The Lectionary.
A lectionary is a list of readings. As a spiritual discipline, a person may simply open The Bible at the beginning, and start reading. They might read a chapter or more each day. The weakness of this kind of reading is that it is the reading style of our time, the method for reading a novel, or even a text book. It assumes a narrative thread from beginning to end. However, a text book is often not read from cover to cover. It may be designed as a resource with discrete sections to be consulted at appropriate times.
The Bible is even less novel-like. With 39 "books" in the Hebrew Scriptures, and 27 in the Christian Scriptures, there are multiple authors, times, geographic locations, and theological perspectives represented. This considers only the main collection (Canon) of the books common to most Christian traditions. There are also the books not present in the Hebrew Scriptures or "Old Testament" which are often known as the deutero-canonical books. How does one read all this and make sense of it?
Christian groups have traditionally created lists of texts that are considered important to read. They sketch out some of the key planks of that group's tradition, and its understanding of the Christian faith.
One well known modern lectionary is the Revised Common Lectionary, which is used by many churches world wide. It divides the bible over a three year period, based around the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The readings are chosen to reflect the cycle of church year as it progresses from the hope for a Messiah (Advent), through Christmas, and on to Easter. Each week also has a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Psalms, and from the letters of the New Testament. The Gospel of John is used in each year around the times of the major festivals. There are often readings assigned for special days which do not occur on a Sunday.
Many ministers preach from a lectionary. It provides a discipline which works against the temptation to avoid uncomfortable subjects and concentrate on favourite themes.
A lectionary provides an overview of the Christian tradition. Unfortunately, it also represents a particular theological and historical outlook. Some people point out, for example, that women's stories, often already marginalised in Scripture are further submerged by the RCL . The lectionary is also constructed of short readings, excerpts from the whole, so that some parts of the bible will never be read in public worship under this scheme. It also means that the wider flow of a narrative is interrupted, and perhaps divided in ways never anticipated by the authors. In their own devotions, many people will at least read from the end of the previous week's readings to the end of the designated readings of the current week, in some attempt to overcome this disintegration of the narrative.
Take up the cross
Week of Sunday August 31 2008
Lectionary Reading: Matthew 16:21-31
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.' But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.'
Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? ‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.'
If you want to follow Jesus, you'd better look good on wood. The famous saying by Jesuit priest Daniel Berrigan comes to mind this week. It's an unpleasant revelation to the disciples in Matthew's story. They have found the Messiah, who is now telling them that things will be very different from what they imagine.
The true anointing from God, whether we read the drama as a foretelling of, or as a reflection upon the crucifixion, calls us into conflict. Conflict with the very centre of our faith- Jerusalem, the elders, the chief priests and the scribes.
Taking up the cross can be literal. Don Helder Camera, Bonhoeffer and many others are witness to that. The list includes the thousands killed for being Christian, as have many others been killed for their faiths. It's hard not to wonder how much one has failed in discipleship when life has been so relatively peaceful and secure here in Australia.
At one level, martyrdom seems to be the (un)luck of the draw. Security is ephemeral and circumstantial. For a few scant minutes I once had 400 people yelling and screaming at me. Most of it was not in English, so some may have been crying support, but it was clear that the situation was dangerous. Resolution came through the wisdom of a few friends. That incident was a stark demonstration to me of how isolated and vulnerable we are when we step outside the boundaries of societal approval. I spent days afterward looking behind me.
Whether we are Bonhoeffer, or an anonymous martyr who never makes the press, or local clergy or church member being carved up with oh so civilised precision and hypocrisy by some in our congregation, the principles are the same:
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
This is not just religious piety. It's not mere threat theology; that is, do what I say or you won't get saved. It's a spiritual truth that transcends religious orientation. What is my life worth if I am rich, but have compromised everything I believe in? How can I live with myself in that situation? Ease and comfort are an illusion when one reclines on a couch of guilt.
Sometimes I sit and think about life, and what I've achieved. I remember hopes and dreams and ideals. I regret things not achieved, and sometimes grieve over my failings and losses. I've been given a certain level of contentment, and gather that some people even like and respect me. I reckon the good in me seems correlates with living with the principle. Where I have denied my own success and security and lived for what I believe, I seem to have grown and achieved. Where I have not had the courage to let go of my safety, I have been denied growth and discovery of new strength and life.
Andrew Prior
Direct Biblical quotations in this page are taken from The New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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