| Monday, March 27 |
Romans 10:17 |
So faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
HEARING THE WORD
Who would have thought that Luther, speaking 500 years ago about literature that was then 1500 years old, would be so modern? Paul and Luther set out the rules. The first source is always the word of Christ. One of Luther’s great feats was going to the word of Christ, i.e., the original Greek of the New Testament. We have the advantage now of several English translations of Luke’s actual rendition of Christ’s words from far superior Greek texts than were available to Luther.
The next step is our hearing the word. While I enjoy reading the Bible, there is a lot to be said about hearing the word. Many times the pastor will say something during a sermon that speaks to me. It is often not the main subject of the sermon, but I think the Holy Spirit knows what I need to hear. A recent sermon mentioned going to church regularly. There have been times in my life when I did not attend church weekly. I think that during my 30 months in the Army I may have attended church 10 times. Some of this was due to lack of time (a poor excuse I know). My workweek in Vietnam was often 6 1/2 days. Sometimes church was not easily available. All too often it was by my choice. I missed the regular infusion of the Scripture by hearing the word. Things are better now, but I still miss church occasionally.
The end result is faith. This is not a scientific idea. We haven’t done the experiments, proposed a theory, tested the theory and then accepted the theory until it failed, which always happens. Then we modify the theory and process everything again. Christ said certain things. I have heard his statements. I accept those. The clearest example of this is the thief on the cross. Christ said “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” That is it according to Luke. It was enough for the thief, and he asked Christ to remember him. Then Christ said “Today you will be with me in paradise.” The thief heard and believed. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he had faith through hearing Christ’s words, which were actually directed to God.
Nice theory. Unfortunately, recently I have had the opportunity to see these words in action. A good friend (Bob Norton) died, and I attended his funeral. As often happens, the gospel verse was the section about Christ going to prepare a place in heaven for us. I heard the pastor talk about that place for Bob. I believe that someday I will see Bob in the place prepared for us.
Lord God, talk to me. Let me hear your word through sermons, deeds and even reading. Build up my faith through a greater understanding of you. Help me to listen. Amen
Russell Muse
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