Go & Tell the Story

By Rev. Rich Sheridan, Nebraska Synod Evangelist / Director for Evangelical Mission, ELCA Not too long ago, our church shifted from the Revised Common Lectionary to the Narrative Lectionary. Since making the change, I’ve gotten a kick out of both the gift and the challenge of preaching on different scriptures than I’ve generally been accustomed to in the past. This last month in particular, this meant exploring more deeply the biblical book of Ruth in my preaching. Ruth is a story that, to my mind, requires a little more explanation than most. It has a kind of soap opera quality with drama and intrigue, a variety of scenes and settings, and several characters with unfamiliar names (at least to my twenty-first century Anglo-American ears!). It can be tough to read just a portion of the book in worship, because the entire book is really one cohesive narrative. At the same time, so much happens in such a short number of verses that it can be challenging to disti...