Read, Hear, Respond

3-9-22 Read, Hear, Respond  Glenda Simpkins Hoffman

For the last few weeks, I have been reading A Burning in My Bones: The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson by Winn Collier. Eugene Peterson is one of the top three authors who have influenced my faith journey. God has used his Biblically grounded teaching and thoughtful reflections to feed and nurture my heart, mind, and soul.   

He came to mind this week not only because of reading his biography but also because of where we are in the Nehemiah. You recall that in chapter 8, the people stand for hours attentively listening to the word of God and responding wholeheartedly with “Amens” and bowing down in worship and in weeping. They illustrate a point Peterson makes that God communicates to us via Scripture from the interior depths of who he is through the exterior of words into the interior of who we are. “We read Scripture in order to listen again to the word of God spoken, and when we do, we hear him speak. Somehow or other these words live.”   

Not only is this illustrated in Nehemiah 8, we see this truth affirmed in Scripture over and over again. Hebrews 4:12 states,  “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  

And again in Romans 12:2 we read, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The instrument of that renewing is always the Word of God. If you need to change things in your life (or you are praying for someone else who does), then change must come through the knowledge of the Word of God, through the understanding of truth that was unknown before.  

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). God’s Spirit uses the word to speak to our condition, to help us recognize the ways we need to be transformed to become like Christ so we can live in God’s will and way. We cannot live the life God intends for us without a regular diet of the truth of God’s word in our lives.  

Once again, Peterson comes to mind as he writes, “The Bible is the story that is sound and developed. Here the language that God uses to reveal himself comes into story from what is most complete. When we listen to the word of God in Scripture, listening for what God is revealing out of himself, a story is shaped in our hearing; and the fact that it is story and not something else – systematic theology, moral instruction, wise sayings – has powerful implications. For just as words have a revealing quality to them, so stories have a shaping quality to them.”  

The people in Nehemiah’s day are shaped by the word, the story of God’s action in history. And this leads to prayer. Again Peterson states, “Prayer is never the first word; it is always the second word. God has the first word…. We are never the first word, never the primary word…. This massive, overwhelming perviousness of God’s speech to our prayers, however obvious it is in Scripture, is not immediately obvious to us simply because we are so much more aware of ourselves than we are of God.”   

The prayer of confession in Nehemiah 9 includes a historical retrospective of God’s acts of grace and goodness to his people throughout history. The prayer recites God’s action in leading the nation of Israel, his chosen people. Repeatedly, God’s unending love, mercy, and faithfulness is lifted up; however, time and again the people failed to follow him. This prayer is very powerful.   

Nehemiah 8 and 9 together illustrate an important point that Peterson makes. Peterson always made clear that the goal of reading (or hearing) the Word is to listen for the voice of the God who speaks. Like the people in Nehemiah’s day, we God’s people need to be acquainted with God’s story of redemptive history. We not only learn about the people of the Old Testament and New Testament, we connect their story to our story and ultimately to God’s story of redemption. We remember and praise God for his unending love and faithfulness. And we recognize and confess our sin and failure to let him be the Lord of our lives.   

The Prayer of Confession in Nehemiah 9 is clearly a response to hearing God’s word.  

They become aware of their need to repent. Their biggest problem is not so much greed, unfaithfulness in marriage or other relationships, or telling lies (though these sins are understood and acknowledged). In Scripture the sin behind all other sin is idolatry—rejection of God and his way.  

When we commit other sins, the Great Commandment has already been disobeyed. We have failed to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:34-40). We commit idolatry when we make something else more important than God, whether ourselves, our desires, our daydreams, our hobbies, our things, our work, even other relationships. God is debunked, overturned by what we think, say, and do. We can begin to act like practical atheists, even though we say we are still Christians.  

We may wonder why our prayers often fall flat or come out stale. Peterson would say it may be because they have been uprooted from the soil of the word of God. Reading and hearing God’s word leads to responding in prayer. Confession and repentance are always needed, but Lent is an especially good time to make time and space for self-examination and prayer.   

Below is a suggested prayer of repentance based on lines from Eugene Peterson’s book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. In addition, you might explore the discipline of “Confession” from Adele Calhoun’s book Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Confession: A Practical Guide – Adele Calhoun – Renovare. Confession and repentance are not something we merely read or think about. They are something we do—our response to God’s word.  

I Repent – Eugene Peterson 

I repent, Lord. 

I repent. 

  

I have been wrong 

in supposing that I could manage my own life 

and be my own god; 

I have been wrong 

in thinking I had, or could get, 

the strength, education and training to make it on my own; 

I trust that God in Jesus Christ is telling me the truth. 

  

I lean into the realization 

that what you want from me 

and what I want from you 

are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, 

thinking the same old thoughts. 

  

I turn 

again 

and still 

to follow you, 

my Lord Jesus Christ, 

and be your pilgrim in the path of peace. 

– A prayer based on lines from Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, 29-30 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980). 

I Repent – Eugene Peterson – Just Prayer . Org (gracespace.info)