Sunday 4 August – Bible Sunday

Readings:

Colossians 3:1-17

Luke 8:4-8

Please watch the video about Bibles distributed in Cambodia before you read this short message

Message

Thanks for sharing your favourite verses today.

I’m so blessed – I get to share my favourite verses so often. I thought it only fair to give others a chance.

I was sharing with someone the other day about his pacemaker. How the thing kicks into action when his heart goes out of rhythm or does not behave either way.

I guess it’s a kind of an implant – something connected on the inside – that makes a difference – that really keeps him alive.

It’s a matter of life or death really. Without it – if his heart stops – well he’s a bit like you and me.

Our bodies have ways of kicking in when we are in trouble too in other ways – adrenalin is very helpful in a crisis. Our response to a life threatening situation is part of the gift of creation.

I discovered something new this week too.

If you stop breathing – say with a condition like obstructive sleep apnoea – your oxygen level drops and your brain wakes you up with a bit of a jolt. Very helpful really – otherwise – like the heart stopping – well when you stop breathing – you die.

My dad used to have a very dry sense of humour. If someone died and you asked what the cause was – he would usually say “lack of breath”. My response as a child – when someone died (as was the case when my godfather died) – was to ask “who shot him?”

Now this is a very long illustration of two points from today’s readings.

1. Colossians 3:

Col 3:15  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

1. 2.    Luk 8:6  Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.

This is the only parable that Jesus explains – making it more like an allegory. He says in verse 13 (which we did not read):

Luk 8:13  Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

Both images are about the word of God becoming an inner experience – dwelling in us richly – being rooted in our lives.

Our hearts – our minds – our memories – all need the word of God to grow and bear fruit.

The desired result is fruitfulness. In the parable – it works like this:

Luk 8:15  But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

And in the letter to the Colossians – it works its way out in the community of the church! In worship specifically!

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Paul says something similar when he writes to the Corinthians:

1 Co 14:26  What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

Now we don’t do this every week on a Sunday – as this is our main corporate worship and teaching time.

We do do this in home groups – where we build each other up in faith and fellowship whenever we meet.

On this Bible Sunday I implore you – beseech you (in older English) to make it your life’s business to read your Bible.

Let it be implanted in your heart, mind and memory.

It’s a wonderful thing when it becomes the default setting – like the bodies autonomic systems that kick in – or like my friends pacemaker that saves his life.

This is a taonga. A treasure that should not be wasted by keeping it on the shelf! It’s tangible and intangible. It is the power of God’s word to us which becomes an invisible power within – like that pacemaker.

Look at the resources today on the table that Sue has done for us.

Take some home (that are there for you – not peoples’ books we have borrowed but the sheets with ideas and resources).

Happy Bible Sunday! Be glad that we have this treasure and the freedom to put it to work in our hearts and lives.

Amen!