Say What?

I can make the Bible say pretty much anything I want it to say.

Like, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."  Just when you thought we could get away from salvation by works, and believe that salvation is by grace through faith.

And did you know that God lies?  It says so in the Bible.  "O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived."  There you have it, right there.

Or how about this one?  I've been hearing it a lot lately.  "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"  I think people think it comforts me.  And it does, in a way, but not in the way that many people might find that verse comforting.

Because, you see, context matters.  Otherwise I can make the Bible say whatever I want it to say.  I can use Scripture to tell people they need to do good works in order to earn their salvation.  I can use it to make God out to be a liar.  And I can use it to try to provide assurance that my future is going to turn out prosperously and comfortably.

And really, that's not what any of those verses are saying, when you read the context.  James is speaking against easy believism, not for salvation by works.   Jeremiah was crying out in lament at what God was asking him to do, not preaching about the attributes of God.  And that beautiful verse from his book?  Well, it's not really telling the people that they have a bright and sparkly and prosperous future ahead of them full of bigger and better things. That's actually what the false prophets were telling them.

You see, the people of God had recently been uprooted from their land and deported to Babylon.  For a Jew to be separated from the land and the temple was like a fish being separated from water.  They just couldn't believe it was really happening.  It was a bad dream.  They'd wake up soon and it would be all over.  And prophets, claiming to speak for God, were assuring them that was the case.  "It's ok," they said.  "This will all be over in no time.  You'll be back in the land before you know it.  God's got something even bigger and better for you.  It's a misunderstanding.  It's a mistake.  Don't worry; be happy."  It was exactly the kind of hope the people wanted -- assurance that the hard times would be over quickly, and that life would return to normal.

Into that situation, Jeremiah spoke.  And his message was this:  "Hey, folks, settle down.  This exile?  It's not a bad dream.  It's real.  You're not going to be heading home any time soon.  Quit trying to get out of it.  This place you're in, this place where you feel uncomfortable and out of place, where life is hard and you can't wait to get out of it?  Welcome to your new life."

And that's when he says, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  The tough times weren't a mistake; they were part of God's plan to prosper and not to harm.  The seventy years of captivity, seventy long years of wilderness living -- they were part of the hope and the future.  Yes, one day God would bring them -- at least some of them -- back to their homeland, but not until this part of his plan had done its good work in their lives.  The people of God, when they heard Jeremiah's words, weren't happy.  They were downright peeved.  They knew exactly what he was saying to them, and they didn't want to hear it. They didn't want to get used to living in the tough stuff.  They'd rather listen to the false prophets telling them not to unpack their suitcases, because they'd be going home by the end of the week.

So when I hear this text, I don't hear God saying to me, "Marianne, it's ok, this will be over quickly, and I have a bright and shiny future all ready for you."  I wish that were so.  I want to think that the bad stuff that happens to me is a mistake, a misunderstanding, a bad dream, and that soon and very soon, I will wake up and there will be something bigger and better and more glamourous in store.  Prosper, hope, a future, and all that.  I like the sound of it.  But that's not what I hear from this text.  Because that's not what the people of Israel heard, and context matters.

What I hear is this:  Marianne, this season you are in right now is not a mistake.  Quit trying to get out of it.  Settle down.  Accept it; embrace it, even.  Because this season of losses and uncertainty, this hard and difficult season that feels so painful and uncomfortable is right exactly where I want you to be.  It is my plan for you, a plan that is a good and righteous plan.  This tough stuff you're going through isn't something to be endured until you get on to the real living.  This is the real living.

How long will it last?  I don't know.  I suppose it could last 70 years.  There were people of Judah who never did get to return to the land.  They died in captivity.  The point isn't how long the trial lasts.  The point really isn't the trial at all.  The point is that the trial is in God's hands, and I am in it for his purpose.  I can resist that purpose, or I can settle down and learn to really live, right in the middle of the trial.  I can learn, as they had to learn, that God can hear me even when I am in Babylon, and that I can honour and glorify him even when I am in Babylon.

I can make the Bible say anything I want it to say.  Or I can allow what it really does say to shape my faith and my practice.  This isn't a mistake.  God is in control.  And I don't need to wait until I am out of this tough season to live for him.  I can live for him here, in exile.  For as long as he sees fit to keep me here.  This season of exile is not a time-out to his plan for my hope and my future.  It is part of his plan for my hope and my future.  And that feels a whole lot more solid and comforting than wishful thinking.

I can make the Bible say anything I want it to say.

But what I'd rather do is listen to what it really does say.