Tonight I returned to Ladies Bible Study. Before I tell more about it, I have a confession to make, and that confession is that I had never gone to Bible Study before I joined this one. For this reason, I had no idea what to expect when it came to the rather innocently named "homework" we were to do in preparation for tonight's meeting. So, last week when the other ladies heard that we had seventeen pages of homework and seemed a little stressed about it, I didn't know what to make of their reactions.
My thought was, "How bad can it be? I read bajillions of pages for school every week. Seventeen pages is pretty light, really." Yes, I know. Pride goeth...
So, today I learned what it meant to study. I mean, really study. I learned what it meant to follow along with a study that took me from Genesis to Revelations and many points in between. It was intense, probably the most intense studying I've done in some time. And, the thing is, I'd read most of this stuff before or at least knew the stories. Many of the big players were represented. We had Original Sin, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and Isaac. Like I said, we covered a lot of ground.
But the weird thing was this. Even though I knew all of those stories before, it was a completely different experience reading them now. And what made it different is that the stories made sense together as a whole, rather than as a series of interesting but unconnected stories. Suddenly, the story of the Flood was much more than a story I learned as a kid. And the story of Abraham and Isaac was more than a story that should make any kid view her parents with at least a tinge of suspicion or nervousness.
Rather, the stories came together to tell the same story again and again. They all tell the story of a God who is constantly calling His people back to Him, despite the sin in their lives and despite their inability to do even the simplest things, like not eating the fruit. They tell the story of a God who asks very little of His people except that they create a place for Him in their lives--a tabernacle, in the case of the Old Testament--and that they keep that place pure. The theme of the "wilderness experience" that kept coming up in our Bible Study last week is also a common thread which ties to this concept of man's sin in relation to a sinless God. It seems that there is always a time at which people become separated from God, usually a wilderness experience precipitated by sin--or in the case of Job, a time when God seems so far away. But, even (and perhaps especially) in those wilderness times, God never ceases to call His people back to Him, though it may also be at those times that His voice is hardest to hear.
I have to say, that the stories were pretty amazing when read in this light. More than just something to hear in Vacation Bible School or Sunday School, they became one story of a beautiful gift from God.
So far, this Bible Study thing has been pretty good. I never really thought of myself as the Bible Study type, I guess. But, it makes reading the Bible make so much more sense, and it gives a real structure to it that I could never do on my own, structure and organization being two, um, weak points. I'll keep updating the progress of Bible Study, though I don't want to ruin it for anyone who'll do the same study!
7 comments:
Interesting, isn't it, how there is actually a point to the study of the Bible? Somehow it actually relates to our lives, and in the end, there is a real purpose for it all. We are not left floundering out there asking, "Now why was it I took that geometry class again?" Somehow it all starts to make sense and actually becomes a roadmap you can plan, walk, and live your life by. How great is that?! FINALLY - education that makes sense! Hallelujah!!
That's so true. I guess I had no idea what to expect from Bible study, but this study makes everything so incredibly clear and draws such good connections between different parts of the Bible (connecting both Old and New Testaments together) that it really, really makes a lot of sense.
Without having those connections drawn, I think it's very easy to say, "Okay, so there was this huge flood. That's a nice story. But, really, so what?" But, looking more closely, it's easy to see that this was just one more time (out of many) in which God made a covenant with man. And that happens so many times thoughout the Bible. Which, of course, goes back to the first night's lesson in which the speaker kept saying that God pursues us. It's a really amazing thing to know that we are constantly being pursued.
But did you really get nothing out of geometry class? I totally got tons out of geometry!
Of course I didn't get anything out of geometry - seriously, who gives a flip how far it is from the bottom of the triangle to the top of it, nor how large the area is in between? Nope - geometry - totally not for me. Algebra - straight 100s - loved it. Still love it. Still use it BECAUSE I love it. How weird is that?! ;P Now there's an object lesson for the study - we use it because we love it - so we read God's Word because we love Him and so on and so on... (I figured that, growing up Baptist and being at BCS and all, you already know all the "so on" parts so I don't have to fill them in! ;)
I have to say tho, I kind of like that Methodist response. We really should give praise back when His Word is read - it is the right response, isn't it? And if we knew in what straits we'd be without it, we'd all jump up and sing the Hallelujah chorus every time somebody read a verse! (Everybody has to go a little Pentacostal sometime! ;P)
Now you're starting to scare me! :) But, seriously, I think the response to the Bible reading is nice. Though, the other Sunday, the reader forgot to say, "This is the Word of God," so we couldn't respond. Let me just say, it does a number on someone with slight OCD to have that pattern disrupted! haha
But, responsorial readings are pretty nice because they force you to be a part of the service, rather than just sitting there. As with anything, though, it seems like there comes a point when we forget WHY we're responding. Like, it just gets stale and becomes something we don't think about. Doesn't that seem to be the hardest thing? To keep reflecting on what it all means, rather than just becoming overly religious and underly (haha) reflective. Like, we don't just go to church to go to church or take communion just to take communion, but, after a while, it can be difficult to remember that. And, sometimes, it seems that we may mistake religion with a real relationship, but isn't relationship be what we really strive for?
All very true. I think that's one thing I appreciated about our church in PA. On communion Sundays, the chairs were not set up straight to the front, but rather in a semicircle so everyone was seeing each other, the pastor in the middle at the communion table. The entire service was quite literally CENTERED on Jesus, and the Lord's Supper, and we would come up to the middle to receive it rather than passing the plate. Loved that I must say. (and quite miss it)
I suppose if you are continually doing the same repetitive actions over and over (and routine is not what creates security and a sense of relational familiarity), then the meaning is lost eventually except by the continued force of your mind and will to it. I enjoyed that our pastors in PA would ask questions of us - we could answer aloud right in church (not every Sunday, but many). Things were just more personal I think, though i appreciate that here they are more worshipful. So, I don't know... it is never perfect till heaven, and it all just calls me back to longing for my heavenly home and wishing for face to face relationship with God.
It's difficult to find that balance between personal and worshipful. I'm sure you know my feelings about Praise and Worship music. I'm usually anti-P&W. BUT, I do have to say that it can be very worshipful in a personal sort of way. Even when the cows cows cows are in the corn corn corn. Perhaps I should post that joke so that my comment will seem less like the rantings of a crazy lady than it does right now! :)
I think maybe you just have a bent towards real reverence for God, and the way that is reflected for you is thru hymns like you posted this week, willingness to follow at the cost of personal feelings, etc. Everyone's relationships with God are different, even if founded on the same basic truths, and I think that's what makes them so beautiful - their uniqueness yet ability to remain in unity with others. So, don't bash yourself too much. If you are meeting God, then there's nothing left to question.
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