"Brad would research anything. He loved the process of researching. He was always up by about 5:30 in the morning. That was his time to meditate, read and write. He would then play tennis, walk or work in the garden. Then his official day could begin." (Carol Hall)
A couple of years ago, I had an opportunity to purchase a new VCR tape recorder for my TV. It was a snap to unpack and hook up, only two simple wires and I was ready to tape. When I turned the VCR on, I was suddenly confronted with a maze of blinding lights, a complicated remote control and that ever-flashing "12:00."
Now, as an engineer, I pride myself on operating things electronic, so I dove right into the setup. Well, it didn't take long before I was overwhelmed and confounded. In disgust and resignation, I looked back at the box in which the VCR was packed. On the front was printed in bold letters:
Please read the owner's manual before operating this machine.
Now humbled, I did just that and after a solid hour's read through the owner's manual, I had my machine up and running.
I share this story with you this morning because it helps me make an analogy. When faced with the many ups and downs of living in this complex and often confounding world of ours, how often do you wish you had an "owner's manual" about life?
Well, the good news is that God did not send us into this world to hunt and peck our way through life. He did send along an "owner's manual," a book to help us get hooked up to life and then operate in the right way--The Bible. As the apostle Paul put it simply in his second letter to Timothy:
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable...so that the people of God may be complete and equipped for every good work."
Let's talk about this Bible which completes (hooks us up) and then equips us for living in God's creation.
What is the Bible? Well, to start with, it is a collection of sixty-six books divided into two categories: An Old Testament, with thirty-nine books (Genesis, Isaiah, Psalms) and a New Testament with twenty-seven books (Gospel of Mark, Peter, Book of Revelation). I think it is helpful to be clear from the beginning what the Bible is not. It is not, for example, a scientific explanation of the world or its creation. It is not literature to be enjoyed like other great books.
It's been said that to read the Bible as literature is like reading Moby Dick as a whaling manual. The Bible is not a philosophy to be studied and taught, like the works of Plato or Aristotle. It is not even a moral cookbook that contains every jot and tittle about what we should or should not do in life.
So then, what is the Bible? Well, it's a book about real life and real people who are believing and unbelieving, guilty and innocent, the great and not so great. It's a book about God, it's a book about you.
It offers us a special way of understanding the world, giving us a perspective that leads to wholeness in life. The Bible is the word of God which, through history, through people and through its teaching, unfolds the plan of God for all peoples and for all times. It helps us to live as moral people in a moral universe by giving us fundamental laws and precepts to govern our lives.
It has been likened to the Rosetta Stone of ancient Egypt. You might remember the Rosetta Stone was an archeological discovery that contained the secret to unlocking hieroglyphic writings of ancient Egypt. In a like manner, the Holy Scriptures help us translate, understand and make sense of life in God's complex creation.
The next question we should pose is: How is the Bible the word of God? What process makes it authoritative, God's word? In his wonderful book, An Introduction to the Bible, John Stott describes a helpful threefold process of scriptural authority: Revelation, Inspiration and Illumination.
Revelation: God reveals the truth about himself (Jesus Christ) and the world. He takes the initiative to make his will known to all.
Inspiration: Humans have recorded this revealed truth as holy writings, the books of the Bible. With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God speaks through the heart and pen of the person recording his word.
Illumination: The Holy Spirit guides you in your reading of Scripture, giving you the ability to appropriate this truth for your own personal life. As the great Protestant Reformation affirmed, it is our religious birthright to hear God's word spoken directly to us through Scripture.
I think the next question is obvious: How can I be illuminated? How do I go about appropriating God's word, His revealed truth for my life? Well, the immediate answer is simple: READ IT!
But it's not always as easy as that, is it? We cannot just sit down with the "good book" and attempt to plow through it from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 21:21 and master its truth.
So what can we do? Let's begin with a couple of thoughts about your own personal preparation. We must approach the Bible with an open and sincere heart, ready and willing to accept whatever truth it reveals to us. When I hooked up my VCR, TV and tape recorder, I was confused enough to be ready to learn how to operate it from the Owner's Manual. So too must we be ready to "read, learn and inwardly digest" scriptural truth.
Secondly, I think it is important to pray before we read. Prayer is the cable which hooks you and God together so that truth can be transmitted. And thirdly, it helps to approach scripture with a humble heart, laying yourself open before God's word. The great English revival preacher George Whitfield put it beautifully:
"I began to read the Holy Scriptures upon my knees, laying aside all other books, and praying over every line and word. This proved meat indeed and drink indeed to my soul. I daily received fresh light and power from above."
Along with these personal attitudes (humility, prayer and readiness) we must learn to read our Bibles with some form of self-disciplined regularity. It doesn't help to open our holy writings when we are suddenly in trouble or pain or distress, for we will have no roadway to follow, no familiarity with the text.
What I have found most helpful are two approaches to a self-disciplined, regular reading of Holy Scripture:
l) Personal. I have learned that I must set aside a special time each day to read and meditate. I cannot just pick up my Bible when it's convenient because--it's never convenient. So I read early in the morning before the phone rings and the day starts.
2) Group. I have found it helpful to read and study Scripture with the support of other people. There is nothing like a dedicated group of friends meeting together to read and digest Scripture.
This parish is ready to help you develop a small group Bible study. Our staff has been meeting together for the past two weeks in order to provide you with support, structure and resources to assist in forming small groups of regular Bible study. We will ask you to meet with us following each service to begin this process.
Now, I want to close with a short vignette that I watched last week on my new VCR from America's Funniest Home Videos.
The scene showed a dog, lying outside its doghouse, chewing on one of those huge rawhide dog bones. After a moment, the dog got up with the bone firmly gripped in its mouth, turned and headed into its doghouse. Well, the bone was bigger than the opening and wham, the dog was stopped as the edges of the bone hit the sides of the doorway.
What was really humorous about this clip is that the dog tried three more times to make it into his doghouse and three times that bone jammed into the doorway, blocking him. The dog never did figure out his dilemma; it needed some help from the owner. And, isn't that the truth about life itself? How often do we get stuck in life and discover how terribly hard it is to figure out our dilemmas without some help from our owner. God in his wisdom has provided us with all the help we need to live joy-filled and satisfying lives. It's all in the owner's manual:
READ YOUR BIBLE!
Amen.
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