Lectionary Musings from the Church Anew Blog: November 9 and 16

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Nov 5

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.

November 9, 2025

Narrative Lectionary: Amos 1:1-2; 5:14-15, 21-24

Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “Two Farmers…Two Ways”

Through chapter 5 the Book of Amos issues a series of imperatives that echo the imperative summons of Moses, Joshua, and Elijah: Seek me and live (v. 4). Seek the Lord and live (v. 6). Seek good and not evil, that you may live (v. 14). Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate (v. 15). The progression of the rhetoric is from “me” to “YHWH” to “good” to “good” to “justice.” The terms are all of a piece. YHWH is the source and embodiment of good; the substance of “good” is justice. The practice of YHWH-based justice is life. All that contradicts this neighbor-inclined justice is anti-life and will end in death.

November 16, 2025

Semi-continuous Old Testament: Isaiah 65:17-25

Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “The Discomforting Gift of Newness”

This new Jerusalem is not some heavenly escape. It is, rather, a viable city where society is marked in healthy ways: by an absence of infant mortality (Isaiah 65:20); by a viable peaceable economy absent of predatory threat (vv. 21-22); by healthy child bearing, in which both mother and child are kept safe (v. 23); by the acute attentiveness of God to their prayers (v. 24); and by a full reconciliation of all parts of the environment (v. 25).

Narrative Lectionary: Isaiah 9:1-7

Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, “The Size of Government”

As I thought about the size of government in relation to the role of government, I remembered the anticipatory oracle of Isaiah to which we Christians appeal at Christmas. The prophet anticipates the coming of the “good king” (messiah) who will undertake the proper role of government. … The new government will have many roles: counselor, military might, peace. … The NRSV translates, “his authority will grow.” The more familiar KJV has it: The increase of his government shall know no end. Talk about “big government”!

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Rev. Emmy Kegler

Emmy Kegler is a queer Christian mom, author, pastor, and speaker called to ministry at the margins of the church.

Emmy has a Master’s in Divinity from Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minn., and is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. She was raised in the Episcopal Church and spent some time in evangelical and non-denominational traditions before finding her home in the ELCA. For six years she served as the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Northeast Minneapolis, a small servant-hearted neighborhood congregation focused on feeding the hungry and community outreach, where she co-founded the Queer Grace Community, a group of LGBTQIA+ Christians in the Twin Cities meeting for worship, Bible study, and fellowship.

When her son was born, Emmy transitioned out of called ministry. She currently serves as the interim executive director for Inside Out Faith, which promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion within faith communities, fostering a space where everyone can thrive spiritually and be embraced for their authentic selves.

Emmy is also the Editor of the Church Anew blog, where she helps curate an amazing collection of new and long-time authors that share a fresh, bold, and faithful witness for the church.

Emmy’s first book, One Coin Found: How God’s Love Stretches to the Margins, tells her story as a queer Christian called to ordained ministry and how it formed her relationship with Scripture. Her second book, All Who Are Weary: Easing the Burden on the Walk with Mental Illness, offers a pastoral and Scriptural accompaniment to those facing symptoms and diagnoses of mental illness along with the families, friends, communities, pastors, and therapists who care for them.

As a preacher and writer, she is passionate about curating worship and theological practices that dismantle barriers to those historically marginalized by Christian practice. She believes in and works for a church rooted in accessibility, intentionality, integrity, and transformation, knowing that God is already out ahead of us creating expansive space for those most hungry for the good and liberating news of Jesus.

Emmy lives in Minneapolis and has a life full of toddler-chasing and baby-entertaining alongside her wife Michelle.

Lectionary Musings from the Church Anew Blog: November 9 and 16

Sensory Issues in the Worship Setting, Part 1

Q&A with Kat Armas on her latest book, Liturgies for Resisting Empire