Preaching Roundtable
The Green Blades Preaching Roundtable weekly reflections by a variety of preaching writers on the ecological implications of each Sunday’s lectionary.
To inquire about writing for the Green Blades Preaching Roundtable, or to receive these reflections on a weekly basis, contact Kristin Foster, editor, at revkristinfoster@gmail.com.
Third Sunday in Lent
March 3, 2024
Luke Pederson, SAM, Chair of the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin's Creation Care Team
In “A Sand County Almanac”, Aldo Leopold wrote, We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
“A community to which belong”—how often do we view the land as a community of which we both a part of and dependent on? A community to which we have responsibilities, where neglect or abuse affect the whole community? How can this connect with us as members who belong to the Body of Christ?
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 10, 2024
Rev. Nathan Sager, D. Min., Duluth, Minnesota
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Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
Ephesians 2:1-10
John 3:14-21
In our Gospel reading today, Jesus is teaching the Pharisee Nicodemus.
As he did, he used Old Testament images to convey theological truth.
I notice two in particular: wilderness and serpent.
He didn’t hold up a Christian t-shirt…or a 3:16 sign at a football game.
He held up wilderness and serpent.
Jesus and Nicodemus were not on the same theological page.
But both knew their history, and God’s hand revealed in nature.
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Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 17, 2024
Melinda Quivik, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Jeremiah 31:31–34
Psalm 51:1–12
Hebrews 5:5–10
John 12:20–33
In this era of reckoning with global climate chaos, this Sunday's readings invite us to think expansively in terms of our own lives about that grain of wheat falling and sprouting new grain in John 12. Jesus may well be speaking of his own death and the resulting good that will come from it. Death must precede resurrection, certainly. And the good that comes is expansive. From the death of one single stalk of wheat can sprout two to thirty kernels. The metaphor is apt; that dying grain is about the lives of all of us. Try on the idea that we are all grains of wheat called to die to the ways we live that harm other people and Earth. We are called to oppose all that is death-dealing in our world. For that, something in ourselves––in our vision, in our theologies, in our actions––must die.
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Palm Sunday
March 24, 2024
Rev. John Stiles, Pine City, Minnesota
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Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 31:9-16
Philippians 2:5-11
Mark 14:1-15:47
As Paul says in Philippians, Jesus “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” For Jesus, all the pomp-and-circumstance ended in his bearing our sinful consequence. All the pageantry ended in travesty. It was his majesty to give the people their wish to “save us” by taking it upon himself. All the hurt and shame; the hatred and thirst for revenge so that we might be free. Between these two parades, one of pageantry and one of mockery, Jesus shows us how to love and what true power looks like.
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Maundy Thursday
March 28, 2024
Pastor Greg Kaufmann, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
How does one show love for one another today? We know that the effects of climate change disproportionately impact the most vulnerable people/countries in the world, and we know that climate change is being exacerbated by lifestyles many of us in the developed countries of the world consider our right to enjoy. What might this call us to change in our own lives?
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Easter Sunday
March 31st, 2024
Pastor Claire Repsholdt, Patchogue, NY
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Mark 16
This Easter, I’m concentrated on the promises God makes to us, at baptism and for the rest of our lives, and on the simple ways that any kind of water can remind us of those baptismal promises. My parsonage is located only 5 minutes from the Great South Bay, a brilliant scoop of water that lies between Long Island, New York, and her beloved cousin, Fire Island. It’s one of the greatest treasures I’d never heard anything about when I lived in the Midwest.
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Read the full reflection here
Green Blades Preaching Roundtable Archive