Title: Augmenting Reality
Text: II Timothy 3:14-4:5
Thesis: God’s Word augments the way we see and experience the realities of life.
Introduction
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-simulated environment that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world or imagined worlds. The simulated environment can be similar to the real world in order to create a lifelike experience—for example, in simulators for pilot training. Virtual reality is often used to describe a wide variety of applications commonly associated with immersive, highly visual, 3D environments. The IMAX at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is a great place to experience virtual reality in 3D form. In 1999, The Matrix and later sequels explored the possibility that our world is actually a vast Virtual Reality (or more precisely, simulated reality) created by artificially intelligent machines. Some say that virtual reality might also be termed “artificial reality.” It’s not real but it virtually feels real.
Life is not lived as a simulated experience. It is actual. We live in real-time and have real-life experiences. However, in the context of real-time and real-life experience we can augment reality.
When we augment reality we add to or develop or supplement or reinforce or beef up or strengthen something. When driving on a bright sunny day after a fresh snowfall you augment your vision by wearing sunglasses. If an athlete wishes to cut corners and exacerbate his strength conditioning he or she takes steroids to augment muscle development. A student wishing to impress the Admissions Department of a university might augment or beef up their application with an accumulation of community service or volunteer experiences. I augmented my chances of receiving a call to be your pastor when I made sure Bonnie was with me… she always makes me look better than I really am, i.e., “if ole Monty can score a wife like that he can’t be all bad.”
This morning I am suggesting that God’s Word, i.e., the bible, augments the way we see and experience the realities of life. The Word of God serves to enlighten and guide and inspire and encourage and comfort and instruct us in ways that help us experience life in ways that would not otherwise be possible. When we experience life through the lens of Scripture/God’s Word, we see life as God would have us see and experience it.
Our text begins with Paul reminding his young protégé that he is who he is because his grandmother, Lois and his mother, Eunice (II Timothy 1:5-6) raised him in the Word of God from his earliest childhood.
Paul said to Timothy, “You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.” II Timothy 3:15
Statistically, most parents, i.e., 9 out of 10 or 85%, believe they are primarily responsible for the spiritual development of their children, but few parents spend time with their children interacting with them on spiritual or religious matters. But those 9 out of 10 parents have no plan for the spiritual development of their children. There is no plan… I will baptize or dedicate my children. I will take my children to Church where they will receive spiritual instruction. I expose my children to learning experiences through Kids Klub, Confirmation and youth group. I will read bible stories to my children. I will pray for my child. I will talk to my children about what they are learning. I will, by the grace of God, model Christ-likeness before my children. (Parents Accept Responsibility for Their Child’s Development But Struggle with Effectiveness, Barna Research Group, May 6, 2003
Timothy’s mother and grandmother had a plan. They took the bible serious when they read in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about in your home, out in the community, at night when you put them to bed and in the morning when they wake up…” They had augmented Timothy’s life and learning by teaching him spiritual things. And he was a devoted follower of Christ because they had augmented his young faith by spiritual instruction from God’s Word.
In the same way God’s Word augments our earthly lives and our eternal destinies in ways that would not be the case otherwise.
Our text begins by making a very bold statement:
I. The Bible is God’s Written Word to us.
“All Scripture is inspired by God...” II Timothy 3:16
Gk. Theopneustos: God-breathed.
Just as Jesus Christ is God revealed to us in the flesh or incarnationally, God reveals Himself to us through his written Word. Just as we see and hear God in the person of Jesus we see and hear God in the written Word of God.
The original text is translated, All Scripture is “God-Breathed.” Most modern translations state, All Scripture is “inspired.” One commentator pointed out that inserting “inspired” in the place of “God-breathed” may be less awkward but it is also less accurate. We use the word “inspired” rather loosely.
Recently while I was visiting our kiddos in Wheaton I set about digging a hole 2’ square by 4’ deep. Lorri and I mixed 20 bags of pre-mixed concrete, put re-bar in the hole and filled the hole, set 4 – 3’ long, hooked anchor bolts and a mounting plate in the concrete. And as per the instructions… let the concrete set for 72 hours before we mounted the basketball goal.
Meanwhile, we assembled the Mammoth Basketball Goal... that is the actual name from the Sports Authority people. It was a floor model so it had come partially assembled, which I thought was a great thing but it still arrived with a pile of metal stuff and sacks of bolts, minus the directions. We found them online and went to work. But when we tried to assemble and mount the hydraulic cylinders used to raise and lower the goal they simply would not fit. Then in a moment of inspiration we had a bright idea... what if we loosened all the bolts on the pre-assembled part. And when I did that everything went together perfectly.
Now, was I inspired to loosen the other bolts. Is a bright idea or a creative thought inspiration in the biblical sense? No it isn’t.
Inspired does not fully capture the nuance of being God-breathed. Falling in love and getting all giddy and inspired to write a love poem is not inspiration in the biblical sense. A writer may be inspired by his or her muse. Peyton Manning may be inspired to pass for eight touchdowns this afternoon but neither the writer nor the athlete are inspired in the biblical sense.
When we say Scripture is God-breathed we are saying that it is as if God breathed the words of Scripture into and through the biblical writers. Over a period of 1,600 years, 40 different writers were inspired by God to compose the 66 books in the Old and New Testaments into one continuing thread of God’s redemptive activity in the lives of humankind.
We get a glimpse into the way God communicated his Word to us through others in II Peter. “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding or from human initiative. No, the prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” II Peter 1:20-21
So what we have is no whimsical piece of literature. The bible is God’s Word, breathed into and through those whom God used to convey his Word and his will to us. That makes the Word of God not only divinely inspired it makes it authoritative as in, God said it.
The bible is not just another book. No other book compares to it. It is like no other book. It is the Word of God.
One of the first things we do in Confirmation is play Jenga. We slip the cover of the Jenga box off the stack of Jenga bars and then we begin to carefully slip the bars from the tower. With the removal of each bar the tower becomes increasingly unstable until at last a bar is removed and the tower collapses as in a pile of rubble.
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus describes how two men each built a new house. One built his house on sand and the other on solid rock. And when the stresses of life came the house built on sand collapsed while the house on the rock may have been beaten and battered but it stood. The difference in the two houses was in the foundations upon which they were built. Jesus said, “Anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like the person who builds a house on sand.”
Our Confirmation students play Jenga and read the words of Jesus and they get it. Build your life with God’s Word as your foundation and you are ready for whatever life throws at you. To do otherwise invites disaster. God’s Word augments our ability to be and become the people God wants us to be.
Christian Johnson put it in Men of Integrity, “A Bible that's falling apart probably belongs to someone who isn't.” (Christian Johnson. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.)
The bible says God’s Word is not only inspired or God-breathed… it is useful.
II. The Bible augments our lives by being useful.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful…” II Timothy 3:16
Gk. Opheleia: Profiting or profitable, useful, of assistance in, advantageous to, beneficial for or may gain from.
Things like the recent flooding up north and the ongoing civil war in Syria serve to remind me that most of the things that irk me are of little or no importance. But one thing that bugs me is finding those clunky phone books and directories on my front step. I have gone online and specified that I do not want to receive any directory from any part of the greater Denver metro area. It annoys me because I have to pick them up and immediately recycle dispose of or recycle them. They are of no use to me… they may have been handy in the old outhouse days and when floors were not level and you needed a good door stop here and there.
Being God-breathed is foundational to God’s Word being useful. The fact that it is God-breathed distinguishes the bible from say, “Plumbing for Dummies.” The author of “Plumbing for Dummies” may have knowledge and be helpful in installing a new garbage disposal but God’s Word is useful in that it shows you that you can install a garbage disposal and still be a Christian when you crawl out from under the kitchen sink. In other words God’s Word, if practically applied, is useful and augments our spiritual lives. We are better because of it. We are more Christ-like because of it.
The first way Scripture augments our lives is that it teaches us.
A. Scripture teaches us what is true.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and useful to teach us what is true…” II Timothy 3:16
Gk. Didaskalia: Teaching, that which is taught, that which is being taught, doctrine or truth.
Most folks are selective about the truth they want to hear and assume all others claims to truth are untruth. If you want to hear the Fox News slant on truth you listen to Fox. If you want to hear the CNN slant to truth you listen to CNN. If you want to be amused by a liberal satirist you watch John Stewart and if you wish to be amused by a conservative satirist you watch Steven Colbert. If you are drawn to a particular aspect of truth from God’s Word you come expecting to hear the Word of God taught with that slant. Appealing to what people want to hear is the bread and butter of some pastors and teachers in church pulpits and the media platforms.
In this context teaching what is true speaks to doctrinal truth. In II Timothy 4:3 Paul speaks to a time when people “will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching… they will look for teachers who will tickle their ears, i.e., tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.”
Speaking of the importance of truth, imagine picking your car up from the shop after a routine tune-up, and the technician says, "This car is in great shape. Clearly you have an automotive genius to take great care of your car." Later that day, your brakes don't work. You find out you were out of brake fluid. You could have died.
You go back to the shop, and you say, "Why didn't you tell me?" The technician replies, "Well, I didn't want you to feel bad. Plus, to be honest, I was afraid you might get upset with me. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted." You'd be furious! You'd say, "I didn't come here for a little fantasy-based ego boost! When it comes to my car, I want the truth."
Or imagine going to the doctor's office for a check-up. The doctor says to you, "You are a magnificent physical specimen. You have the body of an Olympian. You are to be congratulated." Later that day while climbing the stairs, your heart gives out. You find out later your arteries were so clogged that you were, like, one cream cheese filled pastry away from going to see Jesus.
You go back to the doctor and say, "Why didn't you tell me?" The doctor says, "Well, I knew your body is in worse shape than the Pillsbury doughboy, but if I tell people stuff like that, they get offended. It's bad for business. They don't come back. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted." You'd be furious! You'd say to the doctor, "When it comes to my body, I want the truth!"
Obviously, when something matters to us, we do not want illusory comfort based on pain avoidance. We want truth.(John Ortberg, "Loving Enough to Speak the Truth," PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes we really don’t want to know the truth because we all know that the truth hurts. So when we are exposed we can get all worked up and defensive and angry and lash out when we hear it… but it is in acknowledging the truth that we are set free to become what God wants us to be.
Transition: The second way Scripture augments our spiritual lives is that it is convicting.
B. Scripture rebukes us and makes us recognize sin in our lives.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for (reproof) rebuking or to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.” II Timothy 3:16
Gk. Elegmos: to test, to expose, to convict or rebuke as in convicting a sinner of his sin.
In the story of David and Bathsheba the prophet Nathan went to see David and told him a story. It was a story about a man who had a very large flock of sheep and his neighbor who had only one little lamb. The man with many sheep conspired and took the poor neighbor’s only sheep and had it fixed for dinner. When David heard the story he was livid until the prophet Nathan said, “You are that man.” II Samuel 12
David’s response was to acknowledge the truth of his sinfulness and to repent. And if you would like you can check out the Psalm he wrote as an expression of confession and repentance and desire for restoration in Psalm 51. “Have mercy on me, O God… Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation.”
When we allow the Word of God to shine its light into every nook and cranny of our lives… it is useful in exposing us as we truly are.
Third, Scripture augments our spiritual lives by being corrective.
C. Scripture corrects us when we get off-track spiritually.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful… to correct us when we are wrong. II Timothy 3:16
Gk. Epanorthosis: To restore to right, to upright or to restore to a right state as in life and character. (A dislocated shoulder put back in place applied as realigning one’s spiritual life.)
I regularly visit a weight loss center. They are diligent about their job and they make me be accountable. They ask that I keep a food journal and they ask me to bring my food journal in so they can monitor what I’m doing and keep me accountable. On a recent visit coach seeing me said, “I expect you to start clucking and laying eggs any day now.” She thought I might try a little more variety in my diet. If I miss a day or two I get a call. If I’m on vacation I get a call to see how I’m doing. I have to get on the scale and the scale never lies. Their approach is always redemptive. It is never derogatory or demeaning… it is always a matter of “getting back on track.”
When we run off the rails spiritually and lapse into a sinful behavior or our attitude stinks, if we are faithfully reading and being exposed to God’s Word, God will speak to us and show us how to get back on track spiritually.
Getting back on track is what the word “repentance” speaks to… when we find ourselves off track and going the wrong way repentance is how we get back on track and headed in the right direction. To repent is to make an about face of u-turn. To repent is to stop practicing sinful behaviors and going away from God’s way and will to turn your life around and go toward God’s way and live into his will.
Fourth way Scripture augments our spiritual lives is by giving us guidance.
D. Scripture teaches us to be and do what is right.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for training us to do what is right.” II Timothy 3:16
Gk. Paideia: Training or instructing
Gk. Dikaiosune: Right character and right actions as being both inward and outward.
Have you ever watched professional golfers and been awed by their ability to land a shot from two hundred yards away just a few yards from the hole? You wonder how they can judge the distance to the hole with such precision. Do they have an internal GPS system that enables them to guess the distances on the course with uncanny accuracy?
Not really. What they have is a yardage book. A yardage book is a map of each hole on the course that gives distances from various landmarks on the hole to the green. Decades ago Arnold Palmer and his caddy began drawing rough yardage charts with little pictures of trees, fairways, greens, sand traps and such of the various holes on all the courses they played. Jack Nicklaus was the pro who really made yardage books popular. Golfers swear by their yardage books. Zach Johnson, winner of the 2010 Colonial, says, "I feel naked without it out there. It's my golf bible."
One former caddie, George Lucas, has made a business out of driving the country and charting distances of some 1,000 golf courses and publishing his data in a book that is now available to the public.
It would be nice if the Bible was a “Yardage Book” that carefully laid out how to play every green in life. It does give us guidance and it is essential and does in fact augment our lives as we read it, ponder it and apply it to our lives, prayerfully listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Craig Brian Larson, editor of PreachingToday.com; source: Steve DiMeglio, "Before ball, they hit book," USA Today (6-1-10), 1C-2C)
Conclusion:
So why is all this augmenting, all this beefing up, all this strengthening, all this truth, all this rebuking, all this correcting and getting back on track and all this instruction and training in God’s Word necessary in our lives?
Our text says: “God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” II Timothy 3:17
Gk. Exartizo: Thoroughly equip as in making us completely capable, proficient or capable of meeting all demands of the Christian life.
What the Bible teaches us in this passage is that the life of the Christian is lived out in the blending of sound doctrine, i.e., biblical truth and godly or Christ-like living. If the bible is God-breathed it is authoritative in terms of what we believe and know and what we do, i.e., how we live.
In conclusion, here’s what God is doing in your life and why… this is how God uses his Word to augment your life. “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is a gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
20131020 Prayer
Heavenly Father, there are many things that are good to know.
• It’s good to know that “love lasts forever.” I Cor. 13:8
• It’s good to know that when we receive Christ into our lives we will “not perish but have everlasting life… life forever.”
• It’s good to know that Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.” John 6:51
• It’s good to know you promised, “I will never fail or forsake you. I will never abandon you.” And your Word assures us that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:5 and 8
Lord, your Word reminds us that “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the Word of the Lord remains forever.” I Peter 1:24-25
Our Savior is a forever Savior and our Scriptures are forever Scriptures. And Scripture teaches us that at the resurrection we will meet the Lord and be with the Lord forever. So, because we are in Christ, we are forever people.
So on this day we thank you for our sure and certain hope anchored in the living forever Christ and the written truth of your forever Word.
May all who leave this place today do so fully aware that you will neither fail nor forsake them in this life and the next.
This we pray in the name of Christ who taught us to pray, Our father who is in heaven, hallowed by your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
