“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture,
to exhortation, [and] to teaching.” 1 Timothy 4:13
One of the things we are commanded to do each week as we meet together for worship, is to give our attention to the public reading of Scripture. There is a benefit to hearing longer passages of Scripture read to us beyond what we might hear as part of a sermon. When the Scriptures are read aloud, we are hearing directly from God since He is the one who speaks through the human author. As Paul declared in 2 Tim 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God” and thus “profitable” to us in every way. And though Paul may have been thinking of the Old Testament as he wrote those words, we are right to apply them to the New Testament as well, since this also is God’s Word to us. And so, as Prov 30:5 reminds us, “Every word of God proves true” and is thus necessary for the health and benefit and spiritual growth of our souls. (See 1 Pet 2:2)
That’s why I am convinced it is a great tragedy that so little Scripture is read in so many evangelical worship services today. I say that, not so much to criticize but to lament and – to be honest – to confess past failure. Until about 15 years ago this could easily have been said of us here at Rockport as well. For years we did not include the regular reading of Scripture as an intentional part of our weekly worship. It was only after the elders were brought to conviction by reading and studying 1 Timothy 4:13, that our practice began to change.
Since then we have tried to be faithful to follow the example of the historic church by including the regular reading of Scripture in our services. This past year, our focus fell on the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah. This year, beginning today, we will move back to the New Testament and the letters of Paul, beginning with Ephesians. These letters were, indeed, written to be read publicly in the church. And so by doing this, we are engaging in a very ancient and, I believe, spiritually healthy practice for the good of our church body.
So let us hear the Word of the Lord… (Isa 66:5).
Pastor S. Scott Lee