uh oh...

I am going to do my best to make sure this is NOT a rant, but rather as objective as possible...here goes.

Today my pastor preached on "The Man Who Saved Christmas"--Joseph. He talked about how Joseph's motivation was to take care of the Baby, no matter what.

However, I had a few problems with this sermon, based on the answers I seemed to get to the following questions...

1. What does this sermon tell me about how I am to live?
2. What does this sermon tell me about the nature of Christ?
3. What does this sermon tell me about the nature of Scriptures?

(in no particular order...)

He wondered aloud at how Joseph's friends might have responded to the situation. They might have said, "Do what the Bible says." First of all, it wasn't the Bible as we know it today--it would have been called the Torah, or the Scriptures. Minor detail. Moving right along... He said that in those times, the law called for the stoning to death of a woman who was found pregnant before her marriage--regardless of the father. Clearly Joseph did not have this done--he wanted to divorce her quietly, and not expose her to public disgrace.

Rev. pointed out that Joseph disobeyed the written word of God. He said that it is not always good to do exactly what the Bible says, but that we should look at the wording but also listen to the Spirit. We should also look for the character of God, and discern what God would really do.

I think you are treading some dangerous ground here...I agree that you shouldn't always take the literal interpretation as being the actual facts or what to do today, but sometimes things are symbolic, or later take on another dimension/meaning. What I am thinking about here is the collection of OT laws and the sacrificial system--once Christ came, they were fulfilled and now are reminders of many things: how God set the Jews apart from the nations around them, how God made a way for them to know where they stood with the divine, how God cared for them, etc. In other words, you use the Scripture to interpret itself.

But to say "it is not always good to do exactly what the Bible says"?!? The Bible may not say explicitly what to do, but God is speaking through it. Somebody may hear this, and then go ahead and use it for their own personal gain/benefit, claiming this as support for what they are doing. He did use a verse to support this, but did not explain how the verse supported this statement. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). He did not clarify that "hate" is not hate as we might take it to mean, an intense disliking for someone, but that our love for family and loved ones should seem like hate, because it pales in comparison to our love for God. (That's the most common interpretation I've heard. Any other thoughts?)

I agree that we should listen to the Spirit, because otherwise, the words on the pages are simply ink and space. I agree that we should look for the character of God, because that is what comes through in the writing--not necessarily the human perspective.

In other parts of the sermon (taken from my notes):
We cannot live without unforgettable dreams. God has dreams.
Joseph took care of the baby, at all costs, like the Navajos (?) during WWII with their codes

Another quote from today's sermon caught me: "I think Joseph taught him all he knew about God." WAIT ONE SECOND! Jesus was God. I'm pretty sure Jesus knew himself. Actually, I'm 100% confident. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe Rev. meant that Joseph taught him, not necessarily that Joseph's teachings were all that Jesus knew. But if this was not what he meant--then what does it tell us about the nature of Christ? Was Jesus not divine until a certain point in his life? Were floodgates of knowledge opened when he was x years old? I am curious to know about Jesus's childhood, but that can wait till heaven. Jesus was fully divine and fully human, for all of his time on earth. I'm not sure how the math works out, but that's okay.

One of my issues with these sermons is that I don't get much out of them in terms of how I am to live. This sermon, however, gave me a little bit. That I should look for the character of God when I read the Bible.

I talked to him the other day, and he said it is tough to challenge everyone, because everyone is at different levels spiritually. I agree--I have seen that in terms of teaching math: not everyone is at the same level because some may not need as much to motivate them. However, there has got to be some way to preach so that everyone grows in some way. I think in education that's called multi-level instruction. Is that really possible in preaching? If God's hand is upon your sermon preparation, then I have to believe that God will speak in some way to every person, to some degree.

I'm trying, I'm really trying, to listen for the good, and listen for what God might be telling me. But it's really hard sometimes.

What are your thoughts?