Sermon for Bible Sunday Kathy Freeman

Bible Sunday Sermon
Today is Bible Sunday and I have been asked to speak today because of my connection with Bible in School. I thought I would start with a fairly basic question: what is the Bible? Well, I guess we all know what the Bible is, but what does the dictionary say? Mine says that the Bible is the sacred writings of the Christian religion consisting of the Old and New Testaments.
Chuck Missler, a respected teacher has coined the phrase ‘The great discovery is that the Bible is a message system: it’s not simply 66 books penned by 40 authors over thousands of years, the Bible is an integrated whole’.
But what do we tell the children that we teach every week – how do we get them to understand how important the Bible is? Shann gave us all a quote from one of her favourite books of Bible stories and this says:
‘Some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done. No, the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of Heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne – everything – to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life. You see, the best thing about this Story is – it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one story. The story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.’
That description is not far from Chuck Missler’s comment really, is it? The Bible is an integrated whole. But it is also a love letter. One of the songs I have shared with the children at Bible is called Love Letter and it tells us that the Bible is a love letter from God to us.
How many of us have letters put away somewhere in a safe place that were written to us by someone who loved us? Love letters. There is something special about going back to those letters and reading them – especially if the loved one is no longer here. In fact, if we were told that we had a few hours to pack a few belongings before leaving our homes for good, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of us selected the love letters as some of the important things we didn’t want to leave behind. Have you ever thought of what you would take if you had to make a quick decision before leaving your home for ever? Think about it for a minute.
The Bible is something that we should treat with love and respect and read often to remember the great love God has for us. I wonder how many of us would have named our Bible as one of the treasured possessions that we would definitely take with us in an emergency? I must admit it wasn’t the first thing to spring to my mind!
I am reading a book of the memoirs of Maurice Harvey, a photo journalist from New Zealand who worked for United Bible Societies for nearly 20 years. His stories about the places he has been are amazing, but one really stuck with me. He wrote that while they were handing Bibles out to young girls in a Rwandan refugee camp a lady stood watching. “I asked her if she would like one explaining that it was Swahili. ‘No problem’, she cried, ‘I can read English, French Swahili, Kinyarwanda anything.’
‘Why do you want a Bible?’ ‘Because I lost my Bible and I want to have the Word of God every time and read about Jesus.’
‘How did you lose your Bible?’ ‘When we heard the killers coming down our street, we had to grab some clothes and food and the Bible and I put them in a basin on my head and we ran. They were coming after us and shooting, and they bombed us and we threw all the things away so that we could run faster. A bomb hit my husband, that’s how he died.’
I decided to let this lady have the last remaining cassette player and New Testament in Kinyarwanda. She was so excited and said so many words of gratitude to us that we should allow her the privilege of looking after it. She said, ‘I just love to listen to God’s word and I will be so pleased to be able to play it to the young people here where I am because they have such a great need of the Scriptures.’ She whispered words of gratefulness and thankfulness in Kinyarwanda as the Word of God was played. Then she said ‘All my life I now give to Jesus. In the morning and in the evening I gather the children in my tent to pray.’” (Shooting the Globe, Maurice Harvey)
In the section of the curriculum that covers the Bible for this year we cover how the original Bible was hand written on scrolls and it was only about 500 years ago that Bibles were printed on a printing press and became more freely available. Even then for many years only the very rich or the churches owned Bibles and they were cherished and loved. Families used to gather after dinner to listen to the Bible being read (there is a lot to be said for life without TV!) Reading the Bible was an essential part of every day life for so many then. Now it is readily available. It is the best selling book every year. Thanks to the generosity of this parish we have been able to give each of our children at Mairangi Bay Primary a Bible (New Testament) at the end of each year for the last few years.
But I have been thinking about the way we regard the Bible and how that has changed in my lifetime. How many families start or end the day with shared ‘devotions’? Do we still think of the Bible as a Sacred Book? I remember that a few years ago only an ordained minister was allowed to read the Gospel in the Eucharist. In most churches in South Africa a couple of servers holding candles would precede another person carrying the Bible to the middle of the church where the priest would read the Gospel – and everyone used to turn to face the Bible as a mark of respect. Do you remember that? Now while I think it is good to have many people reading from Scripture, part of me wonders if we are losing a sense of awe for how wonderful the Bible really is. I think that the Waskia people have a deep love for the Bible and the enthusiasm and dedication of the team involved in reviewing the current translation and adding more books is all about this love. They don’t take the Bible for granted. They are excited about the opportunity to hear more of God’s word in their own language.
When I looked at the readings for today and saw that the Gospel reading was the story of Martha and Mary, I was very tempted to ask Carole if I could rather focus on that story, having just completed a fantastic study called Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. There is so much in this Gospel story and it would have been easy to share some of it with you, but I think that one of the lessons I took from the book is great for this Bible Sunday. Mary was someone who was not afraid of what people would think of her as she went and sat at Jesus feet to hear His teaching. She did not fit in the close circle around Jesus. The teaching was considered for men alone in that culture. There was lots of work to be done that she was expected to do, but she ignored that and sat expectantly at Jesus feet totally involved in what He was saying. How often do we approach the Bible with that kind of excited anticipation? How often do we risk ridicule or censure for our enthusiasm for God’s Word? How often do we put off ‘important’ tasks so that we can spend time in God’s Word? Do we read the Bible because it is the thing to do? Or do we come to church on a Sunday and listen to the Scriptures being read and then go home and forget what they were about? How often do we read the verses of the appointed Psalm with anticipation and excitement rather than looking for the end of the verse and focusing on when the next verse we have to read begins? I sometimes do that. I hope I am not the only one!
In today’s Psalm 52 in verses 8 to 9 in the New Living Translation we read
8 But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
9 I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done.
I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people.
Did any of us stop to think ‘Am I like an olive tree thriving in the house of God’? Did we mean it when we said I will praise you forever O God for what you have done? Did we? Do we praise God forever? Did we just say the words or did we say them with love? Did God hear a lot of voices or did he feel the excitement and love flowing from us as we read His word together?
When we heard the reading from Amos 8:1-12 today, did we think how terrible it would be if God withdrew His love from us as he did from His people in those times. Did we reflect on whether any of the accusations that were levelled at the people might apply to us? Did we offer up a quick prayer of thanks that by His blood Jesus has saved us from judgement such as that? Or did we even hear what was read? I challenge you to go back and read the passage again in your own time.
What about the Epistle from Paul ot the Colossians 1:15-28. There was a lot to absorb in that, but let’s look at verse 27 – this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you the assurance of sharing his glory. Wow! Are we sharing Christ’s glory? Do people look at us and see some of that Glory shining out of us? Do we tell others about Christ, warning and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us? Did we hear these words and wonder if there was something particular God was trying to say to us through them today? Or did we listen and then wait for the gospel / look to see what the song was going to be?
How can we change the way we live our lives today and this week and the rest of this year? Can we change the way we read the Bible? Can we eagerly anticipate hearing God talk to us as we study His word? The material from Seasons in the Spirit for today says ‘The call to take up the work of discipleship encompasses a call to ground our daily living in the word of God. We are called to listen to God’s word of grace, and then let it shape our lives each day. In spite of the ways we fall short as disciples as we live in God’s reign, it is Christ – and not our own actions – that holds all together.’
In my Scripture Union Bible notes Closer to God it tells us how to unlock the power of the Bible. It says ‘The Bible is alive. Its covers contain the most powerful force in the universe: the Word of God. That’s why when we read it the words can leap off the page and speak to us personally. These words have the ability to bring about change. The Bible is the handbook for life. Although it doesn’t have a precise answer for every question we might ask, through reading it we come to know God’s perspective and are able to make choices which will bring about good for ourselves and for our world.
Reading your Bible with Bible study notes you’re part of a worldwide family of people who read the Bible – God’s message to the world. To get the most out of the Bible you need to do two things: You need to read it expectantly and you need to read it regularly. Study notes are designed to help you do this.’
So my challenge to all of us (including me) is to make a point of preparing ourselves to hear God’s voice before we read the Bible, reading carefully, listening to what God has to say. Explore the meaning yourself. Ask what God is showing you about himself or your life. Then respond to what God has shown you in prayer for yourself and for others. Let’s make the Bible come alive for us. Let’s be excited and expectant as we read God’s Word. Let’s be amazed at what we learn about God and our lives and let’s talk to others about it!
God is ALIVE! The Bible is God’s Living Word – let us treat it with love and respect and cherish it as we hear from God his personal loving message for each one of us.
Amen

Sunday July 11th 2010

Pentecost 7, July 11 2010
Sam Held

Earlier this week I was driving to work listening to one of the less serious radio shows, and they had a phone-in going on asking people about some of the strange things their parents used to say to them when they were children. The things people rang in with ranged from the fondly familiar, through the bizarre ending up with the frankly disturbing.
I was quite amused to hear that someone would take the trouble to tell an inquisitive child that the object of their curiosity was a wigwom for a goose’s bridle rather than tell her what it is: and there was a chilling familiarity about stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about!
The ones that most puzzle me are the surreal ones, like you’ll be laughing on the other side of your face before too long my lad.

As a small boy I liked to hang around my Granny’s kitchen trying to be helpful, unfortunately I was a clumsy child and disaster often followed. My pleas of good intentions only invited the response that the road to hell is paved with them.

This is one of those sayings we’ve all heard, and not just in our childhood, and yet do we ever stop to question it? Assuming for a moment there is an actual tangible place called Hell, is it reasonable to assume there is a distinct road that leads there? Are we, each and every one of us, on some kind of personal trajectory, heavenwards or hell-bound? Is it even reasonable to ask this question? As Anglicans we believe in the concept of justification by faith, by faith alone, not by our deeds and good works, yet we openly strive to live righteously, to be good Christians. It is right that we should, because that is what is asked of us in the scriptures, but in its own right is not a fast-track visa for eternal life.

The lawyer in Luke’s gospel struggles to come to grips with the difference between observing religious law and meeting the (almost) impossible demands of possibly the greatest commandment, or at least the last bit that feels impossible: that annoying little postscript and your neighbour as yourself.

As surely one of the best known parables, the story of the Good Samaritan is often told as a series of contrasts: Jesus the patient teacher and the wily lawyer who tries to catch him out, the self-righteous priest and Levite and the selfless Samaritan. Good and bad, light and dark, the ever-present shadow side of our humanity only a brief decision away. Stop and help, walk away – stop and help, walk away …
The story works well interpreted this way, and the term ‘Good Samaritan’ has become established in our language to refer to an unlikely friend in need. Equally to ‘walk by on the other side’ occurs in general English meaning to do nothing when presented with a case of obvious need.

Life is seldom as clear cut as the ‘traditional’ take on this parable would have us believe though, and perhaps there aren’t any baddies (except of course the bandits - even the most liberal interpreter would class their actions as a bit naughty).
Take the lawyer, often seen as trying to trip Jesus up with cunning questions, but does Luke’s text reflect this? He shows respect, calling Jesus ‘teacher’, and answers his question diligently, citing Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Jesus shows no irritation in his response, in fact he approves of it and the exchange looks more like a healthy debate. The gospel text says that seeking to justify himself the lawyer asks his next question, the one about who is my neighbour? , and this has been taken to be a trick question. What centuries of identifying the Jews of Jesus’ times as his persecutors overlooks, is that in a faith based on Torah observance, the lawyer was asking for an entirely reasonable clarification, thus justifying his role as a ‘legal’ export on the Law and his place in the scheme of things.
Jesus uses a story to make his point to the lawyer but doesn’t give him the unequivocal definition he seeks; instead he leaves him with a challenge, the same one we face today who is my neighbour?

The priest and the Levite usuallyget a pretty bad press out of this story usually, but in the context of their circumstances what did they do to earn it? The parable suggests they were going down from Jerusalem which means they would have just finished a duty stint at the Temple, they would have been doing what they had trained and studied to do and were probably feeling pretty good, and pretty holy. Imagine what must have gone through the priest’s mind when he saw the man lying at the side of the road. “If I so much as touch that man I will be defiled, become unclean, I will have to undergo long and expensive procedures, make sacrifices to become purified, I will be severely criticised by my peers and family. The Torah requires a man in my position always to be pure - therefore if I do not touch him, then I am following the Law”.
That may have helped him at the time, but he could have had a bit of trouble living with it later.
As for the Levite, it’s feasible that he saw the priest stop momentarily then carry on, as the road descends steeply with many bends and one could often see travellers a long way ahead of you. When he saw why the priest had stopped, he too would have worried about becoming unclean and its implications, and might have taken the priest’s actions as a lead, permission if you like, to do the same.
Bear in mind that both these men have acted righteously in terms of the law of the Jews, and kept themselves pure.
Bear in mind also, that though the Samaritans and the Israelites were bitter enemies, they worshipped the same God and observed the same laws. So when this Samaritan traveller stopped and helped the wounded victim, he knowingly risked transgressing religious laws. He also, arguably, placed himself in great physical danger because if any passing Israelites had chanced upon a Samaritan bent over the body of one of their own they would have been likely to attack first and ask questions later.

If we take a ‘no fault’ look at all the players in the parable what is Jesus telling the lawyer when he asks him to identify who the neighbour was to the injured man in the story? Even at this point in his understanding the lawyer cannot bring himself to say the word ‘Samaritan’ – such is the depth of division – he says the one who showed him mercy. The priest and Levite were unable to allow themselves to help because of the depth of division between pure and unclean, between righteous observance of the Law and transgression.
The unspoken point, but one I believe that the lawyer would have understood, is that from the point of view of the victim the internal conflict between the joy and relief of rescue, and the horror of realising that the rescuer is one of the hated Samaritans cannot be underestimated. Without doing so explicitly, Jesus has returned the question who is my neighbour to the questioner, and returned it as a challenge Go and do likewise!
The lawyer learns how to inherit eternal life, but unfortunately not in a form that can translate into a code of behaviour, not in a form that is palatable even.

Can we actually say who our neighbour is? Is it perhaps anyone we encounter in need for whom it is in our gift to do something? Is it someone who does something to meet our needs regardless of who they are? - the unsolicited charity of a complete stranger?
These are the implicit questions in the story of the Good Samaritan, and they underpin the paradox of the (almost) impossible commandment to love your neighbour as yourself, which is that you cannot define who your neighbour is, because in doing so you will, by default exclude people, and among those you exclude there may be someone who could, like the Samaritan be a neighbour to you.

When one reaches a paradox it is difficult to reach a neat conclusion, and I do not intend to try. Some challenges remain just that – things we can aspire to, work hard to achieve but never quite attain and at best get a little wiser as we practice.
As a point for reflection, as we all share the ministry of the baptised, it would be nice to think we were a little ahead of the game in the loving our neighbour stakes wouldn’t it?
I was recently at a training presentation by an outreach worker from Auckland who worked on the streets supporting sex-workers at the lowest end of the ‘market’. At the end when time came for questions, a friend and colleague, a deeply committed, generous-hearted and loving Christian asked What can we, as Christians, do for these people? How many redundant words do you think are in that question?