Before doppler radar and phone alerts, we went to church on a cold winter’s night, as we always did. I do not remember who our youth leader was; we had six leaders during my time in youth: Mike, Steve, Greg, Kent, David, and some guy who stayed 3 weeks. I have no idea what we were talking about, but suddenly the prayer garden flood lights came on illuminating a heavy snow falling outside our window. Daniel Vitchabonda, an exchange student from Thailand, stood straight up, and whether a declaration or question, blurted out, “Snow!?” and as if transfixed by a vision, Daniel repeated his mantra “snow, snow, snow” as he slipped on his coat and exited the room. We all followed Daniel outside. 

Daniel had never seen snow. We taught him how to catch a snowflake on his tongue. With an easy lob Greg Ramey introduced Daniel to snowballs. Some of our group made snowpeople and angels in the snow.  We fell into a massive snowball fight. The snow blanketed the earth with a quieting silence. We watched cars creep down Clay’s Mill with faith that there would be no school tomorrow. In my middle school estimation, this was the best Bible Study ever.   

While preaching from Exodus, Barbara Brown Taylor described Moses’ greatest attribute as his willingness to turn aside from the everyday responsibilities and explore what turned out to be the Burning Bush. (Ex. 3) That snowy night, we turned aside from our studies and experienced wonder together. Our leaders were wise and loving enough to allow us to dwell in the holy interruption. John Wesley called this “watching over one another in love”.  The heart of the small group Methodist movement was rooted in watching over one another in love.     

Lent is ten days away. I am wondering what if we gave up doing scripture alone this lent? I am not  suggesting we forgo private devotions, but if we agreed to open our hearts and minds alongside other Christians we would be closer to the early church practice than when we study alone!  

In 1448, the printing press revolutionized not just books and newspapers but  how we read the Bible by allowing us to read the Bible outside of our churches or synagogues. People in antiquity didn’t own books. Not every church could afford or access a complete set of the scrolls that we call a Bible. Receipts, deeds, and tax records were often cut into wet clay tablets with a sharp stylus and then baked in the sun before storing. Scrolls used leather so beautifully smoothed that you could etch an ink line into the scroll.  Scroll writing was slow artful handiwork performed by professional artists and scribes. People with an oral culture were not dumb, they transmitted information by memorization. Early Christians likely memorized Jesus’ sermon on the mount. 

Last week we talked about how churches like those in Colossae, Philippi and Rome collected, treasured, copied, and shared the letters from Paul and how in time these became scripture.  But How did people hear the Bible “Say hello to siblings in Laodicea, along with Nympha and the church that meets in her house. After this letter has been read to you publicly, make sure that the church in Laodicea reads it and that you read the one from Laodicea.” (Col 4) Imagine not reading the Bible alone, but sharing interpretation and application with others committed to watching over each other in love.  

Luke 4 gives us a little snapshot of how people heard the scriptures. “Jesus taught in the synagogues and was praised by everyone. One Sabbath Jesus went to the synagogue as he normally did and stood up to read. The synagogue assistant gave Jesus the scroll from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus unrolled the scroll (onto the reading lectern or table) and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. God has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down (what one did when teaching).  Every eye in the synagogue was fixed on Jesus and Jesus began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.” (Jesus’ explanation surely was more than those ten words, but Luke assumes the church community will be there to explore “what it means to be sent by the Spirit” so we get 10 words). Luke continues, “Everyone was raving about Jesus, they were impressed by the gracious words flowing from his lips.” (Luke 4 adapted) Maybe we need to come together to pray, worship, hear the word of God, ask questions, hear explanations and talk together? 

Let this ooze into your imagination: reading aloud was the way people read well into the 1750’s.  Some folks believed that reading silently was selfish, a kind of hoarding of knowledge. So if you sat down on a state-of- the-art steam ship in 1810 your neighbor might expect you to read the sports page aloud! If the Printing press changed our thinking, the digital revolution is reweaving our inner landscapes. 15 years ago, the average American consumed 34 gigabytes of data each day. That is an increase of about 350 percent over the previous 30 years.  Researchers at the University of California, San Diego calculate that our daily data diet includes about 100,000 words, read in print, on the Web, and heard on television and the radio. By Friday, most of us have consumed the equivalent of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”  (NYT Part of the Daily American Diet, 34 Gigabytes of Data By Nick Bilton Dec. 9, 2009) We are reading more and often choosing to remember less. How often do we say, let me right that down, instinctively not trusting our memories, even committing to not remembering. Awash in data, we may not be treasuring the core teaching in our hearts. Our stream of individually tailored technology might be privatizing and tribalizing our inner worlds.

By John Wesley’s time printing technology allowed people to read the Bible in their homes.  Wesley and the early Methodists were sometimes called “Bible Moths” for how they read and studied scriptures together.  Wesley’s sermons are punctuated with hundreds of scripture citations and uncited Bible quotes. Wesley was a Greek and Hebrew professor at Oxford, but Wesley preferred the term “searching the scriptures” to Bible study.  Wesley encouraged “searching the scriptures” so we might discover God’s will for our lives. (Romans 12) The Will of God sounds so mysterious, but God’s Will resides in everyday questions like: does this lesson matter more than falling snow, how do I cultivate domestic peace during a week of snow days, how do I loosen the oppressive yokes I see?  We can cut and paste Bible platitudes from our smartphones but faith, hope and love come through community.  We need one another’s presence. 

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes “Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” It is one thing to read about Love, it is something entirely different to experience Love inside a community. We best understand the will of God, perhaps we only understand God’s will, when we are watching over in love. 

 Paul understands that there is something greater than the letter he is writing to the church at Corinth, which today we call Scripture.  “As for prophecies, they will be brought to an end. As for tongues, they will stop. As for knowledge, it will be brought to an end. We know in part and we prophesy in part; (that is humble thinking friends) but when the perfect comes, what is partial will be brought to an end…. Now we see a reflection in a (ancient brass) mirror; then we will see face-to-face. Now I know partially, but then I will know completely in the same way that I have been completely known. Now faith, hope, and love remain—these three things—and the greatest of these is love.” 

I no longer belong to the denomination I grew up in, and I have had to unlearn a few things I grew up with. The truth matters and Jesus tells us the truth sets us free, but every family, relationship, and church has missteps and moments that require grace and forgiveness. (John 8) I see things differently now- I see God’s love as deeper, wider, and more diverse than I ever imagined a child, but I am so grateful that my childhood church watched over me in love.  I do not remember anything about the intended Bible lesson on that snowy Wednesday night and I came home with soaked sneakers and a deep assurance that I was loved by my church community.  Friends, I think that love may matter more. So during this Lent, I want to invite you to cultivate a habitat of grace, by opening the Bible with other Christians, not trying to prove a point but with a gentle desire to watch over one another with love and to be open to God’s will. Who knows how God’s Spirit might turn us aside and change the course our lives or even history.  Amen.