Yeah... But It's Irrelevant

Jesse Tink

Skeptic's Guide to the Bible • Sermon • Submitted 7 months ago • Presented 7 months ago

Philippians 4:13

Acts 17:1–15

Hermeneutics

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Welcome/Series Intro & Review

Hey everyone! Again: welcome to Prairie Lakes. Glad you’re here.

If this is your first weekend with us, you’re coming at a really good time. After a little break last week, we’re jumping back into our series called “Skeptics Guide to the Bible.” You might notice people around you with this book, which we created as a companion guide to the series. If you’re interested in that, you can still get a digital version of it online at prairielakeschurch.org.

But, “Skeptics Guide to the Bible.” Here’s what we know:

For some of us who have been in the Bible and in church for a long time, we might not be very skeptical at all. We might feel right at home as we read and navigate the Bible.

But even for some of us who have been around it for a long time—and then especially for those of us who have not—we’ve probably got more than a few questions about it. Skepticisms, even.

And so you are who we had in mind as we created it and are communicating it. You, the skeptic.

Here’s where we’ve been so far, and where we’ll be this weekend:

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Show Skeptic’s Guide pic of the Journey (from the book)

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We started a few weeks ago talking about the origins of the Bible. How was it created? How was it passed down? How’d we get the version of it we have today?

And then we talked about this thing called “exegesis:” how do we start to understand what the writers of the Bible wrote? What does it mean? And what do we do with some of the “crazy” stuff that’s in there?

Weekend Intro: Hermeneutics

Which leads us to this weekend in our Skeptics series. This weekend, we’re talking about this thing called “hermeneutics.” Hermeneutics.

Which is another fun, seminary word that will make you sound super smart whenever you say it. It’s another Greek word, like exegesis. But here’s a great way of understanding it:

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Exegesis: What does it mean?

Heremeneutics: What does it mean for me?

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When we exegete the Bible, we’re asking “what does it mean?” And when we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, we learned that what we really need to ask first is:

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Exegesis: What does it mean? What did the author mean when they wrote it?

Heremeneutics: What does it mean for me?

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What did the author mean when they wrote it? That’s an important thing to be able to do first. And it’s not an easy thing to do—because we’re talking about centuries and even millennia of time and culture difference. It requires some study and work. Certainly do-able… but not easy.

And yet: if we can do that first, then we’re set up well to do some hermeneutics? Or, differently put:

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Exegesis: What does it mean? What did the author mean when they wrote it?

Heremeneutics: What does it mean for me? What is God speaking to me today?

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Skepticisms

Now: this question of hermeneutics is going to hit your ear (and even your heart) differently—depending on where you’re coming from.

For those of us who start from a place of believing that this Bible is God’s word, and it’s the primary way he speaks to us today—for those of us who are coming from that place—this is a pretty obvious and even boring question. We ask (and answer!) it every time we read the Bible. We even create little instagram stories that showcase our hermeneutical setup, so to speak: coffee in the foreground, Bible kinda blurry in the background, maybe a scone or a notebook barely visible.

My point is for some of us, yeah: “What is God speaking to me today? Let me read this book and find out.” We do it all the time.

But for others of us, that hermeneutical question is anything but normal. It’s not a comfortable question at all. In fact, we grow a little skeptical of people who act like it is a normal question and easily answered.

Because who’s to say what God is speaking to you or anyone else? Quite a thing to assume that you can hear him, let alone tell me what he’s saying—to you or to anyone else.

Alarm bells go off for some of us when we hear someone begin a sentence with, “You know, God told me the other day that...”

Oh, he did, did he? Pray tell, what did he say? Oh… he said that “you’re right and everyone else is wrong.” Interesting. Shocker. Tell me more. No wait… don’t ever talk to me again.

For some of us, it seems like hermeneutics is mostly people making the Bible mean whatever they want it to mean. It seems mostly relative.

Or maybe for others of us it’s not relative, but irrelevant. It was written so long ago in a very different world to a very different people. Why should any of it matter today? We don’t go back to other ancient writings to tell us how to parent or to medicate or to invest. Why do that with the Bible?

Or why even make the effort in the first place? The whole endeavor seems like too much work. That’s what we have pastors for.

Well… let’s go with that for a second. You’ve got pastors that can interpret this thing for you, right? You’ve got me; just come on a Sunday that I’m preaching.

But maybe I’m not your favorite. Maybe it’s Chip. Or John. So you come when they’re preaching.

Or maybe it’s none of us. Maybe it’s Andy. Or Craig. Or Joyce. Or Joel. Or Mark. Or Beth. Or Piper. Or MacArthur. Or Jeremiah.

(Those are all famous preachers, by the way. And I offended just about everyone in the room by putting them all in the same group.)

Exegesis: Acts 17

Turn with me to Acts 17 for a second.

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Acts 17

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(Explain where to find Acts.)

Acts tells the story of how the church started. It opens with Jesus and a handful of followers; and it closes with churches sprouting up over much of the known world in a matter of only a few decades.

And most of those churches started because of a guy named Paul, a church planter who traveled from region to region, city to city.

Acts 17 opens with Paul and his team coming to the large city of Thessalonica, doing their thing, and then seeing some great results. Take a look at verse 1:

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Acts 17:1–4 “When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.”

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Okay. So a couple of things for us to note here—especially as we’re thinking about hermeneutics. First is this:

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God speaks, persuades, proves, and reveals himself to people through Scripture.

Without Scripture, there is no church, pastors, or preachers.

God speaks through Scripture first. Then, as people listen, they become the church.

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This is super important to note. Yes, God uses pastors and preachers now, just like he did back then through Paul, as his mouthpieces so to speak.

But it’s his Word—which is Scripture—that has power.

The church didn’t create Scripture. Scripture created the church. And not just the words on the page; the Author, the Speaker, and the Inspiration: God himself.

That’s one of the main reasons that we all should consider investing more in interpreting Scripture rather than just letting someone else do it for us. Because in doing so, we’re putting ourselves in proximity of the Word and power of God.

Alright. Keep reading with me in Acts—because we’re gonna see another reason why hermeneutics might matter a little bit more to us than we think. Verse 5:

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Acts 17:5–9 “But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting:

“These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.”

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Okay. Here’s yet another reason we all should consider sharpening our hermeneutical skills:

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Some “expert” interpreters don’t interpret Scripture in good faith.

Many use Scripture to manipulate crowds to their own selfish ends.

Scripture isn’t relative—but culture and public opinion are.

So beware: sometimes those with the largest following are the least trustworthy.

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It’s probably here that I should say something like, “But don’t worry—you can trust me. And you can subscribe to my new podcast for only $9.99/mo.”

We love our tribes. A lot of us are on a mission to find our pack and run with it. There’s safety in that. There’s security in that. There’s even a sense of power in that.

But there’s a reason they call it a “herd mentality”—and not in a positive way. Herds have a tendency to just follow the butt of the animal in front of them, paying little to no attention to the cliff that everyone is about to fall off of.

Which leads us to one of the coolest passages of Scripture and the next part of the story in Acts, verse 10:

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Acts 17:10–15 “As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.”

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So, finally: we’ve got a group of people who don’t just take the preacher at his word, and who don’t get swayed by the crowds, but do what?

Examined Scripture for themselves.

Luke, the author of the book of Acts and traveling companion of Paul, describes the Bereans as being of “more noble character.” Interesting, isn’t it, that a mark of that noble character was being that kind of people who “examined for themselves.”

Good people are people who examine for themselves.

Now: this is a little bit different than the whole “I did my own research” thing that we got going on today.

You’ve met someone like that—right? Someone who says that “they did their own research?” And basically, what they meant is that they Googled it, went down some weird internet rabbit holes, and now think they’re experts? And also kinda conspiracy theorists...

Ok. Not that. That’s not what “examine it for yourself” means.

Really: what the Bereans did that was so praiseworthy had way more to do with what they didn’t do than what they did do.

Here’s what they didn’t do:

They didn’t just accept what Paul said as though they were being spoon-fed, and that whatever Paul said was true without even thinking about it, because... they were Team Paul. No celebrity pastors for the Bereans. Nope.

And that’s a good lesson for some of us, even today. Because we’ve all got our favorites. Our favorite voices. Our favorite outlets. Our trusted sources. And we kinda like to sink in to the comfort of just not having to think about what they’re saying. But that’s not what the Bereans did.

Nor did they get swayed by what the crowds were pressuring them to think. Probably because they knew that Paul was staying true to Scripture, they didn’t bow to what the crowds or those manipulating the crowds were pushing on to them.

Get this:

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Other voices can certainly help you in the process of interpreting Scripture, but God wants you to hear his voice through Scripture.

Your job is to make sure you’re hearing his voice in Scripture—not simply accept what someone else says about him.

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The Hermeneutical Journey

Now: that may seem a little high stakes.

Or beyond your ability, like we talked about earlier.

But listen: you can absolutely do this. It takes a little study, a little work, a little practice… but we’ve got so many things that can help you along the way.

And again:

It’s really about just making the decision to do it. For yourself.

And once you make that decision, just going on the hermeneutical journey.

In fact, on p. 67 of the Skeptics Guide book, we’ve created this picture for you to help:

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Show Heremeneutical Journey picture - p. 67

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Here’s what I’d love to do with our remaining time together—same thing that the Guide suggests we do later this week. So… let’s do some “homework in class,” so to speak.

Let’s take this hermeneutical journey together with a particular Scripture verse, Philippians 4:13.

So, let’s “start here,” Philippians 4:13:

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Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (NIV)

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You might have heard or seen that verse before—but maybe not the NIV version. Maybe KJV:

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Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (NIV)

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (KJV)

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Or the New King James Version, which takes some of the old English out of it:

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Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (NIV)

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (KJV)

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV)

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Alright. There it is. Pretty inspiring verse, right?

This is probably why this guy put it on his boxing shorts:

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Show Evander Holyfield picture

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Or this guy on his basketball sneakers:

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Show Stephen Curry Shoes picture

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Jesus helped Evander knock out some fools and Stephen knock down some threes… right?

Now: come on. Let it go. You’re really going to take issue with athletes putting verses on their gear? That’s what you want to pick a bone with? How about just being happy that these guys are willing to model something that we can get behind and feel good about pointing our kids to?

Fair enough. And agreed: I think it’s super cool that athletes do that.

But in the same breath, I don’t think that’s what God is saying in that verse.

I don’t think he’s helping Stephen be a better basketball player or Evander be a better boxer.

But what I want to invite you to do is determine that for yourself. Do the hermeneutics work for yourself. And then after you do that, ask yourself:

What do you think about how they’re using that verse? What do you think it’s trying to say—and is how they are explaining it what God is saying through it? And does it matter?