Every church building is a repository of stories which are lived out by people, told and retold again and again. They are stories of the encounter between God and his people in and through Jesus Christ.

The lectionary ought to be thought of as the "story book of the church," particularly in conjunction with the gospels. On Sundays and the festivals of the year the Story of Jesus is read as the climactic scripture reading of the day or feast. Arndt Halvorson, stated in an unpublished lecture: "Through the big Story God entered the world; through the little stories God entered our lives." The "big Story" of the redeeming events initiated by the Father in Christ is read on the principal festivals of the Christian calendar; the "little stories" (in the pericopes) are read on the Sundays of the year. Through the reading of the Bible in this way the "story of Jesus" - the gospel - is thrust into a primary role in Christian worship. The most important parts of the Story are read over a three-year period, and then are repeated again in this ongoing three-year cycle of scripture readings. The worship of the church, the preaching of the Word, and the faith of the people rest firmly on the Holy Scriptures rather than on contemporary topics or tradition. The lectionary insists that Christian worship must be biblical.

 

The great festivals of Christ - Christmas, Easter, Pentecost - are shaped by the stories that are read as they are anticipated and celebrated. The beloved stories about the birth of Jesus, his life, ministry, suffering and death, and resurrection generate wonder and excitement among the listeners when they are read in proper sequence during the year. The story they tell has power inherent in it - sometimes even without preaching - to evoke faith and trust in God. That power has been experienced by untold numbers of people who have read the Story for themselves, and when the Story is read aloud in a Christian assembly - as it is meant to be read - the impact is just as great, or greater. The "old, old Story" retains its ability to move people to repentance and faith.

 

The genius of the lectionary is that the first and second lessons, as well as the Holy Gospel, were chosen for their "gospel content" rather than for doctrinal foundations or ethical emphases. Luther understood gospel this way, especially in connection with the whole Testament. In his, “ A Brief Instruction on What to Look For and Expect in the Gospels,” he wrote:

 

It is a common practice to number the gospels and to name them by books and say that there are four gospels. From this practice stems the fact that no one knows what St. Paul and St. Peter are saying in their epistles, and their teaching is regarded as an addition to the gospels ... One should thus realize that there is only one gospel, but that it is described by many apostles. Every single epistle of Paul and of Peter, as well as the Acts of the Apostles by Luke, is a gospel, even though they do not record all the works and words of Christ, but one is shorter and includes less than another. There is not one of the four major gospels anyway that includes all the words and works of Christ; nor is this necessary.

 

In another writing, Prefaces to the New Testament, he adds: "Therefore it should be known ... that the notion must be given up that there are four gospels and only four evangelists ... so the New Testament is a book in which are written the gospel and the promises of God, together with a history of those who believe and of those who do not believe them."

 

For Luther, the Old Testament was not gospel, but a "book in which are written God's laws and commandments, together with a history of those who kept and of those who did not keep them ..." Luther might not accept the concept of gospel in the Old Testament, because he applies the term strictly to Christ, and he might not be pleased with the "Year of Matthew," "Year of Mark," "Year of Luke" arrangement in view of his opinion about the value of those three gospels over against the Gospel of John and the epistles of St. Peter and St. Paul, but he would be pleased with that fact that John is the most used New Testament book in the "consensus lectionary" and that Romans is the work among the epistles most often employed as a second lesson. He believed that these two books told the story of Christ - the gospel - better than any of the other books of the New Testament. Luther will never allow us to forget that the gospel is the story - and only one story - about Jesus Christ. The three-year lectionary we use, even though of Roman Catholic origin, attests to the enduring value of Luther's opinion in regard to the church's public worship, especially regarding scripture reading and preaching.

 

The proclamation of the gospel inspires the song that God's people sing, as Luther and others have noted, and which has taken the shape that we call liturgy. One liturgical element - the church year - serves both worship and preaching as it signals presider and preacher - and the people - concerning the biblical orientation of celebration and proclamation. Frequently called the calendar of the church, it enables the church to "tell time" from the perspective of what God has done in the world - and what he does now and will do in the future - in Jesus Christ. Structured as it is about the major events in the life of Jesus Christ - the kerygma, as C. H. Dodd called them - the church (or Christian) year might be called the kerygmatic timepiece of the Christian Church. It reminds God's faithful people about extraordinary moments in time, but it also establishes a rhythm of worship in ordinary time which creates a "flow of time" - chronos - from past to present to the "last things" within the plan of God. Rachel Reeder, in an issue of Liturgy devoted to the calendar, writes:

 

We live between two ages always, and the seasons are always changing, but they, and we, are centered in the mystery of redemption. That is our point of equilibrium; the father of Jesus is the Lord of Time. Let there be no mistake - we cannot live the struggles of yesterday's church and saints, but we can share the intensity of the desire to find a meaning, purpose, and style of life that will survive the risks of evil and sin.13

 

The calendar zeroes in on the new creation God began when the Kingdom of God broke into time. It fills us with hope because the fulness of that Kingdom is yet to come through the return and triumphant reign of Jesus Christ.

 

As we continue to mark our 250th celebration of our existence in this community we have been invited to share, create and participate in God’s story of faithfulness. During this Pentecost

let each of us and all of us be open to the voice of the Spirit in leading us in creating a unique story for others to follow.

 

Guided by the Spirit,   Pastor Jim