The Adventurous Lectionary – Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost – November 3, 2019

Last updated on: October 25, 2019 at 10:37 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost – November 3, 2019 Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144, II Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10 This week, we are challenged to ponder the nature of spiritual stature. The times call for large spirited people, welcoming and imaginative, able to look beyond the latest sound byte to see the broad expanse of history, able to go beyond fear and alienation in relation to the evils of our time to embrace the moral arc... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – October 27 – The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Last updated on: October 16, 2019 at 5:25 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – October 27, 2019 Joel 2:22-32; Psalm 65; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 God have mercy! This is the beginning and end of the spiritual journey. The tax collector’s prayer alerts us to the dynamic interdependence of life and our constant need of grace. There are no self-made persons. No one can make on her or his own. Our righteousness is not fully the result of our own efforts but... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – October 20, 2019 – Pentecost 22

Last updated on: October 16, 2019 at 4:48 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – October 20, 2019 – The Twenty Second Sunday after Pentecost Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-14; 2 Timothy 3:15-4:5; Luke 18:1-8. The Hebraic tradition sees life as the interplay of order and chaos, providence and agency, and alignment with divinity and turning toward self-interest. While ultimately God’s moral arc will prevail in the historical adventure, in the meantime the dynamic call and response regularly tilts toward and away from God’s vision, imagined in terms of the creative and... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – October 13, 2019 – The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Last updated on: October 10, 2019 at 3:34 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – October 13, 2019 – The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c, Psalm 111, 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Luke 17:11-19 Healing was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus healed persons, body, mind, spirit, and relationships. His healings transformed cells, souls, and social location. With its focus on two healing stories, this Sundays readings could be described by the phrase “the healing you need is right in front of you.” God’s healing presence abounds. God’s healing... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – October 6, 2019

Last updated on: September 25, 2019 at 9:16 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – October 6, 2019 Lamentations 3:19-26, Psalm 137, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10 At the heart of this Sunday’s reading is the affirmation from Lamentations 3: “God’s mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is God’s faithfulness.” God’s is faithful despite life’s challenges. While today, many people want experiential religion – and this is important – experiential religion emerges from and needs to be balanced by a... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 29, 2019

Last updated on: September 19, 2019 at 6:49 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 29, 2019 Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15, Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16, 1 Timothy 6:6-19 , Luke 16:19-31 Today’s readings could be captured by the South African phrase, “ubuntu” or “I am because of you.” In the context of social, economic, and racial divisions, ubuntu proclaims the essential unity of life and disastrous consequences of division for the oppressor as well as the oppressed. Jesus’ parable speaks of the apparently unbridgeable gulf between the... Read more

The Adenturous Lectionary – The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 22, 2019

Last updated on: September 13, 2019 at 8:23 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 22, 2019 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, Psalm 79:1-9, 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13 If you’re looking for a good time from the pulpit, you may want to stay home this Sunday or opt of preaching. At first glance, there is not a lot of joy in this Sunday’s lectionary readings. They seem appropriate for our current national situation, in which in the United States hate crimes and mass shootings have become... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary -The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 15, 2019

Last updated on: September 5, 2019 at 5:27 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary -The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 15, 2019 Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Psalm 14 I Timothy 1:12-17 Luke 15:1-10 Today’s readings speak of being lost and finding your way home. Nations as well as persons can be lost and ours is a time of directionless and chaotic leadership and polarization in the body politic. Our behaviors and lifestyle and deliberate political policies have the potential to destroy the planet and radically alter the lives of future generations.... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – September 8, 2019 – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Last updated on: August 28, 2019 at 6:42 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – September 8, 2019 – Pentecost 13 Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 Philemon 1:1-21 Luke 14:25-33 Today’s readings challenge, economics, and socially-accepted values. These texts turn our accepted values upside down and call us to repentance and sacrificial living. No preacher can feel entirely comfortable reading, writing, or preaching these texts. Jeremiah’s vision of the divine potter is both good news and bad news, theologically speaking. First, the good news: the vision of a divine potter focuses... Read more

We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For: Greta Thunberg and the Call to Heal the Planet

Last updated on: August 29, 2019 at 2:34 pm By Bruce Epperly

Later today, sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg will arrive in New York City to begin her American journey to enlist our commitment in saving the planet. After fifteen days at sea, Thunberg will travel the USA and attend the UN Climate Summit, beginning September 23. An unlikely activist, small in stature, soft spoken, she asserts that her Asperger’s has enabled her to think outside the box and to follow a different path than most teens. Though some call her a hero and... Read more

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