The Savior We Follow, The Life We Lead:
Who Am I?
Sermon preached by Rev. Patricia Farris
September 17, 2006

It is such a joy each year to come to this Sunday on which we present Bibles to our fourth graders on behalf of the church.

Of course, the impetus behind this is the longing to draw the next generation of believers into the Word of God, the living word, the source of life and hope. For, as Methodists, we believe that Bible contains the Word of God and in it we find the word of life. We put it that way to distinguish ourselves from those who say that Bible is the literal word of God. We see it differently--a living Word, contained in the vessels of human language. As our Book of Discipline puts it: “We are convinced that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God in our midst whom we trust in life and death. Through Scripture, the living Christ meets us in the experience of redeeming grace.” It’s our job, as disciples, in every generation not only to cherish this book but to live into it and to let its living word mold and transform us.

Long before there were printed Bibles to put into the hands of everyone and anyone who wanted one, the great cathedrals of the church were designed to teach the stories of the Bible. In stone, in stained glass, in carved wood, in paintings, the cathedrals literally showed the stories and the great people of faith to people who did not read words, but could “read” and learn the stories in visual art.

We carry on this tradition today in our stained glass windows. Last week I had a meeting at the First United Methodist Church in Burbank where Greg Batson is now pastor and he took me on a tour of their sanctuary. It, too, has stained glass windows along both sides, also done by the Judson studios. But whatever individuals or committee chose their windows had an interesting sense of church history, and of which parts of the story they wanted to tell in their windows. On one side is an interesting collection of great figures of faith—the prophets Isaiah and Amos, who is rarely seen in stained glass, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul. But the windows on the other side are even more interesting for whom they depict—Saint Augustine, Saint Francis of Assisi—not often seen in Methodist churches—John Wesley, Martin Luther and John Wycliffe—a man rarely if ever seen in stained glass. (continued...)

"Who Am I?" by Rev. Patricia Farris, September 17, 2006

Greg and I speculated a bit on this rather unusual assortment of folks and he went off to do some research into the history of the windows. But what seems to be clear is that those who chose them wanted generations of worshippers to know of God’s prophets and their word of compassion and justice. And of the pillars of the church and its faith, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. But they also wanted to hold up the reformers, Wycliffe, Luther, Wesley, key in making the Bible available and accessible to the people.

John Wycliffe is the most interesting of the three, really. He was a theologian and early proponent of reform in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century, 100 years before Martin Luther. He initiated the first translation of the Bible into the English language. So far, so good. But because his teachings were so contrary to the official teachings of the Catholic church, and mostly because he became politically involved in the English-French church controversies of his day, 44 years after his death, the Pope, still infuriated, ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river! Who said church history was boring?

Today, Wycliffe’s name is known primarily for his role as biblical translator. The Wycliffe Bible Translators are still working around the world to translate the Bible into every language, having produced more than 600 translations, representing greater than 77 million people, with a goal of completing their work by 2025.

Now as for Martin Luther, I imagine that most of us have some sense of who he is and his role in translating the Bible into the vernacular German of his day. But I grew up learning his story with a very anti-Roman Catholic view of this great reformer, in which he had to literally wrest the Bible away from the church to translate and make it available to the people. I was taught a story about Luther going into a church and finding the Bible chained to the lectern and how he heroically broke the chains to free the Bible from the captivity of the Roman church.

I am grateful that our recent Book Study book by the great church historian Jaroslav Pelikan set that story right for us. The story as I learned it was all backwards. For, you see, Luther had himself chained the Bible to the lectern to keep it there, to keep it available for everyone and anyone who wanted to come and read it. That copy was the only one around and he didn’t want it walking off. Pelikan says it’s like chaining a phone book in a phone booth—the purpose is to keep the book there so that it’s available for everyone to read and use.

Now it’s John Wesley, the founder of our Methodist branch of the great Christian family, who really for us makes the link between this book, the Bible, and our lives of faith. Wesley was indeed a great scholar and theologian who knew this book inside and out. He read it and studied it and preached on it and wrote long treatises on its meaning. But for Wesley, all that was just the beginning, the prerequisite of faith. What counts, he was quite clear to say, is an encounter with the grace of God in the living Christ. (continued...)