The Bible Tells Me So

I walked into the enormous foyer of the huge Bible Church in a gorgeous suburb of Little Rock, Arkansas. I was there for professional development—a fine seminar for my continuing education. I entered the foyer, but honestly, it was so large, it looked like the hall of a civic center. It was the ante-room of the giant worship space beyond. But here is the thing: throughout this mega-narthex there was a massive exhibit: the work of artists in the region who had been invited to create and submit pieces on the theme of Jonah, the prophet in the Bible.

There were oils and acrylics, watercolors and sculptures, mobiles and triptychs. The pieces depicted many things: the great fish, the frightened prophet. There were images of the withering gourd-vine under which the prophet took shade, others of the great ship by which Jonah tried to escape his mission. Some represented the interior walls of the living “tomb” holding for three days the man of God. There were impressions of the great, wide city of Nineveh. The art was impressive. Impressive also was this Bible Church that engaged artists in their annual art festival, and in that way, prompted creative expression of iconic biblical themes. I spent hours walking among prophecy brought to life.

Oh, the wondrous content of the Bible! It is powerful indeed. I want to talk about the Bible, the great story of faith, the record of our salvation. I also want to talk about the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the living God. I read an interview of a very thoughtful and wise Pentecostal preacher. In the course of being interviewed, he was admonishing Christians not to have the wrong idea about the Bible. He said Jesus did not die and then send the Bible in order to foster a memorial society. Jesus died, was raised, and is living today. He sent the Holy Spirit, to form the actual Body of Christ to carry on the spread of good news, i.e., resurrection life. This preacher said the Bible did not create the church, by showing people a thing or two in writing. He said it was the Church, enlivened by the Holy Spirit that created the Bible. The New Testament is given by God through the life of Christians. The Old Testament is the record of faith told and recorded by people of faith through the ages; it is the gift of God through believers.  Jesus is the eternal Word of God, and the Bible is the word of God insofar as it points us to Jesus, the Son of God.

This is similar to how Martin Luther, the sixteenth century Augustinian friar and German reformer spoke of the Scriptures. He said the Bible is like the manger in the Christmas stable. The manger was wood and straw, and held up the Christ child for the gathered creatures to worship. Those first worshipers of the new-born king were worshiping the child, not the crib. In the cherished Christmas hymn, Adeste Fideles, (O Come, All Ye Faithful), we urge one another to come, behold and adore the child, born the king of angels. As we sing on, we see and hear the angels come and sing “Gory to God in the highest.” The shepherds leave their flocks and draw near to gaze. You might recall that fourth verse of the hymn: in a few weeks, on Christmas Eve, we will “bend our footsteps” and join the shepherds gazing upon the Savior, Christ the Lord. Then on, to verse five:

 Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger, we would embrace thee, with love and awe:

who would not love thee, loving us so dearly? O Come, let us adore him,

O come, let us adore him, O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!

We cherish the Bible, because of how it brings us to the side of Jesus, and brings us to follow him and to know his love. One of the great moments for me last Sunday was at the 9:00 AM service. The singers and all the musicians fully and beautifully brought us the children’s song, Jesus Loves Me. What does the Bible tell us? It tells us we are loved by the Savior of the world. We should keep reading the Bible. We need to know the love of the Redeemer. An old bible teacher teased us when we were teens at a conference. This comes off better heard than it does in print, but he said to one young person, “I see you have a red bible; That is very fine. You know it is my conviction all of our bibles should be read. Whether they are black, blue or red, they should be read, consistently and often.”

Yes, Jesus loves you: The Bible tells us so. Also, the tradition of the church tells us, our family of faith tells us, our rector and all guides on the spiritual path tell us. In prayer, our very hearts and spiritual intuition, along with with our friends in Christ, all tell us that Jesus adores us. Say it now and mean it: “Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God loves me, and makes his love known to me in many ways, certainly, very wonderfully in the Scriptures.

Our bibles need to catch not dust from about the room but our attention. Our eyes should light upon the pages more than dust particles upon its cover or top edge. If needed, blow off the dust. Launch-in anywhere, perhaps with the Scriptures for the Sunday worship.  Start with 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, and Matthew 25:14-30, our Epistle and Gospel for next Sunday.

Our Collect of the Day for Sunday, written below, assures a great benefit. Do you need hope in your life, hope that comes from the love of Jesus? Our collect helps us pray that we will know by means of hope that God will grant us to internalize the word through the Bible. We ask God that we may hear the Scriptures…read the Scriptures…mark them, learn them, digest them inwardly. In this way we will embrace the blessed hope of life everlasting, and hold fast to it. Let this collect be your prayer all week:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.