The Adventurous Lectionary Exodus 3:1-15 Psalm 105:1-6. 23-26, 45a Romans 12:9-12 Matthew 16:21-28 Once upon a time, a rabbinical gathering considered the question, “Why was the bush burning but not consumed?” The rabbis posited of a variety of answers until one responded, “It was burning and not consumed so that one day, as Moses walked by, he would notice it.” The encounter of God with Moses could take up a sermon series. First, it describes divine communication: God is always... Read more
The Adventurous Lectionary – August 24, 2014- Eleventh Sunday after the Pentecost Exodus 1:8-2:10 Psalm 124 Romans 12:1-8 Matthew 16:13-20 Today’s readings invite us to ponder our unique vocations and relationship with God. Our gifts shape and are shaped by the community of Christ. In living out our gifts, we share in God’s vision of healing the world. Our gifts are meant for inclusion. God’s presence in our lives goes beyond parochialism, imperialism, and superiority to embrace God’s good earth... Read more
Book Review: Fail: Finding Hope and Grace in the Midst of Ministry Failure, by J.R. Briggs The phrase “too big to fail” emerged during the banking crisis of 2008. Banks were bailed out, despite the fact that their own greed led to the economic collapse that threatened the livelihood of millions of Americans, depleted retirement accounts, and spiked home foreclosures. While the TARP or government bailout may have been necessary to avert a second Great Depression, those who perpetrated the crisis... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for August 17, 2014 – The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 45:1-15 Psalm 133 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-31 Matthew 15: 21-28 Today’s readings join reconciliation and grace. They call us to a spirituality of stature that embraces those who have harmed us and persons of other faiths and ethnicities. Largeness of spirit looks for common ground and reconciliation despite past conflicts and then aims at healing in the present and future. Joseph has become a person of stature. He... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for August 10, 2014 Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b Romans 10:5-15 Matthew 14:22-33 This week’s readings are about God’s safekeeping of fallible, wayward, and mortal humanity. God responds to all who call upon God. God wishes to save persons in distress; in this we can have faith. Still, we must ponder the circuitous routes of salvation and wholeness and the reality that not all prayers for deliverance appear to be answered – violence takes the lives... Read more
“God was not in the wind…God was not in the earthquake…God was not in the fire; and after the fire, the sound of sheer silence.” (I Kings 19:11-12) We are people, used to noise and constant communication that often fragments and distracts rather than unites and focuses. At my local Cape Cod market, I sing along with the golden oldies, often inspiring chuckles and raised eyebrows from fellow shoppers; some even join me in song. As I sip my latte... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for August 3, 2014 – The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 32:22-31 Psalm 17:1-7, 15 Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 13:14-21 Encountering the Holy One can leave you feeling wounded as well as blessed. Jacob wrestles with a nocturnal stranger whom he believes to be God, refuses to give up, and receives both a blessing and a limp. Jacob is particularly sensitive to the Holy. Despite his ambiguous business dealings, there is something about Jacob that pushes him beyond the... Read more
Does God give us what we want? Does God speak personally to us, inviting us to share our deepest desires and then receive our heart’s desires? Does God truly reach out intimately to us, inviting us to deeper levels of faith? Read more
Jen Pollock Michel’s Teach Us to Want: Longing, Ambition, and the Life of Faith is an honest and insightful book, born of her own experience of responding to the legion of desires characteristic of daily life as a mother, spouse, and professional seeking to be faithful to God’s call. She invites us to explore the deepest desires of our hearts, to examine the relationship between what we want and God’s vision for us, and affirmatively recognize the power of desire,... Read more
Lectionary Reflections for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – July 20, 2014 Genesis 28:10-19a Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 The world is chock full of divinity. You can encounter the holy in the most unlikely places. Thin places, joining heaven and earth, abound for those for whom the doors of perception have opened. Life is messy, but it can be spiritually full in all its complexity when we open our senses to divinity within and beyond us. ... Read more
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