Lectionary Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
“Ancora Imparo” is Italian for “I am still learning”. It is attributed (unsourced) to Michelangelo who is said to have uttered the famous phrase when he was 87 years old. It’s hard to imagine the painter of the Sistine chapel, sculptor of David, and self described liberator of angels (“I saw an angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”) telling someone he was still learning. And yet, I believe he was. His art was a journey, not a fact, and he learned more about it until the day he died.
When it comes to the Bible, I can say with great confidence – “Ancora Imparo”. I am still learning. I am learning from history, from the Holy Spirit, from the people – young and old alike – who I am blessed to talk with, and from the sacred library that is the Bible itself. I am unashamed in my journey of learning, and if you spend more than ten minutes near me – I will learn something from you! (Yes, I am sort of a learning vampire).
I tend to cringe when I hear someone remark “And that’s in the Bible!” to justify their actions or belief. I think it’s a backwards (and sometimes abusive) way to do things. It is not God’s desire that we see the Bible through our eyes and use it to support our faith-view. It is God’s desire that our eyes see through the lens of the Bible and we become it’s faith-view.
In other words – we shouldn’t study to make sure the Bible says what we think it says. We should study to be sure we are becoming who the Bible says God thinks we are. The book isn’t going to change. We are!
Confusion and Clarity
Jesus advocated change. His followers advocated doing things differently. As Jews, men had to be circumcised on the body. As Christians, they were told to be circumcised spiritually in the heart (and the body could be spared). The old eating laws were changed and shrimp was back on the menu (along with food offered to idols for those who didn’t mind that kind of thing). The old seating laws (temple classism, and religious sexism) were changed. Now the poor, women, and eunuchs were all baptized and part of the faith. Suddenly, the old laws had new meanings and prophecy became the present. Imagine their surprise when they got a letter that said, “All scripture is God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3:16).
By “holy scripture” – the epistle didn’t mean the New Testament, the Gospels, and book of Revelation. Those writings were still being written, collected and debated. By “scripture” the writer meant the Torah, the writings of the Prophets, and laws given to Israel. How weird for the converted Jews and Gentile Christians who had been living a new way to get a letter that says “Keep living your new way in Christ because the old way is good”. WHAT? Which is it??? Old or New? Law or Love? And even more confusing - the answer they got to the “law or love” question was: “Yes”.
Fortunately there is also some clarity. Notice Timothy is told that the scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (3:15). Wait a minute…if the writer is talking about the Torah, written before the common era, where does Jesus come in? Jesus comes in through the prophets who foretold the Messiah. The Holy Scriptures of Israel’s past talked about the fact there would be change – there would be a Messiah. The prophets said new people would be grafted in to the faith. There would be peace. There would be love. The old laws prepared the people to live faithfully so they could have faith enough to live a new way when the Messiah came. The law led us to love.
The code of Leviticus/Deuteronomy had one purpose for the Hebrews: to teach them to live their lives in such a way that others could see they were God’s people. (That’s what the no mixing fabrics, foods, and purity rituals were all about – showing other cultures about the One God). We don’t have to avoid shrimp, sacrifice doves, or avoid poly-cotton T-shirts. But Leviticus still challenges us to live our lives in such a way that others can see we are God’s people. The method, in the light of grace, has changed. But the meaning is the same. Law leads to Love. The law won’t change, but we will.
Those Itching Ears….
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead,
to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears
away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all
situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the
duties of your ministry.”
Whenever I hear about the itching ears Timothy was warned about – its usually in the context of someone fearing the Bible is being used too “liberally” and that the tough realities of Christ are being ignored for a popular or social gospel. But, like the question about the law – there is more than meets the eye (or ears!).
In the time this letter was written, the Gnostics were in a theological war with the followers of Christ through the Apostles. The Gnostics believed Jesus didn’t really die (and hence was not resurrected), they thought they needed special wisdom, and put more emphasis on deities than salvation. To the converted Christians who came from Pan-theistic (many gods) cults – the Gnostic theology sounded good – you could have Jesus, and still believe in other stuff and impress each other with special knowledge. It proved to them that the people who worshiped many gods weren’t wrong all along. Those were most likely the “itching ears” the letter was warning about. They were warned about forsaking the truth and grace of Jesus Christ for a story that made them feel right.
And what about our itching ears? What myths do we turn to? Some people turn to stories passed down in tradition (like that it was an apple Eve ate, or that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute – the Bible says neither). Others follow church dogma, and confuse it with Biblical truth (nowhere does the Bible say that you have to be a “member” of a church to take communion or do anything else). People who preach “prosperity faith” see the teachings on giving, but forget the widow’s mite and the mandate to help the poor (not the church fund). Parents who correct their children by hitting them see the scriptures about the “rod of correction” without considering it’s a metaphor for teaching discipline or learning what that Hebrew word translated “rod” really meant.
We all have itching ears. We all want to hear what we already believe. We want the Bible to back us up and prove we were correct. And we are all warned not to forsake the truth and grace of Jesus Christ for a story that makes us feel right. How do we not? How do we stay true to our Messiah? We need to follow the advice given to Timothy. “Keep your head in all situations…do the work of an evangelist”. Use your brain and make some sense! An evangelist is a “good messenger” – someone who shares the good news not the old fears.
We are called to act with grace, not react with self-righteousness. Don’t just memorize verses – live them. Don’t make the Bible a part of your life – become a part of it. Forsake condemnation and follow Christ in conversation. Don’t use the Bible to prove you – but strive with your life to prove the Bible. Then lean, lean, lean on grace – and don’t forget that’s what is holding you up. For by grace are we saved…
I believe the Bible is the Word of God, carried to us by human hands, and it tells me who God is, and who I am supposed to become as an individual and in a community. As for everything else – "Ancora Imparo".