I want to share some
thoughts on the importance of the public reading of Scripture. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:13, “Until
I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to
teaching.”
Evidently Paul thought this to be an important
task for Pastors, as it is something to which they should “devote” themselves
to do. I don’t necessarily think that
pastors are the only ones who are allowed or authorized to read the Scripture
in a worship service. I do think they are responsible to make sure the
Scripture is read, and read well. There
have even been pastors who did not know how to read, or through physical
difficulty could not read, but they were oral learners, they listened, then
learned, and they memorized. Can you
imagine being a pastor who needed someone to read for you, and then you
preached the Word? Whatever a pastor’s
capacity or incapacity for reading it is his responsibility to make sure the
Word is read, and read well, so the people – the public- can hear it.
We live in an educated age. Literacy is a common expectation, yet the
reality is that there are many who are functionally illiterate and many who are
lazy readers and resist any kind of regular Scripture reading. The Bible is not just for the educated, not
just for intellectuals, and not just for those who know how to, or enjoy,
reading. Every person needs to hear the
Bible, and in that hearing they need to be able to understand it. This is why the Church has put so much effort
into common language translations for each and every people group and why we
continue to attempt to get the written Word into every spoken tongue upon the
earth.
I would imagine there is an expectation by
Paul in his direction to Timothy that the public reading of Scripture is not
simply meant as a “rote” exercise, where someone is droning on in a monotone
voice and simply saying the words in the text.
I think the force of the direction is that devotion (commitment, focus,
effort, consistency) is needed to make sure the reading is done well. I also think sincerity and intensity are important ingredients in the public reading of Scripture.
I received a wonderful compliment the other
day from a pastor, for whose congregation I had just preached. He told me that he had never heard the public
reading of Scripture done as I had just done it. I was very happy to hear his comment as I had
decided to preach (and thus read) the whole chapter of John 9. The whole chapter is one story about the man
who had been born blind. It is not a
short chapter, but it is certainly entertaining. It is hard for modern Christians to sit
through the reading of a long Biblical text and for that reason it must be done
with some attempt to hold the attention of the congregation.
Have you ever read a text for your sermon,
then preached, and afterward felt you could have just as well sat down after
the Scripture reading because the text was so powerful in and of itself? I sure have, and it was not just the reading
of the words but having read it with passion, intonation, and feeling that
brought it alive. There are people who
seem to have a gift for Scripture reading and I wish we could hear them doing
it more often.
Now there are people who are overly dramatic
in their reading and some who seem to have no drama at all. Scripture is made up of all kinds of styles
of literature such as narrative, poetry, theology, and dialogue. The reader has to read according to the
style. Pastors have to be aware, and
decide, on how much to read at one time.
I usually warn the people before I read, if it is a long text, as a way
of helping them put some effort into paying attention. Then I try to give them no choice about
paying attention by putting myself into it.
I believe in the spiritual nature of the
Biblical text. I believe God wrote it
through His Holy Spirit and that its words and truth have power when people
hear it (I mean really hear it) and believe it.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear…”
I believe God uses His Word as a sword to expose the thoughts and
intents of the heart. When the Word is
read, listened to with understanding, and heard by faith amazing and wonderful transformation
takes place in people’s lives.
One of our Ruling Elders testified, when he
first became a member of our church, that he had come to faith in Christ on the
very first Sunday he attended our congregation.
“How?” we asked him. He told us
that the Call to Worship had gripped him, and then as I had read the Scripture
prior to preaching he gave his life to Christ.
I encourage Pastors to take the reading of
their preaching text to be a crucial part of their ministry. Your sermon should certainly help it to come
alive, be understandable, and applicable to the people but the reading in and
of itself is important to worship and to the faith of the people. If you are a boring reader, enlist someone
who is gifted to do it for you, especially if it is a long text. Whatever you do don’t you dare take it
lightly, do it perfunctorily, or simply treat is as something to get out of the
way so you can get to giving your own opinions.
