This is a passage usually read at weddings, but what I emphasized at the weddings I’ve officiated, is that this passage is about living out of the love of God. This is because God is the source of love because God is love. God is the source of love because God is love. The more we live out of God’s love the better we are at loving God and others.
Slide 1: As it says in 1 John 4:8. The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love .
In fact, you could take the passage from 1 Corinthans 13 and insert Jesus in place of love:
Slide 2
If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don’t have Jesus, I’m a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don’t have Jesus, I’m nothing. 3 If I give away everything that I have and hand over my own body to feel good about what I’ve done but I don’t have Jesus, I receive no benefit whatsoever.
4 Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind, isn’t jealous, doesn’t brag, isn’t arrogant, 5 isn’t rude, doesn’t seek his own advantage, isn’t irritable, he doesn’t keep a record of complaints, 6 he isn’t happy with injustice, but iis happy with the truth. 7 Jesus puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things.
What does this have to do with our sermon series? The question is about the interpretation of scripture and how the Bible grounds us in God’s love.
Here is the question we are tackling today:
Slide 3
What is the difference between a literal interpretation of scripture and the interpretation of scripture based on the context and the original languages in which it was written? How does this pertain to what we as Presbyterians believe about the Bible?
So let’s start with the difference between a “literal” interpretation and an interpretation of scripture based on the study of the original languages and context in which scripture is written.
The word literal itself is problematic. Some think literal means that God created the world in exactly 7 days. But scholars know that was not the intent of original authors or God’s when it comes to the creation story in Genesis. The creation story intends to explain why God created the world not exactly how God created the world. The creation story is not meant to be a step-by-step description of exactly how God created the world.
Those who take scripture “literally” read scripture as if it were written for today as a scientific or legal document. But those categories didn’t exist when these ancient words were written. So we have to do the work of knowing a bit about the original language and the context in which God spoke through the human authors to explain who God is and how God is at work in the world.
A reminder that the Old Testament was written in ancient Hebrew and the New Testament was written in ancient Greek.Both are different from the Hebrew and Greek spoken today.
In addition, the interpretation of scripture based on the original languages and context takes into account the different genres of literature found in the Bible.
Genesis is classified as “allegory,” which is a type of literature where the true meaning is symbolized by the words used. The original Hebrews/Israelites who first heard this creation story knew not to take it literally about how God created the world, but why God created the world. For them and us it is more important to know that God created the world and why, rather than how God created the world.
We Presbyterians value the latter interpretation of scripture using context and ancient languages because we believe faithful scholarship results in a faithful interpretation of scripture. In other words we will have a better understanding of what God wants us to understand about God’s own self and God’s love for us all. We also believe that God as the Holy Spirit also faithfully guides such faithful study of scripture.
Please know that one does not need to be fluent in ancient Greek and Hebrew to better understand the Bible better. There are resources available to help us understand scripture. I’ve been advocating for years for people to buy a Bible with good commentary.
Happy to share those resources with you now. Slide 4. Feel free to take a picture:
• The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (edited by Walter J. Harrelson)
• Life with God Bible NRSV, edited by Richard Foster, Walter Brugemman, Dallas Willard
•CEB Study Bible, edited by Joel B Green et al
As a pastor, it saddens me that not a lot of people read their Bibles. First of all, I get it. It’s not an easy read. But to not read the Bible at all is detrimental to our faith. The Bible is where we come to know God by how God worked in the lives of people throughout history and why God chose to be with us as one of us, as Jesus Christ. God’s word is how we come to better know God and to have an idea of how to live our lives if we are serious about following Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us why Christ’s death and resurrection changed the world.
What has come to my attention, is that some people latch onto a certain understandings of scripture through the lens of their childhood, the Christians they grew up with, or as understood through the latest podcast, online preacher, and yes, even one’s political leaning. In other words, their understanding of scripture is based on either what they already know or in light of voices that reinforce what one already believes about the Bible. Scripture should constantly challenge us about who Jesus is and what Jesus calls us to do. And the study of scripture must be done within the context of Christian community because scripture was meant for communities of believers. This is why I’m such a big fan of small groups! Also, we believe that scripture always has something new to say to us, even if it’s a passage you’re familiar with – like our passage from 1 Corinthians 13.
At every church I’ve served, which in total has been seven congregations, I’ve had conversations with folks who didn’t agree with the conclusion I came to about a passage of scripture based on my study. Whether it was from the pulpit, or in a bible study etc. But when I ask “Why do you hold a different view of this passage?” The answer I usually get is “Well, that’s just what I grew up understanding it to mean.” Often, people can’t even tell me where the passage of scripture in question is located in the Bible. The best is when someone ended the conversation with “Well, we’ll see on judgment day who is right.”
Wow. You are determining my salvation and as well as your own based on our differing understanding of just one passage of scripture. Not surprisingly, that conversation was about some hot button issue such as homosexuality or abortion. Thousands more verses speak directly against greed, power, and the pitfalls of wealth in the Bible.
What is great about our denomination, the PC(USA), is that we desire to be a big tent where there is room for disagreement. We can disagree on the interpretations of the bible, but what we can’t disagree on is love.
Slide 5
As St Augustine said:
If your understanding of the scriptures does not lead to the love of God and neighbor, then you have not yet understood them.
Slide 6
This is straight out of scripture. It says in Galatians 5:13-15: If scripture does not lead us to loving God and others well we have not understood it. 13 You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love. 14 All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.[a] 15 But if you bite and devour each other, be careful that you don’t get eaten up by each other!
Slide 7
Or said another way, this is from a document called “Understanding Scripture” a document I learned about when I was with some of our youth at the annual youth conference in Montreat, NC. The topic of which was how God’s word is a light to our paths. This is a document that our denomination accepted in 1983 at our General Assembly. It says this:
Any interpretation of Scripture is wrong that separates or sets in opposition love for God and love for fellow human being, including both love expressed in individual relations and in human community (social justice). No interpretation of Scripture is correct that leads to or supports contempt for any individual or group of persons either within or outside of the church.–Presbyterian Understanding and Use of Holy Scripture, A Position adopted at the 123rd General Assembly (1983)
As I quoted earlier, 1 John 4:8 states that God is love. We read scripture to know God’s love in Jesus Christ. This leads us to loving God, our neighbor, and ourselves better. If your understanding of scripture leads to anything other than that, you are reading the Bible wrong.
Historically, scripture has been weaponized to justify all sorts of evil. It has been used to justify slavery, genocide, racism, murder, abuse, and colonization, to name a few. The Bible continues to be and will always continue to be weaponized for evil. You don’t have to be a biblical scholar to know that is wrong.
And we wonder why so many have left or don’t want to be a part of the church. When scripture is misused, the church looks nothing like Jesus.
You might be thinking: “But, Pastor Kristine! What about sin? Isn’t it loving to point out sin in others?”
Absolutely. But we are to do so out of God’s love for that person or group. Not out of our desire for people to conform to what we think is Christian. How do we know the difference? We go back to God’s word to check ourselves.
When we say that God’s love empowers us to love others better, this includes those who are in the wrong. Or to use the words of Jesus: “love our enemies.” This doesn’t mean we allow others to walk all over us or to take advantage of us. God doesn’t want that for any of us. But what this does mean is that God’s love helps us to see our “enemies” as also God’s beloved made in God’s image. That sounds like an impossible thing to do, and it is…if we try to do it on our own. Only when we know and rest in the love of Jesus Christ, by remaining connected to him through what he said and what others said about him in scripture, the Holy Spirit will empower us to radically love others well.
At weddings, after I read the passage about love in 1 Corinthians 13, I ask the married people in the congregation to raise their hands if they’ve ever lost patience or if they’ve ever been rude to their partner. Of course they all do. The point is that we will all fail to love well. Whether that’s loving God, ourselves, our neighbors, our friends, or our spouses. We are still sinful. But what scripture tells us is that God’s love in Jesus Christ is bigger than our sin. While we fail to love well, God never fails to love us. Love never fails. Jesus never fails.
I pray you know this truth even better for yourselves as you continue to engage in God’s words with others.