Wrestling With Scripture... and Possibly Bears

 

children being eaten by bears as punishment for mocking a bald man, germany, 15th century

 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!”  When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

                                     2 Kings 2:23-24 NRSVue

This morning we will participate in worship with the congregation in Trenton which is our church home. During the service scripture will be read, probably by a member rather than Pastor Isaac and then he will preach a sermon which reflects on that text or texts. These bible readings are usually from the ecumenical lectionary, the three-year cycle of scriptural texts which include a Hebrew scripture lesson, a psalm, a gospel reading, and a passage from an epistle. 

Few (any?) United Church congregations include all four readings but virtually all include scripture, even if they don't follow the lectionary. Yes, the infamous Rev. Greta Vosper dispensed with bible readings in her services, but she was an anomaly.

The bible is essential to our life together, even if it is both wonderful and weird, illuminating and baffling. The United Church doesn't pretend that every word of scripture is equal to every other and we concede some stories and even entire books are not just problematic they are horrifying. 

Yesterday I saw a tweet by the weird medieval guys with the image above, and the caption which I've included. I wonder if they knew that this is likely the depiction of a shocking story in the Older Testament about a testy prophet named Elisha who responds to taunting children by invoking the wrath of bears? Yikes! As someone who is increasingly folically challenged I appreciate the sensitivity but not the response. 

Lots of people toss out the baby with the bible bathwater because of bizarre stories such as these, and worse. Yes, worse -- think genocide. While I'm reluctant to be dismissive of scripture, I would be happy if this Elisha and the children vignette was expunged. Instead it remains, for what it's worth.

I'm confident that we won't hear this passage in church this morning and that we never will. Instead we'll listen for a word of life which will help us live as faithful followers of Christ in the week before us.Curiously -- providentially? -- Isaac will be addressing a passage from Luke in which potential smiting is averted. We'll be listening. 

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village...

                           Luke 9:51-62 NRSV