THE BIBLE SPEAKS

A Sermon for Reformation Sunday
October 28, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

II Timothy 3:16
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.(NRSV)






The following drama is a first account of the Reformation from the Bible's point of view.

The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book that’s me!
So stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!

Hello everyone! Since today is Reformation Sunday and a celebration is, therefore, required, Pastor Laura asked me, the Bible, to come and speak to you this morning. As you can see, I am the “Living Person Version”, the most talkative style of Bible. I want you to understand some important things about me and since I’m showing up in person, I know you’ll remember them.

You see, I play a vital role in the dramatic story of the Reformation, which began back in 1517. Martin Luther, a young priest and professor of Biblical theology at the University Wittenberg, knew me quite well. As a scholar, he’s spent a lot of time studying me. And he saw that the practices of the Church at the time, especially that of selling indulgences, were not in keeping with my teachings. Indulgences sort of worked like extra credit points in school. The Church said that if you buy them, your soul will gain the extra merit points that the saints of old had left over. The more you buy, the better off you’ll be.

Luther searched me through and through and could not find any reason to support this practice. I proclaim the good news that salvation comes, not from doing good deeds and buying indulgences to make up for your lack, but from the merit of Christ’s resurrection alone. Faith in Christ alone saves! It is a gift, pure and simple.

In the midst of the trouble that Luther caused back in the Middle Ages, he realized that the Church was able to get so off track because the lay people did not have access to the scriptures. That’s right. I was not always the lovely, leather bound book you see before you today. In those days, I was a set of scriptures that had been hand-copied from previous manuscripts. And I was only in the original languages—Hebrew for the Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Scriptures, and Greek for the New Testament, also known as the Christian Scriptures—and the scholarly language of Latin. That was it. Do any of you speak ancient Hebrew, Greek or Latin? Well, then you would have no way to read me for yourselves and you would have to rely upon the Church’s word.

Understandably, Luther thought this was a big problem. During his time of hiding out in the Wartburg Castle, he translated me into German for the first time. Since he questioned the Church, they put a bounty on his head and Luther could have been killed if anyone had found him. So he spent his hiding time wisely by putting me into the language of the people. He believed that if they could just read me themselves, they would understand God and God’s will for humanity. And since the printing press had just been invented, he got me printed and bound up as a book for the first time. It was an exciting time for me and for God’s people! And it has been exciting ever since!

And you modern day ELCA Lutherans—you’ve got some thoughts about me. Do you want to know what they are? Well, you believe that I am the most important way in which God is revealed to you. When you read me, it’s more than just words on a page. You see, in reading me, you are able to encounter the Living God! And through my content, you are called to a Living Faith.

I’m more than just a book, I’m a whole library. In fact, my name, Bible, means books. There are so many books contained within my pages. There are 66, in fact. And they weren’t all written at once. They were written over a period of about 1,000 years.  Each of my books had a life and use of its own before it came to be part of the collection included in the Bible. These books that made the final cut are known as the "sacred canon."

As you know, I contain all kinds of stories, from the very beginning when God created the universe. In my 39 books of the Old Testament, you can read about the Jewish people’s history and their understanding of God and God’s interaction with humankind. In my 27 New Testament books, you hear about God’s self revelation in Jesus Christ.

Like other Christians, you ELCA Lutherans confidently claim that my authority rests in God.  You believe that God inspired my many writers, editors and compilers.  As they heard God speaking and discerned God’s activity in events around them, my content took shape.  Among other things, the literature they produced is rather diverse and includes history, laws, parables, letters of instruction, persuasion and encouragement, tales of heroism, love poetry and hymns of praise.  These different styles of writing all testify to faith in a God who acts by personally engaging people throughout history.

At the same time, you Lutherans recognize that human testimony and writing are related to and often limited by culture, customs and world view.  Today we know that the earth is not flat and that rabbits do not chew their cud like it says in Leviticus (11:6).  There lots of time-bound cultural understandings and practices we don’t follow any more. For example, you no longer obey my prescribed dietary laws like eliminating pork from your diet (Leviticus 11:7) because the new covenant we have with God in Jesus has replaced the old covenant God had with his people.  My writers, editors and compilers were inspired by God but they were also limited by their times and world views, just like you are today.  It is true that because of this, I contain differing and even contradictory views of God’s word, ways and will. I’m so very complicated!

Today, it is your responsibility to interpret me and use me to guide your lives. As you read me, you and your fellow believers have to sort out what is the eternal essence of what God is saying and what is time-bound and should no longer enforced, like the biblical notion of owning people as slaves or keeping women out of ordained ministry. And since you believe that God is alive and working, you may discern that even though I say one thing, God may be doing something new. Together as a church, you must use your intelligent minds and listen to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in order to interpret me wisely. Biblical scholars spend a lot of time dissecting me and using logical theories so they can be of great help in this process. Your pastor relies quite a bit upon their findings for her sermons—that is, when she actually preaches herself instead of bringing in special guests like me.

Back to Martin Luther. He had some very insightful things to say about this matter. He said that you should all look at me through the lens of God’s most important act—that of becoming human and entering our world. Jesus was himself the Living Word of God. Luther said Jesus is to be worshiped, not me—that as important as I am, I am simply the manger in which the Christ child lays. I am the manger. That means I am the place where you can encounter the Christ who came to save you. And so you ought to look at all of my passages in light of this reality.

On several occasions, Martin Luther suggested that not all of my books have the same value for faith formation.  With every thing you read in me, you have to ask, “Is what’s written here consistent with God’s revelation in Jesus?"  It is a question that you ELCA Lutherans find best answered within the life of the Church in community because Jesus is alive and with you all as Lord of the Church.

So today, on Reformation Sunday, we celebrate me, God’s Word, our great heritage. We get excited about the fact that you all have access to me, the Living Scripture that contains the Living Word of God. You can read your own Bibles in your own native language and so you can encounter the Living God and be called to a Living Faith! You can discover God’s unconditional love for you and for all people! You can have the peace of knowing God has saved you by grace. Now you’ll never forget just how important I am!

The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book that’s me!
So stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E!


© 2007 Laura Gentry