Moving Forward - Weekly Lectionary Podcast

Mal 4:1-2a & Luke 21:5-19 - All kinds of predictions and prophesies abound - and always have - about what will happen ON THAT DAY. Jesus and Malachi help us think about the future as a continuation of the present. What happens on That Day is profoundly related to what we do on This Day.

Luke 20:27-38 - The Bodily Resurrection of the dead is one of the best pieces of Good News that we have! Jesus is willing to be drawn into an argument with argumentative agitators who were not his main audience in order to double down on bodily resurrection.

Isaiah 1:10-18 & Luke 19:1-10 - Ever been surprised at what happens in a worship setting? Me too! Actually, according to Isaiah, God finds what goes in in worship shocking! God cannot stand public worship practiced by people with blood on their hands, the prophet proclaims. It's deeply offensive to God that leaders who do not take of widows and orphans, the poor and foreigners, have the nerve to offer praise and thanksgiving to God. In a stunning reversal, God-through-Isaiah says - take care of the humans first! THEN you can come an praise me. (See Matt 5:23-24).

As if that surprise wasn't enough for this week, we also have a surprise about who is the most righteous person in Jericho!

Luke 18:9-14 - When someone creates Jesus as a mascot for their evil, what are we supposed to do about it? What happens when someone collaborates with evil, and oppresses their neighbors? The Gospel this week ruffles some feathers!!!

Genesis 32 & Luke 18 - Like a mountain climber nearing the summit, like a wrestler at the end of a long match, or like a marginalized person struggling for justice in a corrupt system - we are called to stay in the quest for blessing for us and for the whole world!

2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c; Luke 17:11-19 "But what if we don't believe the same things? How can we worship together? What if that person is hurting our community?" This is what I've been struggling with this week. What can those who worship death and cruelty have in common with those who want to love neighbors? Surely nothing! But then along comes Naaman, perpetrator of attacks on civilians, enslaver of children, and he receives healing.

Naaman is troubling for me, for the exact same reason that this moment in American history is deeply troubling and, frankly, embarrassing for me. But here it is - healing and accepting praise from someone I would love to write off. And that's going to color my thinking for a long time.

Hab 1:1-4, 2:1-4; Psa 37:1-9; Luke 17:5-10 In confusing, disorienting and sometimes scary times, what does God want from us? Probably the same thing that God wants from us in every other time - ordinary faithfulness to be the people who love neighbors and the God who created us all.

Amos 6:1, 4-7; Psa 146; 1 Tim 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31 "Get Rich or Die Trying"...? More likely, "get rich, and die [period]" The lectionary passages this week warn of the dangers of accumulating or even having wealth in a world where basic needs go unmet.

Amos 8:4-7 & Luke 16:1-13

It's not like this is EVER topical when it comes up, is it? There is a battle on, for the soul of humans, and God and mammon are fighting it. Both sides are trying to recruit you!

Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 51:1-10; 1 Tim 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10 - This week, the lectionary readings all focus on the joy of repentance and making it right.