Today's readings: Psalm 38, Joshua 3:1-13, Romans 11:25-36, Matthew 25:31-46
Today we conclude our reflection on the tension between the ancient texts of the Bible and the sensibilities of the present-day Christian.
Psalm 38 has the following heading: A penitent sufferer’s plea for healing. The author of the psalm believes his illnesses and accompanying decline in social status are the direct result of God’s indignation at the psalmist’s sin (vv. 3-4). This theology of God meting out punishments and rewards directly proportional to our actions is present in many psalms. It is easy to grasp, and offers an illusion of control: we can distance ourselves from the unfairness of illness and misfortune if we can identify what someone has done to deserve them. At our best, we can accept the reality that disease is unfair. In our weakness, however, we can try to quell our own fears by determining what a suffering person has done differently from us. We may not go so far as to believe they deserve it, but try to reassure ourselves we are not equally susceptible.
Jesus dismissed this idea of fortune as an indicator of righteousness when he said: “[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt 6:45). However, we may struggle with his words in John 9, when the disciples ask whether a certain man’s blindness was caused by his own sin or his parents’ sin. Jesus replies the blindness was not a result of sin at all “but so the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3). A god who strikes someone blind to make a point may not seem like much of an improvement. What are we to do with such scripture?
In the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral” model of theology, scripture is interpreted through the tools of tradition, reason and experience. As we struggle to apprehend God’s influence in the world, we can use these tools to explore the questions difficult scriptures raise: What is the relationship between sin and well-being? How is God present in suffering? Why strive to be righteous if the rain falls on us anyway? Our dissatisfaction with easy answers reveals the depth of the questions, and our longing for connection to God. In attempting to find answers, we do share a basic assumption with the biblical authors: God remains faithful and loving.
Comfort: Faith requires not definitive answers, but honest questions.
Challenge: Read Letter 9 of Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. You can find the text here.
Prayer: God of the Known and the Unknown, let me fear neither and love both.
Evening readings: Psalm 119:25-48
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