Good Friday – Salvation without Divine Violence

Last updated on: April 13, 2022 at 11:48 am By Bruce Epperly

GOOD FRIDAY: SALVATION WITHOUT DIVINE VIOLENCE What do you do with Good Friday and the Cross when you’ve abandoned the centrality of the doctrines of substitutionary atonement and the divine necessity of Jesus’ death? Like many progressive Christians, I grew up hearing the mantras “Jesus died for our sins,” “Jesus died so that we might have eternal life and escape God’s wrath,” “Jesus paid the price for our salvation,” and “Sin deserves death and Jesus stood in our place.” Recently,... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – Easter Sunday – April 17, 2022

Last updated on: April 9, 2022 at 5:34 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – Easter Sunday – April 17, 2022 Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 I Corinthians 15:19-26 John 20:1-18 and Mark 16:1-12 Despite the celebrations that attend the resurrection of Jesus, Easter is a challenge for most preachers. Perhaps more so this year, as we return to in-person worship in most parts of North America. We want to celebrate. We want to give thanks for new possibilities. We want an extra special sermon. We want to say something new... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – Palm/Passion Sunday – April 10, 2022

Last updated on: April 1, 2022 at 2:42 pm By Bruce Epperly

Palm-Passion Sunday – April 10, 2022 Bruce G. Epperly The Triumphant Entry Luke 19:28-40 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 The Passion of Jesus Isaiah 53:4-9a Psalm 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 Luke 23:1-49 At the ascending edge of Holy Week, the preacher must ponder whether to lean toward the violence and abandonment of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday or focus on the celebrative spirit of Palm Sunday or attempt a creative synthesis of both. Eventually we must deal with both to embrace the personal... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – Palm and Passion Sunday – April 10, 2022

Last updated on: April 1, 2022 at 2:38 pm By Bruce Epperly

Adventurous Lectionary – Fifth Sunday in Lent – April 3, 2022

Last updated on: March 27, 2022 at 11:35 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifth Sunday in Lent – April 3, 2022 Isaiah 43:16-21 Psalm 126 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8 The Fifth Sunday in Lent is an invitation to gratitude and adventure. The readings invite us to embrace God’s future while honoring the past. God is our help in ages past, and also our hope in years to come. God is constantly doing a new thing, and God’s new thing builds on God’s past faithfulness. God makes a way... Read more

Adventurous Lectionary – Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 27, 2022

Last updated on: March 18, 2022 at 8:52 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 31, 2019 Joshua 5:9-12 Psalm 32 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Lent is about simplification, confession, and transformation. It is personal but also communal and global. That we can embark on simplicity and confession – and turn around toward new paths – is grounded in the unconditional love of God and the challenges of accepting the “unworthy” – those whom we find unworthy (the Putins, Trumps, and white... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Third Sunday in Lent – March 20, 2022

Last updated on: March 14, 2022 at 5:12 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Third Sunday in Lent – March 20, 2022 Isaiah 55:1-9 Psalm 63:1-8 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9 Today’s readings join grace, challenge, and hope. Three readings mention thirst or water. God is graceful providing us with physical and spiritual nurture. Living waters and the bread of life are available from God without our efforts. What we need is already around and within us in this Holy Here and Now. Yet, we often – like the... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday in Lent – March 13, 2022

Last updated on: March 4, 2022 at 6:08 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday in Lent – March 13, 2022 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35 Today’s readings join hope, fear, and faith. Most of us have been unsettled by the “breaking news” of the Ukraine invasion and Russian aggression, not to mention political incivility, the news from the January 6 commission, and the assaults on democracy and human rights in the USA. We also are anxious about our modest response – and in... Read more

Ash Wednesday in a Time of War and Wonder

Last updated on: March 1, 2022 at 7:10 am By Bruce Epperly

Ash Wednesday is a day of contrasts – mortality and grace, confession and transformation, death and eternal life, sacrifice and beauty. Not an abstract religious holy day, Ash Wednesday reflects the concrete realities of our personal, political, and relational lives. Ash Wednesday awakens us to our common humanity as dusty and fallible creatures, in need of grace, repentance, and transformation. Life is beautiful, but often too short. This should be apparent to any member of the Medicare generation as well... Read more