Bible Presentation Sunday

Sunday, March 6, is our Bible Presentation Sunday. Three children in our church will receive Bibles and will share with us a scripture they have chosen. Then they will have chances on subsequent Sundays to read to the congregation during worship. But that is not the most important reason we give them a Bible. We give them a Bible because we want them to take it home and read it there. Otherwise we would just let them read from Bibles we keep at the church.

Sometimes people ask me if we really should teach our children the stories in the Bible. Do we want our children to believe that Jonah was swallowed by a real whale or that God first created just two humans in a garden or Joshua brought down the walls of Jericho with a trumpet blast? I always think it is such a fascinating question since people tell their children the stories of Red Riding Hood or Cinderella or the Three Little Pigs with little or no worry. I doubt parents start out those stories with a disclaimer like: "I want to make sure you understand that this story didn't really happen."

Through these ancient stories we are telling our children stories of promise, human deliverance, divine forgiveness, love and transformation. As our children grow we need to make sure we are explaining to them the difference between the truth in a Bible story and the truth of a Bible story. We don't want them to worship the Bible. We want them to worship God.

The scripture for this coming Sunday is from Deuteronomy 6:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep the words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.

When we give our children their own Bible, we want them to take it home and read it. Then we want them to ask all kinds of questions of their parents so that they will know that serious questions of faith aren't reserved for church only.