A Truthful Story

 St Matthew & St Oswald’s with Overslade, Rugby entered 2021 by engaging with ‘God in my Everything.’ A book written by Ken Shigematsu and published by Zondervan in 2013. The essence of the book is to build our lives on a trellis drawing on ancient Christian wisdom, particularly from St Benedict and his ‘Rule.’ The hope is that we will create ‘Rhythms of Grace’ that will inform and enhance our lives as the people of God.

(See below for a picture of the trellis)

In our ‘Preaching Series’ we have explored a basic overview of the trellis and in this sermon we begin to explore one of the trellis uprights, the Bible. 

We are beginning with the 1st "root" practice on the trellis - BIBLE READING and we will be looking at different aspects of the Bible over 2 weeks before we move on to PRAYER and SABBATH. 

We are exploring ‘Guide me in your truth’ 

Reading 2 Timothy 3: 10-17 and Psalm 119: 1-8.

Once upon a time long ago a beautiful woman was travelling along a wild and lonely place in her horse drawn carriage. She came upon a poor young girl, beaten and half-starved and dressed in rags.

The woman asked the driver to stop and they picked up the young girl and put her into the carriage. The woman wrapped warm blankets around the girl and dressed her wounds as best as she was able. She also gave her some warm soup from a flask and made her as comfortable as possible.

They journeyed on for some time and the young girl fell asleep.

When she awoke, she felt and looked much improved.

So, the woman began to enquire about the young girl, who was she, how had she come to be left by the side of the road in such a desolate place and in such a condition. The young girl said that her name was Truth and that she had heard of a particular town notable for its vice, for its cruelty and lack of care for the most poor and vulnerable. She felt compelled to go and speak to them and hopefully get them to see the error of their ways. But they laughed at her and began to beat her and eventually tied her backwards onto a donkey and sent of her off into the wilderness. Eventually the donkey collapsed, and she was left as the woman had found her, lying desolate by the wayside.

The woman gave the young girl a big hug and drew the blanket around her and offered her some more of the warm soup. The woman then said that from that day on the young girl would always travel with her in the carriage. They would become companions and together they would visit places were people lived in ignorance and seek to show them the error of their ways.

‘What is your name,’ the young girl asked. The beautiful woman replied, ‘my name is Story.’

So, from that day to this - Truth has always been carried by Story.

In the 17^th & 18^th century a new story started to be told. This story had little or no room for God or divine beings. 

There were several variations on how to deal with a redundant God. 

Some claimed he used to be around, but like a divine watchmaker he had created the universe, wound it up, set it going and then withdrawn leaving the universe to do its own thing.

Others pushed God upstairs and if you still maintained a predilection for belief in a divine being then okay you can do that – but please do it in your own time as we are busy.

We are busy making scientific discoveries and breakthroughs. We are busy creating a new world where disease and the ills of the past will one day be eradicated.

We are busy building a world where fortunes can be made.

We are busy building a world that because of our skill and ingenuity we can transport and transplant anywhere across the globe. And they make not like it at first, but people will come to see the benefit and want to join in and make this story their own.

The days of darkness are past, and a new dawn of enlightenment has arrived. Some scholars claim the end of the Enlightenment as a distinct movement ended in the mire of the French Revolution. Others put it later.

Whenever or however the Enlightenment period ended, the momentum has continued apace particularly in Western culture.

And America is perhaps arguably the most notable child born out of the Enlightenment. The epitome of secular western democracy.

Now we have much to be thankful for and there are enormous benefits brought by the advance of science and medicine over the last couple of hundred years.  That would include a COVID-19 vaccine in record time.

However, it has come at a cost.

Think of the ongoing legacy of colonialism.

Think of those who lived in the most appalling conditions in Victorian slums or slaving down mines or in the ‘dark satanic mills.’

Think of the mechanical war of World War One and then, lessons having not been learned, spilling over into another global conflict.

Think of the banking crisis of a decade ago.

Think of Japan’s working weeks of 80 hours as outlined in Ken Shigematsu’ book, ‘God in my Everything.’

Think of the way we greet each other, ‘hello, what’s your name and what do you do?’ And the demoralising effect of not doing anything, of being unemployed, useless, not wanted, no good, no purpose, no value.

Think of the pandemic that has shown that although the Emperor may have underwear on,  the fabulous outer garments are a mere chimera.

Covid-19 has highlighted fault lines of enormous and far-reaching proportions in the UK and across the globe. 

The poor, the weak, the vulnerable have been disproportionally affected by this pandemic. 

Then consider the way that economics have driven the response to the outbreak and the cost of human life that has created.

This is a demonstrably fact, not fake news.

I am sure we could all add to the failure of the enlightenment story and its ongoing legacy to bring us to a promised utopia.

It is time for a new story with truth at its heart and core.

As God’s people we are custodians of an Old Story with truth at its heart and core. The Bible, where we find this Old Story, is like a beautiful carriage carrying Truth.

As we write a new story hopefully with Covid-19 if not eradicated then at least under control, we need to ensure that this Old Story is woven into any new story.  That God is not a watchmaker, or that he lives in the attic, or is irrelevant and no longer needed.

Paul writing to his young protégé Timothy says that this Story is, ‘inspired.’

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3.16-17

David Long last week introduced us to Jesus’ rhythms of grace, Jesus’ rule of life. The patterns we can detect of Sabbath, Prayer and Scripture.

This week and next as I outlined at the beginning, we are focussing on Bible reading, our own Bible reading as an important part of the trellis, one of the foundational uprights.  

This passage is probably familiar to most of us. We understand the importance of God’s ‘inspiration’ for giving us confidence that in the various ways and means by which we have come to have the canon of Scripture we do, that this was guided by God.

However, as we continue in our exploration of our rhythms of grace, I would like us to notice what Paul says is the purpose of our reading the Scriptures.

‘…so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’

Our endeavours to create rhythms of grace in our own lives, our attending to Bible reading is so that we might be informed.

Informed about God’s will and ways.

Informed of the trajectory of God’s programme going forward.

Informed about how we can speak truth to power, truth to fake news.

When people are hungry, ill housed, or sleeping rough. When people have no jobs and so are then deemed a problem and given hand-outs.

When we take heed that unless we take drastic action the global crisis of environmental control will spin off the scale.

If we are reading into the Old Story that it is only about Jesus dying for us so that we might go to heaven when we die. Then we need to re-read this Old Story.

If we are all going off to heaven singing glory hallelujah and leaving this old world behind, then yes, why bother, let it go to hell.

But if we read carefully, the Genesis story, of God speaking the cosmos into existence. If we note that the crowning glory of creation is humankind into which God breathed life and declared it very good – humanity is God inspired!   

If we read Romans 8 with the image of creation groaning as in labour pains.

If we tie that in with the vision of Revelation 21 with a new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth.

If we grasp God’s great plan to redeem, restore and recreate a perfect heaven and earth.

If we heed this and carefully note the unfolding story outlined in the whole of the Scriptures. If we allow this to impact us and stir us up in the very depth of our being, then our rhythms of grace will be saved from becoming mere introspection, a personal piety.

They will become life transformative both for ourselves and for our sphere of influence.

It is time to search the Scriptures, to seek for truth, and its time to tell the Old Story and ensure that it becomes embedded in whatever new story emerges as a way of society ordering its affairs going forward from now on.

In short, a realized Lord’s Prayer.  

May I commend to you ‘The Bible Project’ that offers podcasts, videos, reading notes and other material. Their strap line is, ‘helping people experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.’

The Bible Project is one great way for us to build a firm Biblical upright for our trellis.

Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ 

Is that fake news or Good News?

How you answer and respond to that will make a world of difference and should make a difference to the world.

Let us pray….

Creator God, we do not just want to have a head knowledge of Biblical stories, but a heart knowledge of Biblical truth and godly love. We want to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to You and to be used by You as a witness to Your grace and goodness, as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto You. We want to be Story Tellers singing out the light of your glorious Gospel to the whole of creation. Help us to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest your most precious and Holy Word that we might be transformed and transformative. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

 

 

The idea of being created in God’s image and being tasked to co-create and re-create, especially with environmental concerns, is helpfully explored in USPG’s Six Session Study Course.

United Society Partners in the Gospel | For Such a Time (uspg.org.uk)