Back to Basics

Jeremiah 31: 27-34
2 Timothy 3: 14-4:5

Wisdom. It comes from many sources and we sometimes follow people and listen to what they say because we assume they are knowledgeable. However, later we find out that they didn't know as much as we thought or as much as they proclaimed to know, and we end up in trouble. The passage in 2 Timothy is a reminder to a young man just starting out that the one place we can always go for truth is in the scriptures.

We are never too old to go back to the source of all knowledge, understanding, and truth. In fact, if we want to be wise and knowledgeable the only place to go is to the Bible. There, we find God's word and a place where people who were just like us somehow made it work. You're probably wondering how I could say they were just like us when some of the people have not lived for over 4,000 years, therefore, I will explain.

Humanity has always had the same basic needs and desires throughout our existence. We also have the same reactions and sins as a result. And so, in the Bible we see people who are scared and worried and stressed out. We see people who have taken on too much and we see others who are too lazy to take on anything. We see true believers in God  and we see the doubters. We see true evil and we see exceptional goodness. Just like today. Ronald Reagan once said, " Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today--if only we would read and believe."

And so we need to turn to the Bible, to the words that we can read over and over again, and they are still relevant. Every day that we are alive, we wake up a different person. Don't believe me? Think about what happened to you yesterday after you woke up. For some of you, perhaps you heard of someone you loved who is ill or died. For others, perhaps you found out your child just got a scholarship and will now be moving a thousand miles away to go to school. For some of you, you had a fight with your spouse and although you're here together today you're still not speaking to each other. Everything that happens to us throughout the day changes who we are even if it is only by the tiniest bit. It is like water against rocks, the way the changes so slowly appear.

However, just like water has the ability to carve a passage through solid stone such as the Grand Canyon, each day creates a new person and some days the changes are more noticeable than others. And that means each time we pick up the Bible, we pick it up as a new person that will read it just a little bit differently and from a slightly different perspective. It will continue to speak to who we are, as we are now. That's the Holy Spirit. That's the God-breathed words that were put into the Bible. That is why it is so important to keep reading the Bible.

I knew an elder who loved acronyms and he told the congregation once that he believes the bible to be Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth -BIBLE. If these are instructions, and with life as complicated as it is, then it pays to keep reading those instructions as our life changes!

When a couple's son left for his freshman year at Duke University, his parents gave him a Bible, assuring him it would be a great help. Later, as he began sending them letters asking for money, they would write back telling him to read his Bible, citing chapter and verse. He would reply that he was reading the Bible--but he still needed money. When he came home for a semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not been reading his Bible. How? They had tucked $10 and $20 bills by the verses they had cited in their letters. 

We are not good at reading the Bible. We give a  lot of reasons. We have a ton of excuses. The truth is that we have become lazy in our faith and although that is hard to hear, it doesn't make it less true. For all of us. We could easily be the couple's son because there are many times when we should be reading our bible and instead we're complaining about our life. In the Bible we are given instructions, guidance, and we not only learn more about the Lord, but we learn more about who we are as one of God's children. It comes from those "ah hah!" moments that we get at times as we read scripture like it was the first time.

In those moments we receive an epiphany, a true moment of understanding of who God is and who we are in relation to God. It's beautiful. It's amazing. We enjoy and want those experiences and yet, we often neglect the very thing that would give us those moments. For a whole year, I did not have Bible study because no matter what day I offered it on or what time I asked, not many stepped forward to come and toward the end of the second year I had only one faithful person coming. Did you know, no one complained when I didn't offer it last year? No one even mentioned it to me. During my evaluation this year, I thought for sure one of the complaints about me would be about no bible study.

That was not brought up once. In the Bible is salvation. There is forgiveness. There is mercy and love of untold measure being offered to us inside its pages.

This year I am offering Bible Study again. Not because  anyone asked, but because I know as your pastor that this is where life is; this is where the hope of the church rests. If we begin reading our bibles again, perhaps we will stop complaining about the petty things in our lives and in this church and start concentrating on what is important - making sure every single person we know also knows Jesus Christ.

Do you want your life to change? Do you want your children's lives to be better? Do you want your grandchildren's lives to be good? Pick up that bible and begin to read it. Read it silently. Read it out loud to them. Shout it from the rooftops if that's what you're into, but read it. No more excuses. No more saying you don't understand or it's too long or you're just not a reader. They have it as an audio cd now. Listen to it in the car instead of music. Read a chapter in the bible at night instead of that gossip magazine or crime novel. Then pray about it.

Do you know why I pray before every sermon and ask the Holy Spirit to be with us? Because I'm human. You're human. We make mistakes and we screw up and we need God here with us if this sermon is going to reach everyone. I'm not going to have an interesting sermon every week. I'm not going to always say things in the right way - but if I ask the Holy Spirit to be here, I know that my weak illustrations and poor writing skills won't matter nearly as much because the Holy Spirit will help each of you to hear what you need to for this week.

And as we read the Bible and as we pray about it, we can discover that the Holy Spirit will show us what the truth is - we will begin to understand more about God, more about who we are and more about those around us. We will become better. We will become more like Jesus and Jesus never sinned. The author of today's letter to Timothy knew that he wasn't going to have an easy life at this new church. He knew Timothy was bound to make a lot of mistakes as many young pastors do.

But he gave him and us sound advice. Turn to the Bible. Pray to God. Love with intensity those that would hurt you. And by doing this you will become better. You will reach others. You will make a difference in this world. These words are written not just to Timothy, but to each of us here today. 

Read your Bible and pray to God. In there you will find forgiveness for all your sins, you will receive mercy for your mistakes, and you will find love beyond anything you could imagine without the Bible. It will teach you that if you want to be a Christian, then what is offered in the Bible are the very same things you need to be offering each other. Forgiveness, mercy, and love because there is redemption there.

The more we treat others like Jesus treated us, the more we become the children of God. The way to know Jesus is to know the Bible. The only way to know the Bible is to read it. So.. get reading!

Amen.