Tyndale's prayer...Henry VIII's edict

Last night we watched "God's Outlaw"...and it left me thinking.  William Tyndale dedicated his life to translating the Bible into English, passionate to make it available to everyone in England. *

Tyndale was later executed (1536) for "heresy". His dying words were, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes." That prayer was answered.

Henry VIII had hounded Tyndale and others...but after "divorcing" England from the Catholic church, as the new "boss", he changed tactics.  In 1538 his royal edict ordered that "one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume in English" be allocated to every church in the country. Each was to be set up "in some convenient place whereas your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it".  Double-whammy for the Pope! The Bible in English, and everyone having the right to read it for himself.

I thought of the fact that many churches today have a stand or pedestal, usually at the front, with a large open Bible.  Does that custom derive from Henry's edict, a hold-over that continues into our times in some churches?  (I haven't been able to find any information.)
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Now let's switch spaces.  Where is the Bible "displayed" in our lives? In a position of honor? Do we often "resort to the same and read it"? Do we allow it to be "the largest volume" that others can "read" in us as they observe what we do and say?

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work". (II Timothy 3:16-17)  The Word is given to us to be digested, used and lived...not just read and set aside, not just heard and then forgotten.
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Even when evil takes place around us, we can relish the beautiful images this passage from the Bible evokes and wrap them around our hearts.  Our God says,

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is the word that goes out of My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."  (Isaiah 55:10-12)
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              Father, help me to keep your Word in its proper position in my life. 
          Thank You for promising "you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace".  
                                               You are AWESOME!!



(*In case you wonder, Wycliffe translated into English from Latin, Tyndale from the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.)

The "Great Horse Manure Crisis" of 1894

In 1894 The Times made this prediction:  "In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure."  Phew!

It's understandable, due to "equine nature".  I read that a horse produces 15 - 35 pounds (!) of manure a day. In London there were more than 11,000 hansom cabs on the streets; AND  thousands of horse-drawn buses - each using 12 horses a day; AND a slew of smaller "vehicles", like delivery carts...all using horses...all of which contributed to what became known as the Great Horse Manure Crisis.

I assume the "nine feet" would be the result if the manure were never shoveled. There must have been crews trying to clean the stuff and leave the streets...if not clean, at least less gross!  But I can't imagine how the people stood the stench of all those horse droppings.  Did they just get used to it?
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After reading of this curious Crisis, I wondered if God, when He looks down on Earth and sees the streets of our lives "deep in the manure of sin"...with its attendant stink...wonders, "How can those people stand the stench of their sins?  Do they just get used to it?"

Manure is a perfectly healthy (for the horse, at least) by-product of "equine nature".  Sin is a perfectly unhealthy by-product of "human nature":

"But I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me."  (Psalm 51:5)
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Back in the Israelites' history, God at times got really fed-up with them:

"Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption...."  (Isaiah 1:4)

Later in Isaiah, talking about the ones who were defiant and arrogant in their sin, "These people gag me.  I can't stand their stench."  (65:5)  Did the people just get used to the stink?
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The solution to the Great Horse Manure Crisis was the arrival of the motor car.  There was now a way to avoid the stench and pervasiveness of the manure.  And the solution to Man's Sin crisis was the arrival of the Son of God who payed the humanly-incomprehensible price for our forgiveness.  There is now a way to avoid the stench and pervasiveness of Sin.

"He Himself bore our sins, in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed."  (I Peter 2:24)

(After motor cars arrived, one could still have used a horse if he wanted - but he would have to deal with all the manure.  And though Jesus provided the way to be free from sin, we can still decide to disobey if we want - but we will have to deal with the consequences.)
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"But now that you have found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you...a whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!..God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master."   (Romans 6:22-23,  The Message)
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                                                     Father, bless You!  
                                         You not only provided The Solution, 
                     You also gave us the incredible gift of eternal life at your side. 
                                           Help me to always listen to You!