Letting the Bible Speak

Last week, after I posted some of the discussion questions for this week's study, Shanna posted this comment:

I have to admit that I was a little discouraged when the speaker implied that "letting the bible speak to you" was ridiculous. No everyone has a source of spiritual support to help them navigate the bible in an intellectual manner. I remember being 14 and desperately seeking God with no one around me to act as a Shepard. I prayed about what I was about to read in the bible, asking God to guide me, and the passage I read turned my life around. This a situation where "letting the Bible speak to you" is far from ridiculous.

 (see here: Preparing For Discussion - Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us)

On Sunday, Pat sent me an email with a story that begins in this way:

A cab driver in the Philippines became radically saved. He was taught that he now had the power of God in his life to transform his community. Because he had not had any prior religious training to the contrary, he took a literal approach to believing what the Bible says about prayer and miracles.

Read the rest of the story here: Prime Time With God: Transforming A Workplace)

I am beginning to ask myself if it isn't so much "letting the Bible speak" that can be a problem sometimes, as putting our own interpretations on the Bible in the absence of relationship with and surrender to God. If we earnestly seek God while we are reading scripture, I believe that God will speak...BUT we have to be open to the possibility that what God will say with not fit within our current understanding of the world or even within our current understanding of God.

This always leaves me with such a feeling of responsibility, maybe even vulnerability. It's my responsibility to tend my relationship with God in such a way that I can hear the still, small voice amidst the clamoring of my experiences, the world around me, and my own misgivings and intellectual scruples.  I have to silence the clamor and be still. And trust. I have to trust that God will speak, that I won't have to chase God down the rabbit holes of scriptural interpretation, that God is right there with me while I chase after truth.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

One of the passages we have been asked to consider this week is the parable of the workers in the vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. I thought I would find some possible interpretations of this passage:

Fairly "standard" interpretation from Bible.org: Workers in the Vineyard

Strongly social justice oriented reading from the National Catholic Reporter: What the Parable of the Vineyard Workers Really Says

Sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber including commentary on the Vineyard parable: Sermon from Sierra Pacific Synod Service

Rather radical interpretation by Boyd Collins in his blog, Jesus Radicals: The Power That Springs From Weakness

From the blog of Wycliffe Bible Translators missionaries, Mark & Laura Woodward: A Missional Reading of Matthew 20:1-16

If there are others you have found, feel free to post them in the comments!!

Preparing for Discussion - Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us

Next Wednesday we will be discussing session 6 of Animate: Bible, Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us, presented by Will Willimon.

The following are some scriptures and questions from the journal and facilitator guide to get us started:

Read the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:4-21), keeping in mind that scripture is all about God. How does it change your thinking to view scripture this way, rather than being all about us?

Read Colossians 3:18-4:1, remembering that this is a letter to the Colossians. What information might be helpful to put these words in context? Is it possible to make meaning of this passage without some sort of scholarly interpretation?

Read Matthew 20:1-16, and think about how you, personally, understand or interpret this passage. Have you heard other interpretations?

Check out:
Psalm 1
Isaiah 53:1-9
Matthew 9:11-13

How do we interpret the above passages in light of what we know of Jesus? Our context changes how we understand scripture that pre-dated Jesus.

How does this week's topic relate to earlier discussions about how the Bible has been made available to more and more people over the years...with translations into the language of the people, the invention of the printing press, and the development of the internet? Is it "dangerous" for the Bible to be in the hands of people, who have no knowledge of the cultural context of the Bible, no information about genres or history?

Will Willimon talks about people reading the Bible and "just letting it speak." Are there times when this is a good thing? Willimon seems to, first, be saying that it's not a good thing, that we always need to be aware of the context of the Bible and to be informed about where the text is coming from. But then he tells the story of the young man who said, "Did it ever occur to you to just do it?" That seems like a case of just letting the text speak.

Have there been times in your life when just the simple reading of the Bible has been important to your faith journey? Are there times when the simple reading has been detrimental? Can you think of examples of times when you've seen either of these things happen in the lives of others or the church as a whole?

Have the tools of  "community, context and prayer" ever changed your understanding of the Bible?  What do we do with the fact that there are divisions between communities of believers (think denominations) in the interpretation of scripture?

What does it mean to say that the Bible is "a book of imagination?" Are you comfortable or uncomfortable with that thought? Why?

How do we hold on to a childlike faith in the midst of such complex questions?


There are SO MANY questions to consider and so few definitive answers! I am so proud to know all of you and to see such honest wrestling with the questions! Thank you for being my community!

Who is Will Willimon?

The 6th presenter in the Animate: Bible study is Will Willimon. His topic is Interpretation: Scripture Reads Us.

Will is the professor of the practice of Christian ministry at Duke Divinity School. He is a former dean of the chapel at Duke and is regarded as one of America’s foremost preachers. He’s also a retired bishop in the United Methodist Church, formerly serving North Alabama.

He has written many books on preaching and the church, and he recently penned a novel, Incorporation, about a pastor in a small, struggling mainline congregation. His preaching is known for being humorous, insightful, and often having an unexpected hook.

Five fast facts

1. Lives with his wife in North Carolina
2. Has two grown children
3. Was named one of the 12 Best Preachers in the World by Baylor University
4. He doesn’t tweet, but someone runs a Twitter account with wise statements Will has said
5. Has degrees from Wofford College, Yale Divinity School, and Emory University 

(bio from: http://wearesparkhouse.org/adults/animate/bible/voices/will/)

Read more from Will Willimon's blog here: http://willwillimon.wordpress.com/