Scripture
/
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
- 2 Timothy 3: 16 - 17
A theme has been coming up a lot for me lately - probably because our Sunday passages have been so challenging. It is the idea that all Scripture is always useful for our spiritual growth, even if it’s a passage that we don’t like at all. In fact, the hardest passages probably have the most to tell us. The really hard passages, like Abraham sacrificing Isaac, Jepthah’s daughter, the slaughter of the innocents, the rape of Tamar, the book of Revelation, etc etc etc, are sometimes hard to stomach or accept. So it’s natural to wonder why we don’t discard the parts of Scripture we don’t particularly like and just keep the good stuff.
All Scripture is useful for teaching, Paul wrote, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. it makes us proficient in the way the world really is - not just as we would have it - and equips us for good, compassionate work. So… it’s useful as a tool he seems to be saying. But it’s also far more than a useful tool.
It’s also inspired by God, Paul says. Notice he did not say Scripture is God’s own words. It is a compilation of words written down by people from many eras in history. People centuries ago chose which spiritual writings would be combined into the “canon,” or the accepted collection of Scripture. God may not have sat down at a typewriter and composed the bible from Genesis to Revelation, but the Spirit of God was in all the people of faith who wrote down the stories and in all those who discerned the canon. The resulting collection of work is what we have been given by our ancestors and God’s Spirit to continue to shape the faith that people have wrestled with for millenia. In one way or another, every bit of it is useful. Even when a passage makes us want to throw the bible across the room. It still shows us something about ourselves and God, even if we don’t want to see it.
Scripture is a thread that connects us to the lives and dreams of people long ago, people now and people yet to come. It describes a world long ago, now and yet to come. It names the eternal human struggles and eternal human creativity. Scripture has captured the God-inspired hearts of so many people in so many times, that it’s far more than just a useful tool.
Scripture is a companion that travels with us through life and if we give it our attention, we develop a deep relationship with it and deep relationships through it. It has been a constant through the generations as well as through our own personal struggles and tragedies and triumphs and joys. Visited anew, there are new things to notice in Scripture every time we give it a little time and consideration. The way I see it, Scripture is the deepest, most deeply embedded mirror we have to see into ourselves, beyond ourselves and into the mysteries of God.
I hope you’ll read this Sunday’s Scripture readings in advance and give them a little time to ferment before we gather this Sunday. Let’s feast on Scripture together.
