The Adventurous Lectionary – Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 27, 2015

Last updated on: September 20, 2015 at 7:18 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 27, 2015 Esther 7:1-6, 9-10: 9:20-22 Psalm 124 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50 This week, the theme is healing. God heals in many ways and through diverse people. There is no one healing path or modality, nor does any particular religious or medical tradition have a monopoly on divine healing. God heals through prayer, but also Prozac, as my friend Dale Matthews says; through medication and meditation; and through chanting and... Read more

Finding Spirituality in Suffering: Heather King’s “Stripped”

Last updated on: September 16, 2015 at 7:29 pm By Bruce Epperly

Stripped, Heather King’s new memoir on faith in the midst of a cancer diagnosis, brought to mind words from Viktor Frankl: “There is one thing I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings.” Pain and illness, loss and persecution, are moral and spiritual issues. They may drive us away from God. We may seek revenge on those we believe have harmed us. Or, we may discover how deeply we need God and answer God’s higher call to embrace suffering as a... Read more

Wherever There is Truth, God is its Source: On ‘The Gospel of Happiness’

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 7:38 pm By Bruce Epperly

Book Reflection: The Gospel of Happiness by Christopher Kaczor Can science and faith work together for the common good? Are the aims of psychology and theology similar in nature? Can psychology illuminate theology and theology support human flourishing as envisioned by psychology? Christopher Kaczor once saw faith and psychology as inhabiting two different and parallel worlds, with little need for interaction. Both could provide useful insights for human flourishing but their truths remained hermetically sealed from one another. Kaczor changed... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 20, 2015

Last updated on: September 11, 2015 at 4:03 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 20, 2015 Proverbs 31:1-10 Psalm 1 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37 Today’s scriptures invite us to explore what it means to be attuned to God’s vision for your life. Divine wisdom involves reflection on our relationships in the family and in the larger community. Living by God’s vision involves openness to life in all its variety, and involves affirming many norms for human fidelity and spirituality. It is unlikely... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 13, 2015

Last updated on: September 5, 2015 at 10:24 am By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost – September 13, 2015 Proverbs 1:20-33 Psalm 19 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 Wisdom is at the heart of today’s readings. We are challenged to align ourselves with God’s wisdom in our daily lives and let divine wisdom motivate our words and actions. There are times, however, when divine wisdom contrasts with worldly values, especially as it relates to suffering and sacrifice, both divine and human. The words of Proverbs proclaim the... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 15 – September 6, 2015 Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

Last updated on: August 27, 2015 at 12:33 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 15 – September 6, 2015 Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 Psalm 125 James 2:1-17 Mark 7:24-37 God’s realm breaks down the barriers of friend and stranger and rich and poor and invites us to do likewise. God’s children deserve our reverence and respect, and this is revealed in our political advocacy and personal relationships. Wisdom literature, as exemplified in the passage from Proverbs, is grounded in the discovery of God in the ordinary affairs of daily... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 14 – August 30, 2015

Last updated on: August 21, 2015 at 6:14 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 14 – August 30, 2015. Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-18, 14-15, 21-23 Today’s readings celebrate the “beauty of holiness” and join concern for the inner life with care for external behaviors. They celebrate love in its many forms – romance, justice-seeking, care for the vulnerable, and personal integrity revealed in care for the earth. “The voice of my beloved,” so sings the lover of Song of Songs. Song of... Read more

Within The Trauma, A Blessing: Reba Riley’s “Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome”

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 6:03 pm By Bruce Epperly

Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann describes three interconnected moods in the Psalms – psalms of orientation, celebration of the goodness of life and our current blessed personal and social location; psalms of disorientation, lamentations when things fall apart and the future is dim; and new orientation, the joy of healing and recovery, in which things never return to the way they were, but may end up even better than we had previously imagined. This could be a description of Reba Riley’s... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Pentecost 13 – August 23, 2015

Last updated on: August 21, 2015 at 7:36 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections Ephesians 6:10-20 Sunday, August 23, 2015 This week, I am focusing solely on Ephesians 6:10-20. We need to face the challenges of our time with spiritual integrity and trust in the unwavering grace of God. We need to surround ourselves and the threats that face us and our planet with deep and abiding prayer. Put on the whole armor of God! Put on God’s armor of light! For a long time, I found this passage too militaristic in... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – August 16, 2015

Last updated on: August 7, 2015 at 4:03 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – August 16, 2015 I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 Psalm 111 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58 If a genie came to you and granted three wishes, what would they be? In this passage, God is not as generous as the genie, God gives only one wish, but God tells Solomon that he can ask for anything he wants and presumably he will receive it. Solomon begins with a sense of confession and humility:... Read more

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