Not your typical Sunday morning

In my church, like many others, the Sunday morning liturgy includes prescribed Scripture reading. To prepare for the pastor's reading of the Gospel passage, a lay person reads three passages: one from the Old Testament, one from the Psalms, and one from the New Testament. At the end of the Old and New Testament readings, the reader says, "The Word of the Lord," (in my church, sometimes the reader forgets to say this. If that happens, there's an awkward silence followed by someone in the congregation whispering those words loudly). The congregation dutifully replies, "Thanks be to God," in the same monotone chorus that elementary school students might use to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Israelites of Ezra's day seemed to know that hearing the Word of God required a heartier response:

Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law... Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Nehemiah 8:2-6

These people did not get to hear Scripture read every Sunday. They did not have twelve Bibles in each home or the liberty of debating which translation was most accurate. No one was encouraging them to have a daily quiet time replete with Bible, devotional book, and journal. When the Israelites had the opportunity to hear someone explain Scripture to them, they knew that great reverence was due.

Judging by the broad availability of Scripture in America and the amount of time we spend talking about the Bible, one might think that American Christians still acknowledge its weight and power. Yet it seems that by increasing our exposure to Scripture, we have decreased its power in our lives. We have become numb to its truth, and selectively chosen that which is convenient or comforting to us to read and study. The Israelites celebrated the chance to listen to the Law for hours at a time, while we are hard-pressed to sit for a ninety-minute church service or read our Bible for just five or ten minutes each day.

In a culture where we prize self-sufficiency and answers to life's biggest questions are available on every TV channel, radio station, and website, it is easy (though not excusable) to forget what we are dealing with. The Word of the Lord is:

a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 1 Timothy 3:16-17

Some days, my path doesn't look as dark as it really is; some days, I don't want to go down the path that God's Word would light for me. This little book I hold in my hands doesn't look quite so pristine when it is piercing through me, cutting right through my thoughts, telling me things need to be different. Training for righteousness tends to require more discipline and effort than I'm willing to put forth. But just when I am content to start treating this like any other book, something leaps out of the pages and grabs hold of me. I am apprehended by the image of the Israelites falling on their faces as they hear the Word. Who am I to sit, half-listening, in my pew or lounge on my bed while I quickly skim through a few verses?

Imagine with me, if you will, that the Sunday morning Scripture reader doesn't settle for our lackadaisical response. Instead of just moving on to the day's reading from the Psalms, she pounds her fist on the lectern in front of her and fervently says, "Excuse me, folks, did you hear me? I didn't just finish reading the morning weather report or the recap of yesterday's game. I wasn't reading a physics textbook or bad poetry or the fine print on the bottom of some legal document. This is not Time Magazine or even Shakespeare sitting in front of me. This is the WORD of the LORD!"

May we lift up our hands, bow our heads, get down on our knees, saying,

"THANKS BE TO GOD!"