Here at Floradale Mennonite, we are reading through the Bible this year. We are reading both the Old and New Testaments. As Christians, we share part of our holy writing tradition with Jewish and Muslim believers. We share the Noah, and Abraham and Moses parts of our history. The New Testament is specifically about the role of Jesus of Nazareth/Christ Jesus in our faith tradition and practice.
So, I have found the Old Testament hard to read, and harder to understand. There are many stories of the people of God who say that God told them to do violence to other people. There is one story, where a man goes out into the desert to pick up some sticks. He was told not to do it, and is killed by others because he picked a few sticks. What does this mean about God, and about me, and about anything? Does every story have to mean something, or can it be a story unto itself?
Though, in the Old Testament we also have the wisdom writings. I really like to read the Psalms. They seem to speak to every emotion in the human condition. Then there is the book of Proverbs that gives out small pockets of wisdom about the world. There is also the book called the Songs of Solomon. These are the most sexual parts of the Bible. The book talks about the relationship between a man and a woman, with the idea that it may mean also the relationship between God and the people of God. The people of God are referred to as a “she“. It is beautiful language between a woman and a man.
The New Testament is the book of Christian holy writings. There are the four Gospels, the many early church letters, one history book, and a kind of science fiction book to end the story. For me, it is much easier to read. All the writers are biased, so that I will come to believe in Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Lord of the world. As with all good writers, they invite you believe from their point of view. Margaret Atwood wants us to believe her view of how the world works, through her marvelous gift of fiction.
As a Christian, I believe, that I read the Bible to understand God better, and to act with justice and peace. This is a hard thing to do, for me. As a human, I get set in my ways, and so to open my mind to a new reading of the Bible is hard. The New Testament was written about 2000 years ago to specific concerns to real people about real life. How do I translate the words and meaning to my life today? At times, it is an impossible task. And when we open it up for meaning to the other 300 people at Floradale, how do we come to an agreement?
When I am reading through the Bible this year, I am looking for passages that speak to my soul. I am looking for words and sentences that I can say, “YES” I want to know what to do with my life. I want to a faithful follower of God. The words of Jesus of Nazareth seem to be my guide. There are some hard sayings, like “sell everything you have and give it to the poor”, or “it is harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom than it is for an elephant go through the eye of the needle“ or “unless you become like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of God.“
What words of Jesus, speak to your life of belief and activity? For me, I am committed to walking with the Bible, so that I might act and believe that I am following the way of Jesus Christ, even when it is hard to understand.