The Bible can seem pretty strange. If you’ve grown up with it, you can be desensitized to its strangeness. For starters we call it a book (“Bible” means “book”), but it’s actually a library. It can daunting to know where to start. It wasn’t written in English but Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, so sometimes it can sound clunky and have strange words. Then there’s the content: miracles, violence, ancient Middle Eastern culture from which we are far removed. What do we do with this strange book?

Is the Bible a dusty, old book full of fairy tales? This is a good question! Let’s look at each of the three parts: old, dusty, and full of fairy tales.

Old?

My Bible doesn’t seem that old — the front cover says it was printed in 2011, first published in 1973. But of course the Bible is much older. It has undergone a long process to come into your hands today. Sometimes we can give this process little or no thought.

We don’t know for sure, but it’s likely much of the Bible began as spoken stories, probably starting with the historic figures of Abraham and Moses. As society developed and the written word became more commonplace, these oral traditions were recorded on stone or parchment. During particularly intense periods, for example the time of the kings (especially King David) and the exile to Babylon, these writings were assembled into larger works, giving a more definite shape to the stories. What we call the Old Testament took its final shape several hundred years before Jesus. Then, within about 50 years of Jesus’ death, the New Testament writings emerged. But it wasn’t until the 5th century that the Christian Bible as we know it today was formed. To cut a long story short: the Bible is very old. There are parts that are at least 3,000 years old. And the whole thing as we know it is about 1,500 years old.

I’ve noticed a tendency in our culture today which might be summed up with the phrase “newer is truer.” The newer something is the better. There is a quest for new ideas, new insights, new perspectives. Something as old as the Bible is looked down upon.

But the Bible has a different view: it says “old is gold.” Psalm 19 declares God’s Word is ‘more precious than gold’ — why? ‘By them your servant is warned.’ The word ‘warned’ is related to the word ’to shine bright.’ Think about a lighthouse: the bright light warns where the edge of the cliff is for those in the boat, so they can avoid crashing. The psalm continues, ‘in keeping them [i.e. listening to the words in Scripture] there is great reward.’ The reward is forgiveness, life, and salvation. The lighthouse may be old, but it’s still working, and still saves you from shipwreck, promising life itself.

Is the Bible old? Yes, but old is gold. In these words are life itself.

Dusty?

The Bible is old, but is it dusty? Something gets dusty when you haven’t used it in a while. Have you ever moved something on your desk or in your shed that you haven’t used in a while? There’s usually a silhouette of the object formed in the dust. So whether something is dusty depends on how often you use it. Is it just an ornament or does it do something useful? How often do you use your Bible? What does it do?

The prophet Isaiah speaks about what God’s Word does. ‘¹⁰ As the rain comes down from heaven, and does not return without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish …, ¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’ (Isaiah 55:10–11). Likewise our verse of the week says, ‘The Word of God is alive and active.’ (Hebrews 4:12).

The Bible is not just words on a page. God’s Word accomplishes things. It’s not a dusty ornament, but alive and active, full of power. In fact it has the power to change lives forever.

Take for example St Augustine. From a young age, Augustine went off the rails. He used to steal pears, not because he wanted to eat them, but because he revelled in doing wrong. “Our real pleasure consisted in doing something that was forbidden. The evil in me was foul, but I loved it.” His appetite for evil grew as he moved from the country to big cities. He would often get drunk and carouse with his friends. He would lust after women and boast of his sexual exploits. He had a child with his mistress. One day the mess of his life became overwhelming and he found himself sobbing in a garden. Broken, hopeless, directionless. Suddenly he hears a child-like voice singing, “Take up and read. Take up and read.” He searches his mind for children’s games with this song, but comes up empty. Then he thinks: “Could this be God speaking to me?” So he rushes inside. His friend is there reading a Bible. He grabs it and reads the first verse that his eyes fall on. Romans chapter 13 — ‘¹³ Let us act as we should, like people living in the daytime. Have nothing to do with wild parties. Don’t get drunk. Don’t take part in sexual sins or evil conduct. Don’t fight with each other. Don’t be jealous of anyone. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t think about how to satisfy what your sinful nature wants.’ Augustine’s life was changed forever from that small encounter with God’s Word. He went on to impact much of the Christian faith in the west.

Is the Bible dusty? That depends on us, and how often we pick it up, read it, and listen to God. God desires to speak with us; all we need to do is pick up our Bibles and encounter his living, active Word.

Full of fairy tales?

Sometimes people view the Bible as a story for children, for the uneducated, as a fairy tale for the immature. A bit like as a child you believed in a certain man in red who shows up in December, but now you know different. (I have to be careful, there are children listening!)

This view is understandable. The Bible can certainly seem strange. It’s full of fairy tale like things we don’t experience day to day: talking serpents and donkeys, jugs of oil that never run dry, dragons, voices from clouds, people walking on water, even people being raised from the dead. What do we do with this stuff?

Firstly, it’s important to understand the genre. In the Bible there are poems, songs, letters, dreams, eyewitness testimony to historic events, genealogies, parables, wisdom statements. So it’s important to work out what it is you’re reading. This can be helpful in many cases.

Secondly, it’s important to start in the right place. It’s not fair, for example, to start with Balaam’s talking donkey (Numbers 22:21–39), reason that you’ve never seen a talking donkey, so throw the whole Bible out the window. The best place to start is with Jesus and the events surrounding his death and resurrection. St Paul actually suggests this: ‘¹⁴ If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.’ (1 Corinthians 15). There is very convincing evidence that Jesus of Nazareth existed in history, was crucified by the Romans, his followers reported seeing him alive, and that Jesus predicted all this and he said it was possible because he is God’s son. If this is true, then everything else in the Bible becomes possible too.

What does all this mean?

(1) Recognise the Bible can seem strange. Particularly for unchurched people. It can be overwhelming, very foreign, and unbelievable. Listen to their concerns, agree with them (where you can), and walk with them on their journey.

(2) Start with Jesus’ death & resurrection. One of the gospels is a great starting point (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). I like the Gospel of Mark because it’s short. Once we “get” Jesus, once we believe he was who he said he was — the Son of God — the rest of the Bible falls into place.

(3) Your Creator wants to speak to you — so spend time listening to him! The king of the entire universe wants to speak to you! Yes, you! Why wouldn’t we prioritize this in our lives? If the Queen or someone famous (like Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift) visited your suburb or town, would you make the time to come out and speak with them? Well, someone much greater is visiting every day, and he wants to spend time with you.

Thirty challenge: If you’re not already doing this, or you want to try something different, I challenge you to spend time with God every day for next 30 days. Five minutes reading, five minutes writing/reflecting, five minutes praying. Just 15 minutes every day for 30 days. What might the powerful Word of God do in your life during these 30 days? Download the journal here: https://wallawalla-parish.lutheran.org.au/thirty-challenge/

The Bible may be old, but it’s more precious than gold, promising life itself. The Bible is only dusty if we don’t pick it up and listen to God speak to us. The Bible is not a fairy tale, but contains convincing eyewitness testimony that Jesus was who he said. This means that this book is God’s Word, and it has the power to change you and our world. So let’s pick it up, read it, and listen.

We pray. Heavenly Father, your Word is more precious than gold. Help us spend time listening to your Word. Amen.

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