This October 31st marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg Germany, sparking the great Reformation. One of Luther’s great teachings is known as Sola Scriptura or Scripture Alone. He believed that all people needed and desired access to scripture, not just the religious elite, and with the invention of the printing press nearly 75 years earlier, he believed it could be possible for all people to have a copy of the Bible for their own pursuit of Christ.
For 500 years Protestants have valued the study of God’s word. Along with prayer, it is one of the primary ways we better understand our Christian history, the mystery of God and faith, and ultimately it is the way we learn about Jesus. The Bible contains insight and truth for guiding our lives. Luther wrote, “For some years now, I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant.”
I seriously doubt there are many Christians who don’t believe study of scripture is important to faith, but I am equally sure that most Christians are intimidated by the Bible, and the thought of trying to read and engage it in a meaningful and disciplined manner feels overwhelming. You can throw me into this group as well. I have been a Christian for nearly 30 years after committing my life to Christ at a middle school youth retreat. From the beginning of my faith journey, I was challenged to read scripture and memorize Bible verses. I remember the excitement of getting a One-Year Bible and by January 11th giving up and shelving that Bible, because I couldn’t keep up with the daily reading load, nor did I understand what I was attempting to read. At twelve years old, I was simply over-matched and unequipped for reading the Bible. I needed guidance and a community to read the Bible with.
It wasn’t until a couple years later, when I was in high school when I was given a few Bible reading tips from youth leaders. Susie G. taught us in Sunday School that we shouldn’t try to read the Bible as we would a mystery novel. She told us that the Bible is not one big book, but several books or letters written over hundreds of years and later pulled together into what we now call the Bible. That Sunday morning, she encouraged us to pick one Biblical book, and then encouraged us to spend the whole next month only reading that one book. I chose Philippians, because it was short and I felt that I could probably get through it in ten minutes. I wanted to read the Bible, but I didn’t want to spend all day doing it. She told us to highlight verses that stuck out to us, to write our thoughts in the margins, and think of any questions we might have from what we were reading. This has been my practice ever since. It is simple, but I have experienced how the Holy Spirit begins to do something with our effort to study and understand scripture. Things that once were difficult to understand begin starting to make sense. A difficult situation surfaces in life and your mind recalls a specific verse or story that helps you navigate whatever it is that you are dealing with at that moment or season of life.
At Kairos, we want to be people of the Book. A community of people that are engaging scripture both privately and corporately. If you are one of those people who feels overwhelmed and intimidated by the Bible, I want to invite you to join us over the next five weeks (October 15-November 12) at 9:15 am before worship service as we learn how to read scripture together. Miriam, Nick Johnson and I want to do what Susie G. did for me…we want to encourage you to engage the life changing Word of God. We are going to look at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians; six chapters that pack a punch and give Christians a blueprint for following Christ.
Sola Scriptura!
– Joe