Homily 677 – 1GL
Holy Transfiguration, Ames, Iowa
March 1, 2026
Epistle:  (329-ctr) – Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2
Gospel:  (5) John 1:43-51

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God.

This morning, we celebrate the triumph of Orthodoxy, which serves to reinforce the guardians of the faith – quote – “once delivered to the Apostles”.  The Gospel reading is about Nathaniel and his calling by Christ as an apostle.  The Epistle about the trials and suffering that the prophets and patriarchs suffered throughout the Old Testament.

At the risk of scandalizing some, I’d like to talk about something different this morning.  I’d like to speak to how we, as Orthodox Christians, should approach scripture.

A little background.  I’m currently learning from Rev. Dr. Silviu Bunta, a priest and academic of our diocese, in order to develop a catechism for our use.  Fr. Silviu studied and earned his doctorate under Archbishop Alexander at Marquette.

He has written a book called “The Life of our Fathers” available from St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, which addresses how the Church Fathers understood and used Scripture.  Don’t worry – I won’t rehash the book, as that would take much too long.

What I want to do this morning is talk about Scripture, though, and the misuse of scripture that most of us (including me) are guilty of doing.

Most of us here grew up in a western, generally protestant, milieu.  Most of us learned to look to scripture to define our faith, to understand our faith, and to generally trust as a text more important than any other text in existence.

Myself included!  Growing up Southern Baptist, I was taught to respect and read and study the Scriptures as if my life depended on every single word being absolutely literally true.  Perhaps some of you also.

I will admit, though, that the idea of reading Scripture was a bit troubling for me.  I read St. Peter’s admonition that no scripture be of private interpretation.  Yet, there was no mechanism – zero – to interpret things for me.  At least not authoritatively.

I also read the account of the Ethiopian Eunuch reading the scroll of Isaiah in his chariot, who said “how can I understand this unless someone explain it to me?”  The Apostle St. Philip obliged him, and explained Christ as being the fulfillment of what the Eunuch, who we believe was named Simeon, was reading.

So to me, a Southern Baptist reading and studying the Bible, this created a real dilemma.  I was taught that I was competent to interpret Scripture for myself.  Yet in this, the Scripture itself tells me, in very plain language, that I am not competent.

And, by the way, my salvation depended on the proper understanding of not just the Gospel, but the whole thing – minus, of course, the deuterocanonical or Apocryphal books which we didn’t accept as being “inspired.”

What I came to realize we are doing in our study of Scripture is taking the life out of Christ.  We create for ourselves an object of study.  And an object of study can quickly become an idol, if we aren’t careful.

Fr. Silviu gave me a great quote – we can’t revive a living faith from a dead text.  It just cannot be expected.  It is unreasonable.  In that statement he paraphrases St. Paul – where he writes to the Corinthians that the law, the letter, kills – but the spirit gives life.

The text, the letters, the words, are dead.  Only the Holy Spirit can offer life.

This has serious implications for us.  What this means is that we can no longer look to the Bible to define faith.  We can no longer look to the Bible to define Truth.  Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying – I’m not saying that the Bible is somehow untrue or flawed or otherwise of no use for us.  Not at all!

What I’m saying is that the Scripture has to be understood as a living document, a document that does one thing – and that thing is describe Christ to us.  In that description, the Church from St. Peter and St. Paul all the way to now agree.  It is true, and accurate and infallible in the expression of who Christ is, and who God is.

What it is not is a statement about doctrine or dogma.  That may be inferred by the text or implied by the text or supported by the text – but it isn’t the text.  The author and finisher of our faith is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.

The person – not the text.  The Church doesn’t emerge from the text.  The Church emerges from the Person.

This comes with real world implications for us, particularly those of us who like to study, and know, and understand.  Anything that we study, as mentioned, becomes an object.  And an object isn’t living.  It becomes detached – separated – from us.

And as Orthodox Christians, we understand that the Scriptures are somewhat loosely defined, and not really given to us as an authority.  St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy says that all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”  Of course Scripture in this context didn’t even include the New Testament – only the Old Testament.

What this statement doesn’t say is that scripture defines doctrine, or faith.  St. Paul to the Thessolonians tells us that they are to hold fast to what they were taught – by word or by letter.  The teaching, be it oral or written, is what we hold dear.  St. John in his Gospel puts it so bluntly:  “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

To again quote Fr. Silviu, the Scriptures must be experienced in us.  It is similar to reading a description of pain, or experiencing pain.  Experiencing it is the way we know, not reading about it.

I’m still learning the implications of all this – and I will endeavor to share everything with you in time.  But what I’ve learned thus far is this:  The Bible, what we know to be the scripture, needs to be read in a particular way to be of use for us.  It isn’t a collection of laws.  It should be read as a love letter.  It isn’t a constitution, it is an autobiography.

And we have the Author with us, always – in the Holy Spirit, and through the Church.  We need to pay more attention to the scriptures read in the context of the services than the texts on the pages.  We need to pay more attention to the hymnography, which interprets and elaborates on Scripture.  We need to not worry so much about precision in translation, or in capturing the original writer’s intent.  It is helpful – but not essential.

Because if we encounter Scripture, and don’t find Christ, then we’re missed the point.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God.  Glory to Jesus Christ!