Practices of Disciples: Study Regularly
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
II Tim. 3:14-17
March 13, 2011
This Lent, we’re preaching on the practices of disciples. But what exactly is a disciple? A disciple is a follower, a student of Jesus Christ. It is someone who allows their life to be shaped by the teachings of Jesus Christ, rather than by the culture in which we find ourselves. Becoming a disciple is something like being an apprentice in one of the trades. There are things to learn as well as actions to practice.
During the summers while I was in college, I did electrical construction work. When wiring a switch, outlet, or fixture, I needed to know which wires went where. And I also needed to practice actually stripping and joining the wires so they made a good connection and didn’t short out. If these things were not done right, when we turned the power on, outlets would literally blow out of the wall! Both knowledge and practice were important. The six practices we’ll deal with in this series are ways that God forms us into disciples of Jesus. Lou started us off last week with the first practice: Pray daily. The second practice is: Study regularly.
But why should we study the Bible? What does study of the Scripture do for us and to us? Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul in II Tim. 3:14-17 for the answer.
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,
15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
In this passage, the apostle Paul is writing to Timothy, a young pastor, whom he had mentored. He encourages him to stay true to the faith that he has received by relying on the Scripture. For Paul says that Scripture is inspired by God. The Greek word translated “inspired” literally means “God-breathed.” “All Scripture is breathed by God.” Can you think of another time in the Bible when we are told that God breathed? In Genesis 2, God breathed life into the first human being! Paul is saying that God has breathed life into this book! It is a living Word and it has the power to impart life to us.
How does Scripture do this? Let’s take a look! In verse 15 Paul says that the Scriptures are able to instruct us in salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. It is through the Scripture that we learn about the profound depth of our problem with sin, our helplessness to overcome it on our own, and the awful distance it has put between God and ourselves. It is in the Scripture that we learn of God’s provision for our sin by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and our response of simply accepting God’s gift by faith. The Scriptures tell us how to find new life through salvation.
In verse 16 Paul tells us another way in which the Scripture breathes life into us. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof...” Scripture teaches us what is true about God, the world, and ourselves. This is absolutely necessary for finite, sinful beings like us!
Our understanding and insight into the world is very limited. Listen to the insights of a few people who have tried to understand what’s going on in our world. Henry Ford’s banker said, “The horse is here to stay...the automobile is only a novelty, a fad.” He advised investors to refrain from buying stock in Ford’s new company. Charles Duell, U.S. commissioner of patents, said, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” That was in 1911! Then in 1977, Kenneth Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Corporation said, “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.” If the brightest and best among us struggle to understand what’s really going on in the tangible, visible world, how much more do we struggle to understand what God is up to in the world? So, we rely on God to reveal to us what he is up to through the Scripture.
In addition to our limited understanding of the world, our perceptions are also tainted by sin! Self-interest colors all that we see and believe. For 300 years white Americans were able to convince themselves that it was right and fair to subjugate black Americans through slavery or Jim Crow laws or social convention. Many Germans in the 1930's and 40's truly believed that oppressing and slaughtering Jews was the right thing to do for their nation.
The limits of our understanding as human beings and the powerful influence of sin on our minds make it very difficult for us to understand the truth about God, our world, and ourselves. We need God’s Word, which teaches us truth and challenges our false views of reality.
Finally, the Scripture is useful for “...correction and training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” The previous point had to do with belief, with doctrine, with truth. This one has to do with right living.
Recently, our dishwasher began to leak. Since I enjoy repairing things, I got right to work. I carefully checked the hoses underneath but everything looked fine. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Then I remembered: check the manual, which, in this case was on-line. It suggested changing the corner door baffles if the door was leaking. I didn’t even know the dishwasher had corner door baffles! None of my previous dishwashers did! But I replaced the baffles, and the leak is gone. Here’s what one looks like, if you’re interested. Oh, by the way- Bonnie- don’t use the dishwasher, until I’ve put this back in it!
Over the years, I’ve tried two approaches to repairing appliances. The intuitive, take-it-apart-and-see-what-I-can-figure-out approach, and the read-the-manual-and-learn-what-the-designer-of-the-product-recommends approach. I’ll let you guess which one is most successful. It’s the same way in our lives. The Scripture tells us how we were designed to live. When we live that way, things tend to go much better!
So far we’ve seen that Scripture teaches us the way of salvation, helps us discern what is true, and shows us how we ought to live in light of that truth.
But how do we get the Scripture into our hearts and minds? What are the best ways to interact with the Bible so that it will come to life for us? The Bible itself gives us three ways in which that can happen. The first is found right here in II Timothy. Chapter one tells us that God Word got into Timothy through the teaching of Timothy’s mother and grandmother and Paul. One of the ways in which God’s Word comes to us is through good teaching.
Today that can happen in sermons, in Sunday School classes, and in Bible studies. Perhaps you can recall those teachers through whom God’s Word first came to you. I remember that God used Pastor Jackson (my childhood pastor), Mr. Penn and Mrs. Morgan (Sunday School teachers), Al Dasburg and Frank Bell (youth group leaders), as well as my parents to teach God’s Word to me. I am grateful for each one. As an aside, is God using you to teach his Word to anyone? One way God’s Word comes to us is through those who teach us.
A second way God’s Word gets into us is found in Psalm 119:11. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” This verse, and scores of others, remind us about the importance of personal study and reflection on the Scripture. Here, the Psalmist meditates on God’s Word and treasures it in his heart- he memorizes it.
Recent surveys have shown that less than half of all Presbyterians are involved in any regular reading and study of the Bible. That may speak volumes about our relatively weak spiritual impact on our world. Now I know that there are lots of obstacles to reading the Bible. It’s thousands of years old and refers to events and people that many of us don’t know. Unlike most books, it is not even laid out chronologically, so how do you know where to start? And then there is the issue of what kind of Bible to use- there are dozens of choices out there.
These are real obstacles, but they are not insurmountable. I would recommend you get a study Bible in a contemporary translation like the New Revised Standard Version (which we use in worship) or the New International Version. Such Bibles are written in readable English, unlike the beautiful, but archaic English of the King James Version. And study Bibles contain notes which can help you understand what you are reading.
Where should you start? You could jump into a “Read through the Bible in a year” program that you can find on-line at Bible.com & other places. Or, you could start on your own with one of the four gospels- Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. These books contain the stories of the life and teaching of Jesus, and are a great place to start during Lent. You could move on to the book of Acts- early stories of the church. And then onto some of the letters of the New Testament- Philippians, Ephesians, or James. In the Old Testament, Proverbs is a very readable book. And most of the Psalms are pretty understandable, even to new readers of the Bible.
Reading the Bible requires a commitment of time, but you can benefit from just 5-10 minutes each day. And there is no doubt that personal Bible reading is one of the primary ways in which God builds his Word into you. Just do it!
The final way in which God’s Word is conveyed to us is through groups. In Colossians 3 Paul says, “Teach and admonish one another in all wisdom.” One of the joys of my Christian life has been to participate in small groups for study and support and prayer. Typically, such groups explore God’s Word together, rather than relying on a teacher to teach them. I have participated in such groups wherever I have lived. And I’m enjoying the Tuesday night small group I’m part of here in Gettysburg. By listening to the perspectives of others in the group, my understanding of God’s Word has been enriched over the years and I am grateful for this way of receiving it. We’re hoping to have an increased emphasis on small groups in the future here at GPC, and I hope you’ll consider being part of one!
According to the Apostle Paul in II Tim. 3, God’s Word is useful to teach us about our salvation, to instruct us in truth, and to train us in how to live right. We receive God’s Word through the ministry of teachers, through individual Bible study, and through participation in groups. How are you receiving God’s Word? How could you increase your exposure to it?
In 1978 Richard Foster wrote a classic book called, “The Celebration of Discipline.” What he says about Bible study is powerful:
“Many Christians remain in bondage to fears and anxieties simply because they do not avail themselves of the discipline of study. They may be faithful in church attendance and earnest in fulfilling their religious duties, and still they are not changed… They may sing with gusto, pray in the Spirit, live obediently as they know, even receive divine visions and revelations, and yet the tenor of their lives remains unchanged. Why? Because they have never taken up one of the central ways God uses to change us: study. Jesus made it unmistakenly clear that the knowledge of the truth will set us free. Good feelings will not free us. Ecstatic experience will not free us. Getting “high on Jesus” will not free us. Without a knowledge of the truth, we will not be free.”
So, study Regularly. That’s what disciples do.
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