Where's YOUR Bible?!
September 29, 2002
The Rev. Carol DiBiasio-Snyder
Psalm 19:7-14 2 Timothy 3:16 and Hebrews 4:12
Introduction to the Scriptures:
All three of today's scriptures are scriptures that talk about the scriptures! The psalm sounds like a love poem about a person, but it is about God?s law. The psalmist sings of the virtues of God?s law and this psalm ends with words you will, no doubt find familiar. Our readings from the letter to Timothy and the book of Hebrews do not read like love poems, they read like lesson plans, explaining the purpose of the scriptures. Let us listen for God?s spirit to speak to us through our readings today.
It happened more than 40 years ago, but I can clearly remember it. I must have been 5 or 6 when we learned that catchy song in Sunday School. You know it . . ."The B-i-b-l-e, yes that's the book for me! I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-i-b-l-e!"
Oh, I sang it, earnestly and often, but I misunderstood it. Here's the picture I had in my little 5 year old imagination as I sang the words, "I stand alone on the Word of God." There I was, quite literally standing on top of a Bible, feet firmly planted and . . . all alone, by myself. At that early age, I already got the idea that some how others would flee from you if you got close to the Bible! But I made my commitment. Knowing that I would have to do it alone, I'd still stand on my Bible!
Every year I shudder when we hand those Bibles to our unsuspecting third graders. You do realize that we just did a terrifying thing. We have placed into the hands of our 8 and 9 year old children a dangerous book! Have we really thought this through? Do we really want them to read what is between those gold embossed, leather-looking covers?
In those pages they will be confronted with all the very best of life and human nature and they will find all the very worst of life and human nature. They will read about a confusing God and find perplexing ideas and incredible stories. They will read as author Jonathan Kirsch writes, " . . . tales of human passion in all of its infinite variety: adultery, seduction, incest, rape, mutilation, assassination, torture, sacrifice, and murder[!]" Yikes! What have we just done?
And that is only the beginning. Not only might they read these tales of earthy human nature, they might read other passages . . . and take them seriously! Our children might read the teachings of Jesus and believe them. They might take Bible teachings seriously and give away all their money to the poor. They might start randomly or even intentionally forgiving people. They might love their enemies. They might do good to those who hate them. They might love God with all their heart and mind and soul and strength and love their neighbors as themselves.
What might they do in light of that tricky teaching about welcoming sinners to the banquet table? They might learn that success is not how much you have but who you are and how much you give away.
Do we want them to have this book? Do we want them to read about how Jesus judged the systems that exploited the outcasts? Would they think that since it says that God is just could they believe that God is calling them to work for justice too? Will they end up marching on Washington D.C. protesting the practices of the World Bank and the IMF, or will we see them on CNN marching against the possible first strike on Iraq?
Then again, we entrust this dangerous book to them also without knowing if they will take it quite literally or interpret it quite narrowly and, as others have done and still do, will our children use it to justify their own prejudices against those who are different from them . . . people of other races or homosexuals or Muslims or Hindus or atheists or those who simply doubt and question.
Of course, there is always the danger that they might learn that God is far more complicated and confusing than we told them at first and that life indeed is not fair. And they also might learn that God is far more loving and full of grace than we could ever explain to them. They might believe that they are indeed God?s beloved sons and daughters, made in the image of our great Creator, forgiven, free and called to be healers and helpers in our broken and hurting world. They may learn to care for the earth better than we have.
So maybe there is something redeeming in those Bibles. Maybe we should refrain from rushing the third grade classroom following the Postlude to repossess those dangerous books. Maybe what we really need to do is spend much more time ourselves reading and studying its pages. . . . much more time reading the Bible with our children, learning and growing together. Then we might all learn and grow in Godly ways.
They (and we) might learn that these stories are not dull stories about people who lived long ago and have no relation to them. The might indeed, find themselves in the pages and experience the living God in the pages of the Bible. As Bob Benson has pointed out, they might find that the Bible is much like those children's story books you can order with your child or your grandchild's name, home town and street address written into the story. He calls the Bible a me-book and a you-book. We are in there. In his words,
We all have taken our turn at saying, 'There is no room in the inn,' and we all know what it is like to sadly reverse our paths like the rich, young ruler. We all know what it is to say, 'I do not know him,' or to leave unsaid, 'Yes, I am a follower of his.' We all have bravely said in stirring faith, [like Peter] 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,' and we all have felt or said, [with Thomas] 'Unless I touch the [nail] prints of his hands.' It is not just a book written a long time ago about some people who lived way back then. It is about us. It is not just a book about a few people to whom Jesus said, 'Lo, I will never leave you.' It is to us as well that these words still speak. It was not only their sorrow he promised to turn into joy, but he was saying to us just as surely as if he were looking us in the face that the thing that seems like sorrow to us today, he would have us writing poems and singing songs about tomorrow or next week. These things were said to us and for us and about us in this living book of God.
God did not just speak to Paul on Damascus Road. God speaks on Road, and (List the third grade families and their addresses).
And God speaks to you and me. Oh, yes, make no mistake about it, we have done a terrifying thing in presenting those dangerous Bibles to our children. But we do an irresponsible and far more dangerous thing if we leave it at the presentation, if we do not read it with them and help them? and us too? discover its astounding richness and truth. Where is YOUR Bible?! Amen.
