Bible Sunday without the Bible? 

What if the Bible didn’t exist? It’s hard to imagine isn’t it?

It’s not only the best-selling book in the world - the words of the Bible also permeate every aspect of our lives and are the foundation not only of our faith but our society as a whole.

In the Western world, two thousand years of our history has been shaped by the Bible. Our entire concept of linear time pivots around what we know from the Bible about the birth of Jesus Christ. For centuries, the years prior to his birth were delineated as Before Christ or BC, and those after his birth AD or Anno Domini which is Latin for ‘in the year of our Lord’.

Even the shape of our week has its roots in the first chapter of the Bible; the first six days corresponding to the six days of creation, and the seventh to the Sabbath, when we are told that God rested after his labours. And the whole concept of a holiday is based on the importance of ‘holy days’ outlined in the Old Testament.

The English language itself has also been profoundly influenced by the language of the Bible. David Crystal, linguist and expert in the evolution of the English language, has found no less than 257 phrases in the English language that have been taken from the King James Bible. Whether we talk about being at ‘our wits’ end’, being ‘all things to all men’, ‘giving up the ghost’ or escaping ‘by the skin of your teeth’, we are quoting the Bible. More cheerfully, we may unconsciously quote the Bible when we set out to ‘eat, drink and be merry’, judge that ‘two are better than one’, ‘fight the good fight’ or, at the end of the day, head to the ‘land of Nod’.

The Bible has also had a profound impact on all forms of art up until the mid-19th century painting and sculpture focused almost exclusively on biblical themes, as did many composers. And even modern secular song writers such as Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen an Bob Marley consciously or unconsciously quote the Bible.

You just can’t escape the words of the Bible, they are woven into the very fabric of our lives. And, even with all the technological advances of the past few decades, Christians are still reading texts that were together four or five centuries before Homer even wrote the Odyssey. Stories about how God worked in the lives of people whose bones have long since turned to dust and societies that had values that seem very alien to our own (take the Baal worshipper of Canaan for example who were into child sacrifice!).

But we continue to find ourselves in the pages of the Bible. These ancient words still speak into our lives in the most remarkable way, challenging us and guiding us. And it is hard to imagine what our lives would be like if the Bible didn’t exist. But this was effectively the situation that the people of Jerusalem found themselves in the 5th century BC.

Jerusalem had been conquered by the Babylonians just over a 100 years before. The temple and the city was decimated and the people scattered, many taken into exile. The way of life that they had known was lost to them.

The people of Judah lived in exile for many years and, while some such as the teacher Ezra were been faithful, others integrated into Persian society, inter marrying and in some cases adopting the pagan practices of the local people – practices which the Bible makes clear are detestable to God Until, in the fifth century BC, the Persian leader Cyrus allowed Ezra and a remanent of the exiles to return home, followed a few years later by Nehemiah. And together they began the herculean task of rebuilding what had been lost.

What became clear to both of them early on, was that they needed to do far more than just rebuild the walls of the city and temple. They needed the people to reconnect them to their spiritual roots which brings us to today’s amazing account from the book of Nehemiah.

It was the first day of the seventh month, The walls had been rebuilt – against all odds – but Nehemiah and Ezra knew that they had to restore the heart of Jerusalem and the only way they could do that was with God’s word. So they gathered the people together and Ezra began to read.

We are told that he read ‘facing the square before the Water gate from early morning until mid-day, in the presence of men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of the people were attentive to the book of the law’ (Nehemiah. 8:3)

Now if you think sermons at your church are long, then just try to imagine it – the people stood from early morning until mid-day, probably for about six hours, for seven days as Ezra read from the account of the history of humanity and God’s guidance in the form of the Law of Moses and explained the relevance and meaning of the words.

Copies of the Law were rare in exile, and it is likely that many had never heard these sacred words before. And as they listened they wept; as they grasped how far they had strayed from the path God had laid out for them, they wept tears of sorrow. But then they rejoiced and celebrated, having found that which was lost. This was the moment of revival and renewal when the people heard the word of God.

Sometimes for today’s Christians it can feel as if we too have lost something of inestimable value. There’s a whole generation growing up who don’t understand how the Bible has shaped our lives, and all too often secular society dismisses the word of the Bible as irrelevant.

But we can take heart, because in the New Testament we also have the words spoken by Jesus Christ, the living word who came to save us, and tells us ‘ Heaven and earth will pass, but my words will never pass away.’(Matthew 24:34) Throughout the centuries, Gods’ people have gone through cycles where the Bible was neglected, but God also brings renewal through a focus on his word.

So what can we learn from today’s scripture.

Well first of all – for spiritual renewal we must READ the Bible. God could have communicated with us in all sorts of ways, but he chose for his truth to be written for all of us to read.

Secondly we must HEAR the Bible. There is great power in hearing the word of God, which is why each week we read aloud from both the Old Testament and New Testament. I remember during the worst times when I was ill with cancer, I was unable to concentrate to read so, instead, listened to scripture on CDs – and the words filled me with such hope. And these days there are so many ways to hear the Bible ( I love to listen to Nicky Gumbel’s Bible in One Year on my phone because scripture is read by the wonderful David Suchet).

Thirdly, we must be taught if we are to UNDERSTAND the Bible. Sermons preached in your church will help you to understand scripture but if you can it is good to go deeper. This might mean reading a commentary about the Bible or joining a home group, even virtually. Or you can watch Bible teaching on television channels like TBN or hear it on Premier Radio or UCB.

And finally we must RESPOND to his word .When the Israelites understood the word of God, their instinct was to act on what they had learnt. Having rediscovered their history and God’s commandments, they immediately enacted one of the ancient rituals laid down by God, the building of booths or temporary shelters to remember their journey out of Egypt and Gods’ salvation.

Today we have unparalleled access to scripture, so let’s make a renewed commitment to commit to read, hear, seek to understand and respond to the word of God. And I pray that this Bible Sunday may be the beginning of a time of renewal in our hearts, our church, and our community.

Kate Nicholas’s best-selling memoir Sea Changed (shortlisted as Christian Biography of the Year 2017) and her latest book Sea Changed: A Companion Guide – Living a Transformed Life are available at Christian bookstores and online at eden.co.uk, kooroong.com, Amazon worldwide and www.katenicholas.co.uk . Her forthcoming book Soul’s Scribe: Connecting Your Story With God’s Narrative will be available February 2021.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash