A couple of years ago, I attended a continuing
education event for pastors from various denominations in Dayton. And before the start of this event, I ended
up meeting some pastors from out of state who were attending this event. We
shared our names. I shared that I was a United Methodist pastor.
And while I was standing having small talk,
I noticed that one of these out of state pastors was holding an interesting
looking book underneath his arm, because he was also holding a cup of coffee at
the time.
And so I asked this pastor with everyone
listening in – “What book do you have
there with you?” This pastor just kind of stared at me for a few moments.
After a brief awkward silence, this pastor
took full advantage of this silver platter moment and with a mischievous grin
said to me, “Uh, this book is what we
Baptists call, the Bible. Have you Methodists ever seen one of these?”
OK, so maybe the black leather
cover with the gold lettering, and the letters K-J-V should have given me a
clue as to what book he was holding. I get that. Fair enough. I’m not the most
observant person in situations like that.
What could I do in that moment? I laughed with
them and I added to the fun when I said, “Of
course, I knew that was the Bible. I’ve seen pictures of what they look like.”
Why people would ever think
that Methodists aren’t biblical enough, I’ll never understand!
Our reading this morning from the Book of
Nehemiah is about a scribe named Ezra who reads the scripture to the people of
Israel, reminding them of the importance of hearing God’s Word. The people of Israel had returned from their
Babylonian exile and they were hungry to be fed from the scriptures again.
Everyone - men, women, and children all
came together to the city square from early morning to mid-day to listen to
Ezra’s reading of the scriptures.
And we are told that when Ezra opened the
book in the sight of the people, that everyone stood up for the reading of the scriptures. And not only did Ezra read scripture to the
people, he explained it to them so that they could understand its meaning.
Why such hunger to hear the words read
from this holy book? Why did all the
people stand as the scriptures were about to be read? And why were so many tears shed as Ezra
spoke?
Because this isn’t just a book among many
other books. This book, which now
includes 39 books from the Old Testament and 27 books from the New Testament,
tells the incredible story of how God is rescuing his creation from sin and
death.
The scriptures that the newly returned
exiles were hearing for the first time were scriptures from the first five
books of the Bible, or what is called the Torah, or the Books of the Law, since
we find the Ten Commandments as well as several other commandments in these
first five books.
But these first five books are so much
more than a list of do’s and don’ts and “thou shalls” and “thou shalt
nots.” These first five books also tell
the incredible story of how God created the world and called his creation
good.
God created human beings and made us in
His image and gave us this beautiful garden, this beautiful garden called the Garden
of Eden. This garden had nothing but really healthy organic food. Nothing ever
spoiled in this garden. There were no weeds and nothing needed to be pruned - just
this perfect, perfect garden.
It was a place where you could just sit
and relax and enjoy the blue sky, the perfect temperature with a slight cool
breeze, no humidity. You could go hiking through scenic trails. You could play
golf if you wanted. There was tennis. It had this really great ice cream stand.
Basically, it was a lot like southeast,
Ohio. I mean, that would be a good description of the Garden of Eden, at least
in my mind.
This
garden was PERFECT with a capital “P” and there was harmony, and peace, and we
enjoyed perfect communion with God, our creator. It’s important to remember
that there was a time when everything was just the way it was supposed to be.
But then something bad happened. We
disobeyed God while we were in that perfect garden and sin entered the
world. God sent us out of the garden since
we messed things up, and from there, we continued to sin and disobey God.
Bummer, right? I know. I’m still not over
what Adam and Eve did! Kind of ruined it for the rest of us. Thanks for
nothing!
It’s difficult to hear this story because
when God created us, we were created to love Him, to worship Him, and to take
care of all His creation which He had called “good.” But that’s not how we have lived out this
story.
Instead of obeying and trusting God, we
turned our backs on Him and failed to be the people God called us to be.
As one Bible scholar puts it,
“The
Bible is a big book, full of big stories with big characters. They have big ideas, not least about
themselves, and make big mistakes. It’s
about God and greed and grace; about life, lust, laughter, and loneliness. It’s about birth, beginnings, and betrayal;
about siblings, squabbles, and sex; about power and prayer and prison and
passion. And that’s only the Book of
Genesis!”
I love that quote because
that’s exactly right. All of those
subplots are in this first book of the Bible that the newly returned exiles
would have heard read by the scribe, Ezra.
We might wonder how those newly returned
exiles were able to stand on their feet for such a long time as these
scriptures were being read, but with stories like these, how could they have
possibly been bored? I mean, this is even
better than a Reality TV show!
I said that the Bible, that is the 66
books that we regard as the Bible, tells the incredible story of how God is
saving his creation from sin and death.
For the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, this theme reaches its
climax in the story of the Exodus.
The story of the Exodus is the story of
how God raised up Moses to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt,
through the wilderness where they received the commandments and laws of what it
would mean to be God’s chosen people, and then God led them into the Promised
Land which had been promised earlier through the covenant that God had made with
Abraham and Sarah.
This is the story that Ezra read to the
newly returned exiles. A story of a God
on the rescue. A story of God’s love for
His people. Just think of what was
probably going through the minds of the people as they heard this story after
being in exile all those years.
How could they not have seen themselves as
Adam and Eve who had been exiled out of the garden because of their sin and
rebellion?
How could they not have seen themselves as
the people who were slaves in Egypt and who God rescued through His servant
Moses?
Do you think they could see themselves in
the retelling of these ancient stories of faith?
The truth is…the story of the Bible is OUR
story as well. And every time we hear the
scriptures read and proclaimed in worship, we are given the opportunity to place
ourselves in God’s story.
Is it any wonder that when Ezra finished
reading these scriptures that the people were weeping? These scriptures
reminded them of God’s faithfulness and of God’s love for them. And they called them to renew their covenant
with God and to live as God’s faithful people.
Approximately 500 years after the time of
Ezra, another man stands up to read the scriptures. A scroll is handed to him. And he reads these
familiar words from the Prophet Isaiah,
“The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the
oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
When he’s finished, he rolls
up the scroll, gives it back to the attendant and sits down. And the eyes of everyone were fixed on him.
But he’s not done. He then offers these amazing words, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in
your hearing.”
In reading that particular scripture,
Jesus was able to say those words because it would be through Him, God’s only
Son, that God’s rescue mission would be fulfilled. God’s plan to rescue his people from sin and
death would find its ultimate climax through His life, death, and resurrection.
This isn’t just a story. This is to be our story. Your story and my story!
Like Ezra and the newly returned exiles, we
are a people who have been created in God’s image. We have sinned and rebelled against God. And we need to be delivered from sin and
death.
But unlike the story of the exodus in
which God sent Moses to lead the people out of slavery, this time it will be God
himself who will send His only Son to die on a cross for the sins and the pain
of the world. And through Him, we will
be made whole. We will be set free from
our sin and bondage.
This is our story.
Several years ago, Penny and I became
close friends with some folks in the church we were serving. Our children were about the same age and we
would often spend time at each other’s homes.
Ron’s birthday was coming up and I thought it would be nice to buy him a
Bible. And so I ended up buying him a
study bible.
When his birthday came, I stopped at his
house and handed him his present. The
next time he saw me, he thanked me for the bible and for the longest time I
didn’t think anything more about it.
Four years later, I was called to serve a
new appointment. And for my last Sunday,
this church had a farewell party for our family, and Ron was asked to share a
few words.
It was kind of a roast, so I was expecting
Ron to share something funny that I had done or a silly memory about me, but
instead Ron surprised me when he shared these words.
He
told the congregation how four years ago, I had given him a bible as a birthday
present. And at that point, Ron just
started crying and it was all he could do to continue to talk.
As he wiped tears from his eyes, he went
on to say, “This is the only Bible I have
ever been given. And ever since that day
you gave this to me, I’ve never stopped reading it.”
Through Ron’s time in Sunday
School, worship, attending church retreats, and by helping with our youth
program, he came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. The story of the Bible became his story
through his involvement in the ministries of the church.
I guess people still weep when they read
the words from this book.
A friend of mine shared with me how he
became a Christian. While he was in
college, a friend of his invited him to a worship service at a United Methodist
church.
And during the worship service, a lady
read the story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet found in the Gospel of
John. And my friend said, “For the rest of that week, I couldn’t stop
thinking about that scripture reading. I
couldn’t get that image of Jesus out of my mind. Jesus washing the disciples’ feet.”
He said that it give him a whole new
perspective on who God is. He never really thought about God being that close
to him. The reading of that Gospel story ended up changing his life.
“The
reason why I’m a Christian today,” he went on to tell me, “Is because of that bible story.”
I remember after hearing him
share this with me, how I began to pay more attention to the reading of
scripture during worship. If one story from the Bible could have that kind of
impact on my friend’s life, just think what can happen if we open ourselves to
what God wants to say to us through the reading of this book.
When
I was in seminary, I took a course on the Gospel of Mark. During the first day
of class, the New Testament professor told us to come early for our next class
session because he was going to recite the entire Gospel of Mark to us by
memory.
We all came early that day, and sure
enough, he recited the whole Gospel of Mark by memory. He told us to not worry
about trying to follow along, but to just sit back and listen to him share it.
It took a little over two hours for him to do it, and he did it almost
flawlessly.
He didn’t just recite it in a monotone
voice. He recited it with the appropriate emotions, pauses, and humor. Because
of the incredible skillful way that he told the story, nobody, and I mean
nobody, got bored. We were all on the edge of our seats as if we were hearing
the Gospel of Mark for the very first time.
I have experienced some powerful spiritual
experiences in my life, and that reciting of the Gospel of Mark is one I will
never forget.
The story of the bible becomes our story
whenever we read it in worship, or when we gather around a table for Sunday
School, or around a coffee table in someone’s living room for a bible study, or
at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee before running off to work, or when a
New Testament professor recites it from beginning to end.
Methodists have always been known for
their love of the scriptures. In fact,
did you know that the early Methodists were known as “Bible Moths” because of
how they would always be seen with a Bible in their hand?
I have been noticing how a friend of mine
takes a small leather bound bible with him wherever he goes. To church meetings, to lunch, wherever he
goes, he takes the bible with him. Often
times, he’ll have it open and he’ll be silently reading some passage of
scripture.
I saw him at a meeting some time ago, and
sure enough, he had that same bible with him like always.
And you’ll be pleased to know that I knew
exactly what book he was holding.
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