Jesus Loves Me - the Bible Tells Me So

 I believe that there are not many Christians, or even non-Christians, who do not know at least the first verse of this song. I was glad to hear him make the connection with Karl Barth, a 20^th century theologian. The story is that Professor Barth once made this statement in response to a query asking if he could sum up his life’s work in theology in one sentence. “Yes, I can” he is purported to have replied. "In the words of a song I learned at my mother’s knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’”

That story has long troubled me. Exactly how did Barth know that the Bible told him? Was it the words on the pages? Was it the stories Jesus told? Did something just light up as he read and give him the sign? It’s important to note here that theologians and bible scholars for two thousand years or so have wrestled with this question. There are libraries filled with the written works of these devoted servants as they have tried to describe God and how God’s love for humanity is mediated through Jesus the Christ. I am in no way trivializing that work. 1,500 to 2,000 years of life, languages, and human understanding have transpired since the words of Scripture were first recorded, even first reported!

Language is always changing, until it dies. The Bible has gone through many languages, some with meanings lost to time. Some of those translations claim to be literal, although we truly do not know the subtleties of the ancient languages they translate. Some folks read the Bible literally, usually as a book of rules, a set of “do’s” and “don’ts” for life. We must get those rules right, or God won’t love us and we will be lost to eternity. Others read the Bible, and hear “morality tales”, cautionary stories of the consequences of “bad” or “sinful” behavior. Still others read the Bible metaphorically, looking for the words of wisdom and the ways in which God might connect with humanity and encourage us.

One of my personal favorite theologians is Rudolf Bultmann. He wrote about the Bible as a thin veil between us and the Divine. He believed that when we spend time reading, praying, and studying Scripture, there are moments when the Spirit of God blows gently through the words and moves the veil. In those moments, we gain insights to the glory of the Divine and the depth of love that God has for us. Another of my favorite theologians, John Wesley, saw the Scriptures as an illumination of God’s Grace, there for us before we even know we are in need of it. The opening translated words of John 3.16 tell us, “For God so loves the world that God gave Jesus…” God loves us first. That, friends, is Grace. We act toward ourselves and others with that same Grace, in gratitude for the Grace, the Love, that God has already given and continues to give to us. For me, when Jesus tells the Pharisee that the Greatest Commandment is to love God with every fiber of our being, and the second, just as important, is to love others as we love ourselves, we need to pay attention. He further states that “on these two hang all the Law and all the Prophets”. (Matthew 22.34-40) How do we practice that love? By acknowledging and practicing the Love we have received, throughout all of creation.

I remind myself of this every day. We live in cranky, angry times. It’s not easy to love the unlovely. By God’s Grace, it is possible. I don’t believe the Bible is first about morality, mine or anyone else’s. It is about the Love that comes through the practice of Grace. When others see that Grace in us, we don’t need to judge them. We don’t need to chastise or shun them. We need to show them the Love and Grace of God, through who and how we are. It isn’t so much about changing minds, as it is about the deep change of heart that God’s Grace works in us. Don’t tell others. Show them. As the song from the “Jungle Book” film says, “Ooo, I wanna be like you.” May it be so, and may we sing this to God. Then, and only then, will others begin to understand Grace, not judgement.