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
The Adventurous Lectionary – All Saints Day – November 1, 2015 Isaiah 25:6-9 Psalm 24 Revelation 21:1-6a John 11:32-44 This Sunday we celebrate the interplay of tradition and transformation. We remember the saints, those who were faithful to God throughout history and in our congregations, and commit ourselves to embody the living thoughts, values, and actions of our deceased companions and saints of the church. We grieve on such days, but also rejoice in their lives and the difference they... Read more
In her new book, Where Jesus Prayed, Danielle Shroyer takes us on a spiritual walk with the Lord’s Prayer as her companion. She reminds us that faith is always on the move, and on the move, she discovers new dimensions of this ancient prayer, often lost when we repeat it sitting in church. Read more
This post is part of a roundtable conversation for the Patheos Book Club on the new book, Peaceful Passages: A Hospice Nurse’s Stories of Dying Well, by Janet Wehr, RN. As a pastor, I have recommended hospice to congregants and friends for nearly thirty years. There comes a time when we need to let go – of our own lives and of the lives of our loved ones. We need to place them in God’s care, trusting God’s grace and... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 21 – October 18, 2015 Job 38:1-7, 34-41 Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45 The saga of Job continues with a meditation on the grandeur of God. Job has endured God’s absence, and God has endured Job’s rantings. Finally, out of a whirlwind, God speaks. God’s revealings of the universe in its complexity to Job are multisensory. In this theophany – divine encounter – I believe Job not only hears God’s voice,... Read more
God is present everywhere, inspiring everyone, all the time, and every so often we notice it. Revelation is natural and built into reality in all its dimensions, both human and non-human. Accordingly, I affirm with James Stuart Bell and those he invited to share their stories that when Jesus is experienced, that experience can change our lives, even in dire and apparently hopeless situations. Bell’s compilation of miraculous moments, titled Encountering Jesus: Modern-Day Stories of His Supernatural Presence and Power, invites... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost – October 11, 2015 Job 23:1-9, 16-17 Psalm 22:1-15 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 Can God be fathomed? In the enormity of the universe, we know that our solar system is but a small speck. With the poet of Psalm 8, we wonder if amid 125 billion galaxies, God takes notice of our lives. We wonder if we matter at all. The grandeur of the universe gives birth to the apophatic approach... Read more
The Nineteenth Sunday of Pentecost – October 4, 2015 Job 1:1; 2:1-10 Psalm 26 Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-10 Mark 10:2-16 This week, it is appropriate to focus on the reality of suffering, not only in terms of the theological problem of evil but the pain we experience, either deserved or undeserved. What is God’s role in the suffering we experience? How do we creatively respond to the realities of suffering and pain, our own and other’s? The reading from Job addresses... Read more
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