This is the final week of our sermon series “Reading the Bible Again for the First Time,” in which we have explored ways to read the Bible more deeply, with a mind to history, context, genre, and literary analysis. You can find resources on reading and studying the Bible here. This week, we shift from how to read into how to live as we dive into the theme of practical theology.
In week one, on “Epiphany & Creation,” Pastor Bob related how Marcus Borg, on whose book our series is based, talks about the Bible as a sacrament. In the United Methodist tradition, a sacrament is defined as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” We celebrate two sacraments, Baptism and Holy Communion, but we use this sacramental language in many more circumstances than just these two. We use it to describe wedding rings in the “official” wedding liturgy. We use it to talk about ashes on Ash Wednesday. I myself had a deep spiritual encounter with a book that makes the argument that anything can be sacramental.
But the sacramental isn’t limited to objects. We ourselves are called to live sacramentally, aren’t we? Shouldn’t we ourselves live, wholeheartedly, as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace”?
My very favorite line in our Communion liturgy goes “We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving, as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us…”
To me, this is the essence of what it means to live sacramentally. I can’t wait to talk about it with you all on Sunday.
Luke 10:25-37
25 A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?”
27 He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
28 Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right, so he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. 31 Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 32 Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 33 A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ 36 What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”
37 Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Consider these questions:
- Has reading the Bible in a new way had an effect on your day-to-day life?
- What does it mean to you to live sacramentally? Sacrificially?
- Do you have a favorite Bible story, passage, or verse that you use to guide your Christian faith, and how you live it?