J.I. Packer tells a story about a man on a city street in England. The man in the middle of a crowded area of town began pointing at the ground yelling “IT’S ALIVE! IT’S ALIVE!” People quickly followed his gaze and gestures to a large hat on the ground. Several people backed away from the hat while others moved defensively in front of their families. The man continued to shout while moving closer to the hat and then jumping back as if something were about to bite him: “It’s ALIVE! It doesn’t seem possible!” A crowd gathered to see what the man had caught beneath his hat or to see whether the man in some fit of madness was indicating the hat itself was alive. The man drew near as if to lift the hat with trepidation, and many in the crowd closed in to see what was about to happen while others shrank back in fear of what might be released. He carefully lifted his hat to reveal a Bible! Some people sighed relief, others turned angry gazes on the man, still, others laughed at the joke he’d made, but the man hoisted the Bible before the onlookers and began to declare again the truth “IT IS ALIVE!!”
Thinking about this story and its biblical foundation (Heb 4:12-13), I can’t help but note how perfectly the crowd’s response resembles the varied responses of our world to the living nature of The Word! Living things are unpredictable! They have a will of their own, they move, they surprise you, they may threaten you, they can be quite dangerous! Some people draw back from the living word “if I cannot control it or tame it who knows what it might do to me!” Others get angry at the mere suggestion that it is living: “absurd! How can a book be alive” Still others sigh relief: “I need not fear the danger of it… it’s just a book after all isn’t it?” Friends, it is alive and this week we’ll discuss the truth that not only is it living but it is dangerous. And it is more than alive, it is more than dangerous, it is in fact a weapon: the chief weapon you have to combat the enemy in this spiritual war that we are engaged in. Join us as we talk more offensive strategy this week as we give focus to the weapon that is “THE WORD!”
