THE USE OF SCRIPTURE
2 Kings
In our church library, which in its present form is 21 years
old this month, many copies of the Bible are catalogued. There are also
children’s Bibles, commentaries on the Bible, concordances for the Bible, a 20
volume series set of sermons based on the Bible, dictionaries of the Bible and,
well, you get the picture. From Mary Ann
Sumner’s recent note and from the Abingdon
Bible Commentary, we learn that the word “Bible” means “Library,” but for
many growing up it has just been “the Good Book.” In Jesse Lyman Hurlbut’s
classic book, the Story of the Bible for
Young and Old, Dr. Hurlbut’s grown son, Charles, provided these memories in
the forward to his father’s book: “One of the earliest recollections of my
childhood is sitting with a group of other children, with my father in the
center, and a huge Bible on the table in front of us…. My father … was a
wonderful storyteller; so nothing thrilled us more than to sit on his knees to
hear him tell the stories as he turned the pages….My father learned the
language that holds a child’s attention and the way to make a story real to
him….[and he finally put his great storytelling down in a book.]It was his hope
that the reader would find in it not only stories from the Bible, but also THE
STORY OF THE BIBLE in one narration.” [Zondervan, 1967, p. vii]
So the Bible, to us, is not just a library of books, it is
also a book, and more importantly, the book. It is important enough that we call it
“Scripture,” even though the word “‘scripture’ is simply the Latin rendering of
the Greek word for ‘writing.’” [ABINGDON HANDBOOK OF THE BIBLE, Abingdon Press,
1975, p. 17] The Old Testament was
almost certainly the exclusive Scripture about which the Apostle Paul spoke in
all of his New Testament letters, for most scholars believe that the Gospel
writers did not put pen to parchment until between 65 A.D. for Mark, 85 A.D.
for Matthew, 70 A.D. up to 90 A.D. for Luke, and 90 – 95 A.D. for John. If, according to the calendar, Jesus died in
33 A.D. what was the foundation on which the church began to be built in
But today we are talking about a text; a library, sacred
writings, and all the other ways by which people refer to that giant family
Bible on the coffee table, that pocket New Testament, that annotated study
Bible on one’s desk, or that devotion Bible on one’s nightstand. Many own one;
some read one. As Lloyd R. Bailey pointed out in his book called THE WORD OF
GOD: “Persons have been saying for years that present-day people cannot
understand the Bible since documents produced by members of a pre-industrial
society some 2,000 to 3,000 years ago cannot be relevant today. How can such
books have anything important to say to a society grappling with problems of
urbanization, industrialization, technology, and our incredible capacity for
inventiveness? And yet we have not invented a new sin in 2,000 years. Perhaps
it is the very timeliness (or timelessness) of the message of the Scriptures
which makes it so significant today.”
[John Knox Press, 1982, p. 14] Do
you remember what it was like to get your first Bible? I love books and still
have mine that I got in the 3rd grade. Perhaps you got one then or
when you became a Christian. Do you
remember your parents having a family Bible?
We treasure the stories and truths in that sacred book. And even the Bible tells stories of corrupted
people needing to get back on track. We see our sins in the events of Biblical
stories. The Bible is a looking glass, or mirror, it is a lens and a magnifying
glass, helping to focus on the parts of life that will heal our soul this week.
Once upon a time, according to Second Kings, like a family
moving into a house and finding a treasure, (which happened in my grandparents
town of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania two weeks ago where a new owner found a copy
of Batman number 1 in the attic, a find worth thousands of dollars for nickel
comic) people were cleaning a ruined and
filthy temple due to the poor leading of King Manasseh, who followed the sins
of his grandfather, Ahaz, instead of the good deeds of his father, Hezekiah.
Finally under the good but young rule of King Josiah, they were getting the
temple back in shape to be fitting for the Lord. In their dig, they came across
a book, probably in the form of some old scrolls, and their eyes were reminded
of the power of timeless words being spoken in a new time. Like the unexpected finds by scholars of the
Nag Hammadi writings in Egypt in 1945, or the unexpected find of what are
called the Dead Sea Scrolls by a shepherd boy in 1947, these finds have shed
unimaginable light on the translations based on translations available up until
the 1940s. Just like those scrolls changed today’s Biblical world, the “book”
found in the
Likewise, in the New Testament, we were guided today to one
older preacher teaching a younger one, named Timothy, the value of preaching by
the “Book.” The writer has known of
Timothy’s faith as the son of a Greek Christian man and a Jewish woman who
became Christian. He had been taught the sacred writings according to verse 15;
he had been taught that if something is called “Scripture,” it has been called
“sacred” or “holy” and is therefore inspired by God, that is, in the reading or
preaching of those words, God’s Holy Spirit guides the preacher, the reader, and the hearer to new truths, to guide
them in their daily decisions and struggles, according to verse 16. And so, in
chapter 4 verse 2, Timothy is urged to preach the Word when he feels like it,
and when he doesn’t. Some days preachers feel like preaching, some days they
don’t. Some days people don’t feel like worshipping God, some days they do. I
told our confirmation class this week that how I feel should be irrelevant; I
will preach with energy, emphasis, and zeal as much as I am capable. Thus, it
is irrelevant if they, or you, feel
like worshipping God; we are here to do it!. And what I find is if I act as if
I am energized, I end up being energized in the end. Praise God when you feel
like it, and when you don’t! Preach the Word, Timothy is told, when it is a
time to commemorate Jesus’ birth, and resurrection, and also at other times.
“Preach the Word both in and out of season.” And, he is warned that, as has
happened before (and because of human nature) there will still be times when people will stop listening to and
following the Word.
Today whether we together assess our world, or whether we
assess your life, the decision is this: is our world in a time when it is listening
better to God’s Word and the guidance that is there, or have the ears of the
world become so filled with I-Tunes, cell phones, or commerce that few can hear
the still small voice of God today? To be more specific, when people go off the
road by either the distractions around them, the bad decisions by others near
them, or the circumstances of the road in front of them, they get back on the
road usually with the help of a tow truck.
The tow truck for most people whose lives have gone off the road is the
Bible that points the way back to God through Jesus Christ. Prison ministries,
12 step programs, and many pastors pull people’s lives out of the ditch with
the power of God’s Word. There are poems in print that are helpful;
and there are songs and hymns that lift people’s hearts; but it is Scripture
that is God’s inspired way of leading us to know Jesus and his way, his
forgiveness and his salvation. The sacred word has been passed down through
the ages, written on the tablets of people’s hearts, written on parchment or
paper, or now even in audio and Pod casting forms. Chaplains in prisons change people’s lives
with it; missionaries convert the world with it; college evangelists bring
people to Christ with it. The world is being changed by giving them something
that most of you already have: a Bible.
On your list of must reads, where does your Bible land? Whether it is old or new, with pictures or
with notes; whether it weighs 5 ounces or 5 pounds, you have a treasure that
can be rediscovered in your castle. May pulling it off the shelf or the table
and opening its sacred pages bring you alongside of the stories and teachings
that, for 2000 years, have been called a treasure.
Jeffrey
A. Sumner