The Adventurous Lectionary – The Third Sunday of Advent – December 17, 2023 Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126 Luke 1:46b-55 I Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8, 19-28 Rejoice, for God is in our midst! Rejoice, for God’s realm is on the horizon! Rejoice, the moral and spiritual arcs of history bend toward justice! On this Third Advent Sunday, we proclaim that despite appearances to the contrary, good news is coming! Glimmers of hope remind us that life can be different. The... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday of Advent – December 10, 2023 Psalm 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 Advent is the season of wakefulness. “Stay awake,” “be woke,” are the mantras of Advent. God’s realm is coming – it is here – and we need to be prepared for a moment of decision, for God or self-interest, transformation or status quo, growth or stagnation, peace or division. One of my favorite songs from... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The First Sunday of Advent – December 3, 2023 Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 I Corinthians 1:1-9 Mark 13:24-37 The Advent Spirit: Today’s Sunday might be described as New Year’s Day in the Christian liturgical year. Advent is a season of awe and wonder. It is a time of waiting, not just for Jesus’ birth, but for the transformation of our lives and the world. Something is being born in us and we are waiting for... Read more
The Reign of Christ November 26, 2023 Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46 To follow Jesus is to embrace the world in all its messiness and political challenges. This Sunday is the New Year’s Eve – the last Sunday – of the Christian year. We are living between Thanksgiving celebrations and Advent possibilities, and Christmas is less than a month away. The Reign or Realm of Christ, often known as Christ the King, Sunday. The... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost – November 19, 2023 Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18.; Psalm 90:1-12; I Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30 On the descending edge of Pentecost, the lectionary passages are challenging and also inspirational. They fit in with the threatening images of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” soon to be blasting on the radio. “You better watch out, you better not pout…he’s checking his list, he’s checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.”... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – November 12, 2023 – Pentecost 24 Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 Psalm 78:1-7 I Thessalonians 4:13-18 Matthew 25:1-13 What does it mean to be a monotheist? What does following God mean in daily life and when we must choose between competing goods? What are the practical implications of following the One True God rather than the many deities of our own creation? The objects of our faith, what Paul Tillich describes as our “ultimate concern,” shape our character... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – November 5, 2023 – Pentecost 23 Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 1071-7, 33-37; I Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12 Today’s readings reflect on different aspects of spiritual and temporal leadership. For the children of Israel, leadership was connected with fidelity to God, and fidelity to God was connected with victory over the inhabitants of Canaan. While Jesus also touts the relationship between fidelity and leadership, his vision of leadership in relational not coercive, and sees power in terms of... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – October 29, 2023 – The Twenty-Second Sunday of Pentecost Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Matthew 22:34-46 In the midst of congressional chaos, the intentional provocation of violence and disorder by USA politicians, and wars in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza, this Sunday’s readings point us beyond the individual self – and our individual and national life histories – to identification with God’s Self and the well-being of others long after we have left the scene.... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost – October 22, 2023 Exodus 33:12-23, Psalm 99, I Thessalonians 1:1-10, Matthew 22:15-22 Today’s readings join witness, spiritual practices, politics, and mysticism. Whether dramatic or ordinary – as if any encounter with God is “ordinary” – the encounter with God relativizes all other demands and requires us to seek justice, to create the foundations in society to promote wholeness and holiness for everyone. The God the universe, the macro and the micro,... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – October 15, 2023 Exodus 32:1-14, Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23, Philippians 4:4-9, Matthew 22:1-14 Today, we will focus on spiritual practices to keep us on the right path in relationship to God and our neighbor. The lectionary contains one of my favorite passages from scripture, Philippians 4:4-9, a short primer on personal and community spiritual formation, in the context of the challenges of choosing to follow Gods way or the devices and... Read more
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