Basking in the word of God

Sermon preached on 22/07/07 at 9.15am service at St Alphege, Solihull
Trinity 7 (Proper 11) – Year C
Readings: Genesis 18:1-10a Colossians 1:15-28 Luke 10:38-42


As I was walking to church this morning I was thinking about all the recent rain, and I thought how ironic it was that I intended to preach about sunshine! I had no sooner thought the thought that the sun came out and shone on me briefly, so let’s spend a moment thinking about sunshine.
My wife loves to sunbath. When the sun comes out she sets aside time to sit in the sun. She slows down and starts to relax. She catches up with herself and recharges her batteries. She also goes most beautifully brown. Now doctors warn us that too much sun can be bad for our skin, and Elaine is careful not to overdo it. Despite this it often seems that it is through soaking up the sun that she regains her equilibrium and is restored in who she is.
Now this idea of sitting in the light of the sun, absorbing its warmth and being restored to wholeness, is a little bit like listening to the word of God. Just as Elaine goes out of her way to sit in the sun, so we need to rest, listening to the word of God. Just as Elaine soaks up the warmth of the sun and allows it to recharge her batteries and make her go brown, so we need to soak up the word of God, allow it to transform us and to form in us the attributes of Christ.
In our OT reading today we heard about Abraham and Sarah listening to the words spoken by the Lord. The Lord mysteriously appears to Abraham as three men, standing near to his tent. Abraham brings them food and drink and sits by the three men as they ate. The three men announce that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, will bear a son for Abraham. This is remarkable, indeed unbelievable, news. If we had read a little further into the passage it would have been explained to us that both Sarah and Abraham were very old at this point and the thought of having a child was quite extraordinary. In fact Sarah, who was listening to the conversation from the entrance to the tent, laughed at the idea of having a child.
The effect of this conversation with the Lord was transformational. God had long promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, and yet Sarah had never been able to have children. This huge paradox perplexed them for years. Perhaps it was the burden of this paradox that made Sarah suggest that Abraham should have a child through her slave-girl Hagar. But suddenly, when they were ridiculously old, Sarah becomes pregnant and has a son Isaac. God’s promises were fulfilled in a way that was much more direct and total than had ever seemed possible.
Our gospel reading is also about listening to the word of God. In this case it is about listening to Jesus. In the Christian tradition we think of Jesus as the word of God (e.g. John 1) so to listen to Jesus is particularly to listen to the word of God. The story contrasts Martha and Mary and their two different ways of loving Jesus. Martha seeks to love Jesus by performing many tasks; presumably she is preparing a meal for him and his friends. Mary loves Jesus by sitting at his feet and listening to what he says. Martha clearly thinks that Mary should be helping prepare the meal, but Jesus says that Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken away from her. Jesus clearly values people listening too him.
And Jesus’ words, or perhaps Jesus himself, also seems to have had a transforming effect on Martha and Mary. In John’s gospel, Jesus visits Bethany, where Martha and Mary live, many times in the weeks before his death. Martha and Mary show great faith when their brother Lazarus dies, and Jesus raises him from the dead. There is also a remarkable moment in which Mary washes Jesus’ feet with ointment and wipes them with her hair. Jesus recognises this as a preparation of his body for burial.
And so what about us? Do we spend time listening to the word of God? Do we allow it to enter into us and transform us? Well perhaps we read the bible at home. Certainly this is one way of encountering the word of God. If we come regularly to worship then we hear the scriptures read in our worship. Personally I find that when I listen to the scriptures read during worship then they sink into me much more fully than if I simply read the bible on my own at home. In worship I sometimes find that something from a bible reading strikes me, as though I am hearing it for the first time, or in a new way, even if I might already be quite familiar with that particular passage. I am not quite sure why I find a scripture readings during worship so much more helpful than bible reading at home. Perhaps my approach is more prayerful during worship. Perhaps my communion with other worshipers helps me to understand better.
When we read scripture it is important that we allow the Word of God to nurture our whole human person, body, mind and spirit. We need to prayerfully allow the words to enter into us. Spiritual advisers usually say that if something from a bible reading strikes us then we should stay with that thought or feeling and allow it to percolate through us. We should not be seeking to interrogate the text with our own analysis and questions. Rather we should be humbly allowing the text to invade us and question us about our attitudes and the actions of our lives. The Word of God is not a puzzle for us to solve, but rather it is a gift for us to receive.
During Lent last year, many of us followed the Life Source course on prayer. One of the technique of prayer that this covered (albeit rather briefly) was called Lectio Divina or “divine reading”. Lectio Divina is prayer based around the slow and repeated reading of scripture or some other text suitable for prayerful reflection. It allows the word of God to enter into us, to nurture us and to form within the attributes of Christ.
I would like to share with you a recent example where I have found that nurturing myself on the Word of God has helped me in my spiritual life. I spent a month reflecting on the phrase, “those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy” from psalm 126. This helped me to understand that I must not seek instant results or immediate payback when I try to do good. For example, if I try to love someone, and they don’t seem to love me back, then this is not a reason to stop loving them. Another example comes from one of my “hobbies” in which I spend time lobbying for better practice in the field of executive pay. My lobbying appears to have very little effect, and there is a temptation to lose heart. However the text from the psalm encourages me to persevere in doing what is right. When the sower sows the seed the first thing that happens is that the seed disappears into the ground and rots away. It is weeks before any growth can be seen, and months before anything that might be harvested becomes visible. Furthermore the text gives me courage when things are painful and difficult. I might sow in tears today, but can I hope one day to reap with shouts of joy.
So as we go on our summer holidays, and enjoy the warmth of the sun (let’s hope we get the chance!), let’s also make sure that be bask in the light and warmth of the word of God. Let’s let it sink into us, transforming our attitudes and behaviours. Let’s allow it to do its job, so that Christ can be formed within us.