Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:21-27

Intro: Even if you grew up in church, bet your experience wasn’t as weird as mine. From the time I could read, I competed in “sword drills.” I will explain. We sat in our “Sunday school” class with Bibles on our laps. The adult leading the sword drill would tell us a book in the Bible, a chapter of that book, and a the number of a specific verse, such as Matthew 5:8. Then our leader would say, “Ready. Present arms (which meant we would hold up our Bibles in one hand, with the binding toward us). Charge!” We would then furiously hunt for the verse, and the first person to find it would jump up and read it aloud. Points were awarded to those who were the quickest in locating the verses.

Of course the swords we drew were our Bibles, because
the word of God is living and and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and
take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Heb. 4:12; Ep. 6:17)
– although the meaning of scripture being a weapon is spiritual,
• in our religious subculture, it also meant being armed to win arguments
◦ perhaps that’s one reason why fundamentalists like such big Bibles
Joel Green describes preachers and teachers who spruce up the Bible,
for whom “the Bible serves, for example, as a book of quotations from which to draw authoritative support for one’s words, as a collection of proverbs for backing up moral convictions, or perhaps a treasure chest of discussion starters for group interaction . . . Interest in this sort of application is often articulated in terms of a baseline assumption that the Bible is a resource book for life in this world—a kind of ‘owner’s manual,’ indexed for troubleshooting when life goes wrong. In these churchly contexts, the words of the Bible may be visible, but it cannot be said that these are churches where the Bible is engaged as Christian Scripture.”
– modern metaphors for the bible include:
A Road Map
A Handbook for Living
A Love Story
A Survival Guide for the End Times
• biblical metaphors for God’s word include:
A sword
A lamp (Psa. 119:105)
Fire (Jer. 23:29)
Food (Job 23:12; Jer.15:16)
A hammer (Jer. 23:29)
A Seed (Mk. 4:14; 1 Pet. 1:22).

James uses the metaphor of a mirror for God’s word

The one who looks into it intently and perseveres, lives it, and is blessed
– in verses 26-27 James gives us an example
• this person doesn’t benefit from looking into the mirror of God’s word
If anyone thinks he is religious
◦ but he is not changed by what he sees, so he
deceives his heart, and this person’s religion is worthless
• James also tells us what pure and undefiled religion looks like
to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world
Hans von Balthasar, “It may be, indeed it is bound to follow, that as man reflects on what God says to him, the human being, the ‘I’, the self becomes visible, attains reality. Not, however, through reflecting on himself, but by listening to God’s word. For it is in the mirror of God’s word that man sees who he is.”
– the primary purpose of the Scriptures is to reveal God to us
• but they also reveal to us who and what we are
• what does Jesus’ Sermon On the Mount do? or his parables?
◦ they open our eyes to ourselves
◦ what is right and what is wrong; what we have and what is lacking

It is popular today to talk about “transformational leadership”

Or to refer to a ministry as “transformative”
– transformation is a big word – it refers to deep change
• we make superficial changes, and think it’s a big deal
◦ we stop cussing, stop watching R-rated movies, start going to church
◦ but still we stop short of being transformed
• perhaps it would help to paint picture of what I mean

One day a woman tells here husband that she’s done. She has filed for divorce. He immediately reacts as he has done in every previous crisis. He promises that he will change. He will leave love notes for her, call her from work to tell her how much she means to him, bring flowers on his way home, plan special “date nights,” and all of the other things he can think of that she has ever mentioned to him “would be nice.” For years she has tried to get him to see that that she needs to know she is important to him.
In spite of his promising, begging, threatening, and best efforts to persuade her not to leave him, she refuses to listen. She tells him she doesn’t want flowers and phone calls. If from now on he did everything for her that she had ever asked, it would no difference. It is no longer his ongoing behavior she does not want–it is him.
When they married, she thought he was something else, or that he would one day become something else. Now she realizes he will never be that person, and she no longer wants to be with the person he is. And all of his superficial changes cannot make him the person she wished for when she married him.

This is what I mean by “deep change” — changing who I am
– deep change affects the very things that define us
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17)
• listen to what Jesus says,
On that many will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many might works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Mt. 7:22-23)
◦ as spiritually mighty as these deeds may sound,
◦ they do not describe the kind of persons Jesus knows
• or listen to Paul,
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3)
◦ external behavior, even good habits or significant sacrifices,
◦ cannot substitute for a transformed heart and mind
– OKAY, please do not feel overwhelmed or defeated
• it’s just that we need to think about transformation honestly
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Ro. 12:2–the word translated testing appears in 2 Cor. 13:5, where Paul says, examine yourselves)
◦ we have heard this many times,
◦ but we’ve dodged how tough it really is to accept
• the transformation needs to occur in areas entrenched deep within us
◦ it’s in these areas we discover how hard-hearted and stiff-necked we are
◦ we have to let the sacred writings reach into these deep areas
Jonathan Pennington, “. . . when we move from talking about just any text to dealing with the Holy Scripture, the stakes are raised because ultimately to read the Bible is to hear the Word of God, to discern what God is saying to us. Bible reading is not just informative, but it must be transformative; otherwise its meaning is not truly understood.”

What are those deep areas that need to change?

God offers us a new heart and new spirit (Ezek. 36:26)
– so transformation occurs in what we hold in these areas of ourselves
• Paul says we’re transformed by the renewal of our minds
• do you suppose that covers only our conscious thoughts?
◦ or does it include what lies in our unconscious?
– we need to begin somewhere
Kathleen McAlpin, in her book, Ministry that Transforms, says, “For adults to grow they need to interpret their personal experiences and life situation in new ways and to become free to engage in a process of transformation. Expectations gained from past experiences govern how adults comprehend new realities. Adults develop habits around expectations that strongly influence their perceptions. From these expectations they maintain certain perspectives that give meaning to their reality. It is necessary to be aware of these expectations and to be able to appreciate and to comprehend new experiences from fresh perspectives to learn.”
“Critically examining our interpretations, particularly emotional reactions of shock or surprise, and the perspectives they express is the major imperative of modern adulthood.”
• there are many things I take for granted,
◦ things I accept exactly as they are–without question
◦ the poverty of other people and my own affluence
◦ that because I’m a Christian I’m going to heaven
and because others who are not Christians are not going to heaven

So what else are we talking about?
– if my prejudicial judgments are not changed, I am not transformed
• we have to be open to questioning our cherished beliefs and dogmatic convictions
◦ Peter was so sure of his beliefs that he rebuked Jesus (Mt. 16:22)
◦ John the Baptist was so certain that he knew what the Messiah would do, he doubted Jesus (Mt. 11:2-6)
• we must examine our unconscious assumptions, likes and dislikes, values
◦ our perspective, passions, and paradigms
◦ our loyalties, what we have loved and what we have hated
– it’s not that we have to get rid of everything,
• but all of it has to pass through the fire

Sacred writings require us to read with self-reflection

Barb and I have mirrors in our bathroom and a mirror in our bedroom
– when I want to feel good about myself, I look at the mirror in our bedroom
• the light is dim and the mirror is across the room, so I look okay
– when I want to see the truth about myself, I look at the other mirror
• the light is bright and the mirror is close up
◦ suddenly I’m in a Stephen King movie and there’s a monster in my mirror

We need to engage in scripture in a way that results in transformation
– this means to come to the Bible with complete openness
• we bring our deep issues to the surface
◦ out doubts, but also everything we think we know for certain
• then we allow God to speak to us about those things
◦ that is the role that our sacred writings play in our transformation
– we let them speak to what we know needs changing, but also what we don’t know needs changing
• in the book of Hebrews we learned the word of God is living and active–
and it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart – it cuts into us
◦ so as you read, notice what gets to you, upsets your or forces you to think
◦ it may be that is the word you need to hear for deep change to occur
Joel Green, “[We] bring with us always and everywhere ourselves—our presuppositions and histories, our stories. And these presuppositions enable our understanding, as well as disable it.”
“Self consciously bringing ourselves with us to the work of reading Scripture comes with its advantages. It helps us come clean with our commitments and concerns, the interests that shape our reading of these texts, helping us approach our interpretive work more honestly.”
“We come to Scripture again and again, in humility, not only with our questions but with an openness to its questions—open to the possibility that this text will speak a word over against us . . . .”
• I have experienced this many times
◦ God has revealed to me my blind spots – he calls me out
◦ he confronts and exhorts us, but also comforts and encourages us
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (Ro. 15:4)
• sacred writings enable us stop lying to ourselves
◦ and that is often the breakthrough that leads to transformation

Conclusion: We do not need to be afraid of being examined by scripture

Our sacred writings know us better than we know ourselves
– our reading is self-reflective we we can confidently pray,
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psa. 139:23-24)
– all the same, we don’t have to pretend transformation is easy or painless
• but we must realize there are powerful resources to assist us
◦ we will see in coming weeks that we have lots of help!
• and we need to remember this is a process; it doesn’t happen in a flash

Helmut Thielicke, “Since my present state no longer stands between God and me, since the Mediator has filled the gap, I can know myself quite freely . . . Self-knowledge is no longer dangerous; I need not repress it. I do not have to fall into illusions about myself. I no longer need the darkness. Hence the gospel gives me knowledge of myself with a final depth that the law could never achieve. From the safety of the shore of deliverance on which I am set by grace, I can observe the elements which still rage in me but which can no longer drag me back under, and whose power over me is broken.”

What the sacred writings transform in us, Jesus has already redeemed
For all eternity we will be grateful for his work in us,
because what he works in us,
enables us to achieve exactly what we want,
and that is,
for each one of us to become a good person

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And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the recovery of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21

Intro: Three weeks ago you joined me on this journey of discovery

We began by recognizing our Scriptures as are sacred writings
– then we asked, How are we supposed to read sacred writings?
• sacred does not mean they are merely “religious”
• rather, they have a divine, other-worldly origin and quality
◦ they reveal truth otherwise hidden from human minds
– there is another uncanny feature to the sacred writings;
• as we read the ancient texts, God speaks directly to us
◦ as if they were written for us and meant to be heard here and now
◦ it is like hearing Jesus read from Isaiah and then telling us,
Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing
◦ this is how New Testament writers read the Hebrew Scriptures
Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
(Heb. 12:5–this exhortation is found in Proverbs 3:11-12, written centuries before the book of Hebrews!)
Martin Buber described how the Hebrew Scriptures recount history from creation to redemption, and, “in the course of its history, experiences revelation, a revelation I experience if I am there.”
◦ and that is the key that unlocks the mystery! mindfully being there
• in the sacred writings, we hear our names called
◦ we are told what we need to know today
◦ that we are loved, that there’s hope for us, that God is for us

We need to be familiar with a few ground rules

Sacred, does not mean magical
– it is not like you can flip open the Bible to any page at random,
• look at one verse, start reading, and God will reveal divine mysteries
• that is not a sacred reading – it is divination or “bibliomancy”
– a similar practice is proof-texting
• using isolated verses scattered through Bible to construct a doctrine
(This week my son, Will, sent me a photo of a coffee mug that made a play on a verse from Philippians, “I can do all things through a verse taken out of context”)
◦ because a person is able to quote many Bible verses from memory,
◦ does not mean they know their Bible really well!
• scripture is sacred, but it is still a written document
◦ we read its books start to finish to hear its message

Another lesson we need to keep in mind

Scholars talk about two ways of learning or knowing
– learning about something from a distance leads to objective knowing
learning about something close up leads to subjective knowing
• scientists and philosophers strive to be objective
◦ their goal is to get to the facts without personal feelings getting in the way
◦ getting too close or caring too much can interfere with or distort the experiment
◦ they write reports and essays, and draw diagrams
• artists let their feelings guide them to the subject and the process
◦ they allow themselves to be moved by what they observe
◦ they write poems, and paint pictures, and dance stories
objectivity is considered intellectual
subjectivity is considered emotional or relational
objectivity is separated from its subject
subjectivity is connected to its subject
objectivity excludes personal feelings
subjectivity listens to its deepest feelings
objectivity is analytical
subjectivity is intuitive
objectivity is a function of the head (or the brain’s left hemisphere and pre-frontal cortex)
subjectivity is a function of the heart (or the brain’s right hemisphere and limbic system)

Sacred writings require both kinds of reading – with head and heart
– we come to God’s word with the whole self
• objectivity helps us learn what we need to know about God
• subjectivity helps us to know God
Joel Green explains that we need background studies training in ancient languages, historical settings, archeology, and so on, but they cannot substitute for “the more essential ‘preparation’” of acceptance, devotion, attention and trust.” The other tools “must take their place alongside other commitments rather than above them.”
He quotes Rene Padilla, who observed that scientific objectivity is “neither possible nor desirable” for interpreting scripture. “It is not possible, because contemporary interpreters are stamped with the imprint of their particular time and place as surely as is the ancient text . . . . It is not desirable, because the Bible can only be properly understood as it is read with a particpatory involvement and allowed to speak into one’s situation. Ultimately, if the text written in the past does not strike home in the present it has not been understood.” (quoted in Joel Green, Seized by Truth)
– so we want to come to the sacred writings subjectively
• to read them in the way John described his contact with the Word as
that . . . which we have heard, which we seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands (1 Jn. 1:1)
• we want to come close enough to feel the life that breathes in the word
◦ to hear it as God’s word spoken directly to us, here and now

When reading the sacred writings, we want to be receptive

We must come to the Scriptures with an open mind and an open heart
– the old priest, Eli, taught the boy Samuel to pray,
Speak, LORD, for your servant hears (1 Sam. 3:9)
And Jesus said, more than once,
He who has ears, let him hear (Mt. 13:9)
• if I’m expecting a call, I had better have my phone turned on
◦ it is not difficult to block God’s voice
• sometimes I shut off reception just by the mood I’m in
– there is a great description of receptive reading in 1 Thessalonians
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers (1 Thes. 2:13)

At some point, we’ll have an adverse reaction to something in the Scriptures
– a passage will disturb us, or we won’t like what it says,
• or we’ll immediately disagree, or disbelieve it
◦ the Bible can be confusing and frustrating
◦ it can also evoke worry or anxiety
• misunderstanding scripture is part of our discipleship
So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me . . .’? What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We so not know what he is talking about (Jn. 16:17-18)
– when we come up against a challenge, we can approach it objectively
• we can do some serious Bible study and research
◦ gather more information and look for a rational answer
◦ and keep trying until we find find a credible solution

But when reading the Scriptures as Sacred writings,
I assume that I am in error and not God’s word!

• this is how I let God speak to me, which is my purpose in reading sacred writings
◦ so I read them without judgment
◦ if I close myself off to them, they will close off God’s voice to me
– so when something bothers me, I ask:
1. Have I read this wrong? Did I misinterpret a verse or miss something?
2. Is this how I am supposed to feel?
• much happens in scripture that should disturb and disgust
• we gain more by struggling with scripture than by ignoring our reactions
3. What does my reaction reveal about me?
• what has the text touched in me? Brought to the surface?
• the sacred writings know us better than we know ourselves
– until now, we’ve been thrashing on the surface of text
• but dealing with an adverse reactions takes us deeper into them,
• or allows them to sink deeper into us, and we are enlightened

So rather than approach the sacred writings with judgment,
– I come to them with curiosity
• when I ask, What am I missing? – often, it is the most important thing
• so, every once in awhile in your reading,
◦ pause and take a cleansing breath
– God doesn’t require us to understand everything in the Scriptures
• he asks us to take it in – like soil receiving a seed

When reading the sacred writings, we want to be responsive

We hear God speak directly to us, and then the question is
– “What am I going to do with this?”
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only (Jas. 2:22)
• most of the time, the answer is obvious
• we do what God tells us
◦ we pray for someone, we surrender something, we laugh, or we cry
– but the point is, we come to sacred writings with the intention to respond
• I am not only taking this word into my head,
◦ but into my whole body
• by bringing attention to my body as I read,
◦ I sometimes catch myself not breathing or shallow breathing,
◦ my shoulders are tensed, or I’m clenching my jaw
– in the Scriptures, whenever God called someone’s name,
• they responded by saying, “Here I am”
• I believe this is the proper here-and-now response to the sacred writings
◦ I am present, I am focused and attentive, I am available

Conclusion: You know, some Christians feel Bible reading is an obligation

Will I treat it like that – like an unpleasant chore
– or will I hold it like it could explode in my hands?
– can we read it as if listening to Jesus read it, and then telling us,
Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing

Henri Nouwen, “One good way to listen [for God’s voice in prayer] is to listen with a sacred text: a psalm or a prayer, for instance . . . repeating it slowly in the mind, word by word, sentence by sentence . . . [Listening] to the voice of love becomes not just a passive waiting, but an active attentiveness to the voice that speaks to us through the words of the Scripture. . . the voice [we] so much wanted to hear.”

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But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through the faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Intro: In the world of literature, it is not unusual to find,

An author’s most treasured insights aren’t in the books they wrote
– but in letters to their friends, students, colleagues, or admirers
• frequently their letters provide the most practical and helpful advice
◦ they reveal what inspired them, kept them going,
◦ and their personal sources of insight and understanding
• in his letters to Timothy, Paul shares wise counsel with his protégé
◦ we’re fortunate to have access to this personal correspondence
– believers who love the Bible, love this passage
• here, Paul tells Timothy to continue on the path he has traveled
◦ he refers specifically to his spiritual education from others and scripture
• in verse 16, Paul makes clearest statement on inspiration of the Scriptures that is to be found in all of the New Testament
◦ it is breathed out by God – and as such, all Scripture . . . is profitable

The reason I brought you to this passage was to point out the terminology
– in all of scripture, the phrase appears only in this one place
• that phrase is sacred writings
◦ these two words are so important, we will need a few weeks to absorb them
• why have many Christians become bored with the Bible?
◦ why do many struggle with much that they find in the Bible?
◦ why have many become disenchanted, disinterested, and skeptical?
– the answer is, we have lost the essence of what the Bible is
• lost our respect for it and do not know how to read it
• like every generation, we have been influenced by the spirit of our times
◦ we struggle with the Bible,
◦ because we read it with rationally and scientifically conditioned minds

Every religion has its sacred writings
– all of them are treated as having come from a higher source of wisdom
• that higher source can be divine or perhaps an enlightened human
• those sacred writings define reality, provide beliefs, practices, and rituals
◦ the Bible is a collection of the sacred writings of Christianity

I will emphasize one fact and want you to take into your soul

We read sacred writings differently from how we read anything else
– you will not get from the Bible all it has to give if you expect it to read like
• a novel, magazine, newspaper, text book, or any other sort of document
• sacred writings are not pried open by critical minds,
◦ do not share their treasures with doubtful minds,
◦ or force their truths into resistant hearts
Joel Green, “Reading the Bible is not necessarily the same as reading Scripture. More specifically, when we read the Bible we are not necessarily reading the Bible as Scripture. . . . At one level, this is the experience of many ordinary Christians who take up the Bible and read its words, then walk away unchanged, uninspired, and uncertain.”
– all types of literature that we read take us into their worlds
• the Bible also takes us into its worlds – but it does more
◦ the Bible has a life that leaves the page and enters our world
◦ but only if we read it as Scripture, as sacred writings
• frequently we read in the prophets a phrase that goes like this,
The word of the LORD that came to Hosea (Hos. 1:1)
◦ reading Bible as sacred writings, God’s living word comes to us
◦ and it can come with the spiritual force that took hold of the prophets
Joel Green emphasizes “the immediacy of the Scriptures—that is, their capacity to speak clearly not only to their first audiences but also to later peoples faced with fresh challenges.” He asks the question, “What might it mean for us to read these documents as though they were addressed to us?”

Our sacred writings are a gift

We must never forget this
– the gift is God’s revelation to us of himself
• its purpose is not to teach us science, philosophy, history, etc.
◦ these are subjects we can learn from other sources
• sacred writings tell us about things that are otherwise unknowable
– as I read these words in front of me,
• something comes to me from outside my universe
• something that cannot be known than any other way
◦ and it comes to me as experiential knowledge
◦ God’s living word, entering my world, entering me

I always feel clumsy when trying to explain meaning of sacred

It is one of those terms that is more easily caught than taught
– sacred is a synonym for holy
• holiness has only one source – and it isn’t in our world
• in our everyday experience, holiness is foreign
– holiness is like a spiritual energy – and it can be scary
• think of the invisible energy of uranium
• the energy of holiness can be either positive or negative
◦ in devotion to God, positive energy is released: grace and blessing
◦ in the violation of a taboo, negative energy is released : wrath and curse

God’s holiness leaves traces of his presence
– in any place he has visited, on anything he has touched
• coming to those places or things, we encounter the sacred
• the sacred brings an awareness of a transcendent reality
– we do not merely read the sacred text,
• we experience it as a doorway to the transcendent
• it is always more than information – it is about encounter
Hans von Balthasar, “The vital thing is the living encounter with the God who speaks to us in his word.”
. . . for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction . . . . you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe (1 Th. 1:5; 2:13)
◦ in the sacred writings, we draw near to God and he draws near to us

How are we supposed to read sacred writings?

This may sound at first like another “method”
– like “how to study the Bible” or “how to interpret the Scriptures”
• but it’s not that — in fact, methods can get in the way
Joel Green talks about “Scientific methods” of interpretation, to which we “come as visitors from another land. If we are concerned with applying the Bible to our lives, scientific approaches teach us to take safari into the Bible’s strange world, capture the meaning that we find there, and transport it back to our world so as to display it and, if possible, to translate what we have learned about the past into contemporary idiom. For the scientific reader of the Bible, there is no inherent need to concern ourselves with the significance of the Bible for ourselves. It is sufficient to study these texts on their own terms, for their significance as cultural products in their own times.”
• we can be overly rationalistic with our methods
◦ sometimes it’s an attempt to make the Bible more believable
– the sacred writings do not require intense reasoning
• in fact, that can get in the way (as it often did with the disciples)
◦ but neither do the sacred writings require us to be gullible
◦ credulity leads to superstition and not faith
• how are we supposed to read the sacred writings?
◦ I intend to spend two months answering that question

Conclusion: For now I will offer a few suggestions

Prepare your mind and your heart with prayer
– not only requesting God’s presence and assistance
– but sitting quietly, listening to the silence, and focusing your attention

Do not jump to conclusions about what a text means
– especially avoid immediately applying everything to yourself
– don’t immediately lake a verse and start preaching at yourself
• many of us are too quick to assume the Scriptures are here to condemn us
• they are here to point the way to Jesus Christ

Don’t overreact when what you read is annoying, disturbing
– or when you have any sort of negative response
– instead, bring awareness and curiosity to what you are feeling
• in this way you are more likely to learn something about yourself
• and something about how you can live closer to God

Take reading the Bible very seriously
Helmut Thielicke, when preaching on Jesus’ parable of the soil and the seeds, addressed worldly distractions symbolized by the thorn-infested soil. “The devout of all times have been aware of these sources of domineering appeal and have therefore mobilized other forces against them. Above all, they meditated upon the Scriptures and prayed. But how the great ones in the kingdom of God did that! For them every reading of the Bible was a battle and every prayer a sword stroke.” “. . . the Word of God is demanding. It demands a stretch of time in our day—even though it be a very modest one—in which it is our only companion. We can’t bite off even a simple ‘text for the day’ and swallow it in one lump while we have our hand on the doorknob. Such things are not digested; they are not assimilated into one’s organism.”

I am not going to tell you how often to read the sacred writings
or how much to read in one sitting,
a chapter, ten chapters, or just one verse
I am not going to recommend a reading plan
I am only going to urge you’re the read the Scriptures,
receiving and responding to them as our sacred writings