Word of God Speak

 “Word of God Speak”

 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sunday, Sept 23, 2012

Text: Isaiah 50:4-5 // Series: “Stiff Competition”

Good morning, friends.  You know that song expresses my deepest desire and hope for you – that you would have an experience of knowing and hearing God speak to you.  And this morning, we’re going to do something a little bit different during our teaching time – it might push some of you outside of your comfort zone, but we’re going to do a giant Momentum Journaling exercise here today.  Some of you may have seen these spiral bound journals that we put on your seats at the start of each new sermon series and you may have politely thought “isn’t that cute – I wonder who those are for?”  Well, today the answer is “you”.  After I share a bit of my own personal journey with the Bible and share the core reason behind WHY Scripture intake is so valuable for each and every one of us, we’re not just going to nob and smile and walk out thinking “that was an interesting concept”, we’re going to have a learning lab here where we put this thing called Scripture intake into practice.  But before you make an excuse to head out and see the Pan Am volleyball practice in the arena, let me share a bit of my personal journey with the Bible as we continue in our teaching series “Stiff Competition”. We’ve been asking the question what might trip you up or compete with your desire to grow in your faith?  [Pray]

As a young child, growing up we didn’t go to church regularly.  I was aware of the Bible’s existence, but I had several misconceptions about it, some of which I carried with me into adulthood and even into pastoral work.  My earliest memories and also my earliest misconception of the Bible had to do with the fact that my parents owned one or two but that they were horribly dusty and under-utilized.  Every now and again, when my parents would attend church because of what they would call “a social obligation”, the Bible would get dusted off and put under their arm.  When you walked into church with a Bible, it was like a kind of code to my young mind that signaled to everyone that you were “in the club”.  Kind of like a Rotary pin or a crucifix.  Everyone at the meeting had one so you brought yours, even if you never once cracked it’s spine outside of that hour on Sunday once or twice per year.  And so my earliest mistaken Impression was that The Bible as a symbol of who is “in” the club.

Well when I was still young, my parents came to saving faith where they began to live in a way that wasn’t just about what God was up to on Sundays at church, but that their lives actually began to reflect His love, His grace, and His priorities.  It was a new day in our home.  And perhaps today the reason you are here is to take a significant step in that direction, if so, know that we’re here to help & get you your own copy of the Bible.   

But as my parents became connected with Jesus, they also became connected with His church and we started going regularly.  It was here in my early elementary days that I was exposed to Sunday School, and people who really cared about God and who cared about me taught me well about the stories of the Bible.  I learned all of the highlights and man where there some wild stories that came home with me – floods and lions dens, and talking donkeys, and so much more!  Many of the stories seemed to have a moral attached to them.  And in my young mind, this was kind of like Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – the crazy tale of the mythical beast who speaks for the trees.  And the lesson you are supposed to take home is that you too, should care for the trees.  And in my young and innocent mind, another mistaken impression took root: that The Bible as a collection of moralistic stories.  Interesting stories, for sure!  With the tone of a mild lecture of moralism, absolutely!  The challenge here is that the Bible, while it contains many stories and morals, isn’t designed primarily to lecture us or reform our character.  It’s designed to teach us about God and His character and His plans for the world and His grand story of creation, the fall, redemption and restoration of all things.  It’s a much bigger story than mere moralism could ever contain.  But you can’t get there if you only approach the Bible as an extended morality lesson.  There’s so much more there!

Sadly, I took another unfortunate detour in my adolescence.  I began to look around me and noticed that some people knew their Bible really, really well.  I mean, more than just the stories.  They memorized sections of it.  They could spell funny names and locate all of the 66 books within it.  They seemed to know all of the answers – like that new TV show on Game Show Network this fall “the American Bible Challenge”.  Have you guys watched this?  Meg and I have and we keep telling ourselves “only in America!”  But this is like the Jeopardy of Bible trivia.  Host Jeff Foxworthy asks harder and harder questions until you finally win like $20,000 for your charity of choice.  And as a teenager around church, I began to realize that people who knew their Bible well, got into positions of leadership.  They had all the right answers.  And I wanted to be one of those people.  And so another mistaken perception took root in my heart when it came to how I viewed the Bible: I began to approach The Bible as a tool to prove my spirituality.  If I knew it well enough and could give the right answers to the questions Foxworthy asked, I was a “good Christian”.  More right answers meant I was closer to Jesus.  And it was during this time that I first started reading the Bible for myself regularly.  Like outside of church. 

For many years, I couldn’t shake this persistent misconception.  I began to view Bible reading as the sole measure of my spiritual journey.  The goal had to be to put a big check in 7 checkboxes every week or my eternal state was in question.  I remember starting into the One Year Bible full of zeal.  I was going to nail this 7 day reading plan thing.  I was excited and faithful and studious all through Genesis and Matthew – check, check, check, check…  All through Psalms and the Proverb of the day – check, check, check.  For about the first month.  Then the check marks were fewer and further between.  I was doing spotty reading here and there, accompanied by heaps and heaps of guilt.  Obviously, Scripture intake is healthy and God was still using it in my life, but I was mistakenly using the question “how many times this week did you read your Bible” as my primary overall evaluation of my spiritual life.  It was as if a giant form existed in heaven “How was Brad’s Bible reading performance this week?  Documentation of his reading? Ease of learning? Ease of use? Error handling? What was the support he received? And what overall value did it contribute to his life?  Please check U for unsatisfactory, P for poor, F for Fair, G for Good, or E for excellent.  Thank you for using the guilt-based Bible reading system.  Have a great day”. 

I lived like this for years.  Checking off boxes.  Trying to be faithful.  Feeling guilty when I didn’t.  But over time, something began to shift inside of me.  Very subtly and with great input from other people, I was beginning to shift how I approached the Bible.  I began to realize that the goal was not for me to get through the Bible, but for the Bible to get through me.  That the goal wasn’t to learn the stories or the facts of the Bible, but to know the heart of the author of the Bible.  Letting Him speak directly and personally to me through the infallible words of Scripture that were inspired by God the Holy Spirit.  I was coming to understand the Bible as an authoritative guide for faith and for practice in my life. 

I like that image of an authoritative guide.  When Peter and I were in Tanzania this past May, we travelled with a local guide named Eddie.  The thing that impressed me about Eddie was that knew every part of the country in detail.  He would often break into an explanation of a local custom or point out a feature in the topography.  He always knew where we were going and the best and fastest route to get us there.  He was our living authoritative guide on Tanzania.  I was facing new and unknown territory.  What foods were safe to eat? What streets were best to go down or avoid? Eddie knew.  He was my guide and so he was quite willing to tell me.  And listening to his plan for the day was always helpful because I knew Eddie had my best interest at heart.  I suppose I could have chosen to do my own thing, but why?  If I wanted to have the best experience it was important that listen and that I obey whatever Eddie said.  Eddie was my authoritative guide to the unpredictable & unfolding world of Tanzania.   

I think that image of an authoritative guide is what the writer of Isaiah 50 is trying to covey to us about God’s revelation to us in His written word.  Because the reality is that each day you and I face an unpredictable and unfolding world of choices and challenges.  Of hurts, habits, hang-ups, happiness, holiness, laundry to fold and finances to manage and kids to raise, food to put on the table and everything in between.  Wouldn’t it be helpful if you had an authoritative guide to point you in the right direction as you moved through your day?  Listen to Isaiah 50:4-5. 

Got a challenge in your life?  God is waiting for you to meet Him in His word so He can provide you with wisdom.  Are you or someone around you experiencing a season of high challenge?  Meet God in His Word and ask him to give you words of comfort for those who are weary.  Want to know God’s will for your life?  Get to know Him in His Word – wake up in the morning and dive in, not so that you can check off a box and reduce guilt.  But so that God can do the hard and long-term work of opening your mind and your understanding to what He wants to do in you and through you!  This is my current experience with the Bible.  I don’t read it because I need to check off a box or make God happy with me.  I spend time there because I have found that God proves Himself faithful to speak words of encouragement, challenge, correction and hope in His word. And I don’t know about you, but I need that kind of thing more than once a week or a few times a month.  I need daily instruction and guidance from my authoritative guide.  “The sovereign Lord has spoken to me” the text says “and I have listened”. 

So, if we really believe all of this, then let’s put it into practice.  We’re going to do something we’ve never done before in the history of JRCC…  A large group Momentum Journal exercise.  If you have a journal, get it out now.  If not, we’ve provided an insert in every Info Sheet that contains the space and information on how we are going to do this together.  The basic concept is that first we take a few minutes and read the text, in this case, it’s printed on the reverse of the insert.  It’s 2 Timothy 3.  Then you write down your thoughts and observations.  Now, I know in the journal we use the tool SOAP – Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer.  The challenge I have found is that when I do “O”, Observation, I feel like I am supposed to be writing a commentary.  So I’ve changed it up for myself over the past 2 months and you might like to experiment with a different approach that links into that text in Isaiah 50: Hearing God as He speaks. 

S—Scripture: write out a verse that sticks out to you

H—Hear: What do you think God is saying to you?

A—Apply: what will be different today as a result?  

P—Pray: ask God to help you put this into practice

E—Exalt: End your time by praising God 

Then after you read and after you write, I want you to get into a mid-sized group of 7-10 people and a few of you who are willing can share your reflections on the experience of journaling.  I realize that for some of you, this is going to be profoundly uncomfortable.  That’s OK. I’m not going to ask you to do or share anything that you don’t want to.  You can simply observe but I would ask you to keep an open heart and an open mind as you hear people’s stories and as we think together how you might benefit from gaining wisdom, words of comfort, and a greater understanding of God’s will in His Word.  As we get started, I’m going to invite you to pray out loud with me A Prayer of Invitation    Almighty God,

Your Spirit moved among the ancient prophets and writers,

reminding them of the truth,

shaping the eternal message of salvation.

Move among us now, and speak to us,

so that we might hear Your Word with understanding,

and respond with obedient hearts.

So let’s do 5 minutes of reading, 5 minutes of writing and then 5 minutes of verbal processing of the experience.  Ready? Set, Go!

[Media note: keep SHAPE slide up for the reading time with instrumental music; put “Suggested Discussion Questions” slide up & play Track 9 on Jacob Moon’s CD “Landing” when I give the cue to go into discussion]

Each week in our Stiff Competition series, we are exploring the things that might trip us up or slow us down, both individually and collectively in our spiritual journey.  And if I was the devil, and I wanted to keep Jericho as a bunch of spiritually flabby out of shape powerless wimps, my number one strategy would be to keep people from hearing from God in His Word.  Because if they engaged in disciplined Scripture intake, there would be a small army of adults, youth and children who knew what God wanted them to do and who had the wisdom, and compassion and authority to just do it!  Who knows but that a small group of people who are Shaped and empowered by their guide may just be so prepared and equipped, that they would be willing and able to accomplish every good work that He has in store for them.  Let me pray with you as you go.  

Don’t forget that tonight is group connect and if you want to

Get into a group that is doing this together, Pastor Keith will help you.  For those that are new to this, I invite you to Experiment with journaling 2-4 times this week. let me know how it goes and we’ll see you again!