Why Use the Lectionary?

There’s a number of reasons we use the lectionary throughout the year at the Branch. One reason is that it allows us to join with hundreds of thousands of other Christians around the world who are also using the lectionary. Reading the same passages at the same time reminds us that we are part of something much, much bigger than the Branch.

The lectionary also helps expose us to a wider range of biblical texts than we might normally encounter. After all, let’s be honest: we each have parts of the Bible we love and visit frequently, and parts that we rarely, if ever read. But follow the lectionary and you’ll find yourself in Deuteronomy and Hosea — along with Matthew and Ephesians. It is good for us to come into contact with the wide, sweeping, living Word.

Finally, reading the lectionary can help us see the countless connections between different parts of Scripture. This week’s passages are no exception. Psalm 27 and
Luke 13:31-35 each speak to the common theme of God’s protection. That same passage in Luke and Philippians 3:17-4:1 each have something to say about how easily God’s people wander away — and how much this break’s God’s heart.

We should be careful not to force connections upon the lectionary texts; but when they do exist we can give thanks — for in those connections we are reminded that God’s singular story of love and redemption is woven throughout the grand narrative we call the Bible.

What connections are you seeing this week between the lectionary texts? More broadly, what is God saying to you and what are you going to do about it?