Where is the Bible?

Following a recent service, I was approached by a person who had never been to an Episcopal service before.  He said, “I liked the service very much, but can you tell me, where is the Bible?” I was a bit taken aback by the question and said that the book the Deacon read the Gospel from was the Bible, and that the majority of the words of the service in the bulletin are taken from the Bible, and that we did have 3 readings from Scripture plus a Psalm.  Concerned that this man thought that Episcopalians didn’t read the Bible, I continued on by saying that we have two lectionaries, one for Sunday worship that is on a 3-year rotation and one for daily study that is on a 2-year rotation.

While that was all good and interesting, he still wanted to know where the Bible was, and it dawned on me that this man (who I believe was from the evangelical tradition) wanted to know where the Bibles were IN THE PEWS.  I explained that since we used the Book of Common Prayer and several hymnals, we didn’t have room in the pew racks for a Bible.  Neither he nor I was satisfied with that answer.

Early in my ministry, we had received a grant of 25 Bibles from a Bible Society, so I put them in the pew racks of the church I was serving.  That Sunday, one of the parishioners sat in tears in the pew holding the Bible.  She explained that in the tradition she grew up in, they were not allowed to have a Bible as the priests were only allowed to interpret Holy Scripture.  Just seeing a Bible in the pew washed away years of purposely being made ignorant.  I had forgotten the power of that story and the importance of having access to the Bible, especially in a church.

I also believe that the most important place for a Bible to be is IN THE HOME.  Our primary place of Bible reading and study should be where we are most often, and (usually) that is not in our communal worship space.  As much as I appreciate our lectionary, it does parse out the stories and cuts off parts that inhibit our ability to hear the entire narrative.  We also get so much Bible on Sundays that there is simply too much to address effectively in a sermon.  We need to make the time to have more in-depth exposure to the great stories of the Bible.

Part of the way of doing that is to come to Bible Study at church, although I know it is not a good time for some.  That offers us the opportunity to think more creatively by using technology perhaps we can establish a group that meets at a different time in a video chat room so we can still see each other even if we are not in the same physical space.  Anyone interested?

We have a wonderful resource of the Forward Movement Day by Day booklets that help us read the daily lectionary, which has 4 Scripture readings (for those who say Daily Office [Morning and Evening Prayer], there are 2 readings plus a Psalm for each office). That is also a LOT of Scripture each day.  If you are just getting started, like any good exercise program, start small and perhaps only read a chapter or two in any one book (it doesn’t matter which one). 

Most importantly, if you come across something you don’t understand or what to consider more deeply, write down your questions and thoughts.  Come talk to me or someone who has some training in the Bible to discuss your concerns.  Make the time to learn what Holy Scripture meant in its context and how we can understand it in our context.

 The Bible was written a long time ago in a very different place than we live.  That doesn’t mean it has nothing to offer us, but we need to be diligent in understanding its strangeness.  The difficult reality is that some of our questions may never be answered, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to pursue understanding.  It is the most beneficial pursuit we can undertake. 
In Christ,
Rev. Valerie+