WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:01.760 Wow. 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:02.959 Right? 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:05.679 How about that? 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:13.839 She said, I read my Bible fifteen times in the shipping container and always it's new. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:16.160 My daily food was Bible. 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:17.920 That's incredible. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:25.760 Does that sound like someone who's reading the Bible out of obligation or discipline? 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.359 I don't think you talk that way if you're reading the Bible just because you want to understand it a little bit better. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:35.679 I think you talk that way if when you read the Bible you're hearing God speak to you. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:37.359 Ms. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:45.280 Brahane, she responded to Pete's question about how to hear God's voice by saying you have to shut everything else down because there's a lot of noise around. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:46.320 I like that. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:52.719 She actually indicated that that was easier for her to do when she was imprisoned in a shipping container. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:56.560 Now that she's back in the regular world, she has to shut off Instagram and Twitter. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:58.000 That's wild. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.600 Pete said, I thought this was so true. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:07.519 He said, Many people, if they were in prison being tortured, they would think God had abandoned them. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:10.879 But you found God in that place. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:11.760 How how? 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:22.640 In a booming voice and a blinding light, in an intense emotional experience of God's presence, in a miraculous prison break? 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:23.680 Nope. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:24.400 Nope. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:26.159 Through the scripture, she said. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:27.840 Through the scripture. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:30.319 Lastly, she said, this blew my mind. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:34.640 I scrubbed that video back and watched this part three times because I was like, she did not just say that. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:36.319 There's no way she just said that. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.319 She said, for me, Christianity is not hard. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:45.200 My first thought was, no, for me, Christianity is not hard. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.480 For you, it is terrifying and dangerous and violent. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:49.359 No, no. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.480 She said, for me, Christianity is not hard. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.879 The hard is if you do not hear, or maybe you hear half. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:59.680 Meaning from God, right? 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:03.920 If you do not hear from God or you hear half, that's when Christianity is hard. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:05.680 Not when you're in prison for your faith. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:07.280 That is unbelievable. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:16.719 How many of us, how many of us these days are struggling, finding our Christian faith difficult or untrustworthy or insufficient? 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:28.400 How many of us are deconstructing or questioning, moving away from all this, pulling back or giving up altogether, finding the whole thing just a little too hard? 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:34.960 Could it be that the hard is simply that we're not hearing or only half hearing from God? 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:39.360 What if God still wants to communicate with us? 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:43.280 What if hearing from him is both natural and normal? 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:51.520 And what if the primary way, not the only, but the primary way he speaks to people is through his written word, the Bible? 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.800 Might that change the way I read the Bible? 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:04.240 If I was hearing from God regularly in my interaction with his written word, would I also say, like this woman, about Christianity, that it's not hard? 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:05.840 I wonder. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.000 We're going to talk about that some more today, but first let's pray. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.039 Heavenly Father, we thank you for your written word. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:23.039 We thank you that it can be food, that we can read it again and again and find new things and be sustained by it. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:29.840 We thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit that helps us to understand what it is you're saying in your word. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:41.120 As Jesus instructed, we pray that you will give us ears to hear, give us ears to hear, and give us hearts to understand what it is you have for us today in your written word. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:43.520 We love you and we trust you. 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:45.360 We pray these things in the name of Jesus. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:46.240 Amen. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.159 Okay, so, oh, I'm John, by the way. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.400 We I we jumped right in there. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:54.800 It was kind of intense, but good morning. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:03:56.000 Glad you're here. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.240 Uh, I have a question for you. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:02.879 Um, here's the question: How do we know what we know? 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.360 This is a philosophical question, okay? 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:08.960 How do we know what we know? 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:14.000 A conundrum, this has been asked many times, many ways over the millennia. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:24.160 This question has led to a branch of philosophy called epistemology, which is mainly concerned with the nature of knowledge itself, answering that question. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.800 How do we know what we know? 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:35.199 Now, any crazy conspiracy theory that's worth its salt is at its core an exercise in epistemology, okay? 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:48.639 Whether it's flat Earth or Pizzagate or the Moonlanding was fake or the anti-vax movement, QAnon for people my age, the grassy knoll for all you boomers, okay? 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.560 Han shot first, that's when we actually believe in my house. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:56.720 No Star Wars fans? 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:57.360 Alright. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:58.639 Moving on. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:08.480 Anyway, if you've ever had an intellectual conversation with someone who believes one of these conspiracy theories, you will quickly realize that the issue itself is not the issue. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:12.160 What's in question is the nature of knowledge itself. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.959 How do you know the earth is round? 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:15.839 Right? 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.879 Where did you get this confidence the vaccines are safe? 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:20.639 Who do you trust? 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:27.040 Now you could claim science or rationality or empirical analysis as your epistemology. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:28.160 Many people do. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.360 You can claim your own feelings and experiences. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:36.560 Some people claim their cultural or family history as being how they know what they know. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.959 Other people trust everything they read on the internet. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:46.879 But eventually, every Christian has to ultimately claim that it's by the Bible that we know what we know. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:53.439 When it comes to the things we believe as Christians, our epistemology is the Bible. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:57.279 And when it comes to hearing God's voice, the Bible is the language of his heart. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.079 It is the primary way in which he speaks. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.680 It's not a book of scientific facts or religious rules or inspiring stories. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:11.920 It's an invitation into a conversation with God Himself, and it can direct and guide us if we let it. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:17.360 Caleb read just a few minutes ago something that the prophet Isaiah said to the nation of Israel. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.399 Isaiah said, Your own ears will hear him. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:27.040 Right behind you, a voice will say, This is the way you should go, whether to the right or to the left. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:31.439 You remember the story we read last week from Luke 24, okay? 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:33.680 About the couple on the road to Emmaus. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:38.480 If you missed, uh, I would recommend that you read that whole chapter, Luke 24. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:44.639 When you get the chance, you can also, if you missed last week's message and you feel like it would behoove you to listen to it, we do keep these things, right? 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.519 We keep them on our on our website, connectchurchlawrence.com. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.279 If you click on the button that says media, you can listen to sermons. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:51.920 We keep them there. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:56.639 Or you can listen to them uh wherever you listen to podcasts, if you're a podcast person. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:07.519 Anyway, in the story, a guy named Cleopus and his wife, who are followers of Jesus, they've been in Jerusalem during the last week of Jesus' life. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.879 They saw him get arrested and tortured and executed. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:21.439 And then three days later, they wake up in the morning to a rumor that the tomb Jesus was buried in is empty and the body is missing. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:22.319 Okay? 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:29.759 They're even hearing from some of the ladies in their group that there was an angel there who said that Jesus had come back to life. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:37.519 And regardless of whether or not Cleopas and his wife believe this rumor, they've had a really long week. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.319 And they're like, this has been really awful. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:41.759 Can we just go home already? 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:51.920 And so later that day, while many of Jesus' followers are scrambling to figure out what happened to his body, these two quietly take off for home, seven miles on foot. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:57.759 And while they're on their walk home, Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, appears to them. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:59.199 But they don't know it's him. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:00.720 He must look different. 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:05.759 And besides, the Bible says that God uh prevented them from recognizing him. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:16.560 And Jesus, who sometimes strikes me as being surprisingly arnery, says to them, What are you uh what are you talking about? 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:18.720 Well, he knows what they're talking about. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:20.800 He says, Why are you so sad? 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:22.639 Well, he knows why they're so sad, right? 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:23.920 But he wants to hear it from them. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:24.959 And so they tell him. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.759 They tell him all about what happened in Jerusalem in the past week. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:29.839 They can't believe he doesn't know, right? 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.720 Like, has this guy been living under a rock or something? 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:38.000 They tell the stranger who is actually Jesus, incognito, all about what happened. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:44.320 And there's this great moment of vulnerability where they say, we had hoped Jesus was the Messiah. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:51.039 We had hoped that he was here to change all these things, but you know, what are you gonna do? 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:53.840 Well, let's just read a few verses from there, okay? 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:57.519 We're gonna pick up in verse 25 of Luke 24. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:09.840 After hearing this explanation, Jesus said to them, You foolish people, you find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the scriptures. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:16.159 Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory? 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:28.799 Then, and this is what we really zeroed in on last week, then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from the scriptures the things concerning himself. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:35.039 Can you imagine having Jesus explain the Bible to you for three hours? 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:36.559 That is incredible. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.519 Later in the story, this couple will say, Do you remember the phrase? 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:48.639 Later, when they realize it's Jesus, they say, uh, didn't our hearts burn within us while he was explaining the scripture? 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.000 It's wonderful. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:56.000 I have never had the privilege of a three hours-long Bible study led by Jesus Himself. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:01.679 So, like most of you, I sometimes struggle with the Bible when I'm reading it. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:06.320 I can't speak for you, but I think my struggles with it boil down to two things. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:13.679 I struggle with the Bible when I don't read it enough, and I struggle with it when I don't read it well. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:24.480 People like to pretend that the Bible is easy and obvious and straightforward when I don't think it's any of those things, and I don't think it claims to be. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:30.399 I've always chafed a little at people who say things like, the Bible says so, as if that's a simple explanation for something. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:32.879 That's not a simple explanation. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:37.200 I like the authority of that statement, but I dislike the oversimplification. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:41.919 Rabbis in Jesus' day, they had a figure of speech that they would use. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:54.240 They said about the scripture that every word has 70 faces and 600,000 meanings, which I think is a little saying that would help you to maintain a posture of humility when you're reading the scripture, right? 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.000 Oh man, I might get something different from it every single time. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:11.840 The fact of the matter is that the Bible's very long, about 1,200 pages, very old, written between 2 and 3,000 years ago, and very different from any cultural context that you or I have ever experienced. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:17.600 So I think there are a couple of particular skills that every Christian should spend some time developing. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:22.159 Two skills that would serve us well when it comes to understanding the Bible. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:22.720 Okay? 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:31.919 The first is to learn to read the Bible with our heads in order to understand objectively what is being said. 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:34.320 Now we talk about this around here a lot. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:39.679 Sister Mary Magdalene, in last week's interview video, she called this the literal meaning of scripture. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.000 This is very valuable, okay? 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:51.919 The second skill I think we should learn is to read the Bible with our hearts in order to hear God's voice speaking to us through it. 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:59.919 And when we talk about Lectio Divina, which we will in just a minute, we're talking about this second kind of reading, this heart kind of reading. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:01.759 But both are very important, okay? 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:05.120 You don't really want one without the other, in my opinion. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:18.399 If I read the Bible with my head, okay, if I understand academically and literally what the Bible means, but I never hear what it says to me personally, then I have information about God without having any communication with God. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:30.480 I might come to understand the scripture in a sense, but it's unlikely that I'm ever going to come to love it, and I'm certainly never going to risk my life smuggling it into prison with me in a box of laundry soap, right? 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:41.679 On the other hand, if I read the Bible with all my heart, I want desperately to hear from God in it, but I don't know, I don't know anything about it. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:57.200 I disregard its context, its genre and form, or I ignore all the bits I don't understand or don't like, then I run a very high risk of confusing God's word with my own thoughts and feelings and preferences and politics and ideology, right? 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:03.840 There are two Greek words that may help us get a better grip on understanding how to read the Bible. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:09.120 Man, we got into Latin last week, and I'm pretty sure I butchered all the pronunciations. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.440 This week we're trying our hand at Greek. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:13.200 This is some nerdy stuff, guys. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:14.320 Bear with me. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:16.799 Uh the words are not necessarily so important. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:19.519 The concepts are what I want you guys to remember, okay? 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:22.240 The first Greek word is exegesis. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:27.919 Exegesis is the critical explanation of a written text. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:34.000 Literally, it means to lead out or to guide out or to explain. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:39.039 It's the art of explaining and interpreting and applying scripture. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:43.840 Exegesis wants to know what the author was intending when he or she wrote the text. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:47.840 It wants to know how the original audience would have understood it. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:56.159 It also recognizes that different parts of the Bible need to be understood in different ways because they were written in different literary genres. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:03.600 Prophecy, allegory, poetry, history, and personal letters should probably not all be read exactly the same way, should they? 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:05.360 That's not really smart. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:12.480 For example, I recently read the book in the Bible, Song of Songs, okay? 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:21.679 Which works wonderfully, both as an erotic poem, hey, and as a metaphor for the relationship between God and humanity. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:27.759 It breaks down a bit, however, if I read it like it's an instruction manual for how to lead a church. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.039 That's not why it was written, that's why Paul's letters were written, okay? 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:32.960 I probably shouldn't mix those things up. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.519 Things are gonna get real weird real fast. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:36.720 Okay? 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.799 Similarly, the book of Genesis. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.279 I love the book of Genesis. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:44.639 It's our origin story. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:48.879 We did a whole sermon series on the first three chapters of Genesis alone. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:58.000 Genesis teaches profound and timeless theology, but it was not written by people with a modern scientific mindset. 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:02.559 Modern scientific mindset didn't exist when the book of Genesis was written. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:06.159 So I actually think I don't read Genesis very well. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:11.840 And I may even miss its message altogether if I insist on reading it the same way I would read a science textbook. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:13.519 That's just not why it was written. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.399 It's definitely not how the early church fathers read it. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:19.679 Paul's letters are another good example of this. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:29.759 Paul sometimes gets accused of being sexist and patriarchal, and he kind of sounds like he is, if you read his letters in our own modern context. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:40.559 But if you take the time to learn a little about the cultural context in which Paul was writing, certain things he says not only become less cringy, they become revolutionary and empowering. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:46.080 Okay, this is the work that exegesis does, and this work is very, very important. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:55.039 Reading the Bible with our heads, so to speak, so that we come to understand it intellectually, historically, contextually. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:59.840 Doing this will only strengthen our ability to receive it with our hearts. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:08.320 But my opinion is that rarely will this type of reading grow the relationship with God's word that Helen Bertani has. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:14.080 Rarely will it lead us to say, I read the Bible 15 times, and every time it was like food. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:17.120 I have a confession to make. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:40.240 And so every day I'm trying to either read or listen to a bunch of chapters of the Bible. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:45.600 Um, and I'm trying to stay on it because if I fall behind, it's like a lot to catch up on. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:50.720 Okay, and I'm learning a ton of new information about the Bible. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:53.200 I'm making connections between passages. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.399 I'm learning a lot about the intention of the writers. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.720 I'm seeing things I've never noticed before. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:00.159 It's great. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:08.000 But for all that I'm learning about the Bible in this process, I have to confess, I'm not sure I've ever enjoyed reading it less. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:15.599 And maybe this sounds kind of bad, but a lot of the days I'm just like, I don't know if I can take all this information in today. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:17.920 I went out the other morning, you know, it was a little bit cooler. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:29.680 I went out and stood in my yard and was watering the flowers, and I put that day's reading plan on my headphones, and I realized a few minutes in, I was just like tuning it out. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:35.359 I realized I can't hear another word about God's judgment on Israel because of their idol worship. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:39.440 And I actually switched over to Spotify and put on Huey Lewis in the news. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:42.880 I don't know why I picked Huey Lewis in the news, but that's what it was that day. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:46.079 That felt, I don't know. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:57.680 There's a chance, I'm confessing, there's a chance that the reason I wanted for us to do a sermon series on the ancient practice of Lectio Divina is that I need it. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:06.799 I need to hear God's voice speaking to me through his written word, not just to grow my correct understanding of its literal meaning. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.319 Which brings us to our second Greek word that should help us out this morning, I hope. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.400 That word is hermeneutic. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:21.039 Hermeneutic is the particular key you use to unlock the meaning of the text. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:25.359 Literally, it means to translate or to interpret. 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:31.759 I like to think of it as the lens you look through when you read scripture, like the glasses you put on so that you can read things clearly. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:36.720 Any of you have to put glasses on if you want to read the Bible clearly and not have to do one of these. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.799 I see people of a certain age having to do this sometimes when they're reading. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:47.599 There are several different hermeneutical keys you can use to unlock meaning and power and understanding in scripture. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.799 And just because there are different ones doesn't mean there's a right one and a wrong one, okay? 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.440 There could be several valid hermeneutics. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:19:01.599 There's a covenantal hermeneutic, which looks at various covenants established between God and people, uses that as a map for navigating the rest of the Bible. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:10.480 There's a dispensational hermeneutic, okay, which breaks the Bible up into different eras in order to understand how God deals differently with people at different times. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:18.880 There's a feminist hermeneutic, which pays extra attention to moments in the Bible where there's a message of oppression or emancipation for women. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:25.680 There's a liberation hermeneutic, which mainly interprets the Bible as a message of justice and freedom for oppressed people. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:32.480 This fall we're going to read the book of Exodus together, and we're going to come back to a liberation hermeneutic when we do that. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:45.279 But in the story we read about Jesus, okay, in the story we read about Jesus on the road to Emmaus, he introduces a new hermeneutic, a new way of interpreting the scripture. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:49.359 Remember what Luke said about the three-hour Bible study that Jesus leads? 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.400 This was in Luke 24, I think it was verse 27. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:59.279 It says that he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:02.880 Concerning himself. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.519 Earlier in his life, Jesus said this. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:07.200 This was in John chapter 5. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:11.359 Jesus said, These are the very scriptures that testify about me. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:22.640 Like it's easy for us to gloss over this if we're kind of used to reading the Bible, but this is unbelievably audacious on Jesus' part. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:25.440 And it's a major factor in what got him killed. 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:30.160 He kept going to the scripture saying, This is how I know what I know. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.480 This is how I know what I know. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:35.920 And also, it's all about me, by the way. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:52.160 This is either a claim so narcissistic, so megalomaniacal by our standards, that it would be diagnosable as some sort of psychiatric delusion, or it is an epiphany that has eternal consequences for you and for me. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:21:00.960 Scholars call this a Christological hermeneutic, which means that we read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:05.759 We read the later New Testament epistles, Paul's letters, etc., in the light of the Gospels. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:09.759 We look at everything in the Bible through the lens of Jesus. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.319 The glasses we put on so we can see it clearly are Jesus. 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.519 There's an organization we like around here that's called the Bible Project. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.559 They make all kinds of resources to help people better understand and study the Bible, and they have a mission. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.240 They talk about it often. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:32.640 They say their goal is, quote, to help people experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:35.200 I think they're on to something. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.079 It's called a Christological hermeneutic. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:39.519 Here's an example, okay? 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:51.039 When we read in the Old Testament about God instructing Abraham to sacrifice his only son, a seemingly brutal and heartless act at face value. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:58.160 And yet this story gets completely reframed by the moment hundreds of years later when God sacrifices his only son. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:25.200 The tedious passages of the Old Testament, the ones that I was avoiding reading while I'm watering the flowers, these passages where God not only seems to condone but command things like genocide and violence, they have to be reevaluated in light of Jesus showing us unequivocally that God's heart isn't nationalistic or aggressive, but instead is overflowing with love for all people and all nations. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:37.680 This way of looking at the Bible, like a Christological hermeneutic, will unsettle sexist hierarchies and church governance and family units that are based on Old Testament laws. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:45.839 It will dismantle justifications for nationalism and xenophobia and racism that are based on an Old Testament view of Israel. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:23:09.359 It is easy to find a justification for violence and war from parts of the Old Testament, but it gets quite a bit harder to do so when you reread these pages through the lens of Jesus Christ, Jesus who commands us to love our neighbors and our enemies, who refuses to take up arms to get what he wants, and who not only rebukes but reverses Peter's violence against the men who came to arrest him. 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:12.480 Now maybe this all sounds a little on the controversial side. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:14.079 It certainly did in Jesus' day. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:15.759 It's part of why they killed him. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.079 But we can see him do it for ourselves. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:24.799 On the road to Emmaus, Jesus clearly reinterprets the whole Bible in light of himself. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:28.880 And every subsequent writer in the New Testament follows his lead. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:30.559 C.S. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:36.880 Lewis once said, It is Christ himself, not the Bible, who is the true word of God. 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:43.279 The Bible, read in the right spirit and with the guidance of good teachers, will always bring us to him. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:47.200 Here's another way of thinking about it, okay? 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:54.400 To think about reading the Bible with our heads and with our hearts, to think about exegesis and hermeneutic, okay? 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:55.839 And I didn't come up with this. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:56.720 A guy named Dr. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:01.519 Richard Pratt developed this idea in the 80s, but I think it's helpful. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:08.079 He says we could think of the Bible as a masterpiece painting, okay? 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:10.960 A great painting in a frame. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:28.880 So it's important to study it like you would study a great work of art, to admire its intricacies and its design, to thoughtfully consider its context and its original audience, to try and make sense of its meaning, much like you would do if you were standing in front of a great painting and a fancy art gallery in Europe. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:29.359 Okay? 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:32.160 There is value in doing that. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:44.640 But the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, which we're going to come back to in just a moment, invites us to also turn this great painting that we're looking at into a window that we look through. 00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:54.640 It's an invitation not just to look at the text, studying it, understanding it with our brains, but to look through the text at the rest of the world. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:25:03.039 This means that when we read the Bible, we're not just trying to study the truth about God in the past like we would a masterpiece in a picture frame. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:10.799 When we read the Bible this way, we're looking for an encounter with Jesus, who is the truth, alive and well right now. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:16.960 We're not just looking for information about God, we are looking for a conversation with Him. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:19.039 An encounter with Jesus. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:28.000 And in last week's interview video, Sister Mary Magdalene, she said, Lectio Divina is the moment when I have a personal encounter with Christ guaranteed. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:33.920 So let's pray again, and then we're going to dip our toes into this practice together, okay? 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:41.200 Heavenly Father, we come before you again, asking that you would give us ears to hear. 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:52.960 Give us hearts that are open to understanding what it is you have for us, not just intellectually, but but to uh understand your word as something you're communicating to us. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:59.200 Holy Spirit, we invite you here to help us make sense of what it is we're reading today. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:00.720 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:01.519 Amen. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:11.359 Okay, so before we call today, in just a minute, I want to give us a chance to just begin this practice of Lectio Divina together. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:14.400 That way you can continue practicing it on your own throughout the week. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:18.720 Last week I walked us through the traditional four steps of Lectio Divino. 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:21.920 Remember they're in they're in Latin because they're super, super old. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:27.519 But in English, the steps are read, meditate, pray, and contemplate. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:35.440 And I did the best I could to explain this practice, but then we heard Sister Mary Magdalene explain it much better and in a much more pleasant voice. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:55.039 Well, today, whether you knew it or not, we've been focusing on the first step, hearing God's voice in the Bible, by reading the text slowly, prayerfully, reverently, and using our imaginations, and by looking at what we read through the lens of Jesus, through the through his life and death and resurrection. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:27:00.400 Last week we talked about how the primary way God speaks is through his written word, the Bible. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:03.039 Not the only way, but the primary way. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.079 No other way that he speaks will ever contradict or undermine what is in Scripture. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:12.000 Therefore, learning to hear his voice begins with reading scripture. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:14.240 There's not really another way around it, I don't think. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:24.400 I may want for him to speak to me in a blinding light and a booming voice, or to give me peaceful feelings while I'm making a tough decision, or to speak to me in a dream or a miracle. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:27.039 And there's no reason that he couldn't do that. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:34.079 But I'm honestly not sure of why he would do that if I'm not already listening to him in the primary way he speaks, which is through the Bible. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:36.160 I should probably at least start there. 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:52.880 And Lectio Divina is about not starting with the Bible by reading it like a textbook, but approaching it prayerfully, relationally, and conversationally, using my imagination and seeking conversation with God, not just information about him. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:59.920 I think if we can do that, not only will the Bible come to life for us, but we'll hear God's voice speaking to us through it. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:02.960 So let's try it. 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:03.839 Okay? 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:11.680 Last week, Sister Mary Magdalene said, Don't start with one of the difficult passages where you can't even pronounce the names of the kings. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:13.279 Start with the Gospels. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:14.799 Start with the Gospel of St. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:15.440 John. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:17.599 So let's start with St. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:18.000 John. 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:18.640 Why not? 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:21.279 We're going to do our very first reading. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.559 Remember, there are four steps in Lectio Divina, and in each step you read the same passage four times. 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:27.039 Okay? 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:28.720 We're going to go slowly. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:31.039 We're going to put the passage on the screen. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:32.480 You can follow along in your Bible. 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:33.599 You can follow along the screen. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:35.119 You can close your eyes and read along. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:39.440 But we are going to read chapter one of the Gospel of St. 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:39.920 John. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.079 Just the first 14 verses, okay? 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:44.880 Try not to speed up or read ahead if you can help it. 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:47.599 We wanted to stick to a few verses when we do this. 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:51.519 We want to go slowly and prayerfully and reverently. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:52.079 Okay? 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:55.440 So take a deep breath. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.880 Let's begin. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:00.720 Prologue. 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:03.440 Christ, the eternal word. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:10.400 In the beginning, the word already existed. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:15.839 The word was with God, and the word was God. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:20.720 He existed in the beginning with God. 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:27.599 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:34.480 The word gave life to everything that was created. 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:38.319 And his life brought light to everyone. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:45.680 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:56.960 God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:03.200 And John himself was not the light, he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:10.400 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:17.359 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.640 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:31.519 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:44.160 They are reborn, not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:52.799 So the Word became human and made his home among us. 00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:59.039 He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. 00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:03.119 And we have seen his glory. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:08.640 Amen. 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:10.400 Amen. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:19.359 Well, next week we're going to revisit this passage for a second reading. 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:19.920 Okay? 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:23.279 And this time we're going to meditatio. 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:26.240 We're going to see what jumps out to us. 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:29.680 And what jumps out to us from this passage may be different for everybody. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:33.279 In fact, I would guarantee that it will be different for everyone. 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:47.599 And if you're worried about talking about meditating in church, please don't skip next week because we're going to talk about how different a Christian understanding of meditation is from a more modern colloquial or new age understanding. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:58.160 We're also going to return to our story of Jesus and his friends on the road to Eumaeus, and we will spend some more time with Lectio Divina hearing God's voice in the scripture. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:03.839 Also, and you probably found this already, but there's a bookmark on a seat around you. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.319 You can take that home, that's for you to keep. 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:10.559 As a brief explanation of the steps of Lectio Divina. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:14.640 That way you can practice this at home in your own Bible reading. 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:21.519 One quick thing about this, these precise steps and their precise, you know, Latin names, that's not really the important thing, right? 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:23.200 This is just a framework. 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:31.839 The important thing is that we learn to begin to read the Bible, not just with our heads, but with our hearts, so that God can speak directly to us through it. 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:38.799 A friend of mine told me last week, we're not doing this to try and overcome God's reluctance, right? 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:46.720 As if he's hiding out and we're gonna do this really old school thing to try and coax him to say something, right? 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:50.240 No, we're not overcoming God's reluctance. 00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:53.200 We are laying hold of God's willingness. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:55.839 God wants to speak to you. 00:32:56.559 --> 00:33:00.240 He wants to speak to you, and he wants to do it through his written word, the Bible. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:04.000 Our hope is that this will simply help us to hear him better. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:08.160 So let's pray together one last time this morning, okay? 00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:13.920 Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word. 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:30.880 We thank you that it is timeless and true, that it is life-giving, that we will never reach the depths of understanding, and that you want to speak to us personally through it. 00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:38.160 We thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus, the Word who became human and dwelt among us. 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:40.240 We thank you for this truth. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:46.160 We thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit to help us understand better what it is you're saying to us. 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:51.839 We pray your blessing over everyone here this morning as we move into a new week. 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:53.920 Please, Lord, give us ears to hear. 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:56.240 And pray all this in Jesus' name. 00:33:56.400 --> 00:33:56.799 Amen.