Lectionary Musings from the Church Anew Blog: October 11 and 18
Each week, we’ll offer a curated selection of blog posts that speak to the upcoming lectionary texts to help spark your imagination and serve as a thought partner for you. We hope these musings meet you right where you are with a fresh, bold, and faithful witness.
Sunday, October 11, 2026 – Proper 23 (28)
Old Testament (Semicontinuous): Exodus 32:1-14
Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “The Golden Calf and 2020”
The breaking of the covenant in this story is because Israel yearns for and must have an immediately available God. Israel cannot tolerate the holiness of YHWH that marks God with freedom, the freedom to be absent, remote, or inaccessible.
Dr. Michael J. Chan, “Dr. Terence Fretheim, A Remembrance”
“It is not enough to say that one believes in God. What is important finally is the kind of God in whom one believes.” As a scholar, pastor, and teacher, Fretheim engaged some of the Bible’s most nettlesome theological questions: What kind of God does the Bible depict? What does it mean to have a God who regrets a decision, looking upon a water-wrecked world and saying, “I will never do that again” (Genesis 8:21)? Is God involved in natural disasters? Can God change God’s mind? Is God somehow responsible for creating a world in which evil exists and even thrives? What does it mean that God chooses to share genuine power and responsibility with imperfect creatures? How is God at work in creation, and what are humanity’s responsibilities toward the non-human elements of creation?
Psalm (Semicontinuous): Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “An Unwelcome Read of History”
When we consider the juxtaposition of Psalms 105 and 106 in the Bible, we can see that 106 follows 105 as something of a “truth squad” and that corrects the uninterrupted celebration of 105. Psalm 106 insists that the “under side” of historical reality must be preserved and presented in the memory and worship of Israel.
Psalm (Paired): Psalm 23
Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “Insatiable!”
We are invited to make a sheep who does not overeat, who does not store up or hoard food, but who in profound confidence trusts the provisions of the shepherd who provides food, water, and safety. Such a sheep, in readiness to rely upon the gifts of the shepherd, eats only what is required for the day—no extras, no surplus, no excessive luxuries.
Epistle: Philippians 4:1-9
Rev. Lizzie McManus-Dail, “Shielding the Joyous”
Paul writes these words from prison. These are not commandments to perform a particular kind of spirituality that brushes off the realities of a world rife with pain. This is a proclamation from the pit of hell that says: hell has no power here anymore.
Narrative Lectionary: Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17
Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “From ‘Rag-Tag’ to ‘Holy’”
This identity is the inverse of Hosea 1:8: This “no people” has become “my people.” This staggering invite, however, is conditional: “if.” The condition is specified as the emancipatory God enunciates the Ten Commandments as the norm for the new identity of this community now formed and chosen (Exodus 20:1-17). These ten conditions bear no marking of class, nations, ethnicity, or cult. They are the most elemental requirements of historical wellbeing, grounded in a holiness that precludes every absolutism.
Sunday, October 18, 2026 – Proper 24 (29)
Old Testament (Paired): Isaiah 45:1-7
Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “Rescinding Absolutes”
The new thing, in the Book of Isaiah, is a new Exodus of God’s people to be wrought by appeal, to the Persians under the leadership of Cyrus who is recognized as a messiah (Isaiah 45:1). Of course it requires a certain perspective to be able to see the defeat of Babylon by Persia as a new Exodus for Israel. But that is exactly the point! That perspective is one that affirms that YHWH, the Lord of the Exodus, continues to do emancipatory work in the world for powerless people.
Psalm (Paired): Psalm 96:1-9,(10-13)
Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “Trees: Signals of Hope and Defiance”
In the doxological tradition of Israel, trees are reckoned as lively creatures and not simply inanimate objects waiting to be exploited.
Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22
Rev. Miguel Escobar, “Render Unto Caesar? A Tax Day Reflection”
The question posed to Jesus—should people pay taxes to Caesar?—and his enigmatic reply, raise profound questions that Christians still wrestle with today. How should Christians relate to civil society? What does it mean to balance religious identity with loyalty to a nation? And when, if ever, should believers practice tax resistance in response to unjust authority?
Narrative Lectionary: Joshua 24:1-15 [16-26]
Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “Discipleship That Inconveniences”
The “statutes and ordinances” are surely an inconvenience for those who embrace the covenant. This is a curious give-and-take that must have exasperated the community. But Joshua is insistent. Entering into covenant with YHWH is no easy or light thing and must not be entered easily or lightly.
