Not by Bread Alone: A Diet Plan for Bible Reading

Here's my plan. Consider it like a diet—a sort of "Whole 30" for Bible reading. 

• Read a chapter of Ephesians everyday (6 chapters = 1/day) and then read the whole letter in one sitting on the 7th day. After 4 months of this, God's words will be "in your bones" as Jeremiah says. Seriously. You'll find that you have large portions of it memorized. 
• Everyday spend time with a chunk of the text. (See your Literary Context assignment for details on how to divide the letter and/or a commentary.) Do this after reading your chapter for the day. Don't try to spend 1 day / chunk, but spend time with the chunk until you feel like you've worked through it sufficiently—similar to the level of a WB assignment or the EP assignment. I'd encourage you to keep your journal in a WB assignment with a section for secondary sources (like commentaries). You may spend 2–5 days with your chunk. 
• Incorporate Lectio Divina. As part of your time with each chunk, lead off and/or finish up that passage's study with time in Lectio Divina. Instructions are in GGW and the previous course announcement.
• Alongside the previous point, purchase two of your favorite commentaries. I'd recommend Stott and Snodgrass, but there are more technical commentaries—and simpler ones, too. 
• TECHNICAL COMMENTARIES: If you're studying Greek, I can't recommend Hoehner's commentary enough. It is like an applied Greek course. See also Clinton Arnold's.
• EASY-TO-READ: for any book of the Bible, consider the For Everyone series. Really helpful! Also consider Lynn Cohick's, which is something on the level of Snodgrass'.
• Commentary Survey: For any book of the Bible, knowing which commentaries are best can be daunting. Check out this survey, which I've found to be exceptional in its evaluation of commentaries. Also check out the appendix in GGW. 
• Scott Duvall (GGW author) is really passionate about Bible study curriculum/workbooks. He's written one for Ephesians! This might be a worthwhile investment for you if you dive into my plan here. 
• Don't go it alone. 
• Join someone in a season-long journey through Ephesians. (I recommend 3–4 months!)
• Beyond the 1 chapter/day, work out a plan for the next 2 weeks. (You only need to work 2 weeks in advance.) 
• Grab a meal every week with the person/group to talk through how it's going and plan the next couple of weeks. 
• After deciding what your study will look like, compare notes. Push one another with grace and gentleness to do better work—because better reading is only better for us as we join in God's mission. 

Welcome Home

This is an excerpt from a project that I've been working on for myself, a collection of memories of "Manama," my grandma, Clara Bartel. 

“Knock knock!” I shout as I push open the screen door. "Come in," she hollers back. It has been a long time since the days when she waited for me on the front porch. She knows I’m coming. I called earlier to ask if it was alright. “Yeah. Come on,” she had said. Of course it’s alright. And of course she’s not busy. She’s too old to be busy, as she often says. But I call out so as not to scare her. Though I doubt that she’s scared of much these days. I reckon she’s too old to be scared of much, either. Come to think of it, she's never been one for fear. 

I walk into her place surprised, even though I've prepared myself for what I’ll find there. Contrary to the laws of the universe, I know that the house has somehow shrunk over the last twenty-five years. I find it smaller each time I enter. Here I’m a giant in a dollhouse. I know that I can rationalize it by reminding myself that the time I spent here was when I was much smaller. It is my body that has grown and not the house that has shrunk. But stepping over that threshold, hearing her voice, smelling the smell of the place—it all does something to me. I’m transported back to a time before having my own kids, before getting married, before moving off to college, before puberty and the summer when I “grew like a beanstalk.” It’s the time-travel that makes it hard to believe that the house hasn’t shrunk. 

I tell her she doesn’t have to get up. But, of course she does. Slower this time than when I last visited. We give our hugs and greetings. As I hug her, I realize that she’s smaller than I remember, too. This, I remind myself is not because I’m the one who has changed. She settles back into the EZ-chair where, I reckon, she spends about eighty-five percent of her time these days. She doesn’t have to ask us to sit down; I choose another EZ-chair, knowing to avoid the couch, which will swallow you alive. (Terese, apparently, does not remember this important factoid.) We’re already making ourselves at home. The boys need no reminder about where the toys are stashed and head straight for the cabinet. 

The conversation runs in familiar grooves. We talk about the trip, offering our standard schpeal about the long drive with little people. When we left. Where we stopped for the night. She always asks, “How long you plannin’ on stayin’?” I’m never sure how she feels about our answer, but it seems that she’s always a little disappointed that it isn’t longer—and this is without judgment, only love. We ask her about the family—starting with the near-relations and moving on to those who live in the area. We ask about church and friends. These conversations are filled with frequent and long pauses. 

These pauses used to be filled only with relentless "tick tock" of the old clock above the couch. But no longer. The boys, by now, have emptied the cabinet of several large trucks. The sounds of the toys take me back thirty years. Many of the trucks were bonafide antiques even then. All of them, I daresay, would easily classify as such now. But they’re still running strong proving true the platitude that, “They don’t make ‘em like they used to.” The metal trucks clang against one another, the farm animals bounce in the bed of the trailer, the wheels make their familiar clamor on the dining room linoleum. 

And so it is that I begin to settle in to the *Shalom* of the place and the person whose life makes it a place of peace. I am welcomed home. 

Law / Gospel?

This post is a response to the standard Law / Gospel dichotomy. 

It is too bad that we think about the "Law" as something that is bad. It is written by God for the good of his people. Here I'll make three brief points with some Scriptures to chew on.

The "Law" describes itself very differently. Jesus and Paul describe the "Law" very differently. 

The "Law" talks about itself as a blessing, something that guides us into right living, something that teaches the people of God how to be the people of God.

• Why do we do the stuff written in the Law? (Sounds like a question my 6 year old would ask.) Deut 6:20–25
• I need to elaborate a little at this point, because it is at the foundation of the problems of the "Law / Gospel" distinction. In the OT, the "Law" itself does not say that someone needs to do the "Law" in order to win God's favor. Just like in the NT, God shows his favor freely, that is, by grace. Notice what this passage says: We do it because "God brought us up out of Egypt." This is the Salvation Story of the Old Testament. The "Law" is done, then, as a response to God. God acts and the only reasonable reaction to God's action. If God is going to do this thing (save me) then he deserves anything out of me that he wants. But what does he want from me? The "Law" tells us what he wants.
• In this vein, we need to ask another of Deuteronomy's questions: How great is it that God has shown us how to be like him? (Deut 4:1–14) (Other god's don't do this!)
• Can we actually DO the Law? (Deut 30:11–14; and see Jeremiah quoting this passage when describing the New Covenant in 31:31–34.)

Jesus talks about the Law very differently.

• But this is often quite subtle. We miss it because we don't have Deuteronomy oozing out of us. But, go read Deuteronomy every day for a month and it'll start showing up everywhere in the Bible. In the Bible, Deuteronomy is like the Office: the show that everyone quotes from and everyone knows when it is being quoted.
• For example, when Jesus meets Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus repents, turns his life around, and does the right thing. We don't see that what he actually does is the "Law." (I realize that it's not an exact correlate, but the idea comes from Lev. 6:1–7.)
• Or, notice that Jesus' critique isn't against the "Law" but against bad interpretations of it: "You're so busy weighing your mint and cumin that you neglect the weightier matters of the Law." Notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say: The Law is bad. Don't do it. 
• Or, take the passages where Jesus teaches the "Law." He teaches NOT like their teachers of the Law, but as one with authority. For those of us who believe that the Bible is authored by God, this shouldn't surprise us. Jesus teaches the Law with authority because he is its author. 
• Or, notice when Jesus is asked about the Law, he tells stories. The Good Samaritan is one of these stories. And notice the point of the story, Jesus' last words in reference to it: "Go and DO likewise." 
• Finally, notice that when Jesus is tempted, he quotes from Deuteronomy. The man had it in his head and used it to fight the enemy. It's too bad that we think the Law is the enemy. It's like the enemy has convinced us to do battle without our sword... 

It might surprise you to hear me say that Paul thought about the Law very differently, too. 
But, let's start with a basic historical fact and then some passages where Paul lays out the basics:

• First, when Paul was writing, the NT was not the NT. His Bible was the OT. So, when Paul says these basic things, he's talking about the OT: 
• The Word of God is the only offensive weapon in the metaphorical armor described by Paul.
• The Word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. (These are all terms, by the way, that parallel what Deuteronomy says about the "Law," but more on that below.)
• I know that there might be exceptions to this, but we shouldn't overlook that this is the baseline of Paul's thinking about the Law. I say baseline because he's using general statements and not getting into the nitty-gritty. 
• Second, even the places where Paul says something negatively about the "Law," he is like Jesus talking about folks who have interpreted the Law a certain way—that is, misinterpreted it. 
• So, when he says: "The law, with it's rules and ordinances, has been abolished..." (Eph 2:15) he says it in a context where he's criticizing certain Jewish folks who have misread and misused the law, and used it to trounce other people.
• There may be exceptions, but we should always attend to the conversation that Paul is having and not the conversation that we're having, and less the conversation we want Paul to be having.
• Third, Paul uses the Law in the way that the Law itself says it should be used.
• Without some standard of behavior, there are no standards of behavior. Do we really think that Paul is advocating a Christianity without certain standards of behavior? If this is true, then is murder alright? Sleeping around? Worshipping other gods? If we agree that Paul does have standards, do we then think that Paul made these standards up on the spot? Perhaps the Spirit led him to new standards? This is certainly possible, but the new standards are so very similar to the old ones. And this is not to mention that Paul, given his training, would have had the Law (especially Deuteronomy) memorized. Deuteronomy was like your favorite quotable movie. It was just part of his regular vocabulary and outlook on life. Paul had, I would argue, let the words of the Law be written on his heart. He had them pressed upon him as a child, he talked about them while sitting or walking, while lying in bed, and when he got up. He had them metaphorically (or maybe literally) tied to his clothes and forehead. (See the great command in Deut 6.) These words were everywhere for him. 
• One example is enough to prove false the claim that Paul didn't use Deuteronomy to support his expectations for Christian behavior. (Though many more could be offered.) 
• Let's take 1 Corinthians 5. Here Paul quotes and/or alludes extensively from/to Law passages. Here he suggests that the Law tells us that we shouldn't sleep with our father's wife. Notice that he doesn't appeal to Roman or Greek customs. He appeals to the "Law." 

And, finally, you'll notice that I've been putting "Law" in "quotation marks." This is because "Law" is a gross mistranslation that has a long history. But the word that the "Law" uses to describe itself, the word that we translate as "Law" is Torah. This is a word that means "teaching." So, I propose that
1.) we start reading the "Law"
2.) we whenever we see or hear the "Law" we think "teaching" instead
3.) we read the NT without a critical eye to the NT's Scriptures
4.) we take the yoke of Jesus' teaching upon us, in other words, we accept his gracious offer of forgiveness and then respond by going and doing likewise.

"Bible Studies"

Today, my reading has me digging into the work of Norbert Lohfink, a (the?) preeminent German Old Testament Scholar—who happens to be Roman Catholic (Jesuit priest). He is nearly 90 years old. The word "prolific" can hardly contain his career. His list of published works is 80 (that's right eight-zero) pages long! (link)

In addition to some heavy academic lifting, Dr. Lohfink has also done much to leverage his considerable knowledge and study for the benefit of the church. He has contributed a whole lot of stuff to the liturgical readings (daily Scripture readings of [in this case] the Roman Catholic Church), translation, etc., etc.

This reminded me of a conversation that I had recently with someone doing "Bible studies" at church and a tragedy of the contemporary American Evangelical scene. In what follows, I mean no disrespect, but I do wish to offer a challenge. (Change can't happen without at least acknowledging that something is not as good as it could/should be.)

The tragedy is not that there aren't the equals of Dr. Lohfink (there are!), but that the average church-goer doesn't want to listen to them. Instead, we listen to folks who have fame or flash or "woo" but lack substance. For proof, just look at a list of the "Bible Studies" on offer in any Christian bookstore. (For example, and be sure to sort by "bestseller.")

My experience in teaching college students (both the traditional 19 year old but especially the non-traditional adult student) how to hone their Bible reading skills, I have identified a few problems. 

1. An underlying and un-examined imbibing of our culture's veneration of fame. (I could invoke the current political race and Evangelical participation in it to prove my point, but I'll refrain...oh wait, whoops.)
2. An underlying and un-examined distrust or even fear of academic study of the Bible. It befuddles me that we'd rather trust someone from the bestseller list than someone who has dedicated their life to studying Scripture, has parsed through important and difficult issues, *and remains faithful to the Lord in the midst of it*. There are *many* people like Dr. Lohfink within the Evangelical tradition. 
3. But academics aren't off of the hook here. These brilliant, creative, faithful people seem to lack the creativity and expertise to write such material. There are notable exceptions. (See here and especially here.) But we should also note that these studies aren't jumping off of the shelves.

Bibliography for Biblical Interpretation

This is a post that will need to be updated more often than it will be updated. But, check back every 9 months or so for new entries.

First, USE THE LIBRARY! 

There are many great resources available via ebook at TIU's library. Note, though, that there are several that I'd say are either, not fantastic resources or are outside the comfort of Evangelical conservative views about the Bible. Just be careful. 

But for your own library and personal study: 

·      The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook. I'm not just saying this because it's written by Duvall and Hays. I'm saying it because it won many book awards when it came out a couple of years ago. (You're familiar with the Ephesians entry.) 

·      Commentaries: 

·      Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary. Is the companion to the Handbook. It's good, too. 

·      IVP Bible Background Commentary: There's one for the OT and NT. 

·      There's a newer commentary in the same vein, but it's more expensive. OT and NT.

Bible Dictionary: 

·      This is a helpful tool, but not as necessary as the others. (If you're careful, you can often find enough information online.)

·      Zondervan Bible Dictionary

·      Baker Bible Dictionary

Concordance:

·      This is often a requirement for a course like this one. (Remember the chapter on Word Studies?) Personally, I think that this is worth the cost of a Bible software like Logos or Accordance or BibleWorks. 

·      If you must purchase a paper-copy, consider which translation you're most familiar with, then choose the Strong's Concordance for that translation. Remember the principles of Word Studies: It doesn't matter what the English word is, but what is the Greek/Hebrew word(s) behind that this word is translating. 

BlueLetterBible:

·      I've spent some time here. The problem is that it doesn't provide you with the Greek/Hebrew words for each translation. You can do this with NASB and KJV, but this is pretty limited. 

·      There's word that the ESV is coming out with a similar tool for the ESV. That would be awesome. 

Greek and Hebrew and word study tools:

·      After you've figured out the word you're looking for with a concordance or BlueLetterBible, you're still left with most of the work. These tools are written by scholars who are good at this kind of work––they know Greek and Hebrew really well. 

·      First: Greek:

o   Verlyn Verbrugge's New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (The guy has a super awesome name!) This is an adequate resource and for $35 it's affordable, too. 

o   The full version is quite a bit more expensive ($135), but a great resource. 

·      For the OT, there is no abridged version.

o   But this set is fantastic! 

o   There is an inferior volume that's only $37 Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.

·      Sometimes you can find these sets on the cheap. But you have to keep your eyes open. You can also get them in a Bible software package. Personally, if you're going to drop the money to buy one of these more expensive ones, you'd be better off with the software. For just a little more, you get the convenience of clicking a word and it opening the dictionary to the right entry. Plus you can usually add them as a bigger set for a good discount. 

A further note on commentaries:

o   Not all commentaries are created equal. There are sets of commentaries that cover individual books for the whole Bible (or most of the Bible). The ones I'd recommend for y'all:

o   NIV Application Commentary. You're familiar with Snodgrass's Ephesians commentary in this set. The whole set is frequently on sale for these Bible software companies. 

o   Bible Speaks Today You're familiar with Stott's commentary in this series. While this one is older, it often has some really great contributions.

o   Teach the Text is a new series that doesn't have many books out yet, but the initial volumes are really fantastic. 

o   You can also check out a fairly reliable list of the best commentaries here. See also the most recent edition of the Commentary Survey. There's one for the OT and NT. (These links will not be updated to the most recent edition, so you'll need to do some digging.) 

Books that can enhance your study of the Bible:

o   Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. Obrien. This is a fantastic book that will help you to answer the important question: ‘What do I bring to the text?’

o   Narrative Criticism of the New Testament by James L. Resseguie. This book will walk you through narrative categories to understand the ways that the New Testament’s narratives are laid out. Note that it focuses on the NT, but it is a helpful orientation to the OT as well.

Bible Studies and Group Studies:

o   Experiencing God’s Story of Life and Hope by J. Scott Duvall. This study is useful in several contexts––classroom, Bible study, Sunday School, or even as a church-wide study coupled with a sermon series. And, of course, written by Duvall, it is solid interpretation. However, it is not a Bible study, per se. Rather, it walks the reader through God’s story, exploring at each stage along the way what we believe, how we behave, and what we are becoming.

o   The Story: This is a fine read on its own, but there are also study materials to go alongside it by Max Lucado and Randy Frazee. The study materials are alright, but I would couple The Story with another book such as Living God’s Word (a companion to Grasping God’s Word by Duvall and Hays) or Telling God’s Story by Vang and Carter. In fact, this is perhaps the best way to begin someone on a plan of biblical literacy. Not only are you reading the Bible (The Story is biblical text), but you also have commentary that guides you through the overarching biblical narrative.

Books for Spiritual Formation:

o   These books provide a reliable guide for growing in Christ and into Christlikeness.

o   After You Believe (N. T. Wright)

o   The Radical Disciple (John Stott)

o   Renovation of the Heart (Dallas Willard)

A note on choosing reliable resources:

o   There are specific Evangelical publishers that publish books that are exclusively written by evangelical scholars. (Evangelical = believe the Bible is inerrant the Word of God) Checking out the publisher is the first thing you should do when picking up any book––because you can learn a lot about a book by its publisher! Here are some of the most common (and generally reliable) Evangelical publishers.

o   IVP

o   Baker

o   Zondervan

o   Kregel

o   Brazos

o   Crossway

o   Moody

o   B&H (Broadman & Holman)

o   David C. Cook

o   Tyndale

All of this stuff makes for great Christmas and birthday gift ideas––especially if you’re working in a local church. You can also take classes where books like these are required and build your library that way :). 

Laying Hands on: Transfer of Sin?

One of the most common misconceptions about the Old Testament sacrificial system is that someone laid his hands on the head of an animal that was to be sacrificed in order to transfer sin to the animal. This, so the common thinking goes, is how sin was taken care of.

There are a few problems with this understanding. First, it reduces all of the sacrificial system to "dealing with sin." This says more about us than it does about the ancient Israelites. We're so focused on "evangelism" and "getting saved" and "dealing with our sin" that we don't have much space of building and maintaining a relationship with the God of the Universe. But the sacrifices of the OT were for this relationship maintenance. This is why YHWH was so angry about sacrifices: A jilted husband does not want to receive a gift from his hooker-wife. You can't maintain a relationship that's broken. Relationships are, if we would stop to think about it, more complicated than an initial meeting. The sacrificial system allows many ways for YHWH's people to interact with YHWH: presenting him with gifts, as a way to show that someone has completed a promise, to just say "Thanks!"

A second problem with this understanding is that it shows that we don't understand the nature of YHWH's presence. In the tabernacle and temple setup, YHWH's space is "Most Holy" or the "Holy of Holies." We could translate this Hebrew phrase as "completely Holy." Perhaps we can see the problem now: A person couldn't transfer his sin to an animal and then offer it to YHWH in the "completely Holy" space. NO! YHWH demanded the best, purest animals. How many times do the instructions require an animal "without defect?" You wouldn't dream of defiling an animal by putting your sins on it!

There is one exception that proves the rule: The Day of Atonement. This is an annual cleaning. You might think of it like "Spring Cleaning." But the goal isn't to remove all of the dust or clutter. Rather the sins of the past year that defiled the sanctuary were to be removed. "In this way he (Aaron) will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites (Lev 16:16." Notice what he's atoning: not the people, but the sanctuary. Like Spring Cleaning, the atonement act removes the mess from the sanctuary. In other words, it doesn't bring sin into the sanctuary, but removes sin from the sanctuary.

When the High Priest has finished this, he then takes a second goat. "He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites––all their sins––and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness (Lev. 16:20-22))." Note that the sin is removed now from the entire camp and released in the wilderness. "Get it away!" is the idea here.

Laying hands on an animal doesn't transfer sin––except on the Day of Atonement when the sin isn't brought into the sanctuary, but sent away. In the system set up with the tabernacle, where YHWH lives among his people, sin must be removed from YHWH's presence and the presence of his people.

So, what does laying hands on an animal accomplish? Let's put ourselves in the sandals of an Israelite. We bring our best animal to the Tabernacle as a gift to YHWH, a way to maintain our relationship with him, to say "thank you" for the ways that the has delivered us in big and small ways. Imagine the bustle that is probably going on. We show up with our animal and bring it to the front of the sanctuary with lots of other folks and their goats. We put our hands on its head to say: "This one is mine. It is my gift to you."

It would probably be helpful to take a minute to imagine and reenact this scene.

Go ahead, imagine for a minute . . . 

If we think about it, we have rituals for gift giving, too. We wrap our gifts or stick them in a special bag. We identify who the gift is for and who its from. If its an occasion when we open the gift in the presence of the giver, there are more rituals to follow: We open the card first, We say "Thank you for you kind words." We then tear into the paper. At the end, we probably give a hug and express our thanks. Then, within an acceptable amount of time, we send a note in the mail to say "Thanks."

This laying on of hands was simply part of their ritual in making explicit that this gift is from me. This makes sense if sacrifices aren't primarily about "getting in" or "taking care of my sin." Rather, they show the givers' gratitude for all that YHWH has done, i.e. in saving and delivering. But most importantly (because it's the way the text presents the gifts) it is the way to show gratitude that YHWH lives among the people. What kind of God actually lives with his people?

- - - - - - -

This also makes sense of Paul's admonition: Offer your bodies as living sacrifices . . .  In other words, this is the way that you thank God for his presence in you and among his people: follow him with your whole self.

The Having a baby in October has been a significant part of my Advent practice this year. 

YHWH brought peace through a baby. For those of us who are close enough to little babies and have not yet repressed our memories, this is entirely unexpected…ridiculous even. 

But we do repress these memories. 

Aside from cuteness, this, I think, is because babies bring with them a new normal. For such small people they wield much power. They completely alter any kind of normal and impose a new normal. But here we find ourselves (I use the plural pronoun loosely!): spending eight hours each day feeding the kid, getting no more than 5 hours of sleep at any time, learning how to care for a 5 and 2 year old while caring for the small one. 

This year the Coxen5 are trying to celebrate Christmastide––or the twelve days of Christmas which occur after Christmas. The season of Advent (the time leading up to Christmas) guides us in waiting for the coming of Christ. Christmastide guides us to normalize life with this baby. 

I'm thinking of Christmastide as a kind of maternity/paternity leave. Each year the church calendar gives us 12 days of FMLA . . .  


The baby has come! And now his tiny cries impose a new kind of normal. 

Are we willing to live into his interruptions and welcome the Kingdom where this baby is King?
   Whenever it comes near? Even if at 2 a.m.?
   Wherever it comes near? Even in places where we're busy doing something else?
   In whomever it comes near? Whether the significant or insignificant? 

Joy to the world,
The Lord has come!
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world,
The Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains 
Repeat the sounding joy

The Having a baby in October has been a significant part of my Advent practice this year. 

YHWH brought peace through a baby. For those of us who are close enough to little babies and have not yet repressed our memories, this is entirely unexpected…ridiculous even. 

But we do repress these memories. 

Aside from cuteness, this, I think, is because babies bring with them a new normal. For such small people they wield much power. They completely alter any kind of normal and impose a new normal. But here we find ourselves (I use the plural pronoun loosely!): spending eight hours each day feeding the kid, getting no more than 5 hours of sleep at any time, learning how to care for a 5 and 2 year old while caring for the small one. 

This year the Coxen5 are trying to celebrate Christmastide––or the twelve days of Christmas which occur after Christmas. The season of Advent (the time leading up to Christmas) guides us in waiting for the coming of Christ. Christmastide guides us to normalize life with this baby. 

I'm thinking of Christmastide as a kind of maternity/paternity leave. Each year the church calendar gives us 12 days of FMLA . . .  


The baby has come! And now his tiny cries impose a new kind of normal. 

Are we willing to live into his interruptions and welcome the Kingdom where this baby is King?
   Whenever it comes near? Even if at 2 a.m.?
   Wherever it comes near? Even in places where we're busy doing something else?
   In whomever it comes near? Whether the significant or insignificant? 

Joy to the world,
The Lord has come!
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world,
The Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains 
Repeat the sounding joy

A New Normal. A Christmastide Reflection.

The Having a baby in October has been a significant part of my Advent practice this year. 

YHWH brought peace through a baby. For those of us who are close enough to little babies and have not yet repressed our memories, this is entirely unexpected…ridiculous even. 

But we do repress these memories. 

Aside from cuteness, this, I think, is because babies bring with them a new normal. For such small people they wield much power. They completely alter any kind of normal and impose a new normal. But here we find ourselves (I use the plural pronoun loosely!): spending eight hours each day feeding the kid, getting no more than 5 hours of sleep at any time, learning how to care for a 5 and 2 year old while caring for the small one. 

This year the Coxen5 are trying to celebrate Christmastide––or the twelve days of Christmas which occur after Christmas. The season of Advent (the time leading up to Christmas) guides us in waiting for the coming of Christ. Christmastide guides us to normalize life with this baby. 

I'm thinking of Christmastide as a kind of maternity/paternity leave. Each year the church calendar gives us 12 days of FMLA . . .  


The baby has come! And now his tiny cries impose a new kind of normal. 

Are we willing to live into his interruptions and welcome the Kingdom where this baby is King?
   Whenever it comes near? Even if at 2 a.m.?
   Wherever it comes near? Even in places where we're busy doing something else?
   In whomever it comes near? Whether the significant or insignificant? 

Joy to the world,
The Lord has come!
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world,
The Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains 
Repeat the sounding joy

Ridiculous. An Advent Reflection.

Having a baby in October has been a significant part of my Advent practice this year. 

We sing a lot about how peaceful the baby Jesus was. This I doubt. 

We sing a lot about how the night was silent. Seriously? Childbirth is a lot of things, but silent is not one of them.

It would be difficult to say that babies bring peace. There's so much crying. So many late nights. So much crying late at night. Some may have you believe that babies are peaceful while they're sleeping. That's true, but it's not true for very long. They only sleep a couple of hours at at time. Then they start screaming again. 

Peace? My toe.

Yet, YHWH brought peace through a baby. For those of us who are close enough to little babies and have not yet repressed our memories, this is entirely unexpected…ridiculous even. 

Are we ready for the unexpected? Have we prepared the way for the ridiculous? 

The little cries of this little one bring peace. 

Ridiculous.

Interruptions. Ain't No Interruption like a . . .

I’ve reflected already about interruptions here.

Last Tuesday I shared with my small group that the Lord has been calling me to welcome interruptions. Later that week I would have my chance. 

Ain't no interruption like the norovirus interruption
cause the norovirus interruption don't stop

The five year old woke up puking each night from Friday-Monday. He puked a good chunk *pun* of the time during the day, too. 

We spent most of these days bleaching anything and everything. 
   We did laundry. (20+ loads. At $2/load, we counted.) 
   We made several trips to the store for some sick stuff. (bleach, gloves, soup, crackers . . . ) 
   We set a timer to remind the boy to drink every 10 minutes. 
   We started and restarted Curious George, Thomas and Friends, Charlie Brown's Christmas, etc. etc. etc. 
   We washed our hands raw. 
   We slept off the norovirus which had incubated in our own tummies. 

Oh yeah, and we have a really busy 2 year old who felt great. He really wanted to play with his sick best-friend. (The bug finally caught him, too. He's sleeping it off as I write.)

Oh yeah, we have a nursing baby. 

- - - - - - -

The Kingdom interrupts our normal lives and guides us into a new normal. 
   This new normal is the space where we tend to the presence of God among us. 
   This new normal is where we tend to one another … in our vomit––whether literal or not. 
   Because when our filth is on our faces and clothes is when the good news is most profound. 

But we have to prepare a way. We must be ready to welcome the Kingdom as it breaks through our normal. 

It is yet to be seen whether the norovirus-interruption will also interrupt our Christmas travel; we leave Chicagoland in five days. If so, we'll have another opportunity to welcome the interruption as a chance for the Kingdom to draw near. 

Interruptions. An Advent Reflection.

We recently welcomed a third boy to our family. In the six weeks since, I've given myself a paternity leave. I've not been studying for my tests. I've not been "productive." But what should have been a peaceful time with the family has been speckled with anxiety. 

Last Tuesday I shared with my small group that I had been anxious. The Lord was calling me to welcome interruptions––from large to small: large, like welcoming a baby into the world. Small, like putting down my book for five minutes to read another book. 

We had been talking about the Sunday's sermon where we heard good news: The Kingdom of God comes in interruptions. We were challenged to ask the question: Have we prepared a way for the Lord to interrupt our lives? How so?

I had to answer "No!" 

My answer is emphatic because the question so literally applies to my life. 

Have I prepared a way for the Lord? 

No. I'm anxious about little interruptions of little people. They're getting in my way. (I confess that while this it looks terrible on the screen, it looks worse in real-life.)

I need to hear: "the Kingdom belongs to such as these." 

   And "Whenever you welcome one of these little ones, you welcome me." 

   And "Whatever you do for the least of these, you have done for me." 

Into interruptions I hear the voice in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord!" He's coming! 

Or will I be too anxious to welcome his advent? Too busy to put my work down?

Have I prepared a way for the Lord? 

No. I've got this baby who has royally interrupted my life. 

   I'm not studying. 

      I'm not reading. 

         I'm not progressing. 

But there's nothing like a baby to interrupt life, to shake up what's normal so that we can be re-oriented to a new normal.

My question: 

Am I ready to be royally interrupted? Will I hear the angels, celebrating in the fields: "born this day, in the City of David, is a baby, who is Messiah King." 

That's a royal interruption if there ever was one. 

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Born a child and yet a king

This post has been simmering for a while. It has taken back-burner because of a significant interruption: Norovirus. I'll post about this tomorrow. Update: You can find this post here.