Opened the scriptures

Seems I have been trying to get folks to open the scriptures my whole life.  When I was young, I wanted the adults to open the scriptures by reading the story deeply and asking it the thousands of questions that come to mind.  What do angels look like?  Can you hear their voice or do the words just sort of appear in your mind?  Did God ask someone to be the mother of Jesus before asking Mary?  How do we explain Jesus healing people from miles away? and so forth, and so forth.  You can imagine rightly that I drove both my confirmation pastor and countless hapless adults who were trying to teach crazy. They confused my curiosity with impertinence.

Road to Emmaus by artist  He Qi

There was little improvement when I began studying with other adults.  Seems most of the adults simply wanted to be told what it meant.  Interpret it for me; just lay out the lesson for me.  My questions just seemed to confuse the issue.  (How could they confuse the issue when we sure what the issue was?).  I was not really welcome at a lot of places.

Then I went to 'deacon school' where I met a New Testament scholar by the name of the Rev. Dr. Richard Carlson, and boy could he teach the scriptures.  There wasn't a question too outrageous for him.  Speculation was one of his tools for engaging the stories of the Bible.  What if?  What could this mean?  What do we know about doctors or women or merchants or Roman soldiers from that time?  What does this tell us?  I fell in love.....not with him, but with the scriptures.

I always knew there was something more.  I always knew that these stories were complex and most of the time I was just skimming the surface.  God talks to us through these stories and it takes very close listening to discover God's revelations.  A story as dense and complex as the story of God working in and through humankind and all of creation requires wrestling, not skimming.  There are many voices and lessons to be heard.

In the gospel of Luke we are given two post-resurrection stories of Jesus appearing to disciples and in both it says that 'Jesus opened the scriptures' for them.  "Were not our hearts burning within us when he opened the scriptures to us?" they ask.  This leads me to wonder....

,,,,,God's Word and fire are often associated in the Bible. Think about Moses and the burning bush, Jeremiah and the fire in his belly, and now these disciples.   I wonder why fire?

....Jesus 'opened' the scriptures for them.  Was this just a deeper explanation.......or was it the revelation of Jesus as the interpretive (hermeneutical) key to the whole God story? What were they learning about God that was new or surprising?

....That burning sensation....Was it heartburn (like I often get when I need to really concentrate on some complex problem of logic) or was it that 'burn' that comes when, although you are working hard, you know you are accomplishing much?

....What would it take to 'open the scriptures' for us today?  What am I missing?  What treasure lies just below the surface, ready for the ones who are willing to dig a little?

Very little gives me more pleasure than doing this work with fellow explorers, to read and question and speculate and listen to God speaking through others as they wrestle with God's word.  As we huddle over a story and listen to one another, we hear God speaking through multiple filters.  In the end, I have often heard God speak in new and exciting ways.  The scriptures are opened once again.

You can do this.  Find yourself some companions for this adventure.  Stick with it.  Be prepared to encounter God in new ways.

But please, open the scriptures and take the time to read and listen.  God has so much to say.