LAST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY – ‘Bible Sunday’
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Readings: Isaiah 55: 1-11 and 2 Timothy 3: 14 – 4:5
The idea of Bible Sunday takes its origin from the opening words of today’s Collect, itself a fine piece of writing. “Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning; help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them…”
The readings today emphasize the central place of the Holy Scriptures to Christian life and understanding. Isaiah’s teaching acknowledges the truth that God’s word is not just something written down, but that it is something active; that through the word God’s purpose will brought to fruition. “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth …. So shall my word be that goes out of my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the task for which I sent it.”
The task of any preacher is to hear the word afresh each time, and to find something of special relevance from the word which will enlighten the hearer. As you know, specific readings are set for each Sunday, and so the preacher is challenged to find something in those readings about which to speak. Some churches do not observe the pattern of readings we call the ‘lectionary’ – but their preachers may tackle a particular book of the bible over several weeks. Others may just choose bible passages that suit them, or which they may consider as their favourites. But whatever method is used to select a Sunday reading, there is the expectation that the word will be proclaimed afresh, and that it shall accomplish that which God purposes.
Then, in the New Testament reading for today, St. Paul – instructing his young disciple Timothy – urges him to be thoroughly immersed in the scriptures. He tells him, “All scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient; equipped for every good work.” The first part of that sentence has often been questioned by those with an enquiring mind, or who plough through the account of battles and killings in the Old Testament, and wonder how, exactly, this is ‘inspired by God.’ It is interesting that people often quote this verse as pointing to the infallibility of the scriptures, when, of course, when Paul wrote to Timothy, he had no idea that what he was writing would itself become part of the ‘holy scriptures.’ Indeed, when Paul wrote, there were probably no written-down accounts of the life of Jesus even; so the scriptures Paul was referring to were the Hebrew Scriptures – our ‘Old Testament.’
All that aside, and it would need a much longer address than this to explain how the bible came to be complete, what got in and what didn’t, and who decided that, all that aside – the bible remains utterly central to Christian faith and understanding.
And not just to Christians, of course. Listening to the BBC Today programme recently, I was brought up with a jolt to hear the book of Leviticus being quoted as a defence, or explanation, of the Israeli standpoint over their right to land they occupy or wish to reclaim, and as a justification that others should be expelled from the territory. It was a reminder, as if I needed it, as to how the bible has been used in that seemingly intractable conflict.
We have, in Malvern, a retired priest very experienced in the affairs of the Middle East – Colin Chapman. He spoke eloquently at a meeting at the Friends’ Meeting House a few months ago, and has recently re-published a book first published in 1983 – “Whose Promised Land?” He also had an article published in The Times recently, of which I am going to summarize a part. Colin Chapman points out that Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel from the founding of the modern state in 1948, used to say “the Bible is our mandate”, and Jewish settlers on the West Bank believe that God promised the whole land to Abraham and his descendants “as an everlasting possession”, as written in Genesis chapter 17.
Colin Chapman notes that Christians who support this view, described as ‘Christian Zionists’, interpret very literally promises about the land and prophecies about a return of exiles. They see the Jewish people as having a divine right to the land for all time.
The alternative to Christian Zionism argues that if Jesus really was the Messiah, then the fulfilment of promises in the Hebrew Bible were fulfilled by the coming of God in the person of Jesus. When Gentiles welcomed the message of Jesus, they were assured that they had become full members of the people of God. Colin Chapman quotes Bishop Tom Wright: “If the new community consisted of Jew, Greek, barbarian alike, there was no sense in which one piece of territory could possess more significance than another.” Since Jewish ideas about the Chosen People had to change to include Gentiles, their ideas about the land had to change, too. When Christians interpret the Hebrew Bible in this way, it can’t be used to support claims for Jewish sovereignty over the land today.
This wasn’t meant to be a sermon about the Middle East conflict, but it is worthwhile pausing to consider some of the deeply held convictions, or deeply contested convictions, which sustain the conflict, and which are based on what is found in the scriptures. When we consider all this, we might well ask if Paul quite had it right when he said “all scripture is inspired by God.”
After all, by reading the bible and supposing that everything therein is inspired, you could justify ethnic cleansing, murder, fraud, casual sex, land grabbing, and almost every evil known to humankind. I believe we are called to be discerning readers. We should remember that the bible indeed catalogues God’s gracious dealings with his people through many centuries, with episodes that are not intended to inspire us, but rather to warn us or remind us of human wickedness. We should remember, too, that many individual interpretations of events come through, with writers sometimes promoting their own desires or prejudices or tribal allegiances. And just as society and its values change, for the better, we must trust, so has the outlook of God’s people. After all, it was ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’ in the Law of Moses, but Jesus amended that saying, “You have heard that it was said ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say to you, “Do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” “You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy, but I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Much harder! So we applaud and see as Spirit-inspired all initiatives which seek to promote dialogue and friendship between Israeli and Palestinian, Jew and Moslem; all efforts to break the predictable cycle of tit-for-tat attacks and reprisals.
“Listen, so that you may live” – says Isaiah today. I wouldn’t want you to think that I’ve been trying to devalue the bible in any way. Certainly not. Quite the contrary. Its importance can’t be understated, and I would urge us all to become more immersed in the scriptures – so that, as St. Paul writes to Timothy, “everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” One commentary for today says, “It is God’s inspiration that sets Scripture apart from other writings; his divine input gives Jesus the authority to promise that the word will outlive even heaven and earth. The more we have of it inside us, the better equipped we shall be to do God’s work. Each of us already has much more of the bible stored in our memory than we imagine. Were we to be incarcerated with no books or access to the media – as was Terry Waite in Beirut – we should find, as Terry did, that a great quantity of God’s word was inside us, waiting to be recalled for us by the Holy Spirit. If we pray the Spirit into action we need not wait to be taken hostage. We never know when we may need to share certain portions of the word: in an emergency, a celebration, in grief, or worry, or an accident; but the more scripture we have in our hearts, the more we can help when called upon to do so.”
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven… 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 succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” So for the true listener, it’s a steady process of drip, drip, drip, letting the word seep within us, and letting our minds and plans be stretched by God’s thoughts and ways.
There is work to be done in recognising that not all pages of the bible are alike in style or presentation. There is history; there is myth and story; there is law and commandment; there is poetry; there is teaching; there is parable and allegory; there is worship – like the psalms we read week by week; there is the life of Jesus. We shouldn’t read all these in the same way, but as I suggested earlier, we should be prayerfully discerning.
And just to return to the tragedy of the situation in the Holy Land and its environs at present, let us pray that both sides will be inspired to look at other pages of the Old Testament, and find in them great words of truth. From Leviticus – “You shall not hate in your heart; you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge…you shall love your neighbour as yourself….When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”