Part of the problem is that we are a church committed to sticking to the Lectionary. For those who do not know, that is a set of readings from the Bible spread over three years that provides a wide exposure to the Scriptures, albeit not 100% complete. It offers the advantage that people to go to widely different churches are exposed to the same Scriptures on any given Sunday. So, we and our neighbors can compare notes on what our churches’ ministers did with the same text when last we gathered in our sanctuaries to worship.
And this week and last week our Lectionary readings from the Bible deal with exceedingly serious stuff … scriptures that deal with expulsion from the family, poverty and deprivation and this week, the sacrifice of children in religious rituals. Give me a break! Read more…