Parables and a Blue Dress by Lewis Kiger

Augustine, an early Biblical scholar who was an educated man, and normally quite level-headed in his approach to Scripture had some eccentric ideas when it came to interpreting parables. For example, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (found in Luke 10:25-37) he tendered some interesting, or perhaps more accurately, outlandish thoughts; as to how the narrative is to be understood.

Rather than taking a simplistic approach to understanding the parable, instead he submitted that in the story; the "certain man" represented Adam. While Jerusalem symbolized the garden and Jericho signified the moon. The thieves who stole from the man stood for Satan and his demons. The priest and Levite (in the Parable) denote the Old Testament laws and sacrifices. While the inn, where the man is dropped off, represents the church and the innkeeper is surmised to be the Apostle Paul...and the outlandish list goes on.

No wonder the average man says he cannot understand the Bible when such things are conjectured by those behind a pulpit. When those who handle the Bible fail to make the plain truth, the main truth – we distort both the author’s intent and the hearer’s ability to comprehend the lesson.

William Barclay rightly said of Augustine’s analysis: “One thing is quite clear about an interpretation like that. No one on earth could produce it unless he sat down in a study and worked at the parable for hours and days together. For that very reason it is obviously the wrong interpretation.”

Readers, please remember – that Jesus tells the story He does, when He does for a specific reason. He is addressing a specific crowd about a specific subject. The parables were spoken and not written (at that time) and were not meant for the hearer to go home and theorize or allegorize, but rather to drive home a certain point, or illustrate a certain behavior at that moment.

Sadly, most of us in the ministry, in an effort to “bring something new,” have succumbed to just this type of eccentric interpretation. Yet, when we go further than the speaker ever intended with our exegesis, we have unwittingly become authors rather than interpreters.

A pastor friend of mine shared this with me a few years ago- and I’m sure he heard it from someone else…but it has been immensely helpful to me:

IF, IF Jesus was teaching about the brevity of life and the importance of making good decisions – and then spoke this parable: “Once there was a little blonde girl in a blue dress kicking a pink ball in her front yard while her parents were sitting on the porch watching. When all of a sudden, the ball rolled out into the street and when the little girl gave chase; she was struck and killed by a black Cadillac.”

Preachers, theologians, and scholars would all sit around debating what the little girl’s blonde hair and blue dress represented, or what her pink ball was actually a symbol of. We would hear things like; her blonde hair represents worldliness, and the parents denote the church, and her chasing the pink ball is symbolism for fleeing from the will of God. While the black Cadillac signifies death or chastisement, and so on…

When all along – the real lesson is; DON’T CHASE A BALL INTO THE STREET OR YOU MAY GET HIT BY A CAR!

So often, when interpreting portions of Scripture, this is our great failure. The temptation exists to make everything something it isn’t, and miss what it really is. Remember, (in my make-believe story) the Lord was teaching about the uncertainty of life, and making good Biblical decisions. He WAS NOT talking about materialism, church discipline, or blonde hair…but rather, life is fragile and you need to make wise decisions.

Yet parables are not the only victims of such poor practices when it comes to Bible interpretation. Far too often, well-meaning Christians make egregious errors when it comes to understanding and explaining God’s Word.

I humbly caution Bible teachers and preachers, not to go beyond the simple and direct interpretation of Holy Writ. If we seek to go further than this, we can easily distort the Inspired Text and misconstrue God’s Divine Intent.

I pray that God will help us all to stay true to the Heavenly-sent, Spirit-inspired meaning of the Scriptures and not get lost in the endless and bizarre maze of deciphering what GOD really meant, if He didn’t mean what He said.

The Lord willing, I intend to submit editorials over the next few months about the parables of Jesus, and I hope that it is helpful and beneficial to all who read. But I have no intention of trying to decipher what “blonde hair and blue dresses symbolize” …my magic decoder ring is broken anyway.

Pastor Lewis Kiger

Memorial Heights Baptist Church 

svdbygrace2@roadrunner.com

Interpersonal Communication - Tuesday with Timothy #62

1 Timothy 5:1-2  Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

Paul has written sort of a godly interpersonal communication admonition. Regardless of how well we may preach or how tight our doctrinal statements are, you still need to communicate those truths to God's people. The pastor is merely an undershepherd, a servant in God's house, dealing with the souls of God's people. He is not the Lord and master, but a herald and one commissioned with the oversight. God has called the man, and the church has called the man to this position of oversight and authority. Paul is continuing to expound on how everyone ought to behave in the house of God, so he instructs Timothy how he is to treat those members of the church he cares for.

In this verse, we have a wide array of people in different stages of life. Notice that Paul is assuming that there will be the old an the young together in the church. Paul's answer was not to have a 8am service for the traditional worship and 10am service for contemporary.

First, the elderly men. This isn't the office of elder, but men who are far from chronologically challenged. The word translated rebuke is only found in the New Testament this one time, and its general usage was to "strike" or "lay blows upon"*. So, don't beat up the old guys. However, since we've already established that the pastor should not be a fighter (1 Tim 3:3) I don't think that Paul telling us not to punch the elderly. This stronger word is a metaphor. It isn't that the pastor is to never rebuke anyone that is drawing social security, or that the elderly are always correct, but the pastor needs to deal with people as individuals. The elderly men in the congregation deserve respect and Timothy needs to treat the elderly men in the congregation like they were his father. With honor, with dignity, and with respect. It's not that he should not correct, but he should take care how he corrects. I know that it happens, but I've never been a member of a church where the pastor was the oldest member. I once had a pastor, who Solomon might have described as hoary headed. Even then, there were a few members that still thought him to be that "young man" who was just barely in his 60's.

Does this mean that the elderly are never wrong? Of course not. Neither does it mean that once you get to a certain age, you can do whatever you want. But you cannot deal with all people exactly the same way. Treat the elderly women like mamma, and the young men and young women like siblings. Don't think about the young men as your servants or rivals, but your brother. Look at the young women like sisters, not objects.








*Vincent's Word Studies, Marvin R. Vincent, D.D.
*WORD PICTURES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, Archibald Thomas Robertson

Preaching and Preachers, the preface.

I'm planning on working my way through Lloyd-Jones Preaching and Preachers  again. I'm always trying to read through some book on preaching and I like to read through the classics over and again. This time, I'm going to try to post a few thoughts on each chapter. If you have never read it, here is your chance to grab a copy and read along with me.

In the preface, Lloyd-Jones makes the case why we should listen to him. The book was originally a series of lectures given to Westminster Seminary. It's the fruit of 44 years experience in the ministry. It's always good to sit and listen to experienced men give wisdom from what they have learned. I know it is hip to read the latest ministry book written by the new cool rising star pastor who reinvented the wheel. But how about we sit and listen to men who have walked with God faithfully for decades and learn from them?

"Some may object to my dogmatic assertions; but I don not apologize for them. Every preacher should believe strongly in his own method; and if I cannot persuade all the rightness of mine, I can at least stimulate them to think and consider other possibilities. I can say quite honestly that I would not cross the road to listen to myself preaching, and the preacher whom I have enjoyed most have been very different in their method and style. But my business is not to describe them but to state what I believe to be right, however imperfectly I have put my own precepts into practice."

I think this is an important point. I have strong opinions on preaching; but if you preach, you should have strong opinions on preaching as well and should be able to defend them or at least give a reason why. Preaching is important enough to care about and important enough to want to be better than we are right now.

Belisarius by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I am poor and old and blind;
The sun burns me, and the wind
    Blows through the city gate
And covers me with dust
From the wheels of the august
    Justinian the Great.

It was for him I chased
The Persians o'er wild and waste,
    As General of the East;
Night after night I lay
In their camps of yesterday;
    Their forage was my feast.

For him, with sails of red,
And torches at mast-head,
    Piloting the great fleet,
I swept the Afric coasts
And scattered the Vandal hosts,
    Like dust in a windy street.

For him I won again
The Ausonian realm and reign,
    Rome and Parthenope;
And all the land was mine
From the summits of Apennine
    To the shores of either sea.

For him, in my feeble age,
I dared the battle's rage,
    To save Byzantium's state,
When the tents of Zabergan,
Like snow-drifts overran
    The road to the Golden Gate.

And for this, for this, behold!
Infirm and blind and old,
    With gray, uncovered head,
Beneath the very arch
Of my triumphal march,
    I stand and beg my bread!

Methinks I still can hear,
Sounding distinct and near,
    The Vandal monarch's cry,
As, captive and disgraced,
With majestic step he paced,--
    "All, all is Vanity!"

Ah! vainest of all things
Is the gratitude of kings;
    The plaudits of the crowd
Are but the clatter of feet
At midnight in the street,
    Hollow and restless and loud.

But the bitterest disgrace
Is to see forever the face
    Of the Monk of Ephesus!
The unconquerable will
This, too, can bear;--I still
    Am Belisarius!

Notable Quotables 3/10/2017

It's Friday, and time for another round up of quotes I gathered from hither and yon. 


"When the psalmist cries out for rescue, “O guard my life, and deliver me” (Ps. 25:20), the poet is not just “trying to revive hope” as an act of self-help—he calls to God for deliverance. In reflecting on this Psalm, John Calvin suggests we are to pray that God “would increase our hope when it is small, awaken it when it is dormant, confirm it when it is wavering, strengthen it when it is weak, and that he would even raise it up when it is overthrown.”

Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ" by J. Todd Billings 

"The only time I ever believed that I knew all there was to know about beekeeping was the first year I was keeping them. Every year since I’ve known less and less and have accepted the humbling truth that bees know more about making honey than I do."

A Book of Bees" by Sue Hubbell, Sam Potthoff 

Healthy families—the ones where parents give their children discipline, affection, and time—almost always improve over the years, even when they lack many of the advantages and resources that money can buy. Unhealthy families, the ones without discipline and unconditional love, will always struggle, even if they have all the money, tutors, coaches, and technology they could ever want.

The Advantage by Patrick M. Lencioni 

The immature and individualistic mind-set, whether in its Christian or secular form, conceives of an ironically small universe. It makes me bigger and wiser than all those rules and structures and traditions and institutions that would bind me. I become the judge and lord of them all, which presumes that the boundaries of my mental universe encompass everything. My whole universe, then, becomes as big as . . . me—a small universe, indeed
Baptist Foundations: Church Government for an Anti-Institutional Age by Mark Dever, Jonathan Leeman 

 "Blücher allowed us no rest.’ As we passed the Marshal … our soldiers began to hurrah, for it was always a delight to them to see the ‘Old One’ as he was called. ‘Be quiet, my lads,’ said he, ‘hold your tongues; time enough after the victory is gained.’ He issued his famous order … which concluded with the words, ‘We shall conquer because we must conquer.’"

Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles" by Bernard Cornwell - 

The Gracious God

"And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6).

God is good and kind to sinful men. Jesus Christ is the fountain from which all God's blessings flow to us. We do not deserve the smallest of God's blessings, but because our Lord is gracious, He freely blesses and shows kindnesses to us. Before the Earth was formed, the gracious God freely chose to display this grace upon a people who did not deserve it. Through the good pleasure of His will, God freely chose to adopt men in Christ. It was the Lord's will that these people would love Him and enjoy His presence forever. God desired that these vessels of mercy would stand and live before Him forever as His holy children. Here's the catch. These people are not holy. They are not clean and pure. They are not seeking God and do not enjoy His presence, but spend their lives hiding from Him and ignoring Him. In God's mercy, He ordained His plan of redemption. The Father, being gracious, freely elected from among men, individuals to show His kindness. The Son, being gracious, freely choose to enter into His own creation, and be the sin bearer and take upon Himself all the sin of all His people, and be their substitute. The Son would die in their place, pay their sin debt, and freely justifying them before God. The Spirit, being gracious, freely draws men to Christ and gives them life by the same power that raised Christ from the dead. The Spirit seals them, indwells them, and guides them all the days of their life. Because God is gracious, He saves sinners all the way to the end.

God won't ever stop being gracious. Ephesians 2:7  "That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." In heaven, we will be objects of the great riches of His kindness and trophies of His amazing grace. He saved us and will show us, through all eternity, how gracious and kind He is to us through Jesus. God has already shown you more mercy and kindness than we can comprehend and yet the storehouse of His goodness will never empty. We will never get to the bottom of the treasure house of Grace.  We will never see the end of God's kindness. In the ages to come, God will still be showing us how good He is through Christ Jesus. Christian, you have this eternal joy waiting for you. God will show you forever how awesome He is and how much He loved you and how kind He will be to you. This grace is received, not by works, but by faith. By coming to Christ by faith, you receive the grace of an eternally kind God and will enjoy His graciousness forever.

Notable Quotables 3/3/2017

Barely enough time for seconds. 

"Revelation 8:1 "about the space of half an hour". One half hour is not long in itself, however, time is long or short in accordance to that which is taking place. Two minutes is a long period if you are hanging by your fingers from a high ledge. On the other hand, one half hour is very short if one is eating chicken and dumplings."

Willard Willis, The Revelation of Jesus Christ

 Flee from temptation.

"As one preacher puts it, “There is no easy way to flee; fleeing is ugly.” It might not be dignified, but it certainly is effective."

Eric Mason, Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole

Get to work.

"The sooner we begin serving where there is a need, the sooner we will begin to learn where the Lord is leading us in our service to Him."

Richard D. Phillips, The Masculine Mandate

Sing the Psalms. 

"Fourth-century bishop Athanasius spoke eloquently about how they are God’s medicine for humans in all different circumstances: “Whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you not merely hear and pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill.”8 Whether in St. Benedict’s monasteries or John Calvin’s Geneva, a wide range of Christians have experienced the Psalms—in good times and bad—through meditating, praying, and singing." 

J. Todd Billings, Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer and Life in Christ

Political Fashion. What beliefs are in this season?

"Stepan Arkadyevitch had not chosen his political opinions or his views; these political opinions and views had come to him of themselves, just as he did not choose the shapes of his hat and coat, but simply took those that were being worn."
 

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina 

By the by - Christian Audio gives away a free audiobook every month. You many be interested in getting this month's book  by  Paul Washer Gospel Call and True Conversion.

The Merciful Lord

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6). God revealed Himself to Moses, declaring that He is merciful and gracious. These two beautiful attributes are similar, but they are not the same. Mercy is when that which is deserved is withheld and grace is when that which is underserved is given. Mercy withholds deserved punishment whereas grace gives underserved favor.  Today, we will focus on God's mercy.

Mercy flows from God, because He is the "Father of mercies" (2 Corinthians 1:3). This attribute of God tells us that God shows mercy because He is merciful. You may show mercy to an ornery neighbor boy because you long ago received mercy for being an ornery boy. You may show mercy to a bad-tempered cashier by ignoring it because you feel it is your duty to show mercy. God is not compelled to "repay" a mercy and God is not under an outside law to be merciful out of duty like we are. Mercy flows from God because that is who He is. Luke 6:36  "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful". We are to be merciful to others because God the Father is merciful. His mercy is abundant and everlasting (Psalm 136).  

God delights showing mercy (Micah 7:18) and takes pleasure in those that receive His mercy. Psalms 147:11 "The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy". What could be better for a guilty man than to receive mercy from the judge? God is a judge that delights in being merciful and takes pleasure in those poor souls who deserve punishment for their sin, but flee to Him for pardon. God delights in those who trust in His mercy for salvation. God shows mercy to the unrighteous (Hebrews8:12) and pardons the guilty sinner. God's mercy shows us the only way to salvation is through Him because God is the offended party in our sins. Sin is rebellion. It is disobedience. It is disloyalty. It is high crimes against the King of glory. God's mercy is showing compassion to the miserable by withholding the His wrath towards those who have offended His holiness. You cannot be merciful to those that deserve it or earn it. The guilty never cry out "give us what we deserve!", rather the guilty man's plea is "have mercy". God shows mercy, by withholding what we deserve, not punishing us for our sins, but instead He punished a substitute; Jesus Christ. Poor and wretched as we are, by trusting in Jesus, we receive mercy and pardon because God is merciful. With great compassion and loving kindness, God shows mercy and pity. God would have been just to send us all to Hell, but the merciful God chose to display His mercy in the salvation of sinners. God delights in rescuing the beaten, the broken, and the hopeless. Do you need mercy?