I accept the Holy Scriptures as having spiritual authority, as God-inspired words set down by holy and faithful men and women, our ancestors in faith. I don’t believe in cherry-picking the texts that “work for us,” or picking and choosing what we find helpful or relevant. If anything, I think followers of Christ should ask how we might be made more relevant to the scriptures than the other way around.
And yet… there are passages, like this week’s gospel, which may speak truth about human depravity, but in which I can discern little spiritual benefit. The beheading of John, the rapes of Dinah and Tamar, the conquest of Ai, the endless cosmic battles in Revelation, pretty much the whole bloody book of Judges. What are we to make of these passages in which the human origin or score-settling seems to far outweigh any discernible divine inspiration?
Some people, like Thomas Jefferson, simply cut out the parts of Scripture they don’t agree with; in Jefferson’s case, that meant any reference to the miraculous or supernatural. Others, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, alter passages that don’t match their theology. Others ignore the parts they don’t like, or focus on one part of the Bible to the exclusion of others, which can lead to a dangerous lack of balance in teaching and living. Any of these approaches lead to a hole-y bible rather than Holy Writ.
How can we appreciate the holiness of God’s Word when not every word seems very holy? I try to remember that someone was inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to indwell it at every stage of its transmission – as a story passed along orally, when written down (sometimes by multiple sources), when edited and collected and consecrated by the community of faith, when translated, and finally when read by us. We can pray that God reveal to us a nugget of grace in even the worst passage. After all, in our lives we encounter many horrible stories in which we need to be able to discern the redemptive power of God, for that is what we proclaim, a God who has triumphed over sin and death.
I appreciate the challenge of finding some good news in any passage of scripture, some connection to God’s plan of salvation. For instance, this week’s gospel passage rounds out the picture we have of John the Baptist, his fierce and fearless dedication to the mission of God, and reminds us that our days in this world are but the blink of an eye in the scope of our eternal life with God.
That being said, we won’t hear this passage in my churches this weekend – I’m in the middle of a worship series on Creation. With only 52 Sundays in the year, and many life-giving, soul-transforming messages to impart. I don’t want to give this sad tale airtime that could go to a story of healing or ministry that encourages the faithful.
This story is a part of the Holy Bible, and as such it is also holy, set apart, like the people of God. We can rejoice in the way that John the Baptist was willing to allow himself to be an integral part of that plan, in life and in death. And we can receive it as one of the realities of this world that is passing away, as God works out that plan “to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.”
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