The Bible is a Story of a Relationship between God and God's People
Posted May 25th, 2011
The bible is a story of relationship, a relationship between God and God’s people. To read the bible in any other way is to undermine it, to make it foolish, to turn it into a wooden statue. Rather, to read the bible as a story of relationship makes it come alive, makes it speak life, and, I believe, is precisely that singular quality which allows it to carry the adjective “Holy”. It is important how we read and treat the bible, for the outcome depends on the ways we approach the subject. If we learned to read the story as a tale of a relationship, just think of how many internal Christian arguments would be ended, and how much more effectively we could get on with doing precisely what Jesus told us to do: heal the brokenhearted, seek and serve the lost, comfort the marginalized, proclaim God’s Kingdom, act as a servant to all.
Our gospel lesson today is a case-in-point about this very issue. A very familiar reading at funerals, this section from the fourteenth chapter of John’s gospel offers wonderful words of comfort: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” says Jesus, and you know the way to the Father; it is me. Thomas raises some questions about these afterlife-instructions, and Jesus offers these words, in response. I’ve always approached Jesus’ words here as a gift, a simple gift. Others, though, have struggled with one particular verse: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” For some Christians, this is clear indication that you must accept Jesus as Lord to get into heaven. For still others, this paints the picture of an exclusive God – and a god whom many would not otherwise prefer to worship and follow. Thus the debates. Thus the arguments. Thus the theological wrangling and arm-wrestling.
Download this sermon
