Bible Sunday

John 5:36-end 

How many bibles do you have in your house? Perhaps you have one or two? Maybe even more than that! I hope, that you all have a bible of some sort. Whether it’s a physical paper bible or one on your phone. If you don’t have a bible at home with you please don’t feel bad or ashamed of that. Just speak to me afterwards and we will sort that out right away.

In preparation for today I decided to have a little count up of my bibles at home and I wonder if you might like to hazard a guess as to how many I had to hand in my study?

13!

Thirteen different bibles not including the one on my phone.

Now, it’s important to say at this point I don’t own 13 bibles because I’m very holy or I spend ALL my time reading them. But generally I have so many because people buy them for me. “You’re a priest, you’d love a bible.” they think. I spend much of my time trying to give my bibles away.

But I thought, seeing as it’s Bible Sunday, I’d share some of the different versions of the bible that I had to hand. *Share three or four different versions…...there's my very first bible, my youth bible which I read as a curious teenager, the bible the Bishop gave to me when I was ordained. There's also the toddler bible. We spend a lot of time reading that one in our house at the moment. 

Lot’s of different versions, lots of different interpretations. But they are all the bible! And that’s very important for what we’re going to be thinking about today.

You see ‘Bible Sunday’ is, if I’m being totally honest, a bit of a made up festival. Jesus didn’t rock up to the synagogue one Saturday and they were all celebrating Bible Sunday. It didn’t happen that way. But the bible ought to play a central role in our faith and in our lives, so it’s good and right that we pause to think about all things biblical.

So how do you feel about the bible? How do you feel when you read it? Do you find it easy or difficult? Is it quite clear and simple, or does it confuse you? For me anyway, all of those things are true. There are moments when I read the bible and the true reality of what has been written thousands of years ago jolts me, and it seems as though it could have been written to me specifically here today.

And then there are other times when I think “What on earth is that all about?” There are bits of the bible that I read again and again. And there are things in there that I’d really rather didn’t exist at all.

Talking about ‘the bible’ as if it’s one single entity is challenging in itself. The bible is complex and varied. It contains historical accounts, war reports, poetry, love letters, correspondence, prophetic visions and mythology.

There are bits in the bible which are written to be a true and accurate account of what happened at a single moment in history. And there are also bits which are little more that cultural stories, imaginative explanations of how things came to be.

One such classic example of this is the creation story. Some Christians will tell you that they believe God created the world exactly as it says in the creation story in Genesis. The only problem is that there are two creation stories in Genesis, both quite different from one another and there are other creation accounts throughout the rest of the bible too.

The Bible is a complex thing. It takes time and effort to appreciate what’s going on. And very often, when we don’t see the context, we miss the whole point of what’s going on. And, funnily enough, that’s exactly what Jesus says in today’s reading.

Today we hear Jesus in mid argument with the various religious leaders of the day. They don’t like what Jesus has been doing, because He’s been doing some terrible things like healing those who couldn’t walk and restoring sight to the blind. Jesus has been telling people their sins are forgiven….you know He’s doing really awful stuff like that.

Anyway the religious leaders claim to know their scripture. They are wise and clever and knowledgeable. Who knows….perhaps they too owned 13 bibles in their studies! But Jesus says to them….You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Jesus says that there’s a difference between reading the bible, having knowledge of the bible and then letting that change your lives. All throughout the Old Testament the prophets and teachers have been pointing towards The Messiah and the religious leaders knew this only too well. The problem is, that now the Messiah has turned up, he just doesn’t look or sound or do anything that they thought He would.

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

The Bible is there in order that we might connect with God and be joined with Jesus in having Life, and life in abundance. So how do we read the bible in a way that leads us to eternal life in Jesus Christ. I’m going to suggest just 3 things because we’re all very busy and I don’t really like telling people what to do.

Firstly, if we’re going to find life in the Bible through Jesus, we do actually have to read the thing. Spend some time each day reading a bit of the bible. Even if it’s just 5 minutes. 5 minutes is better than no minutes at all.

Secondly, as you read, ask lots of questions. The bible isn’t a novel that you plough through to get to the end. The bible is rich in stories and imagery. So as you read ask yourself things like….

So what’s going on here?

Why is that happening?

Why does it say that?

What does that mean to me here, now?

And crucially if there are things in it that you don’t understand make a note of it and ask someone! I promise that if you ever email or text me with a question about the Bible I will ALWAYS answer, probably after I’ve had to look up the answer in a book. Always ask questions and then ask some more.

Lastly…..talk about it. Because the Bible is full of the Spirit and truth of God, as you read it will speak to you. You’ll read things and think….’Gosh, that could have been written to me in my particular circumstances right now.” Then tell people about those moments. Share it with us clergy, share it with your friends and family at church and, if you’re feeling really brave, share it with those without a faith. Because when we share what we have learnt and what we’ve been given by God, the church as God’s beloved community begins to grow.

This week, have a go at reading your bible. Maybe just a bit eh? And as we try may we do so in the way that Jesus wants us to…..to be able to seek Him and seek life. I pray for you all this week with your bible reading adventures….go on, give it a go!

Amen.