The BluePrint - Meditate on the Scriptures

All right, well we are in a series that we are calling the Blueprint and it is

basically a series talking about what is discipleship or how do we encourage

people to be disciples. To be a disciple is to be someone that follows

something. You can be a disciple of many things. In the concept of Christianity

we're wanting to be a follower of Jesus, to be a disciple of Jesus. And so we've

been going through this for a handful of weeks now. We talked about why we need a

plan in the first place because people like me aren't a big fan of plans. But

sometimes you need a plan guys. You need a plan for that crib

to stay together the way that it's supposed to. For the faucet to run water

the way that it should. Sometimes we need a plan and our relationship with

God, sometimes we just need something saying that these are the first steps to

take. Try these things. And we said the first thing was actually to not do any

things at all. Was to rest. Was to go okay I'm gonna take a step back from this

desire to control or to immediately be something better and I'm just gonna rest

in God. I'm gonna come to Jesus. He said come to me all who are weak and weary and I will

give you rest. And then week two or well week page two, week three of the series,

Pastor Chris talked about living at the table in community. Putting all of

ourselves on this table with God and saying okay I'm gonna be a part of this

thing that he is creating. And then last week we learned about abiding in prayer.

And last week I explained that that prayer comes before reading the

scriptures in this plan because prayer is something that is always present. It's

always available and we learned three prayer practices there at the end. One

which was up turning your palms down, letting go of things, turning our hands

up, receiving something from the Lord. And then we did a breathing prayer where we

think one thing in and we pray something out. And then we ended that time with

something called Lectio Divina which means divine reading which creates a

great bridge into this week for reading the scriptures. But the more and more I

thought about it I think that the word read is misleading. Show of hands. Who

listens to audiobooks? Yeah, easily half of us listen to audiobooks. And when

you're done with an audiobook how do you describe that? Right, so do you say I

finished a book? You say I listened to a book? Or do you say I read an audiobook?

I have a confession to make. Up until very recently I was an audiobook snob. I

don't listen to them just because I'm the kind of guy I want to see, I

want to read, I want to ingest it that way. But if you had told me that you'd

read, actually this happened between me and Jen a couple months ago, if you had

told me that you had read, I just finished reading an audiobook, I would

have and I did say, I mean you didn't read it. I mean yeah yeah so I would say

at that time I would have said, I mean you didn't read it, you mean you listened to

it. I said maybe a better way because this is me I always have to be right.

It's like maybe a better way of saying is that you finished an audiobook. Maybe

that's the better way to say it. Because in my brain I know that the literal

definition of read is to look at and comprehend the meaning of written or

printed matter. That is the definition. So if someone said oh I read an

audiobook, I would say well you didn't look at the words with your eyes. You

listened to it so you didn't really read it, you finished it. But here's the

thing, like what what do you say to blind people? What you want to finish the

sermon for me? Come on up man. If you use your fingers to feel the

braille on a page you didn't look at printed matter and so then you what do

you say to them? Did they read it? What if you can see just fine but you have an

intellectual disability of some kind. You have an inability to look at text and

comprehend it fully. You know some of us in this room maybe we grew up

with undiagnosed dyslexia and didn't understand why we couldn't read as

easily as somebody else. Unless we think that all of what I'm talking about here

is a small percentage of people, then what happens if you're a part of the

21% of adults in America right now that are illiterate? It's true as of 2022 this

year one out of every five adults in America are illiterate and cannot read.

And of the people that are literate 54% of those more than two out of every four

people that can read they only read at or below a sixth grade reading level.

This makes my snobbery about reading problematic and at the risk of sounding

controversial it makes reading the Bible even more problematic. Any guesses what

version of the Bible is the most popular and most often read version of the Bible

in America? King James. It's the King James version of the Bible and depending

on which survey you believe somewhere between 33 and 55 percent of people that

read the Bible say that they read the King James version of the Bible as their

primary text. The King James Bible is the Bible but the King James Bible was

published in the year anyone? 1611. Again you want to finish this sermon? Come on

man. 1611. It was published in 1611, 411 years ago and it has a 12th grade reading

level. What that means is that that in order to understand a text that you're

reading it gives you the grade level of which you can easily comprehend this okay?

The second most popular at 19% is the NIV. It was originally published in 1978

and it has a seventh or eighth grade reading level and the third most popular

at 7% is the NRSP the new revised standard version and that has an 11th

grade reading level. Only 2% said that they read the NLT which is the new

living translation and that actually has a sixth grade reading level. Altogether

the top three versions account for as much as 81% of Bible readers reading

outside the grade level that the majority of Americans can easily

comprehend. It's problematic when the Bibles that most people are reading most

people have difficulty understanding. That's without even getting into the

theology of what they're reading. It's just the sentence structure that makes

it difficult to understand the scriptures. America needs to improve its

literacy rates. Yeah and and we need to improve our grade level comprehension.

Yes but also maybe the most popular forms of the Bible should be the ones

that most people can understand. This is part of the reason that I use the NIV

when I preach molestof and it's usually what I'm reading from because it's right

there on the cusp of what most people can understand but it's not so simplified

that someone that thinks or reads at a different grade level would feel like

yeah this is too frilly for me. Believe me if you're a Bible nerd you've heard

that oh that's too frilly for me. That they people have said the NLT or the

NIV that might as well be a paraphrase. In our discipleship we would be wise to

remember that reading for comprehension is not as common as we might assume. It's

not. And this again is why it continues to be important for us to understand just

how recent of a phenomenon it is to have the Bible available to us

individually the way that we always have it available. For a thousand years

leading up to Jesus and his ministry and for 1600 plus years after that to have

heard the scriptures was as good and equivalent as having read the scriptures

because it was the only way you could have ingested the scriptures. In the

first century synagogue in the early Christian Church you didn't bring your

own scroll because you didn't have one. There was no moment where Paul in the

local Church of Ephesus said okay now if you'd like to get out your Bibles and

turn to that wasn't a thing. You heard the scriptures read aloud and hearing

the scriptures counted. When Paul says in Romans 10 17 faith comes from hearing

the message and the message is heard through the word about Christ Paul is

elevating the power of hearing the word about Jesus whether a word of evangelism

or it was a church reading one of his letters about Jesus out loud because

culturally speaking he knew they didn't have copies of their own. When Paul

writes to Timothy and says in 2nd Timothy 3 15 through 17 is one of most

popular verses about scripture he says there's nothing like in Waman or

read from the message but he says there's nothing like the written word of

God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part

of scripture is God breathed and useful one way or another. When he said that he

said it knowing full well that no one in Timothy's local congregation had their

own copy of this scroll. What he's saying to Timothy is when you read this out

loud when you teach from this letter when you teach from these scriptures when

they hear this they will see the way to salvation through Jesus and things will

change it is beneficial for all of these things when you teach it they hear it

and God is involved. It's even clearer about this subject in the first letter

that he wrote Timothy 1st Timothy 4 13 he says until I come devote yourself

Timothy saying to the public reading of Scripture to exhortation to teaching

because to have heard was to have read to have heard was to have received Jesus

in John 15 right right there in that segment that I've been saying that a lot

of all of these ideas come from John 13 to John 17 he says when you obey my

commandments you remain in my love just as I obey my father's commandments and

remain in his love well the next question we ask is what commandments

exactly because those of us that went to like Christian colleges I can pretty

sure I'm just off the cuff now okay so forgive me if this goes off in a in a

tangent but if you went to a Christian college almost surely at some point

someone came and did a skit or a play describing like how maybe one of the

disciples was standing there writing everything down that didn't happen none

of the disciples were standing around writing everything down everything got

written down much later and so when Jesus says obey my commands they're

going what does he said what did he say yesterday what was that command oh and

then if you keep reading oh he says oh and my command is that you should love

each other no one's set there and like they didn't have a scroll they didn't

have a piece of parchment that they wrote it down on they heard it and they

decided to internalize it because the disciples didn't have little pocket

versions of the New Testament in their genes actually if you read the the book

of Luke when you get so in John this is just before he's handed over to be killed

in Luke after he's resurrected it says that he's meeting with the disciples

again and in Luke 24 verse 45 it says this and then Jesus opened their minds

Luke 24:45

to understand the scriptures again these were not scriptures that they had on

scrolls right in front of them they were the scriptures that he had taught them

the ones that they had learned as children the ones they had heard read

out loud when they would go to synagogue so back to the beginning if you listen

to an audiobook did you read it I've changed my mind I say yes you read it

hmm I was so convicted about this as I was preparing this message that actually

I want to change something about the blueprint of how it was designed for the

first seven plus years this part of the blueprint this day or this concept was

called obey the word and before we decided to do this series again I had

wanted this week to be more obviously to more obviously reflect what I actually

mean by that and so I changed it to read the scriptures because I was like that's

more obviously what we mean by that let's pray and let's read the scriptures

next week we talk about listening to the spirit and as I got into thinking about

read read read and and had all of these thoughts and these concepts and as I was

studying the scriptures about reading just the words read just don't show up

in the Bible so I felt like this is still missing the point so with the time

that we have left I want us to actually consider how we can meditate on the

scriptures today's page of the blueprint is to meditate on the scriptures if you

have a physical copy of the Bible or digital copy and you'd like to open that

with me you are welcome to do that or you can simply listen and hear as I read

because I'm gonna read from three different places read one from Psalm 1

from Psalm 19 and Joshua 1 Psalm 1 Psalm 119 and Joshua 1 we have a tradition

around here the point of it is to give our full attention to the scriptures as

they're being read so you can do that in a number of ways you can sit or you can

stand with me in body or spirit as we read the scriptures okay so I'm gonna

read Psalm 1 starting in verse 1 it says this how blessed is the man who does not

walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in

the seat of scoffers but he delights his delight is in the law of the Lord and

his law he meditates day and night he will be like a tree firmly planted by

streams of water which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not

wither and in whatever he does he prospers Psalm 119 verse 11 I have

Psalms 119:11

stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you verse 15 I

will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways I shall delight in your

statutes I shall not forget your word Joshua 1 8 this is just after the life

of Moses has ended in Joshua has been asked now to lead all of the Israelites

and this is what the Lord is saying to Joshua Joshua 1 verse 8 this book of the

Joshua 1:8

law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night

so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it

for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have

success let us pray God of every tribe every tongue every color and every

nation every everyone I pray that the words that we read today would be

meaningful we would meditate upon them whatever you have for us to internalize

pray that it would become a part of the framework of our faith that our faith

would become stronger that we would become more like your son Jesus amen

amen thanks y'all have a seat all right if you do a survey of the entire Bible

if you were to read it from beginning to end and if you are looking for a unified

description of what to do with the scriptures sometimes you will see

mention of reading sometimes you will see mention of it being read aloud to

assemblies of God's people but almost always it seems the overall mandate the

request to us the believer from the scriptures about the scriptures isn't

only to read on our own or hear them when we're at church but it is to

meditate on them it is to meditate on the scriptures day and night what do you

think he's trying to get across here by saying day and night all the time the

scriptures are something that we are meant to be meditating all the time and

this is important because to read and to meditate on our two different things you

know how many books are on my shelves in there that I have read that I don't

remember much of what was in them there's a difference between reading

something and meditating on it earlier I gave you the dictionary definition of

reading reading gets boiled down to seeing and comprehending to consuming

to finishing but to meditate meditation is the rumination of whatever we've

received the word meditate in the Hebrew can be translated in a in a few ways but

the most captivating translation to me along with meditate is to muse the word

meditate means to muse to be absorbed in thought meditation on the scriptures

some people think of what meditation becomes modern-day meditation on the

scriptures is not the emptying of our minds meditation on the scriptures is

the musing of our minds on God's story it is our minds being absorbed in

thought about what scriptures are saying and so just like last week I said you

know I don't know that I actually have to convince everybody to that praying is

important I don't know that I have to convince everyone here that the reading

the scriptures and meditating on them is important and so what actually I want us

to walk away with tools on how to meditate on scripture how to think about

scripture tools that will help you work through a blueprint of forming your

faith and so with the time that we have left what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read

a ten verse passage three different times from three different versions and

each time we're going to muse meditate or think on or examine in three different

ways with three different mindsets okay the first time as I read the passage we

are going to meditate on the scriptures think on let our mind be absorbed with

thought ready like you were a detective okay so as I read it these are the

things that we can do as a detective to be absorbed with thought imagine the

scene as I read this imagine the scene if you were a detective what facts do

you observe about it if you have if you happen to have a pen you can write the

things down that you notice you could type into a note or phone this is what

I noticed this is what I observed what questions would you have think of the

old dragnet just the facts ma'am just the facts what do you notice what

questions would you want to ask about what is happening who's there who's

there who's present if you are a detective you want to make sure you know

who who all of the people are that were present because you're probably gonna

have to ask all of them questions to get the deeper most accurate understanding

of what it is that happened then in there what questions would you ask them

would they be honest with you hmm ask the question what is happening and why

why is this happening and then as the details come together if you were

Sherlock Holmes what deductions would you come to what solution or problem

solving does this provide for you in your life okay here we go I'm gonna read

this passage aloud think like a detective and after I read it I'll

remind you a couple things and you can keep thinking about it for a few more

moments this is from the NIV Luke 19 1 through 10 Jesus entered Jericho and was

passing through maybe you just you're in a film noir you see the the glass door

of the detective and you hear that Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through

sorry a man was there by the name of Zacchaeus he was a chief tax collector

and was wealthy he wanted to see who Jesus was but because he was short he

could not see over the crowd so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to

see him since Jesus was coming that way when Jesus reached the spot he looked up

and said to him Zacchaeus come down immediately I must stay at your house

today so he came down at once and welcomed him gladly all the people saw

this and began to mutter he has gone to be the guest of a sinner

Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord look Lord here and now I give half of my

possessions to the poor and if I have cheated anybody out of anything I will

pay back four times the amount Jesus said to him today's salvation has come

to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham for the son of man came

to seek to save the lost now think imagine the scene what are you observing

about it this one has multiple locations where did they start where did they go

why does that matter why were people upset Jesus went there with this person

at this time who are the people that are upset why does it matter at all

think about the things that happened go back over in your mind the order of

things that you remember where did it start what town were they in what was

the name of the guy what was his profession is his profession connected

to the story is that part of what matters was Jesus there to catch a crook

why was he there

what deductions can you start to come to about why this is important why it

matters to your life that it is in the Bible why does it matter okay pin that

one up and move on this time I want you to think about this passage like you

are an apprentice of Jesus like you're one of his disciples but not not just I

don't want to use the word disciple because I don't want us to get stuck in

what we think that means think about an apprentice someone that is taking on a

job the point is that they are going to become what they are taking on a job for

now if you're the apprentice if you were there and this was your first day on the

job following Jesus around what would you be feeling and thinking as this

first-day apprentice you you answered an ad on Facebook marketplace or indeed

calm Jesus said you've got the apprenticeship meet me on the edge of

Jericho tomorrow we're gonna be passing through there you can meet me there okay

it's your first day and as we read this again what do you think what do you feel

what would you think Jesus is wanting you to learn by following him through

this town and doing what he's doing what seems important to Jesus what is he

simultaneously because he knows you're the apprentice what does he

simultaneously teaching someone else but also teaching you because he knows your

job is to watch and learn what does he do that you could be doing how do you

see him meeting needs what does Jesus do when someone asks a question how does he

respond and then if you came to work the next day and Jesus stayed home what is

the most important thing this passage that Jesus is showing you wants you to

practice so I'll read now from a version that's called the living Bible as Jesus

was passing through Jericho a man named Zacchaeus one of the most influential

Jews in the Roman tax collecting business and of course a very rich man he

tried to get a look at Jesus but he was too short to see over the crowds so he

ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree beside the road to watch from there

when Jesus came by he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name

Zacchaeus he said quick come down for I'm going to be a guest in your home

today Zacchaeus hurriedly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great

excitement and joy but the crowds were displeased he has gone to be the guest

of a notorious sinner they grumbled meanwhile Zacchaeus stood before the

Lord and said sir from now on I will give half my wealth to the poor if I

find I have overcharged anyone on their taxes I will penalize myself by giving

him back four times as much and Jesus told him this shows salvation has come

to this home today this man was one of the lost sons of Abraham and I the

Messiah have come to search for to save such souls as his it's your first day on

the job you've known Jesus in person for 17 minutes he's already causing trouble

the the crowd is already upset with him that he went to the wrong house she's

are we allowed to go here just where I'm supposed to go what if you're is the

apprentice what if your heart isn't yet ready to walk into the tax collector's

house what are you seeing what are you feeling as an apprentice of Jesus this

your first day following him around what is it that he wants you to be seeing so

that you can do what needs do you see him meeting who is he most concerned

with in other words like who's his clientele who's he trying to put first

in this story

and if next morning he said all right you go do it on your own today what does

that mean what is he asking you to go do all right so we've been a detective and

we've been an apprentice lastly let's meditate on this passage like we're an

artist as I read meditate and use let your maybe understand that in the

scriptures in the Hebrew scriptures this is gonna blow some of your minds they

did not have a word for brain because they didn't know that that's where

everything came from their word for soul is actually connected to our

throats because they just knew oh he lose that you're done and so when we say

let your mind be absorbed in thought especially now as we're thinking as an

artist we're not saying just think with your brain connect to your emotions

connect to your gut what do you feel as an artist what does this look like as we

read it what kind of painting from what era do you feel like this is if you're

well versed in artists do you feel like oh I'm gonna paint something that looks

like that artist is it classic is it watercolors should it be digital art if

you were the artist the first person to ever depict this story how would you

depict it how large or small should the artwork be what colors should you use

what characters in the story should be front and center how would you

communicate everything that's happening is it a drawing is it a painting is it

a photo where would you stand in the room to take the photo so that everyone

was given the position in this story that is required maybe it's not any of

those maybe it's a song what does it sound like if you had to hum it what

would its melody be what instruments would you absolutely need in order to

tell this story so that you could communicate how it moves you to others

how do you hope your piece of art would move the people that experience it

lastly what would you name this piece of art let's muse meditate on this as I

read the same story from the message then Jesus entered and walked through

Jericho there was a man there his name Zacchaeus the head tax man and quite

rich he wanted desperately to see Jesus but the crowd was in his way he was a

short man and couldn't see over the crowd so he ran on ahead and climbed up

in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by when Jesus got to the

tree he looked up and said Zacchaeus hurry down today is my day to be a guest

in your home Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree hardly believing his good luck

delighted to take Jesus home with him everyone who saw the incident was

indignant and grumped what business does he have getting cozy with this crook

Zacchaeus just stood there a little stunned he stammered apologetically

master I give away half my income to the poor and if I'm caught cheating I pay

four times the damages Jesus said today is salvation day in this home here is

Zacchaeus son of Abraham for the son of man came to find and restore the lost

just in a moment of silence you don't need my help

you're the artist how do you tell this story and why is it important to tell it

that way

okay I have one free Krispy Kreme donut for anyone that's willing to share their

description of this story anyone want anyone want to share how they would have

turned this into a work of art come on take the mic I knew you were gonna end

up here eventually everybody this is Andy everybody say hey Andy go on so the

people online can see you too so for the paint I had a painting and of course

it's you know Renaissance painting stuff all right because that's you know anyone

else have Renaissance come to mind that's probably the majority of

paintings about scriptures are from that area okay so in my picture I see in the

center of the pictures the crowd and they're all looking to the right and

Jesus is on the right that's how I saw him coming into town and I see Zacchaeus

is in a tree to the left kind of over the people and some of the people are

looking at Jesus and some of the people are like looking at Zacchaeus they have

angry looks on their faces disbelief they're touching the person next to them

like you know and so that's what I see so I see that the primary telling in the

picture is the center of the reactions of the crowd and so you see Jesus

smiling you know he's like glowing warm kind of you see Zacchaeus like surprise

or excitement but then the crowd is where the story's told in my room that's

awesome I had just a flash of of like some kind of artwork that is the family

tree and about how someone like Zacchaeus someone had erased his name but then

Jesus comes and every single version if you read multiple versions of stories

especially if you include paraphrases and more thought for word thought

for thought things not so like stuck to just word for word you'll see there's a

reason every version has some of the same words every version they say it was

that key is every version say that they were going through Jericho every version

says he was a tax collector and every version said that I have come to seek

and save the loss this is a son of Abraham they said it in some way so I

see this image of someone taking Zacchaeus his name and scribing it back

on the family tree

what was what Andy's name oh what would your name of the painting be you know to

be artistic you don't always have to be good at naming things it's all right

it's all right yeah Adam the first maybe yeah Adam had to name all the animals

according to Genesis that's an interesting concept anyhow I hope that

we walk away from today going oh reading the Bible isn't what I thought it was

that we have it available to us we can read it almost any time that we actually

want to but let me encourage you that when you have time when you decide I'm

gonna remember that thing that I heard or I'm gonna sit down and read in

whatever format that you choose to read that it's not just about ingesting

words it's not just so that at the end of the day you can click a box and go

look Jesus I did that thing I'm supposed to do but that whatever your personality

is whether you be an artist or detective an apprentice or any other number ways

of you that you think of yourself come to the scriptures with your whole self

and then not just with your brain but with your emotions and your personality

ruminate muse meditate on the scriptures day and night because they have a way

of lighting our path hmm that's it let's pray God we thank you for the

scriptures every version oh and we pray that you would just help us to to give

it in to them to meditate on them to meditate on the scriptures in a way that

has deep meaning that directs our paths that keeps us from the things that push

us away from you and through meditating on your scriptures we believe that we

will become more like your son Jesus thank you thank you thank you amen