****The following is a draft of the message for Sunrise UMC on Jan 13, 2013****
Good morning! I am Tim Roberts, the pastor here at Sunrise
Church and I want to join in with the rest of the church and welcome and thank
you for being here this morning. Your presence makes an indelible impact as we
come to worship God together.
If today is your first time worshipping with us here at
Sunrise or if you missed last week, we are in the second week of a series of
looking at twelve different spiritual disciplines that many people have
developed over the last few thousand years to help them come to know and love
God more. We are calling these disciplines Holy Habits.
Now, if you want to participate in this study more than just once
a week, I invite you to pick up a copy of the Daily Study Journal or you can
subscribe to an online version at this web address.
Thinking about habits, does anyone know how long it takes to
either start or break a habit?
There has been some research in this field and many of the
studies tend to suggest that it takes somewhere at least three to four weeks.
I have found in my life that it seems to take longer to start
a good habit than a bad and less time to break a good habit than a bad one. I
wonder why that is, but I think it is probably because to do something good
requires a greater amount of will and determination than the bad, so it is just
naturally easier to live with bad habits. But then again, that's me. Hopefully,
you may find it easier the other way.
I am very happy that there are several of you who have joined
Leigh Anne Shore, our Spiritual Growth Team Leader, in committing to reading
the entire Bible in a year. That is definitely a commendable effort on your
part and I encourage all of us to pray for those who have taken on this
endeavor. Reading the Bible is a something that I hope all of us will look to
do more of this year and hopefully, make it a habit.
This morning though, the Holy Habit that I am presenting for
your consideration involves something more than just reading the Bible; it is studying
it. But, before we go any further, let me say this, if just reading a small
portion of it is more than you have been doing, please do that. I would much
rather you do a bit of engaging in the Bible on a daily basis than to start
something more stringent and then stop because it is too much.
Now, to understand this Holy Habit of Bible Study, I feel we
need to ask this question, "What exactly is the Bible and why is it
important to study it?"
I remember back in the early 90's, Karen and I were just
beginning to get into this whole church thing in earnest and I was reading the
Bible for the first time all the way through. It was about that time that Mike
Ditka was fired as coach of the Chicago Bears and I remember that news story.
Watch this:
When I saw that, I started thinking, "I don't remember
reading that anywhere." It sounded like it could be biblical, but as I
found out, it's not. It is actually from an old Jewish folklore and popularized
by Abraham Lincoln, but it is not in the Bible. This event helped me to see
that there are a lot of misconceptions about the Bible and I wanted to be
clearer on exactly what this Book is and what's it all about.
This morning though, I want to just whet your appetite just a
bit about it. So, let's begin.
What exactly is the Bible?
The word Bible comes from the Greek word biblia, which basically means books.
Another term we sometimes use for it is Scripture. But do you
know what, this "churchy" word in essence means
"writing."
So really, there is nothing holy about the name Bible itself, as we look at the
translation of those words, yet there is something very extraordinary about it.
Probably most of us either have a copy of a Bible or have a
Bible app on our smartphone or tablet. If we were to go and look at it, we
would probably discover that it is divided into two sections, the Old Testament
and the New Testament. Simply put, the difference between the two is that the
New Testament is about the life and following of Jesus and the Old is the
history prior to Jesus.
But as you look closer, you will probably discover that it is
further divided into sixty-six smaller units. These are actually books of the
Bible (notice the translation of what Bible means). So the Bible is not a
single book, but a collection of books.
You may note that I said probably sixty-six and I say that because I am
referring to the Protestant Bible. Our Roman Catholic kin have an additional
seven books that they consider authoritative and other branches of Christianity
vary in the number too.
Just as there are different number of books that comprise the
Bible, there are even more different ways to look at it. Take for instance the
number of translations.
I have here with me this morning several different
translations that I personally own.
The thing about the different translations is not that they
say different things though. Actually, it's the other way around. A translation
says the same thing, just in a different way.
Just a few moments ago, we saw in the video that a couple of
the respondents said that over the years that the Bible has been translated so
much that it no longer is correct. Friends, that's not an accurate statement. A
translation of the Bible is translated from either the original source or as
close to the original as possible. For an example, the King James Version is
not the source for our modern English translations. Scholars do not look to the
KJV and then take what it says and make it more palatable for our modern day
language. That would not be a translation - that would be a paraphrase - and
there is a difference. Instead, in any of these versions you see here, scholars
look to the available manuscripts that are the oldest and closest to the
original and then translated from those. Now the funny thing is, this means
that some of the newest translations are probably more accurate than some of
the old translations, like the King James Version.
Here's an interesting note about the accuracy: when the Dead
Sea Scrolls were discovered in late 1940's to early 50's, scholars were surprised
to find that our translation deviated very little from these scrolls that had
been hidden for over two thousand years. Some of the scrolls were over a
thousand years older than the oldest manuscripts that were known before. So,
the argument that the meaning has been lost over time is based best on personal
supposition and not on any credible evidence.
Another difficulty which some have with the Bible is how to
take it. For most people, we either understand it literally or as inspired.
Literal means just that - without question, doubt, or error.
For those who believe the Bible is literal, it is the infallible and inerrant
word of God. An easy way to understand this is to imagine God dictating the
Bible to the writers and them writing exactly what was said. This is a widely
accepted approach to understanding the Bible. A couple of verses that many
literalist cite for justification for their stance are these:
Proverbs 30:5-6
5 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a
shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his
words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
and a portion of the last lines in the Bible
Revelation 22:18-19
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this
book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will
add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from
him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which
are described in this book.
The next most common view is that the Bible is the inspired
word of God. This understanding takes in account that the Bible was written by
human hands, and though while God inspired it's composition, it does contain
some inconsistencies. This understanding does not negate the accuracy of the
Bible though; instead it leads to the understanding that the whole is greater
than the sum of the parts. The essence of the verse is without doubt.
A couple of passages that are used to support this stance
are:
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
and
2 Peter 1:20-21
20 Above all, you must
understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own
interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will
of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
One way to illustrate the difference between these two
opinions is to look at the parables that Jesus told. A strict literal
understanding is that these stories that Jesus told are accurate accounts of historical
events. The inspired point of view would say that the "truth" is in
the essence of the story, it's meaning, and not if the account actually
happened or not.
Most people come to identify with either of these camps or a
melding of the two in their understanding of the Bible.
So, you may have a bit more appreciation by now for what the
Bible is, but still may ask, "Why is studying it important?"
If you remember the video earlier about Mike Ditka misquoting
the Bible, you may need to know that misquotes are a commonplace. I am
astounded by the number of times that the Bible is either misquoted or twisted
by politicians and others who want to manipulate it to give credence to their
platform.
But misquotes are not always so nefarious. Actually, I find
many people unintentionally falling in this trap and I do to from time-to-time.
Let's try this to illustrate my point. I am going to call out
some pretty well-known quotes and you tell me if they are biblical or not.
Q1. "This too shall pass."
A1. No. (Just checking to see if you are still with me)
Q2. "Wives should submit to their husbands"
A2. Yes, Ephesians 5.24. But this is just a part of the
whole. The next verse goes on to say that husbands must love their wives as
Christ loves the Church and gave his life for it.
Q3. “Spare
the rod, spoil the child.”
A3. No. But it closely resembles Proverbs 13.24
"He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is
careful to discipline him." which has a totally different connotation.
Q4.
“God helps those who help themselves.”
A4. No. This is from Benjamin Franklin. Actually, as you
study and understand the Bible, you come to see that this is about as opposite
as it gets from who God helps.
As maybe you can see, there is often confusion as to what is
something God says to us and what isn't - and that can make a huge difference.
The Bible serves to shape our theology, that is our
understanding of the nature of God. For us United Methodists, we have this
system of testing various beliefs and discern if they meet our theology. This
methodology is often referred to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.
It is comprised of four filters that we use:
- tradition
- experience
- reason
- scripture - and this is primary. "Why?" you may
ask. It is primary because of all of these, it is the one that remains
constant. All the others are based either on our personal concepts or our collective
understanding. But scripture is from God.
Over the last little while, I have laid out for you briefly
what the Bible is, how it is interpreted and understood, and why studying it is
valuable. In all of that, I was speaking basically to the intellectual side of
you. Now I want to speak from my heart to yours.
Probably the verse that best sums up why studying the Bible
is important in my life is this:
Psalm 119.105
105 Your word is a lamp to my
feet and a light for my path.
This book is no ordinary book.
In its pages I have found reason for some of the most
troubling questions, hope in the midst of crisis, and direction in times of
great uncertainty.
I have found that these are not just merely printed words,
but that they are indeed the Living word of God.
Each time I read the Bible, it strikes me differently and
causes me to grow and look beyond myself.
It is the source of my transformation thus far and the
catalyst that continues to perfect me.
The Bible is not just a history book of some people that are
unidentifiable to my life today. It is a testament of a God who loves all
people and is continually acting in and responding to those universal problems
all people find themselves dealing with, which transcend time and space.
I find the Bible to be an instrument that helps me to know better
my God, who took time to form me from nothing, to breathe life into my lungs,
who has entrusted me with a family I do not deserve and church I am humbled to
serve.
It allows me to come to know and love better my Lord who
lived a life as a servant so that I can know how to love others better and died
an excruciatingly painful death, as an atonement for my sin.
It goes on to offer me the promise that not even death can
separate me from the love of God.
Finally, I study the Bible because I know of no other way to
come to know God better, know God's plan for me or know how to truly love
others.
That's why I make studying the Bible a Holy Habit.
No comments:
Post a Comment