Thursday, June 23, 2005
Keeping and Talking the Word 2
Today we worked through Psalm 134, Acts 8, and a few essays. Again, the day was characterized by good discussion and some profound insights from our readings. Read the full report below.
Take, O take me as I am;
Summon out what I shall be;
Set your seal upon my heart
And live in me.
We began our morning together with this song as our prayer and it remained our prayer throughout the day. Again, as I sang it I was struck by the profundity and simplicity of its plea: live in me. As we sang we asked the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts. Tim said, “The primary depository for the Word is the human heart…. Not in vast libraries or sealed scrolls… God assumed that the people of God would make it their fundamental spiritual practice to keep the word in their heart, because that’s where God intended it to be.” We then began to memorize Psalm 134 as a class.
After a brief discussion of The Sabbath by Abraham Heschel, we devoted the rest of our morning to Acts 8:26-40, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. Tim said, “This is the first recorded preaching event in the book of Acts outside the walls of Jerusalem… now we’re given a glimpse of how the sermon functioned outside the context of Jerusalem.” It’s also interesting to note that this sermon – the first one – was cross-cultural in nature.
From our discussion of Acts 8:
Tim pointed out that the sermon itself cannot be found in the text. “We don’t know what [Philip] said to him, which is a little offensive to me as a professor of preaching, because I would think that the main thing was the sermon itself. But for this writer, other things were important apart from what was being said.”
We need to “recover for pastors the art of ancient reading – reading it the way that it was supposed to be read: every last word.” Tim continued, “The image of Biblical reading is mastication and digestion – chewing it, chewing it, chewing it.”
Tim said, “Without the Spirit, without the angels, without a world where angels can be, none of this can work. Hang around people who believe it.” Chris mentioned, “We can just listen to people after we preach. Sometimes, somehow, people are profoundly moved.” Tim shouted, “And we can’t explain it!” There’s an element of mystery there. When asked how we find the supernatural, Tim said, “Hang with the dying. You just may catch a glimpse of the other side.”
From our afternoon conversation:
Tim loosely quoted Eugene Peterson: “When your hearer comes to church, they have two questions. First, is there a story? Second, am I in it?”
From Karl Barth: “The Word of God, as directed to us, is first of all such a word as we do not speak to ourselves. The Word of God always tells us something new which we never could have heard from anyone.”
Tim said, “There is a story told in the Bible. It’s a large redemptive story, and the zenith… is the story of Jesus – who he is, what he did, and what it means for people like you and me.”
Chris said, “In preaching classes, we were encouraged to come up with the theme of the text. Not a theme, but the theme. But now we live in a culture that says there is no meaning for any text.”
Tim again quoted Barth: “God’s faithfulness to his Church consists of him making use of his freedom to come to us in his word and in reserving to himself the freedom to do this again and again.”
He then quoted Luther: “The scriptures are the garment which Jesus Christ wears.”
“The Bible is a vast door swinging open on its hinges, so that the living Christ might be present to the Church.”
“Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the LORD. May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.” (Psalm 134)
Earlier: Keeping and Talking 1