blog.sinden.org

Ever see one of those bibles where the words of Christ are in red letters? This is sort of like that, except that it only includes those passages of scripture omitted by the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL, a three-year cycle of biblical readings for Christian worship, is the most commonly used set of readings in American churches. So why are these parts of the bible so unimportant that we just skip over them?

Welcome to the Gray Letter Bible.

This week, we bridge the gap between Proper 13C and Proper 14C

He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Status: kind of a gray area.

We actually do read very similar words to this (Matthew 6:24-34) on Epiphany 8A (or Proper 3A, depending), which last occurred on February 27, 2011.

We will not read them in 2014 (No Eighth Sunday after Epiphany, and no Proper 3A either). I have no knowledge about 2017.

Labels: Bible, Gray Letter Bible, Luke, Matthew, RCL