An earlier portion
of Psalm 119 reads, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and
a light unto my path." The record of God’s revelation
in the Bible is a compass to guide our paths, the North Star keeping
us oriented in this disorienting world.
Someone said,
"The Bible is a record of all-too-human people seeking,
finding, losing, and being found by God." We study the
Bible for inspiration, instruction, and direction. We do it not
only for our sake. We are witness to people outside the community
of faith looking for a meaningful life. They are worn out trying
the world's remedies for what ails them, with nothing to show for
it. We are supposed to chase the "good life," when it's
the "life that is good," we are really after.
I want to offer
you some assumptions about scripture, and suggest how it becomes
part of us as revealed in verse 129 of our lesson: "Thy
word is revealed, and all is light; it gives understanding even
to the untaught." (Psalm 199: 130)
The first assumption
is this-- the Bible isn't a magical book that gives dividends without
investments. You've seen the orange juice commercial where the lady
sticks her hand into the grocery cooler and it comes out in an orange
grove. Seeing it, the grower puts a carton of fresh, Florida gold
in her hand, and she walks off happy. The Bible contains sixty-six
books, made of five distinct types of literature that were written
over a thousand-year period. The, "open-the-book-and-poke-a-verse"
method won't get you a carton of orange juice. It is like the priest
on one of the early transatlantic flights. He was terrified when
the captain told the passengers both engines had failed and the
plane was going down at sea. Desperate for a word of comfort, he
opened the New Testament and looked on the first verse he saw. It
was John 6: 12-- "Gather up the fragments that nothing may
be lost." The Bible is a trustworthy guide. It lights the
way, but requires understanding, not divine luck.
Second, the
Bible is God-inspired, but not every verse carries equal weight.
"Blessed are those who crush children's heads against the
rocks," is hardly equal to Jesus' words, "Bring
the little children unto me." The Bible isn't inspired
because there are no translation errors, nor is it inspired such
that we should interpret every passage literally. Spiritually, yes,
but not always literally.
Third, understanding
the Bible requires interpretation. Its meanings aren't always clear.
We must ask questions of every text. Who wrote it? To whom was it
written? Why was it written? What does it mean? What significance
did it have for believers then, and what about now? Bible study
isn't uninformed people sitting in a circle saying, "This
is what it means to me." If we could interpret the Bible
ourselves, the Jews wouldn't have needed Moses. Jesus or Paul wouldn't
have been necessary. There would be no need for teachers, Bible
scholars, commentaries, or teaching aids of any kind.
Have you ever
tried to drink from an open fire hydrant? I wouldn't recommend it.
(Personal experience.) Understanding the Bible, all on your own
is like trying to quench your thirst from a fire hydrant.
Enough assumptions
for now. Let me show my age by taking you back thirty years to the
TV series, The Walton's. For those too young to know the difference
between the Walton's and Wal-Mart, it was about a big, close-knit
family living in the mountains of North Carolina during the Depression.
John Boy, the eldest of the Walton siblings is among a crowd of
kids gathered outside a church on Christmas Eve. Two wealthy spinster
sisters purchased presents for kids in the community. In order to
get a gift, each child had to stand before the sisters and recite
a Bible verse. At first, it was easy-- "Jesus wept."
"For God so loved the world..." "The Lord is my shepherd..."
Soon, the well began to dry up. Fortunately, John Boy knew verses
by the dozens. He stood at the back, whispering verses into the
kid's ear that didn't know the Bible. His Bible knowledge got everyone
a gift.
From the start,
the church was organized around those who know must share with those
who don't. We need the insights of teachers, preachers, mentors,
and most of all, people whose lives have been formed by the Bible.
"The word is revealed, and all is light; it gives understanding
even to the untaught."
Our Brethren
heritage gives us guidance at this point. Three streams of Christian
thought influenced the early Brethren. The REFORMED tradition gave
us, sola scriptura, or "the authority of scripture
alone." From the ANABAPTISTS came the emphasis on, "obedience
to the Word." The PIETISTS taught us that the Bible is
best understood when we work at understanding it together.
We believe that
faith is intensely personal, but no one comes to Jesus or the knowledge
of his will apart from other Christians. You can't discover all
the Bible's meaning on your own. None of us found our way to faith
alone. We need people like John Boy, Ed Smith, Evelyn Miller, and
other teachers and lovers of the Bible to help us find the way.
Years ago I
was stopped at the traffic light by the Calvary Temple in South
Bend. A guy was on a ladder changing the message on the church sign.
I noticed he had misspelled a word. Wanting to be helpful, I opened
the window and pointed to the mistake. He gave me an angry glare.
Thinking he hadn't heard me, I hollered, "You misspelled (whatever
the word was, I don’t remember), wrong!" He didn’t
appreciate my help, and told me so with a word we don't use on Sunday
morning.
It was ironic that this church believed the Bible was infallible,
and without error in its original manuscripts. The Bible was written
by people who recorded the words and stories and experiences of
the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, as well as their own
experiences of God in history. People who knew nothing about syntax
and punctuation recorded it. Sometimes their chronology was mixed
up and they miscopied words here and there. Like the guy on the
ladder, they sometimes misspelled words.
Instead of saying
the Bible is infallible and inerrant, the Brethren say the Bible
is our "infallible rule of faith and practice." We
believe it is totally trustworthy in everything having to do with
doctrine and life. The early Brethren said, "The Bible is the
Spirit's message in black and white." The Holy Spirit guided
the process that brought the Bible into being. God's Spirit was
working in the hearts and minds of those who recorded it, and the
Holy Spirit is the means by which we grow in the knowledge and practice.
The Bible directs
our hearts and minds to the heart and mind of God. But first, it
must be opened. Wallowing in, "I know I should read it more,"
or "I know I should join a Bible study," won't
do a thing for you. Open it and read it, remembering the Bible isn't
just a tour through the antiquities of an ancient, cobweb-covered
religion. It's about our relentless God who made us, loves us, lost
us, and through Jesus, keeps reaching for us until we're home again.
Crack the cover
and read about people who were brave some of the time--and cowardly
most of the time— people who wanted God but were afraid of
God--who wanted to be good and do right, but weren't and didnt--people
who were saints and sinners; who believed but needed a ton of help
with disbelief. After you read, close it. Peter Gomes says devotion
begins when we close the Bible. When we close the Bible, it takes
root in our hearts and minds.
Reggie White
was the greatest defensive lineman in the history of professional
football. He was an enormous man who put fear into opposing quarterbacks,
but had a gentle heart that made everyone a friend. Reggie White
was also a minister. He was ordained him at age seventeen, and throughout
his college and professional career he made it known that football
wasn't the most important thing in his life...God was. His vocation
was being a Christian. After every game he gathered players from
both teams. They knelt on the turf and held hands as the "Minister
of Defense"prayed.
Last month, three years after retirement Reggie White died unexpectedly.
He was only forty-three. Grief spread beyond the world of football
to all who knew what a great man he was. Shortly after he retired,
Reggie changed. He was depressed. He resigned from the church he
led. He stopped going to church. He was disillusioned with the
church. He said most churches are more concerned with maintaining
tradition than serving God. Church leaders who had praised him,
publicly criticized him.
He began a scholarly study of the Bible, and realized that its
creation was far more complex and subject to human influence than
he had realized.
Reggie White became obsessed with learning more about the One
behind the pages of the Bible. On a trip to Israel he met a Hebrew
scholar and struck up a friendship. Reggie asked him to teach him
Hebrew. Two hours a night, five nights a week, he was on the phone
to Israel being tutored. He spent another six or more hours each
night studying what he learned.
Reggie White
died learning the scriptures that fed Jesus. He died learning the
scriptures Jesus loved. Fortunately, you don't have to learn Greek
and Hebrew to study the Bible. All you have to is set aside a regular
time and open it. Listen to the story of your life told through
the stories of its characters. Set you heart to searching for the
God who lovingly made you and his son who saved you.
The Bible is
not the end of your searching. It's the beginning. When we close
it, it gives light to show the way and guidance necessary to live
lives that are good.
