The Lord’s Instruction is perfect, reviving one’s very being.
The Lord’s laws are faithful, making naive people wise.
The Lord’s regulations are right, gladdening the heart.
The Lord’s commands are pure, giving light to the eyes.
Honoring the Lord is correct, lasting forever.
The Lord’s judgments are true. All of these are righteous!
They are more desirable than gold—than tons of pure gold!
They are sweeter than honey—even dripping off the honeycomb!
No doubt about it: your servant is enlightened by them;
there is great reward in keeping them. (Psalm 19:7-11, CEB)
In this beautiful passage, the psalmist expounds upon the goodness of God’s word. It brings to mind one of my favorite movies The Book of Eli. Some of you may recall this movie featured in our “Food, Film, and Faith” study series last winter. In this post-apocalyptic based movie, a man named Carnegie is in search of a book and goes to great lengths sending his henchmen to gather books, but none have been “the one”. Now I won’t give away the plot, but what I find most interesting is what is said and understood about “the book”. Carnegie explains why he wants the book, saying, “IT’S A WEAPON. A weapon aimed right at the hearts and minds of the weak and the desperate. It will give us control of them. If we want to rule more than one small town, we have to have it. People will come from all over, they’ll do exactly what I tell ’em if the words are from the book. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again. All we need is that book.” This contrasts strongly to Eli, the main character, who has the book in his possession and tells Solara, “In all these years I ‘ve been carrying it and reading it every day, I got so caught up in keeping it safe that I forgot to live by what I learned from it. “
We are a people of “The Book”, from our roots in the Christian church we claim that the Holy Bible is a sufficient rule of faith and practice. As Protestants we proclaim sola scriptura or “scripture alone”. By this we mean that the Bible is the ultimate authority in all matters of doctrine and practice. We acknowledge that there may be other authorities that contribute to our faith and life but, for us, are subordinate to the Word of God as made manifest to us in the Old and New Testaments.
But the Bible is just a book, in the sense that its presence there on your shelf, or in your dresser drawer, does not impart any special power, knowledge or help. It’s like my high school English teacher would say, “if you want to understand what we’re doing, it helps if you read the book”. To understand and truly participate in the life of the Church, to follow in the way of Christ, means more than possessing a Bible, it means reading and studying the Bible. It means going to Bible study and Sunday worship to learn how the contents of the Good Book spoke to the lives of people long ago and how it continues to speak to us today. The Bible’s importance in our lives comes from our interaction with it, as we prayerfully read and listen for God’s word as it speaks to us.
If you are new to reading the Bible or have read it for years but “don’t seem to get much out of it”, its ok. That is part of why the church exists, so we can read and study together. I encourage you to prayerfully consider joining one of our Bible study groups this fall, or if you want to just read on your own, contact me and I can provide you with resources to get you started.
One of the greatest joys of my life is in the reading and studying of the Bible, in understanding that these words written 2,000 years ago (and more for the Old Testament) speak to every aspect of my life today. What a joy and a privilege we have to grow closer in our walk with God…I pray for each of you on your journey.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Tara
Just a Reminder: Generally, Pastor Tara’s days off are Friday and Saturday (this may be adjusted based on church needs). Any non-emergency calls or emails will be responded to Sunday-Thursday. Do not hesitate to call anytime, 24/7, for any emergency, which will be responded to promptly.
