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Morningside Easter IV The Bible
Today at
Now having
said all that, I do believe that we all
have a Bible or two tucked away somewhere at home.
We even have a few knocking around here at Church!
So it’s not as if we wouldn’t recognize one.
But truly, honestly, how often do we open
them – if at all? And
if not, why not? And I say
that not to make anyone feel guilty or inadequate – it’s a genuine
question.
The first
thing to say is get a translation – get a Bible - that makes
sense.
I remember when I was a child I had a wonderful Illustrated
Child’s Bible. And I have
to confess that the thing I liked most about it were the illustrations.
I loved the pictures (I can still some of them now in my mind’s
eye). It was also written in
a language that I could understand.
And I believe this to be true for all of us.
We need to own a Bible that is written in language that we can
understand and is engaging.
Now,
before I say any more, I want you to know that I have enormous personal
affection for the King James’ Version of the Bible.
I love its poetry, its language and sense of rhythm.
Nothing could replace passages like, “In
the beginning was the Word. And
the Word was with God. And
the Word was God.”
(John 1:1) or, “The
Lord is my Shepherd. I shall
not want…”
(Psalm 23:1) These
passages, and others, are irreplaceable parts of our common religious
language.
Having
said that, the language of the KJV is
very difficult. The
English is archaic and the translation is flawed in a number of key
places – Biblical scholarship has moved on since the early Seventeenth
Century. I would suggest
that unless you are really familiar with the meaning of words like,
‘privily, insomuch, dissembled, contrariwise, bondmaid, howbeit,
travailest, disannul or emulations (and that’s just a small sample
from one of the shortest letters of So,
having secured our translation of choice – KJV, Let
me read you a couple of Bible stories and you can decide for yourself: 1After
Joseph had been taken to 2As
it turned out, GOD was with Joseph and things went very well with him.
He ended up living in the home of his Egyptian master. 3His
master became very fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide. He put
him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to
him… and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three
meals a day.
Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. 7As time went
on, his master's wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said,
"Sleep with me."
8He wouldn't do it. He said to his master's wife,
"Look, with me here, my master doesn't give a second thought to
anything that goes on here--he's put me in charge of everything he owns.
9He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn't turned
over to me is you. You're his wife, after all! How could I violate his
trust and sin against God?"
10She pestered him day after day after day, but he
stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her.
11On one of these days he came to the house to do his
work and none of the household servants happened to be there. 12She
grabbed him by his cloak, saying, "Sleep with me!" He left his
coat in her hand and ran out of the house. 13When she
realized that he had left his coat in her hand and run outside, 14she
called to her house servants: "Look--this Hebrew shows up and
before you know it he's trying to seduce us. He tried to make love to me
but I yelled as loud as I could. 15With all my yelling and
screaming, he left his coat beside me here and ran outside."
16She kept his coat right there until his master came
home. 17She told him the same story. She said, "The
Hebrew slave, the one you brought to us, came after me and tried to use
me for his plaything. 18When I yelled and screamed, he left
his coat with me and ran outside."
19When his master heard his wife's story, telling him,
"These are the things your slave did to me," he was furious. 20Joseph's
master took him and threw him into the jail where the king's prisoners
were locked up. (Genesis 39:1-20)
1That's
when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church
members. 2He murdered James, John's brother. 3When
he saw how much it raised his popularity ratings with the Jews, he
arrested Peter--all this during Passover Week, mind you-- 4and
had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to
guard him. He was planning a public lynching after Passover.
6Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the
kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either
side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping
their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances!
7Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light
flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up:
"Hurry!" The handcuffs fell off his wrists. 8The
angel said, "Get dressed. Put on your shoes." Peter did it.
Then, "Grab your coat and let's get out of here." 9Peter
followed him, but didn't believe it was really an angel--he thought he
was dreaming.
10Past the first guard and then the second, they came
to the iron gate that led into the city. It swung open before them on
its own, and they were out on the street, free as the breeze. At the
first intersection the angel left him, going his own way. 11That's
when Peter realized it was no dream. "I can't believe it--this
really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's
vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking
forward to."
12Still shaking his head, amazed, he went to Mary's
house, the Mary who was John Mark's mother. The house was packed with
praying friends. 13When he knocked on the door to the
courtyard, a young woman named Rhoda came to see who it was. 14But
when she recognized his voice--Peter's voice!-she was so excited and
eager to tell everyone Peter was there that she forgot to open the door
and left him standing in the street.
15But they wouldn't believe her, dismissing her, dismissing
her report. "You're crazy," they said. She stuck by her story,
insisting. They still wouldn't believe her and said, "It must be
his angel." 16All this time poor Peter was standing out
in the street, knocking away.
Finally they opened up and saw him--and went wild! 17Peter
put his hands up and calmed them down. He described how the Master had
gotten him out of jail, then said, "Tell James and the brothers
what's happened." He left them and went off to another place.
18At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. "Where
is Peter? What's happened to Peter?" 19When Herod sent
for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he
ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with But don’t take my word for it. Find out for yourself - which is the point that I want to end on - the actual point of Bible Reading Fellowship Sunday. Right at the beginning I asked the question, how can one can make the Bible interesting and how it can really speak to us today, how it can come alive? · Choose a Bible translation that works for you. · Find a good companion. Get a Bible Commentary. One that: Breaks the Bible into small passages for daily reading (don’t try to do too much) Puts the readings into their historical context Asks relevant questions; draws out some of the meaning of the passage; links it to daily life Join one of the ‘book clubs’ at Church – read the Bible with other people There are lots of resources out there that can help you, the Bible Reading Fellowship is just one avenue to explore. I would simply urge to explore or go on exploring!
Simon
Justice |
