March 15, 2013

Jeremiah 23:1-8, Psalms 95&102, John: 52-59

Young children do not understand figurative language; they comprehend literally. The ability to separate the two comes at different ages. I recall an incident when my children were preschoolers that reinforces how literally children think. It was at the end of a particularly challenging day: I had worked, picked up the kids at preschool, was trying to cook dinner, feed the dog, and attend to the clamor of two children. Out of sheer exasperation, I loudly proclaimed as my husband walked in, “I feel like a *&%$# magician!” My son with a look of sheer delight questioned, “Oh, Mommy, a *&%$# magician, will you show me some tricks?”  OOPS…

Figurative language is a powerful teaching tool, and the Bible uses it copiously. Today’s scriptural passages abound with similes and metaphors, some more easy to accept than others.

Jeremiah invokes the frequently used sheep-shepherd metaphor. God’s people have scattered due to the less than watchful eye of the shepherd. God takes over the shepherd role and promises to his sheep to bring them back to their fold where they will be fruitful and multiply. I have both participated in and observed this metaphorical scattering. When I was a child, everyone, literally, that I knew went to church. Amongst my classmates and friends, most denominations were represented. Now few of my friends, including some from my childhood, attend church. I, too, experienced a few years as a lost sheep. Thankfully the good shepherd rescued me and reinstated me to the fold. There is comfort in believing that the shepherd does not take time off and will welcome those strays when they are ready. Psalm 95 reinforces the metaphor, We are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 102 teaches with similes. The psalmist is miserable and he appeals to God to listen to his lament reinforcing his misery through several comparisons, my days drift away like smoke…my bones are hot as burning coals…my heart is smitten like grass…I have become like a vulture…like an owl…like a sparrow, lonely. After he finishes his lament, the psalmist concludes with one more simile that teaches in spite of misery though the heavens will wear out like a garment, God is always the same and his years will never end.

The most challenging metaphors appear in John’s gospel reading for today where the Jews are arguing about Jesus’ claim that his flesh is bread and his blood is wine, and that if we both eat and drink of his flesh and blood, we will have eternal life. Imagine trying to explain this figurative language to a child. Eating and drinking are vital to survival, and bread and wine offer basic sustenance. However, the ability to accept the transformation of bread and wine into flesh and blood is a huge step between childish literal understanding and strong adult faith. This leap requires great spiritual strength, which sometimes escapes the wandering sheep. Fortunately, God is both a magician and a shepherd who can magically rescue us when we go astray. He is also our father who explains to his children that which we don’t understand.

- Jan Moran