a singular passion for the poor), of history obscure in context or meaning, such as the death of the man of God in I Kings 13 and the strange events around his passing.
Deeper still, there are hard to navigate openings into the Cave of Adullam (have you ever been there?) or in I Peter where Christ preaches to the spirits in prison. In Judaism, it's often said that you shouldn't start to read in the mystical writings until you're over 40; I had a seminary professor say that Christians should have the same guideline for reading the Book of Revelation.
I am indebted to Allan Boesak, the South African preacher and teacher, who explained to white Midwestern middle-class Protestant pastors years ago that, during the era of apartheid and oppression, Revelation reads very differently to people living under the same pressures. His comparison sticks with me still: in America in July, you drive past signs saying "Bridge freezes first" but everyone knows that's a sign for the winter. It's not confusing. Likewise the stories of tribulation and triumph are less for the comfortable than for the afflicted, in their due season.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he likes the obscure passages and familiar stories in equal measure. Tell him about your discoveries in sacred writings at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.
