The Word of God for the People of God
Read: Matthew 28:20
I grew up in an ELCA Lutheran church that had a dedicated Sunday School hour between church services. We started our Sunday School time with a children’s worship service and a lot of music – I remember knowing early that my God was a friendly God, that love wins, due in part to those Sunday School activities where we sang “Jesus’ love is a bubblin’ over” and “I’ve got the love of Jesus down in my heart.” God was everywhere in that church for me, in the music and the lessons, in the churchyard picnic areas, in the people.
We learned a lot about love, we sang songs, we worked on art projects during those Sunday School lessons, and I’m sure we learned a lot of Bible verses. Really though, I can’t recall many of them. For years I’ve joked about wanting to teach a Bible study called “Bible study for people who don’t know much about the Bible taught by a minister’s wife who doesn’t know much about the Bible either.” Very early in our marriage I thought it might be fun to play a game of Bible trivia someone gave to Bob; I never did THAT again, having lost the game very quickly!
Bob and I moved several times over many years from church to church. I continued to feel those first lessons of my childhood church in each place Bob served: God is love, God is present, God is reliable. He was in the places we went and in the people we met. I picked up occasional Bible information but was never great about committing things to memory. Usually I’d say to Bob, “I’m thinking about a verse that has to do with _______,” and he would fill in the blanks and the location of the Bible verse.
We probably gave away the Bible trivia game many years ago (or we put it in a church rummage sale!); I just know it’s no longer in our game closet. During a recent conversation with a friend in Bob’s retirement church (who said she doesn’t know much about the Bible either – and she’s a preacher’s kid!), I finally acknowledged that knowing God, for me, isn’t about knowing the Bible down to particular books, chapters, and verses. Knowing God is trusting in his goodness and in his reliability. Knowing God and ‘knowing’ the Bible is living in the word of God. It means, for me, having a fairly low recall of particular Bible verses while sharing love every day with people who are God’s people. Thanks be to God!
Prayer for the day: Dear God, help me to remember that sharing your word doesn’t have to mean knowing everything there is to know about the Bible. Sharing your word mostly means sharing your love and your goodness. Help me to reach out to people who need your love and understanding. Remind me that you are always with me in the love I feel from you and in the love I share with others.
Jenneth Wright
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