Do you remember "98.6" from the late 1960s? It still plays on the Oldies stations. It was originally recorded by Keith; his version sold over a million copies and climbed to #7 on the Billboard chart. Or maybe you heard the Lesley Gore cover when she sang it as a medley with "Lazy Day."
Its catchy tune and easy lyrics make for a very singable experience. It's essentially a love song about a person who’s very happy to have his/her love (the 98.6 in the lyrics) back.
But, what does it mean?
The 98.6 references what is universally considered to be the normal body temperature of a healthy human. Everyone who originally heard the song understood that particular reference.
There's just one problem: it's not true.
We are taught from our youth that 98.6° Fahrenheit is the "normal" body temperature; that one degree higher suggests illness; two degrees higher and we're looking at a real fever. Get out the meds. But, the truth is that 98.6° is just a number representing an average "normal" temperature.
Humans are unique; no one of us is exactly like any other of us.
My normal body temp is 97.0°. In my case, a temperature reading of 98.6 might be cause for some alarm ... if not for that pesky and persistent belief —even among the medically trained— that it is normal.**
But that's just one example. One of the other supposed truths is that, in the Bible, the Old Testament (OT) is not as important as the New Testament (NT).
Now, that's not a crazy thought. If you are a christian, the NT is rich in value; ranging from how to become a christian, to how to live as one, to how to get along with other people who are trying to do the same thing, to how to live among people who do not believe as you do. With all that crammed into the NT, some might downplay the value of the books that preceded it.
That, however, would be a mistake. As William Faulkner famously wrote: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
When I was a young adult, I heard a preacher say, "If you don't see Jesus on every page of the Bible, you're reading it wrong." This was completely counter to what I had been raised to believe: that the OT was useful, primarily, as a place we could go to understand Jewish history. I'm not sure I completely agree with that preacher's statement, but at the time it was a galvanizing charge for me. I found myself reading through the OT with fresh eyes.
Pretty quickly, I saw what that preacher was getting at; there is a massive amount of OT scripture that relates to Jesus and the purpose of His incarnation. Did you know that in His teachings, Jesus quoted the OT book of Deuteronomy more than any other scripture? And Jesus quoted a lot of Old Testament when he spoke.
I know: it surprised me, too.
You see just that kind of OT/NT linkage in this week's Lectionary passage from Romans. I recommend you read those 10 verses and consider what Paul is saying to the believers in Rome. Remember, they only had what we call the OT; the NT was yet to be assembled, and much of it had not even been written at that point. Paul's message is for us, too.
So, whatever your "normal" body temperature, you can spend time reading all of scripture, with the expectation that God has something for you there. If they’ve been missing from your life, it’ll be good to have them back, again.
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A version of this reflection originally appeared during Advent in 2016.
**There are several books written about the uniqueness of each and every human. My favorite is "You are Extraordinary" by Roger J. Williams. In it he states, "If we continue to try to solve problems on the basis of the average man, we will be continuously in a muddle, because the concept of 'the average man’ is a muddle. Such a man does not exist."
Photo: http://www.45cat.com/record/72639
For a blast from the past, listen to Keith sing 98.6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzytFCqYit4&list=RDmzytFCqYit4&start_radio=1
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Second Sunday of Advent (December 8, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=2
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
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I hope you can join us at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast Friday morning. We meet at 8:00 for an exceptional hour. We visit, eat, read scripture, and engage in a robust exchange of ideas.
Nothing "normal" about it.
Blessings,
Steve
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