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Sermon for Sunday, October 11, 2009


“The Church – Book People”

Matthew 22:34-40

This morning children have received Bibles. First graders are learning to read so we want them to know how to read the scriptures.  The school system will teach them the words, the sentences structure, the grammar and the punctuation. They will have them reading all kinds of literature. The Bible is not usually some of that literature. We are not giving out Bibles to counter the literature in schools. We are giving out Bibles so that our children can learn about God and ultimately how He gave His best through Jesus Christ and how we can have salvation through that relationship.  The Bible is God’s guidebook for living. In the book “The Bible for Dummies,” the Bible is described as a drama, the story of God and His relationship to His creation.  For many the Bible is inspiration, instruction, history, law, songs, and poetry. I believe that it is a drama that is God’s word expressed in every kind of literature that ultimately points us to Jesus.  For a lot of people it is a confusing book. They cannot figure how it all fits together. It seems to have lots of contradictions so how does it fit together? How can we have it make sense so that we can read scripture with integrity as well as let it be God’s guidebook for us in life?

When you read scripture how do you do you’re picking and choosing? When you are picking parts of the Bible by which you want to live, how do you make those choices? And the truth is that most of us do pick and choose.  And we do interpret scripture, many times according to our own desires and some times whims. It is easy for us to lift a passage right out of chapter and use it to support all kinds of theology. Denominations have been formed out a few verses taken out of context.

And if we are not careful and want to interpret the scriptures literally, we can find ourselves in real trouble. For example, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 21 there are some directions for dealing with rebellious children.  Well, biblically in Deuteronomy it provides for the stoning of rebellious children. We don’t do that, should not ever, never do that. Any kind of abuse of children or adults is wrong. In the book of Numbers it says that God instructed Moses to execute a man who was found picking up sticks on the Sabbath. Can you imagine if that was the way we lived, what it would say to us for some of the things we do on Sundays? We find such a thing unthinkable and should. Our response along with others of all kinds of stripes of biblical interpretation will say, “But that’s the Old Testament.”

So, one could say that we Christians pick and choose which Bible verses will govern and guide us on the basis of our preference for the New Testament. But that doesn’t resolve the situation either. 

For example, in I Timothy 2:11, Paul says women need to keep quiet in church, but then we read in Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia that in the church there shall be neither male nor female. One verse in I Corinthians 14:34 says that women should not lead in worship, but in I Corinthians 11:1 there is seems to be a dress code for women who participate in worship. No wonder the issue of the role of women in the church has been so confusing and people have done some picking and choosing across the years.

Certainly it would be ideal to say, “When it comes to the Bible, I never pick and choose. I live by it all.” But we really can’t, can we? No one can. The question is not, “do we pick and choose?” The only real question is “how do we pick and choose?” Another way of saying that is how do we use scripture to decide how we will guide our lives, shape our opinions and govern our actions?”

You may figure that I have some answer to that. You’re right.  For me, I believe we must begin with the most basic, fundamental Christian confession and that is that the life of Jesus Christ is the best revelation of God ever seen by the world. So, if Jesus is the best look of God that we have, then the best way for me to know how God wants me to live is to learn as much as I can about Jesus. And where do we learn about Jesus?  The gospels, of course. As we saturate ourselves in the gospel story of Jesus, He becomes the standard by which I interpret the Bible.

Now, it isn’t always that simple. You know as well as I that there are many matters to which Jesus never spoke, at least from what we know. In those cases, you just have to read the four gospels over and sometimes over again until you have a sense of the spirit of Jesus that you can call on in life’s complex and confusing times.  And that can be complicated.

When reading scripture we have to be careful that we do not interpret the Bible in light of our world view.  Many times we want to interpret scripture to support our politics, our economics, and our life positions. Happens all the time.  There have been many sermons preached that support segregation. And without a doubt, there are sermons that take the position that Jesus was a republican or a democrat.  Often times it is difficult to find the “Jesus position” on issues that Jesus never mentioned.

But that is not the worst problem we face when we try to read the Bible with Jesus as our measure of truth. The worst problem is not trying to discern the “Jesus problem” on matters Jesus never mentioned.

The worst problem is trying to obey the Jesus position on matters he did mentioned. I think of Mark Twain’s quote “Most people are bothered by those passages of scripture that they don’t understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” The worst problem is not where Jesus left no clear directions. The worst problem is where Jesus left crystal clear instructions.

For instance, what do we do with some of his radical words, words like, “Love your enemies”? Do good to those who hate you. Give to everyone who begs from you. Loan, expecting nothing in return. If someone takes your coat, give them your shirt.” What do we do with those powerful verses?

We can’t just pick and choose our way around the Bible. But how do I make sure that I am not picking and choosing that passage as well?

I carry us back to the scripture for this morning. It is one of those “hinge” verses in the scripture. Matthew 22:34-40 is where someone asks Jesus which commandment is the most important of all. Jesus could have said, “Well they are all equal, same level, same plane, same authority; all of God’s commandments are of equal importance. He could have said that. He did not. He said, “The greatest commandment is this, ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ And the second greatest is this, ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Now, if you believe that the gospels are a trustworthy and reliable record of the life of Jesus, then that is where we go to avoid picking and choosing. If Jesus is the measuring rod of our Christian faith, then the gospels are the central message of all scriptures for Christians.

It is there that the central standard of life is this: “Love God with all that is in you and love others as yourself.” And it is when we know that and live that we will know that this is the same kind love that was fully revealed in Jesus Christ who gave his life for us all. Now that is a standard by which we can not only live, but also read God’s truth.

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Address
First Baptist Church, Ashland
800 Thompson Street
Ashland, VA 23005

Phone
(804) 798-9014

Fax
(804) 798-9043

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fbcashland@verizon.net

Sunday Worship

  8:30 a.m. –  Worship Service
  9:45 a.m. –  Sunday School
11:00 a.m. –  Worship Service