Reading the Bible Together

            I lead a small group Bible study on Wednesdays. We call ourselves “WOW” for Word on Wednesday. It’s one of my favorite things to do because sitting together in that space and sharing thoughts and ideas while reading scripture together is invaluable to me. I learn so much in the process of preparing the class discussions and I hope everyone there learns things, too. I value the time we spend together – and not every conversation we’ve had has been cookie-cutter or easy! Right now we’re working through the Apocrypha, which I haven’t really spent much time in since my Old Testament class in college. So, I’m learning as much planning the lessons as they are hearing me teach them.

            Reading the Bible in a group is a thing we can do to grow as disciples. It’s one thing to read the Bible alone and come to our own conclusions, and it’s good to spend time in personal devotions. There’s something about reading the Bible in a group, though, that challenges our way of thinking. Maybe you hear something that completely changes how you read a passage. Maybe you hear someone agree with you and it’s affirming to know you’re not alone in your thinking. And maybe it’s just nice to know that people are wrestling with the same questions you wrestle with.

            Whenever we read the Bible in church, we start with a Prayer for Illumination. The classic one goes like this (from the Book of Common Worship): “Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today.” The Prayer for Illumination gives us a quiet space to prepare to hear scripture. I confess that I don’t usually open my Bible study groups with prayer, and as I’m writing this I’m thinking that’s something I will change. That quiet space matters. It’s a signal to our hearts and minds: something is about to be read that should capture our attention.

            German writer and theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book, Life Together, scripture should be what begins and ends our day. He even suggested “the church family fellowship should surely be able to read and listen to a chapter of the Old Testament and at least half of a chapter of the New Testament every morning and evening.” What I love about Bonhoeffer’s thoughts on scripture is the reminder of how in reading the stories again, we enter into these stories. “We become a part of what once took place for our salvation. Forgetting and losing ourselves, we, too, pass through the Red Sea, through the desert, across the Jordan into the promised land. With Israel we fall into doubt and unbelief and through punishment and repentance experience God’s help and faithfulness…We are torn out of our own experience and set down in the midst of the holy history of God on earth.”*

            I love that. I love the idea that when we read the Bible, we are plucked out of our reality and placed right alongside these characters that constantly remind us what God is like. This is why I love reading stories – because I love entering into these alternate realities. Each book is my own personal Narnia. I read scripture because it teaches me more about the God I love, the God who loves me. I’ve often said the Bible is a book about messed up people who do messed up things and who are constantly being reminded that while messing up has consequences, God never stops loving them. Isn’t that the same thing I want to be reminded about today?

            Reading the Bible in a group gives us space to talk through ideas and challenges. It gives us space to ask questions and wrestle together with things. We enter into these stories as a group – how beautiful is the community that walks together into our scriptures!

            What has been the most meaningful Bible study you’ve done? What role has community played in your reading of scripture?

*Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. (Harper One, NY. 1954). Page 53.