Monday Morning Confessions
Dearly Beloved Friends,
Next Sunday, our passage will come from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, which inspired me to put this week’s newsletter piece in the form of a letter. I’ve spent most of this Monday morning with Paul’s letter, and I must offer the first of two confessions to you: I wish I’d opted to preach on David and Goliath or Jesus calming the sea instead! Paul’s letter is rich and wonderful, but its structure is also complicated. In order to understand what he says, I have to look at other portions of
the letter. I’ve gone back and forth from Acts to 1 Corinthians to various passages in 2 Corinthians in order to see the whole picture of his message.
Last week, one of our nation’s leaders chose a few verses of another letter by Paul (Romans 13) to defend of an immigration policy. This was a widely publicized sample of an error that happens frequently in all areas of life: we pick and choose verses of Scripture and take them out of context to defend a certain point. In order to understand one or two verses of Scripture, we must keep them in conversation with all of Scripture. In reverence to God’s Holy Word, we need to be careful how we engage its powerful words in our conversations.
This leads to my second confession: I have been guilty of quoting Scripture out of context to make points, too. I regret having done so but am grateful that I learned from good mentors and teachers how to hear the whole story of God’s Holy Word. As we read next Sunday’s lectionary passages together this week, I encourage you to look at what comes before and after each passage. Look in the footnotes of your Bible for a larger context. Listen to the Holy Spirit unpack the larger story—because you, beloved child, are part of that story, too.
all good things to each of you,
Pastor Darian
Lectionary Texts for Sunday, June 24, 2018
1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49
Psalm 9:9-20
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41