“Have this mind in you”, says the apostle Paul, “that was in Jesus Christ, who though being in the form of God did not think equality with God something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2: 5-8)
I cannot remember when this section of the Bible stuck out for me, but at some point in my life, it came alive. It’s a signature Scripture – something that calls you to live into it. Of course, Paul sets us up with the invitation “have this mind in you!” The prayer book asks God in one of the Sunday collects to “grant us to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest (Scripture)” (BCP p236)
And so, I wonder what your signature Scriptures might be? And invite you to think about them for a moment and ask what it is about them that draws you in. Generally, we have more than one.
I think about Isaiah 58: 6, where God contrasts what God values as a true act of worship, and what the people of Israel valued: “Is this”, God says, “not the fast that I choose—to loosen the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
At my consecration as Bishop of Iowa, there was the opportunity to think about what lessons I wanted to read. And so, I chose Isaiah 58: 1-12, and Philippians 2:5-11 and for the Gospel John 15: 12-17, which includes the verse: “You have not chosen Me”, says Jesus, “I have chosen you”. The people of Iowa carried out a diocesan wide bible study of the Isaiah passage in which they drew up lists of ministries that reflected God’s notion of a true fast. One priest, who was an artist, captured all the ministry descriptions listed across the diocese on long three or four feet wide columns that formed the surrounding backdrop of the altar to be hung from the rafters at the Convention Center where the service took place. In the center, she had put a fountain like image representing our common baptism. It’s impossible to describe, but it depicted the life of the Spirit in God’s people surrounding their new Bishop. What a gift, and what a signature message for the life in ministry we were to share.
I wonder what we would capture at Grace, if an artist gathered our manifestations of God’s true fast, and the Scriptures that give us life? It doesn’t have to be only about ministry directly through church, but more expansively through our lives. People like to say how they love Grace. And in a letter, which you will soon receive inviting you to make your annual commitment to our common daily life in ministry and worship, you read that phrase broken down into its various parts–the building, the worship, the ministries, the clergy, one another! I would love to see it express our collective signature Scriptures as well.
Let me end with one final Scripture that, for me, is a guide for all the others. You have probably heard or read me give it before (but isn’t that the point of a signature Scripture?). It is found is John chapter 5, verse 39: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they who testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life”. There’s always an extra step in our relationship with Scripture, including our favorite ones. And that is to pass through them into a relationship with Jesus, the giver of life, and whose body we are. That is what is meant by the collect in inviting us to “inwardly digest”. Let Scripture catch our attention, and then let them inwardly draw us into the presence of God. When we do that together, well then, that is Grace.
-Bishop Alan
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