Pentecost 15: September 1, 2013 (Labor Day Weekend)

Proverbs 25:6-7
Psalm 112
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Luke 14:1, 7-14

FIRST LESSON: Proverbs 25:6-7

Challenges:

• If “the King” in these verses is meant to be God, this seems to run contrary to Jesus’ teaching of approaching God as a child approaches a loving parent (Luke 11:11-13)
• If “the King” is just a human king here, this is just practical advice, not much to do with God at all.
• It’s hard to see the Gospel or “Good News” here.  Where is God acting graciously in our lives?  You might have to wait for another text to give it to you.

Opportunities:

•  While this “practical advice” might not have much to do with God if “the King” is just a human king, this “everyday, practical advice” and be a good way to show that the Bible is not just some ethereal, abstract book: it can be practical too.
•  You could make a connection with the Hymn, “Soon and Very Soon” (“…we are going to see the King.”)
• This is a great chance to talk about the character of the king to whom we owe our allegiance and loyalty.  What’s your King (God) like?

The Good News:

•  If you are looking at the “character of the King” as mentioned above, these verses suggest that there is the possibility that you could get “called up:” this king doesn’t ignore people.
• Overt self-promotion can be exhausting: these verses invite us to live differently.
• Anyone could be called into the presence of the great: it’s not JUST for nobles.

                                                        PSALM: Psalm 112
Challenges:

• This psalm makes some pretty big promises: is this too much like a religious sales-pitch?
• Does this psalm make the divide between the righteous and the wicked a little too clear-cut?  Are people either/or or both/and?
•  “The Righteous” seem perfect-since I don’t even FEEL this way, should I even try?

Opportunities:

• The stories that we tell ourselves and the heroes that we hold up tell us about ourselves: the heroes of this story are just, fair, and care about the poor. That’s worth emulating.
• There are lots of words here that describe stability: endures, forever (v.3), never be moved (v.6), firm hearts (v.7), steady hearts (v.8), enduring righteousness( v.9).
• Righteous/righteousness: is talking about being “right-related.”  This psalm tells what that looks like.

 The Good News:

• If you are being hurt, oppressed, or cheated: hold on!  There are righteous-people from God who are going to help you. Pray that you will find them.
• The righteous are righteous because they care about what God cares about.
• “In the end they will look in triumph…” (v.8) If the righteous have not yet triumphed, it’s not yet the end.

                                            SECOND LESSON: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Challenges:

• In v.4 words like “fornicators” and “adulterers” bring a lot of emotional baggage with them.  Can they be addressed fully without taking up the entire sermon?
•  In v.5 the command to “be content with what you have” is very good advice, BUT it could also be used as an excuse for rich people to not help poor people because “they should be content shouldn’t they?”
• There are plenty of good things to talk about here: picking and choosing which ones you’d like to address can be a challenge.

Opportunities:

• SACRIFICE is a strong image to put into people’s minds.  Making the jump from dead animals to a sacrifice of praise: words and deeds could be very helpful.
• The hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth” connects, especially the line “Christ Our God to thee we raise, this our sacrifice of praise.”
• Verse 8 is just AWESOME.  Do something with it, have people memorize it, repeat it, whatever: it’s just awesome.

 The Good News:

• You can look at all of these commands as “I have to do them” OR you could look at them like opportunities to live a full and abundant life.
• Maybe YOU are a prisoner, a stranger, or generally oppressed.  This shows that God cares and is sending help.
• We learn that WE ARE NOT ALONE and because of this we can have confidence (v.5 & 6).

GOSPEL: Luke 14:1, 7-14

Challenges:

• With verse 14, do we have some works-righteousness going on here? 
• This story seems to be about “us vs. them” and how to get ahead and look better than the people around you.
• If the motivation in giving yourself the humble place is selfish (i.e. a chance for potential advancement) has that made anything better?

Opportunities:

• The context of Jesus’ statements (watching people pick places of honor) helps a huge amount in understanding the meaning (as compared to no context in the first lesson).
• This is a great chance to show the exhaustion that comes from a life of trying to get ahead.
• Look for examples of the ‘craziness’ found in high society and the struggle to get ahead. These can show how fake and undesirable a life like this can truly be.

The Gospel:

• Imagine a party or a community where everyone is doing their best to hold everyone else in honor: how great would that be?
• Jesus is putting a wrench in the works of the exhausting cycle of favors, reciprocity and getting ahead.  He’s saying, “You don’t have to live this way.”
• This story shows us quite a bit of the personality and character of Jesus: he’s not caught up in the chase for worldly success. 

Pentecost 14: August 25, 2013

Isaiah 58: 9b-14

Psalm 103: 1-8

Hebrews 12: 18-29

Luke 13:10-17

FIRST LESSON: Isaiah 58: 9b-14

Challenges:

• Earlier verses make it clear that the "you" mentioned here is a plural "you" as in "you all."  This, obviously, changes the meaning of the text a bit, but might not be readily noticeable to your listeners.

• It is important to NOT have an "average" mindset when it comes to these commands of God.  As in, "well, 75% of the people doing these things, so we're okay, but we can't drop below 72.5%"  First, there is no way to figure that out, and even if you could, it would just drive you crazy. Instead, we're learning about what is important to God.

• Interestingly enough, if preaching on this text, it will be tempting to "point the finger" at those who "point the finger."  A preacher will need to use a not-so-self-righteous tone (which is a good idea in general).

Opportunities:

• The imagery and poetry in this passage is simply amazing: you almost need to step back and let the words speak for themselves.  A repeat of a few of these verses with different inflection could be very useful.

• The idea of "pointing the finger" brings up the concept, coined by Jon Acuff, of the "Jesus Juke."  You might be having a joking, fun conversation when all of a sudden, someone veers, of "jukes" the conversation in a way to make other people feel guilty.  "Hey, we got tickets to see Conan O'Brien!"  "If we held a concert for Jesus and gave away free tickets, no one would come..." [juke]. Google "Jon Acuff, Jesus Juke" for this blog post.

• The phrase "repairer of the breach" is very rich with symbolism. In military terminology, a breach is a large hole blasted in a wall, through which attackers can, well, attack.  Repairing the breach brings safety and security where there had been danger.  You could do a play on words in which God has to breach our hearts in order for us to fix the breach in our own community.

The Good News:

• If God's instructions are followed, not only will God be happy, but everyone will live a better life: it's a win-win. The Sabbath was meant to provide rest as well as honor God.

• Once again, we hear that God cares: God cares about those who are hungry and afflicted and about the community as a whole.

• There are spectacular promises here: "your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday," "I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob..."

                                                        PSALM: Psalm 103: 1-8

Challenges:

• Okay, usually it's easy for me to find challenges in a text but, it's hard here.  What's not to like???

• Alright, here's one: "redeems my life from the Pit."  What exactly IS "the Pit" and, more importantly, what will people THINK "the Pit" is?  It might take some explanation. (HINT: "'the Pit' is a poetic term for the abode of the dead" The New Oxford Annotated Bible, NRSV)

• I guess I should try to add one more: the phrase "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast joy" (v.8)  is really awesome, but it might get people thinking: "does God get angry? Why?"  

 Opportunities:

• Starting with verse 3, this psalm develops a wonderful cadence.  You could almost use it as a paraphrased call and response: "WHO...forgives all your iniquity.  WHO...heals all your diseases.  WHO...redeems you life from the Pit."  etc.

• This is, quite literally, a list of the great things about God.  Perhaps you could encourage people to write their own list of the great things they've experienced about God. 

• You could really emphasize the things that God does: forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies...so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. An example for each of these could be very powerful.

The Good News:

• If anyone tells you that the God of the Old Testament is always angry and that there's no grace to be found, direct them to Psalm 103.

• Here the emphasis is on God's action, not our own.  God is doing the good things and there don't seem to be any conditions attached to them. (of course later on in the psalm, that tone changes)

• Again there is the presence of justice and vindication for the oppressed.  Hmmm...this sort of thing get mentioned over and over again, doesn't it?

                                            SECOND LESSON: Hebrews 12:18-29

Challenges:

• I'm a pastor and the very first time I read this I got a bit lost with the language.  How well will people sitting in the pews fare as they try to coral their kids and clear their mind of what needs to be done that afternoon?  

• This is a text that is meant for a pretty specific audience: a person or people well-versed in the Hebrew Bible and Hebrew theology.  With this in mind, it does a really good job in making it's argument.  For us today however, there is probably a divide.

• See v. 20.  Wait, why do animals have to be stoned to death for touching the mountain?  Really? That seems a bit extreme!  How much do you want to unpack?

Opportunities:

• The authors seems (to me at least) to be making a "lemons out of lemonade" argument.  In other words, "You guys don't get to see a fiery mountain or other things: if you saw that, it'd be easy to believe. But, you are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken...which is really nice, because we've all seen some mighty kingdoms shake and it's not good!"

• I think we can empathize with the audience of Hebrews, especially if we went to Sunday School and learned a lot of stories from the Old Testament.  Some pretty fantastic stuff happened then: why doesn't it [seem] to happen now?

• In verse 28 it talks about offering to God an acceptable worship of 'reverence and awe.'  Sometimes it feels like we have become so comfortable with God that we lose the reverence and awe: this is a good reminder to bring it back.

 The Good News:

• Nations fall, roads deteriorate, houses are destroyed (or sold) and sooner or later everything we know starts to wear out.  BUT "we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken." That is good news and it gives me comfort.

• The spirits of the righteous are MADE perfect (v.23), presumably by God.  If there's perfection anywhere, it's coming from God and God's actions. Whew!

GOSPEL: Luke 13: 10-17

Challenges:

• The synagogue leader who is indignant at Jesus is the "obvious bad guy" in this story.  He's "pointing the finger," something that Isaiah 58 told us not to do (see above).  But again, it'd be very easy to "point the finger" right back and not think a bit about why he is acting the way he is acting.  Should we shrug him off, or think about how he is like us?  [there, I just "Jesus Juked" you...see above]

• If preaching on this text, a refresher on the history and meaning of the sabbath would be in order.  It's easy to get rusty on this stuff...

• Hmmmm....Satan had bound this woman for 18 years? (v.16) Does this mean that ALL people who have this condition are bound by Satan?  Just a few?  Only her? Did God let her be bound for this moment?  Another reason?  These aren't deal breakers, of course, but people might be thinking them.

Opportunities:

•  There's something wonderful about the image of Jesus seeing the bent woman, calling her over and healing her.  The idea of Jesus looking over at me and helping me gives me great hope and comfort.

• Here we have a first century Jewish worshipping community.  There could be some neat parallels you could draw with the worshipping congregation today.  What if this story happened in church today? What "rules of the sabbath" could be broken at your congregation? 

• A good chance to talk about salvation as liberation from things: bondage, addiction, illness, depression, etc.

The Gospel:

• As Rob Bell says, "God is in the liberation business."  We see that continue today.  A long time ago God liberated God's people and gave these former slaves a sabbath day of rest.  Now, on the same sabbath day, Jesus is liberating (he actually says 'set free') a woman who had been bound by Satan.  God's Son is in the liberation business too. 

• Jesus doesn't get rid of the sabbath here: far from it.  He interprets it in a way that is LIFE-GIVING and LIBERATING.  

• Jesus is healing a woman who Satan bound: he's going toe-to-toe with the forces of darkness and cleaning house.

What's the Point?

"But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."  John 20:31

This is a blog for preachers, specifically preachers who use the Revised Common Lectionary (or "RCL" if you are into the whole brevity thing).


There are plenty of other excellent preaching resources out there, but one more won't hurt.  Rather than going "in-depth" with each scripture lesson, this blog gives you a few ideas on each passage using three different "categories."  You can check them out below:


CHALLENGES:  If you’ve read the Bible AT ALL, you know that the experience can bring challenges. Maybe there’s something in a passage that you don’t like or understand. Maybe there’s a big gap between the world of the Biblical story and our own world today. These challenges don’t take away the value of the lesson, it’s just good to be aware of them going in.


OPPORTUNITIES: Each scripture lesson brings it’s own opportunities as well. Maybe there’s a really great image in the lesson, or an especially amazing connection with our lives today. Whatever the case, we can all use some help finding new connections, ideas and images.


THE GOOD NEWS: Whatever the sermon, study or devotion, it’s VITAL to talk about, think about, live out the GOOD NEWS (or Gospel) of God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ. Sometimes, it’s pretty hard to see, but we should always be thinking about it!


The idea is that these "points" will get your mind humming: the rest is up to you.


That's about it.  If you see something that's helpful, that's awesome.  If not, hey I had a good time thinking it all up.