I follow a variant of the #NarrativeLectionary readings that I call the #EpicLectionary. Instead of trying to cover the same 15 Old Testament stories every year, I follow three narrative arcs that allow us a little deeper engagement with the characters and stories.

Now that we’re finishing a full Narrative Lectionary cycle, I’ve posted an updated four-year Epic schedule. I’ll still plan to post a late-2026 update in the summer to attach calendar dates and account for anything that looks weird in how the liturgical and secular calendars line up.

https://ecologian.wordpress.com/2026/04/29/epic-lectionary-version-3/

For the third Sunday of Advent, Isaiah tells us that maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store…

One of the best preaching disciplines I’ve learned is to talk about money when the Bible talks about money. So with mere days remaining in the Christmas shopping season: Commerce is synonymous with manufactured dissatisfaction is synonymous with exile. But then, the answer is the Word of God.

#NarrativeLectionary #EpicLectionary

https://ecologian.wordpress.com/2025/12/04/a-funny-thing-isaiah-55-2/

God dwells among God’s people, not because we built a fancy house but insofar as we do justice with one another. We know this truth in theory, but in real life it’s pretty unpopular.

The #EpicLectionary begins a series of readings from Jeremiah (next week to be precise, but I’m running one week ahead because reasons).

https://ecologian.wordpress.com/2025/10/26/a-funny-thing-jeremiah-1-7-3/

The #EpicLectionary aligns (more or less) with the #NarrativeLectionary this week. Solomon built the Lord a temple that is not so much a house as a call box. Where do we focus our attention (and where is God’s attention focused) that connects us with a God who is boundlessly everywhere?

https://ecologian.wordpress.com/2025/10/15/a-funny-thing-1-kings-8-2/

The #EpicLectionary spends two weeks with the temple, building it this week and dedicating it next week. Solomon is the first heir to David’s royal house, so he gets to build the house for God’s name, and in the meantime he provides for the house of King Hiram. Meanwhile, God promises to dwell where God always has: among the people.

https://ecologian.wordpress.com/2025/10/10/a-funny-thing-1-kings-5-6/

The #EpicLectionary begins a three-week narrative arc focusing on Solomon (plus a fourth week bridging into the terrible kings on the way to Jeremiah). We get Solomon this year because of the way John’s gospel cares so much about how the temple relates to transcendence and incarnation.

This week, the newly crowned Solomon shows that he will be very good at the “wise judgment” part of being a king, but there’s already foreshadowing of the “entangled with foreign gods” and “opulence extracted from the people” aspects that will turn out to undermine the whole kingdom. Notes on 1 Kings 3:4-9 (10-15) 16-28:
https://ecologian.wordpress.com/2025/10/05/a-funny-thing-1-kings-3-3/

Solomon’s famous court case involving the two sex workers suggests connections with John 4:1-30 and 8:3-11. This year my attention is on the woman whose son died suddenly: Where is the compassion for her? What does justice (divine or royal) have to do with grief?