October 23, 2016
True North | The Bible
- Deuteronomy 6:1-9
- Rev. Scott Shelton
Good morning, glad to be up here. I’ve been back from sabbatical about 5 weeks now, and have seen most of you either in worship or around the building since then. This is the first chance I’ve had to preach – because Jerry won’t give up the pulpit. Just kidding.
Many of you have asked me about my sabbatical and especially my family’s trip to Israel in June. In today’s message I’ll talk briefly about seeing Israel up close.
But on November 6, I’d like to invite you to hear a lot more. On that Sunday, from 11:45-1:00 pm, we’ll be in the chapel to tell stories, show some pictures and artifacts and share about my sabbatical – esp. Israel.
We have a free lunch, including dessert and drinks, provided by the Lilly grant funds – and would love for you to stay after church for a free lunch and program that day. In January I plan on teaching a 6 week class on “Christ and Community in Israel and Indiana.” There will be more info about that coming.
Today we continue on our trek on finding our True North – what we believe as Christians. And today we look at the Bible.
Our readings today are these: Deuteronomy 6:1-9 and Mark 12:28-34.
This is the Word of the Lord, thanks be to God. Let’s pray. O Lord, we thank for you word, especially as we study it today – and so may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our Hearts be pleasing to you, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
A minute ago, we say this is the word of the lord, thanks be to God. I hope you notice we don’t say, this might be the word of the lord, or some of what you just heard is word of the lord. We don’t say these are some suggestions from God, right, but we say, this is the word of the Lord. So…do we believe it?
I’m here to say yes, and want to encourage you today that the Bible helps us to find our true north by studying it and believing it.
Randy Frazee uses this definition of the Bible:
The Bible is the inspired Word of God that guides my beliefs and actions.
We believe that God reveals himself, lets himself be known, through the word of God written down in the Bible. It doesn’t mean that God took Moses’ hand, or Luke’s hand, or Paul’s hand and made them write the words they wrote. No, it means it is God’s story, written by human hands, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. God inspires, God’s Spirit is like a wind or breath – and God breathes life into us and into scripture.
In Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy we read, “all scripture is God-breathed” – it is inspired by God, it has authority for us even today.
When we were in Israel one thing we were reminded of was that the New Testament is closely connected to the Old Testament.
When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, he didn’t just create a new command.
He quoted from Deut. 6 – the Sh'ma. The greatest commandment acc. to Jesus is from the books of Moses, is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
Let’s look at a few points from The Sh’ma – the greatest commandment as it is stated in Deuteronomy 6.
The Sh’ma is the Hebrew word for “Hear.” Deut. 6 starts, “Hear…O Israel.” This is the most well-known Scripture to Jews – back then and even today. Jews would say it morning and night. We believe Jesus as a Jewish young man would say this morning and night as part of his prayers.
Moses had just repeated the 10 commandments in Deut. 5, and now tells the people to follow those commands in Deuteronomy 6.
Why should follow God’s commands? He says this…
So that you and your children may fear God (respect God, revere God).
He goes on to say for them to follow the commands so that they can enjoy long life, that it may go well with you, and their families would increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Will everything for the Jewish people always be great? No, of course not. But God gives them boundaries so that they, and we, are set up for the best life.
These commands are not to keep us from having fun, but to teach the people then and now the best way to live for them – and for us. We won’t always do want God wants or even what is best for us. But God even has a remedy for that – he forgives us and puts us back right with God if we confess. God’s Word shows us the best way to live – for God and others first, then ourselves.
Deuteronomy goes on to say this:
“Impress them on your children, talk about them when you sit at home, and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.”
So according to Moses, how do we pass these truths down? Especially to those younger than us? The best way is to pass it down ourselves – in relationship.
These commands are to be on our hearts – part of us – when we study them, know them, understand them, understand the stories.
That was more than 3000 years ago. What if we today we still talk about God’s desires for us with young people as we walk, drive along the road, if you say prayers or read a story with your kids or grandkids at bedtime, as you pray at dinner, and maybe a quick prayer in the morning before school.
We try and bring up faith in regards to things that are happening around us, like stuff at school, friends, or even the election. Honestly our kids often roll their eyes, but one day, we know, they’ll appreciate it. We do some little things that you can do too, like pray at meals, also in restaurants, we try and pray a quick blessing before school each day, and talk about issues when they come up like when something happens at school. Do we always pray? No. Do we cover everything? Not even close. Do we try and pray with our family? Yes, we do.
So that’s how we are to pass it down to people younger than us, how do we study it ourselves? I’ve tried lots of different practices over the years to make the Bible real to me and to get it into my life. Here are three.
First, read the Bible devotionally. I sometimes use the Psalms – maybe 3-4 times a week – as prayers.
Confess – Psalm 51
Comfort – Psalm 23
Praise – Psalm 100 or 111
Live Generously – Psalm 112
Seek God, Cry out to God – Psalm 61, 62, or 63
I take one of the Psalms and pray it as if were my own. If I need to confess, I pray Psalm 51, David’s prayer. If I need comfort, I might pray the 23rd Psalm. If I really want to praise God, a couple of my favorites are Psalm 100 and Psalm 111. If I’m feeling far from God, and I really need God, I might pray Psalm 61, 62, or 63.
So I use the Psalms, and often I try and read one chapter a day, or maybe two – in the OT or the NT– and just take away one thought for the day. Some days it just seems like words to me – and I forget what I read really quickly. Other days, it’s great and I feel as if God gave me something to really hang on to. I’ve used lots of different devotionals written by Christians over the years which usually point me to a bible passage for the day and a prayer. Those are great too and help keep me on track. That’s devotionally.
Second, you can memorize scripture – and I have sometimes. I might say someday – “this is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Reminds me this day is God’s and I’m trying to give it to him. With our kids, we have sometimes said, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” This helps me and Claire and our kids remind us why we need God’s commands – I don’t probably use this one as often as I need.
One that’s meant a lot is from Philippians 4:6-7. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I have tended to worry about things, right now – sending a kid off to college and worrying how will we pay to put 4 kids through college – which leads us to pray! Lots of prayer!
So we can read the Bible devotionally, memorize it, and third…we can study it.
Studying it can happen individually, together or in church like here. We believe the Bible to be God’s Word – so that’s why we spend a chunk of time studying it each Sunday.
And the reason we have Sunday school classes, Great Banquet and Awakening, youth groups, Home groups, men’s and women’s groups that meet here during the nights and days during the week – is to provide a place to study the Bible together. We do this relationally when we meet together, especially in those smaller groups. We can talk about the Bible, help each other to understand its meaning, and help each other apply it to our lives.
So to live the Bible, we can use it devotionally, memorize it, and study it.
We still wonder sometimes, can we trust all of this – is it really God’s Word? I think we can.
The bible is 66 books written over about 1500 years by 40 authors with one message – God revealing himself to us, he redeems us, and calls us to himself.
The bible is trustworthy. We don’t have original copies of the books of the Bible but incredibly old copies. Scribes who would copy the books were incredibly careful, even burning a page if there was one mistake found. While in Jerusalem, we saw a 2000 year old full copy of the book of Isaiah on display in the Israel Museum, an incredible part of the Dead Sea scrolls.
Scholars find that the Bible we have today is incredibly accurate when compared to the ancient text like the scrolls. The oldest copy of the New Testament is less than 100 years removed from the original writings. When compared to the first copies of the Bible, today’s Bibles are found to be 99.9% accurate to the ancient texts. And there are more copies of the New Testament, than any other ancient book… by far.
Can we believe what it says in the Bible actually happened? I believe we can. The places we saw in Israel were real places, where there has been incredible archaeology done, and you can actually see some of the original locations of Bible stories, like Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Capernaum, and Magdala.
Possibly our favorite spot we visited, was not the most famous spot in Israel, but very, very special to us. It’ll take me a several minutes to tell the story and how it relates to the Bible – but it does all relate and relate to today’s message on the Bible – so stick with me.
In Joshua 8, when the Israelites came into the promised land under Joshua’s leadership they did what God had told them to do. They went to a valley between 2 small mountains, called Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. There half the people stood in front of one mountain and half the people in front of the other, and there they read God’s word.
Joshua 8:34-35
“34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.” This then is the place the Israelites renewed their promises to God in the promised land.
Here’s a picture of when we drove into the valley one day in Israel.
PICTURE 1 – MT. EBAL AND GERIZIM
So that was cool, but not why we went there. We went there to go to Nablus. Now Nablus was an out of the way place and it’s in the Palestinian territories in the West Bank. We went through a check point to get into the West Bank, then drove on to Nablus. When tensions are high between Israel and Palestine, groups cannot go to Nablus because it is a place where there are sometimes protests. That day we went, we drove right into Nablus without having to stop for a second checkpoint.
We went through the town to Jacob’s well. Jacob’s well was at a place called Shechem in the OT where Jacob gave land to his son Joseph. In Jesus time, Jesus met the woman at the well there – and we’ll get to that in just a minute.
So we drove through the town of Nablus, this Palestinian town again in the West Bank, to the St. Photini Church and Convent – a Greek orthodox church. Now we weren’t sure we could get it. Geoff, our guide, had been calling the convent but hadn’t gotten through. So we waited on our minibus while he went and knocked on the door. They said we could come in and visit. So we did. We went in to this beautiful Greek Orthodox church – you can see here.
PICTURE 2 – INSIDE OF CHURCH
We walked around the church for just a couple of minutes which was gorgeous and worth visiting on its own. It had lots of candles and icons and paintings of Jesus. Going to the Lord’s Table – or the altar, there was a set of stairs on each side – so we went down and there underground was Jacob’s well.
PICTURE 3 - JACOB’S WELL – BY ITSELF – no people
We talked about the well a little bit. It is a deep well hewn out of solid rock – 135 feet deep, where it still draws fresh water even today. I asked Geoff, is this the same water source, different well – what is it? He says, oh no, this is the same well. It’s been preserved since the time of Jesus – it is a working well out of solid rock – it is the same well. Since we were below ground, the top of the well is probably at the same height it was at the time of Christ. So Geoff says, let’s read from John 4. He read this:
John 4:4-6
Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
And then Geoff says to us rather dramatically, so Jesus sat…there.
SLIDE – PICTURE 4 - PIC OF SHELTON KIDS DRAWING WATER
My family had a chance to see and use that very well. It still draws water from 135 feet deep. And we used the pulley system to draw water. To touch and feel that water even now was very special. The story of Jacob’s well goes on in John 4. Jesus sends his disciples into the town to buy food, and Jesus interacts with a Samaritan woman. The woman is coming to the well to get water in the middle of the day – most women would come early. She comes in the middle of the day, because as Jesus points out that she has had 5 husbands and is now living with another man. He doesn’t condemn the Samaritan woman but continues to share with her. He tells her that if she drinks the water he has, she will never be thirsty, because he has living water.
And she replies that she knows the Messiah is coming - Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
So at this very location where we stood – in a place where Jacob gave his son Joseph land, where the Israelites after leaving Egypt, had crossed into the Promised Land and renewed their covenant with God through Joshua, is the same place where we now have a revelation. Jesus says he is the living water, and Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah –the Savior, the Son of God.
Yet the story doesn’t end there. In John 4, the woman runs into town and tells the townspeople about Jesus. Because of her action – she did not keep it to herself but she acted upon it. In the end of the story many townspeople say… “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” Wow. Still not the end of the story!
As I said, the well sits in Nablus a Palestinian city. Some of the Muslims in town don’t like a Christian church there, but is zealous Jews really don’t like the church because they say it is a Jewish holy site before a Christian one. Zealous Jews killed the priest there in November 1979. Soon after, a respected priest nearby, Father Justinious took over and has been there ever since.
He has been attacked too by zealous Jews – but has stayed the course. Think about it, not only does he provide spiritual guidance for a small Christian community there, but he faces persecution, he is the keeper of the well, and also allows people like us to visit the well and have our faith strengthened.
So Claire tells Father J that we were there 20 years ago and this well is one of the reasons we gave Jacob his name.
SLIDE – PICTURE 5 - PIC OF JACOB WITH JACOB’S WELL SIGN
Here’s Jacob standing here as an 18 year old young man at the sign outside. Father Justinious then calls him over and gives him a bracelet as a keepsake and then gives all our kids a bracelet. Then he was kind enough to pose with our kids for a picture. Here is the Father with our 4 kids.
SLIDE – PICTURE 6 - OF SHELTON KIDS WITH FATHER JUSTINIOUS
If you can’t tell, Father Justinious is the short one with the beard. The Shelton’s are the tall ones…
So Father Justinious believes God’s word – he knows it is the word of the lord – he lives it. He passes it down to our children today as we read in the Shema. We were blessed to pass down some of our faith to our kids through this trip.
God has revealed himself to us. Through his Word, through Jesus. I can say I believe the stories of the Bible because I saw firsthand many of the real life locations of where Jesus walked and other Bible stories took place.
But you don’t’ have to go to Israel to believe and live it. You can have faith in God – as revealed in the Bible. You can love God today – as we have done through worship and prayer. And you can love your neighbor – as we studied last spring, right where you are – all around you. Let’s pray.
Benediction:
Jesus would say the Sh’ma twice a day. So do observant Jews today.
Let’s say this again, as Jesus said it from Deuteronomy and the gospel accounts:
Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And love your neighbor as yourself.
We believe the stories from the Bible to be true. The places are real, the stories are trustworthy, and there are witnesses to Jesus that he is truly the Messiah – the son of God.
So read your Bible devotionally… study it… memorize it… and live it.
And so – Go now – with the love of God the Father, the grace and mercy of Jesus the Son, and the comfort and courage of the Holy Spirit. Amen.