Sunday, October 3, 2010: Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26 ; Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 37:1-9; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10

This week's readings include sentiments that appall me: dashing children's heads against rocks; applauding the idea of Jerusalem as a woman abandoned and abused because she had it coming; accepting the idea of slavery and the "proper place" of inferiors. I cannot go where these texts would lead me. I will not follow them.

My reaction may seem unorthodox, even unchristian. How dare I blatantly and unapologetically reject God's word yet still identify myself as Christian? My defense leans on the texts themselves, on my faith in a living and loving God, and my belief that God has entrusted to us boundless powers of intellect, spirit and heart.

There is biblical precedent for challenging the word of God. To challenge God is not so much a rejection as a passionate embrace or a fierce clasp of tradition and authority. To challenge the texts is to engage with them. Our reaction of refusal and even disgust is evidence of God's power to continue a conversation that the texts have started.