First Reading

Back to the Future Lectionary Date: December 4, 2022 [2nd Sunday of Advent, Year A] Rachel helps us hear the melodies and harmonies of this classic text.

Authoring Peace Lectionary Date: November 27, 2022 [1st Sunday of Advent, Year A] It's Advent! To help us unpack the first reading for the first week of Advent, we have invited Dr. David Davage to join us. David is Associate Professor in Old Testament Exegesis at the Academy of Leadership and Theology, Umeå, Sweden. He is interested in the diachronic growth of the Psalms and the question of authorship in the ancient Near East. He is a prolific author, researcher, and a sought-after speaker. If you’re interested in more of his work, we recommend his newest book, How Isaiah Became an Author: Prophecy, Authority and Attribution. 

Cease and Desist! Lectionary Date: November 20, 2022 [Reign of Christ Sunday, Year C] Tim finds the metaphorical thread that holds this famous psalm together—and it's not the image of peace you think it is!

Hot, Hot, Hot! Lectionary Date: November 13, 2022 [23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rosy finds a wealth of sermon material in a very short text.

Resurrection or Stubbornness? Lectionary Date: November 6, 2022 [22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Tim tries to pull the lectionary reading back into its context.

Enthroned over the Monsters Lectionary Date: November 1, 2022 [All Saints Day, Year C] Rosy explores the strange imagery of Daniel's vision.

The Many Days of the Lord Lectionary Date: October 23, 2022 [20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Locusts? Armies? Shame, vindication, and salvation? Peter's speech at Pentecost? There is a ton going on in this short reading. This week, Rosy and Tim are joined by Dr. Mari Joerstad, Academic Dean and Professor of Hebrew Bible at Vancouver School of Theology. Dr. Joerstad’s work focuses on issues of environment, land, migration, and belonging in the Hebrew Bible. A native of Norway, she did her doctoral work at Duke University in North Carolina, where she studied with one of our favorites, Professor Ellen Davis. Today’s passage from Joel is full of images of the land and ecology, so we’re especially grateful to have Mari’s expertise and insight for this conversation. She is the author of The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, Non-Humans, and the Living Landscape, published by Cambridge in 2020. You can also find her published work in a number of academic journals, including The Journal

Wrestling in the Ambiguity Lectionary Date: October 16, 2022 [19th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rosy takes us deep into a story of messy encounter with God.

Finding Her Voice Lectionary Date: October 9, 2022 [18th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rachel calls our attention to the true (unsung) hero of this story.

Questions without Answers Lectionary Date: October 2, 2022 [17th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rosy connects Habakkuk's battery of questions to a traumatic historical context.

The Law as Gospel Lectionary Date: September 25, 2022 [16th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Hoi! Rachel reads the prophet Amos giving an invitation to a different perspective on "comfort."

Selling the Poor for a Pair of Sandals Lectionary Date: September 18, 2022 [15th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rosy challenges our spending habits (and their human cost) as she channels the prophet Amos.

Changing God's Mind? Lectionary Date: September 11, 2022 [14th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Tim explores some curious biblical "intertextuality" in this week's lection.

The Slipperiness of Clay Lectionary Date: September 4, 2022 [13th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] This week, Rachel and Tim are joined by Dr. Steed Vernyl Davidson. Dr. Davidson is the Dean of the Faculty, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and a Professor of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. He is also an ordained elder within the United Methodist Church. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Davidson he earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He is an expert on postcolonial dynamics in the content and reception of the Hebrew Bible, and has written and edited several volumes on that topic. He is also a frequent contributor to WorkingPreacher.com.

Genuine Humility Lectionary Date: August 28, 2022 [12th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rosy percolates in a deceptively simple proverb.

Feeling God's Call Lectionary Date: August 21, 2022 [11th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rachel connects the language of Isaiah to our own experiences of divine calling.

A Metaphor Inside a Metaphor Lectionary Date: August 14, 2022 [10th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Tim dips into the First Reading vault to pull out a classic episode.

Things are not Always as they Seem Lectionary Date: August 7, 2022 [9th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rachel traces the surprising development of a hopeful psalm.

Wrestling with the Act-Consequence Nexus Lectionary Date: July 31, 2022 [8th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] Rachel dives into Qohelet to mess with a sometimes problematic platitude.

A Challenging Marriage Metaphor in Context Lectionary Date: July 24, 2022 [7th Sunday after Pentecost, Year C] This week, First Reading is thrilled to have Dr. Gale Yee as our guest scholar to help us with a dense, troubling, and rich text. Dr. Yee is the Nancy W. King Professor of Biblical Studies, emerita, at Episcopal Divinity School. She served as the President of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2019. Her contributions to feminist biblical interpretation have influenced the entire field of Biblical Studies, one of the reasons we are so excited to talk with her today! If you are interested in more of her work, check out Towards an Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics: An Intersectional Anthology (Cascade, 2021) or The Hebrew Bible: Feminist and Intersectional Perspectives (Fortress, 2018).