Mike Novotny - What if I Don't Understand the Bible?
The Bible Is a Hard Book
I found this great quote the other day that I wanted to share with you. I’ll put it up on the screen. The quote was, «The Bible is easy to understand.» Do you know who said that? I’ll show you: no one ever. I should say, personally, I love the Bible. As a church, we are infatuated with the Bible. I’ve been reading the Bible almost every day for the past quarter-century, but I have to admit what a lot of you have experienced: the Bible might be the good book, but it’s a hard book. It’s a long book; it’s an old book. There are weird words in it and names in it. There’s a Habakkuk and a Nebuchadnezzar. There’s the Old Testament and the New. There are apostles and prophets.
If you’re kind of new to it, if you’ve never deeply studied it, it might be a life-changing book, but not every time you read it. I mean, the Bible is so powerful it can get straight to your heart and change your life, or it can go straight over your head and make zero changes in your life. There have been pages of the Bible and parts of it that I’ve read that just hit me, and I’ve said, «Huh.» And there have been other parts of it that I’ve read where I’ve said, «Huh?» The Bible can be so good it can make you want to read it every single day, or it can be so baffling and seemingly useless that you stop reading it day after day, right?
The Bible is this thing that we treasure at our church, but let’s not give the impression that it’s a simple thing to do. In church, pastors like me say, «The Bible, the Bible, the Bible. You should read the Bible. If you’re dating someone, you should read the Bible together. If you have kids, you should read the Bible to them. When you get up in the morning, before you go to bed at night, come to church, read the Bible, go to a Bible class.» And then some of you actually take that step, and the first time you try to do it, it is not an amazing experience. You have more questions than answers, more things that confuse you than help you.
Personal Struggles with the Bible
Actually, that’s exactly what happened to me. When I was in high school, I think maybe a freshman, 14 or 15 years old, I decided I was going to read the Bible from cover to cover. I actually had a notebook where I remember writing little boxes for all the chapters, and I did it. I read a chapter, I checked the box; it just made me very happy. But just because I read it didn’t mean I understood it. In fact, there were huge things on the very first pages that, as a teenager, completely baffled me. I thought to myself, like on page three, if God knows everything and if God loves everyone, why in the world would He put this tree in the middle of the garden for Adam and Eve to eat the fruit and mess up? I mean, He had to know that was going to happen, so why did He do it? That confused me.
Then I got to all the stories of all the good guys, the heroes, the chosen people of God who were sleeping with multiple women at the same time. I was just a public school kid, but I thought, «God’s not for that, is He?» Like multiple baby daddies, sleeping with this girl and her sister and both of their maidservants? I didn’t know what to make of that. Then I got to the stories of Moses and Joshua and the Promised Land and the walls of Jericho. It’s nice when you’re a kid, but then you think about it: wait, God’s people rolled up to ancient Israel and wiped out all the native inhabitants. Isn’t that wrong? Genocide is bad.
And I had question after question after question. It wasn’t just the weird names and Bible facts I had to learn; it was huge concepts about the good book that didn’t seem all that great the first time I read it. Maybe the same thing has happened to you. I’m just curious, how many of you have ever opened up a Bible and tried to read at least a page or two of it? Any of you? Yeah, a whole bunch. I won’t make you raise your hand to ask if you finished. You know, for a lot of people, they get to the Book of Leviticus, and then boom, their Bible reading plan is over. There are challenging parts of the Bible that I can almost guarantee you’re not going to get the first time you read it, and that could be a problem.
The Real Problem: Not Admitting Confusion
It doesn’t have to be a problem. I mean, honestly, if there’s something that I would say in our church service today that completely goes over your head, as soon as church is done, you could turn to the person next to you and say, «Hey, can you explain to me what that was about?» Problem solved. You could read your Bible and send an email to the pastor. You could reach out to a Christian relative or friend. You could take that little white card in your bulletin, write down your question; one of our pastors would love to answer it in the days to come. I mean, honestly, if you don’t get it, if you would just admit it, problem solved.
But it’s not quite that easy, is it? See, there’s something that happens when you don’t get it up here that starts to simmer down here. When you kind of look around and everyone is praising Jesus, or you’re at a Bible study, and everyone is chiming in about what they got out of the reading, you just have no clue. There’s something actually very powerful and emotional that happens in here. It’s going to sound silly when I say it, but it’s an immense emotion that can mess with your faith. You feel dumb; you feel behind. You feel like you must not be a church person or a Bible person because these people apparently love the book, but you don’t.
Here’s why I say that: have you ever been at a place where someone kind of raises a shaking, timid hand, and before they ask their question, what do they say? «This is probably a dumb question.» Now I’ve got to ask you, why would we say that? If you don’t know something and if no one has taught you something, why would that make it dumb? Why would we have to act like we’re idiots or we’re interrupting or we’re annoying or we’re less than intelligent just because Noah has answered these really valid questions about the Bible or about God? I think that intro to our questions is actually proof that we feel, when we don’t get the Bible, we feel dumb.
So when we take that plunge and we join a group, or we sign up for the church study, we join Starting Point or a church reading plan, as soon as it happens that we don’t get it, there’s something that actually pulls our hand down so we don’t ask our questions. Even though there are people right around us who could probably provide some pretty decent answers, we’re scared to ask because we’re afraid that they’re going to think we’re dumb, we’re interrupting, we’re idiots. So we just stuff it, and that’s the problem. Write this down if you’re taking notes: I think the primary problem we have is not with the Bible itself, but it’s this statement: when we don’t get it, we don’t admit it.
When you do that, and if you do that, I can almost guarantee here’s what’s going to happen: you’ll give the Bible a chance or you’ll start coming to church, you’ll miss most of it, and eventually, if you’re not getting anything out of it, you’ll give up on it. Right? You don’t have enough time to just waste an hour going to a place when you don’t get it, and you don’t get anything out of it. So you’ll give up on it. You might join the first week or two of the Bible study, but then everyone is so far ahead you’ll slowly quit. You might come to church with your roommates or coworkers or your teammate or your girlfriend, but if you’re like, «I just… not my thing, » you’ll give up on it. If you don’t get it, and you don’t admit it, you’ll eventually give up on it altogether.
How to Bible: The Ethiopian Eunuch
Oh, and that’s why today I want to change that. We’re in the sermon series called «How To, » and we’re essentially learning the really practical basics on how to do the most important habits of the Christian faith. How do you do church? How do you live in community? How do you volunteer and become a generous person? Well, today I’m going to try to answer this really simple question: how do you Bible? Right? Whether it’s Bible in church, Bible at home, a Bible class, or a group that you join, how do you do that the best way? And I’m not just saying this to try to keep your attention, but what I get to share with you today contains one of my favorite Bible passages in the entire book.
Actually, when we get to it, I’m going to have you give me a drum roll on your leg, so just warm up your hands and wrists if you need to, because what we’re about to discover is this man from Africa who actually asked the bravest, wisest, humblest, most faith-exalting question. Today I want to tell you his story and hope that you imitate him so that you learn how to Bible. If you have a Bible with you on your phone or in your hands, or you just want to follow along on the screen, we’re going to be in Acts chapter 8 today. Here’s how the story begins: now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, this was a first-century Christian, «Go south to the road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.» So Philip started out, and on his way, he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake, which means Queen of the Ethiopians.
Full disclosure, I’m not sure if I’m pronouncing that right; I asked Pastor Michael before church. Here’s what he told me: he said, «Just pronounce it with confidence; no one else knows.» All right, the Kandake; I don’t know how you say that. Here’s what it means: the queen of the Ethiopians. Thank you, Book of Acts. This man, the Ethiopian, had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. So we’re looking at maybe late 30s AD on the dusty thousand-mile road that stretched from Jerusalem down to ancient Ethiopia, modern Sudan. Two men meet: one of them knows the Bible, and one of them doesn’t. So here’s Philip; the Lord speaks to him, and we find out actually two pages earlier in the Book of Acts that Philip is «full of faith and the Holy Spirit, » right? So he knows Jesus; he follows Jesus; his heart is full of Jesus. He’s kind of ten steps down the road when it comes to knowledge of the Bible, but not the Ethiopian.
Now we learn a couple of things about this man: we know he’s from Ethiopia. In the first century, that would have been like, well, maybe modern Ethiopia, maybe modern Sudan. We know that he’s a eunuch. Kids, ask your dads about that when you get home. And we know that he’s important because it says he was an important official in charge of all—not some—but all of the treasury of the Kandake. So he is like the Secretary of the Treasury for the queen of ancient Ethiopia. My assumption is that means he’s a very intelligent man, right? You don’t end up as Secretary of the Treasury if you flunked math class. So he’s smart, he’s accomplished, he’s professional. I mean, he’s driving in a chariot, like the company chariot the queen probably gave him.
And get this: he has his own copy of the book of Isaiah. Now, you and I might not think much of that; everyone’s got a Bible these days; you can get one for free in the church lobby. But imagine it’s the first century: this is pre-printing press. How many people would have owned any Bible? Like, most of all the scrolls would have been stored at like ancient Jewish synagogues. The fact that this man has his own copy tells you that he’s rich; he’s powerful; he’s a man of means, and he’s very serious about his faith. Not only did he travel a thousand miles to worship in Jerusalem—no air conditioning, no shocks on the chariot, no coach bus, right? —but on the way home, he’s not just checking the church box; he’s studying the Bible because he wants to get it.
But here’s the problem: just because you got a Bible, doesn’t mean you understand the Bible. Let’s keep reading. Verse 29: the Spirit told Philip, «Go to that chariot and stay near it.» Then Philip ran up to the chariot, and he heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. «Do you understand what you’re reading?» Philip asked. «No.» Maybe it’s just me, but I think this is—try to picture what’s happening in this moment. The Holy Spirit says to Philip, «Hey, go talk to that guy.» And it says, so Philip ran up to the chariot, which I think is the first ever example of 5K evangelism. Right? So Philip rolls up. I think the chariot’s still rolling; the guy kind of looks at him funny while he’s reading, and Philip says, «Hey, do you understand what you’re reading?»
Actually, interestingly, in the Greek language that the Book of Acts was written in, Philip asks the question in a way that expects a negative answer. Probably a better translation would be, «You don’t understand what you’re reading, do you?» And I want you to take a time-out for just one second and imagine you’re the Ethiopian. You’re powerful, you’re accomplished, you’re polished, you’re used to making a good impression. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, this random stranger you have no clue who he is rolls up; maybe he’s a little bit sweaty, and instead of like asking your name or saying his name or making small talk about the road or the weather or whatever, his very first line is this direct, exposing, kind of offensive, and potentially embarrassing question: «You don’t understand the Bible, do you?»
If you were the Ethiopian, what would you have said? «Dude, I’m good, yeah, thanks; you know, hit the horse; you go faster, and I’ll run.» This man, Philip, I mean, it was such an exposing question; he must have felt so like, «Who are you to call me out?» He had every opportunity to blow Philip off, but instead, he didn’t. Instead, what he says is so good, and here’s where the drumroll comes in. Are you ready for it? All right, I need you to get out both hands. Put down your pens, your coffees; I need you to keep going, because I’m about to read to you Acts 8, verse 31. This is a verse that could change some of your lives. Are you ready for it? Because here’s what it says: «How can I?» the Ethiopian said, «unless someone explains it to me.» Oh, that is so brilliant!
«How can I understand the Bible unless someone explains it to me? I studied economics; I didn’t study Bible. How can I understand it unless someone explains it to me? I’m rich, I’ve done a lot in my career, but that doesn’t mean I know a lot about God. How can I unless someone explains it to me?» You, sir, seem like you get it, so why don’t you get up here and help me get it? So the Ethiopian invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is like a fork-in-the-road moment for his faith. He could have faked it; he could have tried to impress this stranger. «Do you understand what you’re reading?» «Yeah, yeah, I got it; thanks; I’m good.» He didn’t.
He risked the embarrassment; he risked being exposed as a man who was not as put together as he seemed. He was humble and brave enough to say, «I’m never going to understand this, as hard as I try, unless someone like you helps.» And man, was God ready to bless him! Verse 32: «This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation, he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants, for his life was taken from the earth?» The eunuch asked Philip, «Tell me, please, who’s the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?»
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. If you don’t know, this is Isaiah chapter 53. Some people think it’s the most beautiful description of the death and resurrection of Jesus in the entire Old Testament; it was predicted 700 years before it happened. But because there wasn’t a name, the Ethiopian didn’t know what to make of it. He was reading, and he knew it was important. «Wait, He—who’s He? He’s going to take my sins—He’s going to be slaughtered like a sacrificial lamb; He’s not going to call His lawyer or demand justice; He’s just going to take the punishment in my place to give me peace.»
«Please tell me, is this Isaiah? Who’s the He?» And Philip must have smiled pretty big. «He is Jesus! Yeah, man, this was written 700 years ago, but do you know what happened just a few years ago in the city you were just in? The city of Jerusalem? This actually came true! He walked among us: Jesus of Nazareth, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!» And there, side by side on this dusty road leading back to Africa, Philip shared what he knew; the Ethiopian learned things he didn’t, and by the end of the story, the man is baptized, rejoicing and happier than he’s ever been in his life about his relationship with God.
The Lesson: Admit It and Ask
So what do we learn from this story? Grab your pen and write this down: we learn this simple fact: if you don’t get it, just admit it. All right, the next time you’re reading your Bible, you’re sitting in church, you’re at a group, you’re at a class—whenever you don’t get it, have the courage to admit it. Don’t try to impress the pastor; don’t try to seem like you’re all put together. That’s not the purpose of people studying the Bible together. You might feel dumb or embarrassed or ashamed; that feeling does not come from God. When you don’t get it, just admit it, because if you admit it, you’ll get it. And if you get it, you get Jesus. And if you get Jesus, you get the joy of knowing you’re forgiven and loved by God.
Or if I had to summarize this whole sermon in two emojis, it would be this: all right, you get that, right? It’s G to B times. You read the Bible like, «I have no clue what this means, » and your instinctive answer that God wants to put in your heart is just, «I don’t know what this means.» Right? Don’t fake it; don’t front it; just admit it. That’s why we’re here! Actually, this makes me think of this book I mentioned before. When I was 15, I attempted to read the Bible. I did read it; I did not get it. But thankfully God put a Philip into my life, my pastor from up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I’m not sure if I annoyed him; I don’t think I did, but as I was reading, I just grabbed a pen or a pencil and just in my Bible put, «Question, question, question.»
Every few months, I would set up a time to go to my pastor’s office, and I would just machine-gun questions at my pastor. And I’ll tell you what: do you know what he never said to me? «You idiot!» No, apparently, he had had those same questions. Many people in his church had had those same questions, and it was easy for him to answer almost all of my questions. He gave me books like this one, an old book called «When Skeptics Ask.» I wondered, «Well, where did the Bible come from? Isn’t it possible the Bible got changed? How do you know the Bible’s right, and all these other holy books are wrong?»
He had me read things like this, and I started to learn and I started to learn, and I had more questions, and I brought them to him, and he gave me more answers. He was so gracious, just like Philip, to sit by my side. What I had at the end of that journey was a deep knowledge of the Bible that I did not possess before. And the devil might have wanted to shut me up and tell me, «Don’t look dumb!» My pastor was so gracious to help me get it. And because he helped me get it, I get so much out of the book that I haven’t stopped reading it since.
People Around You Can Help
So here’s a big question: do you think there’s anyone like my pastor or like Philip who’s in church today? Do you think literally—you don’t have to get your chariot hooked up and take the road down to ancient Ethiopia—do you think there’s someone sitting next to you in your row, in your section, who already knows the answers to your biggest spiritual questions? Let’s do a quick stand-up, sit-down quiz. You ready for it? I would like you to stand up if you’ve been going to church pretty much most Sundays for at least five years. If that’s you, would you stand up? Five years of church attendance! I love it; thank you very much; you can sit down.
Would you stand up if you have read—you’re going to get a workout today, some of you—if you have read about the life of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John? If you’ve read all four Gospels, would you stand up right now? Amazing! All right, sit down. Question number three: if you’ve actually read the entire New Testament—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, first John, all the way through the Book of Revelation—if you’ve read the entire New Testament, the last third of the Bible, would you stand up right now? Oh, God, at least 40 of you in one church service! All right, sit down.
Last big question, all right; I’m curious about this one. How many of you have ever read cover to cover, Genesis to Revelation, everything that the Holy Spirit inspired? If you’ve read the entire Bible, would you please stand right now? Six, eight, 42, 446, 40—I’m counting! 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 50—I mean five people; you can sit down. Thank you very much. 58 people in one church service! 58 people who’ve gone from cover to cover, who’ve read the same passage, probably had the same questions, searched for answers, and I bet you a cup of coffee and my favorite Bible, if you asked one of those people after church the thing you’ve been wondering about God, they would not shame you, and they would not mock you, and they would not be annoyed with you.
Christians who have understood about God love to share with people who don’t understand things about God. It is so simple. The answer is right here. If you don’t get it, just admit it. Let me make this really practical for you. If you’re brand new to church, if you’ve never ever read much of the Bible before, what do you do? Number one: get a Bible. Unfortunately, I should have planned this better. I think we have six paper copies for free in the lobby. If you want to, like, Black Friday at Walmart, grab one of those afterward—don’t hurt each other; you can grab one of those. Otherwise, there’s always the Bible app, the YouVersion Bible app. That’s what a lot of people use to read the Bible around here; that’s free; you could download that.
Maybe you know our church is launching an all-church reading plan through the Book of Revelation. If you do that, it’s going to give you some structure, some community, some extra teaching and resources to help answer your questions. You could do that. If you’re brand new to everything, you might just want to read about the life of Jesus. Let’s say the Gospel of Luke—you could just read those 24; you could do it, I think, in two or three hours; you can have that done, understand the life of Jesus. But whatever you do, right? Paper Bible, digital Bible, church reading plan, your own plan—whatever you do, please make me this promise: when you don’t get it, don’t just keep going. Write it down; keep a notebook, a note on your phone, and then reach out to a friend, ask your small group, your relative who’s so religious, ask them, ask me, write it down, put it on the card, send us an email.
Because listen, the reason we are here as Christians, the reason God has gathered us in the same place, is not to compete with each other, okay? This is not like Jeopardy, Church Edition, and a bunch of you are going to be losers who are going home, and one of us will be the smartest Bible reader ever. No! The reason God brought you here and the reason He brought them here was so that if they’re up here, they can get you here. So if you don’t know the beauty of the word «justification» or «redemption» or «atonement, » these are foreign concepts to you. Like don’t run because you sense the gap. That’s the gift, right? The gap is God’s gift to you; it means there are people right next to you who can help you grow in faith and knowledge of Jesus.
The Heart of the Gospel
Because at the end of the day, now we want you to know about Jesus. EOP, that day was reading Isaiah 53, which means he would have read these very words: „But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed.“ Do you get that? And my heart is so happy that I know exactly what that means. I know who He is: Jesus. I know who the „us“ is: us—pierced, crushed, punished, wounded. I know what that means, and I know the gift that’s offered to me, to you, through Jesus. „The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed.“
If there’s one thing I want you to get out of the Bible, it’s not memorizing the books in order. I want you to get that by the wounds of Jesus, you’ve been healed; that you and God, because of Jesus, are like this—not this, not this—like this. And your body might be falling apart, but it is well with your soul because by His wounds, you are healed. You might be on the shakiest ground right now in your relationship or your marriage or your fertility story or your career; everything could fall apart, but if you know my relationship with God is not damaged or broken, by His wounds, I am healed.
If at the end of every night you don’t have to rehearse the things you messed up, the sins you’ve committed, the shame you carry, you could just leave it at the cross and say, „No, by His wounds, I am healed.“ There’s one thing in the universe God wants you to know: if you get Jesus, you get forgiveness. If you’ve got Jesus, you’ve got salvation. So if these words go over your head, please, please, please, I’m begging you, just admit it. Because just like Philip, we Christians would love to get in the chariot and share with you the greatest news in the whole world. A couple months ago, I met a young woman who had just become a Christian. She shared her journey of faith with me, the million questions she had when she first started reading the Bible. Then she told me about this illustrated book that she loved. It was a book about a mole, a fox, a boy, and a horse who teach each other the lessons of life.
I bought the book after she recommended it because she said there’s this one page that was so powerful for her. It’s when the boy turns to this big strong horse and he asks the horse, „What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever said?“ And the big strong horse answers with just one word: „Help.“ Friends, the bravest, most powerful spiritual word you will ever speak is „Help.“ Help me get it. If you don’t get it, just admit it, because that’s how you get it. That’s how you Bible.
Prayer
Oh God, we are so grateful for this book. How would we know that you love us, that you listen to us, that you have plans for us if it wasn’t for the book? We’d have to guess what God or the gods were like, but we don’t. You revealed it in 66 books, written over 1,500 years by dozens of different authors who had this unified message: that you love the world so much you sent your Son, who was pierced for our transgressions, who was punished so that we could have peace with you. I thank you, Father, for this revealed knowledge. This book is not easy, but it is profound. It is not shallow; it is so deep that we can explore it like the ocean until the day that we die.
So I’m grateful today, God, for the gift of the Bible, and I’m so grateful for the people that you brought here on this very day. It’s no accident that we’re here just to open some eyes, that people would realize, „Oh, there are answers,“ and they’re not far away. You don’t have to Google it; you just got to ask the guy next to you. And so I pray, God, for courage. May everyone who’s listening today overcome that spirit of fear, embarrassment, and hesitation. May they just admit it, that all of us could grow in Jesus together. That’s what you want; that’s what we want. And so we’re praying for that today, God. May it be done for your glory and the good of your people. And we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.
So I’m grateful today, God, for the gift of the Bible, and I’m so grateful for the people that you brought here on this very day. It’s no accident that we’re here just to open some eyes, that people would realize, „Oh, there are answers,“ and they’re not far away. You don’t have to Google it; you just got to ask the guy next to you. And so I pray, God, for courage. May everyone who’s listening today overcome that spirit of fear, embarrassment, and hesitation. May they just admit it, that all of us could grow in Jesus together. That’s what you want; that’s what we want. And so we’re praying for that today, God. May it be done for your glory and the good of your people. And we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.