Connections Year B, Volume 3 (Joel Green, et al) -- Review

CONNECTIONS: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship. Year B, Volume 3: Season after Pentecost. Edited by Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby, & Carolyn J. Sharp. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021. Xvii + 566 pages.

                A plethora of preachers turn each week to the Revised Common Lectionary for texts to preach that Sunday. It’s not the only way to decide what to preach, but for many of us who desire to begin the process of preparing sermons with the biblical text the lectionary provides a systematic way to move through Scripture. Having used the RCL for much of my ministry, I have always found it a helpful starting place. One benefit of using the RCL is that resources are abundant that aid in sermon preparation and worship planning. One of these resources is the Connections series published by Westminster John Knox Press. It is a series that has been honored by the Academy of Parish Clergy as its Reference Book of the Year (I chair the committee that chose it for this honor the year the series first emerged). What I’ve noticed over time using this resource is that there is great consistency in its coverage of the biblical texts designated for use during the liturgical year.

                This volume brings the Connections series to a close. Now all three cycles have been covered. Having been provided review copies of many of the volumes I have regularly turned to the Connections commentary, along with the Feasting on the Word volumes (also from WJK). I should note that I have used the Kindle version of one of the volumes and found it easy to use and of course very mobile. This particular volume covers the Season after Pentecost for Year B. Because this season is lengthy—nearly six months—it is a hefty volume.

                Each time a new series of lectionary commentaries emerges, questions arise as to what makes this series unique. After all, as a preacher or teacher I already have several commentary series, lectionary and otherwise? To decide whether one should consider this series one must understand the principles that undergird it. Thus, with the Connections series, the reader is offered two commentaries for each lectionary reading. One commentary is focused on the text itself asking how it functions in its own context. The second commentary focuses on the connections between the ancient text and the modern world.  Therefore, Commentary One seeks to locate the text in its broader biblical context, connecting the passage with the other lectionary selections as well as the larger biblical story. In other words, it takes a horizontal view of the passage. It does so in twelve hundred words. The second commentary (Commentary Two) seeks to build a bridge between the ancient text and our contemporary world. It takes a more vertical approach (at least chronologically). While addressing the modern world, the editors understand that if this series is to have a long life it can’t be so specific in its applications that it will be obsolete before the series is complete.

                Although two commentaries for the first and second readings, along with the Gospel reading, the editorial team chose to provide only one commentary for the readings from the Psalms. This commentary focuses on the liturgical function of the Psalm, seeking to connect the Psalm with worship. For preachers who seek to preach the Psalm, this commentary might not prove as helpful as it might have been, but it is still useful.

                Since this volume focuses on the season following Pentecost, it is important to note that when it comes to the “First Reading,” which is generally taken from the Hebrew Bible, there are two readings for each Sunday. I will share the explanation offered by the editors: “There is the usual complimentary reading, chosen in relation to the Gospel reading, but there is also a ‘semi-continuous reading. These semi-continuous readings move through the books of the Old Testament more or less continuously in narrative sequence offering the stories of the patriarchs (Year A), the kings of Israel (Year B), and the prophets (Year C)” (p. xvi). Both readings are handled together in one essay. Thus, the writer of Commentary One will offer a response to both readings in the same essay (still at 1200 words).

                In addition to the two commentaries, the editors sprinkle through the volume sidebars that provide excerpts from historical writings by figures that range from Basil of Caesarea to Teresa of Avila to Paul Tillich. Thus, an excerpt from the writings of Teresa of Avila focusing on the “Sufferings of the Soul” is linked with the readings from Job and Genesis for Proper 22. In this excerpt, we read as Teresa shares that “as a person who, having travelled often by a particular road, knows, though it might be night and dark, but his past experience of it, where he may stumble, and where he ought to be on his guard against that risk, because he has seen the place by day, so the soul avoids offending God: it seems to go on by habit—that is, if we put out of sight the fact that our Lord holds it by the hand, which is the true explanation of the matter” (p. 355). The sidebars are set apart by a text box and a different typeface. One will also find a list of readings in the Table of Contents. As a church historian who believes that Tradition has much to offer us, this is greatly appreciated even if the reading is not used in the body of the sermon.

                The series is edited by a team of five: Joel Green, Cynthia Rigby, Luke Powery, Thomas Long, and Carolyn Sharp. They are assisted by Kimberly Bracken Long, who oversees the essays on the Psalms (including recruiting the writers). Rachel Toombs is responsible for the sidebar readings. The team included a large group of contributors (around two hundred per volume), whose contributions needed to be organized into the volume as it stands, thus, with nine volumes completed covering all three cycles, this was truly a team effort. As to the background of the editors, two are biblical scholars (Green and Sharp), two are homileticians (Long and Powery), and one is a theologian (Rigby). The writers of the commentaries include pastors, biblical scholars, and theologians. For those who do not know much about the Revised Common Lectionary, Jennifer Lord, one of the members of the twelve-person editorial board, offers a brief but very helpful account of the RCL at the beginning of the volume.

                Each of these editors, along with the larger editorial team and editorial board working with them, believe in the value of lectionary preaching. At the same time, they also believe that it’s possible to dive deeper into the world of the text and in the world that hears the message emerging from the text. In their introduction to the volume, the editors write: "Connections is not a substitute for traditional scriptural commentaries, concordances, Bible dictionaries, and other interpretive tools. Rather, Connections begins with solid biblical scholarship and then goes on to focus on the act of preaching and on the ultimate goal of allowing the biblical text to come alive in the sermon." (p. xv).

                One question that often arises, especially among new preachers, concerns the nature of the lectionary and why it might be useful for preaching. As noted above, Jennifer Lord offers a succinct introduction to the Revised Common Lectionary that should prove helpful. In that introduction, she reminds us that the lectionary is connected to the church year and thus the traditions of the church and its worship experience. Thus, she writes:

We read, not to recall history, but to know how those events are true for us today. Now is the time of the Spirit of the risen Christ; now we beseech God in the face of sin and death; now we live baptized into Jesus’ life and ministry. To read texts in time does not mean we remind ourselves of Jesus’ biography for half the year and the mission of the church for the other half. Rather, we follow each Gospel’s narrative order to be brought again to the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection and his risen presence in our midst. The RCL positions the texts as our lens on our life and the life of the world in our time: who we are in Christ now, for the sake of the world” (p. xviii).

Each of the authors seeks to answer that call—helping preachers hear a word for today in an ancient text. This requires examining it in its original context (commentary one). But it is not enough to remain in the ancient world. Therefore, the reason for commentary two.

                Having used these volumes over the past few years—I have generally kept the Connections volume next to the volume from Feasting on the Word—I have usually found something of value in each week’s commentary. Not every essay will be as helpful to me at that moment, but I’m grateful to have this collection nearby to assist in my sermon prep as well as my weekly lectionary reflections I write for my blog. So, as is true for any resource like this, there will be unevenness (or at least perceived unevenness, depending on the end user's needs). Nonetheless, the quality found here is extremely high, which means the editors should be commended for their work. So, if you are a lectionary preacher or teacher who uses the RCL and you have yet to purchase a volume, my advice is to start adding the Connections series to your collection.