Looking into the lectionary - Addressing sexual misconduct in the church

Romans 6:12-23 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8) June 28, 2026 Our Scripture lesson from Romans includes some of Paul's most definitive statements about sin and our enslavement to it. The language of enslavement is startling to modern ears, but in Paul's view, creatures are always subject to some lordship — if not Christ's lordship, then other unworthy lordships. Thus, Bob Dylan seems to channel Paul when he contends in a classic song: “You’re gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Some might question both Paul and Dylan on this point, since modern people are heirs to a quintessential American belief that we are fundamentally free and that sin is no more than a temporary setback — certainly not enslavement. Yet in Paul's view, life is shaped by two encumbrances: one leading to death and the other to life.   In Romans 6:18, Paul argues that the Romans are “freed,” but that this freedom is not unencumbered. As Pauline scholar Beverly Gaventa puts it in her New Testament Library commentary on Romans, “the human is always enslaved and at the same time always free: the question is not whether one is free or enslaved, but to whom or what one is enslaved and from whom or what one is freed.” To get at this question, it is important to attend closely to the verses that immediately precede the lectionary text in Romans 6:1-11, where Paul speaks of baptism in cruciform terms as immersion into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This cruciform pattern of dying and rising in union with Christ exposes and resists death-tending realities that enslave us while empowering new life. ... Thank you to this week's writer, Roger Gench. Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org. Want the worship resources for June 21, 2026? You can find them here.

Order of worship — June 28, 2026 by Roger Gench   Louisville Seminary summit affirms Black, rural congregations by Dartinia Hull GA overture recommends studies on sexuality and gender, relationships, and family by Gregg Brekke Committee addresses sexual misconduct within the church by Harriet Riley

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