Emphasis Preaching Journal

I am always intrigued by the parts of scripture which are left out of the lectionary. Often, the sections left out are "texts of terror" as Phyllis Tribble calls them. Tamar's rape is not in the lectionary. Sometimes, Biblical characters behave in an unseemly fashion and those narratives are left out of the lectionary. Ruth's jaunt to the threshing floor to meet Boaz is not in the lectionary. Sometimes the content is threatening. Though the lectionary appoints the lovely passage in the Song of Solomon 2:11-13 "for lo the winter is past ...," which can be interpreted as a song to spring, in fact it leaves out the whole rest of the song which is sexually explicit. So when I come to this passage appointed for the Second Sunday of Lent, I ask the question: "Why were verses 12-16 left out? And what might those verses say to us if we have the courage to hear them and listen to them?" Abram falls asleep and a deep and terrifying darkness descends upon him. If we can face Abram through the terrifying darkness, maybe we can begin to grasp the possibility that God is present in the terrifying darkness in our lives. -- Steffey Morrow