Shade Tree Wisdom 9/3/08

It’s a nice, cool, sunny Saturday morning. The son is sitting in the lounge when the father comes out of the house to run some errands. He stops, looks at his son, and smilingly says, “Son, will you please mow the lawn? It needs it”. The son replies with a smile, “Sure, dad”. Then the father leaves. When he returns 3-4 hours later the son is sill lounging, the grass is uncut and the father says, “Son, you said you’d mow the lawn.” The son replies, ”Did you mean today?”

We smile, because it happens all the time. We use the fancy term miscommunication. It means we’re not really listening or hearing what is being said. We miss the meaning altogether.

It happened with Jesus too. Remember the time his disciples didn’t wash their hands and the scribes asked why they broke the tradition of the elders. Here is the exchange: 3 But Jesus put it right back on them. "Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God's commands? 4 God clearly says, 'Respect your father and mother,' and 'Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.' 5 But you weasel around that by saying, 'Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I've given to God.' 6 That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God's command by your rules. 7 Frauds! Isaiah's prophecy of you hit the bull's-eye. 8 These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn't in it. 9 They act like they're worshiping me, but they don't mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy." From Matthew 15, 3-9 The Message Jesus accuses them of misusing is the Scriptures.

The tragedy is that this happens all the time. People misusing, using improperly, or mis-applying some Word of God. And when that happens, the Truth becomes clouded, is weakened, or lost altogether.

Maybe the clearest word in the Bible about making the word plain is in Nehemiah when Ezra read the Book of the law in the hearing of all the people after they had finished rebuilding the walls. It’s in Nehemiah chapter 8. v.3 “The ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law”. Then explains that Levites “caused the people to understand, gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading’.v.8

So it was not enough simply to hear it, they wanted them to understand it too. The earnest Bible teacher does that exactly. He finds out what the words mean, what they mean to us today, and how we can make use of what we now know. There are many teachers who do not do that, and they either miss the message or discard it because it doesn’t fit in what they think, or fit the present day. So it becomes “out of date” and unneeded. That’s tragic, for our God, through Jeremiah, speaks of this exactly. ‘I am against the prophets that use their tongue and say ‘He saith’.” 23,31.

So listen to the word. What does the text of the Bible actually say? And what meaning is there for me in my life today? Essential, and I pray you are such a Bible student.

GPD 9/3/08