Introducing the Psalms

The Psalms are the Bible’s model prayers. About half of them are written by the famous king David, as well known as a musician and worshipper as he was as a warrior and giant-slayer. There’s a psalm for almost every occasion we’re likely to experience in life. In the Psalms, we find beautiful songs of praise, testimonies to God’s goodness, pleas for help, and questions asked when things don’t work out as they’re supposed to. The Psalms are really meant to be prayed—sung even—rather than just read. I find that I get the most out of them when I adopt them as my own, praying them as my own prayers. I tend to pray them verbatim—doing so aloud and with gusto whenever possible seems to improve the experience immensely—but I know other people who use them as jumping off points into further prayer in their own words. You might even want to try occasionally reading a psalm aloud together with someone else. Take turns reading stanzas aloud. At the end of the psalm—or in the middle of longer psalms—you could jump off-book to pray further about the ways the psalm connects to your own current life circumstances.

Introducing Mark

The Gospel of Mark is the first and the shortest of the Bible's gospels.  It was written about 30 years after Jesus' crucifixion by a man named John Mark.  We're not sure whether or not John Mark knew Jesus personally during Jesus' time of earthly ministry, but we are pretty sure that Mark spent some time traveling with Simon Peter, one of Jesus' closest followers.  Apparently, Mark wrote down and collected Peter's stories about life with Jesus.  You'll notice that many of the stories have something of a Peter's eye view to them.

Mark's gospel is all about fast-paced action.  If it were a movie, it would feature plenty of West-Wing-style 'Walk and Talks' and Bourne-style shaky camera.  Mark's favorite word is 'immediately,' and compared to the other gospels, he places a much greater emphasis on Jesus' action than his words.  Jesus spends a lot of his time in Mark answering questions, but we don't get many formal sermons or lengthy teachings.

Given what I've just said, it might surprise you that I would recommend that you pay especially close attention to Jesus' words as you read Mark.  In Mark, Jesus doesn't say much, but what he does say is always very significant.  In fact, the first of his rare major teachings (the story of the farmer and the seeds in chapter four) is all about listening carefully to what he has to say.  It's worth noting what Jesus says-no matter how seemingly unimportant-and how people respond.

Another way to approach Mark is to gradually develop a picture of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus' very first words in Mark are essentially, 'Voilà, the Kingdom of God has now arrived, as if his presence brings with it a totally new, divine way of experiencing life.  If Jesus' actions and words are carriers of God's kingdom, what does that kingdom look like?

Introducing 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians is a letter from Paul, one of the church's early leaders, to a church he started in the city of Corinth in Greece.  Corinth was a fairly important city in ancient Greece.  It had been completely destroyed during the Roman conquest of Greece, but was then rebuilt by the Romans, not too long before 1 Corinthians was written.  Quickly after its rebuilding, because of its location on an important trade route, it became one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire.  So, it had some characteristics of an ancient city with a rich heritage, and some characteristics of a crass economic boom-town (My knowledge of Corinth's history comes from 'Letters to the Corinthians' in InterVarsity Press' Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, 172-173).  You'll notice in the 1 Corinthians elements of both of those things: on the one hand, the Corinthians take great pride in their connection to the proud tradition of Greek philosophy; and on the other hand, they seem to be pretty wild partiers.

As we read 1 Corinthians, it's helpful to keep in mind that we're reading a letter-in fact, we're reading one half of an exchange of letters.  Much of 1 Corinthians is Paul's response to a letter he has gotten from the Corinthians and to messengers who have come to him from Corinth.  The Corinthians seem to be fairly new to following Jesus.  While they can also in some ways be a bit proud and headstrong, they have many questions about how to apply their newfound faith to their circumstances.  Paul addresses their questions one by one.  Usually, his response gives you a pretty good idea of what the question was; it's sort of like overhearing one half of a phone conversation.  Sexual ethics, navigating life in a pluralistic environment, and bringing a helpful structure to their common worship are their three major areas of concern.

The conversation continues in 2 Corinthians, which we start reading toward the end of the 40 Days.

In applying the lessons of 1 Corinthians to our lives, it's helpful to recognize that he's writing to a specific group of people with specific questions and problems.  It's not always possible or helpful to apply Paul's instructions without some interpretation.  A helpful sequence of questions for me is,

What problem or question is Paul addressing?
What is his answer to the Corinthians?
What's the general principle behind his answer?
Are there circumstances in my life where that principle would apply?
What would it look like for me to take Paul's advice?

Introducing Genesis 37-50

Genesis 37-50 is the story of Joseph, he of the famous Technicolor Dreamcoat.  I don't think this story takes much introduction.  It's a superbly told, gripping tale, full of exciting things like sibling rivalry, sex, revenge, dramatic reversals of fortune, natural disasters, and unexpected reunions.  I suggest that you enjoy the ride, and along the way ask yourself what you learn about yourself and about God from Joseph's story.

By the way, early on in the Joseph story, we have our first editorial omission on the part of the makers of the liturgical calendar.  They skip chapter 38, which is a brief digression from Joseph's story to a story about his brother Judah and Judah's daughter-in-law Tamar.  In case you read the story despite its omission, it might be worth a comment or two.  Here's what I'd say: the story of Judah and Tamar is one of the weirdest and most unsettling stories in the Bible.  I don't know that there's much to gain from it, except for awareness that family dysfunction is by no means a modern invention.  A helpful thing to know is that, in Tamar's cultural context, a woman didn't have the ability to provide for herself; she was dependent upon a husband, a father, or a son to care for her.  Basically, this whole story is about what Tamar has to go through to insure that she's provided for.  It's terribly unfair.  Any payoff from this story comes much later, when we learn that Tamar's child ends up being an ancestor of the great King David and, therefore, of Jesus.

Anyway, after Joseph's story, we start reading Exodus, which continues the story exactly where Genesis leaves off.  Both Genesis and Exodus are written by Moses, the great leader who, by God's power, rescues the Israelites (the descendants of Joseph's father Jacob) from Egypt, introduces them to God, and leads them to the land God gives them.

The Holy Week readings

During all of Lent, our readings have the subtle flavor of fasting and repentance.  In Holy Week, though, that flavor really comes to the fore.  To some extent, we briefly digress from our normal reading schedule to instead read Bible passages which quickly build toward the commemoration of Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.  We'll pray more psalms than we usually do, and they'll be psalms that match the gospel reading.  Similarly in the New Testament readings, 2 Corinthians will be joined by seasonally appropriate passages from other New Testament letters (and, as I mentioned before, we return to finish up 1 Corinthians after Easter).  The Old Testament readings for the week are where the themes of fasting, mourning, and grief reach actually reach their highest pitch: we'll be reading Lamentations, which is a poem the prophet Jeremiah wrote when he saw Jerusalem destroyed by foreign invaders.

Then, the mood completely changes on Easter Sunday, as we suddenly shift from mourning to dancing and a new season of celebration begins.