The Seventh Sunday after Easter – May 16, 2021 Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; I John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19 Today’s readings are about the relationship between our prayers and our alignment with God’s vision. Belief and action are essential to Christian life. We must live out our faith in daily life. But our ability to live out our faith depends on spiritual depth and prayer may be the most definitive faith practice. Today’s readings assert that prayer changes things and... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 9, 2021 Acts 10:44-48 or Acts 10:1-24, 34-36, 44-48; Psalm 98; I John 5:1-6; John 15:9-1 The marquee sign of the historic Church of the Pilgrims in Washington DC proclaims, “where all are pilgrims and none are strangers.” I have adopted this same affirmation in my eight years of pastoring South Congregational Church, UCC, on Cape Cod. Yes, we are different in age, education, interests, personal history, professional, gender,... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary -The Fifth Sunday of Easter – May 2, 2021 Acts 8:26-40 Psalm 22:35-41 I John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8 God is still speaking, so says a motto from the United Church of Christ. Creation abounds with revelation for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Today’s scriptures are mystical, energetic, and empowering. Angels inspire and divine energy flows, giving life to all creation and fruitfulness to persons of faith. Moreover, each of the reading provides... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 22, 2018 Acts 5:4-12 Psalm 23 I John 3:16-24 John 10:11-19 Today’s readings in their portrayal of the interrelationship of theology, spirituality, and ethics are appropriate in light of our recent celebration of Earth Day (April 22) and our upcoming celebrations of Arbor Day (April 30) and May Day, Beltane (May 1). We need theologies, spiritualities, and ethics that honor both heaven and earth, eternity and change, non-human and... Read more
The Third Sunday of Easter – April 18, 2021 Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4 I John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48 You can’t manage or control a resurrection. You can put it into your normal understanding of reality. Like all mystical experiences, resurrection is always life-shattering and initially beyond belief. We can neither expect or program a resurrection. But, when it comes, we are amazed and transformed. Can we who have heard the resurrection stories countless times, almost knowing them by heart, hear... Read more
Between Death and Resurrection : The Mystery of Holy Saturday Bruce G. Epperly During Holy Week, most of us focus on the palms, the passion, and the resurrection. The movement from celebration to desolation and surprising celebration again characterizes not only Holy Week but the realities of a meaningful life. We can’t escape suffering but our suffering is often transformed into joy by surprising events or unexpected insights and experiences. In the shadow of loss, the light of new birth... Read more
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
The Second Sunday of Easter Acts 4:32-35 Psalm 133 I John 1:1-2:2 John 20:19-31 Some Sundays the preacher receives too possibilities for preaching. There are so many entry points we don’t know where to start. Today’s scriptures have too much going on to cover in just one sermon. They could easily be part of a sermon series on practices of Easter. Or, if you want to deviate from the lectionary, you can spend two weeks on the gospel reading –... Read more
GREETING The Seven Last Words are a harmonizing of sayings attributed to Jesus from the four canonical gospels. No one gospel contains all seven sayings, but the sayings give a picture of Jesus’ suffering and death. The Cross describes the realities of human suffering, abandonment, and death, often at the hands of powerful governmental and religious institutions. The collection of Jesus’ final words gives voice to the experiences of persons in oncology wards, hospices, separated by COVID, and victims of... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Easter Sunday – April 4, 2021 Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 I Corinthians 15:19-26 John 20:1-18 and Mark 16:1-8 Every day, I wake up with the affirmation, “This is the day that God has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” In this time of COVID, when many live by fear and anxiety, I rejoice and give thanks that I am alive, grateful, and open to unheard of possibilities. What new and glorious thing... Read more
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