got faith?

Every now and then I get folks who come to me and say something like this.  “Preacher, I wish I had more faith.”  It’s a great desire isn’t it… the desire for more faith?  What if we all had a little more faith?  Couldn’t we do so much more?  Wouldn’t we be so much closer to the Lord?  Who couldn’t use a little more faith?

 

All right, I’ll let you in on a little secret… one that I’m still learning… faith doesn’t just happen.  God doesn’t just swish his magic wand and ‘poof’ we’ve got it.  He doesn’t just FedEx more of it down from Heaven and deliver it to our doorstep.  Faith doesn’t come about by accident and nobody gets it without wanting it.  No.  The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.  That’s what Paul tells the Christians at Rome in Romans 10:17.  He tells them that if they want salvation, they must believe.  In other words, they must have faith.  And that faith doesn’t just come from thin air… it comes as one hears the Word of God.

 

So, the next time somebody says to me, “Preacher, I just need a little more faith” I am going to ask them how much time they are spending in God’s Word.  I have been trying to spend more time in the Bible this year as we have been reading it from “Cover to Cover” and so far I can tell you that it works!  I still don’t feel that I am where I ought to be in my spiritual growth and I sure don’t have the faith that I should have… but the daily exercise of spending more time in God’s Word has certainly caused me to grow.  Seeing the narrative of God’s story play out from creation and the fall of man to His seeking reconciliation through the covenant and the law has challenged me.  I’ve seen things in the story that I’ve never seen before and I’ve been challenged by things that have not caught me in the same way before.  My faith has been stretched, challenged and strengthened through it all.

 

What about you?  Have you taken up our challenge to read the Bible thru this year?  If not, are you still spending time each day in God’s Word?  I’ll tell you that there is nothing you can do that will increase your faith more than hearing God in His Word.  Couldn’t we all use a little more of that?

Surviving... and Appreciating Leviticus

Well, you knew it was going to happen.  When we started our “Cover to Cover” Bible reading plan a few weeks ago, we knew it was inevitable.  We embarked with enthusiasm and with all of the excitement of new creation in Genesis one.  Then we moved quickly through the ensuing chapters as God’s marvelous story unfolded in gripping narrative.  We got caught up in the plight of Abraham and Sarah.  We were enthralled in the soap opera that is the love story of Jacob and Rachel… and Leah!  We were on the edge of our seats reading through the story of Joseph with all of its ups and downs.  We brushed away the images of Cecil B. DeMille’s movie as we were once again impressed by the awesome power of a real God rescuing his people in the Exodus.  But then it happened.  We couldn’t avoid it.  We hit Leviticus!  If you’ve been keeping up with your daily Bible reading you know what I mean.  We have come to the book of Leviticus… and it may have seemed like hitting a brick wall after the gripping narratives of Genesis and Exodus.  Leviticus is filled with commands and codes, laws and legalease, principles, precepts and priestly instruction… and perhaps you have wondered, “Where is God in all of this?”  or “What am I supposed to get from all of these Old Testament laws?”  Let me suggest a few thoughts that may help you get the most out of Leviticus… not only to get through it, but also to appreciate it as a wonderful reflection of a most Holy God.

• Leviticus is full of covenant language— Beneath all of the codes and ‘legalese’ of Leviticus is the one unmistakable truth… God loves his people and wants a relationship with them.  The Levitical code is a reflection of that desire.  God has agreed to be there God… to never leave them nor forsake them and in return he expects them to abide by certain principles which are embodied in his very nature and laid out in Leviticus.


• Jesus fulfills all of the Old Testament law--  Jesus told his followers that he came not to abolish this law but to fulfill it.  That means that he lived it out fully and in doing so he showed the world what it meant.  Thus while Christians are no longer “under the jurisdiction” of the Old Testament law, the moral principles which it conveyed and which Jesus lived out still apply. 


• In the Old Testament law we see the Holiness of God in full display!  God wanted the Hebrews to know ONE thing above everything else… He was their God and he was Holy (i.e. ‘set apart’).  Thus he called them to “be Holy as I am Holy.”  In almost every word of the Levitical code, God is reminding his people of that truth.  The instructions for the priests, for the worship and for the practices of purity were all intended to emphasize the very special nature that God wanted the Hebrews to maintain… “separateness” from the world.  They were to be different… a “peculiar people.”  In a world where “everything goes”, we too need to remember that we are “set apart”… different from the world.

 Don’t get lost in the details of the law and miss the Holy God that is embodied on every page!  God bless your reading this week…

Some Helpful Cues for Our Bible Reading

I am thrilled that so many of you have chosen to take up the challenge and are reading through the Bible from “cover to cover” in ’09.  Let us remember that our reading is not just so we can say we did it (though it’ll be something to be proud of) nor is it just to learn more stuff about the Bible (though knowledge of God’s Word is certainly a good thing)… it is for the purpose of knowing God better!  That’s why God revealed his word… that’s why it has been passed down to us through the generations… and that is why we still read it today… to know God better.  Towards that end I am going to be writing a series of bulletin articles that, hopefully, will provide some helpful suggestions for our reading. 

 

Cue #1:  Remember, we all interpret the Bible

This may seem an obvious observation to some, revolutionary to others, but it is true for all.  I used to think that OTHERS interpreted the Bible… but not me.  I just read it.  To interpret it was to twist it and make it say what I wanted it to say.  I would never do that.  That’s what others did.  I just read it, understood it’s plain meaning and did what it said.  “The Bible says it.  I believe it.  That’s enough for me.” is what I heard us saying.  I know now that I was wrong.  We all interpret the Bible.

 

Let me explain what I mean.  None of us come to the Bible completely objective and unbiased.  We all have ideas and preconceived notions through which we view the world and everything in it.  We call this a worldview… it is simply how we see the world.  We filter everything we see, hear or experience through this worldview. That would include how we read the Bible.  We take in the message of the Bible by reading the text, filter it through our own experiences, biases and worldview, and try to understand its meaning for us as best we can.  This is the process of interpretation… and everybody does it.  There is really no avoiding it.  Now, we can try to avoid the pitfalls of misinterpretation by being aware of our biases and preconceived ideas, but we can’t completely eliminate them.  None of us are a blank slate.  We can come to the text openly and honestly looking for a word for God, instead of looking for it to say what we already believe it says, but we need to do so humbly with the awareness that we are fallen and imperfect creatures… prone to mistake.  If I believe others are wrong in their interpretation of the Bible (as I do) then I must acknowledge with humility that I could be wrong, too.  To say that the Bible is inerrant is correct.  But to say that I understand it inerrantly is arrogance.

 

This is where the community of faith plays such a vital role!  If Bible reading first demands humility, second it must demand community.  We need to read Scripture together!  Did you know this is the primary way that most Christians received God’s Word through the ages?  They didn’t have printed Bibles until the 1500’s.  Until then, when the printing press was developed and the literacy level rose, most people heard God’s Word as it was read either in the Temple (in the Old Testament days), in synagogue or in the church.  People didn’t have their own copies of the Bible.  Many wouldn’t have been able to read it if they could have gotten their hands on one!  But they heard it as it was read in the community of faith.  And I imagine they talked about it together.  That is the blessing of our Bible classes and small groups which take up the discussion every week.  We get to discuss the text’s meaning for our lives today… and help each other understand it together.