First Presbyterian Church

Here it is, only the 4th church newsletter that I am contributing to, and already I don’t know what to write about.  This was difficult for me at my other churches as well – “From the Pastor’s Desk” – I had to decide whether to write a sermon of sorts, something scripturally-based, or I could decide instead to write about outside events – what’s happening outside in the real world – or what’s happening outside my office window….  Once in upstate New York I wrote about a pileated woodpecker that had slammed into my office window – and the neighbors who saw it and I myself thought he was dead….he wasn’t.  The message in that was:  don’t let anyone consign you to death – or to anything else – YOU determine how vital and viable you are.  YOU determine your own destiny; others don’t determine for you.  Also the advice to watch out for obstacles…what are the unseen obstacles in your life that YOU slam into?  And how do you recover from such a slam? The woodpecker, after blinking a lot and breathing slowly on the ground, decided he felt well enough to take to the trees again, before well-intentioned intervening humans (one with a shovel to bury him!) could reach him.

It’s in this light (of coming up with ideas) that I am grateful for the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).  These are 4 scripture verses that are “assigned” for every Sunday in the liturgical/calendar year.  Each Sunday there is a Psalm and an Old Testament lesson; there is a Gospel lesson and another New Testament lesson (usually an Epistle, a letter from the Apostle Paul).  What the RCL does is move us through the bible in 3-year cycles.  There is a Year A, and a Year B, and a Year C.  So the scriptures you are hearing preached this year may very well be preached again in 2013.  Usually pastors preach on just one of the suggested verses, so in one week of Year A I might choose to preach on the Gospel; three years later in that same week of Year A I might choose to preach on the Psalm.

I say “suggested” above – it’s not mandatory that the lectionary texts be preached.  What’s nice about the RCL is that it unites Lutherans and Roman Catholics and Presbyterians and Congregationalists and others – anyone who wants to preach on the lectionary is allowed to.  Sometimes it shifts a little and, for example, the Roman Catholics use a verse or two more or less of the passage we Presbyterians use.  But mostly it’s the same, and my father in Connecticut heard a “Martha and Mary” sermon in his UCC church on the same day I preached one here, and my daughter in Minnesota heard a “Good Samaritan” sermon at the Lutheran church she visited on the same day I preached one here.

The RCL unites many denominations; the RCL gives us wide exposure to and through the bible.  The RCL also protects me from myself, and it protects you from me.  It keeps me (and every other pastor) from preaching only favorite passages.  I would probably preach from the same 6-8 passages over and over again if I could.  We all have certain favorites.  And sometimes we even get sick of the lectionary.  Long-time pastors (not me) get tired of preaching on the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son over and over again.  That’s when they try to elevate a Psalm into a full-length sermon, or when they try to revisit those more obscure prophets like Amos and Hosea.  [There’s even a course at a the Joe R. Engle Preaching Institute called “New Ways to Preach the Good News at Christmas and Easter” – Christ is born, Christ is risen, and 95% of the congregation are not regular attendees and they heard that same message last year!]

But as I’ve said before, for me (new pastor that I am) there is always something new for all of us to find in the bible, even in old, very familiar passages.  The bible still speaks to us.  God is still speaking.  If we knew definitively what each passage of scripture meant, then I could tell you, for once and for all, and we could quit going to church or engaging in bible study.  We could print one full list of all the meanings of every bible verse, and there would be no more need for sermons or even bible reading.  But one single, simple meaning?  That’s not so.  The bible speaks newly to each one of us every day, depending on where we are in our life circumstances, and depending on how God blesses its understanding to us.  God is revealed in those pages as we have the capacity to absorb that revelation.  That capacity for understanding differs for each one of us.  So there is always something new to say on one of those “same, old” passages.

I am a fan of the RCL.  And it’s fun to compare notes with other pastors who are preaching on the same text.  One scripture text + millions of pastors = millions of sermons.  And there are lectionary passages assigned for every day of the week, not just for Sundays.  So since August 1 falls on a Sunday (and you’ll hear those particular scriptures in church that day as we celebrate communion), the daily lectionaries for Monday, August 2 are:

2 Samuel 7:1-17 – Nathan and David, building a house for the Lord;
Psalm 62 – “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from God comes my salvation.”
Acts 18:1-11 – new Christians Aquila, Priscilla, Silas, Timothy, Titus, and Paul – and the Lord said, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent”;
Mark 8:11-21 – Pharisees seeking to test Jesus, looking for a sign.

If I were writing a sermon for Monday, August 2 based on one or all of these daily lectionary passages, I might address themes of waiting for God right here in the Maysville First Presbyterian Church house of God – we build a house of God within our very selves and within our church community.  We are all of us new Christians; we are still on the journey (remember that poster/bumper sticker: “Be patient; God is not finished with me yet”?), and we are still called by God to take strength from one another, to speak out about what God has done/will do/is doing for us…  And yet, many of us are regularly looking for a sign that Jesus loves us, that Jesus is with us, that Jesus cares for us and hears our prayers and answers them.  Which passage speaks the most powerfully to you?  Are we looking for permanence and structure?  Are we looking for nurture and relationship?  Are we seeking community and/or “proof”?

The bible always speaks to us.  It’s insidious.  It’s God’s way of tickling our brains, of touching our souls, of warming our hearts.  There are many ways God speaks to us.  It’s my prayer that we can and do find ways both to listen and to respond.  Amen.