A couple of years ago, in the wake of the death of legendary ABC News anchor Peter Jennings, reporters reflected far and wide with journalistic eloquence about his life. I remember one report centering on his love and admiration for America. Jennings, a citizen of Canada, carried in his back pocket at all times a copy of the Constitution of the United States. He marvelled that a country as vast and diverse as America could be held together by a single document less than 10,000 words in length. In the end, though little known, Peter Jennings secretly became a citizen of the United States of America.
We are constituted by words aren't we? Words created the cosmos. The Word, who became flesh and dwelled in our midst, is saving the World and quite literally holds it together. Our very sustenance derives from "every word that comes from the mouth of God." We are constituted, which is to say our constitution as the People of God is the Word of God. We would do well to carry it in our back pocket at all times and consult it often that it may become hidden in our heart and revealed through our life.
The document you hold in your hands (or see on your screen as the case may be) is a type of constitution. It’s a Reader designed to help us practice Scripture in community. Back in early 2001 a group of 40 students, along with some faculty on the Kentucky Campus of Asbury Seminary began to gather weekly for prayer and discernment. We were asking the Lord what it meant for us, a theological seminary, to be a missional community at worship and in prayer for the sake of the World. The first clear direction we received from the Spirit was to find a way to read the Bible together and not just to read it but to get inside of it in a living way. That’s why you are holding this document in your hands. It comes as a fruit of this earlier work of prayer and discernment.
THIS IS NOT ANOTHER DEVOTIONAL GUIDE FOR THE COFFEE TABLE. IT IS PART AND PARCEL OF OUR CONSTITUTION AS A COMMUNITY. THE WORD OF GOD IS THE SUBSTANCE OF OUR LIFE TOGETHER.
Some of John Wesley’s most celebrated words are the following:
"I am a spirit come from God and returning to God... I want to know one thing. the way to heaven... God Himself has condescended to teach me the way... He has written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri (a man of one book). Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone. Only God is here. In His presence I open, I read His book; for this end, to find the way to Heaven."
Something I've observed from studying seminarians. They arrive with an almost life support dependence on the Word of God. The Scriptures are both their story and song. The Bible is home for those who have abandoned their lives in pursuit of Jesus. But something happens along the way to ever so subtly interrupt this reality. It's not the seminary's intention. The Word of God stands central in our curriculum. It happens so slowly and the change so imperceptible that we don't realize its happening. Somewhere between mid terms and final exams, between Hebrew and Greek, between observation and application, somewhere between page #33 and page # 4,832 on the required reading lists the Scriptures cease to be a refuge and become a rock pile. No longer a home, the Bible has become a shop or a store. The Bible becomes primarily a place to go to get something for someone else. When guilt, shame or worse, starvation sets in, the Bible is a place to go to get something for ourselves. From sanctuary to shopping cart to source-text. . . . from refuge to "relevance" to rock pile.
So the big question. How does one stay at or get back to "home" in the Scriptures? How does the Bible become a dwelling place again, remembering the great Story of Salvation and revealing the horizons of God's Kingdom.
That's what this Community Reader is about. We are searching for ways and means that the Word of Christ might dwell richly among us. We are seeking to find ways for pastors and ministry leaders to craft sustainable practices of reading Scripture for life. Here's what we're learning:
+ Sustained Personal engagement with Scripture happens best in community. The "privatized," "individuated," "compartmentalized" "devotional life" over promises and under delivers. This is not to say abandon the prayer closet. Learn the practice of inwardly digesting a common text in solitude, allowing it to be released in relationship and exemplified in life. Sharing wisdom is a key practice of covenantal friendship. This brand of friendship is the substance of Christian community. (John 15:12-15)
+ Less can be more. Slower can be faster. Aim for submission not mastery. We're after a long obedience in an immersive practice of reading Scripture in community. Our approach with this Reader is to read in the trajectory of the Christian Year (if you are wondering why we practice the Calendar see p.48) and not just to read but to practice what we are reading. For example, in the fall term we are worshipping our way through the (unofficial) season of KingdomTide. With guidance from the Revised Common Lectionary, we have chosen a large sweeping portion of a Gospel as our core text. Day by day this will unfold in a continuous fashion with other Old and New Testament texts appearing throughout. The key practice we are emphasizing is the practice of mercy. The readings are short and meant to be read in context, reflected on theologically, pondered, prayed, marked, memorized as fitting, and lived practically. Slow down. The goal here is not to read the Bible in a year. Our larger reading plan covers three years and thoroughly engages the whole Bible from a decisive Christological orientation. For the Word of Christ to dwell richly among us we must submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. This Reader provides such an opportunity. Don't feel constricted or limited to these texts alone. Allow the Spirit to lead you into other texts and readings. We're simply asking that these readings be a key stream in your own practice of Scripture.
+ Lesson #3
It seems an impossible task for the seminarian to be a person of one book. Seminary so quickly becomes a place of many books. We are convinced there is a way of reading the one book that will illuminate and give meaning to the many books. Further, we are convinced that the practice of reading Scripture in community, as outlined above, will seal our public, albeit hidden, citizenship in Heaven ever reminding us that there is no place like home.
John David (J.D.) Walt, Jr
vp for community life
