Tripp Fuller

Lent begins. And we are invited into the ancient practice of fasting. Fasting does not mean adding a new practice, but shedding a practice for the purpose of deepening our trust in God. The stories of Jesus and of Adam and Eve invite us to consider what sorts of props we have erected to hold ourselves up rather than entrusting ourselves into the hands of God. Will we give these up for Lent?

Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus pulls off what neither Adam nor Israel were able to do before him: and he reaps the rewards of it in the end. 

Genesis 2, 3 The question of trust: will we trust God or will we accept and perpetuate and create alternative interpretations of the world? 

Psalm 32 It looks like God is more willing to forgive us than we are. Read here an invitation to confession, maybe to recognizing the need to confess as generated by Lenten fasting.

Romas 5:12-19 Adam and Jesus: alike in representation, way different in results! Here’s your big chance to be a universalist if you want to take it.

Books discussed this week: Danielle Shroyer, Original Blessing

 Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

God breaks into the present: with a glory that humans embody. The Lectionary sets us up with a series of interlocking texts that richly inform one another.

Exodus 24:12 Moses goes up a mountain, as do Elijah and Jesus after him. God meets Moses in the cloud, and tabernacle and glory ensue.

Psalm 2 If we want to know what God’s words to Jesus mean, we first have to listen to what God’s words meant when spoken to Israel’s king. Handle’s Messiah, anyone?

Matthew 17:1-9 Rampant parallels with the Exodus text and other OT passages. Critical parallel with the baptism scene. Jesus is being disclosed in his future, post-resurrection, God-given, enthronement glory. (Thank God for hypens!)

2 Peter 1:16-21 Go crazy with eyewitness testimony that’s not, actually, being given by an eyewitness! 

Books discussed this week: The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to the End Times.

Jeffrey C. Pugh is the Maude Sharpe Powell Professor of Religious Studies at Elon College. His scholarly work has spanned the spectrum from Nazi-era theologians Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to discussions of religion and science. He is the author of several books including Devil’s Ink: Blog from the Basement Office and Religionless Christianity: Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Troubled Times. Most recently and most importantly he is author of The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to the End Times.

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

It’s a great week to get fired! So preach Leviticus 19 and tell people what it actually says. 

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 We all know the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But what does that love look like? And how might that love manifest itself in subversion of the expectations of market capitalism?

Psalm 119:33-40 The Psalm has a place. It is spoken by a power. And it invites us to call God to account.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 What, or who, is the temple of God? And how does the answer to that question subvert our view of the world and our response to it?

Matthew 5:38-43 Revisionist interpretation brings us to dangerous ground. In a world where people are abused and lynched, what does faithfully turning the other cheek look like? And, #HeresyAlert Jesus might have a thing or two to learn about Gentiles before this story is through. 

Books mentioned this week:

Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wil Gafney. 

The Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel and co-editor of The Peoples’ Bible and The Peoples’ Companion to the Bible.  She is an Episcopal Priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Pennsylvania and licensed in the Diocese of Fort Worth. A former member of the Dorshei Derekh Reconstructionist Minyan of the Germantown Jewish Center in Philadelphia, she has co-taught courses with and for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Seminary in Wyncote, PA.

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

How does a Christian walk in the ways of God, loving God with heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do we do this by obeying the Law? Or by following Jesus? Or both?

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 How is the Abrahamic covenant realized? How is the land possessed and the seed multiplied? Faithfulness to the commandments. This is what loving God looks like. Its alternative, the way of death, is idolatry. 

Sirach 15:15-20 Take a walk on the wild side, and preach from the best free will passage in the whole Bible!

Psalm 119:1-8 Celebrating the Law is great—except for a people who don’t. When the way of following God has become the way of the crucified Christ and the way of finding no shame has become entrusting ourselves to the gospel for both Jew and Greek, where does that leave our readings of Psalm 119?

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 The cross makes the world’s wisdom look foolish. Our own party spirit and hovering around heroes shows just how far we are from taking up the side of the crucified Christ rather than the side of the ignorant rulers of this age.

Matthew 5:21-37 Jesus fulfills the law—but not by doing it or by telling us what it really meant all along. A new type of community has to form in which love of God is shown by a love of neighbor that begins in the heart.

Books mentioned this week:

Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? by the one and only jrdk 

 Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

We are the light of the world. And the very things we do in service to God can be the darkness that obscures the light just as easily as the light that dispels the gloom.

Isaiah 58:1-12 Don’t be hoodwinked by acts of piety that don’t bring life to your neighbor.

Psalm 112:1-9 Celebrating people who are… like Isaiah suggests. Are they like us?

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) When crucifixion becomes an adverb the wisdom of God is at work.

Matthew 5:13-20 Time to retrieve the southernism “Y’all,” and get about the business of being the kind of people who put God’s glory light on display.

 Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

If you want to know what people expect of God, listen to what they think blessing looks like. Epiphany continues to challenge us to look for and recognize God in the places we spurn and despise—even though these are usually our own places.

Matthew 5:1-12 Do we really aspire to the Kingdom depicted in the Beatitudes? Do we really trust God to work like that? 

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Jesus wasn’t the only one advocating an upside-down, cruciform Kingdom. Paul challenges us as those who too often have a faith devoid of power that we attempt to make wise according to the wise of the world.

Micah 6:1-8 Do we trust God enough to live into the reality of God being savior? What sort of saved people are we to be? The way of the Beatitudes finds resonance here.

Psalm 15:1-5 What kind of person does God want us to be? What kind of worshipper can come into God’s presence? Do we trust God enough to live into an upside down economy where interest isn’t charged for dollars lent? 

 Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

Doug Pagitt breaks it down: the problem is Second Grade. Just wait.

Isaiah 9:1-4 Overcoming gloom: a beautiful picture of hope. But the reality is… Second Grade. Am I right?

Psalm 27:1, 4-9 There’s a rhythm of salvation and distress. And maybe a bit of uncertainty about whether that rhythm will recur. Then there’s the question of how we don’t get caught in a Temple/attractional model of discovering the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Living out of an abundance narrative is a cornerstone of avoiding tribalism. Scarcity and tribalism are destroying us. First Corinthians might have some answers.

Matthew 4:12-23 A series of portraits about what the light looks like. A different kind of kingdom bigger than Cesar and Temple. Israel will not circumscribe the work of the Messiah.

Fine literature discussed this week:

Doug Pagitt, Flipped

Shalom Auslander, Foreskin’s Lament

J. R. Daniel Kirk, A Man Attested by God

Doug Pagitt is the founding pastor of Solomon’s Porch, A Holistic Missional Christian Community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a national Initiator with Convergence a collective of faith-engaged organizations, individuals, institutions, and networks who seek to embody a generous and just Christian ethos leading to constructive collective action in the United States. Doug is a speaker and consultant for churches, denominations, and businesses throughout the United States and around the world on issues of Inventive Age culture, social systems Christianity, and Leadership. He is the author of books on spirituality, Christianity and leadership including, Flipped, Preaching In the Inventive Age, and A Christianity Worth Believing.

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

Will we be able to recognize God when God appears? We tend to look “up,” but perhaps we need to look down.

Isaiah 49:1-7 The work of the servant is playing out in plain sight: but God’s people aren’t seeing it, and God doesn’t seem to be honoring it. Will we know the work of God when we see it? God makes God’s glory and light known in people.

Psalm 40:1-11 Does God require sacrifice? Psalm 40 takes sides in this intratestamental dispute. God doesn’t need it! Do we demand it?

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 First Corinthians keeps us grounded. Where do we look to find the work of God? The holy ones are all around us.

John 1:29-42 John’s energy opens the story up for us, casting massive vision that explodes beyond the borders of our careful word-smithing. But what sort of Lamb is Jesus? 

Fine literature discussed this week:

Doug Pagitt, Flipped

Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians

Gordon Fee,  The First Epistle to the Corinthians (rev. ed.)

Anthony Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NIGTC)

J. R. Daniel Kirk, A Man Attested by God 

Doug Pagitt is the founding pastor of Solomon’s Porch, A Holistic Missional Christian Community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a national Initiator with Convergence a collective of faith-engaged organizations, individuals, institutions, and networks who seek to embody a generous and just Christian ethos leading to constructive collective action in the United States. Doug is a speaker and consultant for churches, denominations, and businesses throughout the United States and around the world on issues of Inventive Age culture, social systems Christianity, and Leadership. He is the author of books on spirituality, Christianity and leadership including, Flipped, Preaching In the Inventive Age, and A Christianity Worth Believing.

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

The baptism of Jesus is one of the most perplexing, challenging passages in the Gospels. We can shine a little light on it, but only if we’re willing to distinguish Jesus from God, recognizing God as the empowering agent who also marks with the Spirit as God’s beloved children.

Isaiah 42:1-9 The servant in whom God is pleased receives the Spirit, brings justice, heals the sick, and eventually suffers and dies. In this, the covenant with Israel shines forth for the good of the nations.

Psalm 29  The God who speaks at Jesus’ baptism the king who sits enthroned above the waters. God’s voice is powerful—and that power is bestowed on Jesus.

Acts 10:34-43 The arrival of God’s Spirit tells us that God has accepted, and celebrated, the people to whom it comes. This is true of those who believe the message as it was, first, about Jesus.

Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus begins his public ministry in solidarity with other people, and receives Spirit and power and sonship and divine approval that he will share in solidarity with us. 

 Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.

Happy New Year! God is with us in a solidarity more profound than most of us ever dare to imagine.

Isaiah 63:7-9 Getting wrapped up in the fulness of God’s blessing: unmediated, direct blessing. God shows up in God’s love. With an awesome digression on the Abraham story. 

Psalm 148  A picture of the cosmos. Which my youth group confused. But… Here’s the deal: the God who has unlimited scope also loves and cares for us as God’s own people. 

Hebrews 2:10-18 “With us.” Jesus isn’t separated, but part of this throng of people. And this throng of people is those who need to trust God—just like Jesus did. Solidarity is the deep wisdom of what Jesus did on the cross.

Matthew 2:13-23 Jesus in solidarity with the story of Israel. Jesus lives the cost of human life in this world. 

This week on LectioCast we mentioned…

These awesome books:

Original Blessing by Danielle Shroyer

A Man Attested by God by J. R. Daniel Kirk

Danielle Shroyer is an author, speaker, and blogger. She serves as the Theologian-in-Residence at Journey Church, one of the first independent emerging churches in the country, where she also pastored for over eight years. Danielle is the author of Where Jesus Prayed: Illuminations on the Lord’s Prayer in the Holy Land  and The Boundary Breaking God: An Unfolding Story of Hope and Promise (Jossey-Bass, 2009). A graduate of Baylor University and Princeton Theological Seminary, Danielle speaks often across the country on issues of theology, faith, church leadership, culture, and story. She has written for Patheos, The Hardest Question, and Immerse magazine, and she blogs often at www.danielleshroyer.com. Danielle lives with her husband and two children in Dallas, Texas

Daniel Kirk is a writer, speaker, and blogger who lives in San Francisco, CA where he is currently Pastoral Director for the Newbigin House of Studies. His third book A Man Attested by God: the Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels, is hot off the presses. Daniel holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University and is the author of, Unlocking Romans: Resurrection and the Justification of God and Jesus Have I Loved, but Paul? He blogs regularly at StoriedTheology.com  (http://patheos.com/blogs/storiedtheology). You can follow him on Twitter @jrdkirk and on Facebook at Facebook.com/jrdkirk.