Jeremiah
31:31-34
Psalm 46
Romans
3:19-28
John
8:31-36
Narrative:
1 Kings 3: 4-9, (10-15), 16-28
NOTE:
This post
looks at the specific texts for Reformation Sunday and Narrative 8. If you’d
like a more in-depth look at the concept of preaching on Reformation Sunday,
check out my re-posted blog-post from last year: HERE.
First Lesson: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Challenges:
When Jeremiah speaks of the days that
are surely coming, it might be tempting for us Lutheran types to say he’s
talking about the Reformation. This can
be very dangerous indeed. It’s not like Martin Luther and his friends got
everything right: they got many things very wrong indeed. The Reformation is best understood as a
movement that pointed to something greater than itself. We’re still waiting for the days when the law
will be completely written on our hearts.
Opportunities:
This could be a great chance to deal
with the phrases, “put your heart into it,” or “his/her heart wasn’t in it.”
What does this look like? How is it different from “going through the motions?” Can you describe a time when you had your
heart in something as opposed to a time you didn’t? What did that look like and why did it happen
the way it did?
Good
News:
This passage is a statement of hope in
what God will eventually do. I hope for the
same thing and I see glimpses of it in my own life and the lives others here
and now. These glimpses and this vision
of hope in the future give me meaning and strength.
Second Lesson: Romans 3:19-28
Challenges:
So, when Paul talks about “deeds
prescribed by the Law,” what exactly is he talking about here? Circumcision? Dietary regulations? Or doing “good
deeds?” Or all of them together? How much time do you have to describe the
Jewish Law and how do you talk about it in a way that doesn’t encourage
Anti-Semitism? As many of others have said this is a complicated and “thick”
passage that needs a tremendous amount of “fleshing out” to get. How can you do
that in a sermon?
Paul is using language that was important
to his day, especially words like “righteousness” and “sacrifice.” When we hear
“righteousness” today, it’s so easy to think “self-righteousness” and the word sacrifice
means something very different to us that it did to a devout Jew before the
Temple was destroyed. It just doesn’t
bear the same amount of weight today that it did for Paul: how could it? How can this passage be read in worship so
that people have an idea of what’s going on?
Opportunities:
You could look closely at some of these
words and what they mean. Righteousness = being right-related. Atonement: “at-one-ment.” That sort of thing.
You could talk about what sacrifices
were meant to do in the ancient world: make things right between God and
humanity. Back then the idea usually was
that God (or other gods) brought things to the table and humans brought other
things. Humans brought the sacrifice (a ram, grain, doves, whatever) and God
brought the forgiveness. How about the fact that through Jesus God brings BOTH
the sacrifice AND the forgiveness. How amazing it that?
Good News:
There is something freeing in the
statement, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Living in a statement
like this is akin to taking a deep breath and realizing that we don’t have to
expend all sorts of energy puffing ourselves up, play-acting and making
ourselves look good. Boasting is
excluded, which is really good, because it can be really tiring. Frankly, it can be a relief. And guess what?
It gets even better! We’ve been made
righteous (right-related) because of Jesus.
Not only do we get to take an eternal break from trying to look-good
merely for appearance sake, we get to be related to God in a solid and amazing
way through Jesus Christ. We get to have life in his name. (okay, that’s John,
but I think it still works here). That’s
good news.
Gospel: John 8:31-36
Challenges:
When “the Jews” of this passage claim
that they have never been slaves to anyone, this must be a glaring statement in
Jesus’ context. Of course they were slaves in Egypt! The Book of Deuteronomy
reminds them of this fact about every third verse! When you preach, you might have the
temptation to show this glaring error and show how “dumb” Jesus’ opponents were
(how could they forget after all?!?!?). Of course, chances are most of your
people will probably forget this fact as well. If you go into great detail
about how Jesus’ opponents are idiots, they’ll probably start feeling like
idiots too. Don’t go there, nothing good
comes from that.
If your sermon makes anyone look like an
idiot or use anyone as a bad example it should be you.
Opportunities:
I’m not sure what you will want to do
with this list piece of trivia, but verse 32 of this passage (“you will know
the truth and the truth will set you free.”) is etched in stone at CIA
Headquarters in Langley Virginia. I’m
pretty positive that the truth and the freedom that Jesus is talking about here
is quite different from the CIA’s mission.
Perhaps there could be a chance to compare and contrast these two
different versions of the “truth.”
While we’re at it, why not look at
comedian Stephen Colbert’s coined word: “truthiness.” This is his way of
satirizing the “gut feelings” and “things that just feel right” that many
politicians, pundits and loud-mouths like to substitute for facts. He used it on the pilot episode of his tremendously
successful show The Colbert Report,
and described it as: "We're not
talking about truth, we're talking about something that seems like truth – the
truth we want to exist"
Colbert is a genius and he’s really
satirizing something that stands in stark contrast to the type of truth that
Jesus is speaking of.
Since we’re on a pop-culture kick, you
could always quote Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson from the 1990s courtroom
classic A Few Good Men: “I want the
truth!” “You can’t handle the truth!”
Good
News:
Jack Nicholson is probably right: we can’t
handle the truth, at least not on our own.
We can’t make ourselves free either: it’s going to take the Son to do
that. The good news is that the Son has
freed us from sin and death and the devil and all manner of terrible things.
You could write a whole list of things that Jesus has freed us from and at the
top (or at least in the top 3) you can put “ourselves.” I certainly need saving
from myself and thanks be to God, that’s what happens.
Narrative: 1 Kings 3:4-9, (10-15), 16-28
Challenges:
I grew up hearing stories about Solomon
in Sunday School, and reading about him my Children’s Bible…then again, I’m
pretty much a geek, so it makes sense. As I work my way through the Narrative Lectionary
with my congregation, I have to remind myself every week that not everyone
knows these stories as well as I do. Last week there were people genuinely
surprised by the story of David and Bathsheba. One guy only half-jokingly said,
“Wow, I don’t know if this is the best story if we have any visitors!” Let me
say, most of the people who expressed shock at this story have been
church-goers THEIR ENTIRE LIVES. The David and Bathsheba story does come up in
the lectionary, which means they had to have heard it at least once (probably
more), over the years. And yet they were surprised. So, when it comes to
talking about Solomon, I need to remember that not everyone knows who he is.
Opportunities:
Of course, the challenge I just
mentioned above is also an opportunity. If people don’t know about Solomon, how
exciting is that that you get to make an introduction?!?! Dude, isn’t that
amazing!?!?! The glass is half-full! What do you want to say about him?
Okay, like I mentioned above, I’m a geek
of many sorts (History, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.) and because I am a
geek, I know quite few anecdotes from the ancient world. Hearing God’s
conversation with Solomon here makes me think of Paris’s interaction with Athena,
Hera and Aphrodite in story of the Trojan War.
Paris is just minding his own business when these three deities “recruit”
him as the sole judge in their beauty pageant. They all promise him gifts if he
picks them. Hera offers him power,
Athena offers him knowledge and Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman in
the world. Guess which one Paris chooses? Yep, the beautiful woman. This leads
to his “stealing” of Helena which ultimately caused the Trojan War.
I like to contrast Paris’ decision with
Solomon’s desire for knowledge in order to rule the people of Israel well. Once again, we see someone be blessed in
order to be a blessing. Solomon is given
ability and talent in order use those gifts for good. Paris’ decision was much more selfish and it
didn’t turn out well for him (or the entire city of Troy for that matter).
In addition to this, perhaps you could
talk about the various things you might want to ask for. One of my favorite
rhetorical devices is to start out silly (life-time supply of Skittles anyone?)
and then move gradually to things very, VERY serious. (Cure for Cancer, Ebola,
etc.). This can get people thinking and
really get them into the story and the situation of Solomon.
Good
News:
Once again, we have an example of God
caring. God cares how a king rules his people. God cares about what
happens. God is a God of justice. That’s
no small thing.
