The Lectionary

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The Lectionary
Just where do we get the Sunday readings? And why? The Lutheran Church, along with Roman Catholics and many Protestant denominations, all follow the Revised Common Lectionary or something very close to it.This three-year cycle of readings is meant to expose us to a broad sweep of the Holy Scriptures.

[It has actually been proven that Christians that attend churches that use some form of a Lectionary get a broader exposure to more of the Bible in worship than those that attend churches where the Pastor selects the Scripture each Sunday. However, the other side of this argument is that in many non-lectionary churches, members participate more extensively in Bible study and Sunday school, an area in which we as Lutherans could stand to grow.]

From the earliest days, Christians followed a pattern of readings, a pattern we inherited from our Jewish forebears. The Revised Common Lectionary was developed to meet the desires of many Christians (and God: see John 17) to be "one" with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

But how does the lectionary work? And what will we be hearing for the next several months?

The lectionary is divided up into three years. We are in Year B, the year of Mark (Year A is Matthew, Year C is Luke), so most of the Gospel readings are drawn from St. Mark's Gospel, although we will occasionally hear from John's Gospel since Mark's is the shortest gospel.

To understand how the readings fit together, think of a periscope and how it uses several mirrors bouncing light so that the person in the submarine can see what is on the surface. The first thing that is "reflected" is the Gospel. The Old Testament reading (which we confess proclaims Christ as much as the New Testament does) "reflects" the Gospel reading, echoing and reflecting backs its central themes. Then the Psalm "sings back" or reflects the Old Testament reading. The Epistle (New Testament letter) reading is the odd man out. Usually, the Epistle reading follows a continuous pattern of reading through parts of a New Testament letter over several weeks or months.

The Light, of course, that is reflected in the whole Bible (Luke 24:44) is Christ our God.

So... from now until the end of November, the Gospel readings will be drawn from St. Mark's Gospel, primarily chapters 4-13 (we got chapters 1-3 during Advent and Christmas and 14-16 during Lent and Easter, coinciding with these seasons). We get a treat this year with readings from the 6th chapter of St. John's Gospel for 5 weeks this summer (7/26-8/23). This is the famous "Bread of Life" discourse and speaks deeply about Holy Communion and how Jesus is, quite literally our Bread. The Old Testament readings will reflect the Gospel themes and then the Psalms will "sing back" to us those same themes, reflecting and amplifying both the Old Testament reading and the Gospel. It's Jesus, three times amplified!

In the New Testament letters, we will hear from 2 Corinthians (6/14-7/5), a wonderful letter to a troubled Church. Next we will be treated to Ephesians (7/12-8/23), a wonderful letter about what it means to be the church. Finally, the letter of James (8/30-9/27) and the letter to the Hebrews will round out the year (10/4-11/15).

The lectionary can be confusing, but I prefer to think of it like a rich banquet, a "three year banquet" as a book I recently read suggests. Come and feast!

Online and Adult Education
I am hoping to post sermons online from the last several weeks. I have a backlog of those and some Sunday school teachings. In the meantime, I'd like to invite you to try to the new calendar feature on our website and to consider attending one of our summer Sunday school courses for adults. We will study "Poverty and the Poor in the Bible" from June 14 - July 5 and the book of Ephesians from July 12 - August 23.