Scripture… Scripture…

WED., DEC. 17, 1997, 8:35 AM
A.S.C., FPC

Yes, o son, I hear your cry, “Scripture, Scripture, what shall I ‘do’ with Scripture?”. I’ll commence with two responses that really won’t help, but I need to be somewhat consistent with you, since you do write down what you hear from Me.

First, Scripture is part… to a good deal… mystical. And there is no clear formula for determining which portions are… and which not. Someone this morning recommended that, with the Psalms, you should just read them preferably aloud, and just let them have their effects. Don’t try to understand them. Don’t try to discern the theology of any cry… statement… affirmation. Just experience and enjoy “the flow”, relating to whatever you can.

You sing songs, learned in your youth, some of them rather well known, that, when really analyzed, are pretty silly. In your “middle-elderly” (yes, I’ve moved you along) status you are seeing more and more news reports as much more mystical… and funny… than serious and threatening.

For My other response is that I have a great spirit of fun and humor, and some (even many) of the Psalms represent this, at least in part. You noted, this morning, that I, as the Almighty God to whom the Psalms are addressed, am described as “a rock”… and a “fortress”… with “sheltering wings”. Quite a picture… of One Who is set and anchored, yet also moves around, propelled with wings. (In more modern terms I could be jet powered or even rocket-propelled).

Now this is not to imply that these Psalms are not serious and are not comforting in time of troubles. The combination is truly mystical. Some persons are battered down and overcome by enemies who are actual. Others experience the “enemy” within, physically or mentally, or some combination of these. Yet I want you to conclude that whether you have an abundance or a dearth of “enemies” the result is the same: you are in Me, because I am in you. Increasingly, as your “enlightened”, “born again” experience becomes deeper and more “real” you shall see Me in more and more of what you experience. How many times do I have to repeat: I am in charge of this earth scene… it is about the way I want it to be… and I have supreme fun in being Holy Spirit of the Triune God, the Only One there Is. Period.

The little book that you’ll use this morning as you bring the Christmas story to these small kids has a rather “straight” text, but almost bizarre pictures. Accept that as closer to reality than most renditions. Mary is not beautiful and serene. Joseph is quite goofy-looking. Couldn’t they have been this way. I was having fun even then! And you’ll add your personality to the presentation. Have fun with it, in your own, special way.

You note, of course, that there’s no mention of Herod’s fear for his rule and the resulting killing of Jewish baby boys. That is a rather ghoulish chapter in the story, one that is usually left out. Yes, it does, in a way, herald My statement, as the mature Savior and Messiah, that “I have come, not to bring peace but a sword”. That is mystical truth. I had a wondrous, gentle message of love and forgiveness, but it came to a people with an established religion, to which I was seen as a threat. And any disturbance among these Jews was seen as a threat to the ruling Romans. Why didn’t I come to some more gentle Native Americans… or some other less threatened group. There’s no rational answer… just My pair for the day: it’s mystical, and I was having fun.

The Scriptures don’t tell how I was as a child, a teenager, or a young adult. But if I could amaze the priests and scribes when I was 12, couldn’t I have gotten along with them as a young preacher and teacher? What would I have been like if I had lived to be the age of the present Pope?