Ravi Zacharias, a Christian intellectual who travels around the world lecturing in secular settings on spiritual themes, tells of an experience he had in Columbus, Ohio. He writes, “A few weeks ago, I did a lectureship at Ohio State University. As I was being driven to the lecture, we passed the new Wexner Art Center. The driver said, ‘This is a new art building for the university. It is a fascinating building designed in the post-modernist view of reality.’ The building has no pattern. Staircases go nowhere. Pillars support nothing. The architect designed the building to reflect life. It went nowhere and was mindless and senseless. I turned to the man describing it and asked, ‘Did they do the same thing with the foundation?’ He laughed. You can’t do that with a foundation. You can get away with the infrastructure. You can get away with random thoughts that sound good in defense of a world view that ultimately doesn’t make sense. Once you start tampering with the foundations, you begin to see the serious effects.”
The problem in our culture is that ideologically we not only have staircases going nowhere and pillars supporting nothing, but we are also tampering with the foundations. The whole world is built on the foundation of God’s Word. The Bible is not just a book of religious writings, its words are what the world is built upon. God is the Designer and Architect of the world. His will and his laws are the foundation of life. If the foundation is not there, the whole building begins to crumble, no matter how beautiful it is. But we live in a relativistic age which questions truth and outrightly rejects the Word of God. Unless there is a turnaround, we will find our culture collapsing upon itself. When God created the world he built it upon his laws and principles. And whether we agree with them or not, like them or not, we either accept them or accept the consequences of breaking them. Those laws and principles are carefully spelled out in God’s book, the Word of God, which we call the Bible. If all of life is based on the principles found there, then it is extremely important that we are acquainted with what this book says. Reading the Bible is not an obligation, it is a gift. It is the source of our strength. It develops our mindset and attitudes. It helps us to know who God is and what he is like. By reading the Bible we discover God’s character. It tells us what his will for our lives is. It gives us daily encouragement and a positive outlook on life. But this does not happen without reading God’s book.
The first point I would like to emphasize this morning is: Being a student of the Word takes effort. This sermon is for those who want there to be more to their spiritual lives than merely being forgiven of their sins and being assured of a place in heaven. It is for those who want more than just being a Christian, they want to be disciples of Jesus Christ. They want their character to mirror his character; their heart to be like his heart. But this takes effort. Just like it takes effort to have a good marriage, or to be good at some skill, so it takes effort to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. But the rewards of putting forth this effort are so wonderful that it is not a chore to do them, but rather a great blessing. Calvin Miller said it well: “Mystics without study are only spiritual romantics who want relationship without effort.” The apostle Paul encouraged Timothy, a young disciple, saying: “train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:7-8).
But there is no effort without desire. You have to be hungry for God and his Word for this to become a reality in your life. That is why Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Richard Foster, in his book The Celebration of Discipline, says, “I have discovered that the most difficult problem is not finding time but convincing myself that this is important enough to find the time.” That is really the issue. It is not that we do not have the time, it is that we do not feel it is important enough to make time.
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Only those who are willing to put forth the necessary effort will experience the growth and power that comes from being a disciple. This kind of discipleship brings a new freedom as well. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Only a knowledge of the truth will set us free. You can try new things and new relationships to solve your problems, but you will not be free. Only when you give yourself to study the truth in the Word of God will you be free. Otherwise you will go around with a head full of wrong ideas and thoughts, and because of them you will continue to make bad choices and go the wrong way. But fill your mind with the Word of God and you will discover the freedom that truth works in your life.
In the Old Testament, every priest wore a frontlet, which was a small box tied to their forehead, containing a scripture from book of Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). That is how important the Word of God was to them — it was to be always on their minds. Orthodox Jews still wear these. It is a sign that God’s laws are to be upon our minds, because they are the path of life and peace. The Scriptures are the way to know the truth and thereby understand life. It becomes, therefore, not a ritual, but an experience. We experience God. We experience ourselves as well. Our attitudes and motives are exposed. We are convicted of our sinful hearts. We find the assurance of forgiveness and acceptance. The Bible is not just a book about moral rules, it is a book about ourselves and life — an instruction book by the One who created life.
The second thing we should consider is: Being a student of the Word turns effort into joy. Once we build this holy habit into our lives it is no longer a chore, it is a blessing that we cannot live without. The benefits we reap are so great that we could not imagine not having it as a regular part of our lives. Steve Harper says that a devotional time eventually turns into a devotional lifestyle. You cannot imagine what your life would be like without a regular time in the Bible.
Can you even imagine what the world would be like without the Bible? Our best art is of characters and stories from the Bible. The world’s best music is based on biblical themes. Our greatest literature and poetry was inspired by biblical concepts and stories. Our laws were inspired and mostly came from the moral code of the Bible. The Bible has inspired great humanitarian works to alleviate the suffering in the world. People’s lives throughout the ages have been profoundly affected for good by the moral high ground they have faced as they read the Bible. The sorrowful have been comforted. The fearful have found courage. The weary have been given strength. Families have found healing. Failures have found forgiveness and hope. Anyone who comes to the Bible as a serious student always goes away a better person. Lives are transformed by this book. Its words become living and life changing. The writer of Hebrews was right when he wrote: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Some of us were sharing this week about our experiences with the Scriptures. Some talked about how meaningful it was for them to memorize scripture and have it penetrate their minds and beings as it soaked into them. It changed the way they thought and lived. It changed them from the inside out. Many of us shared that we ask God to illumine our minds before we read the Scripture. As we do, our time of Bible reading becomes the place where God speaks to us through the words of Scripture. Some people found it helpful to read through the Bible each year. Several talked of how much the book of Psalms meant to them. Linda talked about how important it was for her to have a life verse — sort of a lighthouse that guided her through her entire life. Her life verse is: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19). Keri said that she had not chosen a life verse, but it was like a life verse had chosen her. A particular verse kept presenting itself to her at some of the most crucial times of her life. In unusual ways and at important times — the verse appeared on a greeting card, on a calendar, on a place card at her place at a dinner — the same verse came to her: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Another person talked of meditating on a particular scripture and having it sink into her subconscious mind and connect with something deep within. They all agreed that none of this would have happened if they had not been intentional about making time, and even praying for opportunities to spend in the Word. Most found it necessary to have some kind of system or method for getting into the Bible. None of us could imagine living without this very important discipline which had become a part of our lives. We realized that the Word of God had renewed us in important ways. Like the Psalmist we had hidden God’s Word in our hearts. Together we wondered out loud how others made it through life without having the Scripture as a regular part of their lives.
The third point is: Being a student of the Word turns the written Word into the Living Word. Tonya talked about how important the Bible had been in her own life. As a child her parents got her a large print children’s Bible, and she loved it. When she went away to college she found herself surrounded by very secular, negative and cynical people. They scoffed at her faith. Doubts began to creep into her mind like: “What if this whole thing is a lie? What then?” But as she went back to the Bible, God’s love became so real, and once again she was able to focus on what was true and what was not. During a recent time of deep confusion she was not able to distinguish God’s voice from other things she was hearing in her head. It was at that point that she didn’t want to hear from God, because it was all too confusing. She couldn’t trust her thoughts. She told God, “Don’t talk to me ” But then she found this voice coaxing her, wooing her, saying: “Can I at least tell you I love you?” The written Word she had known and loved so long had become ingrained and now became the living Word. It was speaking to her personally.
Ravi Zacharias tells the amazing story of a young Christian in Vietnam. He writes, “I was ministering in Vietnam in 1971, and one of my interpreters was Hien Pham, an energetic young Christian. He had worked as a translator with the American forces, and was of immense help both to them and to missionaries such as myself. Hien and I traveled the length of the country and became very close friends before I returned home. We did not know if our paths would ever cross again. Seventeen years later, I received a telephone call. ‘Brother Ravi?’ the man asked. Immediately I recognized Hien’s voice, and he soon told me his story. Shortly after Vietnam fell, Hien was imprisoned on accusations of helping the Americans. His jailers tried to indoctrinate him against democratic ideals and the Christian faith. He was restricted to communist propaganda in French or Vietnamese, and the daily deluge of Marx and Engels began to take its toll. ‘Maybe,’ he thought, ‘I have been lied to. Maybe God does not exist. Maybe the West has deceived me.’ So Hien determined that when he awakened the next day, he would not pray anymore or think of his faith.
The next morning, he was assigned the dreaded chore of cleaning the prison latrines. As he cleaned out a tin can overflowing with toilet paper, his eye caught what seemed to be English printed on one piece of paper. He hurriedly grabbed it, washed it, and after his roommates had retired that night, he retrieved the paper and read the words, ‘Romans, Chapter 8.’ Trembling, he began to read, ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. . . for I am convinced that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Hien wept. He knew His Bible, and knew that there was not a more relevant passage for one on the verge of surrender. He cried out to God, asking forgiveness, for this was to have been the first day that he would not pray. . . . After finding the Scripture, Hien asked the commander if he could clean the latrines regularly, because he discovered that some official was using a Bible as toilet paper. Each day Hien picked up a portion of Scripture, cleaned it off, and added it to his collection of nightly reading. . . . What his tormentors were using for refuse — the Scriptures — could not be more treasured to Hien.” Eventually he was released from prison and fled to Tailand. Today he is a businessman in the United States, a radiant Christian and a living testimony to the power of God’s Word and its transforming power.
In the worst possible place, under the worst possible circumstances, the Word of God became the living Word for a Vietnamese Christian. It saved him from despair and enabled him to endure. If it did that for him, it can do that for you. It can save you from despair. It can breathe hope into your heart. It can help you to understand life. It can transform you and prepare you for eternity. The Lord has said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:8-11).
Rodney J. Buchanan
February 2, 2003
Mulberry St. UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
Experiencing the Word of God
Questions for February 2, 2003
1. Share a meaningful experience you have had reading the Bible.
2. How does the Bible help you in your every day life?
3. Read 2 Timothy 3:14-17. What does this verse mean to you?
4. What would the world be like without the Bible? What would your life be like without it?
5. What are the hindrances to becoming a student of the Word of God?
6. Read 1 Timothy 4:7-8. How can we train ourselves in this way? Why is spiritual discipline important?
7. Read Matthew 7:13-14. How would our lives be different if we took these verses seriously?
8. How has the written Word become the living Word for you? How has God spoken to you through his Word?
9. Read Hebrews 4:12. How has this been true during your time of Bible reading? Does guilt over something wrong in your life sometimes keep you from the Word?
10. Think about what your life verse might be. If you already have one, share it with the group.
