Telling the Stories
05/01/25 01:36
With some exceptions, I was a lectionary preacher over the course of my career. It made sense to me that I should allow the scriptures to lead my preaching rather than choose the texts for worship myself. I wanted the discipline of applying the texts I was given rather than going to the ones that were easiest or my most favorite. There is a distinct advantage to devoting one’s career to preaching from the pattern of texts chosen by representatives of many denominations who gather to discuss the texts and the patterns of worship. By following the three-year cycle, I immersed myself in the Christian year, following the traditions of the church and observing minor as well as major feast days and holidays. I get to expect the return of particular texts and anticipated the flow of the year. For a lectionary preacher, the seasons of Christmas, Epiphany, and Lent present a rapid dip into the Gospels and the life of Jesus each year. While the relatively long season of Pentecost that fades into ordinary time presents opportunities to explore the Hebrew scriptures, the readings for the beginning of the year invite the regular telling of the stories of Jesus.
One of the problems with following the lectionary was pointed out to me in a lecture by the great biblical teacher Walter Brueggemann, who chided us about our dedication to the pattern of reading by pointing out how much of the scriptures are left out of the cycle of readings. He reminded us that we are called to be led by the entire bible, not just the relatively small number of texts that can be crammed into a three-year cycle. I tried to take his teaching seriously first of all by disciplining myself to daily readings that led me through the entire bible. Some years I intentionally followed a “through the bible in one year” reading discipline. Other years, I focused deeply on a single book for an extended period. In my worship planning I deviated from the lectionary by adding verses to the prescribed lections so that the congregation was exposed to more of the text.
There is a frustration to any pattern of reading the Gospels for public worship, however. There are only 52 Sundays in the year and it ends up feeling like we cram too much into too little space. I began to question the wisdom of the three year cycle. After all we have four gospels. why not a four year cycle? In the Revised Common Lectionary, the Gospel of John is interspersed with the other gospels with more of it appearing in year two, when Mark is the focus Gospel due to the fact that Mark is also the shortest of the gospels.
This year is Luke, which is the longest, and it always felt to me like we were rushing through the texts at this time of the year. For whatever reason, the second Sunday after Christmas in year three the Gospel text is the prologue to the Gospel of John, which is beautiful and poetic, and well worth public reading and proclamation. Like many other scripture passages, it lends itself to being read out loud. It is one of the texts that I memorized so that I could speak it directly to the congregation and often did so to close the Christmas Eve service.
If I were still leading worship, however, I’m sure that I would do what our pastor and the pastors of most of the other congregations in our area are doing, which is to read the texts for Epiphany Day for worship today. Even though Epiphany Day does not land on a Sunday this year and the readings are technically for Monday, those texts are so important to the flow of the season that we want to read the story of the visit of the magi from the Gospel of Matthew in Sunday worship each year.
With the interruptions of texts from John and Matthew, however, the result in the lectionary is that the story of the early part of Jesus life, reported in Luke 2, is told out of order. Last Sunday we read of his visit to the temple as an adolescent. On February 2, the fourth Sunday after Epiphany we will finally read of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, if our congregation chooses to read those texts. An alternative lectionary path calls for another reading from the fourth chapter of Luke, so that is another option.
People can worship regularly in the church without grasping the intensity of these precious stories. Only the Gospel of Luke reports on the childhood of Jesus. Matthew tells of experiences of his parents - visits by angels, the flight to Egypt, and such. Mark begins with Jesus as an adult without any reference to his birth and childhood. And John approaches the coming of Jesus from a philosophical and poetic approach without any storytelling of the child. That leaves us with only a couple of stories from the second chapter of Luke.
One the one hand, it shouldn’t surprise us that our people have not preserved the stories of Jesus’ childhood. At the time of his birth the role of children in society was different than today. Children had the lowest status in society in the ancient world. They were often considered to be a nuisance or distraction, tolerated but not welcome. It was not uncommon for infants to be cared for by their mothers and aunts for several years before they were named because the high infant mortality rate encouraged not getting too attached to any individual before there was a sense that the child might survive. Children were put to work early in their lives assisting their parents without much regard to formal education.
It is the contrast with the norms of the ancient world, however, that make the stories we do have of Jesus’ early life so precious. Jesus’ parents were given his name in dream encounters with angels before his birth. They presented him at the temple for a naming ceremony early in his life. He was treasured and named and nurtured with love. These are important stories that help us understand how he himself defied the norms of his day by welcoming children when the disciples would have prevented them from coming.
Reading the texts in worship is important and meaningful, but I hope and pray that others will join me in reading beyond the lectionary. Tell the stories of Simeon and Anna’s reaction to Jesus’ presentation to your children and grandchildren. Remind them that not only does Jesus bring us the message of love, but also that Jesus was loved as a child. These are stories that are worth telling every year in every season.
One of the problems with following the lectionary was pointed out to me in a lecture by the great biblical teacher Walter Brueggemann, who chided us about our dedication to the pattern of reading by pointing out how much of the scriptures are left out of the cycle of readings. He reminded us that we are called to be led by the entire bible, not just the relatively small number of texts that can be crammed into a three-year cycle. I tried to take his teaching seriously first of all by disciplining myself to daily readings that led me through the entire bible. Some years I intentionally followed a “through the bible in one year” reading discipline. Other years, I focused deeply on a single book for an extended period. In my worship planning I deviated from the lectionary by adding verses to the prescribed lections so that the congregation was exposed to more of the text.
There is a frustration to any pattern of reading the Gospels for public worship, however. There are only 52 Sundays in the year and it ends up feeling like we cram too much into too little space. I began to question the wisdom of the three year cycle. After all we have four gospels. why not a four year cycle? In the Revised Common Lectionary, the Gospel of John is interspersed with the other gospels with more of it appearing in year two, when Mark is the focus Gospel due to the fact that Mark is also the shortest of the gospels.
This year is Luke, which is the longest, and it always felt to me like we were rushing through the texts at this time of the year. For whatever reason, the second Sunday after Christmas in year three the Gospel text is the prologue to the Gospel of John, which is beautiful and poetic, and well worth public reading and proclamation. Like many other scripture passages, it lends itself to being read out loud. It is one of the texts that I memorized so that I could speak it directly to the congregation and often did so to close the Christmas Eve service.
If I were still leading worship, however, I’m sure that I would do what our pastor and the pastors of most of the other congregations in our area are doing, which is to read the texts for Epiphany Day for worship today. Even though Epiphany Day does not land on a Sunday this year and the readings are technically for Monday, those texts are so important to the flow of the season that we want to read the story of the visit of the magi from the Gospel of Matthew in Sunday worship each year.
With the interruptions of texts from John and Matthew, however, the result in the lectionary is that the story of the early part of Jesus life, reported in Luke 2, is told out of order. Last Sunday we read of his visit to the temple as an adolescent. On February 2, the fourth Sunday after Epiphany we will finally read of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, if our congregation chooses to read those texts. An alternative lectionary path calls for another reading from the fourth chapter of Luke, so that is another option.
People can worship regularly in the church without grasping the intensity of these precious stories. Only the Gospel of Luke reports on the childhood of Jesus. Matthew tells of experiences of his parents - visits by angels, the flight to Egypt, and such. Mark begins with Jesus as an adult without any reference to his birth and childhood. And John approaches the coming of Jesus from a philosophical and poetic approach without any storytelling of the child. That leaves us with only a couple of stories from the second chapter of Luke.
One the one hand, it shouldn’t surprise us that our people have not preserved the stories of Jesus’ childhood. At the time of his birth the role of children in society was different than today. Children had the lowest status in society in the ancient world. They were often considered to be a nuisance or distraction, tolerated but not welcome. It was not uncommon for infants to be cared for by their mothers and aunts for several years before they were named because the high infant mortality rate encouraged not getting too attached to any individual before there was a sense that the child might survive. Children were put to work early in their lives assisting their parents without much regard to formal education.
It is the contrast with the norms of the ancient world, however, that make the stories we do have of Jesus’ early life so precious. Jesus’ parents were given his name in dream encounters with angels before his birth. They presented him at the temple for a naming ceremony early in his life. He was treasured and named and nurtured with love. These are important stories that help us understand how he himself defied the norms of his day by welcoming children when the disciples would have prevented them from coming.
Reading the texts in worship is important and meaningful, but I hope and pray that others will join me in reading beyond the lectionary. Tell the stories of Simeon and Anna’s reaction to Jesus’ presentation to your children and grandchildren. Remind them that not only does Jesus bring us the message of love, but also that Jesus was loved as a child. These are stories that are worth telling every year in every season.
