The Wide View

There are many times I wonder why it is that study of the Bible has been a part of the life of faith, encouraged since the time I was young.  You see, there was a time in our world in which many people attended the worship service came to hear the word of God read to them, to hear it explained, and then spent very little time reading on their own.  It wasn’t because they were unfaithful, it was because they were illiterate.  So, there was a dependence upon the church to tell the larger story of God—through the Bible—so that the people would know what to look for and do in their lives.  

This is not my experience, in fact, as a young man I thought that reading the Bible was a chore.  Maybe you have a hard time getting into the word of God, but I want to suggest that we are living in a shifting time for the church, because for the past 50 years or so many evangelical churches assume that their people are reading and studying on their own.  This is one of the biggest difference between some of the earlier, more liturgical churches and many of the more recent, populous movements of the 18th and 19th century.  The newer church groups, like the one I’m a part of, are beginning to realize that people are not choosing to read their Bibles.  The scholars call it a post-literate world in which we can read, but choose to explore other forms—for us those forms are multi-media and digital.  
So, there is a shift back to wanting more scripture presented in the worship service, reminding us of the story of God that we rarely engage in Monday-Friday.  And while we can argue what people OUGHT to do, there is a difference in all of our lives between what ought to happen and what seems to really happen!  (Am I right?!?!?)  

However we engage, we need to focus on the larger story of God because it is God’s historical faithfulness that helps us in times of trouble, both individually and collectively as  a church.  Listen to the words of the psalmist Asaph:

Psalm 80
1 Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim,
    display your radiant glory
2     to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your mighty power.
    Come to rescue us!
3 Turn us again to yourself, O God.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved.
4 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,
    how long will you be angry with our prayers?
5 You have fed us with sorrow
    and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
6 You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations.
    Our enemies treat us as a joke.
7 Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
    Make your face shine down upon us.

The Psalm points us to a refrain, “Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make Your face shine down upon us.  Only then will we be saved.”  This refrain speaks of the ever unfolding story of our God.  “Turn us again to yourself” looks backwards at all the times God has abruptly stole our attentions away from other things.  God interrupted our world  and turned our heads around.  God did it in Egypt, at the Sea Crossing, and by protecting his people over and over again.  “Make you face shine down” focuses on the present situation in which the psalmist cries out for help.  The Psalmist knows that he can ask God for help because God has acted before, but presently there is a need for confirmation of God’s presence.  Then, there is a statement of faith in future deliverance…”only then will we be saved.”  

For the church, of any generation, this message is one centered on Christ.  Through this Christmas season we teach and focus upon the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.  We ask to know the Lord’s presence in the midst of our congregations and on a daily basis in our lives.  We long for the second coming, the time of redemption and full salvation from this world.  It is these verses below that Asaph wrote so many years ago to provide new meaning in our hearts today, he wrote this to God: 

17 Strengthen the man you love,
    the son of your choice.
18 Then we will never abandon you again.
    Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved.

God, tell us your story from Alpha to Omega, beginning to the end, so we can see your power, know your faithfulness, and stand in awe of your love.  For today, we ask to feel your presence and know your Son Jesus because we want to be saved, we want to be his people on the day of his return.  God, make us your people because we don't deserve it but your grace and mercy provides a relationship between us.  Amen. 

---