Thursday, June 26, 2014

Searching for Answers and Meaning

Communication can be a funny thing.  The use of words changes over time.

Take for example the word, INFLATABLES.  When I was growing up, no one spoke of inflatables.  The word was associated with a dark world of adult sexual behavior.  Some of you cannot believe that a preacher would speak of such things!  But over time the word was transformed.    Inflatables became what you put on your children to allow them to play in the pool.  Now it has an even broader use for the huge blowup toys that your children (and adults) play in at celebrations.  I confess to chuckling when I hear the word and think about its change in use and meaning.

So the other day our garage door broke.  Mandy called the repair place to see about it getting fixed.  The lady at the store asked Mandy, "What is the name of the operator?"  Mandy answered her question, "Well, my husband and I both operated it."  "No," the lady said, "I mean the name!"  And again Mandy answered, "His name is Jack and I am Mandy".   The lady on the phone chuckled again and said, "The name on the garage unit?!".   It was then that Mandy understood the answer that the woman was seeking.

It was perfectly clear to both what the conversation was--or was it?  

The study of the Bible requires us to have such conversations.  What does the Word mean in our day and time?  How is the Word understood in our world?  What is God saying to us?  It is a difficult task sometimes to discern the underlying truth principles of God.  

There are some who would argue that the Bible requires no such study.  It is to be taken at face value.   To those who would raise this argument, I remind them of how our understanding of the world has progressed over time.  God has enabled us to discover new gems in our human existence.  When the Bible was written, people believed that the world was flat!  When the Bible was written, most illnesses were seen as a result of disobedience or punishment by God.    Now there are still some who belong to the Flat Earth Society.  (If you do not believe me, google "Flat Earth"!)  And some still refuse to understand and accept modern medical knowledge.    I simply do not understand nor accept either of these as faithfulness to God and God's world.

We converse with the truth principles that the Word of God gives to us.  In the Methodist tradition, we believe that Scripture is primary and the starting place for talk about and with God.  However, Wesley also believed that the meaning of Scripture is informed by tradition, experience, and reason.  One uses these "lens" to gain faithful perspective to appropriate Scripture into a holy life and holy living.  

God does not change.  However, our ability to understand God and God's world changes as we learn and discover God's  world.  I think sometimes God gathers the celestial bodies and exclaims, "Look!  They finally found it!!!  They finally got it!  It took them a while but they found it!!!"

Such a relationship with God and Scripture is vibrant and alive.  It invites us into more conversations with each other and with God.  And yes, sometimes, it is just funny how we struggle to communicate with each other and with God.  

The answers to the questions and meaning seem to change over time.  Let us not be afraid of the change.  And there are times when you just have to chuckle.

Pray for me as I pray for you.

In the Master's Name,


Dr. M. Jack O'Dell
www.stlukesimpson.org
www.midweekmanna.com

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