St Margaret's Church Prestwich

Rev Christine preached this sermon on Sunday 27 October. Here it is for you again:

What do we think of when we hear the words “Bible Sunday?”

Do we think of a full day of reading the Bible and nothing else? Or do we think, what’s the use of the Bible in today’s society? does the younger generation even know what the Bible is?

All these questions are understandable and even if people do not admit to owning a Bible, according to various societies the Bible is still the best selling book in the world, selling an estimated 5 to 7 billion copies a year.  It has been translated into over 3,000 languages and is even available in digital format in over 2,500 languages. Gideons International still distribute almost 700,000 to hotel rooms and the Bible app has been downloaded over 500 million times.

This all seems quite extraordinary, but the Bible according to Paul “….was written in the past ……. for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

We all need instruction at some time whether it is written down or told to us, like myself last weekend.

We had gone away and I feel I’m not that ignorant of new technology, but the induction hob flummoxed me!!  I read and re-read the instructions that had been left, but couldn’t get it to start.  So, like a good contestant I rang a friend, my daughter, actually and she managed to tell me exactly what I was doing wrong.

Sometimes, we need more than the written word, we need to hear the instructions verbally or see it in action.  Unfortunately, human beings can be slow to learn and even with the written words and the verbal words of the prophets, people still didn’t know what God was about.

He had to relent and send his son, the word, down to earth to teach us by word and example of how we should live according to God’s commandments.

Paul was clearly encouraging Timothy not to give up, to remain faithful to the teachings he has learned, some from infancy, like others around him who had followed the sacred writings from childhood.  I’m sure there are many of us that can remember a particular piece of Scripture from our childhood or even adulthood that has stayed with us or one that has been passed down to us from our parents or just ones we know by heart that have had a particular influence on our lives.

We may not read the Bible all day everyday, but we will have heard and read most of the Bible at different times through our lives.  People may not particularly agree with us, but we believe the Bible is inspired by God.  It may be written by man, but God’s words are in it and all of us know that the Bible can be used for teaching, instruction or during times of worry.  The more we read the Bible the more intriguing it becomes and it’s easy to get addicted to a particular story, wanting to know what happens next.  Some can be quite disturbing, but others are humorous and there is often a lot to learn.

At my Ordination a gentleman gave me this Poster of “Bible Emergency Numbers” (you should all have a small copy of it), and apart from amusing me at the time, I thought what a brilliant idea and I have used it.  I hope you find it equally useful and thought provoking.

Reading the Bible if only for a minute or two can be relaxing, rewarding and often intriguing stirring emotions within us.  When Jesus was a boy it would have been common place to read the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, especially for young men.  It was the foundation of their belief and the commandments and statues of God’s law given by Moses were learnt by heart

This is why the authorities were questioning Jesus so much in the Gospel reading we have today.  As far as they were concerned Jesus had broken their sabbath rules and not only that he had encouraged someone else to break them as well.  At the beginning of the Chapter Jesus had healed a lame man who had then carried his mat both of which was considered unlawful on the Sabbath.  It’s after hearing this and seeing the man walking that the authorities begin to look for a reason to get rid of Jesus.

This is the beginning of the accusations against Jesus.  Now in the law no-one could be convicted on the statement of one witness so it was important to have more than one witness who could stand up for you.

Jesus has been accused of breaking the sabbath and as his witnesses he uses John the Baptist and God.  I suppose this made it even more difficult for the authorities to clear him, because they do not hear or see God as they did in the O.T. when Moses first brough the laws to them and they do not recognise Jesus as the one sent by God, because their hearts and minds are already made up and they are unwilling to accept him.  At the time there were many who claimed to be the Missiah and were claiming glory and some people believe in them and followed them until they realised they were false messiahs.

Jesus tries to explain that the scriptures, particularly Moses, are talking about him, that he is the one the O.T. Prophets are testifying about, he is the living word and that to accept him is to have life.  He does not ask for glory except for the glory of God.  However, they would rather look for fault in Jesus, even when they have witnessed his healing signs, and they will not accept or recognise God in the healing or teachings of Jesus.

Jesus tells them quite plainly that he does not accept glory from people and he accuses them of believing in others who come in their own name and not the one sent from God.

For us today we often see glory given to celebrities, many of whom are quite humble, but there are some who will use this for their advantage.

Many years ago, I remember when the Beatles when they were at their highest and they had just got off a plane, can’t remember whether it was in the UK or abroad, but there were a lot of screaming girls pushing the security officers to get near to them.  Some of whom I think fainted.  My dad who was sat behind me watching the news placed a hand on my shoulder and said quite clearly, but quietly, you should never make an idol of another human being, that glory belongs to God alone.  It’s something I never forgot.  I think the group themselves were affected by the reception, but I don’t feel it really changed the way they were.  They continued to recognise their birthplace and even tried to do good through their music.

I do hold hope for today’s society and our younger generation, because I believe through our example, by the teaching they receive in our schools and the fact that the Bible is so easily available to them in different forms they will, at some stage, come into contact with it.

The teachings in the Bible are now available to so many people and looking deeper into God’s word gives us an opportunity to learn.  Paul exhorts Timothy to pass on the teachings who will in turn pass them on to others, because by knowing the Scriptures we get to know what God is like.  We may occasionally struggle with the instructions, there may be parts we disagree with or don’t understand and then we may need to phone a friend to help us with the meaning or the context.  However, one of the most important things to remember is “All Scripture is God-breathed” and there is a message to discover and sometimes when reading a passage, we are familiar with something different comes to our attention and speaks to us.  In the UK we are blessed that we can openly read and discuss the Bible with each other, but sadly this is not the case elsewhere in the world, so let us thank God and pray.

Let us pray:

O God our Father, grant that we may so search the scriptures and seek your glory, that we may find life in the one you have sent, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

(p.83 taken from The People’s Bible Commentary – John by Richard A. Burridge)