January 23, 2022 Sermon Spiritual Disciplines: The Joy of Reading the Word
We are on the 3rd week of our current study of the spiritual disciplines, which we’ve also referred to as spiritual privileges, because they most definitely are that. They are ways that we can grow, ways that we can blossom as we take responsibility for doing our part of connecting with God.
Did you know that you have a part in your relationship with God? Did you know that you are not just a passive receiver of God’s grace? Any relationship requires an investment - of time, energy, emotion and reason. We understand that with other humans - if we put nothing into a relationship with another person, that relationship will never grow.
It may remain an acquaintanceship - you know - you’ve met the person, maybe you remember their name, likely you remember their face - but they are for sure not part of your deeper life.
But when we put the time and effort into getting to know someone, again the time, energy, emotion and reason, we get close to them. Do you want to be near to God? Do you want to have sweet fellowship with your Redeemer?
That could be a question we need to thoughtfully sort through, but assuming our final answer is “yes”, there are things that you can do to draw near - and those are broadly referred to as spiritual disciplines, which again we like to also call spiritual privileges.
The first week we looked at an overview of all or most of the spiritual disciplines. Last week we looked in some depth at prayer as a key way to connect with God, and we looked in particular at a few concrete approaches to drawing near to God.
For our discussion about the spiritual discipline of Reading the Word, I also want to look at some pretty clear, tried and true approaches to engaging with God through the Reading of His Word.
First we might ask, “why?” Why isn’t prayer and giving and going to worship services enough? Isn’t that just adding a big old drag to the Christian life by saying we should ALSO read the Bible? That is a possible response to this topic.
I might respond in this way: there is a version of the Christian life that involves simply believing the gospel, praying on occasion, and attending services. That’s not all that uncommon. But, and it’s a big but, that can take us only so far. Just for the purpose of broad illustration, let’s look at this.
If 1 is the point of conversion to Christ and 10 is the fullness of life in Christ, then that version of believing, praying a bit and attending services might take us to a 3 at best. Likely, in my experience personally and as a pastor, pretty much never beyond a 3. When 8,9 or 10 is possible, why stay at a three?
When the dinner table has steak and chicken and potatoes and vegetables and salad and milk, why only drink the milk and not all that is available to you, as a gift by the one throwing the banquet?
Think of a child as he’s growing only ever being given milk. Milk is awesome and perfectly appropriate for an infant, who is small and somewhat helpless. In fact they must be fed by others.
But we know that as the child grows, they must eat other, more substantial food, or they will suffer. In fact their growth will halt. Perhaps you’ve seen pictures of underfed children. They are very, very sad and difficult to see.
We want to be well-nourished. We want to be able to feed ourselves. We want, I would suspect, to thrive.
Pastor Arleen talked about the Inward spiritual disciplines in the first message in this series a few weeks back: They are: Prayer, contemplation, journaling, fasting, solitude and studying the word of God.
As we look at The Joy of Reading the Word, we discover that contemplation, journaling, solitude and studying the word of God are addressed in today’s message.
I say all that by way of introduction. We make reading the Word of God a regular practice in our lives in order to grow, and in order to grow up into maturity. Now let’s get into 3 ways to engage in Reading the Bible: Lection Divina, Talking to God Through His Word and Leaning to Swim. You’ll need to stay with me to understand what I mean
Lectio Divina (Divine Reading)
This is a tried and true method of communing with God through His Word. It’s always a good idea to have a safe, quiet comfortable space where you can do this. How do we practice this? Here’s how:
We Prepare - 5 to 10 minutes
We want to read, reflect, and respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. To tune in, perhaps light a candle if that helps to collect your thoughts and calm your mind. Pray a prayer of invitation, saying something like, “God, in Jesus name, please let me hear from you by your Holy Spirit,” and spend a few moments sitting quietly so my heart is open to hearing from God. In this instance I’ll refer to John chapter 14.
The first time you read the Scripture passage it’s just to get to know it. But listen carefully for any words or phrases that seem to jump out. It’s important not to force things, but wait patiently for God to give gentle guidance. One day when reading John 14:
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
I was drawn to Jesus talking about His Father’s house. That word “house” jumped out at me. I was impressed that “house” means the place of dwelling for a family, the family of God in glory in this instance. And that we each have a place, a “room” there that Jesus has been preparing for 2000 years.
We Reflect - 5 to 10 minutes
The second reading of the same passage focuses further on the points I become aware of during the first reading. Often I’ll just re-read a few verses so I can reflect carefully on where God has nudged me.
Then I’ll reflect on what I sense God is saying to me. I try not to analyze the passage. It’s easy to slip into “study mode” and think about interesting points rather than listening to what God might be saying. It helps to ask God to make His focus clear. “Jesus, please continue to speak to me”
We Respond - 5 to 10 minutes
After a third reading, it’s time to respond. I like to record my thoughts by journaling, even just in simple point form, because I am likely to forget! We can respond in prayer too, which gives us the opportunity for a conversation with God.
When reading John 14, I noted God’s promise that since I believe in Him, Jesus is preparing a place for me, and for all who will trust him, to be with him, in the same ‘house’, same family. This speaks to me of the fulfillment of God’s promise in the OT that through the Messiah all nations would be blessed. It speaks to me of God’s heart to include all who will trust in Jesus. Thank you God for your heart of welcome. Thank you for all you have done in Jesus to make it possible for us to draw near to You.
We Rest - 5 to 10 minutes
After the final reading, we can spend around 10 minutes in silent contemplation. This isn’t a time of prayer or meditation — I just sit quietly and allow God to work. When my mind starts to wander and dart here and there, I bring it gently back to stillness again.
It’s important to remember that Lectio Divina is not an end in itself or another spiritual practice to tick off our to-do list. It helps us hear specifically and individually from God through Scripture, guided by the Holy Spirit, and deepens our relationship with Him. So Lectio Divina is one approach to the Reading of Scripture.
Talking to God Through His Word
A second approach to engaging in Scripture is to put yourself in the narrative of Scripture by doing written, personal reflections, verse by verse, of a passage of Scripture. It is a form of journaling in conversation with God about the text of Scripture that you are reading.
What do I mean by that? Well, let me demonstrate. I would begin with prayer. This simple prayer from Psalm 119 is a very good one: “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law”.
Let’s take a passage that might be quite familiar to you, Psalm 23.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
I would sit quietly for a moment and then I would write the passage, or type it, on the left hand side of a piece of paper. Then I would simply write down my thoughts in response to each verse. Here is a sampling of what I mean. I did this in real time a few days back.
(Powerpoint has Scripture text on left side, my thoughts on the right side, revealed slowly, sentence by sentence - Readers - If you want a copy of the powerpoint for this, email me at mparker@ysm.ca and specifically ask for the title of this sermon and the related Powerpoint)
Go through Powerpoint:
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
So God is like a shepherd; He’s in the muck with me; He’s holy but his holiness doesn’t keep him from entering my world. Thank you God for this. Because He’s my shepherd, my needs are in his hands; so I don’t need to worry? I’m so used to worrying. But thanks Jesus for being God, for being Creator, for being so different from me, but you care for me and you’re so close. Is that weird for you?
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
It’s like you’re my place of rest. Here it says you make me rest. Is that because I suck at that and I need to be forced to rest? Why am I so busy? Am I hiding from something? Thank you that you make me chill. And it’s quiet and grassy and is that the sound of bird’s chirping?
Thank you God for caring for me. I don’t know what to say. The world feels like turmoil, like a tsunami. But you know where the still waters are, and you lead me there. You are my still water. Refreshing, vibrant; you are my life-giver. Thank you!
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Man is that true. You alone revive me and correct me in a way that’s life-giving. When my soul is beaten down, you totally know how to restore me to balance. And when I don’t know what’s right, thank you that your Word is teaching me what is right. But there’s a world of difference between knowing what is right and doing what is right. You help me to bridge that world of difference, and wow are you patient with me because I’m ridiculously slow sometimes. You care that I go the right way, that I be holy as you are holy. That’s rich. But that’s what you call me to and in Jesus that’s what I am. Thank you that Jesus is real and alive and so very beautiful.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Covid. Worldwide suffering, plague. Has the whole world ever experienced the exact same thing before? Maybe. We are all in this together. But wow, in You there’s no actual need to fear. With you there is no need to fear.
You correct me and direct me so gently, the rod and staff in your hands are tools of healing; again you’re like that shepherd herding sheep that don’t know the hazards around them. Thank you Jesus for being my Great Shepherd!!!
So that is a very personal, conversational approach to the reading of Scripture. In a sense you filter your thoughts through the text of the Bible, and you talk to God. Sometimes ask Him questions. Sometimes you might find yourself, as I often do, speechless and deeply moved by the presence of the Holy Spirit as you do this. That leads to worship and gratitude to God, sometimes spoken, sometimes wordless.
Learn to Swim
The third approach to engaging with God in the Scriptures is to simply learn to swim in the Word. By that I mean finding a way that works for you, to always be interacting with, praying through, studying, sitting in quiet contemplation with or just soaking in God's presence as you read His Word.
You should read it as His communication to you, preserved throughout the ages as deeply trustworthy and entirely inspired. And it’s been preserved so that you (and all others of course) can take it in and take it personally. Read it as your “Book of Life”.
See yourself in the narrative and in all the accounts of the history of God’s relationship with His people, from the beginning in the Garden to the coming of Christ, so the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), to the Letters in the New Testament.
“But hang on. When I read I usually close my eyes, flip it open to a page, put my finger down on the text and read there. What’s wrong with that?? I would say, perhaps it’s time to go deeper, to get the Word into the inside of your life, not something that is outside, distant, unknowable. Advance to next blank slide
But on the inside, working in the depths of your heart and mind to transform you. We acknowledge God’s Word as the foundation of our thinking, our feeling, the source of our insights and opinions about all kinds of things.
And it can start very simply.
On day one, pray, then read a chapter or a section, a number of verses. Do that for a week, every day. Give it 5 minutes of your time. After a week:
Increase your reading to an entire chapter. You can start anywhere in the Bible, but as a suggestion you can start with the Gospel of John or the Gospel of Mark (the shortest gospel). Do this daily for another week. After the second week:
Plan to read through a whole gospel, a chapter a day. You can just keep reading. Here you can begin to practice the Lectio Divina that we’ve just looked at or the “Talk to God About His Word” approach.
At a certain point, if you keep praying and praying as you are reading, you may become interested in reading through the entire Bible, with a group of other folks from our church. At that point just contact me and I’ll add you to the group.
There we read using the YouVersion App, and we have the opportunity to make comments and connect with others reading in the same places in the Bible. That’s yet another level of engaging in the Word.
So, there you go. Those are some practical ways that you can engage in the joy of Reading Scripture. I hope you are learning to make a practice of reading the Bible. A number of us meet weekly in 2 separate meetings to discuss the Bible, and if that interests you, you are most welcome to join us.
It is good to read the Bible on your own. It is also good to read and seek to understand the Bible in the company of others who are also seeking God.
May you be enriched and encouraged as you engage in the spiritual privilege, the spiritual discipline of reading the Word of God. And may we each be formed to be more like Jesus as the thoughts of God, expressed in the Bible, increasingly impact our thinking and our lives. Amen.
