I don’t know about you but when I talk to people I can often have quite funny occasions, such as people asking me strange questions, or being shocked that I am a priest. I never know how to take that. Or people telling me I seem quite normal; I am even less sure how to take that!
Perceptions can cause more damage than reality. How many times have you heard people say, ‘They’re a Christian, so you would expect better,’ or, as happened to me when I was 9, when another little girl said, ‘As a Christian, I guess that you only ever listen to Aled Jones’ (now, nothing against Aled; at that age I was convinced I was going to marry him), but I protested that I did listen to the Bangles as well. The little girl responded, ‘Oh, you are normal then.’
Anyway, perceptions. People expect something of all of us based on who we are. It is really hard when what we do doesn’t quite fit with people’s perceptions of us. Either their perception is wrong, or we really aren’t living up to who we are or what we claim to be.
As Christians, people do have a perception of us. They think they know how we should behave or seem. Sadly, at times this can be based on false perceptions, maybe from TV programme’s, from books, or from people they have met in the past. We have the opportunity to show people what being a Christian is really like. It is being a disciple of Jesus, following Him and trying to be more like Him.
Today is Bible Sunday and, in our readings this morning, we have been reminded of the need to stay rooted in the Word of God, to listen to the words of the Bible and to put them into practice. Our behaviour pattern is not to come from anyone else but from the words of Jesus Himself, His words that, as we heard in the Gospel reading (Matthew 24:30-35), will never pass away.
In the reading from the Book of Nehemiah (8:1-4a, 8-12), we heard about the reading of the law to the people. One of the religious leaders, Ezra, was reading the law to them. It’s interesting, and good, that he called men and women who weren’t part of the religious leadership to hear the Word of God as well.However, their reaction was more than a little unusual. They were moved to tears as they heard the words of the law, but then they ended up rejoicing. This was after the words of the law had been explained to them. Those words of the law are part of our Bibles. This means that our Bibles should, and can, cause both weeping and rejoicing. This is so powerful.
We also see this in the section from the Psalm (119:9-16) that was used this morning. This Psalm is about the Word of God. In the verses we used this morning, we were reminded of the Psalmist’s love for the Word of God. This is a challenge to us: do we love the Bible?
Back to perceptions, and how we are to behave. In the reading from the letter to the Colossians (3:12-17), we heard of a perfect way of being. This is a perception that we must follow because it is our instruction for life. We are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, meekness, and humility. These are quite hard demands. After all, who has ever shown all these things at once apart from Jesus? It is good that we can ask Him to help us with this.
In the section before this one in the letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote of all the things that can stop us from living in harmony. He wrote of wickedness, blasphemy, lying, and disobedience. All these types of attitudes he put down as the old life, the before-Jesus life. The reading this morning spoke of how things should be. This is the perfect perception, the perfect way of being. What a contrast to the former part!
Today, as we give thanks for the Bible, for the words of God in our lives, we think of the words which help us, through prayer and fellowship, to follow God’s commandments. The words which will help us to be more like Jesus.
In the reading from Colossians, we heard of what the new life, the life following God, should be like. A life changed as we seek to live in harmony with one another, a life where we put the love of Jesus and His words first. A life that has new clothes, not like the Emperor’s new clothes, but clothes that show who we follow. I once read a really strange comment one person said to another. It was, ‘Jesus looks good on you.’ It was good reasoning and was meant to show that other people should be able to see the changes in our lives as we follow Jesus; it just sounded strange.
There’s a true story of an American soldier who was on one of the South Sea Islands in the Second World War. He came across a friendly host who tried to assure the soldier that they had many things in common. In doing this, he brought a copy of the Bible out of his hut, and he said, ‘This is my most prized possession.’
Dismissively, the soldier replied, ‘We’ve outgrown that sort of thing in our country.’The islander, who belonged to a tribe that had, until recently, practised cannibalism, was unimpressed by this lack of courtesy as well as the lack of faith, and he replied, ‘It’s a good thing we haven’t outgrown it here. If we had, you would have been a meal as soon as we saw you.’
If we all sought to do exactly as Jesus would do, can you imagine the change we would see? The world would be turned upside down as the ways of Jesus, to love the unlovable, to touch the untouchables, to befriend the friendless, to seek justice and righteousness rather than riches and our own ways, became a daily reality for all around. It would be amazing.The Bible should be alive to us. As the 19th-century evangelist D. L. Moody wrote, ‘God doesn’t give us the Scriptures to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.’ Amen.
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