Bible Sunday: 2 Timothy 3. 14-17 (5 December 2010)

Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother and a gentile (non-Jewish) Dad. He had been taught the Christian faith by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, who must themselves have been fairly new Christians.  As a very young man he was privileged to join Paul's team, and before long he was given huge responsibility - as the leader of the Church in the Turkish city of Ephesus.  It must have been difficult integrating this new faith, in a heathen environment.

Inside himself he may well have asked, "Can I make this work in the real world?"   Was Timothy's faith in danger of being "for women and children only"?   He learned it, after all, from his Mum and his Gran, as little more than a child.

He was still a young man, and hence possibly somewhat unsure of himself; would people think he had nothing to offer because he was too young and inexperienced?

And to Timothy, Paul says, "hang in there.  Don't give up. Stir up the gifts you have been given (2 Tim 1. 6); and hang on to the truths you have been taught " (2 Tim 3. 14) A key resource for Timothy is Scripture....

All Scripture... But what is Scripture?
I watched a bit of a TV documentary a few weeks ago, in which the presenter suggested that there are many "Gospels" (attributed to names like Barnabas, Peter and Thomas) that are different to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John" (Correct) - and that these "Gospels" were suppressed when the councils of the Church decided in about 380 AD what was "in" and what wasn't. (Wrong - the whole process of deciding what was "in" and what wasn't, was going on from the moment people began to write down things about Jesus - and there is clear evidence of the story of Jesus being passed on in spoken form long before it was written down.)

But for Paul, the Scriptures consisted of the Old Testament.  But a few years later, Peter referred to those who twisted Paul's letters "as they do the other scriptures" - evidence that Christians were already accepting the authority of letters and books about Jesus.  Even if Paul would be too modest to claim his letters were Scripture, he knew he wrote with God's authority.  Definitely, some bits of Gospel were being gossiped by Christians and quoted in worship. Maybe Mark had written his account by then. Certainly, the "Scriptures" we have today were already taking shape, when Paul wrote to Timothy.  The Bible is God's word written: but God's word can be spoken, and Paul says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Words were spoken well before they were ever written down. So what is "Scripture?" it is a written record of God's word to us.

....Is Inspired by God.  
What does "Inspired/God-breathed" mean?  Does it mean that God dictated every word that Paul, Mark, Luke, John, Isaiah, Jeremiah wrote?   Do you imagine that one day God told David, "Write this down David: 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.'"?   I suspect that rather, David the shepherd king, was one day thinking about his life, about keeping sheep, and about the challenges of looking after a whole nation... as he thought about what it was like to care for sheep and lead them into safe pastures, he realised that God's care is like that too, so he wrote a poem: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." Inspiration comes through the experiences people have.  Words that can help build faith and lead people to know God, come out of the good times and bad times that people have; they come out of people's reflection on those times.  Inspiration means that God breathed through the experiences; he breathed through the thought processes, sometimes the anger and pain.  Paul wrote his letter to the Romans because he wanted to go on a missionary trip to Spain and he wanted all the Christians in Rome, who were divided between Jewish and non Jewish, to put their differences aside and support him. He wrote his letters to the Corinthians because the church in Corinth was full of excitable, undisciplined people who loved to party and were used to living very selfishly.  He wrote his letter to the Galatians because the Christians in northern Turkey had decided they needed to keep the Jewish law to be proper Christians.  Inspiration comes thought the experiences people have. So, the Bible's inspiration isn't some kind of fantasy writing, that claims to have been "dictated by God".  That means we can have confidence in the Bible: it's rooted in reality.

But if it's rooted in the reality of historical events, does that mean you can't understand the Bible without knowing a lot about the historical background, and the life people lived at the time of Jesus or David or Moses? Does that mean Christianity is a kind of book-learning, studious religion that is really only for book-reading, studious types? Doesn't it mean it's a bit beyond an ordinary working man or woman? As they say "it's all Greek to me". Doesn't it mean that you have to spend hours and hours reading it, listening to sermons about it?  Isn't that a bit of a useless way to spend your time?  Isn't all about weird people with weird names, and all remote from our lives; isn't it all in funny, old fashioned, out-of date language?  Isn't it all a kind of historical curiosity for the losers who like that sort of thing? Where's the relevance to my world?

...And is useful!  
It's useful for teaching the truth...

I don't know how many of you have a sat-nav.  We got one recently and it's really useful when you are trying to find your way around unfamiliar city streets in a place like Edinburgh.  But the sat-nav is dependent on having the right information downloaded. If there aren't any maps, you are stuck.  If I want to use the sat-nav on a trip to France, I need to make sure the map is in the computer.  If it has the right map in its memory, it will do the job.

We all carry inside our heads, a map of reality: our personal, online map of life, the universe and everything.  It tells you lots of things about how the world works: what happens if I stick my finger in the fire?  Does ice-cream taste nice? Is it better or worse with HP sauce on it?  Are drunk people good company? If I want a holiday in the sun should I go to Skye? Does having money make you happier? Can I trust people in uniform?  Do people only love me if I am a nice person?

We have a map of reality that provides us with our own answers to these and thousand of other questions.  It's called our "worldview".  When Paul says to Timothy the Scriptures are useful for teaching truth, what he means is that they can provide us with the building blocks to help us construct our worldview, our take on reality: Scripture can help us to factor spiritual reality, God, into our worldview. Scripture reveals truth about the God bit of reality; without it, there will be some bits on our map of reality that are greyed-out, because we haven't got the information we need so we are kind of left to our own imaginations.

And it's useful for training...

Paul says to Timothy, the Scripture teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.   It is intensely practical.  It's not just about a bunch of vague theories. It's not just nice thoughts to comfort women and children.  Paul tells Timothy that Scripture can equip the man of God for every good work.  It's the map of life, the universe and everything. It's the manufacturer's handbook for life.  It's the instructing manual for the soul and the spirit.

You want to know how to know God? You'll find out in the Bible. You wan to know how to live without guilt? You'll find the answer in the Bible.  You want to make your world a better place? You'll find out how in the Bible.  You want to discover your purpose in life and how to fulfil it? Start with the Bible.

Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another-showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. (The Message)

So, working with the Bible isn't about vague theories. It isn't about being something you're not.  It's not about watering down who you are. It's about finding out who you are.  Timothy, who had believed since childhood, a faith he learned from his Mum and his Gran, who felt he was too young to get people's respect, was able to be a man of God, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

© Gilmour Lilly December 2010