The Adventurous Lectionary – Fourth Sunday of Advent – December 20, 2015 Matthew 5:2-52, Psalm 80:1-7, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-55 Christmas is on the horizon, and today’s scriptures may be lost amid the merriment as well as the Christmas pageants, often scheduled the week before Christmas. There is hope on the horizon and this hope is especially powerful among those who are oppressed, grieving, or living in uncertainty as they look toward the future. The Coming One may not resolve... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Third Sunday of Advent – December 13, 2015 Zephaniah 3:14-20 Isaiah 12:2-6 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:7-18 This Sunday we celebrate joy. Yet, this joy must come in the waiting. As I contemplate the scriptures from the Third Sunday of Advent, it is the Sunday of Christ the King, or the Reign of Christ (November 22), and I am still reeling from the terrorist attacks in Beirut and Paris. I feel under threat and am tempted... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Second Sunday of Advent – December 6, 2015 Malachi 3:1-4 Luke 1:68-79 Philippians 1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6 Advent is a time that joins patience and restlessness. We are waiting and waiting isn’t easy. We want Christmas now! We want fulfillment now! We want spiritual growth now! We want the world to change now! But the moral arc of history and our own spiritual arc often move slowly, organically, and at their own speed. The healing of... Read more

Advent without Guarantees We who must die demand a miracle. How could the Eternal do a temporal act, The Infinite become a finite fact? Nothing can save us that is possible: We who must die demand a miracle. (From W.H. Auden, “For the Time Being”) These words from W.H. Auden’s Christmas Oratorio, written in the dark days of World War II, speak to us as we begin the Advent Season. We have been rocked by terrorist acts in Paris and... Read more

God’s Gentle Providence: Dialoging with Thomas Oord’s “The Uncontrolling Love of God” Over the past few years, I have referred to God’s presence in our lives and in the world as “gentle providence.” God is at work in the world, seeking abundant life. But, God’s power is relational and persuasive and not unilateral and coercive. I follow the lead of the apostle Paul who proclaimed that “in all things God works for good.” (Romans 8:28) When Paul penned these words,... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The First Sunday in Advent – November 29, 2015 Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-10 I Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36 How do we feel as we look toward the future? Do we see continuity or discontinuity? Do we expect gradual evolution or cataclysmic change? Today’s scriptures suggest both options, and whether the result of our own actions, divine-human companionship, or unilateral divine action, the future will bring change? Jeremiah images hope in a naturalistic fashion. God’s new era... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Christ the King Sunday – November 22, 2015 2 Samuel 23:1-7 Psalm 132:1-12 Revelation 1:4b-8 John 18:33-37 Today’s scriptures invite us to consider God’s relationship to politics and culture. If Christ is “king” or “ruler,” what does that mean in real life? Does the way of Christ have sovereignty in the affairs of nations? Should we model our personal and corporate lives after Christ’s way of life? There are some who call for our nation to... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twenty Fifth Sunday after Pentecost – November 15, 2015 I Samuel 1:4-20, Psalm 16, Hebrews 10:11-25, Mark 13:1-8 Today’s readings describe answers to prayer and future hope and challenge. Despite life’s difficulties, God makes a way where there is no way. What are we to make of Hannah’s story? Infertility can be heartbreaking. Despite her husband Elkanah’s great love, Hannah wants something more to feel complete. She wants a child for her personal fulfillment as... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost – November 8 ,2015 Ruth 1:1-18; 3:1-5; 4:14-17 Psalm 127 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44 I believe that context is important in preaching and scripture study. Ruth 1:1-18 was read as part of last week’s lectionary , if the preacher chose to focus on the lectionary readings for November 1 rather than the All Saints readings. Regardless of whether or not the passage was read on November 1, it needs to be repeated,... Read more