Wednesday, April 10, 2019

“It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” (Isaiah 55:11, New Living Translation) 

                “Use a picture. It’s worth ten thousand words.” I always thought that maybe Confucius said this but it turns out it was an American newspaper editor, Tess Flanders, in 1911. Who knew?

                But it could also be said that a few words at the right time could turn into a cornucopia of vocabulary. And I am not talking about a long-winded preacher.

                Susan alerted me to a study that says if one reads five books every day to a child under the age of five years old, that child will gain a million words’ advantage by the time they are adults. All our grandchildren are avid fans of being read to and at the risk of sounding like a proud grandpa they all have very good vocabulary and language skills already.

Certainly, our children grew up with books and even now there are stacks of books on tables and shelves that Susan and I have read. We find it very hard to discard a book. I culled half my theological library when I retired and still came home with a dozen boxes of books.

Christians are sometimes called the People of the Book because our sacred, scriptural texts, the Bible, have such an essential, critical and vibrant place in our faith tradition. Whether one is very radically conservative or very radically progressive in their understanding and interpretation of the Bible, our scriptures cannot be ignored or devalued. These 66 books of the Bible are the most indispensable core resource for the effective living of our faith.

“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.” (2 Timothy 3: 16 -17, New Revised Standard)

Problems arise when we turn the Bible into an ancient, stale relic or we become so rigid one way or the other in our interpretations and understanding. Reading the Bible takes creative imagination and open mindedness. It is great stimulating and ingenious literature as well as spiritual inspiration and guidance.

It is an epic story of God’s interaction with the world which God created, with the people whom God set aside for working out for the world’s good and with the initiation for Kingdom building to whom he tasked Jesus.  God’s storied mission for the world is messy, violent, frustrating for God, full of human sinfulness, pride, selfishness, sinfulness. Largely it tells a story of God who won’t give up on his Creation nor the people who live within his Love and Grace.

God’s Word, although having a continuous stability and reliability, is also a fluid, ever-progressing, lively commentary on God’s purposes and intentions. Creation, itself was founded by God’s Word, by powerfully “speaking out” and it all being very good.  “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.” (Psalm 33:6)

God’s word is always contemporary, relevant, fresh and dynamic when we let the words breathe, allow them to escape our dogmas and clichés, when we let go of our inflexibilities and enshrined insistence that only our interpretations  hold water.  The Bible never ceases to surprise me, encounter me anew, thrill me, discipline me, excite me, comfort me, encourage me, ignite new ideas and lead me to scrap some old tired and weary ideas.

John the Gospel writer, was being very bold when he wrote that “the word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14) But it reinforces my argument that the Word is not inert and frozen in some ancient time but rather lives, moves, breathes, interacts with, engages, penetrates the real lives of women and men both now and then.  Jesus embodies God’s Word. John also tells us at the end of his Gospel that  his testimony is true (i.e. trustworthy)  and if all the things which Jesus did was written down “the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

If you haven’t picked up the Bible lately and read it for yourself, then why wait?

Dale