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Bible Sunday
SERMON - 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 23rd October 2005
Revd. Matthew Vernon
Tomorrow is the earth's birthday.
That is according to Archbishop James Usher.
He calculated that the earth was created on the evening of October 23rd 4004 BC.
So tomorrow would be the earth's 6009th birthday.
Archbishop James Usher (1581-1656) was the one of the top priests in Ireland in the 17th Century.
He added up all the life-spans in the Bible right back to Adam to find out the age of the earth.
• discovering that the earth was created on the evening of October 23rd 4004 BC.
From all accounts Bishop James was a good Bishop.
Like many people in the 17th Century he believed what the Bible said.
If it said that the world was created in 6 days then it was.
If it said that the Sun stood still in the sky for Joshua (Joshua 10:12-13) then it did.
If the Bible said that Jesus walked on water (Matt. 14:22-33) then he did.
I don't approach the Bible in that way.
Genesis says the world was created in six days,
• but Genesis was written long before people knew about modern science,
• including the dinosaurs in the Jurassic period 150 million years ago.
That's why dinosaurs aren't mentioned.
People knew about night and day, the sun and the moon, animals and birds,
• but not the dinosaurs.
It's tempting to say that people used to think like Archbishop Usher.
But sadly, an alarming number of Christians still do.
That's why the Creation versus Evolution debate rages in the USA.
Christians that read the Bible literally are a force to be reckoned with.
In schools in some States, Creationism is taught alongside Evolution.
In some schools, Science teachers are afraid of teaching the evolution is true
• because of the influence conservative Christian parents have over teacher appointments.
Biblical literalists oppose evolution because they believe the Bible is free of error
• no mistakes.
It is crazy to believe the Bible is free of error.
There are many obvious mistakes.
Here's one.
In Matthew's Gospel at the end of Jesus life Judas' betrays him for 30 pieces of silver.
Matthew 27.9 reads "Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah".
It's actually Zechariah that mentions 30 shekels
• and hardly in relation to Jesus being betrayed (Zechariah 11.12).
Jeremiah once mentions 17 shekels being paid for a field but again the context is very different.
If you struggle to believe some parts of the Bible,
• if you can't bring yourself to believe this or that happened,
• don't worry,
• you are not alone.
You do not have to read the Bible literally to take it seriously.
You can take the Bible seriously without reading it literally.
How should we approach the Bible then?
We should look at where the Bible is pointing.
One Bishop described this as looking at the Bible's trajectory;
rather like a ball thrown thousands of years ago, but still in flight.
We need to ask where it is heading.
A good is example is the role of women.
The New Testament talks of women covering their heads
• and not being in positions of leadership.
Not surprising for the time it was written.
But women were some of Jesus' closest friends.
Which was radical for the time.
And from the Bible we know of the dignity and value of all people,
• irrespective of sex or gender.
All people, men and women, are made equally in God's image.
So today women and men are rightly considered equal.
Though there's still some way to go in practice.
The Bible is a book that talks about humankind's ongoing relationship with God,
• written by humans about God.
If God dictated it to the scribes he did a bad job of it.
If it is our work,
• the work of our forefathers,
• it is one of the most awesome and sublime texts ever written.
The amazing thing is that we can hear of God, and about God, through the Bible.
That is the experience of countless Christians around the world and through history.
In church you usual come to hear what answers the Word of God gives.
It does give answers,
• but also raises questions.
And those answers and those questions aren't simply God's words.
They are the words of people wrestling with their relationship with God.
For an example, let's reflect our first reading from Genesis.
Think of this text as the result of peoples searching and questioning.
What was troubling these ancient people, what were they seeking to understand.
Why do women have pain in childbirth?
Sheep have an easier time.
Why do we wear clothes?
Why don't we stroll around naked?
Sure would cut down on the air conditioner bills.
Why do we have to work so hard to eat?
Birds find food easily.
You have to work hard to just grow some corn or to catch a rabbit.
Why are women subservient to men?
Remember these are questions from a world thousands of years ago.
Women were often regarded as possessions,
• this must have troubled some people,
• perhaps not enough,
• but it troubled them enough that they crafted a story to explain the situation.
But there are other even deeper things that troubled the people in this world.
Why are we moral - why are we troubled by right and wrong?
The story of Adam and Eve is all about how we have become moral beings.
Other animals don't seem to agonize as we do.
Finally why can God seem so distant from us?
The God who made the man from the earth,
• who then makes women from the man,
• the god who is intimate with his creation and strolls around the garden becomes distant.
Adam and Eve who once new the voice of God as a close friends are expelled from the garden.
The authors of the Genesis story knew,
• as well as you and I do,
• that God is not always there,
• God can be distant, remote-
• life can be lonely.
The Bible is such a wonderful book because it contains people's profound questions and their amazing answers.
Questions and answers about life and about God.
The most wonderful thing about the Bible is the pinnacle it reaches.
The best answer it gives to questions about life and God is love.
The Bible teaches us that love is the most important part of our lives
• of our relationship with other people
• and our relationship with God.
That when we love we are close to God;
• for God is love.
Which brings us to today's Gospel reading.
The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God,
• and the second is to love your neighbour as yourself.
Glorious, isn't it?
How different the world would be if people followed those two guidelines.
The 2 commandments are central to message of whole Bible –
• Jesus is quoting the Scriptures himself;
• it's not original!
"On these 2 commandments hang all the law and the prophets".
Jesus is saying, "On these two commandments hang all of Scripture."
The Bible contains much that is strange to our modern ears and minds.
Ancient understanding from before modern knowledge about the world and about God.
But if you trim away the bloody bits and the prejudice,
• the killing in God's name and the oppression of women,
• you find a pearl beyond price and a light for our path: love.
I'll end by reading the whole Bible
• in 50 words.
God made, Eve bit, Noah arked,
Abraham split, Joseph ruled, Jacob fooled,
bush talked, Moses balked, Pharaoh plagued,
people walked, sea divided, tablets guided,
promise landed, Saul freaked, David peeked,
prophets warned,
Jesus born, God walked, love talked,
anger crucified, hope died,
Love rose, Spirit flamed, Word spread,
God remained.
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