Two weeks ago I mentioned the multivalence of Biblical texts. That is, they have more than one meaning. While some people are disturbed about this way of understanding the Bible, it has always been part of my approach to teaching and preaching.

Every candidate for the ministry has to pass a written and oral examination by a synod committee. I remember one of the questions my committee put to me. “How do you go about writing a sermon?” I told the committee that when I preached on a Gospel text, I considered what Jesus might have meant by what he did or said, what his audience might have thought about it, what the early church thought about it since it remembered the story or saying, what the Gospel writer thought about it since he wrote out his own version (reports in the Gospel of the same event are never exactly the same), what the people who the  Gospel writer addressed might have understood, how others in the history of Christianity interpreted the text, and only then what it might mean to me and other people today. All of these aspects bring additional meaning to a text.

My answer evidently pleased the examining committee since they recommended I be ordained, but it hasn’t always pleased people in Bible studies I have taught. For me, intentionally seeking the different meaning in a Gospel passage unveils the richness of Scripture. Without this richness, interpreting the Bible might be a mere exercise in reading an ancient book rather than encountering the living Word of God.

Read Romans 11:33 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne