Interpreting the Gospels

I had Bible study this morning - with a group of pastors. It happens every week, and I try to make it when I can, because the discussions that happen are generally good ones, and I usually either learn something or gain some insight in one way or another. I confess, though, that on occasion, when a certain pastor comes, I will often choose not to go. :)

I don't know what it is, exactly, but it seems like when he's there, the discussion ends up being a lot of interesting ideas that get shot down by that pastor, because clearly, for one reason or another, it has nothing to do with whatever particular idea someone else has come up with because the original Greek isn't in the right tense or something like that. It's frustrating, and it often seems like I'm not the only one that feels that way. Today's particular topic at one point explored the idea of Jesus being the greatest (not an odd revelation), but this turned into a discussion that eventually led to, '...but was Jesus the greatest artist? Or the greatest carpenter? Because I've never seen a piece of artwork that was designed by him, or a piece of furniture that had his mark on it...' which was followed up by another pastor remarking jokingly, 'Jesus: King of kings, Lord of lords, and plumber of plumbers.' I had to grin. No, I've never seen a piece of Jesus' furniture either. But I'm pretty sure that when Jesus said, 'I've come to prepare a place for you', it didn't mean he was going to build the bed and the night stand. The same pastor also brought up a quote heard somewhere, that went something like, 'If we can't see creation happening, is God still creating? If we can't hear God creating, is creation still happening?' The answer is, of course, yes. His explanation was that our blindness often keeps us from seeing such things. Sometimes, this is true. However, it is just as true that sometimes things are happening that we are incapable of seeing with the naked eye - like blood running through the veins of a human body, or the water running and fish swimming underneath the ice of a frozen lake.

We did have an interesting discussion later on about the Psalms, and got around to talking about praying Psalm 88 with people that are struggling with pain and depression and losses of various sorts. You see, Psalm 88 doesn't resolve - there's not really a single happy thought in it. This made me think about two different things - 1) How often do we look for 'sitcom answers' in the scriptures, and in our prayers? Certainly there are times when we need to be told things will be okay eventually, but just as often, we need to know in our despair that we are not the only one that has ever felt this way. We hear all the time that God's timing is not like our own, and God does not work on our timetables. This means that there are going to be times when suffering is simply not going to go away for the time being. It isn't going to resolve in 30 minutes with hugs and 'I love you, Dad's' like in Full House. The pain might last...for the week...or the year.

Thank God we are not the ones responsible for our own salvation, and for the salvation of others. Thank God we are not the ones who have to judge our neighbors and decide if they are worthy of our forgiveness and trust. One thing that was said earlier today caught my attention so firmly that it has been rolling around in my mind since. This morning's text was from John 1 - Where John the Baptist speaks about Jesus being the Lamb of God. One of my own pastors had this to say in regards to John the Baptist's listeners: "Thank you John, now we see that you're not the one."

May we all be able to slide gracefully out of the way when the purpose for our lives has been completed, so that our followers can say the same of us...

"Thank you Jen, now we see that you're not the one." :)