I have had a few conversations recently about the hard
texts, the hard Bible passages that we have heard in church. I have had some
questions about why we read those hard texts, and some have said maybe it would
be better not to read those, especially from the Old Testament, some of the
Psalms, and lately, the Gospel has been a worthy wrestling partner. The rota of
readings we use is called The Lectionary, and using the Lectionary, we read the
entire Bible once through every three years. That’s one reason we read them
all. But even more importantly, we do not get to pick and choose the Bible
passages we like and support our position, while leaving others we don’t like
or don’t agree with unread and unexamined. It keeps us honest. We must grapple
with them all, like it or not.
We have an especially difficult one coming up on October 2nd,
Psalm 137.
1 By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, * when we
remembered you, O Zion.
2 As for our harps, we hung them up * on the trees in the
midst of that land.
3 For those who led us away captive asked us for a song, and
our oppressors called for mirth: *
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song * upon an alien soil?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, * let my right hand forget
its skill.
6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not
remember you, *
if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.
7 Remember the day of Jerusalem, O Lord, against the people
of Edom, *
who said, “Down with it! down with it! even to the ground!”
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, *
happy the one who pays you back for what you have done to
us!
9 Happy shall he be who takes your little ones, * and dashes
them against the rock!
The most difficult verse in this Psalm, is the last one,
“happy shall he be who takes your little ones, and dashes them against the
rock”! Not only do we read this text, we sing it! One of my Bible professors
once said to our class, all bible passages will be appropriate at some time and
in some place. As I hear this Psalm, I remember.
Psalm 137 comes out of the time of the Exile, when the
Hebrew people were thrown out of their lands, their homes, and banished to
Babylon, the land of foreigners, of foreign gods, of pagans. “By the waters of
Babylon, we sat down and wept, when we remembered our home, O Zion.” Wouldn’t
you, thrown out of your country, your land, all that you know, just want to lay
down and weep? The Hebrews wondered how they could sing anymore, so why not
just hang their harps in the trees. And to make it even worse, those pagans
wanted to be entertained with their songs, not happening, the Hebrew people
said.
This reality is in our world today. Refugees are thrown out
of their own countries, they must leave their own countries for fear of their
lives, and are lead away captive. Refugees don’t want to be in that new place, they
would much rather raise their children in the land of their birth, but can’t,
for fear of torture and death. Which is worse? Staying home with the fear of
death, or leaving home and all that is dear, for a foreign land? It must feel
like there are people who would be happy to take their children and throw them
against a rock. It must feel hopeless. It must feel like you are dying. Where
is God in all that?
The reason we don’t just ignore these Bible passages, is
that they continue to show us the truth of our brokenness. The truth that on
our own, we believe we are the best creation has to offer, and therefore can
treat anyone and anything any way we want. These passages show us the pattern.
God creates and God blesses, we turn away from God and begin to believe we can
do it on our own, we worship idols and ourselves. This is what gets us into
deep, deep, trouble. God calls us back, God loves us back into wholeness, God
puts us back together. These passages continue
to call us to repentance. Turn around, God loves you, love each other, treat
each other with dignity, respect, justice and mercy.
These passages we must listen to, especially today,
especially now.
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