Years ago, there was a comedian named Bill Hicks who told a story about a time that he was sitting in a restaurant, reading a book at the counter. When the waitress came up to take his order, she asked, “What are you reading for?” Not, “what are you reading?” but “what are you reading for,” as if he needed to justify why he was reading in the first place.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed something rather alarming happening when I sit down to read. There I am, holding a book and looking at a page and I find my eyes skipping ahead, almost as if I’m scrolling down to the next section to try to glean as much as I can in as little time as possible. I don’t know for sure, but I think this is linked to the way I read stuff on my “smart” phone – scrolling down to the next thing on my social media feed. It would appear that my “smart” phone is, indeed, making me dumber when I sit down to read a book!
So, when I read a book, I find myself needing to take a deep breath and shift my brain into a lower gear – opening myself to learning something new in a way that takes more time but ends up being more fulfilling in the long run.
Now, I don’t want this to be yet another warning against the evils of technology or an argument for why books are better than Instagram, but the question “What are you reading for?” Is something that came up in a conversation around reading the Bible.
You and I need not have to justify why we are reading the Bible. Thankfully, we are free to read the Bible wherever and whenever we like. But when you read the Bible, I’m curious what might be behind your reasons for reading it. When you read the Bible, what are you looking for when you read?
Are you reading/looking for Inspiration?
Are you reading/looking for Instruction on how to live your life?
Are you reading/looking for Answers to big questions?
Are you reading/looking for Comfort?
Are you reading/looking for Truth? Grace? Peace? Hope?
No matter why you are reading the Bible – and what you’re looking for when you read – it’s important to remember that you and I (and everyone who reads scripture) brings our own needs, hopes, prior experiences, knowledge (and lack of knowledge) to the text. It’s also important to remember that we are reading the product of thousands of years and countless numbers of people who have faithfully worked to offer the Bible translation that is in our hands. And, there is also the lens through and by which other interpreters (pastors, scholars, fellow believers, and skeptics) are reading the Bible that can play a part in what we find when we read scripture.
Somehow, through it all, the Holy Spirit has been at work – and continues to be at work whenever we read scripture.
A few weeks ago, our scripture reading from Matthew 18:20 had Jesus telling us, “. . . wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am with you.” The Holy Spirit makes this possible. And, whenever we gather together to read scripture and interpret, the best interpretations are not one single voice, but all of us, together, wrestling with the meaning of what we are hearing and reading. When John Calvin wrote about this, he said that we cannot understand scripture without the Holy Spirit’s help and the Holy Spirit is experienced in community with others. Now, these other people might not be reading scripture for the exact same reasons that we are, but being in conversation with them might help our own interpretation grow fuller and more fulfilling.
So, I want to encourage you to read the Bible whenever and wherever you like, but I also want to encourage you to read the Bible in the company of others and in conversation with as many fellow interpreters of the text as you can. One possible place to do this is every Sunday at 9 AM in our “Feasting on the Word” Sunday School Class, which meets in the Living Room (the old Church Library, beneath the Sanctuary). We have a good time and get to think and reflect on the scripture readings for the day before we go upstairs to experience them, again, in the worship service.
Grace and Peace,
John
Prepare for Worship
This Week: “Last and First” (Equality, Equity, and the Empire of God)
- Matthew 20:1-16
- Jonah 3:10-4:11
- Read or sing Hymn # 719 – “Come, Labor On”