One day some old men came to see Abba Anthony. In the midst of them was Abba Joseph. Wanting to test them, the old man suggested a text from the Scriptures, and, beginning with the youngest, he asked them what it meant. Each gave his opinion as he was able. But to each one the old man said, “You have not understood it.” Last of all he said to Abba Joseph, “How would you explain this saying?” He replied, “I do not know.” Then Abba Anthony said, “Indeed, Abba Joseph has found the way, for he has said, 'I do not know'.”
Every Monday at 3 p.m. I head up Bible study group at Rogue Valley Retirement Home on “A” Street. I took over from Steven Berry who had given it up because he thought his job would be changing, thereby not giving him time to do it. Wondering where to begin, I followed the advice of the King in Alice in Wonderland, and decided to “begin at the beginning, and go on until I come to the end.” In other words, I began with Matthew.
For the first few times, the group was all women – and small. But I’ve been there for several weeks now and the group has grown a little bit. They are also becoming familiar with me and beginning to ask questions and make comments. As anyone who attends the 9 a.m. Sunday Bible study can tell you, the questions and comments are what make the study fun and interesting.
This past Monday we finished Matthew's version of the birth narrative and we looked at the similarities between Matthew and Exodus, and Jesus and Moses. We also talked a little about what was and wasn't in that story.
“How many wise men showed up with gifts?” I asked.
After a few answers, I said, “The correct answer is: More than two. Matthew only says, 'wise men,' plural, never giving us an exact number. So we really don't know.”
At which point one gentleman vociferously responded, “There were three. And we even know their names!”
A minor argument broke out between the two of us, each of us challenging the other to prove his point. I eventually won the argument when he said he would go find it in the Bible and show me. I think he spent the rest of the hour looking for a place that gave him the number of wise men and their names.
But this reflection isn't about that argument or even about the number of wise men. This reflection is about our certainty of Scripture and how sure we are it says what we think it says.
How many times are we so sure about something in the Bible that we refuse to see or hear anything different? How many times are we so sure of our interpretation that we refuse to acknowledge that God just might be doing something new and different? How many times are we afraid of uncertainty? How many times are we afraid to say, “I don't know”?
In order to be open to the Spirit working in our lives, maybe, like Abba Joseph, we need the courage to say, “I don't know” more often.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment