The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twentieth Sunday of Pentecost – October 3, 2021 Job 1:1; 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-10; Mark 10:2-16 Today’s passages are problematic in many ways. They present a curious, if not, amoral or immoral image of God. Challenge our acceptance of divorce and portray the necessity of suffering and sacrifice, even by God, for the greater good. This week’s readings begin with a reflection on the prelude to the Book of Job, one of the... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 18 – September 26, 2021 Esther 7:1-6, 9-10: 9:20-22 Psalm 124 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50 This week’s lectionary readings focus on the many facets of healing both divine and human. God heals in many ways and through diverse people. There is no one healing path or modality, nor does any particular religious or medical tradition have a monopoly on divine healing. God heals through prayer, but also Prozac, as my friend Dale Matthews says; through... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 19, 2021 Proverbs 31:1-10 Psalm 1 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 Today’s scriptures are relational in nature and invite us to ponder the dual threads of relatedness, that is, relationship with others and relationship with God. We must examine our relationships to discern whether they are just and life-supporting, whether they add to or detract from the full humanity and wellbeing of others, and whether we are free (as... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 12, 2021 Proverbs 1:20-33 Psalm 19 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 Wisdom is at the heart of today’s readings. Transcendent, immanent, and universal Wisdom. Wisdom is the great teacher of humankind whose witness is present not only in the words of a teacher but in the orderly and creative patterns of the universe and our planet. Wisdom was in the beginning as God’s creative companion, moving through the macrocosm and... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 15 – September 5, 2021 Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 Psalm 125 James 2:1-17 Mark 7:24-37 Today’s readings reflect the concern for hospitality and affirmation as essential to faithful living. Despite our struggles to be welcoming, God’s realm breaks down the barriers of friend and stranger and rich and poor and invites us to do likewise. All of God’s children deserve our reverence and respect, regardless of nation of origin, gender and sexual identity, age, race,... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 29, 2021. Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-18, 14-15, 21-23 Today’s readings celebrate the “beauty of holiness” and the “holiness of beauty” as they join concern for the inner life with care for external behaviors. The join appreciation with action and romance with reformation. Love has many dimensions, all interdependent despite different foci – romance, justice-seeking, care for the vulnerable, and personal integrity revealed in... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 14 – August 22, 2021 I Kings 8:22—30, 40-41; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69 We live in a dark and yet wondrous time. A time of pandemic resurgence, the big election lie and the attempt to overturn the election, incivility, and the politicization and violence surrounding vaccinations and mask mandates. Frankly, a good portion of our nation appears to have gone mad, seduced by superficial understandings of freedom and misinformation regarding science, not to... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 15,2021 I Kings 2:10-12; 3:13-14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58 This week’s readings focus on the dynamic interplay of divine and human wisdom. God is still speaking, providing insights for the short haul and the far horizons. Human wisdom is grounded in our attentiveness to divine creativity evidenced in the heavens above, the earth upon which we live, and the divine movements in our body, mind, and spirit. Alignment... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – August 8, 2021 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 Psalm 130 Ephesians 4:25-5:2 John 6:35, 41-51 Faith begins with experience, joy and tragedy, hope and disappointment, amazement and sin. Out of experience comes doctrine which becomes the lenses through which we interpret our life experiences. Today’s passages join challenge, hope, and grief. They join deep emotion with deep faith. We often live in the depths, feeling God-forsaken. Other times our own... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 1, 2018 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a Psalm 51:1-12 Ephesians 4:1-16 John 6:24-35 This Sunday’s readings focus on the realities of sin and grace. The readings remind us that our relationship to God and the world, and the world and God mirror one another. Our ethics should reflect our theology – including our social ethics – and our theology should reflect our ethics, pointing toward theologies worthy of God’s love for us... Read more
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