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Did you know it is a sin to wear elastic cotton underwear? Yep. Says so in Leviticus 19:19. “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.” So no hybrid crops, no hybrid cattle breeds, no polyester blends and no intercropping of corn, beans, and squash together.
What else can we yank out? Oh! “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. Clearly, I can do anything. Buck up! Don’t complain! God doesn’t give you more than you can handle, right? Pair this with “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” then we know…
… If you’re sick, it’s because you lack faith. If you’re complaining, it’s because you lack faith. If you’re not “praising God in all situations” then something is wrong with you. True faith means we never need medicine, or vaccines, or hospitals, or doctors or nurses.
We can pray the sick away.
We can pray the gay away.
We can pray the cancer away.
The only intervention needed is divine intervention.
On more example… Revelation 22:18-19: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” AKA – Deuteronomy 4:6 “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.”
Changing any word of Scripture will have you damned. Removing any book from scripture has one cursed with plagues.
This is God’s instruction book. Just follow it to the letter and eternal life is yours.
… … Golly, if only.
If only there weren’t passages praying for God to murder enemy’s children and passages about praying blessings on your enemies. If only there weren’t passages saying to murder foreigners and saying to also welcome them in.
If only there weren’t books outside of these in our Protestant Bible – and books we have others do not!
If only instruction manuals really were clear and we never needed to call the help number.
This is a Bible. A Bible is a library. A collection of books. A collection of authors. With editors who chose what goes in it. And translators both ancient and modern who chose what obscure words meant, or chose one of a variety of words for a meaning.
This is scripture, holy stories of humanity and our interaction with the divine.
But it is also literature – with genres, and goals, and opposing opinions, and written and translated over thousands and thousands of years.
Taking a single verse out of all of this context – who wrote the verse, who it was directed to, and why, and how it has been used since – taking it out and not considering all of the strings attached to it does a disservice to scripture.
Sins against your neighbor and yourself.
Taking a verse our of context is falling for the last temptation of Jesus from the devil.
We heard today of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness today. We hear of his temptations. We hear of how he is able to overcome them and leave the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit. In a similar way, we go into our own internal wildernesses for the 40 days (minus Sundays) before Easter to face our temptations, and come out powerful with the Holy Spirit.
In the temptation, the devil takes Jesus to the top of the temple and says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
And yeah. Those are written in scripture. We heard it today in Psalm 91. But Jesus doesn’t throw himself off the high place. Instead, he quotes scripture back, Deuteronomy 6:16: “‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
It’s like… a battle of words. But why is Jesus’ quote the “right” one and the devil’s the wrong one?
It all comes to context.
The devil uses Psalm 91. Psalm 91 was not written to encourage people to leap off of high places. It is encouragement for the journey of life. It’s context is a song to people who are feeling down, oppressed, and in need of the reassurance that God will send angels to pick us back up, dust us off, and give us strength for today. Its intention is hope.
And Jesus quotes scripture back. But Jesus’ scripture is used in its proper context and intention. Around Jesus’ quote are elaborations on the 10 commandments, and the shema – Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one – and the command to love God with all your soul and heart and strength. The context is directions for how to be a follower of God. The intention is directions.
Rather than who has the last word, this is who can use scripture correctly in its context and intention.
You see, through a verse out of context, I can do all things.
“There is no God!” says Psalm 14. “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of their life,” (Ecclesiastes 8:15).
Now, in context, Psalm 14 is quoting what a foolish person says. And Ecclesiastes is an exploration of where and in what people find meaning and purpose in life. It doesn’t conclude nothing but enjoyment matters. It is exploring enjoyment as one of the meanings of life.
In our evil past, we took Paul’s order: “Slaves, be obedient to your masters.” as justification not only to own slaves, but that slaves are sinful if they disobey their masters. We took the story of Noah’s sons to say we were the good children and the dark skinned the evil children. So naturally, they must serve us.
Just as women must serve men.
Out of context, scripture is used to do evil in the name of God.
Using the name of God to justify evil is taking God’s name wrongly, taking God’s name in vain. It is one of the most dire of sins because it hurts not only our neighbors… but it hurts the faith of our neighbors.
Is it any wonder this is why the devil tempts Jesus with it?
Out of context, removed from intentions, Bible verses can be made to support every cause noble and evil.
That is why I think the devil tempts Jesus with just such a thing. If Jesus went along with using scripture out of intentions and context, Jesus could justify anything… like justify using his power to build empires, and to serve his own interests, and to harm the very people Jesus is sent to as a healing balm.
The devil could get Jesus to fail like we have. Like we are often tempted to do again.
Today, Devil, in English, is diabolos in the original ancient Greek, which means the person who slanders another. Who lies. Who takes things out of context and intention.
We’re tempted to be devils.
Because I believe intention and context matter more than the exact words, it means I am comfortable with myself, and others, stumbling while reading scripture. It isn’t a sign the person is less a Christian. It isn’t a sign of something nefarious.
It means I am also okay to play with the words of scripture (like as we sing ‘may her sheltering wings…’)
BUT KEEP INTENTION AND CONTEXT!
Okay to say Jesus taught us to pray Our Mother, who is in heaven… it is not okay to say Jesus taught us to pray Dear Trudeau, my god from heaven…. These have different intentions and context.
Intentions and context can be hard to discern in our text. A study Bible can help. Looking at other translations can help. Reading in other languages if you can help. And reading the words around the phrase help.
My heart breaks for the Catholics in Arizona who have had their baptisms, and therefore also their marriages and other sacraments, ruled ‘invalid.’ The CBC reports, “Over his 20-year career, Father Andres Arango has performed thousands of baptisms. According to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, he used the words, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
But there is one crucial word that differed from the Catholic Church’s script: Father Arango was supposed to say “I baptize you,” on behalf of God, and not “We,” referring to the wider church community. According to the Diocese, the weight of Arango’s words nullified each baptism and any subsequent religious ceremony in that person’s life.”
The Father resigned and is committed to rebaptizing every one of these people – and is working with the diocese to atone.
The word may have been slightly off for Catholic liturgy. But the intention and context was not off. And still, the Father intends good. He wasn’t trying to make a theological statement or reinterpret his denomination’s doctrine. He wasn’t trying to change intent or context.
To me, this is why baptisms cannot be invalidated. They are a gift from God mediated through fallible people. We humans may do errors. We may say wrong words. We may be excommunicated some day. But the baptisms are not done by us. God does them through we imperfect agents.
To me, this is why it is okay we fumble in prayers. Or say debts, trespasses, or sins in the Lord’s prayer. The intention and context is more important.
To me, this is why Jesus is tempted to take words literally from scripture, proof-texted, removed from intention and context, and use them as he or the devil would.
It is the temptation to value the words alone rather than The Word of God that is larger, grander, and has intentions and contexts outside of printed or spoken text.
It’s a real temptation.
Each time we hear someone using scripture to justify their position, we must ask what that scripture in context meant. We have to ask what translation of over 30 different translations we have in English, alone. (And there are thousands around the world!) We have to ask does this match with who I have experienced God to be through Jesus; does this meet the core of scripture – to love God, love ourselves, and love our neighbor?
We all use things out of context. We all make honest mistakes. We all remember quotes wrong and we all are tempted to use the Bible to justify things it doesn’t.
But Jesus overcame this temptation. And yes, with his help, we have a chance to overcome it too.
Amen.
Pastor Whitney Bruno Sermons 