Christmastide

December 27, 2020

Scripture Reading:
John 1:1-14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. –John 1:1-5

The above scripture establishes Jesus Christ as the Word. John’s identification of Jesus Christ as the Word provides the literary litmus paper by which we can test what is included in the Bible and written about the Bible since it was compiled. The Bible is history, theology, spiritual and civil laws, and even ancient etiquette. It is delivered in prose and poetry and as genealogy and numerology. We can study the Bible for a lifetime and still see something new.

Inspired by God, the Bible was written by people and thus filtered through their life experiences. We read what they wrote filtered through our experiences. Perhaps that is why the Bible’s compilers included four gospels describing the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I have been blessed by participating in Bible study groups where my limited insights are stretched by hearing comments from people with backgrounds that differ from mine. Just as God inspired the writing of the Bible, we continue to be enlightened when we open ourselves to reading scripture and other faith-based literature with the guidance of the Spirit.

Problems arise when we pick and choose the parts of scripture that only agree with our preconception of what we think it should say while ignoring aspects that it does say. When I visited Monticello many years ago, I viewed a copy of the Thomas Jefferson bible titled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Jefferson literally cut out the parts of the Bible he did not like or thought unnecessary and retained the elements that mattered in his mind. While we may not cut out the sections we do not like, we do not address them, and we readily ignore parts that may still have some wisdom but do not fit our lifestyles. I find this prevalent in what we define as sin. Sin is often anything we do not do or never would do while perceiving something like idol worship as outdated. Our idols may not be made of carved stone, but greed and lust for power often are gods we put before God.

The Word according to Jesus is encapsulated in Mark 12:30-31–you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ If any scripture does not pass the test of love, it is not of God, for God is love.

Prayer: Lord, inspire us to read and study your Word through the guidance of the Spirit.Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.