Intricacies of the Word(s)

A couple months ago a group of Chilean miners were rescued after spending several weeks trapped miles below Earth's surface in a mine shaft. During the days the story caught national attention, journalists were sharing examples of what the miners were doing to pass the time. I began to think what I would do in a similar situation.

An iPhone would only entertain for so long before the battery would die, and silence would only lead to insanity. Engaging in conversation with fellow captives would be inevitable, but what would you say? The usual icebreakers about family, interests and backgrounds would only last so long, and provided they were co-workers, it's likely those would be elementary conversation topics anyway. It seems like it would be the perfect opportunity to raise the level of conversation, especially in such dire circumstances.

It's not likely that I brought my Bible to work that day (although maybe I should start making that a habit), so I would be relying solely on what I already knew. Maybe I could stumble through a few parables or an overview of Jesus' story. Maybe I had a few verses memorized or even a sermon. Better yet, THE sermon. That sounded like a good idea. So, I set out to memorize the Sermon on the Mount, just in case I am ever trapped in a mine shaft.

As I worked through Jesus' teaching, I was committed to learning it verbatim. I did not want to imply cause and effect with "then your Father will reward you" when Jesus simply said "and your Father will reward you." And I did not want to skew a transition by saying "because" when Jesus used the connector "therefore." As a result of this meticulous study, here are two of the lessons I learned:

While dancing through an explanation of a tree and its fruit that Dr. Seuss would be proud of (Matthew 7:15-20), I recited verse 20 as "Every tree that bears bad fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire," when it actually says "Every tree that does not bare good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Do you see the difference? I made allowance for those standing on middle ground who bore no fruit at all. Jesus was not so accommodating. So while you're living idly avoiding evil, understand that you are in no better shape than those who you condemn for their bad fruit. Read the next verse (21). "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

The second lesson comes in the mist* of Jesus' story about two house builders and a storm. The wise man "built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." The foolish man "built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Did you see the difference? I added the emphasis for you. In my attempts to memorize this passage I wanted to give the foolish man credit for building on "the sand," but that's wrong. There is a lot of sand to build on, but only one rock: "THE rock."

The overriding lesson is to take your time when reading the Bible. Don't race through it like an item to check off the list. Read it carefully. In the words of Jeremy Kingsley, "Don't read the Bible to finish. Read the Bible to change."

(*Play on words. Work with me here.)