The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany – February 8, 2015 Isaiah 40:21-21 Psalm 147:1-1l, 20c I Corinthians 9:16-23 Mark 1:29-39 Today’s readings invite us to look at life from a wider perspective. Our individual lives are part of a greater story, the universe and God’s story, adding by our decisions beauty or ugliness to our communities and implicitly to the whole. Psalm 147 connects social justice, the sustaining of the people, and the healing of the... Read more

The Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany – February 1, 2015 Bruce Epperly Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 111 I Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28 Today’s readings may seem irrelevant to many congregants. In mainstream and progressive churches, we don’t spend a lot of time talking about unclean spirits, the authority of prophets, or food sacrificed to idols. Our spirituality is, on the whole, horizontal rather than vertical. We don’t diagnose illness as caused by evil spirits, we’re a bit suspicious about those who... Read more

If God is for us, who can be against us? So wrote the apostle Paul nearly twenty-one hundred years ago. (Romans 8:31) I’m sure that Paul had no idea that his affirmation of God’s sovereign faithfulness to persecuted Christians would be invoked to explain the outcome of next Sunday’s Superbowl. But, to many fans, God is in control not only of historical processes and matters of salvation and spiritual growth but also the outcomes of sporting contests. According to the... Read more

Third Sunday after the Epiphany Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Psalm 62:5-12 I Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 Today’s lectionary readings invite us to embrace change, whether it involves our vision of God, personal plans, or way of life. It’s difficult to preach about Jonah without retelling the legend in its entirety. Jonah has earned the title the “reluctant prophet,” but often for the wrong reasons. Jonah flees the call to preach to the archenemy Nineveh, but his flight is not the result... Read more

Hassidic spiritual leader Rabbi Simcha Bunem of Pershycha once noted that “Every person should have two pockets. In one pocket, there should be a note that says, ‘for you the world was created.’ In the other pocket, there should be a note that asserts, ‘you are dust and ashes.’” These two quotes capture the interplay of perpetual perishing and everlasting life in human experience. Eben Alexander’s Map of the World attempts to describe the spiritual adventure, based on his understanding... Read more

The Baptism of Jesus – January 11, 2015 Genesis 1:1-5 Psalm 29 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 Today, we celebrate the waters of grace and healing. We rejoice in the waters of the womb of creation, incarnate in our mothers and in Mother Earth. As Masaru Emoto has theorized, water is the blueprint of reality, far from inert but sharing in the vibrations of divine wisdom. Water refreshes, heals, and transforms. It reflects our prayers and emotions, and can be energized... Read more

Second Sunday after the Epiphany Samuel 3:1-10 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 I Corinthians 6:12-20 John 1:43-51 There is a joke among members of my denomination, the United Church of Christ. When we announce “God is still speaking,” usually someone responds, “But is anyone listening.” Today’s scriptures are about listening for the voice of God and God’s movements within our lives. God is constantly speaking in our lives through insights, encounters, hunches, dreams, bursts of energy, and inspirational thoughts. Our calling is... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary – Epiphany Sunday – January 4, 2015 Matthew 2;1-15 The Second Sunday of Christmas will also be celebrated as Epiphany Sunday in many congregations. Accordingly, it is appropriate to focus on the spiritual pilgrimages of the magi and the holy family’s flight to Egypt. In both cases, geographical journeys shape spiritual journeys and are at the heart of the Epiphany adventure that is to come. As Jimmy Buffett sings: “Changes in latitudes [lead to] changes in attitudes.”... Read more