Summer Reading

Scripture: Romans 8:26-27 and 35-39

An anthology of faith-related humor includes this gem:

Jesus said unto his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” And his disciples answered unto Him, “Master, Thou art the supreme eschatological manifestation of omnipotent ecclesiastical authority, the absolute, divine, sacerdotal monarch.”
And Jesus said unto them, “What?”

I love this joke because it parodies our efforts, often futile, to capture and express in words that which can be neither captured nor expressed. And, as the joke highlights, those efforts do not go any better simply because we deploy words with a greater number of syllables. Gustave Flaubert, who probably used language as well as anyone, described the frustrating limitations of speech this way: “Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.”

The Bible contends with this challenge from its first page to its last. It has as its subject matter nothing less than the origin of the universe, the meaning of existence, the question of mortality, and the nature of God. But it has at its disposal nothing more than words. So in aid of this vast project it marshals every linguistic device imaginable: parables and poems; stories and histories; laws and letters; songs and proverbs.

And the Bible uses lots of words: a typical English translation contains more than seven-hundred-thousand of them. Of course, what makes those words special is their quality—the spirit and wisdom and divine presence that infuse and inform them—not their quantity. In this respect, it may be useful to remember that the Internal Revenue Code includes more than a million words, and yet no one has ever turned there for inspiration.

Sometimes, as in this passage from Romans, the Bible explicitly acknowledges that language can fail us. When we are struggling, Paul tells us, the Spirit will intercede “with sighs too deep for words.” It is a lovely phrase, I think. I suspect that, at one time or another, we have all felt grief too deep for words, love too deep for words, worry too deep for words, relief too deep for words, pain too deep for words, or joy too deep for words. How characteristic of the Holy Scriptures to find words to describe an experience that words cannot describe.

There was a time, in the history of the Christian faith, when those words belonged exclusively to the clergy. They were maintained in ancient languages and handwritten texts unavailable to most people. It took an inventor named Guttenberg, an upstart named Luther, and a revolution within the church to make those words accessible. Now translated into every imaginable language, the Bible remains the best selling text in the history of the world.

There is no way to measure this accurately, but the Bible is probably also the most frequently quoted text in the history of the world. Alas, this is not entirely good news. It almost certainly has the distinction of being misquoted—and quoted out of context—more often than any other book. Furthermore, some passages have so thoroughly infiltrated our secular speech that we lose sight of their biblical origins—for example, “the blind leading the blind,” “the straight and narrow,” “his head on a platter,” “nothing but skin and bones,” “the skin of my teeth,” “a sign of the times,” “go the extra mile,” “the twinkling of an eye,” “an eye for an eye,” “out of the mouths of babes,” “a drop in the bucket,” and—not often associated with sacred verse—“eat, drink, and be merry.”

That we forget where these expressions came from may signal a broader issue, which is that some of us probably do not spend as much time with our Bibles as we should. You may have heard the joke about the little girl who was asked by her pastor if she knew what was in the Bible. “I know exactly!” she responded. “Okay,” the pastor challenged, “tell me exactly what’s in your Bible.” She thought for a second and replied: “A copy of my birth certificate, an old church bulletin, a gum wrapper, and the crossword puzzle my dad filled in while you were preaching last Sunday."

On the other hand, I know many people of faith who take Bible study very seriously. They focus on a particular book. They read commentaries, scholarly articles, and other secondary sources. Some of them even delve into Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic to gain a deeper understanding of what the text wants to say to us.

Today, I want to offer a suggestion that I think applies whether you are relatively new to Bible study or highly experienced at it: take the time this summer to commit some verses (or, if you already do this, some more verses) to memory. I fear that in our twenty-first-century sophistication we might not see this as a good use of time. Memorizing Bible verses may strike us as old-fashioned or as something our great-grandparents had their children do when they were caught stealing from the cookie jar.

The old Christmas movie, The Homecoming, has some gentle fun with this idea. You may recall that the film is set in the Depression-era south and was the pilot for the popular television show The Waltons. In one memorable scene, a missionary has come to the Waltons’ hometown to deliver Christmas presents to underprivileged children. The missionary announces that she will give a present to any child who can recite a Bible verse. This poses a dilemma for the Walton siblings because their mother has strictly forbidden them from accepting charity, but, because of their upbringing, they have huge stores of scripture committed to memory.

After resisting briefly, the Walton kids start giving verses to other children to use. When one young boy asks Mary Ellen Walton for some help, she suggests “What has man profited if he gains the whole world and loses a soul.” The boy stares back at her blankly at her and says “Too hard to remember.” She responds “Jesus wept,” spins him around, and sends him on his way.

Indeed, depending on your memory and the time you have to devote to it some verses may be too hard to remember. I certainly understand the vagaries of memory. I recently discovered that, through repeated exposure, I had unintentionally memorized a few poems by Robert Frost. Unfortunately, I learned that the same held true with respect to the theme song of Gilligan's Island.

Anyway, to use another expression of biblical origin, if you seek you will find, and an appropriate verse will come to you. Perhaps you will want to memorize something on the longer end, like the twenty-third psalm or this this beautiful passage from today’s text: “[N]either death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But there are many shorter verses that might speak to you. Here are a few suggestions, in declining order of length, for your consideration:

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5)

“Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1)

“Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6)

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11)

“Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” (I Cor. 16)

“Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I did not even know it.” (Genesis 28)

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13)

“Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Epehsians 4)

“People are slaves to whatever masters them.” (2 Peter 2)

“Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.” (James 4)

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4)

“Be doers of the word.” (James 1)

“God is love.” (1 John 4)

So that is your summer reading assignment. Find some verses that speak to you. Make them your own. Hold them close. Keep them at hand.

You may discover that they are just what you need the next time you find yourself in one of those places where all other words seem inapt, inadequate, and idle.

For, in the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God.

Amen.