Isaiah 55:1-11, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, John 5:36b-end

The Rev’d Sonia Falschi-Ray

“My word… that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”  “My word”, the word of God, is a dynamic and performative act.  Dynamic, as in a powerful, propelling action of the will of God.  And performative, as the act of speaking brings the intention into being.  On a human scale that can be like saying “Congratulations!”  The utterance of the word is the act of congratulating.  On God’s scale he said “Let there be light” and there was light.”  The word of God.  How do we access the word of God?  Well one important way is by reading the Bible.  The Bible, as you know, is more like a library than just a book, containing as it does a range of different types of books: history, poetry, prophesy, prayer, biography, parables the use of metaphor and mythology.  (By mythology I don’t mean fairy stories or ancient Egyptian and Greek tales of gods and monsters, but of stories which contain important truths of God’s relationship with us and the nature of humankind packaged into accounts which may not be historically factual.)  For example I view as myth and parable the story of Adam and Eve and, in the words of Milton[1],

“Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden.” till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,…….

……Say first–for Heaven hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of Hell–say first what cause
Moved our grand parents, in that happy state,
Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and transgress his will
For one restraint, lords of the World besides.
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
Th’ infernal Serpent; he it was whose guile,
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind, …..

However, whatever genre the books of the Bible are written in, Christians believe that they are all inspired by God.  That in them he has revealed himself and revealed the  relationship he would like to have with us.  Not all of it is an easy read, and some parts, especially in the Old Testament, can offend modern sensibilities.  Why does the God seem to be so bloodthirsty?  Why do the Israelites have to fight to clear the promised land of its inhabitants and continue to fight to maintain its boarders?  Well tackling that could involve an entire sermon series.  In part, God is attempting to bind a people together and educate them in his will for all mankind.  The diktat of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, is to bring proportionality into retaliation, rather than escalating violence and having intergenerational blood feuds.  Later on Jesus developed that thinking further telling us to love our enemies.  However, God always starts with us where we are, drawing us onward to become more like him, if we are willing.  The word of God is to an extent codified in the Ten Commandments.  Many rules and regulations were added on, some in scripture hopefully inspired by the word of God and some, as Jesus pointed out, rules made merely by men. 

Then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.  Jesus admonished his critics saying, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.  Yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”[2]  Jesus in person took some of the words of God, the Ten Commandments and expanded their meaning, most memorably in the sermon on the mount.  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil……. You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”[3]  He also emphasized the underlying spirit of the law, the principles rather than the technicalities, for example, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. …….. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.  …….  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”  Jesus made himself very unpopular with the political and religious leaders of his day by combating their legalism which ran contrary to God’s intentions.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.  It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!”[4]  The scandal of our MP’s expenses falls straight into this category.  The purpose of their expense allowance is that they should not be out of pocket by having to maintain a London residence.  It was drafted at a time when MP’s were expected to act as their title suggests, ‘honourable’ members of the House of Commons and the ‘noble’ Lords.  However, many seem to have operated on the basis of “what can we get away with within the “rules”?” to enhance their life-styles.  This got to the stage of some MP’s claiming for imaginary mortgages and one claiming a spare room in her sister’s house was her principal residence, (rather than the large family home in the constituency where spouse and children resided)!  When caught out, so many of them just didn’t “get it”.  “We operated within the rules”, they complained.  The general public may not act all that honourably itself, but it knows a scam when it sees one. 

The Bible, the Word of God is to guide us.  As the letter to Timothy 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.”  The Bible is not just an old book.  It is inspired by God and contains his living word.  It can speak to us personally and the more we read it, the more we will be able to discern God’s voice speaking to us and into our situations, both personally and corporately, as a church, a village community, or even a country.  It is often best to have a systematic approach to reading the Bible, using the lectionary will get you though most of it over three years.  Alternatively, choosing a theme helped by using Bible notes or a commentary.  Or, just starting with a book and, maybe, alternating between the Old and New Testaments.  Many lifelong church-going Christians have a sketchy knowledge of the Old Testament and as Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.  But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”  By ‘Moses’ Jesus here means the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, which were thought all to have been written by Moses at that time.  The Old Testament shows us how God formed a people for his own possession and without it there can be little understanding of salvation history and the importance of what Jesus did on the cross. 

There is a, possibly apocryphal, story of a man who wanted spiritual guidance, believing that God would speak to him through the Bible, so he opened it at random.  His finger fell on, Mat 27:5 “Judas ‘departed; and he went out and hanged himself” “Oh no the man thought, that can’t be right”, so he tried again, Luke 10:37, “Go and do thou likewise”  In despair he thought he’d have one more go, John 13:27  “What you are going to do, do quickly”.  So, random verse selection may not be the best way to seek God’s guidance. 

However, I will finish with an example of God seeming to speak to me directly through the Bible.  I’m sure many of you will be able to offer your own examples.   Shortly after I had come to faith on an Alpha course at Holy Trinity Brompton, I was approached by a woman, whom I shall call Clara.  She was in my Home Group and was aware that I had had a highly paid job in the City of London.  We were numbered about 10, who met weekly to study the Bible, pray together and enjoy each others’ company.  Clara suggested she and I have lunch together, during which she explained that she was in a tight financial situation, (she was a free-lance journalist).  She then said that God had told her that I would give her £1000 in order to pay a tax demand.  Now I can be a bit of a soft touch, often getting my chequebook out as my heart is moved even before the end of the sob-story.  I felt nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  Having listened I left the restaurant table and went to the loo, where I got down on my knees in a very small cubicle.  I was troubled, it didn’t feel right and I prayed, “God if this is from you, let me know.  Please give me a sense that you have spoken to Clara and you want me to give her the money.”  I felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing.  I returned and regretfully refused.  She was pretty put out.  The next morning I was still perturbed. Had God spoken to her?  Was she prophesying?  I turned to the Bible and asked God to speak to me through it and he led me to a passage I don’t believe I had ever read before, 1 Kings Chapter 13.  Briefly, a man of God prophesies disaster to the king of Judah, the king hates it but his arm is withered as he tries to strike the Man of God who, on request, prays and the King’s arm is restored.  “Then the king said to the man of God, ‘Come home with me and dine, and I will give you a gift.’  But he replies, ’If you give me half your kingdom, I will not go in with you; nor will I dine.  For thus I was commanded by the word of the LORD: You shall not eat food, or drink water, or return by the way that you came.’  So he went back another way.  Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel, he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak tree.  He also invited him home for dinner, but got the same rebuff.  Then the old prophet said to him, ‘I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD: Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat dine.’ But he was deceiving him.  Then the man of God went back with him, and ate and drank but, as they were sitting at the table The LORD spoke though the prophet, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD, … your body shall not come to your ancestral tomb.’  Then, as he went away, a lion met him on the road and killed him.” [5]   The old prophet had said, ‘An angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD.’  But he was deceiving him.  That was what I was given, a deceitful, false prophet.  I am not aware of a similar situation begin described anywhere else in the Bible.  I felt a lot better after that!

So the Bible is the living word of God and the more we read it the more we will be able to discern God’s voice.

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[1] John Milton, Paradise Lost opening stanzas 1667

[2] John 5:39-40

[3] Matthew 5:17, 27-8

[4] Matthew 23:23

[5] 1 Kings 1-24