The Bible

Year of Welcome

This year we’ve been talking about what it means to be a welcoming church. So far I’ve shared a few ideas about how we can relate to guests of our church including these three questions I encouraged you to ask each week:

As you drive to church pray, “Lord, who do you want me to connect with today?” And then be watching for the Lord’s leading as you interact with people at church. 

While you’re in church pray, “Lord, who’s missing that needs a word of encouragement?” And then when you notice someone’s absence, use the cards at the back of the church to send them a note. 

When you walk through the sanctuary doors ask yourself, “how can I position myself so others feel welcome here?”

Being intentional about asking these questions will make a huge difference in how welcoming we are to people who walk through our doors. But think about this thought, if we wait for people to come to us, entering our door, and trying to figure out our culture, then we are requiring them to be the missionaries. That’s why Jesus doesn’t say that we should wait and make disciples, but GO and make disciples. He is calling us to be the missionaries.

Ellen White says that it is Christ’s method alone that will bring true success in mission work. He first mingled with people, genuinely desiring their good. He sympathized with them and ministered to their needs. That is the true spirit of hospitality and welcome—to go to them, spend time with them and minister to them where they are.

In his book Surprise the World, Michael Frost suggests that being a missionary is less about doing a particular task—like going door-to-door or preaching on a street corner. He talks about forming habits of mission. I’d like to encourage you to think the same way. And the first welcoming habit I’d like you to adopt is to bless three people each week. 1 person from the church, 1 person from the community and someone else from either the church or outside the church.

The word bless comes from the biblical idea of speaking well of someone, praising someone, or pronouncing or making someone happy. The english word, “bless” comes from a concept that is even more practical—to add strength to someone else’s arm.

So this week, I’d like to you to look around and ask yourself, who needs me to hold up their arms this week? How can I bless someone? It may be an encouraging card, or a phone call where you say, “you are valued.” It may be that you pay for a random person’s lunch, or you help a neighbor with a project.

Three people with at least one of them being from the church and at least one from the community.

Can you do that this week?

https://cicministry.org/commentary/issue59.htm

Introduction

The other day I was sitting in the barber’s chair getting a haircut When the hairdresser asked me, “what do you do for a living?” I told her I’m a pastor and she said, “of which church?” I told her I pastor a Seventh-day Adventist church and under her breath she let out An “oh…” and the conversation kind of hit a wall.

After an awkward silence I asked her, “do you have a religious background?”

Apologetically she said, “I‘m catholic.”

I like awkward, so with a big smile and a little laugh I said, “you sounded almost sorry to admit it. What’s that about?”

She turned to look me in the face and then said, “I have an aunt who’s Seventh-day Adventist and she’s always on our case about being Catholic.”

”I’m sorry,” I replied.

And somehow that little confession and my simple apology opened up the conversation. She told me about how she doesn’t go to church “religiously” mostly because her priest manages several parishes and she’s never quite sure when they’re doing mass at her parish. Sometimes its Wednesdays, sometimes Saturdays… so she rarely attends.

“And besides,” she told me, “Every week the Bible story is basically saying the same thing.” She admitted that she has trouble staying awake in church because she has ADHD and its just so repetitive.

When I heard that I was baffled. There are so many stories in the Bible. We could preach on something different every single week for years! And I got to thinking, has she read much of the Bible for herself? So I asked, “Have you ever read The Bible?”

“Are you kidding! I couldn’t read that. It’s so boring I’d fall right to sleep.”

Do you hear what she’s saying?

The Bible is a boring old book.

It’s not relevant for my life.

What’s the point?

Before she finished cutting my hair I was able to point her in the direction of an excellent resource for getting started reading the Bible, and she seemed at least a little curious.

If you look back in history you’ll find that for years the church had put its traditions and religious forms in place of scripture. Church leaders said that only they could properly interpret scripture and so they banned the members from reading the Bible. Rituals and superstitions were a poor substitute for the Word of God. Finally, in the 16th century a whole group of people rose up in protest and demanded that the Bible become the sole authority for truth and Christian practice. They rejected the idea that church tradition was the main source of God’s guidance, instead claiming that God spoke through His Word. They rejected the idea that the priest or pastor in the pulpit was the sole authority for interpreting scripture. One man translated the Bible into the language of the people, instead of the antiquated Latin text that few could read. He said That he wanted a plowboy in the field to know more about the Bible than the priest did (which honestly wouldn’t have been hard, most priests only knew the prayer books and very little about the Bible).

Today we benefit from the protest of the past. Everyone here has a Bible in their home, if not two or three. If you don’t have a Bible, please feel free to take one of our pew bibles home with you. It is because of their protest some 500 years that the course of religious history has taken a dramatic turn in favor of having access to God’s Word.

But do you ever feel like my hairdresser? That the Bible is not very interesting—something you fall asleep to? Or that the Bible is not very relevant—good for pastors and church sermons but not so helpful in the day-to-day? Or maybe you feel like the Bible is monotonous and flat because you hear the same stuff every week From the pulpit.

If you‘re feeling like the sermons here are repetitive, then please, let me know. And tell me what you’re curious about, what questions you have, or what issues you feel need to be addressed. No, not someone else’s issues you think I should talk about, but the stuff you yourself know you need. Tell me those things and I’ll start exploring how I can incorporate that into my sermons.

But what do you do if the Bible seems dry, bland, and irrelevant?

Precious Words

Let’s step back from religion and talk a bit about life In general.

Most of us live with at least a little dissatisfaction with our Circumstances: the amount of money you have, the house you live in, the friendships you have or don’t have, your marriage, a struggle with an addiction, an anger problem that gets the better of you, a job that is just fine but not really fulfilling, a child who has wandered from the course you set for them…

It would be quite rare if you didn’t live with a regret for past decisions that have hurt you and others, or experience a little frustration with your physical, emotional, or mental limitations. Or maybe you’re confounded by the political situation you find yourself embroiled in—either here at home or overseas with with all the conflict you see going on. You’d be a rare individual If there wasn’t something in your life that you were dissatisfied with.

What do you do about those things?

How do you rekindle the fire of a distant marriage relationship?

How do you find satisfaction in your work?

How can you handle the difficult relationships with your boss or coworkers or relatives?

What should you think about politics or international conflict and all the other pressures that impact your life but you have no say in?

And what about parenting, or addictions, or money, or so many other things?

There are all sorts of answers that you’ll be fed. Just look on social media and you’ll find advertisements for financial schemes to help you make a whole lot of money if you just follow a few simple steps, which they’ll show you for a small fee, of course. Nearly every webpage on the internet has a solution for the dissatisfaction you have with your scale at home. Just follow their easy steps and you’ll lose weight or gain muscle or tone your abs.

If you’re dealing with anxiety, your doctor has a medication for that.

If you’ve got a marriage problem that’s caused by some past trauma in your life then a therapist has an eye movement desensitization therapy to solve that.

But the thing we all know deep down in the bottom of our hearts is that all those solutions are just wrapping paper to try to cover up the ugly truth about our lives. They don’t truly solve our problem. If we’re truly honest with ourselves, losing that weight won’t make us any happier, and having more money won’t resolve our dissatisfAction. That pill to deal with anxiety might smooth out some rough emotions, but the problem still persists. And all the therapy secular psychology can offer is more likely to lead to divorce than it is to rekindle the love in your marriage.

We all know these things, but we keep going back to the solutions of the world like a moth to a bug zapper.

If they don’t have the solutions, where can we find it? Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I commend to you the Bible.

The Bible is not

I’m not saying that if you read the Bible your spouse is going to love you more, or that your bank account will grow, or that you’ll suddenly enjoy your work again, or that your anxiety will disappear. It is not a magic pill that if you take it twice a day all your ills will be solved.

The bible is not a marriage manual or a parenting manual.

It is not a self-help manual.

It is not a money management course.

It will not tell you how to lose that weight, or give you advice on how to vote in the next election.

The Bible is not a scientific textbook that will tell you all you want to know about quasars or CRISPR or ribonucleic acids or the geologic column.

And it is certainly not your personal horoscope To tell you what decision to make next or how your day is going to go.

So, if its not any of these things, how can it solve any of our problems? How can it help me with my daily grind, or give answers to my questions About life?

Let me tell you what the Bible is.

The Bible is A collection of stories, messages, histories, poems, letters, prophecies and other religious literature that expresses the story of God’s relationship with humans. It doesn’t tell every story in human history, but it does give us enough examples of God’s interaction with humans for us to understand some pretty fundamental and life-changing truths. It reveals who God is, and provides the outline of our own origins and purpose. It defines right and wrong and shows us the right priorities that will make our lives run more smoothly.

It is a book written by people who were moved to write these things by the Spirit of the Living God.

It is the messages of the Heavenly Father to His created children on earth.

That isn’t to suggest that its simple or a quick read. It’s a complicated document that was written over the process of 1,500 years, starting in the time of the pharaohs 3,500 years ago. It was written in ancient languages that are no longer spoken today by any people group, but thankfully we can understand what they mean and translate them into modern languages.

The Bible is the Word of Life to your soul, but its a bit of a difficult study.

Many say that the Bible‘s message is simple enough for a child to grasp, but deep enough that a lifelong study won’t exhaust its treasures.

For those who read and listen — that is, read and follow it — it promises amazing benefits:

Romans 10:17 says that it awakens faith when you read it.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 says that the Bible is the tool God uses to arouse a desire for repentance and connection with God—freeing us from the power of Satan.

Philippians 1:9 says that love grows from the study of God’s instructions.

John 15:11 says that the words of God through the Bible fill your life with joy.

In 1 Samuel 3:21 we’re told that it is through the Bible that God reveals himself.

According to Psalm 119:9-11 Reading the Bible is your path to a life of purity and goodness And truth.

The musician who wrote Psalm 119 had a lot to say about the Bible. He said that “I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.“ (verse 14)

He also said in Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Reading and hearing the word of God is reported to repair marriages, renew a passion for life, and even bring health and wellness to the body.

If you want to make wise business decisions, the Bible is the foundation of wisdom For all of life.

If you want to find happiness, make sure you have a good foundation for truth in the Bible.

Interpreting Scripture

And maybe its that idea of the Bible being a foundation that makes this conversation about the Bible one of the more difficult conversations In Christianity.

Have you ever noticed how many different interpretations there are For things? Different people seem to be able to come to four or five different conclusions out of the same passage of the Bible. Why do we come to such vastly different conclusions about what truth is?

It all has to do with how we approach the Bible and what tools we use to “interpret” what the truth is.

When I tell you “this is how to interpret the Bible,“ and it differs from the way you think you should interpret the Bible, you’re probably going to get defensive. And the reason is, the way you interpret the Bible is the foundation of your beliefs. If I shift the interpretation methods, then you might see the foundation move out from under a whole pillar of your belief system.

The fancy word for interpreting the Bible is hermeneutics.

After Jesus rose from the dead, one of His first recorded acts was to interpret Scripture: "And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27). The Greek word translated "explained" in this verse is a form of the verb diermeno from which our English word "hermeneutics" is derived.

When the Bible describes King Saul going to a medium to talk to a dead prophet, is the Bible describing the action of a depraved king, or prescribing a valuable tool for communicating with spiritual beings? Figuring out which is the Bible’s intention is the work of interpreting, or explaining, the Bible.

Every single time you open the Bible you are interpreting it As you read it. Don’t feel intimidated by that; you interpret everything you read Or listen to or watch—it’s a fundamental part of assimilating information and deciding what to do with it. So the fact that the Bible requires this type of mental work shouldn’t surprise or intimidate you. But it is extremely helpful to have some tools to work with As you read the Bible and figure out how to apply its stories and advice and spiritual truth to your life.

Notice how Paul encouraged Timothy to be careful about how he interpreted the Bible:

2 Timothy 2:15 (NLT)

Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.

I would be doing you a disservice if I were to suggest that reading and explaining the Bible is simple. It’s not. But you don’t need to be a theologian or have a degree in religion to be able to understand it. The Bible is accessible to everyone.

So lets look at a few simple principles for understanding the Bible.

The first principle is so astoundingly simple that you might think me simple-minded to suggest it. To understand the Bible you have to Read it.

That might seem obvious, but have you done it?

If you read a short passage in the Bible and say, “huh? What does that mean?” And then plunk the Bible down on your coffee table to sit there for the next few weeks, then you’re not going to understand it. But if you keep picking it up and you read the whole chapter and then the whole book and eventually the whole Bible, then a lot of those confusing passages are going to start making sense.

If I were to read a short quote from one of Shakespeare’s plays and ask you to tell me what it means, you‘d probably get it wrong.

For example, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream someone said, “The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.” This almost sounds Christian — prayer and grace. But you’ll never know what it really means unless you read the quote with its context.

Read it and you’ll understand. That’s the most basic and essential part of understanding the Bible. And it won’t happen if you read books about the Bible, and it won’t happen if you hear sermons about the Bible. You, yourself have to Do the reading or it won’t work.

It would be perfectly acceptable to listen to the Bible as well. Most people in the Bible times were able to access the Bible through public readings at synagogues or at the temple. So don’t be shy if you struggle to read, just download an audio bible app on your phone or computer and listen away.

The promise of the Bible is that when we read it our faith will be awakened.

Do you feel like the Bible is a boring old book? then read it and keep on reading it. It will become more interesting the more time you spend in it. And maybe that’s partly because of what its replacing.

It’s really hard to enjoy the Bible when you’re spending time binging social media or youtube or tv news. It’s even more difficult when you’re filling your time and your mind with exciting stories from juicy novels or action packed, violent movies. Do A little replacement therapy and you’ll find that the Bible is much more interesting. Exercise your will a little and replace the novel with Bible reading. Replace the hour long tv show with an hour with Jesus. You’ll find that the more you Read the Bible, the more interesting it will be and the less interesting your social media feed will be.

The second principle is just as simple: Ask God for help.

In psalm 119:18 the musician wrote, “open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” There is no shame is asking for help, especially from the one who inspired the Bible. He longs for you to understand and it is His good will to give you the Spirit to help you understand.

God promises help in James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

If you come to the Bible with an arrogant “I can figure this out on my own” attitude, then you’ll find that the wisdom of God looks like foolishness to you. But if you come with a learner’s heart and say, “God, please open my eyes to your truth,” then the you will understand What others find confounding.

My last principle for today is equally simple: get the meaning from the text.

There is a subtle arrogance in the heart of the person who looks at the Bible and says, ”there’s more here than meets the eye.”

The Bible is not a mystical book of secrets and hidden meanings. It is plain and simple. A farmer is qualified enough to interpret the most complex prophesies. But too many people look for some deeper principle and in doing so they “twist the scriptures.”

Let the text tell you what it means Rather than trying to spiritualize or allegorize everything before you really understand it.

We allegorize stories that were meant to be taken literally. Or we make something into a time prophecy that was never meant to be a time prophecy. The temptation is understandable. Spiritualizing and allegorizing makes the Bible seem exciting. “Oh, look what I found, it’s so cool!” But what we‘re really doing is obscuring the truth God intended for us to see From the plain reading of the text.

Here’s how you can Find the meaning from the text itself. As you read something, ask yourself what the author was saying To the people he was writing to. If you don’t know that answer, then don’t look for some deeper meaning, stick with the passage until you understand its basic message.

For example, let’s say you’re reading the book of Isaiah. Sometimes Isaiah talks about people and places that may be obscure to you. If you aren’t understanding The Who and where of the passage you’re reading then You should do one of two things: 1) read all that the author has to say in his book (Isaiah for example) and then read all the stories that were contemporary to the author of the book. For example, portions of 2nd Kings and 2 Chronicles happened at the same time as Isaiah. When you read broadly like this you’ll start to make connections. —Oh, look, Isaiah talks about Edom and there’s Edom in Judges and 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. You’ll begin to Discover who those names were and where those countries were and why God was giving the prophet the messages he gave them.

But if that’s a little too much work for you at the moment, then move your study to something thats more your speed and come back to Isaiah when you have a little more experience in the Bible. Don’t say, “I can’t understand Isaiah,” just recognize, “there’s more in Isaiah than I have the tools to comprehend now, let me come back to it after I have a little more experience.“

Now lets say that you’ve read something and you’re pretty confident you know the basic idea of what the author was saying. I’m not saying you’ve plumbed the depths of his meaning, but you at least understand the broad strokes. The next step is to ask a question that is key to interpreting the Bible, “what does it mean for me today?” or “What does God want me to do with this information?”

The first question about the author’s meaning has to do with reading the Bible, but the second question is all about hearing and doing. The concept of hearing in the Bible is a lot more than just letting information come into your brain, it’s about taking action. When you hear your mother or your wife call you for dinner, you better start coming to the table. Hearing is both recognizing the information and applying it to your life. The Bible only comes alive when you ask this second question about application.

If you’re feeling like a book like Isaiah is a bit much for you right now, then a great place to start reading in the Bible is the story of Jesus told in the first four books of the New Testament. The history is fairly accessible, and even the harder messages are explained if you just read a few verses later in the text.

Conclusion

The American Bible society tells the story of a woman named Alima who lives in Mozambique. Alima has problems that most of us don’t have. She lives in a place where basic necessities are sold for exorbitant prices in black market shops. Her income opportunities are extremely limited. Often her family struggled to find food. Everyone in her community was in the same situation as she was, and no one was able to help.

One day she decided to go to a nearby church with her mother, and there she heard the gospel, and was given a Bible that was provided by generous donations From other countries.

She says, “Receiving the Bible is like receiving the Savior in my life. The Bible changed my life. Whenever I open my Bible, I feel God in the Scriptures and can interact with Him. The Bible is God in my hands and heart. Without the Bible, m y life would be terrible. Without a Bible and Jesus, I was just existing with no hope, but Jesus brought me from existence to life. When I got my first Bible, I felt that I had something to live for.“

Loving the Bible requires poverty. Jesus said it like this in Matthew 5:3 ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Do you recognize your need for the Bible? Is it an absolute necessity for your soul, or are your content to live with a dribble of truth once every week or month when you come to church? Maybe what you need is to step back in your life and recognize that you are impoverished without the riches of God’s wood.

Are you hungry and dissatisfied? Jesus said, Matt 5:6 ““Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” The bread and water of life are there for the taking.

Are you throwing money at an addiction? Are you chasing dreams and fantasies that you hope will fulfill you only to find joy and fulfillment vanish like a mirage every time you think its close?

Turn with me to a text from Isaiah 55:

Isaiah 55:1–2 NLT

“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.

Isaiah 55:7–11 ESV

let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

God’s word, the Bible is the living word of God. It will not enter your life without accomplishing what God intended it to do. And it will turn your life from mere existence to hope and joy and possibility.

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I commend to you the Bible, the Words of Life.

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Closing Hymn: Give me the Bible (272)