There has been some debate over the choice for a daily lectionary for ELW. Some prefer the two-year lectionary based on the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, which appeared in LBW. The chief advantage here, I think, is not only reading a significant portion of the Bible in two years (including all of the New Testament), but also reading in communion with other Christians (besides Lutherans).
However, others see great value in the current two-year lectionary in ELW, with its pattern of Monday-Wednesday as reflecting on the previous Sunday and Thursday-Saturday as preparing for the coming Sunday. Sunday is, without question, the day for Christians, and this pattern again emphasizes its centrality.
Marva Dawn has also helped me to see this second pattern (the one adopted by ELW) in light of the Sabbath. She writes, "We spend three days getting ready (preparing for the bride) and three days afterward remembering it (the delight of the wedding)" and "The more persistently we practice the discipline of preparing for the Sabbath in the three days preceding it, and the more thoroughly we enjoy its benefits in the three days following it, the more delightfully restful the Sabbath itself will be for us in its actual practice--as well as in its anticipation and remembrance as these transform the entire week" (Marva J. Dawn, Morning by Morning, p. 79, quoting Keeping the Sabbath Wholly (also Marva Dawn), pp. 48-50, 53-54).
Augsburg Fortress has published a nice devotional booklet (Bread for the Day 2008) based on this daily lectionary with hymn suggestions from ELW for each day.
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