Last week we focused on the purpose of the Scriptures: what are they for and why should we bother getting ourselves acquainted with them? We learned the Bible is God’s self-revelation that pulls back the curtain for us to know who God is, who we are, the purpose of our lives, and the destiny of the world. We also learned of seven distinct blessings which come from engaging with them.
I heard a story not too long ago about a man in prison and his Bible. It seems there was a young man in prison who was serving 5 years for multiple offenses. It was a tough road for the young man’s mother. She went to the prison as often as she could. She lived in the city and the young man was incarcerated downstate. It took her a bus, a train and a taxi to get there. If she couldn’t go, she would mail a letter. On one particular visit, her son asked her to loan him few hundred dollars to buy supplies and books. She said she would think about it. The next week a Bible came in the mail from home. On the top of the Bible, there was a sticky note that said, “Son, I love you. Pray and read your Bible.” The man was ticked off. He got on the phone and called his mother. “Mama, I appreciate the Bible, But what I need right now is a five hundred dollars.” She told him over the phone, “Son, Pray and read your Bible.” He got even angrier and hung up on His own mother.” He then wrote his mother a note. “Mother, I know you believe in God, but that’s the problem with you Christians. You are so heavenly minded that you don’t know how to function in the real world. When I need five hundred dollars, I don’t need a Bible. I need a check, cash or a check! If I need money, don’t send me a Bible and tell me to pray!” He received a letter back, “son read your Bible and pray. He was so irritated with his mother that for the last months he was in jail, the bible stayed in the corner of his room and he refused to see or talk to his mother. On the day he was released, she was there waiting for him. As they met for the first time, the young man said to his mother, “Mama, you let me down. I need you and you let me down.” She said what do you mean, son? I wrote you. I called you. I asked you face to face for five hundred dollars and every time you gave me this same old line. Pray and read your bible.” “Well son, did you pray and read your bible,” she asked. “Yeah. I did but I am still as broke now as I was when you told me to pray and read the bible the first time.” She asked, “Do you still have your Bible?” He reached into his satchel and handed her the book. “Son, let me ask you one more time, did you pray and read your Bible?” “Yes Mama. I told you I did.” Son, you neither prayed or read your Bible.” With that she snatched the bible and in every major section, there was a one hundred dollar bill taped to the page. If the boy would have just read the bible, he would have figured out the thing he desired most was in the book. Because he didn’t take the Word of God seriously, he never received what the word of God had to offer him. – Tony Evan’s book of illustrations. P21 (adapted)
This week we gather to discuss why the Bible is so important to some, like that man’s mother. What makes a mother wait years for her son to open the word of God? What is the Bible and how can I make sure I am interpreting it correctly?
To get started, let’s read how the Bible describes the Word of God through the following intriguing similes:
1. The bible is Like a Double Edged Sword:
o Hebrews 4:12: -”For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
2. Like Fire:
o Jer 23:29: – “”Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”
3. Like Hammer:
o Jer 23:29: – “”Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?”
4. Like Lamp and Light:
o Ps 119:105: – “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.”
5. Like Food:
o Mat 4:4: – “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
o 1 Pet 1:25-2:2:”But the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”
6. Like Seed:
o 1 Pet 1:23: – “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.“
7. Like Mirror:
o James 1:22-25: – “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”
8. Like Honey
Ezekiel 3:3 “…as sweet as honey”.
Similar in Ps. 19:10
What is the Bible? It is the living breathing document which helps us to know and understand God. It does this in 4 distinct ways.
a) The Bible reveals God’s character through the writings about God throughout History. However, it also offers what we call special revelation. It provides insight into the nature of God. It speaks of creation and what we can learn about God from all that is around us. Psalm 19 speaks of all creation reflecting the law of the Lord. God’s revelation is made in forms we understand: language, law, covenant, history, social structure, art, even human beings.
b) The bible is also a place we see through the Spirit of God to the nature of God.
Yes. The words were written to describe God. However, words are just an expression of language. And language is an expression of culture. And culture expresses a particular people at a particular time with particular understandings, meanings, metaphors, images, art, music, literature, history, politics, and social structure.
In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul claims all scriptures to be “God Breathed.” Now, God provides us language and as such I’m sure God speaks all languages. I also believe God has a language of his own. A way of communicating which is much more complete than our own. The great theologian John Calvin remarked that in each one of us is what is called sensus divinitas - a divine sense that goes beyond our physical senses and cultural understanding as an internal assurance that this is the truth. It is, of course, a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives when we realize that words printed on the page are the Word of God addressed to us, but this is one facet of what I think it means to say that we are created in the image of God: we can hear the echo of God’s voice in the words of Scripture.
The thought of God’s word’s echo provides such a great image for me. It reminds me of a couple of mirrors set opposite each other so you can see the front and back of yourself. I can see the reflection just echo or repeat for what looks like eternity. I believe reading scripture does that for us.
c) The bible also helps us to understand and know God by providing us a true witness of Jesus Christ. The words written to describe Jesus’ life provide for us deep parallels of what God has been moving towards since the time of our creation, how he wants us to emulate Him and ultimately how to participate in the coming of kingdom of God.
d) Finally, John Wesley indicated that there is an overarching question which hangs over the life of every individual: Since my life here is so short, what happens when it is over? How do I get to heaven? God has “condescended” to write it down in a book – the Bible. The purpose of all Scripture is to lead us to salvation in Jesus Christ, encourage us in the path of faith, and transform us as a means through which the Holy Spirit works within us.
In the year A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued a decree which he hoped would extinguish the spreading flames of Christianity. One of his primary objectives was the seizure and destruction of the Christian Scriptures. Later that year, officials enforced the decree in North Africa. One of the targets was Felix, Bishop of Tibjuca, a village near Carthage. The mayor of the town ordered Felix to hand over his Scriptures. Though some judges were willing to accept scraps of parchment, Felix refused to surrender the Word of God at the insistence of mere men. Resolutely, he resisted compromise. Roman authorities finally shipped Felix to Italy where he paid for his stubbornness with his life. On August 30, as the record puts it, "with pious obstinacy," he laid down his life rather than surrender his Gospels. -Christian Theology in Plain Language, p. 41
What makes a man lay down his life for a book the rest of the world thinks is subversive? When a man believes the bible is the word of God addressed to us, empowered by the Holy Spirit, so we can hear God and act upon His invitation for a life everlasting.
Now, when I say the Bible is the Word of God. I often get interesting looks. You see, for some people, using the words the “Word of God,” mean that I take the Bible literally. In that, there is a presumption that anything other than taking the Bible literally is “waffling” on the Word of God.
For many of these folks, they hold to an understanding that the Bible sort of fell our of heaven or dictacted from heaven as a collection of truths, rules, regulations, and propostions which generally dismisses the cultural context of scripture. “God said it. I believe it. That;s settles it.” This would be fine but it fails to take into account tough scriptures that don’t line up with other scriptures and in some cases challenge our convential Christian understanding of God and even what he is up to. I can remember in one of my seminary classes, the professor reminding us we all live out the gospel we know and the scriptures that support our life. However, there is so much more to the Gospel.
So to answer the question directly, “Do I take the Bible literally?” the answer is, “No.” In fact, I don’t know of anybody who takes the Bible literally – no matter what they claim for themselves.
For example, Jesus explicitly commands his disciples to wash other’s feet. Yet, I have never been in a church where that was practiced on a regular basis. In fact, when I have done foot washing in the past either here or at other churches, there is a predictable occurrence of anxiety around the cleanliness of one’s feet prior, a hole in their sock/stocking and thought of whether one’s toenails need clipping. We completely forget the action is more about surrender and being a servant than ones vanity. Additionally, we don’t stone fornicators or those caught in adultery or homosexuals, as ordered in Leviticus. We don’t require woman to put on head coverings or believe woman are not capable of teaching or preaching to the other side of gender issue.
The reality is no one person can ever fully understand God but it doesn’t mean that God has not and will not continue to reveal himself to us. If fact, we can and should pay attention to His revelation through His word. Most importantly, we must recognize that when approaching scripture, to get an accurate interpretation of scripture we must do the following:
• Approach the Bible prayerfully
• Approach the Bible presuming its trustworthiness
• Approaching the Bible with an eye for the whole story of God
• Approach the Bible with an eye for the details within the story of God
• Approach the Bible from my context within its context.
• Understand there are problems with Bible translations:
o language changes (KJV/NIV/TNIV)
o Literary Context: e.g. Gen 1-11
o Cultural Context: Ancient Israel’s cultic, theocratic, moral law’ more pertinent, perhaps, role of women/slaves
o Geography/Economical/Politics of the day/Social Structures
• Approach the Bible with your imagination set for “ON”. Some of the images, language, metaphors, descriptions (the Book of Revelation is an example that comes to mind) cannot be reduced to propositions or principles. They require the active engagement of our imagination to help connect and comprehend.
• Approach the Bible anticipating Blue Parakeets - This phrase, from Scot McKnight, reminds us to pay attention to those details, developments, and turns of events that we would not expect. Don’t gloss over them in an attempt to make everything fit neatly in our preconceptions. Pay attention – the “odd thing” might be a clue about something quite important.
So to answer the questions what is the Bible and how should I interpret it? I would say the Bible and the Scriptures contained within it are the inspired, authentic self-revelation of God and as such have primary and foundational authority in all matters of what we believe, what we value, and how we live. It’s to big to ignore so remembered what mama says, “read your Bible and pray.”
www:communitycenter.life/rev-robert-butler-info
