Daily Word

Ya, I know it's been awhile since I have posted anything at this blog... but trust me, I have been busy! Ever since we have been gathering (at The River) as a small group for the past few weeks, I set up a new blog at the church website with the daily gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary. There are some really good resources that teach about the Lectionary at The Voice. Anyway, I have been providing the Gospel portion of the Scriptures along with an image and short devotional thought. It's a quick read (about 5 minutes), and hopefully worthwhile in the lives of busy, overtaxed disciples of Jesus.

The church website is www.kvriver.com and the devotional reading for each day is on the tab (at the top of the page) called "Daily Word". Unlike this blog, there is not a subscription button for email. However, if you'd like me to add you to (or remove you from) the list, I can send you an email each day as I update the blog.

To all my adoring fans (:-) I'll get back to posting more at this site pretty soon... However, I'm having a lot of fun and getting challenged by writing these short, simple devotional thoughts each day. They are not terribly deep or profound, but nevertheless, the discipline is having a deep, profound impact on me... and so are our small group discussions. Your online comments are welcome and appreciated... assuming you're not trying to sabotage our efforts.

Finally, I'm also writing a weekly devotional thought each week for my previous employer (Children's Ministries) in Kansas City. They are posted at http://cmc.nazarene.org. These short sermonettes have proven to be fun (and challenging) as well.

Gee, all this responsibility is causing me to actually read the Bible once in a while!

Who woulda thunk it?

The Lectionary

Wow, I never, ever thought I'd be considering using the Lectionary. I mean, that's just a tool of high church tradition, right? A boring, mind-numbing string of Bible passages that have no connection to one another, and no rhyme or reason to their selection. Besides, this is a complex world. People need help with specific issues in their lives, so in order to do it right, a preacher should exegete his congregation properly and use relevant, helpful topical series to preach where people live - not some ancient, holier-than-thou, outdated, powerless ministry tool.

At least, that's what I used to think.

 

However, more and more, I'm beginning to appreciate the Lectionary as something powerful, useful - and quite possibly even relevant for use in local church ministry. It's not just the Sunday readings that intrigue me - you know, the Psalms, Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel selections. There's another function of the Lectionary - something I never even knew of until recently - called The Daily Office. The purpose of the Lectionary goes well beyond Sunday mornings (who knew?). It also provides us an excellent resource for daily Bible reading. Generally speaking, it is designed to help students of the Word (i.e., disciples of Jesus) gain a more fully-orbed experience of the biblical stories and teachings through a two-year cycle. Essentially, if you consistently read the Daily Office for two full years, you'd have a solid understanding of the major stories, teachings and doctrines found in God's Word. Not bad.

Not only that, but the Lectionary readings beautifully coincide with the Church calendar, connecting us with a 2,000 year old tradition of attuning ourselves with the major events in the life and ministry of Jesus. For example, there are two major seasons of the church year which make up "Sacred Time", (1) Advent-Christmas-Epiphany, and (2) Lent-Easter-Pentecost. The balance of the year is known as "Ordinary Time." Ordinary in this case does not mean mundane, but rather "counted time." Alternative terms for this season of the church calendar are Kingdomtide and Dominiontide. Whatever you choose to call it, this period begins on the Monday after Pentecost and lasts until the day before the First Sunday in Advent.

I know this may be basic stuff for some of you... and yet completely alien territory for many others. Nevertheless, it's a rather new concept for me, and I'm finding the Lectionary to be an intriguing resource - one in which I'm becoming more and more comfortable reading and utilizing personally. What I'd really like to do is find a way to combine all the daily readings in one place - to make it easy for people to read each section without having to do a lot of flipping back and forth in their Bible or surf the web incessantly. It's a fast-food, sound byte generation, you know. :-) 

I may be wrong, but I'm convinced that most Christians today are biblically illiterate. Hey, I struggle to read the Bible consistently and systematically each day... and for goodness sake, I'm a pastor! How much more difficult for people whose living is not at least partially made by studying and interpreting the Bible? Perhaps the Lectionary could help maxed-out generation of busy disciples by providing a timely, communal, comprehensive, and yet mercifully short daily guide through the Scriptures? Is there a downside to this?

However, so far I've not yet found the Daily Office in one convenient place. Perhaps that is what the Book of Common Prayer is all about... I don't really know. (I know... another ignorant Protestant!) Anyway, currently, I use Bible Gateway to look up each text based on the Lectionary resource at CRI Voice. But frankly, that takes a lot of time and energy... more that most would probably be willing to spend each morning. There's got to be a better way.

Do you know of one? What is your plan for daily Bible reading?

Or, maybe I should ask it this way: Do you have a plan for reading the Bible?

Please, don't be shy. Tell me about it.

Answers

I think I blew it the other night with my brother-in-law and his wife. I recently spent some time at their home and enjoyed several days of their warm and wonderful hospitality. One night, just before leaving, we were all talking with another friend of theirs (a pastor's wife), and the subject of witnessing came up. Now it wasn't exactly what I believe about witnessing - to me it sounded a whole lot more like selling cars than shining with the light of Christ in the darkness. Nevertheless, I behaved quite well, managing not to say anything too controversial. However, the point was then raised that the reason it's so difficult to witness to others is because if the (witnessee) brings up a hard question, everyday Christians often don't know the answers.

The pastor's wife, certain that the Bible holds the answers to any and all questions pertaining to life, suggested that if she were witnessing to another person and they asked her a question she couldn't answer, she'd simply tell them she'd look up the answer and get back with them... in fact, better yet they could join her and look it up with her, because surely the answers are there in that book somewhere.

Wow. Try as I might to refrain myself... finally I had to engage with her. Do you mean to tell me that you think the Bible has all the answers to life... kind of like a Teacher's Edition math book with all the answers at the back? Her answer... "Yes, absolutely...but of course they're not necessarily at the back of the book." Against my better judgment, I continued... So whatever problems I have going on at a given time, I can just turn to the Bible and it will tell me how to deal with it...? "Yes... of course it does... And that's why everyone should read and study it every day, to get the answers they need."

So, in my infinite wisdom, I forged ahead... I told them wow, that hasn't exactly been my experience with God's Word. In fact, that view of the Bible seems rather impersonal and individualistic... more American than biblical. I agree a lot of answers to our deepest questions are found there, but the Bible was never meant to be reduced to a mere science book or magic 8-ball. By this time, all eyes were on me... and everyone looked at me as if I had just stripped off all my clothes and began singing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell at the top of my lungs."

In fact, I continued, our individualistic demands of God can lead us astray more than you might think. When everyone studies the Bible exclusively on their own (usually with the aid of study notes and AM radio preachers)... the need for doing church... that is, gathering in the community of God's people... begins to fade. In fact, I'm convinced that church attendance in much of America has been reduced to meeting together as a collection of individuals... to sing songs, visit friends, and get our simplistic "Jesus answers."

That went over like a lead balloon.

But I couldn't help myself. God hard-wired us to live in community with one another, and as such we are called to live together, worship our Lord and King together, and yes, interpret God's Word together... in the context of community. I'm all for doing personal devotions, but when we live with a "Jesus and Me" mentality, and the Bible itself becomes as or more important than the God who created the Bible... we have entered into the dangerous waters of bibliolatry.

The Bible is not an answer book... nor is it some kind of pseudo-god to be worshipped... it is a witness of the One True God to be explored... It is a living, Yahweh-ordained instrument that has the power to miraculously breathe life into our deadness. It doesn't merely provide (personal) answers to life... it does far more than that! It informs us of our hopeless state as a fallen creation. it invites us (corporately and personally) to repent of our sin... to accept the redemptive work of Yahweh, to relate to His Son, the Savior... to fully enter the Christ-life... to submit ourselves to the One who created us and desires to re-form our character, allow the Person of the Holy Spirit to fill us with His grace, and transform us into people of self-emptying, Christlike love.

The Bible, primarily utilizing a collection of interweaving stories (but also propositions) about the good, the bad, and the ugly in regards to humanity - has the power to lead us into the presence of the Holy One. As we live in relationship with our Lord, the Bible serves to shape us and mold us, and renew our mind... and ultimately... do what it promises to do... form us into the image of God... the communal God. The Bible, like people... is relational-messy, utterly complex and often unpredictable... frankly, it transcends simple definition. To put scientific boundaries around that kind of power, and try to place it in a nice orderly box with lots of duct tape (and call it holy) is not only misguided, it is dangerous.

Oh man... now I have a lot of making up to do. The next time I visit my in-laws, somehow I'm going to have to convince them that I really do love the Bible... and I really am a follower of Jesus Christ... and seminary has in fact deepened my faith and trust in God, rather than turning me into a whacked-out, Bible-rejecting, Jesus-hating liberal! Perhaps next time I get into a discussion like this with folks I'll just keep my mouth shut and nod approvingly... NAH!

God-Breathed

From 2 Timothy 3: Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

The Bible is a dangerous thing. Throughout history, people have used portions of God's Word to do very stupid things, and some have even used it to justify horrific and vile actions against humanity. Many try to use it as a simplistic code for morality, and yet - even though they endeavor to follow it's principles to the letter - their life and their actions can't be said to be defined by love.

What is it about the Bible that is so confusing... so perplexing? It's by far the best selling book in the world (so I'm told) - heck, most households have at least one Bible, and the majority of Christians have several. One look at the shelves of a Christian bookstore and you can see why... there may be one Bible but a whole plethora of versions, translations, etc. There's a Bible for any particular sub-group to which you may belong. It's kind of embarrassing... 'cause I'm willing to bet that even though practically every American has access to at least one Bible, not too many people seem to actually read it.

But I don't know what's worse... not reading the Bible, or reading it in a vacuum... apart from a community of people who desire to interpret and live out the fullness of what the scriptures teach. I believe Paul when he says, "Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." But my experience and education have taught me that this "shaping" doesn't happen to isolated individuals - at least not very often - rather, it happens to people within an authentic community of faith. The problem, of course, is that not all communities are created (or shaped) equally. If those charged with proclaiming the scriptures seek to do anything more or less than love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (and consequently love their neighbor as themselves)... then the community won't be defined by the essence of God's character - that of self-emptying love.

So what's my point? Well, that's the beauty of a spiritual diary I suppose... it doesn't have to make complete sense! But Here's what I'm trying to articulate:

The Bible, in all it's beauty and mystery and authority, has been woefully misused and misunderstood over the centuries - both by the world and by God's people. It seems we either want to elevate it to the status of God (which is idolatry), or reduce it to a collection of nonsensical fables. But I don't believe the Bible should be force-fit into either of those categorical extremes.

It is not just a humanistic collection of stories... However, that claim cannot be understood apart from a hunger to know the person of God... the faith of a child to believe the Creator of the universe lives, and has made a way to communicate directly with His creation.

On the other hand, it is not divine either. The scriptures are not God... they are the witness of God... the revelation of God. How does the Bible reveal God? He is so gracious, He chose not to dictate every word that was written down... He didn't reveal Himself as abstract truth... Instead, He revealed Himself to a particular people, within a particular cultural context. Essentially, He gave the people what they could understand - the story of His grace interweaving through His fallen creation to redeem it. And that story of grace continues right up to the present day (and beyond). His Spirit helps us... within a community of faith... to interpret that same story for our own lives... enabling us to understand it in light of our own cultural context.

Therefore, the Bible is far more profound than what it may appear to be. My desire and calling is to inspire people to read it together... and interpret it together... and live it out together... It is the awesome story of God... the God who loves us... the God who emptied Himself... the God who came into this world in the only way that we could understand His love... the God who gave up His life for our sake. When it's all said and done, the Bible is not a simple collection of laws or principles for Christian living... it is ultimately about the Holy Person of Jesus Christ - the One who personally invites us to let His story be our story.