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Dear
Friends in Christ,
How
hungry are you for the Word of God? Hungry enough to know it better
than the ingredients that are found in a Big Mac? Sounds like a strange
question, doesn’t it? And yet a form of that question was asked of
people last October when the animated movie, The Ten Commandments,
was released. After polling 1000 Americans regarding their knowledge of
these top 10 laws handed down by God to Moses at Mt. Sinai, the Kelton
Research organization found that more people could name the 7
ingredients of a Big Mac than could recall 7 of the 10 Commandments.
And just for the fun of it, what are the 7 ingredients of a Big Mac?
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and
onions on a sesame seed bun. Now how many of you can name 7 of the 10
Commandments? Hmmm…Some of you probably can, but I suspect most people
would be hard pressed to recite just a couple of the 10 Commandments.
That’s one reason why I am currently preaching a series of messages that
I have entitled “Getting Back to the Bible.” I’m trying to get more of
us interested in and excited about reading the Bible on our own. And I
am happy to say that a number of you have told me that you have been
doing just that. I commend you for that and encourage you to keep at
it.
Well, the last time I preached we began to look at some very good
reasons why we should read the Bible, which included the following:
1. It gives you confidence. 2. It insulates you against Satan’s
attacks. 3. It helps you think Christianly. 4. It helps you define
morality. If you want to see what I said about each of those
reasons, you can find that sermon on our church’s web site at
salemlc.org in both printed and audio form.
Today we want to continue looking at some more reasons why we should
read the Bible, beginning with this one: It gives you hope. And
oh how we need hope in our world today. Woody Allen is a comedian and
actor known more for his humorous side than his serious side. But I
believe he was speaking for a lot of people these days when he said,
“More than at any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads.
One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total
extinction. Let us pray that we shall have the wisdom to choose
correctly.” Then he said, “I speak, by the way, not with any sense of
futility, but with a panicky conviction of the absolute meaninglessness
of existence.”
How
sad that we have arrived at this point where so many people today in our
very affluent and advantaged culture just can’t seem to find any meaning
or purpose in life. At the same time though I really don’t think it
should surprise us because for decades now we’ve been taught and told
that we are nothing more than the products of pure random evolutionary
chance. We’re cosmic accidents. We’re just a higher form of animal, no
different in value than an amoeba or a jellyfish.
Many
years ago I came across a little poem that I keep in the front of my
Adult Information Class book. It’s entitled “Once Upon a Time.” And it
offers a good description of the theory of evolution and what that
theory ultimately leads to. It goes like this:
Once upon a time, no one knows WHEN,
At some given place, no one knows WHERE,
A speck of protoplasmic substance, no one knows WHAT,
Came into existence, no one knows HOW.
Over a period of time, no one knows HOW LONG,
From that tiny speck of protoplasm, no one knows HOW,
All forms of life in the animal world were developed, but no one knows
WHY.
There is so much truth to that last statement. For if we are nothing
more than the products of blind random chance, then we really have no
reason for being here. We have no purpose for living. We have no
intrinsic value. And that’s why I believe we see so many young people
these days committing suicide. Did you know that suicide is now the 2nd
leading cause of death among teenagers in our country? Why is that?
Well, they’ve been taught this and force fed this for so long that life,
including their own life, has not only become meaningless but also very
cheap. So what’s the big deal if I end it now and get out of this rat’s
nest of a planet that we call Earth, or if I wait for nature to takes
its course?
But
my friends, when we read the Bible we find hope. In the very first
verse of Scripture we are introduced to the One who is the grand maker
and designer behind all this that we see around us. “In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And after he
speaks the light, the sky, the dry land and the seas, the sun and moon
and stars, the plants and animals and birds and fish into existence, he
then takes a lump of clay, or what the Bible calls the dust of the
earth, and fashions it into the crown of his creation. Then he leans
over that lifeless mass and breathes his own breath into it so that it
becomes a living being, molded into the very image of God himself. And
then he places this first of his human creations into a garden and
instructs him to take care of it. In other words, the Creator gives
meaning and purpose to his creature. Then when he senses the loneliness
of the man he creates a counterpart to complement him and complete him.
And he tells the two of them: “Be fruitful and increase in number;
fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the
ground.” More meaning and more purpose. Then as we continue to
read the Bible, we discover that God is the one who knit us together in
our mother’s womb (Ps. 139); he indwells us with his Holy Spirit and
makes our bodies his temple (I Cor. 6); he bestows upon us spiritual
gifts which we can use to serve him and our fellow man (Eph. 4 and many
other passages) and thereby give fullness and richness and meaning to
our lives; he redeemed our souls from hell and now gives us a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and an
inheritance that will never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for
us (I Peter 1).
So
read the Bible because it gives you hope. Then also read it because
it gives you a “center” to your life. If you’ve ever hung pictures
in your home and tried to do it without a yardstick or some other
measuring device, you can easily find yourself getting off center,
right? This is something that I’m kind of notorious for around our
household and Marilyn loves to remind me of the time when we were in our
first parsonage and we got a smoke detector which we were going to put
over one doorway in our kitchen. I told her I didn’t need any old
yardstick to do the job and when I finished, well, I guess I proved that
I did. Because it was a good inch or more off center.
Well, the Bible is designed by God to be our yardstick. But in this day
and age of growing Bible illiteracy, many people, especially in our own
country, have failed to use it as such and have therefore lost their
center in life, which in turn has caused our nation to get off center.
Consequently historian David Wells writes in one of his books: “The
United States is no longer evidently a Christian country, no matter how
loosely the word Christian is used.” We’ve lost our moorings. And in
the process we’ve lost many of the things that initially made America
great. A French philosopher by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville
foresaw such a thing happening years ago when he wrote these words:
“I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her
harbors...; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich
mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and
institutions of learning. I sought it in her democratic Congress and in
her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of
America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand
the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is
good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be
great.”
Those are haunting words, aren’t they? They are words that remind us
how important it is for our nation to back on center again, something
that can only occur when God’s people get back on center by getting back
into his Word so that his Word can get into them and bring about the
change that I believe every one of us here today wants to see and that
our founding fathers foresaw for this great land of ours.
Well, there are many other reasons why we should read the Bible, but I
want to close my sermon this morning by sharing just one more with you.
And here it is: It helps you discover who you are. Many people
today define themselves by what they do. For example, I came across the
following blurb about Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England
Patriots who failed to win the Super Bowl a couple weeks ago and cap off
an undefeated season. This was written in 2006 and appeared in
Leadership Magazine:
By the age of 28, Tom Brady won three Super Bowls. Unfortunately, the
New England Patriots' quarterback has made the news for his
disappointing personal life as well. This past year he fathered a child
out of wedlock in a messy love triangle. Prior to this tragic set of
events, Brady shared some telling words in a 60 Minutes interview. He
mused, "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's
something greater out there for me? I think, 'God, it's got to be more
than this.' I mean this isn't, this can't be what it's all cracked up
to be." Steve Kroft, the interviewer, then asked, "What's the answer?"
Brady replied, "I wish I knew. I wish I knew."
My
friends, until we find our purpose in God, until we discover who we
really are from his divine perspective, life will remain elusively
meaningless and we will struggle with who we are and why we are here.
But when we open his Holy Word, we find a God who loves us so much that
he was willing to move heaven and earth, or maybe I should say he was
willing to move from heaven to earth, in order to win us sinful and
rebellious human beings back to himself again. And that God has given
us a visible sign that identifies who we are and that we can always go
back to if we ever have doubts about ourselves or about his love for
us. And that is the sign of our baptism. On the day that we were
baptized, God set his seal of ownership upon us. He adopted us into his
family. He made us his precious sons and daughters, heirs of
everlasting life. While these 2 girls, Jenna and Barbara Bush, can say,
“My dad is the President of the United States,” each one of us can say,
“That’s pretty impressive, but you know what? My dad is the king of the
universe.” I John 3:1 puts it this way: “How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And
that is what we are!” Listen, my friends, there is no higher title
that we could possibly be given than that one right there: children of
God.
So
in a day and age where so many people, especially young people, have
lost their identity because they’re told they have to dress and look a
certain way and wear their hair a certain way and they have to talk a
certain way and listen to a certain type of music and so on, maybe it’s
time to start tuning out all the voices of our culture and start tuning
in to the voice of our Creator. And the best way to do that is by
reading the love letter that your Heavenly Father has given to you, a
love letter that will give you a real sense of worth and will help you
discover who you really are from his perspective.
And
to get us even more motivated to do that, next week when we get together
we’re going to be taking a look at problems that can occur and that have
occurred when people don’t read their Bibles. Until then, may the peace
of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus at all times. Amen. |
