Lectionary Leaning

"Screw the lectionary."

These exact words came out of my college sophomore mouth not long before I preached for the very first time, and exactly .12 seconds after a friend had suggested we consult the lectionary before striking out our own theme for College Worship Sunday. The lectionary was lazy and did not allow for the preacher to adequately convey the message God laid on his or her heart.

The older / wiser me is now moving in a different direction. In a world where students, and people in general, are increasingly biblically and story of God illiterate, I find myself drawn near to the wisdom and foundational nature of the lectionary. I am considering drastically reducing the number of "thematic" sermons I do (if not eliminating them altogether) and moving to lectionary for the majority of the jr. high Sunday night curriculum.

A couple of thoughts:
- the lectionary walks the congregation through the entire Bible in 3 years, how many people, students or otherwise, can say they have done that? The three year window, incidentally, fits perfectly with the three years of junior high.
- moving to the lectionary is a humbling experience for me - the planner and creator of many a high quality thematic series. I am sure, however, that scripture will speak more powerfully than my latest Bob-Barker themed creation.
- preaching the lectionary keeps me (or anybody else) from finding a couple "home" passages and always heading back to them. I always seem to find my way back to Romans 12 and Galatians 2:19 20 ;).

Let me know what you think.