“Sola 5: Scripture Alone” by Rev. Cody Sandahl – January 29, 2017
Introduction
We are coming up on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, where Christianity had to take a long, hard look at itself and figure out where it needed to get back to the core message of Jesus. We, as Presbyterians, are part of that 500-year-old experiment.
During the Reformation, there were five slogans used to capture how the Reformers differed from the Catholic Church at the time. There were five things they thought needed to be focused on. Five ways the church needed to go back to the basics instead of adding stuff on.
These were the five “sola’s”, which is Latin for “alone.” Today we’re looking at the slogan, “sola scriptura,” or “Scripture Alone!”
Matthew 5:17-18
17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
Hebrews 4:12
12Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Who’s Right?
Here’s a quick question for you. What color is the carpet in this sanctuary? What would you call that color? I heard a few say “pink.” But you’re wrong. I say that color is weathered salmon, and there’s nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. Do you know how I know I’m right? Because I have a microphone and you don’t. Case closed.
Is that a good way to settle arguments? Based on who’s loudest? Or who has the better title in front of their name? Maybe we should decide it based on who’s taller. Or my preferred method: feats of strength like rock tossing.
When we have disagreements in the church, how do we settle those? When I say we need to go left to be faithful to Jesus, and you say that we need to go right to be faithful to Jesus, how do we know who’s correct?
Scripture vs Church
Every generation has its theological debates. We have our own. But the debates 500 years ago at the time of the Reformation were a little special, because they weren’t just about content. They were about process. They didn’t just debate their problems, they debated HOW to solve problems. And that still applies 500 years later.
There were two basic sides in this debate. In one corner you had the Catholic Church, which at the time was THE church in Europe. And they said that the Church in general, and the Pope in particular, had the authority to decide what was right.
In the other corner you had the Reformers, who said that you could only discover what was right by studying Scripture.
So you have Scripture Alone versus Scripture AND the Church’s teachings. That may sound like splitting hairs, but after 1500 years, the Church had accumulated some strange teachings that weren’t in the Bible.
The biggest problem, according to the Reformers, was the sale of Indulgences. They were a bit complicated theologically, but in effect they allowed you to buy forgiveness from the Church instead of having to actually change your heart or change your life in any way. If you weren’t good enough to follow Jesus, you could just buy your Christian membership card instead. No sweat.
And they turned out to be great fundraisers. In fact St. Peter’s Basilica was built with the sale of these indulgences across Europe. But that rose the ire of many, including the original Reformer Martin Luther, who wrote, “Why does not the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?” That’s how theologians do smack talk, by the way.
And as Luther considered the injustice of these indulgences, and as he considered the way the church was justifying their sale and use, he decided that the Church couldn’t just make up stuff that wasn’t in the Bible. The Bible ALONE was the source of knowledge about who God is, as revealed in Jesus Christ. Nothing outside of that should be allowed.
Hot Button Theology
Let me bring this into today. Later this year I’m going to lead a class where we discuss hot button theology together. So, for example, when we talk about guns, we’ll see that God is depicted as wielding a sword, that Jesus made his disciples get a few swords before he was betrayed, BUT we also see that at the end of time swords are turned into plows, and when Jesus was betrayed he didn’t want his followers to use those swords.
So when we say Scripture Alone, that means our answer to things like gun ownership, the use of force in self-defence, or is it morally OK to kill while in the military, those answers should be shaped by what the Bible says, not just the family you grew up in, not just your personal experiences, not just your personal opinions. It is very rare for us to actually do this. Usually we find a couple of Bible verses that support our existing opinion and ignore the rest. But that’s not what the Reformers were about.
And our text from Hebrews today, does this sound like the Bible should just confirm whatever you already believe: “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” That doesn’t sound like a rubber stamp to me. That sounds like the Bible is meant to challenge us. It is meant to change our thoughts. It is meant to shape our hearts.
Expectations
So before the Reformation, Christians were expected to attend church regularly, feel guilty, and hopefully buy their way out of a few sins. Pretty easy. But AFTER the Reformation Christians were expected to start reading the Bible for themselves. To start understanding Scripture on their own, not just taking the priest’s word for it. This seems like a downgrade to me. It means I have less authority and you have more work to do. We both lost in this, right?
Well here are two possible challenges for you. As Presbyterians, we believe that we know who God is through Scripture Alone. Nothing else has ultimate authority. The Bible outranks our thoughts, outranks our emotions, outranks our culture, outranks our history, outranks everything else. That’s what Scripture Alone means.
So how well do you know it? If it is the source of truth, if it reveals who God truly is, if it is the way you know God’s will for your life, how often are you reading it on your own? If you are praying for God to give you guidance right now, are you reading what he already told us? If you are debating a major decision, are you checking with the words of the creator of the universe?
It may sound strange, but if you commit to reading what God has already said, I guarantee he will say things to you personally. This is the primary way God reaches into your life. But it takes your time. If you want guidance from God, this is how you get it. If you don’t know what to read, search for a reading plan or devotional online. I use something called the Life Journal reading plan. Or just read the parts near where our sermon is. Or just go through the Gospel of Mark. Start somewhere. Over time, God will speak to you.
Commit to reading the Bible regularly – that’s the first challenge.
But let me pause here and tell you about my experience reading Scripture regularly. I have always had a problem with Bible reading plans: I am a perfectionist. So every time I start a reading plan, I start with gusto, reading every assigned chapter. But then I miss a day or two, and I feel like I have to go back and read what I missed so that every box is checked, every “I” is dotted, every “T” is crossed. And eventually that overwhelmed me every single time, and so I would stop reading at all for a while.
All that changed when I went to the Hawaii Leadership Practicum, and the leader, Wayne Cordeiro, asked me what I was trying to prove with that. He said, “Will Jesus love you more because you read all five chapters instead of just one? Will Jesus love you less because you skipped a day or two?” Of course not! If you miss a few days, you miss a few days. Just skip them. And if you read a few verses and find that you have an insight or a word from God, stop there! You don’t have to keep reading just to keep reading. God already spoke to you! Stop trying to earn God’s love through your commitment to your Bible reading plan.
That’s what I needed to hear. And it has kept me regularly reading Scripture and journaling since 2012. Before that I had never made it more than a few months of journaling. And if you look at my journal entries, there are gaps. There’s a one month gap in there. There’s a two month gap in there. There’s a THREE month gap in there. But I kept coming back. And I didn’t do three months’ worth of reading when I came back, I just picked up on the right day and kept going. If you take up the challenge to read your Bible and reflect on it regularly, don’t try to show Jesus how committed you are. Just take it as it comes. If you skip a day, you skip a day. Just keep coming back. That’s more important to you and to Jesus than checking all the boxes on the reading list.
Challenging Beliefs
If you’re already doing that, here’s another challenge. Take something you care about deeply. Something where you have a strong opinion about what’s right. Maybe that’s about the right way to live. Or something in our society. Or something to do with social justice. Something you care about.
Do you know what the Bible says about that? You may know a few verses that AGREE with you, but are there any other Bible verses that put a different spin on it? How would you even find out what the Bible says about it?
For those who attended my class on Understanding the Bible, they already know what I’m about to say. Because I showed them how to use the most powerful Bible study tool ever invented. A tool that most of you already know how to use. I speak, of course, of Google.
Here’s your challenge. Go to Google and type in “what does the Bible say about …” and put your topic in there. In the first few hits you’re just about guaranteed to get a few articles that give someone else’s opinion, and then you’ll see something from openbible.info. And that site is just a list of all the Bible verses about that topic – no more thoughts than that. It’s a great reference! If you know how to turn on a computer, go to the web browser, and type in “what does the Bible say about …”, then you have no excuse for not knowing what the Bible says about a topic that you care about.
Give it a shot. If you have trouble figuring out what the Bible MEANS when you read what it says, that’s fair enough. That’s where I can help, or a Bible study can help, or talking to respected friends can help. But it only takes a few seconds to find out what the Bible says about a topic. No excuses in the 21st century.
Summary
Sisters and brothers, we believe that the Bible is THE way that God reveals who he is. If this were the Olympics, the Bible would have the gold, silver, and bronze medals. Every other way of knowing who God is can’t even make the podium.
If you want to hear from God, read what he has already said. Reading the Bible is the primary way that God speaks to us today. If you want guidance, read the Bible. If you want clarity, read the Bible. If you want direction, read the Bible. God will speak. No guarantees on whether you’ll like what you hear, but God will speak. Sometimes it even takes a while, but God will speak.
Are you ready to listen?
