Wrestle the Questions

One of the things we talk about frequently in Bible Study is how Scripture came into being.

All of Scripture started as oral tradition—stories told around tables and campfires.

At some point—decades or centuries after the events happened—those stories were written down.

In the case of the Hebrew Bible—the preferred language for what was formerly known as the Old Testament—it was written down in Hebrew or Aramaic.

In the case of the New Testament, it was written down in Greek.

Then those written words were translated into Latin, German, and English—as well as every other language imaginable.

That is part of the reason why Lutherans are not Biblical literalists.

Because, like the children’s game of telephone, there are lots of opportunities for the stories to change.

On top of the stories being passed down from generation to generation and then being translated from one language to another, there is the impact of bias.

Every Bible story has a historical and cultural context.

For example, women and children were viewed as property in ancient Israel.

Our current culture does not hold that same view so we must be careful when interpreting storis involving women and children because our context differs greatly from the context in which those stories were first told.

Every Bible story also contains the bias of the author.

Paul was a Pharisee that had an experience of Jesus that profoundly affected his life.

All his writings reflect that.

And we, as readers, bring our own biases.

Some read the story of Abraham nearly sacrificing his son Isaac as an inspirational story about faithfulness and obedience to God.

Others read it as a disturbing example of the dangers of blindly following orders.

The point is that, while we believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God, there are many layers of human understanding that have been superimposed on it.

Now, the reason I started out with that mini-lesson on biblical interpretation, is partly because the Bible Study group thought it was worth sharing on a Sunday morning.

Because understanding why we aren’t biblical literalists is important.

And, recognizing that simply by reading Scripture, we bring our own biases to the text, is also important.

This morning’s first lesson is about Jacob wrestling with God.

It’s an interesting story.

But I believe it becomes more relevant and speaks more to our current experience when we think about it more abstractly.

We are constantly wrestling.

We wrestle with our faith.

Particularly when faced with Scripture that conflicts with our worldview, we ask ourselves, “what do I really believe?”

When it comes to faith, most people prefer absolutes.

Absolutes are easy.

You don’t have to wrestle with messy issues and look at them from a variety of perspectives.

We want easy answers.

Not complex solutions that require investigation and soul searching.

That doesn’t make us bad people.

It just makes us human.

We wrestle with what it means to be a Christian in these times.

To be Christ-like, we have to dive deeply into our own feelings about property and stewardship.

We say we understand that all we have is a gift from God, given to us to steward.

But if we really believed that we would constantly be asking ourselves, “what would God want me to spend my time, talent, and treasure on?”

To be Christ-like, we have to dive deeply into our own feelings about who is our neighbor.

Because too often, if we’re being really honest with ourselves, our definition of neighbor is about proximity.

It’s about who is in our community.

But Jesus’ definition of neighbor is much broader.

Jesus defines neighbor through a moral lens.

Our neighbors are the widow and the orphan and the stranger.

Our neighbors are the people who need us most.

Our neighbors are the oppressed and the marginalized.

Our neighbors are the people who are poor and low-income.

People who are hungry.

People who don’t have stable housing.

We all know that the need is greater than our capability, so the wrestling continues.

Are we doing enough?

Are we prioritizing the right ministries?

And perhaps the toughest issue that we wrestle with: “how do we remain hopeful during dark times?”

Fortunately, for that, we actually have an answer.

Because, for us Christians, hope is not about blind optimism.

Hope is about faith—and trust in God.

In today’s gospel, the widow keeps petitioning the judge until she prevails.

Traditionally, the parable has been interpreted as the importance of persistence in prayer.

That is certainly an important lesson—and the prelude to the parable tells us as much.

But as you all ought to know by now, I like to twist and turn parables to try to uncover hidden meaning.

Instead of looking at the judge as God, what if we looked at the widow?

Don’t we often find God guiding us to do something, but we resist?

God tells us over and over—through Scripture and through Jesus—to love our neighbor.

But we resist.

We don’t listen.

We make excuses.

But God is not deterred.

Like the widow, God is seeking justice.

The prophet Amos tell us, “let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

God seeks justice—for everyone.

But especially those who are poor and marginalized and oppressed.

God keeps coming at us—will keep coming at us—urging us toward justice.

Until we relent.

Until we love our neighbors as ourselves.

Until we welcome God’s justice.

Until we embrace the Kin-dom.

So, as you go about your business this week, do your own wrestling.

Ask yourself the hard questions.

What is God’s justice?

What am I being called to do?

Am I loving my neighbor?

And not just the person next door but all the people that Jesus would say is our neighbor.

Am I showing my love for God by obeying the command to love my neighbor?

Am I doing enough?

These are personal question that I can’t answer for you.

I have to answer them for myself.

And YOU need to wrestle with those issues YOURself.

And may that wrestling be fruitful.

Because faith is like a muscle.

And wrestling is exercise.

As we wrestle with complex issues is difficult times, may our faith grow stronger.

May this contemplation on God’s word keep our hearts and minds on Christ Jesus. Amen.