Anglicans Reading the Bible Series – Part 1

This presentation is intended for Anglican lay people who have not read the Bible on their own, or not read it regularly in the past, but who want to try.

We assume that readers belong to a local parish, and that we have some sense that the Bible is “inspired” – that God inspired the human authors so that at least some of the text is significant or inspirational for us today. This series does not assume that readers know a lot about history and culture in the ancient world, or know a lot of the arguments about Bible scholarship (although we are not opposed to scholarship).

In short, the Anglicans Reading the Bible Series is intended for lay people who want to develop their devotional life by using the Bible, even if there have been roadblocks in the past.

Getting Started (or Re-Started)

“Later (discipline) yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12: 11b)

Tried before and gave up:

In 1982, a cradle Anglican who had drifted away from Church decided to try reading the Bible on his own. The Bible contains a lot of wise sayings, and helped shape our western culture. It’s good to know what it contains.
He persuaded his partner and kids to listen together after supper. With no game plan, he found an old Bible and began to read on the first page – the story of creation. All went well for the first few nights, reading about creation, Adam and Eve, the Garden, and Cain murdering Abel. But then they got to Genesis 4: 17, which begins a list of Cain’s descendants. Genesis 5 contained more genealogical lists. The kids grew bored. Then everyone got bored. In less than a week, the family experiment about good literature collapsed entirely.
Many of us – even people who know the Bible pretty well – have sometimes struggled with the habit of reading the Bible. If you’ve never tried to read the Bible on your own, or if you’ve tried and given up, this “Anglicans Reading the Bible” series is for you.
If you’re just looking at the Bible itself, we suggest reading from Matthew, Mark, Luke or John for the beginning.
The first step is to decide you want to learn more about what’s contained in these pages. We can help with the rest…

Busy:

According to Statistics Canada, almost one and a half million Canadians worked more than 50 hours a week in 2019. If we think that being connected with a local church means a life of leisure, we might be disheartened to read a 2013 survey that 97% of clergy work more than 40 hours a week. There are emails. There are sick kids or sports-consumed kids or aging relatives – or we’re aging!
We get it. Life can be busy. The idea of developing daily devotions, including reading the Bible, can seem like one more thing piled into each day which is already too busy.
Two things to remember: First, we can’t do everything. We need to choose what is important and then do that first. If we really believe that God exists and loves us, that there’s a plan for our lives and that physical death isn’t the end, shouldn’t we take a little time each day to get connected with Him? Second, we aren’t asking for hours a day. If we start from 0 minutes each day to 2 minutes each day – two minutes! – that’s a success…

Can’t focus:

Charles Wesley was a great preacher in the 1700’s. He grew up in a large family. There’s a story that when his mother wanted to spend time focusing on God, she would put her apron over her head. That was her signal to all her kids to leave her absolutely alone.
Sometimes it can be hard to focus. A few habits can help: Try to find a quiet place – a corner of a room, or even under an apron. Try to find a quiet time – many of us try for first thing in the morning, before another frantic day begins. If you get distracted thinking about what you have to do today, have a pen and paper nearby to jot down a note, so you can address it later but forget about it now. Especially if this devotions thing is a new habit, don’t try to read too much. It’s okay to skip over the family records of Genesis 4: 17. Lastly, try not just to consider “What does this say?” but “What might this mean for my life?”

The Adversary:

We live in a material, materialistic world. Developing devotions encourages us to think about our supernatural God. There’s good evidence that this horizontal, material plane isn’t the whole story. Love is not a material thing.
But sooner or later, we come across the problem of evil. Part of the historic Christian story is to focus on the power and goodness of God, but to accept the reality of spiritual evil, revealed as the devil or Satan. That can be really hard for a lot of folks to accept.
Maybe it’s because we have a cartoon picture in our heads, rather than what the Bible text actually says (or doesn’t say). God is still in charge. We’re still responsible for our behaviour. Good will triumph.
But maybe there’s a spiritual resistance to the habit of devotions, which we can choose to overcome, with God’s help. Keep listening and looking for God.

How to (Re-)Start:

So, pick a time. Be realistic. Be stubborn. When we mess up and miss a day or two, don’t give up, but get up and start again. Tell a sympathetic family member, or someone else from the parish, so they can make us accountable. Lastly, don’t look on devotions as something good for us but we hate it, like zucchini for a two year old, but a potential joyful encounter with a Friend.

A Lectionary (a systematic way of reading):

Of course, we can read the Bible on our own, but most people find it helpful to have some sort of guide. There are printed and on-line devotional resources. (As always, use common sense in using resources on-line.) For readers who want to go a little deeper, the main website of the Anglican Church of Canada has suggested lectionaries, using the daily office lectionaries found in the Book of Alternative Services or the Book of Common Prayer. Please see https://lectionary/Anglican.ca/