Chapter 3: The case of the missing punch line

The text to be investigated, Exodus 6:2-8, is called a pericope. Pericopes are prescribed portions of scripture read during the service on Sundays and on other special occasions throughout the church year. Normally four texts are appointed for each Sunday or special occasion: an Old Testament lesson, a Psalm, an Epistle lesson, and a Gospel reading. Our Exodus text is the appointed Old Testament lesson for this week, at least in American Lutheran congregations.

The practice of prescribing readings roots all the way back to the 4th century. It became quite widespread and eventually one-, two-, and three-year cycles of these texts were collected and bound into books called lectionaries. There are some very real advantages to this custom of assigning weekly texts. For instance, if the texts are chosen wisely, a congregation of the faithful can hear - throughout a three-year cycle - virtually all of the substantive biblical material. Thus even if their pastor or priest has some pet topics or themes, the congregation will nonetheless have the opportunity to respond to a wider sampling of their religious heritage through the hearing of the varied pericopes.

There are also some problems, however. What happens if the choice of texts is not wise? What happens, for example, if troubling texts with unpopular motifs are systematically avoided? Or what happens when, as with today’s text from Exodus, the punch line is left off? Thereby hangs our tale: The case of the missing punch line.

Response: Pushing the needle too far

"Life is difficult", writes M. Scott Peck in The Road Less Traveled. But in America, we think we have the resources to try to fix it. We get extreme makeovers and trade spaces. We try to boost it, civilize it, correct it, cultivate it, edit it, enhance it, promote it, recover it, or revise it. In 2004, the United Church of Christ (UCC) started a new and controversial campaign called "God is still speaking". Listening to God doesn't require these resources and, in fact, is probably more difficult because of the layers of material goods we've put between God and ourselves. I believe listening to God is the only way to heal our broken spirits and ease our cruel bondage.

Chapter 3: The case of the missing punch line (pdf)