This morning we conclude
our brief series of messages about the Reformation. I hope you’re not breathing a sigh of relief!
In a few moments, when I read the Scripture text, I am going to use
a different Bible than the one I normally use. The Bible I am using this morning – this one – is The One
Year Bible, arranged in 365 daily readings so that one can read through the
Bible in a year, without going through it in order, from Genesis to
Revelation. But that’s not the
reason why I’m using it this morning.
I’m also not using it because of this nice cover or cool picture on the
cover. It’s not one that has any
particular sentimental value to me because it was not a gift to me. Until the other day, I had not actually
picked up this particular Bible in quite a while.
So, why am I using this particular Bible this morning? I am using it to honor a person who
gave his life to help ensure that we could read the Bible. Did you know there are people who gave their
lives to translate the Bible into English so that we could read it? This Bible is published by Tyndale
House publishers, a publishing company named after William Tyndale, a scholar
who was burned at the stake in a small town in Belgium in 1536. His crime? Translating the Bible into English. If you have ever uttered the phrases under the sun, signs
of the times, let there be light,
my brother’s keeper, fall flat on his face, the land of the living, pour out one’s heart, the apple of his eye, go the extra mile, or the parting of the ways you are using
phrases that Tyndale brought into the English language.
The
translating of the Bible into English, first begun in earnest by John Wycliffe
in the 14th century and followed by Tyndale, helped to solidify the
Reformation, because it allowed, for the first time, for anyone who could read
to be able to have a Bible, in English, and to read it. The first book to be massed produced
with moveable type – a momentous development in history – was the Gutenberg
Bible. It was not mere
happenstance that the Bible was the first book mass-produced.
While the availability of the Bible is so taken for granted today
that we almost ignore it, there was a time when you could lose your life for
the act of translating it and putting it into the hands of the average
person. Hard to believe, isn’t
it? But even today there are
countries where it is illegal to own or distribute Bibles (in countries such as
North Korea, Somalia, Libya, and Morocco.
In North Korea, the restrictions are so dire that not only is an
individual who possesses a Bible in danger of arrest, imprisonment, torture,
and death – so are up to three generations of their family!)
So, if you have a Bible with you today or a Bible app on your phone,
computer, or tablet, a debt of gratitude is owed to those who risked, or gave,
their lives, that we could read and study the Bible. The Bible revolutionized
the world, and continues to revolutionize the world, and it is the topic of our
message this morning, as we come to one of the Five Solas of the Reformation. The Five Solas
were the foundational theological principles of the Reformation, of which Sola Scriptura was one. Sola
Scriptura means Scripture Alone. Sola
Scriptura was a rallying cry of the Reformation as a proclamation that it
was the Bible alone that would serve as the source of theology, practice, and
doctrine for the church. Authority
would not be vested in tradition, councils, creeds, denominations, other
documents, church leaders or any individuals; Scripture alone would be the
source of authority.
So, with all that said, let’s read some of the Bible! Here are two texts that are famously
about the Scriptures –
2 Timothy 3:14-17
14 But
as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those from whom you learned it,
15 and
how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16 All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness,
17 so
that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is alive 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.
There is so much to say about the Bible, and it was very difficult
to narrow it down to what is going to be a very brief summary of the Bible in
the context of the topic of Scripture
Alone. I will talk about the
Bible under the heading of three categories – Authority, Interpretation,
and Application.
1. Authority.
If you
receive – and read – the study guide sent out by email every week (it serves as
an introduction to the Sunday morning message) then you have already read about
the ways in which authority is viewed in the three branches of Christianity –
Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox.
There are some significant differences that are important to understand,
especially if we want to understand one another across those divisions. I don’t have time to get into the
differences this morning so I hope you will read the study guide if you
haven’t, or you can ask me later.
Suffice it to say this – every church, whatever its denomination or
tradition – has some basis of authority.
For Protestants, we say our sole authority is the Bible. That is, there is no other authority
that informs are beliefs and practices, which is mostly true (I say it is
mostly true because, within Protestantism, there are some examples of authority
outside of local congregations.
Not every church is completely autonomous. Within the United Methodist Church, for example, the
denomination had a great deal of authority about the placement and movement of
ministers, while other Protestant churches have complete autonomy when it comes
to the selection and calling of ministers).
Here’s
how authority works in our church, as an example. First of all, I’m not in charge. In fact, there is nowhere in life where I am in charge,
trust me. The congregation is the
final authority. There is no
outside group that tells us what we can or cannot do or what we are to
believe. Our denomination has no
authority over us. There is
nothing that our denomination’s office in Indianapolis can tell us to do, or
not to do. Our General Assembly
can pass all the resolutions they want when they gather, but our church is free
to ignore them if we choose.
As the
minister, I am charge with leading the church, but I do not have any authority
to set policy, practice, or anything else. I can make recommendations, but I am not in charge of
doctrine, practice, or belief. Our
elders serve as the spiritual overseers of our church, but they are not in
charge. They can make some
decisions, certainly, but they can’t tell the congregation what to do or what
to believe. We have a board, who
can also make some decisions, because sometimes it is too unwieldy for every
decision to be brought before the congregation. Ultimately, however, the congregation is the final arbiter
of any major decisions made by our congregation.
I know
this can seem a bit like irrelevant theological minutiae, but it really matters
when churches are trying to make decisions, especially decisions related to
belief and doctrine. In a
hierarchical church, such as the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church, there
is an official church theology and doctrine about everything. You can agree or disagree, but that’s
just the way it is. If the church
hierarchy says here is our position on
this issue, that’s the church position. We don’t have anything similar, and what happens then, if we
are debating a policy, say, about women in ministry (although that is a settled
question for us now, it wasn’t at one time). Where do you turn for a voice of authority? We turn to the Bible. As Thomas Campbell, one of the leaders
of the movement that brought about Disciples churches famously said, where
the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the Scriptures are silent, we are
silent.
Hmm. That’s a great quote,
but it doesn’t really settle things, does it? It’s a bit like Thomas Jefferson penning the 1st
Amendment and then sitting back and saying confidently, there; that ought to settle it!
Every matter related to church and state and free speech is forever
settled! Except it isn’t.
So that brings us to the second point –
2. Interpretation
If we have no central authority to establish a statement of faith,
if we have no creed that we follow, if we have no list of official doctrines,
and we turn to the Bible to answer our questions, provide us guidance, inform
our beliefs and our daily living, we have to interpret what it says. Some parts of the Bible are very clear
– love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbors as
ourselves (Jesus replied, “Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.” This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: “Love your
neighbor as yourself.” All the Law
and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31). That seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But not everything is so obvious, and
not everything that seems obvious is as obvious as we might think.
The Bible requires interpretation. No one takes it completely literally. No one takes every word of the Bible
literally. No one. No matter how much they argue that they
do, they just don’t. In Leviticus,
for example, we are told do not plant
your field with two kinds of seed.
Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material (19:19). Or, do
not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your
beard…or put tattoo marks on your selves (19:27-28). I’m fairly certain that the suit I’m
wearing today is made of a blend of material and I do cut the hair at the side
of my head. While I don’t have a
beard, I do trim my sideburns and my moustache. Am I in violation of the Bible? I am if I take those passages literally. I think we would all agree, however,
that some passages – such as these examples from Leviticus – were meant for a
particular time and particular context that no longer apply. But what happens when we come to other
passages, such as those that speak to the role of women in church or in
ministry? There are plenty of
churches who would say that what the Bible says about limiting the role of
women is still very much applicable.
Here is the larger point – we all practice Biblical interpretation, and
we all understand that not all passages are to be taken literally, but who
decides which ones are no longer applicable and which ones still apply? While that question is more difficult
one to answer, here’s one thing I do know for sure – when it comes to
interpretation, we won’t always agree with one another, and because we will
disagree we must allow one another the freedom to interpret how we feel led by
the Holy Spirit.
I’m telling you what I think and what I believe. I know a lot of ministers will say I’m not up here offering my opinion; I’m
telling you what the Bible says.
Well…they are saying what they believe
it says. I am telling you what I
think and what I believe. You are
not required to think what I think, believe what I believe, or agree with me. Your opinion is as valid as that of any
of the deacons, the elders, or mine.
I would rather you think and pray and struggle with your theology than
just blindly agree with mine and agree without ever asking a question or
expressing any disagreement, although it would be a lot easier at times if you
just agreed with me. Not everyone
wants that. A lot of people are
much more comfortable with a church and a minister that will tell them exactly what
to think and what to believe about every single topic, no matter how large or
small, no matter how relevant or arcane.
To use the example of women in ministry again, this is where
interpretation and authority become very important. If we were subject to denominational authority, they could
tell us whether or not we can ordain woman. I can tell you most assuredly I would not like anyone
outside of our church telling us what we can or cannot do. But it’s also one of the reasons why
matters of theology, belief, and practice can sometimes be sticky. There are any number of issues in our own
time that are creating a great deal of contention in churches, because people
disagree about how to interpret various passages of the Bible, and in our
church context there isn’t any person or group of persons who will establish an
official list of beliefs. Now,
having said that, we are sometimes called upon as a church to make a decision
about what we will or will not practice, such as when this church some years
ago discussed, debated, and then voted to ordain women, but no one was required
to agree, disagree, believe, or disbelieve in the practice.
This is why church life can sometimes be very complicated.
3. Application.
When I was a member of another denomination, early in my time in
that denomination I attended their annual meeting, which was very large and
very contentious, as they were in the midst of a great battle over the Bible
and what they believed it to say.
I remember standing in the back of a very large convention hall in
Dallas, Texas as we prepared to vote on an issue, and people had managed to get
extra ballots and were passing them out to people, enabling them to vote with
multiple ballots, when each person was supposed to cast only a single
vote. They did not seem to notice
the irony of “defending” the Bible while going against its principles of
honesty and integrity at the same time.
Here is the reality – we can’t simply talk about the Bible, we are
called to apply the Bible; that is, we are called to live its message. We can’t just talk about faith, hope,
and love; we must live faith, hope, and love. We can’t just talk about loving God with our heart, mind,
and soul; we must actually love God with our heart, mind, and soul. We can’t just talk about loving our
neighbor; we must actually love our neighbor.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that the Bible is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. The Bible is an incredibly powerful
book, because it is more than a book.
The Bible does indeed contain the Word of God and the power of that Word
changes lives. One of the most
powerful examples of which I am familiar was in hearing a young man speak some
years ago. He was from a small
village in Asia, and one day a few people came to his village to distribute
Bibles. The elders of the village
did not want the Bibles to be distributed so they seized all the copies in
order to burn them. The
Bibles were thrown onto a bonfire, but as paper will do when it is thick, the
pages did not immediately burn all the way through. One page of the gospel of John blew away in the breeze and
the young man happened upon it.
Reading that one page of Scripture, he was converted and immediately set
about evangelizing other members of his village. Again, the village elders were not pleased and threatened
him and even beat him. Undeterred,
the young man continued, helping to bring a number of the members of his
village to Christ before needing to flee because of threats against his
life. Over time, the young man was
responsible for brining large numbers of people to Christ, all because one page
of John’s gospel blew out of a bonfire and ended up in his hands. That is a testimony to the power of the
Bible! The Bible is indeed alive and active. It is also a great gift that we are
able to read it in our own language, as some people gave their lives in order
for us to have that ability.
Sola Scriptura – Scripture
Alone. That is the great rallying
cry of the Reformation, and may it be ours as well.
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