Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 March 2011 08:37:08
Re-reading certain passages of the bible this year as I work through "the project" is being useful for me, as is going through some bits I've never been anywhere near reading. Some bits still leave me wondering WTF and feeling uncomfortable but other bits are really coming alive for me. I now totally get why BibleFresh is a term being used in connection with the way lots of people are getting engaged with the bible this year. There is a whole load of fresh stuff to be gotten out of it when we just dive in and read it without the shackels.
One thing I am finding useful is re-reading things "out of season". One example of where this was really useful was reading Luke 1:26-38 this morning, where Gabriel appears to Mary. Now I have to admit I've always felt uncomfortable with this, particularly since sitting through a description of the way some prostitutes encountering the story started questioning if God had raped or abused Mary then. I couldn't see that Mary had any choice....but this morning I was able to re-read it in a different way.
Normally, at Christmas we have a picture of angels as amazing things in white who would scare the s**t out of people seeing one. This morning though I read it differently. God sent Gabriel to Nazareth and it was his words not his appearance that left Mary going WTF (or greatly troubled as the bible puts it). Gabriel obviously looked "normal" but it was what he said that wasn't.
Then at the end when Mary says, "I am the Lord's servant.....May it be to me as you have said" she is giving agreement. It is only when Mary has agreed to what is going to happen to her that the angel leaves. It seems that whilst God knew what was going to happen, and had planned it that Mary's involvement was still dependant upon her agreement and this agreement was not given through pressure being put upon her. No, her agreement came as a result of her wanting to put her faith into practice in a really corageous way. This is something I think our "Christmas story" gets in the way of. Mary was not as passive as it may seem to us.
So, re-reading out of season has been useful but so has been re-reading within the wider context. Leviticus is one of those books which people tend to find a bit boring, and just select the "terror texts" out of together with a few other random rules which we now don't follow or the jubilee stuff if the topic is justice. Having been through it in the way which I have with "the project" some of the criticisms and fears about the book remain, but overall it was a refreshing experience. It shows how God gives a damn and that the rules he gives for people in specific times and places are a reflection of that. What was really clear was the purpose and context of what's going on are vitally important to consider.
Leviticus is actually a book with lots of compassion in I found, and lots of consideration for womens rights and protection within it (as was Exodus). Some of it is still really relevant today aswell. The stuff about mildew in buildings says putting people in damp conditions is wrong, quality of housing is something that God is concerned about. The stuff about reducing the risk of disability in children by not sleeping with close relatives still applies, as does the stuff relating to not pimping your daughters out. Basically alot of this stuff relates to physical and emotional health and is really positive. That said the stuff relating to the disabled and homosexuals in the book troubled me...however, I think that alot of this stuff has to be taken contextually. Anyway I've rambled too long again but I hope this might have acted as an encouragement to you to do some re-reading yourself.