Jesus warns his followers that things are falling apart. The magnificently large stones of the temple will be toppled. False teachers will come along and lead us astray. There will be wars and rumors of war. There will be conflict, there will be environmental disasters, there will be famines. In short, terrible times are ahead. The institutions that we count on will fail, human sin will run amok, and the earth itself will reveal the brokenness of human sin. Jesus warned us.
There was a report that came out just this past week which found that the fastest growing religion in the US isn’t Islam, it isn’t Pentecostalism, it isn’t non-denominationalism, and it certainly isn’t The Episcopal Church. No, the fastest growing belief system is those who claim no religion. They’re not even atheists because they care too little about the question to form an opinion, they just shrug their shoulders and say “none.” The bedrock of faith in our nation is crumbling. You can find false heresies all around the faith, perhaps this is most evident when people use the faith as a rationale for entering a synagogue with an assault-style rifle or seeing migrants as a threat instead of the least of these to serve in Jesus’ name. Certainly, the ubiquitous phrase “fake news” points to the fact that we have many false teachers. Just this past week, we learned that North Korea is continuing its nuclear weapons program, sanctions are being imposed on Iran, and rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel. In the past month, we’ve seen one of the deadliest hurricanes ever rip apart Florida and the Camp Fire is still burning as it is already California’s deadliest wildfire. Right now, people are starving to death in Yemen due to a famine that has already claimed the lives of 10,000 people; while in Flint, Michigan, four years later, they still do not have clean tap water. Crumbling religious institutions? Check. False teachers? Check. Nation rising against nation? Check. Natural disasters and famines? Check.
Jesus’ list didn’t give me the chance to mention the dysfunction and toxicity of our political life, the destruction of the environment from pollution, the opioid epidemic, the fact that about 20 veterans commit suicide each day, growing economic inequality, or our own personal struggles with things like cancer, family drama, addiction, or depression. It’s enough to knock you off of your foundation.
I don’t need to tell you all that this is an unnerving, scary, and soul-crushing world. Sure, there are many wonderful things in this world – I can point to examples of charity, of selfless love, of sacrifice, of joy. And those are real and we should never lose sight of them. Indeed, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome the light. But neither has the light yet overcome the darkness. And so I ask, in all seriousness, how in the world do you ground yourself? How do you keep sane? What is the sure foundation upon which you stand? Or are you on shaky ground and aren’t sure that you have any footing beneath you?
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, by patience and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Today’s Collect is one of the treasures of our Prayer Book heritage as Anglicans. It was composed for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer by Thomas Cranmer. He started with the foundation of a passage from 2 Timothy which says “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” And he builds the prayer by turning to Romans 15:4, which says “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” It’s a beautiful prayer that reminds us that Holy Scripture is that foundation which gives us our blessed hope in such trying times.
As a priest, I get a lot of questions about a lot of things, but the comment that I hear most often is something like “I wish I knew more about the Bible.” And when people tell me this, I don’t think it’s primarily because they want to know facts about the Bible; it’s that they are hungry for something. They are yearning for a peace which passes all understanding, they want to know that everything is going to be okay, they want to know that they are not alone. Scripture is the living word of God that points us towards the eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ. We’ve all heard about how Scripture brings us closer to God, how it can give us peace, how it can be the bedrock of our lives. Scripture reminds us that God is in charge, so all will be well. It reminds us that we are loved. It is our daily bread and our eternal hope. It tells us about God and gives us a sure foundation of faith. As we read in John, “These stories are written so that you might rise to faith.” And so, the Bible is a grand gift from God.
But the Bible is also hard to read because it really isn’t a book, it’s a library and so there is no one-size-fits-all way to read it. It can be a difficult thing to read about a culture that is radically different than our own. The Bible is really long. Parts of us can be quite boring. People are often confused about which translation to read. It’s hard to know how we apply these ancient stories to our modern lives. Like any habit or lifestyle change, it’s hard to cultivate a daily practice. There are many, many excuses to not read the Bible. But there’s also a good reason to do it – and that is through Scripture we encounter the comfort of God’s holy Word and in a turbulent world are able to hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.
Reading the Bible certainly isn’t a magic pill that will make everything better. It’s sort of like the roots of a tree, it takes time to grow and flourish. I’ll admit to you that clergy are not perfect, nor are we any holier than anyone else. While daily prayer has always been a part of my spiritual practice, I haven’t always been the most faithful at it. And if you can get clergy to give you an honest answer, many will tell you that their prayer life isn’t very robust. But it was probably about 18 months ago that I resolved to no longer make praying Morning and Evening Prayer, which includes 2 Psalms and 3 Scripture passages a day, an option. Have I missed a time here and there along the way? Absolutely. But I can tell you from my own personal experience that by reading Scripture every day, by making it a practice that I am obedient to, I think that my spiritual roots have deepened and I’m more aware of God’s grace in my life and in the world.
And while I can’t promise you that if you commit to reading the Bible regularly that you’ll feel more spiritually grounded, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. But I can promise you that if you start to read Scripture on a regular basis and it doesn’t change you that I’ll buy you lunch and listen to you tell me about how reading Scripture has been a waste of your time. Why don’t you go ahead and make reading the Bible your New Year’s resolution and start practicing it now?
Cranmer’s prayer asks that God grant us to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest Scripture. So the first step is simply to read it. If you don’t have a Bible, let me know and I’ll get you one. Don’t know where to start? Let me know and I’ll give you some suggestions. Then we are to mark the Scriptures – that is, engage with them. Write in your Bible: underline the parts that inspire you, write down the questions that you have. Next, learn some Scripture – when you encounter a passage that particularly strikes you, commit it to memory. Our Prayer Book is saturated with Scripture – so it might be that there are some words in our liturgy that give you comfort and peace, and it’s very likely that those words are drawn from Scripture. So memorize those words and carry them without throughout your day. The prayer then includes the wonderful phrase “inwardly digest.” It’s a plea that the Spirit plant within our souls the transformative grace of God. Just as food gives us strength, and growth, and satisfies us, Scripture nourishes our faith.
Holy Scripture is a gift – it is God’s love letters to us. The Bible shows that God is always with us and always for us. The Bible doesn’t just tell us a story, it tells us our story as people created, redeemed, and loved by God. Holy Scripture is a challenge, as it shows us how God’s ways are not like our ways. The Bible gives us alternatives to greed, to fear, to division, to despair. As we read in one of the Psalms, “Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path.” The Bible gives direction and orientation to our lives and shows us where we have gone astray. And the Bible is also an invitation – an invitation to enter into new life in Christ, an invitation to come to experience the comfort of God’s word, to know of God’s love for you.
Earlier this year, I borrowed a phrase from John as a call to faith – “come and see.” When it comes to the Bible, come and see. Or, when St. Augustine was converted to Christianity, the phrase that the Spirit said to him was “take up and read.” Come and see in Holy Scripture a great gift from God – the gift of encountering that sure foundation which we desperately need in a troubling world. Come and see in Holy Scripture a challenge to align our lives with the grace of God which has been given to us in Jesus Christ. Come and see in Holy Scripture an invitation to go deeper into the love of God. And remember, if you come and don’t see, I’ll buy you lunch. So when it comes to Holy Scripture, come and see.
