Wrestling with the Bible

Friday, May 12, 2006 -- Week of 4 Easter

"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 961)
Psalms 40, 54 (morning) // 51 (afternoon)
Exodus 34:18-35
1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
Matthew 5:27-37

This is one of those days when we've got contentious readings. There is plenty of content for disagreement and even consternation.

Our Exodus reading pops up occasionally in civic debate whenever it is proposed that the ten commandments be publicly displayed. Some sharp eyed skeptic will ask, "Which 10 Commandments? There are three versions." In fact, the rather unfamiliar list today is the only place where the identifier "ten commandments" or "ten words" actually shows up.

The list of the ten in Exodus 34 divides differently according to how you read them. But it can be made into ten fairly neatly. The passage that seems to draw the most magnetism is "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk."

So what does that enigmatic commandment mean? I'm not sure, but there are a few lines of thought. One is that the prohibition is kin to other statutes in the Torah that prohibit slaughtering a calf and it's mother on the same day or the killing of a bird and its eggs simultaneously. It is a deep affront to life to do so. Another possibility is that it is an injunction against idolatry. There is evidence of Canaanite rituals that included the boiling of a kid in its mother's milk. Many see this passage as a source for the kosher law the prohibits eating meat and dairy products together.

For me, to ponder a bit about this version of "the" ten commandments is a reminder to be a bit more modest about what I think I know. If I didn't read the Daily Office, I probably would not have come across this passage. It's not chiseled in stone and placed behind pulpits and judges' benches. I'm reminded not to hold on too tightly, even to things that I cherish. There is much that I do not know.

And that leads me into the Matthew reading for today. I can raise my hand as one who has been troubled and convicted by the words "I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart." I remember an earnest moment in my youth when I carried some obsessive guilt around because of this passage. I've also chosen at times to dismiss it as one of those crazy things in the Bible that I can't deal with. And I can appreciate it as a teaching about the serious significance of inner motivation -- thoughts matter.

And the tearing out of an offending eye or the cutting off of right hands? It's one of those days when it's nice not to be a literalist! But these are pointed images about the seriousness of our obligations to live well.

I like having to read this stuff. It often hits me right between the eyes, even though I have both of them despite many eye offenses. It is not helpful just to dismiss the disagreeable or exaggerated passages of scripture. Centuries of veneration have shown there is something there in every phrase.

Lowell
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The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas