Life changing blessing - Bible Sunday 2016

Today is the day appointed in the Church calendar as Bible Sunday. The bible remains the best-selling book of all time, but it is a book often bought as a present, perhaps for a confirmation or baptism, or as a book that you just should have somewhere on your shelf at home – Perhaps it’ll be useful to answer some of those tricky crossword questions. 

Somebody once said that some people store their money inside a Bible because they know they won’t open it – for many people, it is a book of little relevance and no real value. 

But today, on this Bible Sunday, we are called to give thanks for the word of God, and we are challenged to think more about it, and its meaning in our lives… It is, or should be, an invaluable tool for each one of us, whether as a book of reference, a book of encouragement, of history, of love, of joy or so many other things… 

St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (15:4), ‘Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.’ 

As Christians we talk of loving and serving God, and if we are to do that then we can’t ignore the book that can bring us closest to him. When we fall in love with someone it is natural to try and find out as much about them as possible – but with God we don’t seem so concerned about this. 

People sometimes say that the Bible is not relevant to society today, but in a society where we see and hear about violent crime, terrorism and war, in a society where many people live on the streets, take drugs, become dependant on alcohol and so on, surely a message of love, a message of hope is extremely relevant. Surely a message that someone loves us enough to die for us is one that we should want to be reading about and it is one we should want to be sharing. That is what the Bible is about… 

This is a book that is relevant – a book that is offering challenges, encouragements, teaching and promises… This is a book demanding to be read, and demanding a response. 

This week I’m sure most of us will have seen pictures and heard stories from the Aberfan disaster 50 years ago last Friday. Some of you will probably remember the day well. So many people were killed, so many of them young children, that it is an event which has stuck in the minds of people ever since… 

And in the middle of such tragedy, such pain, such horror, some will turn away from faith, others will turn to God seeking comfort, seeking some sort of peace and even today our readings offer words which are powerful in even the worst of situations… 

The prophet Isaiah (45:22-25) says, ‘Thus says the Lord : Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth !’ It is a wonderful reminder that God’s plan for all of us is fullness of life, is joy, is peace… The bible offers us hope even in the darkest of situations, because the bible reminds us that God loves us and time after time that is what we see when we read the bible… In an all too often troubled world, God offers hope and peace because he created us for that kind of a relationship with him… 

And then Paul’s letter to the Romans (15:1-6) began by saying that ‘We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak.’ It continues as Paul writes about building up our neighbour and later offers the prayer that we live in harmony together…. 

The world has shrunk in so many ways in recent years and so often there is fear of those we are called to see as our neighbours but the bible suggests that we are to be a blessing to one another – to support, to encourage, to pray for one another, to love…. To love all people, however tough that may be… 

We support each other in so many ways… Again, reflecting on the Aberfan disaster, we could see how many people got together to dig for survivors, how many people gave up anything they were doing to care for others… 

We hopefully will never see something like Aberfan again, but that doesn’t take away our need to care for one another, to support one another, to encourage and to pray for one another… 

We are to be a blessing in our communities… 

And that’s clear from our gospel (Luke 4:16-24) reading. Here we have the account of Jesus reading out words from the Book of Isaiah and these would have been really well known to his listeners… And seeking to be like Jesus, strengthened by the Holy Spirit we are to be bold and strong in our faith and we are to be bringers of good news to the poor and proclaim release to the captives and so on… 

Some may do it in dramatic ways as God uses people as healers or in other ways, but most of us will do it quietly just as we seek to bless others – to make life better for those around us – to display, albeit in our often flawed way, the love of God to all…. 

Love has bound together so many in the community of Aberfan and that love has been evident from people who have never been near the place too, but who have been moved by that day 50 years ago. 

Too often it’s easy to look for reasons not to help and support others – but in the gospel of Jesus, there is good news for everyone, love for all and there are no reasons we can give for not offering that message…

In everything we do we are witnesses to the Christian faith – we are Christ’s body on earth today – proclaiming and trying to live out his message. It is a role that, with a greater knowledge of the Bible, we will be equipped to perform better. 

And we must be prepared to be challenged, and we need to prepare to be changed. The 19th century evangelist, D L Moody, once wrote, ‘God doesn’t give us the scriptures to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.’ 

The challenge of the Bible is huge – but it is central to our faith – it is to be grappled with, enjoyed, tested, examined, read to encourage, read to cheer you up and so on… 

The challenge to love both God and our neighbour is clear – it is not open to discussion or debate – this is central to our faith – the need to truly care about the person sitting next to us, the person sitting across the Church, in another Church, in the supermarket, in the pub, in the prison, in the hospital, on the streets… these are the challenges we face… 

The Bible is not some elaborate reference book – it is life changing. There’s a true story of an American Soldier who was onone of the South Sea Islands after the 2nd world war and the friendly host, trying to assure the soldier that they had many things in common brought a copy of the bible out of his hut, and he said, ‘This is my most prized possession.’ 

Dismissively the soldier replied, ‘We’ve outgrown that sort of thing in our country.’

The islander who belonged to a tribe that had until recently, practised cannibalism was unimpressed by this lack of courtesy as well as the lack of faith, and he replied, ‘It’s a good thing we haven’t outgrown it here – if we had you would have been a meal as soon as we saw you.’

For many of the people of Aberfan 50 years ago the bible had meaning as a book of comfort, a book of hope, a book of love – even a book where people could turn to just show their anguish – think of some of the psalms for example and the pain and hurt and the cries to God… But it is a book of hope, of comfort, of love, of salvation… 

But it is also a book of challenge – The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria (Staffan de Mistura), has said that in the 2 weeks following the collapse of the ceasefire 376 people have been killed, one third of whom are children. 50 years on from Aberfan scenes of children being pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings still confront us… And the Bible tells us to love, to love extravagantly, to love without discrimination and to seek to offer hope and peace to others… The Bible speaks powerfully to us today…  

An unknown writer said, "This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveller's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's character. 

Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity.

Let us pray : Lord we thank you for your written word of scripture, for the living word in Jesus, and for the spoken word of your messengers. Teach us, guide us, and strengthen us, so that we may live in harmony with all your people, and in times of trouble, when things seem unstable and insecure, may we rest our confidence in your words, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN