The drama of Pentecost: mighty wind, flames of fire, the gift of tongues, can distract us from the more profound and lasting effect of the coming of the Holy Spirit: namely, the way this event transformed the apostles’ – and through them, our – relationship with the Word of God, empowering these “uneducated and ordinary men” (Acts 4:13) to unlock the meaning of their ancient texts, the psalms and prophecies so familiar on one level but of which the deeper significance had, until then, remained veiled. Peter must have heard the words of the prophet Joel many times and had no doubt listened to many a rabbi expounding them, but on the day of Pentecost those “young men” who “shall see visions” and “old men” who “shall dream dreams” (Joel 2:28) appeared, not as pencil outlines on the faded page of the past but in full technicolour before him. Here we have the essence of lectio divina, to engage with a text in a living, life-transforming way, through the gift of the Holy Spirit; to perceive the Word in the words. This is what makes lectio more like prayer than study, and why we may have to broaden our vision of this term to include all contact with the Word of God. After all, a phone-call or voice message from a loved one is at least as, if not more, welcome than a text message or letter. No one has taught us this better than the Apostle John:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being” (John 1:1-3).
Today we tend to think of lectio divina as an almost exclusively individual activity; but it’s important to realise that such personal reading of the Scriptures grew out of, and reinforced, their public proclamation in the liturgy.
Thank-you for the post and the link. The part (referencing Iranaeus) about the Son and the Spirit being “the two hands of God” is particularly refreshing in an environment where so many are apt to pit dogma (in the best sense of that term) against “Spirit.”
Yes, in this era of quick publishing, where every one can have a copy of the Scriptures at low or even no cost (“Bible societies”; Gideons; etc.), it is hard to remember that there was a time when there were few personal copies of books, and those were expensive and had to be copied out by hand by scribes.
In the days of the Apostles and their successors, Scripture was mainly heard by congregations, few could afford a copy for their own personal reading at home. “Faith comes by hearing” the apostle said. “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer” Acts records. Scripture reading and discussion of the read passage and how the Apostles interpreted it was a community event.
We forget so much in this era of individual rights and freedoms that we forget the community aspect of Christianity.
Peace
Jim Elliott <><
Thank you Kendall. Today in my office, a parish member came to talk about a passage of Scripture that had convicted her. She said “reading the Bible is new to me; it wasn’t part of my experience when I was growing up in this parish.” She would not have come to the moment of recognition that she did without working to develop her own habit of reading the Bible. What is that old saying about the liturgy and even our beloved Prayer Book: “it contains just enough Scripture to innoculate the hearers against serious engagement?”