A synopsis of the sermon delivered by the Rev. David L. Hicks at St. Paul’s Reformed Episcopal Church at the 10:30am service on Sunday, Advent II, December 5, 2004. Please read Romans 15:4-6.
Things are made for specific uses. For example, the labels on over the counter medication give specific guidelines as to how much of the particular medicine should be taken, the manner in which it is to be administered and at what time intervals. Perhaps, cautionary advice is given regarding the operation of machinery or motor vehicles while taking the medication. If the medicine is not used according to the purpose for which it is manufactured, there is the danger of physical harm of some sort.
Saint Paul tells us that God gave the Holy Scriptures for a specific purpose: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). If the Scriptures have been designed for a specific purpose, then we do well to follow the guidelines given by the manufacturer. To use the Bible in a manner for which it is not intended runs the risk of spiritual harm. Too often Christians have seen the Bible as a means of solving the human curiosity about events such as creation or the end of the world. That is not to say that the Bible does not address such things after some manner, but when it does speak of these things it is not for the purpose of answering the questions that we may have manufactured for our own purposes. Similarly, some look to the Bible for “keys to success” in business or material prosperity. Again, we would not deny that the Scriptures teach something about God’s provision of material blessings in this life, but that is not the point of the Bible. The Bible has been given for our learning, and specifically that we would learn how to live our lives in anticipation of Christ’s second advent. Through the Scriptures we receive the patience (endurance) and comfort (strengthening) that engenders the hope (expectation) of our Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming for us. All other uses of the Bible are subordinate to this purpose for which it has been given.
This idea that the hope in Jesus Christ is the ultimate goal of the Scriptures is spoke of elsewhere in the Scriptures themselves. Luke writes in his Gospel that Jesus, after his resurrection, showed his disciples that the entire Old Testament was written for the purpose of pointing to him: “And beginning at Moses and the prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Jesus is the beginning and ending of the book: He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8). Let us make every effort to keep in mind God’s purpose for the Bible and not our own purpose, so that we might enjoy the intended benefit for which they have been given to us – the assurance of hope in Jesus Christ. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).
Amen.
