A Funny thing: Jeremiah 33 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Jeremiah 33:(10-13) 14-18 (19-26), the Epic Lectionary text for November 30. (I’m preaching it on 11/23, as I’ve been running a week…

For the beginning of Advent, the #EpicLectionary will promise an enduring covenant that God’s own righteousness guarantees. Notes on Jeremiah 33:(10-13) 14-18 (19-26).
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A Funny thing: Jeremiah 36, 31 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28; 31:31-34, the Epic Lectionary for November 16 and my preaching text for November 9. The choice to take the verses…

God’s call to renewed faithfulness reveals the state of our hearts, but the longing for faithfulness is already written at the depth of our being. The #EpicLectionary has selections from Jeremiah 36 and 31 (in that order because Jeremiah).
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Marc Lobliner post on X: "Why the hell are we giving food stamps to 40 million people? Does anyone work anymore?"

SNAP isn't about "people who don't work." It's about people who don't get paid enough to live.

Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:

* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled

* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages

A Funny thing: Jeremiah 1, 7 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Jeremiah 1:4-10; 7:1-11, the Epic Lectionary for November 9 and my text for November 2. (I’ll be one week ahead of the Epic through Novemb…

God dwells among God’s people, not because we built a fancy house but insofar as we do justice with one another. We know this truth in theory, but in real life it’s pretty unpopular.

The #EpicLectionary begins a series of readings from Jeremiah on 11/9.

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A Funny thing: 1 Kings 8 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with 1 Kings 8:1-13, 27-30, 41-43, the Epic Lectionary for October 26. This is one of the weeks when we more-or-less align with the NL, which has 5:1…

The #EpicLectionary aligns with the #NarrativeLectionary this week. Solomon built the Lord not so much a house as a call box. Where do we focus our attention (and where is God’s attention focused) that connects us with a God who is boundlessly everywhere?

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Meanwhile, God promises to dwell where God always has: among the people.

A Funny thing: 1 Kings 5-6 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with 1 Kings 5:1-12; 6:1-13, the Epic Lectionary for October 19. The NL gives us the beginning of chapter 5 twice, both times in connection with the …

The #EpicLectionary spends two weeks with the temple, building it this week and dedicating it next week. Solomon, the first heir to David’s royal house, gets to build the house for God’s name, and in the meantime he provides for the house of King Hiram.

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Solomon’s famous court case involving the two sex workers suggests connections with John 4:1-30 and 8:3-11. This year my attention is on the woman whose son died suddenly: Where is the compassion for her? What does justice (divine or royal) have to do with grief?

A Funny thing: 1 Kings 3 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with 1 Kings 3:4-9, (10-15), 16-28, the Epic Lectionary text for October 12. This text begins a new narrative arc and a shift in theological focus. W…

Solomon shows that he will be good at the “wise judgment” part, but there’s foreshadowing of the “entangled with foreign gods” and “opulence extracted from the people” aspects that will undermine the whole kingdom. Notes on 1 Kings 3:4-9 (10-15) 16-28:
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The #EpicLectionary begins a three-week narrative arc focusing on Solomon (plus a fourth week bridging into the terrible kings on the way to Jeremiah). We get Solomon this year because of the way John’s gospel cares so much about how the temple relates to transcendence and incarnation.

Alternatively, in which God acts out the divine desire for loyalty not sacrifice and exercises the power of the resurrection so you’ll know what it looks like later.

A Funny thing: Genesis 22 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Genesis 22:1-19, the Epic Lectionary for October 5. This text was this year’s Abraham episode in the NL and appears in the RCL Proper 8A. …

The #EpicLectionary finishes its Abraham/Sarah/Hagar arc with Genesis 22:1-19, in which Abraham shows that he will sacrifice anyone anytime anywhere for the promise.

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Their laughter discloses that faithfulness and incredulity go hand in hand.

We include Abraham’s laughter (17:17) specifically to push back on the idea that Sarah’s laughter (18:12) is unfaithful somehow. Modernity imagines faith as an intellectual assent to unsupported propositions. Sarah and Abraham’s faith is enacted, not conceptualized.

These elderly people laugh for the same reason that babies laugh: because something impossible is taking place. God interrupts an established reality with something absurd.

A Funny thing: Genesis 17-18 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Genesis 17:15-22; 18:1-15, the Epic Lectionary texts for September 21. This combination of texts differs from the Narrative Lectionary. We&#8217…

The #EpicLectionary lingers with the story of Sarah and Abraham, including the very first laughter in the Bible (Genesis 17:17 and 18:12).
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In the optional second part of the reading, Sarai endures an impossible situation; where do people create opportunities for faithfulness when the world denies their agency?

A Funny thing: Genesis 12 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Genesis 12:1-9 (10-20), the Epic Lectionary reading for September 14. The main text was in the Narrative Lectionary for 2022 and the RCL for Ord…

The #EpicLectionary starts four weeks with Abram and Sarai (names subject to change). Abram builds altars and walks away from them; how do we live today in service of a generation whose future we cannot see?

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A Funny thing: Genesis 1 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Genesis 1:1-2:4a, the Epic Lectionary and Narrative Lectionary reading for September 7. (I’m actually pretty convinced that verse 2:4a is …

The litany of creation in Genesis 1 is about how to organize time. (And it suggests a great weekly liturgy of praise, if you can celebrate humanity on Friday afternoons.)

This week the #EpicLectionary lines up with the #NarrativeLectionary!

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DHS tweeting “Pray without ceasing.”

‘Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’ Then all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Deuteronomy 27:19

A Funny thing: Acts 19 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 19:1-10, 23-41, my text for August 31. (I’m not preaching the 24th, but my congregation will hear a sermon on Acts 17:16-34 anyway.) …

Any interrelated group of people can function as a “body.” What makes the #church the #BodyOfChrist is the power of the #HolySpirit to disrupt the world’s power structures.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 17:1-9 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 17:1-9, my text for August 17. Along with the beginning of 1 Thessalonians, this was the NL for Easter 4 in 2024. If I were preaching a ful…

You need an eye for irony to interpret the #Bible. The defenders of the status quo create an uproar by falsely accusing others of being disruptive while missing the way they’re actually turning the world upside down.

#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 16 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 16:(11-15) 16-34, the text for August 10 in my People of Mission series. This passage appeared in the NL on Easter 4 of 2022. In the RCL 9-…

#Freedom in the #Bible is not about turning prisoners into runaways so much as turning jailers into hosts. (I do wish the Bible were more explicit about what it means for enslaved girls after their exorcisms.)

#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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“If you want to have loving feelings, do loving things.” - Anne Lamott

Faith, Hope, Love, Witness: Prayers of the People on F-1.0301 I love the Foundations of Presbyterian Polity in the PC(USA) Book of Order. To conclude my People of Mission summer worship series on that section, I adapted F-1.0301 “The Church Is the Body …

Did I write a liturgical prayer based on a section of the #pcusa constitution? Yes I did.

Am I proud of myself?

Honestly, yes I am.

#liturgy #church

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Comic. PERSON 1 [to person with white hat]: It’s so weird reading these 18th Century scholars argue about minor Biblical details. It’s like they’re an online fandom or something—They’ve developed this whole elaborate canon. [caption] It’s fun when a word’s usage goes full circle and, by analogy, lands back on its original meaning.

Canon

xkcd.com/3123/

A Funny thing: Acts 15 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 15:1-21, my text for August 3. This was the NL for Easter 5 this year. Where are we? Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev, Pexels. The issue that was …

Keeping #faith in a relationship is not about how you think or about following a list of rules, but it should tangibly shape both your attention and your behavior.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 10 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 10:1-23, my main text for July 27 and (approximately) the NL for Easter 3 in 2023. Where are we? St Peter’s Culinary Vision. Church o…

#Prayer often has to do people with asking God for help, and #God often has to do with #neighbors asking each other for help.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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A Funny thing: Acts 9:36-43 A Funny thing happened on the way to the pulpit with Acts 9:[32-35] 36-43, my text for July 20. This passage does not appear in the NL, but it is in the RCL for Easter 4C. I’m covering it in …

To be the church (called into being by Christ’s mission) means to be sent into the places where death reigns, bearing the power of resurrection.
#PeopleOfMission #NarrativeLectionary
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This year we get four-ish weeks each of Abraham and Sarah; Solomon and the temple; and Jeremiah. Because this is the pre-John year, we also get Genesis 1 and Isaiah 55. The Epic Lectionary agrees with the Narrative once we get to Advent 4.