All Saints' Episcopal Church, Thomasville

Advent 2, 2007

"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."  (Romans 13)

            This week, the tragedy of Christ Church, Savannah's decision to align herself with the Anglican Province of Uganda made the New York Times, and once again one could read about "biblical authority", and how one side (Uganda) had it -- so to speak -- while the other side (The Episcopal Church) had abandoned it.  The subject had been batted back and forth in Savannah so much lately that the local Episcopal clergy felt the need to write their own article for the newspaper to explain to the city precisely what Episcopalians did believe about the Bible.  Anyway, the salient quotation reads:  "At issue is whether churches that condone same-sex relationships are still following the Bible."

When Bishop Louttit was here last month, he told us that one clergyman at Christ Church (not the rector whom I respect and admire) had told the Bishop (and some of the Vestry had told him as well), that the clergy of the Episcopal Church -- and by implication at least some of the Diocese of Georgia no longer believe the Bible -- or believe in Jesus.  Most certainly this has been claimed by a few of our brothers and sisters at Trinity Anglican here in Thomasville. 

The clergyman I mentioned told the Bishop that he believed that every single word of the Bible was the inspired and literal word of God.  As Bishop Louttit told our Vestry last month, he nevertheless thought he could continue to live with that clergyman, but believed that that clergyman could no longer live with him.

            You all might be interested to know that I've told every Confirmation Class I’ve ever taught here and elsewhere that if someone asks them if they believe in the Bible, their answer ought to be along the lines of:  "No, I do not believe in the Bible.  Rather, I believe in God"  -- kind of along the lines that if someone asks "Are you saved?", one's response should be something like, "Well obviously not from you!"

I mention this not to slight the Bible at all -- which I trust you all know I hold in the highest respect and esteem.  But while we can learn a great many things from the Bible -- and while the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament contain all things necessary to salvation (a belief to which every priest must swear at his ordination), this is certainly not to say that everything written in the Old and New Testaments is necessarily "salvific".

            For instance, as I tell the Confirmation Classes:  we don't believe in God because of the Bible; rather we believe in the Bible because we believe in God.  We must do our best to remember that the Bible didn't come into being as we know it until about three hundred years after the Crucifixion.  And it doesn't hurt to consider that when St. Paul wrote the words of our First Lesson today, that not a single word of any of the four gospels would be written till at least fifteen years later.  The "revealed order" to mankind goes:  God, Jesus, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the Church, and then the Bible

            Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.  I believe that with all my heart.  But as we talked about a few weeks ago, this does not mean that every word in the Bible was necessarily dictated by God.  Inspiration can come and go -- as any number of the ladies in the parish reading I Corinthians have not hesitated to remind me!  Further, no matter how clearly we might think any particular author of any Biblical book makes a certain point, we cannot always be sure whether that point necessarily comes from God

For instance, Psalm 137 states that God will be most pleased if the Jewish leaders in captivity in Iraq would smash the heads of their captors' infant children against brick walls.  Given the situation there then (not to mention now), might this truly be the will of God?  I hope not.

            Fr. Ralston used to say that with some parts of the Bible we could not be sure of what God meant any more than we could be sure of what Shakespeare meant because of any one line in any one of his plays.  One of the Bard's most famous lines comes from the mouth of Polonius in "Hamlet":  This above all, to thine own self be true", (he tells his son Laertes) "and as sure as the night follows the day, thou canst not be false to any man."  Certainly there is a tremendous degree of truth here.  And yet, is it more important for us to be true to oneself -- or true to the will of God.  So who knows what Shakespeare meant himself when he wrote that line.

            I don't mean for a moment that we cannot use the Bible as a moral guidebook.  In no way do I want to do away with the Ten Commandments.  And yet, I wish our Prayerbooks said at least as much about the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount as they do about the Ten Commandments.  Neither can we escape the fact that the Ten Commandments and the Sermon of the Mount say nothing about homosexuality, while they address rather bluntly the subject of adultery!   Nor should we forget that the leaders of the Elizabethan Settlement decided that Thomas Cranmer was correct when he began the Liturgy in the first Book of Common Prayer by citing not so much the Ten Commandments, but rather the Summary of the Law:  Love God with all one's heart, soul, mind, and strength -- and love one's neighbor as oneself.  St. Augustine a few hundred years later would write that the Summary of the Law meant:  Love God and love your neighbor -- and then, do as you please."  Think about that.

            But let's go back to St. Paul:  "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."  These days in the midst of all our battles over biblical authority, I wonder whether we're discerning or experiencing all the hope that we might:  "that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."  Patience means perseverance.  The word assumes that there are and will continue to be obstacles in the Bible which we might not be able to deal with -- precisely when we want to, or precisely when we think we need to.

The word "comfort" means strength.  To me, much of the Bible's comfort comes (when I remind myself) that I don't need to know the answer to everything, and that my salvation lies ultimately not with my ability to understand everything in the Bible, but that my salvation remains in the hands of a just and loving God -- who on His own volition decided to enter your world and my world:  to live and die as one of us, so that we might in time be brought to Him.

            For at least 450 years, today (this second Sunday of Church Year) has been known as Bible Sunday because of this lesson and this collect, composed by Thomas Cranmer himself.  It is addressed to the Lord:  who has caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning."  Jesus caused the Scriptures to be written for our learning -- and for our edification -- and not to spiritually crucify one another with.

Here's the specific petition in the prayer:  "Grant that we may in such wise hear them":  (Sometimes we like to listen to some portions of the Bible more than others.  Most certainly we should pay attention to some portions more than others.  I most certainly need to listen to some other portions better than I do at the moment.)  Grant that we may in such wise hear them.  Jesus of course said:  "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Grant that we may hear them, read them.  One wonders just how much actual reading of the Bible is being done by those arguing the most over the question of biblical authority.  And when we read it, are we looking for God's will, or trying to corroborate our own?  I'm one of the guiltiest.  Grant that we may hear them:  read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them.

What does it mean to "mark" the Bible?  Does it mean simply to underline certain passages with our pen or pencil?  Probably not.  One of the definitions of "mark" means to grade -- as to mark a paper.  The word carries the connotation of evaluation:  that some portions of the Bible are more important than others -- and that we need constantly to mark (to take note of that fact.  Hopefully our ability to mark will affect our ability to learn, and that our ability to learn will increase our ability to mark with a keener sense of distinction.

How good are we at inwardly digesting the Bible?  Some things which I put in my stomach take considerably longer to digest than others.  Does that mean that we might be guilty of dismissing something in the Bible that we may not have the ability to understand?  It took me years of attempting to digest Beethoven's Missa Solemnis before I could begin to make sense of it.  I think about how grateful I am to my record dealer in Savannah who told me to keep listening -- and digesting -- and that one day it would work for me.

            We say that the Bible is a living book (not that God changes His mind about things), but because it continues to speak to us -- and we ought to have our eyes and minds open to this fact more than we do.  Again I'm as guilty as anyone.  I must have celebrated the Holy Eucharist well over a thousand times, but I never cease to be amazed at how every now and then, one lonely word will take on a meaning for me that would have meant nothing twenty years ago.  So for us to digest the Bible means that we need to keep our minds and eyes open -- and be ready for some surprises along the way.

            And the reason we ought to do all these things: hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Scriptures is that we might have hope. Again, I don't hear either side in our current squabbles saying much if anything about hope. Hope is the great theme of Advent.  Hope is not wishful thinking:  The doctor says my friend is dying, but I hope he's wrong.  Hope is nothing of the sort.  Rather, hope is the Christianized version of fortitude.  Hope is what keeps us pilgrims of this life moving toward the goal of our heavenly home.  Hope is what helps us sing with Chaucer the fact that "Here is no home; here is but wilderness."  Hope is what drives home the fact that our home is in the arms of our dear Lord and Savior.

And this, my friends, is the only reason the Church decided to put the Bible together:  that we might "embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which God has given us in our Savior Jesus Christ."

            Now I trust that each of you will hear and understand my intention as I say that The New York Times is dead wrong when it writes that "the issue is whether the churches that allow same-sex marriage are still following the Bible" -- which by the way remains an oxymoron for me.  That is, same-sex marriage is by definition, an impossibility.  Nevertheless (and I say this as much to myself as to anyone here this morning) when we talk about biblical authority, or when the New York Times talks about biblical authority, or when the Archbishop of Canterbury does, or the Archbishop of Uganda or the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the authority of the Bible has nothing to do ultimately with same-sex marriage, or adultery, or women priests, and unfortunately for me, not even the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

Not that those subjects shouldn't demand our most careful attention a well as our careful marking.  Nor must we ignore the fact that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, and that that Sword has rendered (and will continue to render asunder) countless countries, churches, not to mention families.

            But the real authority of the Bible (its ultimate authority) lies in how it lays before us (as well as how we receive) the fact that in Jesus of Nazareth, God embraced all of mankind both saints and sinners -- and that through His death and Resurrection, He has thrown Heaven open to everyone -- even to the likes of you and me.

The authority of the Bible lies in its ability for you and me to be able to hear Chaucer’s words (eight simple words which really sum up all we need to know about Advent, as well as all we need to be thinking about in Advent): "Here is no home; here is but wilderness".  (And we could easily add the next three:  "Forth pilgrim forth!")  The authority of the Bible lies in its ability for you and me to be able to hear "Here is no home; here is but wilderness", and be able to say thankfully in response:  "Thanks be to God".