Christian groups instinctively sense that God's Word in the Bible stands at the very center of their life together. We know of no faith community that fails to incorporate scripture into its gathering times.
Very often biblical readings entirely shape the community's meeting. The session begins with one or more passages from the Old and New Testaments. The rest of the gathering is a reflection on the texts or a frequent referring back to what was read as other issues are considered.
I once saw a base Christian community do this in a most remarkable way. In a remote part of the Peruvian highlands, a large group of unlettered native folk gathered for their usual weekly Bible study. The text was Jeremiah 17, which speaks of the one who trusts in God being like a tree planted beside the waters, stretching out its roots to the stream. There was a drought afflicting the region at that time and these indigenous families faced crop failure and hunger. How were they to respond to the fertile images of the scripture passage?
After several readings of the text and long periods of silence, one member of the group timidly raised his hand and said, "I think that God's Word calls us today to be fruitful trees for one another. Those who salvage some of their crops will have to share what little they harvest with those who lose everything." I, the foreign missionary, could only add a reverent amen.
Most of our community reflection on the scriptures does not reach that level of profundity or commitment. Still, the constant re-reading and remembrance of the Word nurtures our personal and communal lives as no other exercise or process can.
A DIFFERENT--though no less effective--way of inserting God's Word into community gatherings is to let personal or social issues be informed, illuminated, and understood by the scriptures. That is, the community comments on an event one or several of its members have experienced personally or as observers of the local, national, and international scene. After reflecting on the issue, the group asks itself what scripture passage comes to mind as a result of their discussion. In this way the biblical insights follow the reflection, serving to underscore and enrich it.
A group of overworked housemaids (also in Peru) formed community and conducted their gatherings in this fashion over a period of several months. From the stories, comments, and reflections about their lives as "servants," these young women began to recall phrases from the Old and New Testaments that in the end changed their lives: "I came that they may have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10). "He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives..." (Luke 4:18). "I have witnessed the affliction of my people..." (Exodus 3:7).
As they came to understand themselves as God's daughters, they formed a labor union to struggle in an organized way for their basic rights. At the same time their enhanced sense of self-worth made them the most sought after domestic workers.
Whatever method a community chooses for its biblical reflection, the objective must remain clear--that God's Word permeate our individual and collective lives. Such a truism falls very easily onto the written page. But the practice of letting the scriptures overtake us and guide our journeys can be awfully challenging. As the saying puts it so well: God's Word comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.
Joe Nangle, OFM was outreach director of Sojourners when this article appeared.
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