99 Things to do between Here and Heaven #3 Read a Gospel in one sitting

A lot of people have set out to read the entire bible in a year. They're often encouraged to read a chapter or two from an Old Testament book and then a chapter or two from a New Testament book, working their way through the whole thing over time. Of course, they finish the New Testament much more quickly than the Old - it's a lot shorter! Some folks simply start at Genesis and try to slog their way through the whole thing in the order we have it today. Generally, those folks get bogged down in Leviticus or Deuteronomy. What if we set our sights on a smaller chunk? Read a gospel (or any book of the Bible, for that matter) as if it were a short story all by itself (which it is!) and see if you don't have more luck.

"99 Things to do between Here and Heaven" suggests curling up with your Bible, a box of chocolates, your favorite beverage, or "whatever would usually accompany an evening's entertainment." Can you imagine yourself with a bowl of popcorn, or a cup of hot chocolate, or even a glass of wine and your Bible? Can you see yourself in your favorite recliner, or curled at the end of the couch, with an afghan over your lap and a cat curled by your side or the dog at your feet? I suspect most of us have a little trouble seeing ourselves with our Bible in that way. But, again, think of it as a collection of short stories (or, in the case of the Psalms, a collection of prayers, songs and poems) and set out to read one story at a time. Read it all the way through - without chopping it up into little vignettes like we do on Sunday morning. This isn't about dissection - it's about seeing the big sweep and the whole story that the writer might have been trying to tell. Some of these short stories will move you and some may bore you. Some may seem tedious, but watch for the gem hidden in it somewhere. And finish any book you start, even if you're not thrilled with it. At least then, if you say "I hate 2 Kings" at least you can do it honestly!

Let's get back to the Gospel stories for a minute. "99 Things..." does a nice job of explaining why the Gospels are so different. Each writer had an agenda and a style of their own. Mark is simple, straight forward and packed with action. It moves right along from one event to another. Matthew wanted to show how Jesus' life fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, so he included references to the scriptures that his Jewish audience would have been familiar with and made a point of drawing out the connections. Luke seems to have wanted to point out the purpose of Jesus' life in terms of salvation, reconciliation, and the renewal of God's people. And then John, who wrote much later than the others, and who stressed the notion that Jesus and God were part and parcel of each other - that Jesus was Divine - that Jesus was the very Word of God, "come to dwell among us." Reading each Gospel like a short story, from beginning to end, will help us see those trends and styles.

So, set aside a few evenings or early mornings if you prefer, and read the Gospels one by one, each as a complete story. "Take the entire, compelling sweep of [Jesus'] life in its excitement, tragedy and triumph." And one last thing: "Try to pretend you don't know how it ends."