II Timothy 1:1-7, 3:14 -4:5
“Take
out your Bibles.”
When my parents
were kids, one of the things they did in Sunday school and in church was Bible
Drills. I cannot tell you if “take out your Bibles” were the exact words used
to get them started, but if not, something similar was most likely said. In
these Bible drills, the kids, including my parents, would be quizzed on Bible
trivia.
For
example: how many books are there in the Old Testament? How many are there in
the New? They would also be given a book, a chapter and a verse, and have to
find it as quickly as possible. So I imagine they would hear the words, “take
out your Bibles.”
I
remember having some emphasis put on learning Bible verses when I was a kid,
but I don’t remember Bible drills like the ones my parents had. The focus in my
Sunday school classes and in Vacation
Bible School Wesley
United Methodist
Church
There
is debate over the value of teaching the Bible in these ways. I understand why
my professor wanted us to know the books of the Bible in order. It was more
than just giving us a head start on our grade; knowing the books in order
helped us find our way through it easier. If you thought Thessalonians was in
the Old Testament or that Nehemiah was in the New, you were going to have a
hard time keeping up. And I think there
is a spiritual discipline to learning scripture verses. I have had confirmation
classes do that. Each week, I would challenge my confirmation kids to memorize verses as a way to keep them reading the Bible. If you are memorizing verses,
you are opening up the Bible and reading it.
But
memorization does not necessarily lead to critical thinking; nor does
understanding the outline of scripture lead to digging into the depth and
breadth of meaning that is found in our sacred book. What does it mean to say
that our Bible is a sacred book in the first place? What did Paul mean when he
wrote to Timothy that “all scripture is inspired by God?” What do we imply when
we refer to the Bible as the Word of God?
There
are more answers to my questions than I have time for in this sermon or in a
thousand sermons, for that matter. However, questions about what it means for
scripture to be divinely inspired are as relevant today as they were when
Timothy was beginning his ministry.
For
the reformers, putting an emphasis on scripture alone – sola scriptura – was a
response to the church’s teaching of the tradition of the church over and above
the teachings of scripture. One of the great gifts that Martin Luther gave to
the common person of his day was the translation of the Holy Bible into the
German language. Suddenly it went from being in Latin – a language only the
most learned, upper class, and often priestly people could read, to something
that folks with a basic education could read. It put God in the hands of the
people. I call this a gift. Some might call it a curse. But for the reformers,
like Luther, like Calvin and Zwingli, etc., scripture was our primary source
for learning about God. The traditions of the church may help us in many ways –
but they did not outweigh scripture. They were not more authoritative than
scripture. Scripture was the inspired Word of God; therefore it was scripture
alone, not the traditions of the church that provided the foundations of belief.
But
what does Scripture tell us? Paul told Timothy that,
“scripture
is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped
for every good work.”
I
agree with all of the above, but I know that I differ greatly from many of my
colleagues on what I think scripture is teaching us, and in what comes into my
mind and heart when I say that scripture is the inspired Word of God. I do not
take the Bible literally. If I did, I could not stand in front of you this
morning. I do not think the Bible is inerrant. I think that it was written by
human beings, who were trying to discern, just as we are, what God was and is
doing in the world – through them and through other people. And I do not
discount that other religions have scriptures and writings that are equally as
sacred to them as ours is to us. I recognize that for the controversial
statement that it is; and I know that it is unfair of me to say something like
that in the pulpit, because you have no chance at this moment to respond. Feel
free to see me after worship.
I
also do not believe that the Bible is a historical text. If it were, we could
not preach on it and study it and gain new understandings from it week after
week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, century after
century. No one, even one who takes the Bible completely and utterly literally,
presents the Word of God without interpretation. It is not historical, it is a
living thing. I know that sounds strange, but bear with me. The Word of God is
alive – not in an inanimate object, but in our reading of it, our understanding
of it, our living of it. This book is not so much the history of God, as it is
the story of God and a particular branch of God’s family. But that branch is
part of a much larger tree. That branch includes us. We are still living the
story. It seems to me that in some ways, we are the Word of God. And if
there is some truth to that, then that is an awesome, and perhaps awful,
responsibility.
It
is a responsibility, because just as living faithfully requires mindfulness and
intention, so does living with the recognition that we represent the Word of
God to others. We embody the Word of God in what we say and what we do. I can
tell you right now that most days I am a poor embodiment of God’s Word indeed.
When
I say that we are the embodiment of God’s Word, that doesn’t mean that we show
the world how good we are at following all the rules – the Ten Commandments and
any others we may find in scripture. Rules are important, but just following
the fules for the rules’ sake is not so much about righteousness as it is
self-righteousness. No, I think being the living Word of God means that we show
the rest of the world that we are broken people, but that we know it and we
repent when we fail and sin, and we show grace and love and mercy to others
when they do the same. I think it means that we try to live out Matthew 25:
feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, visiting the
prisoner. I believe that being God’s Word in the world is more about walking
the walk of faith, or perhaps it’s really limping the limp of faith, than it is
talking the talk of faith. That does not mean that we are not called to share
the Good News. We are. But if we have received the Good News, if we have felt
its power and been overwhelmed by its grace, then just talking about it is not
enough. We have to show it and share it and live it and do it and be it.
Paul
began this letter by telling Timothy to rekindle the gift of God that is within
him through the laying on his hands, and through remembering the faith that he
inherited from his mother and from his grandmother, Eunice and Lois. May this
be a moment for our faith to be rekindled, to be stirred up. Think about the
shoulders you stand on, the people who have gone before you, who taught you
what it meant to be faithful, who taught you how to live in love and grace. One
person whose shoulders I stand on is my Gramma Trudy. Who are you thinking
about? Whose shoulders do you stand on?
Think about the
people who were the living Word of God to you, then go and do likewise. And
take out your Bibles again and again, not only to memorize, but to study and to
learn and to be reinspired, so that you may go and do and live and be … the
Word of the Lord.
Let
all of God’s children say, “Alleluia!” Amen.
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