• "To Be Anglican is To Be Biblical"
• Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent
• December 7, 2003
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

Today is referred to as Bible Sunday because the common theme of the lessons and collect is the Word of God. By definition, to be Anglican is to be biblical. The theme of the English Reformation was a reform of the church in the light of the Scriptures. William Tyndale had as the goal of his Bible translation that the average working man would know more Bible than the priests of his day.

If the sixteenth century reformation called the church back from non biblical accretions to Bible-based faith, a twenty-first century reformation will call the church back from political correctness, new age speculation and psycho-babble to the very same place. All genuine Christian reform is Bible-based. And serious commitment to personal discipleship is inevitably grounded in Bible reading and study.

Now, some of the more urbane among us have a natural antipathy to talking of Bible reading and Bible study. They resent the occasions on which well meaning but perhaps indiscreet fundamentalist Christians have assaulted them with collections of Bible passages, often taken out of context.

But the answer to the wrong use of a good thing is not to make no use of it at all-else we would all abstain from wine because of drunkenness, from meat because of gluttony, and from marital relations because of lust. The answer to the wrong use of the Bible is to use it rightly. Let me suggest three worthy reasons to read the Bible as a habit of life.

First, we need to know the right story. The messages we receive from popular media and from secular society are based on certain assumptions that govern the secular world-view. One story could be summarized in this manner. Humanity came about as a result of random causes. Various natural forces and accidents of history have led us to our current state of global unrest. It is the challenge of humanity to save ourselves from impending disaster by some new scheme. That is the context in which would-be saviors promise us new utopias.

A variation on this story goes something like this. We are essentially animals, differing only in degree from other beasts. The challenge of our life is how best to gratify our animal desires. Towards this end, the media provides us with various images of how to be the coolest and most gratified animal.

The Bible tells us a different story, a story that is part and parcel of the good news in Christ. It tells us that we were created by God in his image. It tells us that God exercises sovereign control over his creation. It tells us that humanity rebelled against God, but God in his love for us acted in history to bring us back to himself. He called the nation of Israel to be his people. He promised to send a Messiah to save the nation. He sent his only Son to become man, die and rise to save us. The Bible tells us that by his sovereign power God will bring his creation to the end that he intends for it.

By reading, marking, learning and inwardly digesting the Scriptures, we integrate this biblical story into our lives. We learn to think and act in accordance with the truth. We come to see more clearly the false assumptions that govern so much of modern life and avoid falling prey to them. We all live in the context of a story, a set of assumptions about the origin, meaning and goal of life. Bible reading helps us to make sure we are living out the right story.

A second reason to read the Bible is that we need to learn its prophetic message. By this I don't mean, as is often assumed today, that we need to know exactly when Jesus is coming and the details of the events that will precede it. We need to know the prophetic message in that we need to know just what it is that God wants from us. We say, "He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead." We need to know the standard of judgment. How do our thoughts and behaviors need to change?

Knowing the prophetic message of the Bible is all the more important because the prophetic message of our culture is incredibly confused. As near as I can tell, putting together the various media messages, it is okay to be covetous, envious and proud; it is okay to neglect your marriage vows, be promiscuous and kill the resultant children-if you forgot your condom; it may even be okay in certain circumstances to overindulge in food and drink. But you must avoid a few capital sins. You must not become overweight, you must never, ever smoke and you must be gender neutral in all things.

As we learn the prophetic message of the Bible, we are saved from the need to conform to the ideals of Madison Avenue and political correctness. We learn, instead, to reform our lives in accordance with the will and word of God. As we read the Bible habitually, the Holy Spirit works through the appointed passages to change our attitudes and behaviors in accordance with the will of God. Perhaps of equal importance, the Holy Spirit teaches where not to feel so guilty and where not to worry.

A third reason to read the Bible is to cultivate the theological virtue of hope. In a world in which many chaotic and seemingly uncontrollable things are happening, the Bible reminds us that God is in control. As Romans says, "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose" (8:28).

Today's gospel illustrates this. Jesus, speaking about the events of AD 70 and, perhaps, about the end of time, describes the various things that are to happen: "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the seas and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth." Jesus counsels the disciples that when they see these things they are not to be caught up in the anxiety and despair of those around them. Rather, they are to "look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near." In the midst of calamity, the Bible teaches us to keep our eyes on Jesus and the hope we have in him.

The Bible does not promise us that we will not get sick, suffer and die. Rather, it promises that Jesus will be with us in sickness, suffering and death. It promises us that, when all is said and done, Jesus will appear in glory and raise us from the dead so that we will be with him forever.

We all have aspirations for life in this world that will not come to fruition. But not one word will fail of all that Jesus has promised. As he said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." The only way to keep this hope in our heart, day by day, is to become readers and studiers of the Bible... "That we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."