"I find him always singing one note."
-Stephen Vaughan, speaking of William Tyndale
Stephen Vaughan was a British merchant and a favorite of King Henry VIII. In 1531 he was commissioned by Thomas Cromwell, the king's advisor, to track down William Tyndale and bring him back to England, where the king would be inclined to offer him "mercy, pity, and compassion." Tyndale had been in exile from his homeland because of his avowed pledge to provide a bible in English for the common man to read. Vaughan found Tyndale living in Germany and wrote the famous quote above in a letter addressed to the king. The "one note" that Tyndale sang? The Bible in English. Once many years prior, when a Catholic scholar was dining with Tyndale and heard of his plans to translate the Greek New Testament into English, he declared "Why man, we would be better off without God's law than to be without the Pope's law." In response, Tyndale said, "I defy the Pope and all his laws...if God spares my life a few more years, as I live, the plowboy shall know more of the Scriptures than he does."
Tyndale was good to his word. He translated the entire New Testament into English for the very first time in 1526, smuggling it into England in bales of cloth. He died for that act in 1536, burned at the stake for providing God's word to the common man. His last words were "Lord! Open the King of England's eyes!" He was forty-two years old.
Today, almost 500 years later, we enjoy the Scriptures in English in more versions than in any other language known to man. And although the Catholic Church denounced the practice of translating from the Greek or Latin into the common languages then, it fully embraced the practice within a hundred years of Tyndale. He was the spark that lit the flame of bible translation. Since that time, the word of God has proven to be not only true, but fully sufficient to accomplish the goal for which it was written; to reveal God to humankind and to quicken the hearts and minds of those who read it so as to be transformed by the message it shares. Its own words are true, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11). The word from God’s mouth is received by us via his Spirit in the inspired Scriptures.
Our “Plan and Promise” classes are designed to help you see and understand the big picture of those Scriptures. Over 200 of you are participating, which is wonderful to see. The classes are available both services on Sunday mornings and on Wednesday evenings. Although each class is taught by a different teacher, the content is the same, so don’t forget that if you have to miss a Sunday morning, you can always stop by the Wednesday night class to get the same information, and vice-versa. I recognize that not everyone will be able to participate, such is always the case. However, chances are very good that you own a bible, and the word remains “living and active” whether you are reading it at home on your own or studying it in a corporate setting in the church facility. People like Tyndale and many others died to make the word available to us. It is worth our time and effort! If you do not have a bible and cannot afford to purchase one, please see me and we will get one into your hands quickly.
I hope that others will always find us "singing one note" at LifePoint: the word of God and the good news it proclaims to Indianapolis and beyond.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym