Lectionaries - Structure & Spontaneity

The church universal often speaks of two lectionaries that are an important part of the life of a Christian and the church. These two lectionaries are meant to complement each other. The Sunday lectionary is a three year cycle of readings that always includes passages from the Old Testament, a Psalm, the New Testament (typically an Epistle), and the Gospel.

But there's also a daily lectionary which is a two year cycle of readings of Old and New Testament passages.

At Lancaster First UMC, we use a combination of Sunday lectionary readings for some Sundays and for other Sundays, we use other texts that relate to our sermon series themes. Sometimes, the lectionary is used even for our sermon series if it fits the theme we are using.

This Sunday, for the "Puzzling Parables" sermon series, our parable is "The Laborers in the Vineyard" from Matthew 20:1-16 which is not one of the appointed lectionary texts for this Sunday, but does appear in today's daily office lectionary readings. It's interesting how things come together.

When we were preaching on the "Crosses of Jesus" sermon series this past Lent, Sam noticed that the appointed lectionary Gospel lesson for the Sunday he was to preach on the Jerusalem Cross was the the scripture in which Jesus spoke about his love for Jerusalem. This kind of spontaneous connection happens more often than one might think.

This all reminds me of the importance of both structure and spontaneity in our faith journey. We need both to help us grow as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.