The Adventurous Lectionary -The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 11, 2016 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. Our behaviors and lifestyle can destroy the planet and future generations. Yet, God seeks our healing, even when we have gone astray. Jeremiah speaks of a day of destruction as a result of the nation’s foolishness. We are skilled... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – September 4, 2016 – Pentecost 16 Jeremiah 18:1-11 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 Philemon 1:1-21 Luke 14:25-33 Today’s readings are challenging to our theology as well as our economics and socially-accepted values. No preacher can feel entirely comfortable reading, writing, or preaching these texts. Jeremiah’s vision of the divine potter has done a good deal of theological harm throughout the ages. It portrays a God of destruction, who can do evil against God’s chosen people disproportionate with their... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 15 – August 28, 2016 Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1,10-16; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16.; Luke14:1, 7-14 As summer ends, the political season is heating up. Church life takes on a renewed urgency and after a summer’s lull, decisions need to be made. We are tempted to separate the world in terms of winners and losers, right and wrong, and good and evil. While today’s scriptures are strong in their critique, they also challenge self-righteous and polarizing behaviors... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 14 – August 21, 2016 Jeremiah 1:4-10 Psalm 71:1-6 Hebrews 12:18-29 Luke 13:10-17 This week, we ponder God’s providential love that breaks through every barrier. God is willing to give us more than we can ask or imagine. We need to open our hands to receive the fullness of divine blessing for ourselves and others. God’s word to Jeremiah is addressed to all of us. The young prophet is frightened. The task ahead is too... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 14, 2016 Isaiah 5:1-7 Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 Hebrews 11:29-12:2 Luke 12:49-56 What are we to do with this week’s readings? There is already enough polarization, and these readings seem to fuel the flame. People argue and condemn each other on social media. A handful of Sanders and Clinton people are still going after one another, questioning each other’s loyalty to the cause. Trump supporters go ballistic over any irenic... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – August 7, 2016 Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:22-30 God invites us to be the change we want to see in the world. Too often, we have let the world squeeze us into its mold, allowing our imaginations to be stifled by concrete limitations, and our becoming tranquilized by the status quo. God calls us to alternative visions of reality, and challenges us to become... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost – July 31, 2016 Hosea 11:1-11 Psalm 107:1-9, 43 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 In his classic text on the prophets, Abraham Joshua Heschel asserts that the prophet’s passion is energized by her or his vision of the divine pathos. The prophetic God is passionate for justice and God’s passion for justice is grounded in God’s intimate care for the world in all its wondrous messiness. God not only loves humankind, God loves... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Tenth Sunday of Pentecost – July 24, 2016 Hosea 1:2-10 Psalm 85 Colossians 2:6-19 Luke 11:1-19 The lens through which on which I am focusing today is Jesus’ description of God’s relationship with the world found in Luke 11:13: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” These words point us toward healthy... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost – July 17, 2016 Amos 8:1-12, Psalm 52, Colossians 1:15-28, Luke 10:38-42 No doubt you’ve seen the battle of bumper stickers. A popular evangelical bumper sticker proclaims, “Honk, if you love Jesus.” To which a contrasting bumper sticker responds, “If you love Jesus, seek justice. Any fool can honk.” Today’s lectionary readings encourage a holistic spirituality, embracing prayer and protest, study and social involvement, contemplation and creative transformation. Amos would have... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost – July 10, 2016 Amos 7:7-17 Psalm 82 Colossians 1:1-14 Luke 10:25-37 In today’s readings, it appears that God has a preferential option for the vulnerable and marginalized, for those we disregard or pass by. God loves everyone, even the oppressor, but God has a special care for the lost and forgotten, for those who are ground into dust by the machinations of business and government. For God, it is never... Read more