“Oh how I love your law. It is my meditation
all day long.” Psalms 119:97
Not all who read the Word are in love with it. To some it’s just
a manual, referenced to get the facts. Some read for technicalities and
loopholes, hoping for what they can get away with. For others it’s a book of
obligation they examine to be sure of compliance. Then there are those who love
it. They see it. They hear it. They get it. And by the Spirit begin to
personify the Word.
The lovers are not anguished by mystery, feel little
obligation to fill in gaps of uncertainty, cover over apparent contradiction,
or make excuses for the book if it does not square with popular epistemology. They
have settled with a book that may not presently answer all the questions. They live with the
questions and live with the book they don’t fully understand, knowing the Word
shall not be confined to the pages of script. The pages convey symbols of
thought, but these will not contain (that is, confine) or limit the Word that transcends
page, symbols and thought.
So don’t just read in search of facts. Read and let it fill
you with faith. More than academic endeavor, it is sacramental, a spiritual
experience. E.g., if you read the Book of Revelation as if it predicts the
future you will miss the picture it paints of the present. And don’t be so
focused on discovering absolutes that you let pass the mystery, the beauty, the
song. By saying there is no contradiction in the book, we may be saying what it
refuses to say for itself. Irregularity, dichotomy, paradox, etc., are employed
to communicate and commend to the heart/mind. Careful not to put the Word in a
box, fence it in, tie up its hands, kidnap the genius.
Ever had a piece of music convince you of something? Without
strict polemic or hard proof, just pure soul and authenticity that speaks for
itself, leaping over the moat of reason into the heart, convicting and
convincing - no spectacular philosophical engineering - just heart and soul. The
Word romances the heart with love song, sweet murmur and lyrical whispers that
move the soul, surpassing cold rationale.
And if you imagine monotone it isn’t there. Rather than a
solo, it is a choir - not one voice but many. There is strong melody but hear
the harmony. We say it is divine, and so it is, but don’t ignore the human
elements in the book, allowed by the Spirit - the Word is made flesh. Like Jesus
(divine and human), so our Bible has divine elements, human elements and
conveys the Word. Like Jesus, willing to get his hands dirty, willing to crawl
down into the ditch with us, so this Word comes in work clothes, gritty, real
and incarnating.
Listen to the words without presupposing what holy writ is
suppose to sound like. It is unscripted and unrehearsed. Why impose a
perfection that is not real? We know the difference between a television drama
and a true documentary. The drama may be perfectly acted, but the perfection
makes it obvious - it is an act. The documentary or true reality show is less scripted,
not perfect, not an act. Our Bible lacks the perfection, the act if you will,
of a staged performance. It is truthful, earthy and has the ring of
authenticity, connecting with real life.
Some will, in their desire to preserve the Word, insist it
never changes - and I get that. I get how they try to protect the Word from
folks who crook it to their like. Yet we must not, in our efforts to defend the
Word, be found captivating it. There is divine adaptability innate to the Word,
making it fresh for each new day and relevant for every context. Layers, we say.
There are multiple layers in this living book. Do we not wrap the book in
leather (that is to say, dead skin)? Every time we open it we peal back a layer
of dead skin, revealing living freshness. We peal back ancient layers and find
mercies new every morning.
The Word in the book is most wonderful, at times playing hard
to get. It may not yield if you have no heart to pursue. There is mystery but
the mystery intrigues. You do not have to fully understand to know. You do not
have to fully grasp to have. You
possess only as you are fully possessed. And there is no promise it will not
hurt you, for hurt you it will, but the pain is a sweetness you do not refuse.
Complete and immediate understanding is unnecessary. Sit
with it, live with it, be in its presence. Relationship, courtship, and romance
– it is a knowing of the heart that allows for a knowing of the head. Beyond
reading there is living with the Word. Beyond interpretation there is
manifestation, transformation and incarnation.
This Word points to a person, not to the exclusion of the
conceptual, but beyond concepts and precepts to a person. Our practice of
religion, theologizing, theorizing and academic endeavor etc., is fine and good
so long as it all follows after the person Jesus.
Come to him who crossed over to us. Made flesh so he could
bleed, suffer and die. Dead, to conquer death. Alive, to make us alive. Hero,
Captain and Friend. Brother, Lover and Lord God. He is the Word.
