The Bible?

In seminary we talk a lot about the current contextual crisis of biblical illiteracy. For many people, a basic understanding of the overall story arc of the Bible is, well, not so basic.

As I've attempted to plan Confirmation lessons with colleagues over the past few years, one thing that we have found that we can't take for granted is the fact that confirmation students...or even their parents...have a working knowledge of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

We cannot assume most young people in the pews on Wednesday evenings have the foundation and that we are gathered in order to dig deeper. Likewise, we can't assume that parents are equipped with the tools necessary to form faith because they were in Confirmation eons ago. For of course we all know what assuming tends to do...

But beyond making a fool of myself and yourself, when we assume a basic level of understanding and jump in at a 201 level of biblical interpretation, we miss the boat, or rather, we set sail with plenty of people still standing on the shore, unable to join the voyage.

On the other hand, many attempts to bring those who lack the background up to speed fail because they underestimate the group's ability to get it. Nothing can be much more condescending for those who do happen to have a working foundation of the biblical narrative and who are hoping to dig deeper.

So, the art of teaching faith in the 21st Century seems to be a constant balance between meeting people where they are and not dumbing it down.

At any rate, there is a need to retell the age old story. Luckily I love to tell the story! (Also, coincidentally one of my favorite hymns.) In fact I love to tell the story for those who don't think they have the time...and for those who don't think that God's story is their story...and especially for those who are unsuspecting of the aha moment that sneaks up on them when they hear the story and realize they are smack in the middle of it.

I'm hoping for a few of those Epiphany moments in a couple of weeks, when, right at the end of the longest possible Epiphany season, I will present with the help of a number of folks...drumroll please...The Bible in 25 Minutes!

From week to week, we hear snippets from the Older and Newer Testaments. As children we get the best of the stories...via felt board or dramatic reenactment. As grown ups, we wander cautiously into Bible studies hoping not to be put on the spot. But when do we ever get the chance to see all these pearls of individual stories strung together on the string of God's adventures with the world? When do we ever get to hear the whole story so that we might make better sense of the episodes?

Sunday, February 27th, at all three of our services, the people of Bethany will travel from the time before time to the end of all time...ironically in a purposefully designed very short amount of time. 25 minutes to be exact.

Of course this is the entire Bible painted with a very broad brush. It's a view of the story of the People of God from 5,000 feet. It's the story of our God through so many lifetimes, told in the space of a tv sitcom episode. But, hopefully, it will be a taste of the story that acts as an appetizer. Hopefully it will be an open door, a gateway to enter the epic story. Hopefully it will be an invitation that encourages listeners to jump into this eternal story with their whole lives.

Come and live into this book of books with me.

Check out the promo video that my colleague Laura Romig put together:



In case you don't have 25:00, these guys do a pretty good job in 0:53!