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As Ezra opened
the book in the sight of the people they all stood up. He blessed the
Lord and all the people answered: “Amen, Amen”, lifting up their hands.
Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces on
the ground.
Nehemiah goes on to tell us that the people wept
when they heard the words of the Law but he told them that “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do
not mourn or weep.” Instead he encouraged them to go away and
celebrate. And today the Jews still celebrate their New Year, Day of
Atonement and the Feast of the Tabernacles in the seventh month.
Today is Bible Sunday and it is wonderful to have the opportunity to cherish God’s Word. However it has to be said that often our appreciation of the Bible often seems to be rather lukewarm. Perhaps we can learn from other faiths how to revere the Bible again. For instance here are some rules about how the Qur’an should be treated:
- One should make formal ablutions before handling the Qur'an or reading from its text.
- One who is in need of a formal bath (after intercourse or menstrual bleeding) should not touch the Qur'an until after bathing.
- A non-Muslim should not handle the sacred text, but may listen to tapes of the Qur'an or handle a translation or exegesis.
- Those who are unable to handle the Qur'an based on these reasons should either avoid handling the Qur'an completely, or in necessity hold it while using some sort of barrier covering the hand, such as a cloth or a glove. In addition, when one is not reading or reciting from the Qur'an, it should be closed and stored a clean, respectable place. Nothing should be placed on top of it, nor should it ever be placed on the floor or in a bathroom. To further show respect for the sacred text, those who are writing it should use clear, elegant handwriting, and those who are reading from it should use clear, beautiful voices.
At first glance there does not seem to be a link between the Gospel reading and Bible Sunday but much of what Jesus says is directly quoted from books in the Hebrew Bible such as Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel and Ezekiel. Jesus was telling his disciples and us that God had told the prophets about the coming of His Kingdom and that they needed to take note and see the signs of it coming to pass. God’s Word is very important in helping us to understand how He operates. But it also reminds us that we need to read God’s Word listening to Him otherwise we may be seriously mislead. Over the centuries many have looked at the Bible and predicted that we are in ‘the last times’ because of the words in the verses just before today’s Gospel passage.
But this is not the only danger we face as we look at the verses about the Second Coming. Our interpretation may be as wrong as the Jewish interpretation was of the, first, Coming of the Messiah. The New Testament writers were good at finding verses in the Hebrew Bible that showed that the coming of Christ was foretold but it was only AFTER he came that they understood that. The words of Jesus that we heard today were written down decades after he had said them and it is highly likely that they had been modified, as they were handed on by word of mouth, but even if they haven’t we still do not know how to interpret them. Perhaps Jesus will ‘appear on clouds of heaven’ when we die and we see him as he is. Some of us have seen people die and the amazing smile that sometimes appears just before the point of death. Who knows what they are seeing but it is obviously something, or someone, very special. Or maybe Jesus will return on clouds, at a point in history, for all to see. Actually as we do not know and we can only speculate, I hope that we spend more time talking about the Incarnation which we read about in the Bible, and how that can transform us.
This all brings us back to how we read the Bible. We need to be open to God speaking to us. As we read familiar verses we need to look at them afresh and allow God to interpret them for us. Sometimes that interpretation will be very personal, and sometimes it will be more general. Sometimes we will be confused and may wait for a while for that confusion to be solved.
Bishop Stephen said this when asked about celebrating the Year of the Bible:
The Bible, which is a great library, a collection of books
within a book, enables us to meet with God and to know God. That is
what we are celebrating in this year of the Bible. That is the reason
we are encouraging people to open their Bibles. And here it doesn’t
really matter which translation you are using. What matters is letting
the word of God into our lives and through us into our world. The word
that was made flesh in Jesus Christ is made available to us through the
written word of scripture and now God wants to write that same word in
our hearts.
We need to listen and brood upon that word so
that we can learn to be his people. What was revolutionary about the
King James Bible 400 years ago was that it put the scriptures into
everyday language and into the ears and hearts and hands of ordinary
people. That is also the challenge for us today.
The words of today’s Gospel reading serve to remind us that the Son who redeemed us is also almighty God and that in due time, and how we do not exactly know, he will appear to the world so that there is no doubt who he is. Not as a helpless babe in a manger, or as a man killed as a common criminal, but as Lord and Judge. Then all will be put right and the earth restored to its former glory. However while I believe that to be true I am also sure that there will be many surprises as to how this will happen.
In the meantime we are to spend time with God and His Word and learn more about Him which will transform our, and others’, lives. The New Testament lesson set for today is from Colossians and contains this verse:
Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all
wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs to God. (Colossians
3:16)
In an increasingly secular age we may be the only
Bible some people will ever read. So let the word of Christ dwell in us
richly – it is crucial for us and it is crucial for those with whom we
have contact.
Amen Amen