Let the Word of Christ…

…dwell in you richly. Colossians 3. What do you think St. Paul envisioned when he wrote that? No doubt, at that early stage there were collections of saying from Jesus; there was the “tradition,” the Creed, if you will, that St. Paul cites in 1 Cor. 15; and what we assume were ancient Christian hymns like in Philippians 2:5-11. But I think we do a disservice to link it ONLY with these seminal bits of what would become our New Testament. The Word of Christ, I suspect, for St. Paul wasn’t merely the “lens” (the Gospel kerygma) but what the lens was trained upon, the Scriptures of the Old Testament. 

I think Paul is telling the Colossians here: move into the Old Testament. Make it your home. I know for many of you (Gentiles) it’s an adopted home. But you have now the key (the Gospel kerygma) to open up every door of the place and make yourself at home there. Learn the stories inside and out. Ponder them, and if you don’t quite get why it’s significant to learn about Benaiah killing the lion in a pit on a snowy day or about the big deal over Zelaphehad’s daughters; that’s cool. Just become familiar with the whole story (well, collections of stories) and wander around them so often that you actually begin to feel at home even with the caul (long lobe) of the liver and the blood on the high priest’s big toe and the completely shaven Levites. 

But YOU have at your disposal ways that St. Paul could not even begin to dream of living in these stories and letting them live in you. I want to share the ways I try to live in the Bible and let it live in me. They may not be your cup of tea, you may not ultimately find them helpful, but it’s sort of how I’ve settled into making myself “at home” in the Biblical narrative.

First, as a basic framework, there is Treasury of Daily Prayer, using the daily lectionary of Lutheran Service Book. Use just this year by year and you’ll develop a decent “map” to hold in your head of the Bible, particularly when combined with the observance of the Church Year and the Divine Service on Sundays. Treasury, of course, uses the English Standard Version.

Second, for about the last ten months after finishing with Treasury, I pray a form of Matins using my handy dandy King James Version from England. (This version is invaluable not only for containing the Apocrypha, but for providing all the textual notes that originally were published with the KJV; the longer I use it, the more grateful I become for those helpful little notes). After the opening versicles, I read from the monthly Psalter. The Treasury provides a table that duplicates the way the Book of Common Prayer first suggested praying this, and I think it’s the best “system” out there. Through the entire David once a month, and I have the Psalms marked with a dot to show when a section has come to an end. Then a chapter usually from the Old Testament (on saints festivals and such, from the Apocrypha), the Te Deum, a chapter from the New Testament (running three times in a year from Matthew through Acts), the Benedictus, and closing prayers from The Lutheran Prayer Companion. In the afternoon, sometime around 3 or later, I pray Vespers along the same lines. The only real difference is that the canticles are Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and that the second reading is a chapter that runs sequentially from Romans through Jude (occasionally from Revelation). That daily office constitutes the core of my daily Bible reading and the pattern is from the original King James Bible (I put it all in a spreadsheet and am happy to share it with anyone who wants to give it a whirl).

But I find that such an approach, which gives me what I think of decent scope, doesn’t get me through the whole Bible as often as I’d like. For that I use an audible version of the KJV read by Christopher Glyn. I actually listen to this as I do my workout. So yes between walking, pushups, pullups, and kettlebell swings, the words of Scripture wash over me. I don’t mind if I get distracted. The goal here is not in-depth study, but getting a handle on the big picture and the recurring patterns. And it amazes me the odd stuff I notice in hearing the Scriptures that I NEVER see when I’m just reading, or studying the words in detail. 

Finally, there is also the deeper study necessary for my daily podcast or for preaching for chapel or for church. That’s a different kind of pondering and approach yet again. 

Add it all together and I find that each different way of living with the Bible yields such a different experience and benefit. The questions that arise from one way of experiencing the Word differ hugely from those when it is experienced the other way. And so I’ve found that sticking with all of them has been a massive blessing. And I wonder if there are ways of experiencing it that I’ve not discovered…yet. Any ideas or thoughts from you all?