Bruce Epperly challenges us to think more carefully about God and human suffering in his Adventurous Lectionary for the week.
Takeaway:
Adventurous theological reflection challenges images of God as unilateral punisher and bully. These images are unworthy of Jesus of Nazareth.
Baptism of our Lord, Cycle B When we hear the word “water” in our modern world we generally think of nice things–a thirst-quenching drink, a nice shower or bath, fun in a swimming pool, or perhaps a fine ocean cruse. Thus when we think about baptism we tend to think mostly about cleansing or even…
The passages are Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10 and John 3:14-21. These passages center around the story of the serpent that Moses put on a pole in the wilderness. The omission of verses 4-16 maintains that emphasis even in Psalm 107, though I would recommend reading the entire passage. I am not always…
Scriptures: Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 133; (John 20:19-31) There are two major responses to fear in a group. One is to gather together and seek mutual support. The other is to scatter, with each individual seeking his own safety. One can see this in action in military history. Many military leaders have recognized the importance of…
Two of the lectionary passages today, at least if you go with the United Methodist selections, involve romance and sexual attraction. One, of course, is Song of Songs 2:8-13 and the other is Psalm 45, which has a foreign princess marrying the king of Israel. The second involves romance at least as far as an…
That’s a pretty obvious theme, but it would seem even more odd to skip it! The second Sunday in Christmas is a good day to commemorate these events. There are a few different items that strike me here. The connection of the return from exile with the redemptive mission of Jesus. This shouldn’t be surprising,…
This week I did some reading on the lectionary, and even led a discussion on Wednesday, but due to work on some new book releases I never had time to write. There is one theme that came to mind when I was looking at the two liturgies–palms and passion. In teaching Bible study I like…
