Peripatetics: The Art of Walking
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The children's ministry at our church has a rack of age-appropriate Bibles that sits on a rack they can wheel from room to room as needed for various teaching needs.
Our visitor center has a crate of Bibles to lend in case you forgot yours or if you didn't know you'd need it (side not: I'm floored by the reality that certain churches have gotten to the point where they just print out the necessary verses on screens or in bulletins because they don't want anybody to be offended or foolish if they didn't bring a Bible).
Our "lost & found" shelf routinely fills up with Bibles. Every now and then I'll see one with a name of someone I know, and when I inform them, they tell me that there's no hurry. They've been using their other one and they'll pick it up next week.
Our student ministry gives away the Bibles that have been left in our youth room for three months. The boxes usually take two people to carry.
If you go to a local Christian retailer, you can be overwhelmed by the numerous styles of Bibles on the wall, not to mention the 40 or so various translations. Hardcover, leather cover, paperback, small enough for your purse, large enough for serious study, large print...and do you need a Bible cover with that, too, sir? We have about 40 styles to match...everything from NFL-football leather to businessman black leather to teenager nylon. Highlighter pack to go with that, sir?
We really have a lot of Bibles and Bible options. Maybe it's because of the reality that I work for a "Bible" church that I'm pretty serious about mine...but somebody's out there using all these Bibles, right? I mean, retailers wouldn't carry them if they didn't make money, right?
And don't get me wrong. This isn't a bad thing at all. It sounds silly in some ways, but there's no excuse for anyone in my neck of the woods not to have a Bible...and one they can read and understand.
It's just that we've come a long way from Martin Luther sitting in a room putting God's Word into the common man's hands...and having to wait on the culture's ability to reproduce it quickly enough for the masses to get their own copy.
When you think about it, it's only been about 400 years of history that mankind has had the entirety of God's Word for their own possession...and I wonder if we're not somewhat callous to that reality.
Let's take a look at Nehemiah 8.
Remember, this is at the end of a 400 year period of time that the Jewish nation had been scattered abroad and had lost their heritage. Can you imagine if 400 years went by that Americans were scattered throughout the world, and someone rebuilt the nation, had a celebration, and then waltzed out with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and read them aloud to the assembly? It would have a great deal of meaning to the hearers, wouldn't it? I mean, we'd have some vague recollection of it all...and it would probably get a reaction with the high-minded ideals were heard.
That's what's happening here:
"And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord the Great God. And all the people answered and said, 'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands; they they bowed low and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. [The priests] explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place. And they read from the book, from teh law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading."
Here at the celebration, Ezra, the priest, brings out the scrolls of the Hebrew Scriptures. He opens the scroll.
The entire nation rises to it's collective feet. Why? They were in reverence for what they were about to hear. Even though they were generations removed from the reality of hearing Scripture on a regular basis, they knew enough to know that this was God...the Creator of the universe...about to speak to them. They stood.
Then they celebrated the reality of God speaking to them by telling God "so be it" (that's what "amen" means). They wanted God's will to be done in and through them.
Then they worshipped Him. They bowed low.
And they hung on every word. Listening to sermons with interpretations...all day.
And I wonder if we've lost a little bit of that reverence for God's word. As if too much of a good thing makes us callous to it. We ho-hum sermons to try to get home to see the game and fail to prioritize our time in the Word personally.
So for today, let's ask ourselves how we view God's Word. Do we take it for what it is or do we have a more lackadaisical approach to it? Why is either focus the case in our lives? What can be done to change it if we are lackadaisical?
Brent 4:45 AM
Comments:
I think we have lost sight of how important and holy the Bible really is - I know I have. The question is, how do we get it back?
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