Sermon from February 21, 2010
"Do I Have to Take the Bible Literally?"
Jeremiah 15:16

Do we have to take the Bible literally? Why wouldn’t you take it literally? Why wouldn’t you read it the same way you read Time Magazine or your favorite blog or a good book? Here’s what’s at stake. If you take the Bible literally, you’ll have a living, growing relationship with God. If you don’t read it that way, you just won’t read it. Why read something that doesn’t mean what it says?

I don’t want that to happen to you. I don’t want you to be intimidated by someone who says to you, “You don’t take the Bible literally, do you?” This question may not seem relevant to you. You know what you believe about the Bible, and this talk about what is literal and what isn’t is a waste of time. That is an honorable frame of mind.

It is also honorable to seek a deeper understanding of your faith. Doing that has long been characteristic of this congregation. I have a special calling to address that need for understanding, and that’s what I will try to do today. So, let’s begin with the crucial question: What does it mean to take the Bible literally? The best way to answer this question is to sample four passages from the Bible and draw some conclusions.

Taking the Bible Literally
The first passage is the Christmas story according to Luke. Luke 2:7 says this about Mary: she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Every word is literal in the sense that every word labels real people and events. There is no mistaking what the writer (Luke) was talking about. That’s what it means to be literal.

The second passage comes from the Gospel of John 1:36. John the Baptist was walking with two of his companions: When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” Everyone knew John was talking about Jesus. That made his statement literal. So, why didn’t he just say, “Look, there’s Jesus”? Why call Him the Lamb of God? Because: it makes us think about the Passover lamb that was killed and whose blood was sprinkled on Jewish doors, so the death angel wouldn’t kill their firstborn. It makes us think about lambs sacrificed for sin in the Jewish temple. The non-literal word lamb attaches a deeper meaning and emotion to our understanding of Jesus.

His death shields us from the second death. He is the sacrifice for our sins. The word lamb conveys this all by itself, makes us feel it, creates in us longing and hopes. We don’t just study the life of Jesus. We worship Him.

We use language that way all the time. Picture someone you know, who has a gruff manner of speaking, but you know that underneath that gruff exterior the person is always kind. Haven’t you said, “I know he’s gruff, but inside he’s an old teddy bear”? There’s no mistaking the person you are talking about, and that makes your statement literal. But to call him an old teddy bear attaches deeper meaning and emotion to your understanding of him.

Our third passage is really interesting.  The word lamb attaches a deeper meaning and emotion to our understanding of Jesus. Suppose you told a story about a lamb, but everyone knew you weren’t talking about sheep. You were telling your story about a lamb as an indirect way of talking about a very real person. Here’s an example.

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them.

Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:11-24)

Every word is as literal as Luke 2:7. Every word labels real people and events. But the story didn’t happen, and everyone knew that Jesus wasn’t talking about a nice Jewish family down the road who had problems with their younger son. He was talking about God, and that’s what gives His story its literal meaning.

The story attaches deeper meaning and emotion to our understanding of God. He grants us freedom to run away from Him and waits for us to return and rejoices to forgive and welcome us home when we come to our senses. His story, which never happened, is as true a statement about God as any mathematical equation is true about nature.

Let’s try one more passage: Revelation 13:1: And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.

Not one word is literal. No beast of land or sea has ten horns and seven heads, and beasts don’t wear crowns on horns, and beasts with one head don’t have a name inscribed on it. Everyone knew that John was describing an imaginary episode by the seashore. But everyone also knew he was talking about the Roman government’s new policy of imprisonment, intimidation, and execution of Christians. That makes the verse literal.

And we know it. We know without trying that John was talking about something real that could harm Christians, and we know that his non-literal language was meant to deepen the literal meaning by conveying the horror of persecution and its connection to an ancient evil.

All four examples have a literal meaning. Three of them use non-literal language to deepen the literal meaning. Most, if not all, of the Bible is like that. This is just the way all language works. Let’s not make it hard.

Why Not Take It Literally?
So, why do some people say that we should not take the Bible literally? It’s possible they don’t know how language works, and I hope what I’ve said today will begin to put their fears to rest. However, they may be looking for a way to avoid the offensive particularities of the Christian faith.

They may mean, “Did Jesus really turn water into wine?” “Did He really die and come back to life, never to die again?” I also think they have already answered their questions before they asked them, and their answer is no. But it has nothing to do with whether the Bible is literal or not; it has to do with their skepticism about God and the possibility of miracles.

I am not trying to bash skeptics. What I care about are those moments when someone says to you, “You don’t take the Bible literally, do you?” – implying that you’re crazy, if you do. I want us to keep our cool and remember that something else lies behind their question. Your best answer may be to say: “I think the Bible makes a lot of sense, when you take it at face value. Why don’t you take it at face value?”

That’s when skepticism comes out of hiding. That’s when you can bear witness to your faith: “I believe in God, and if He can create the whole universe, I don’t think He would have a problem doing miracles.” That’s all you have to say. You don’t have to argue. You don’t have to persuade. You just need to be gentle and kind and firm. You are an immovable rock in that person’s path. He may admire you or despise you, but he cannot ignore you. And who knows? Your witness may be decisive in that person’s coming to faith in Jesus Christ.

If you want to push the envelope, you could ask, “Why don’t you believe in God? Why don’t you believe He can do miracles?” Asking questions like that means that you have patience for the conversation to follow, and it probably means that you have a relationship with that person in which it is safe for both of you to have that conversation.

Here are some of the answers you can expect. First, the person might say, “Science has disproved Christianity and the possibility of miracles.” If you don’t think you are quite ready to answer, you can tell your friend that your pastor had a really good sermon on that and offer to help him access the sermon on the BVBC website.

Here’s something else you may hear. It is possible that the person you are talking to once received instruction in Christian beliefs and morality; and in college or young adulthood the person became skeptical about those beliefs and violated the moral teachings of childhood. He feels guilty. Guilt can make people defiant about the beliefs and values they have failed to live up to. They probably won’t tell us this, unless they trust us. If they tell you, be prepared for a lot of emotion.

A third source of skepticism is pretty simple. Their circle of friends doesn’t believe in God or miracles or Christian morality. If this is the case the best course of action might be to say, “I believe in God, and if He can create the whole universe, I don’t think He would have a problem doing miracles.” Then tell the person your faith story. Can you tell your story of faith in Christ in one minute or less? Go back to Just Walk Across the Room, chapter six. It’ll help you do that.

A Living Relationship with God
I said at the beginning of this sermon that if you take the Bible literally, you’ll have a living, growing relationship with God. Here’s one reason why: the Bible will contradict you. Isn’t that what friends are for? Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses – Proverbs 27:6. The Bible is your friend.

Here’s an example. People who don’t want to take the Bible literally often say, “The Bible was written in another culture. If you take it literally, you’ll be defending slavery and repressing women.” You ask how that can be, and the person quotes the Bible to you: Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything – Ephesians 5:24 – and says to you defiantly, “Women are equal to men. If you take the Bible literally, you’re gonna undo decades of trying to give women an equal opportunity in a world that has been dominated by men. People will think you’re nuts, and you won’t succeed.”

Is it outdated to think that wives should submit to their husbands, or is there something in women’s liberation thinking that went too far? Can we reconcile this tension? Contemporary values do call into question biblical values, but biblical values also call into question contemporary values. Giving the Bible a place at the table in our modern debates enables us to step back from the ideologies of our day and question them. It’s the next best thing to having the Lord here in person.

You will come across many challenges like that one. Some are easy to think through; others can be very difficult. In every case the Bible will challenge the status quo. It is the tangible reminder that God challenges every status quo, including ours.

The Pastoral Center of Gravity
I’d like to go back again to the beginning of this sermon. I said that it is my special calling to address the need within this congregation to understand their faith better.

The surest sign that people don’t understand something is the presence of questions. In this series of sermons I have made prominent seven questions that trouble people, because they attack the integrity of Christianity. If these questions don’t bother you, it may be because you never have to answer them. That may mean that you don’t have much contact with non-Christians. They are asking them and many more like them. That’s why I have a special, pastoral obligation to address them with you.

It’s not that I have all the answers. I don’t. Even if I did, I couldn’t give them all in a 30-minute sermon. But I can give a few answers. Best of all, I can reassure you that I am representative of many better men and women, who don’t allow any of these questions to go unanswered. They write articles and books, give lectures and sermons, and make themselves available for private conversations. I stay engaged in that never-ending conversation. I am a link to what the Holy Spirit is saying in the Church worldwide. So what?

So, read the Bible, but seek God when you do. If the Bible is still a strange book to you, I hope you’ll take advantage of the next major series of sermons in April and May on Genesis. It will introduce you to the faith, hope, and love that are embodied in those foundational stories.

But above all things seek God during that series. Ask the hard questions, and as you seek satisfying answers, seek God above all things. If with all your heart you truly seek Him, you will surely find Him.