Uncommon Lectionary
Seeker Cycle for January
January really is a time for new beginnings and fresh starts, but it is also a time to reexamine our hopes and re-prioritize our energies. That is the theme for the preaching, teaching, and choreographing of worship this month. It should be very behavioral in its focus. Pay special attention to how leaders model authentic Christian behavior both in the planned worship design of drama and liturgy, but also in the unplanned and spontaneous words and actions when leaders are out of the spotlight and think they are by themselves. Hope is an incredibly fragile thing for seekers, and the faintest shred of hypocrisy will shatter their new faith.
The themes of each Sunday have a certain logic or flow.
„Ï New beginnings: We start with all those resolutions and positive commitments we want to make, and first and foremost these should include a commitment to surrender our lives to Christ, and commit ourselves to seeking God¡¦s purpose in our living.
„Ï Experience of Jesus: No resolution will carry us very far into the challenging year ahead unless we can carry within us a spark, memory, or experience of incarnation. It¡¦s like carrying Christmas into every day and minute of our living.
„Ï Hope for the future: There really is hope, but it won¡¦t take people long to doubt it. The world is going to stomp on them very quickly in the new year, and discouragement won¡¦t be far behind. They really need reassurance that this business about Christ is guaranteed.
„Ï God shapes our lives: By this time, most people have realized they can¡¦t do it by themselves. No matter how hard they try, you can¡¦t break old habits. So they need to surrender to a Higher Power, and let God begin to shape, change, and guide them.
„Ï God can totally change us: The bottom line, however, is that people realize ¡§I am who I am¡¨, and they begin to feel they should just ¡§accept themselves as they really are¡¨. So they need to discover that ¡§who they really are¡¨ can change also! Self-acceptance changes when the self you want to accept is transformed.
Remember, all these themes are being explored against the background of winter vacations in warmer climates, huge publicity over sports competitions, and lots of television entertainment. In other words, January is the ¡§escapist¡¨ month. Everybody is trying to face themselves ¡K and run away ¡K at the same time! You need to help them stop ¡K look ¡K and listen.
Disciple Cycle for January
The Disciple Cycle completes the story line of ¡§Jesus Purpose¡¨ through the first Sunday in February. January consolidates the experience of Christ through Christmas, and helps disciples bridge from Jesus birth to the significance of Jesus¡¦ death.
It may seem odd to traditional worship designers that reflection on Jesus teaching, crucifixion and resurrection, should come in January. Normally the established church waited for the start of Lent in mid-February. In our world, however, this makes little sense as an educational methodology. Why take a break from thinking about Jesus? Especially when that break is so easily filled with the ecclesiological banality of planning for annual meetings or officer elections? No, it is far more important to keep the momentum about Jesus¡¦ purpose. Don¡¦t let six weeks of forgetfulness get in your way.
So during January we will explore the teachings, inner meaning, and eternal significance of Jesus the Christ. If some of your disciples (leaders, officers, and small group shepherds) are taking post-Christmas holidays, be diligent to remind them to worship every Sunday and to communicate back to your church for updates about the teaching and small group study of the Disciple Cycle. This is the time when any website development or email network development you have done will really be of service. Disciples should be able to access not only the basic sermon and curriculum, but even participate in chat rooms and email conversations about Jesus¡¦ purpose wherever they are.
An important feature of the Disciple Cycle is that reading from the Gospels will be enhanced both by the predictions and anticipations of the Messiah found in the Old Testament, but also with the reflections and interpretations about the Christ that are found in the writings from the earliest church. Both are necessary for a full understanding of the significance of Christ. There are those who might think that reading solely the Gospels would be enough. Not so. Even these are filled with past expectation and future interpretation. The experience of Christ is too big to be contained even in the 30 years of Jesus¡¦ life on earth.
How long did Jesus live? That really is the big question. Seekers will say that Jesus lived for about 30 years after the census of Quirinius; but disciples will say that Jesus the Christ has lived from the beginning of time ¡K and that he still lives and moves and breathes and acts in new ways in the world ¡K and that at the end of time Jesus will be there welcoming us into his loving and forgiving arms.