In The Palm Of Your Hand Series

I want to start out with two true stories this morning and I want to ask you what you notice is common to both stories and what is missing. Ready?

Aurelius Augustinus was born on November 13, 354 a.d. in Tagaste, Numbia … or what is known today as Algeria. We know Aurelius Augustinus today as Augustine of Hippo. For most of his life, Augustine was a famed academic in the Roman Empire but he lived a thoroughly dissolute, self-indulgent, immoral life. As he got older, he sought to overcome his fleshly passions but found that nothing seemed to help. While walking in his garden one afternoon, anxiously wrestling with his problem of lust and his overwhelming desire to engage in sin, he overheard a child's sing-song voice repeating a line from a game: “Pick it up and read … pick it up and read.” He picked up a collection of Paul's epistles on a nearby table that he had been reading and his eyes fell on Romans 13:13-14: “Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

In that instant, says Augustine, “"No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away” (www.christianitytoday.com). Augustine’s life was changed by the words that he read in Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Rome and he went on to become the Bishop of Hippo, the greatest Christian theologian after the Apostle Paul, and one of the most formidable intellects of Western civilization.

Wow … amen?

Now let me tell you what happened to a man that Gaylord Kambarami met in Zimbabwe. In 1995, Mr. Kambarami traveled to the village of Murewa (mm-ray-wah) in Zimbabwe. At the time, Mr. Kambarami was the general secretary of the Bible Society of Zimbabwe, and he had traveled to the Murewa (moo-ray-wah) village in order to distribute copies of the New Testament. He met one man who refused buy a New Testament. Mr. Kambarami asked him why, and he said, “Because it pollutes people.” The secretary then told him that he would give him the Bible for free. The man said: “If you give me that New Testament, I will roll the pages and use them to make cigarettes!” Gaylord replied, “I understand that, but at least promise to read the page of the New Testament before you smoke it.” When the man agreed, Gaylord gave him the New Testament.

Two years later, Gaylord Kambarami went back to the Murewa area. He was speaking in a tent meeting, telling crowds of people how the Bible could change their lives. Here’s how Mr. Kambarami tells the rest of the story: “Now, the same man whom I had given the New Testament to smoke was in the audience. Before the closing of the service, he stood and said, ‘Please, let me say a few words to [Kambarami].’ … ‘This man doesn’t remember me; because when I last saw him I was a drunkard. But he came to our village and persuaded me to take the Bible. I told him I would use the paper to roll cigarettes, but I promised to read each page before doing so, which I did. So I smoked my way through Matthew. And I smoked the whole of Mark too. Then I smoked Luke. I started smoking John, but when I came to John 3:16 [and read “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life”], a light shone in my face. And now I am a church going person. I saw the light’” (Smoking the Bible – Bethel Chapel Church).

So … what do these stories have in common? Obviously the Bible. And what did you notice was missing? There was no great orator … no preacher that converted these people. What powerfully impacted the lives of these to men … and many, many, many others … and changed their lives forever was the Bible itself. [Pick up Bible.] When we pick up a Bible, I wonder if we realize just how much power we are holding in our hands. These aren’t just words on a page. This is more … much more … than a collection of ancient stories. This is the story of God and His people … us.

Hebrews 4:12 describes the Bible as living and active. The Greek word that the author of Hebrews uses for “living” suggests that the Word is teeming with life. It is living … it is active. The Apostle Paul describes the Word as “inspired by God” or “God-breathed” (2nd Timothy 3:16). Some of you may be familiar with Beth Moore. She is an evangelist, author, Bible Teacher, and President of Living Proof Ministries. I mention Beth Moore because I love the way that she uses these passage to describe the Bible: “… we might say that every breath comes to us still warm from the mouth of God. As if He just said it” (Moore, B. Voice of the Faithful. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub.; 2005; pp. 39-40). Beautiful, amen?