All of us have experienced the potluck. Of course that’s not the only name these meals go by. Some people call it a covered dish, Jacob’s join, faith supper, Sunday surprise, bring and share, pitch-in or carry-in dinner. Or is that a carrion dinner? After all carrions are large, carnivorous, scavenger birds and . . . isn’t it funny how sometimes we hear things but don’t really hear things? I once had a mentor pastor who had a plaque sitting on his desk which read, “I know you think you heard what I said, but what you think I said is not what I said.” It was great! There was a tremendous amount of wisdom in those words.
Our Bible is filled with the struggle to communicate. Today, we celebrate Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem when the long-awaited messiah would take his rightful place on the throne of David. The crowds and disciples had heard Jesus say this was the time, but what they heard and what he said were two very different things. This week we call Holy Week was filled with holy dissonance as the people struggled to reconcile what they thought they thought they heard with what they were seeing and hearing.
The dissonance continues today. Every time we open our Bibles, we feel the struggle to understand. In this fog we experience something mysteriously wonderful. We experience the great lengths God will go to communicate his love for humanity. After all, it’s the whole story of the Bible: the great efforts to which God will go to communicate his message for humanity’s redemption.
Stephen