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Bible Reading 101
Faith Work: Spiritual Assignments for the Students of Jesus
Bible Reading 101
September 20, 2009
We’re in our second week of our Faith Work series: Spiritual Assignments for Students of Jesus, our great teacher. Over the next several weeks, we will explore the practices of faith that can bring us into a deeper relationship with Jesus and grow our faith.
Our first assignment is Bible Reading 101. We begin with the Bible because it is the most direct way we can come to know God, through the living Word, passed down for thousands of years, inspired by God, and inspired by the Holy Spirit as we read it even today.
Think back to your first encounter with the Bible that held meaning for you. It could be watching your grandmother read it or noticing that its worn cover was always lying on the kitchen table. Perhaps it was when you received a Bible as a child for the first time, like the ones we gave out today to our third graders. Perhaps it was as an adult. Maybe you’re still waiting to really discover it. What about that experience is meaningful for you?
I brought two Bibles with me today, ones that hold great meaning for me. The first one I received as a child and the most recent one I’ve received as a gift. Both have blessed me, in part because of who gave them. The first Bible was given to me by my church when I was in the third grade. It’s worn now, from years of use as a child. Our third- and fourth-grade Sunday school teachers had us use this Bible so frequently that it inspired me to read it on my own. By the end of those two years, my mom had to hot-glue-gun the cover back onto the spine. The second Bible was given to me by my prayer partner, the Rev. Nancy Ludwig. This Bible is special because I know she prayed over it before she gave it to me and that she keeps me in prayer each day.
These Bibles are also meaningful because what the Holy Spirit working through these Bible have helped me to do: to be inspired, to be drawn in, to connect more deeply to God. Ultimately, however, it’s not the physical books themselves that have changed me. The stories and the words and verses inside these two books have formed and molded me. The medium doesn’t make much difference. It doesn’t matter if I read the red letter King James version or if I look up a passage on my mobile phone. When we take the time to read the Bible, we take time to connect with God.
As Christians, and particularly as United Methodists, we value the Bible as sacred. It forms us as individuals and as the body of Christ. It teaches us who God is and how God has been faithful to God’s people for thousands of years. Through the Bible we receive the powerful words God’s prophets have spoken to the people and to the powers that be. We get a glimpse of the power of Jesus, from his most miraculous conception to his humble birth to his undeniable healings to his death-denying resurrection. We gain insight into the formation of the early church and guidance for us as we try to live as Christ’s body on this earth, until this world is perfected in God’s love.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, was a prolific reader and writer. He lived almost the entire 1700s, and his writings included sermons, history, theology, organizational manuals for the Methodist societies of his day, and greatly detailed daily journals and diaries. He also wrote books and pamphlets on health, science and disease. His writings would fill several book shelves. He in turn was a voracious reader. But at the heart of who he was, John Wesley always called himself a “man of the book.” It was like he was addicted to the Bible. He would read every day upon waking and before sleeping and often in between, at a minimum of three hours every day. The people called Methodists had as their mission to spread “Scriptural Holiness across the land.” But John Wesley did not only think that the church leaders and preachers should be the only ones who were in love with the Bible. The Methodist people must also become people of the Book, or a reading people as he called them. He said, “It cannot be that the people [will] grow in grace, unless [they are constantly] reading. A reading people will always be a knowing [spiritually wise] people.”
So today, we are exploring what it means for us to be a reading people. Why do we need to read the Bible? Our lesson from the Psalms ends today with this lovely image: “You word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path.” The writer of this psalm, which is a hymn or song of praise, is proclaiming that God’s word is direction and a guide for us. This summer, when we had several strong thunderstorms in a row, we lost power three Sunday nights in a row, after the boys were already asleep. They have a nightlight in their room that normally guides them down the stairs if they need us during the night. During the blackout, Jackson, our oldest, woke up in a panic, calling out for us. I ran up the stairs with a flashlight. He was frightened because he woke up and couldn’t see anything in his room. He was in the dark. He needed the glow of the flashlight to help him find his way to safety and security.
When we are reading the Bible, we are shining a light into our lives. God speaks in subtle ways and in powerful ways though the stories of flawed yet faithful people like Moses and David. When we are joyful, we can turn to the Psalms for songs of joy. When we are sad or devastated or confused and feel like God is absent, we can turn to them for the songs of lament, the cries of anguish and grief and even anger toward God. When we need guidance on how to live as followers of Jesus in the world, in our families, our jobs, or our communities, the letters of Paul, James, and Peter help us.
But the most important reason for us to read the Bible is to be shaped and formed by God. Scripture reading is a form of prayer. If prayer is a conversation with God, then reading the Bible is a form of conversation. God speaks to us through the text, and we respond. We can ask God questions and seek answers through the chapters and verses. The Bible is God’s best conversation starter with us. It’s always available, always present, always ready to receive our queries and offer insights.
With computers, technology professionals always say, “Junk in, junk out.” If you put faulty information into a computer program, you’re going to get faulty information out. Our minds are the same way. If we fill our minds with thoughts or reading material that doesn’t lift up love, that celebrates greed, that objectifies people and glamorizes infidelity and violence, our own lives will begin to reflect anger, selfishness, gluttony and lust. But when we are grounded and rooted in God’s word, when we fill our minds and our spirits with what is from and of God, our lives will begin to reflect hospitality, justice, peace, love and compassion.
Each week, we will have the chance to experience and take home a Faith Work assignment – an activity that can help us explore the faith practice more deeply. This week, we will use the practice called Lectio Divina. It’s a prayerful way to read scripture, let it sink deeply within us and be formed by it. It requires a time of silence, which isn’t always easy or comfortable in our culture. So I invite you to make yourself comfortable as we begin this practice of reading and hearing Scripture.