Ezekiel 33:7-11
Psalm 119: 33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
Narrative: Genesis
6:16-22, 9:8-15
SPECIAL NOTE:
Another
change has come to this humble preaching blog: I have added the “Narrative
Lectionary” reading for each week. I won’t be writing on the Psalm from now
on. Had I continued to do so it would doubtlessly
proven to be either ‘the straw the broke the camel’s back,’ or ‘a bridge too
far,’ or ‘more than I can chew,’ or insert
other expression here.
If
you are unfamiliar with the Narrative Lectionary check it out HERE. As always,
thanks for reading!
First Lesson: Ezekiel 33:7-11
Challenges:
There
are a couple of challenges here: first of all, I certainly wouldn’t call this a
‘warm and cuddly’ text (but, hey, it’s from Ezekiel after all). There is none
of the “Comfort, comfort, O my people!” In this small passage, at least, the
motivation for doing what you are supposed to do seems to be to NOT GET ZAPPED. This doesn’t seem like a very inspiring,
uplifting, or amazing reason for doing what God wants and wills.
Also,
these particular verses don’t lay out the specific sins that Israel has
committed. Of course, it is listed in
other places, but not here. It’s the
preacher’s job to communicate what these sins/transgressions/etc. are. If the preacher doesn’t talk about what they
are, people will come up with examples in their own minds which might or might
not be accurate.
Opportunities:
While
not ‘warm and cuddly’ (see above) there are some very strong images here. The idea of the wicked TURNING from their way
and moving to a different way is very vivid. Why not paint a picture with
words, showing a wicked person turning away from a very real path of
transgression. What would that look like? On a figurative level, it can look
like a person getting off the road that was leading to a dead end or a
collapsed bridge. On a more literal
level, you could talk about someone who was able to come to their senses and
realize that their habits, or lifestyle, or…whatever…were killing them and they
needed a change.
Good News:
In
many ways it’s a bit of a challenge to find the “good news” here. It seems to
be a matter of “get it right or get zapped.”
On the other hand, it IS good news that God has decided to send someone
to tell us that things need to change. I
have often told people who are trying to come back from very bad decisions and
situations that every day is a new chance to make the right decision. God greatly desires that we turn back from
our evil ways: if God wanted to zap us, God certainly didn’t have to send a
prophet(s), but God did (and does). That sounds like good news to me.
Second Lesson: Romans 13:8-14
Challenges:
There
is so much here to talk about that it can be a challenge to know how much to
talk about. Also, with verses that talk
about drunkenness, debauchery, etc., it could be very easy for this lesson to
turn into a “be sure to behave yourself” type of sermon. Now there’s nothing wrong with “behaving
yourself,” (as the father of two kids, I’m all for good behavior), but that
only captures part of the message.
Also,
I believe it is very important to explain what kind of “love” Paul is talking
about here: it’s not romantic love, it’s “self-giving” or agape love here. That makes
a difference. We give of ourselves to
others in a community: it’s what Jesus has already done for us. We use the word “love” rather easily: maybe
we should pause a bit more when we talk about it.
Opportunities:
I’m
sure that I have shared this image before in a previous post, but that won’t
stop me from using it again. When Paul says, “You know what time it is,” I have
the temptation to reply, “GAME TIME!” Football has just started and many people
in your congregation are probably pretty excited about this. Images of coaches
or team captains yelling, “What times is it?!?!” or shouting, “Give it your
all, leave it all on the field!” Can be easily conjured up.
Just
as athletes need to be in good physical and mental states for “Game Day,” Paul
is saying Christ followers should be “in the zone,” and ready to give it their
all. Athletes have specific diets and other healthy strategies as they prepare
for games (at least non-baseball players do).
How can we act differently, knowing that it’s GAME DAY?
Good News
Again,
you could look at this passage and say, “Awww, it’s just about being a good
person on good behavior so that we don’t get in trouble.” That’d be missing the
point. Also, if we look at this and say,
“Well, there’s no way we can do it on our own,” Paul would look at us and say,
“Yep, that’s the point! Didn’t you hear me say, ‘Put on the armor of light and
Jesus Christ ?” And if we said to ourselves, “Well, I’ll just sit back and let
Jesus do everything and I don’t have to do a thing,” Paul would answer,
“Listen, does armor put on itself? No!!!
You have a part in all of this too!”
The
point to all of this is we are not left in this situation with no help. There are row after row of suits of armor
sitting there, ready to be put on. We’re
not in this alone.
Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20
Challenges:
Having
been in congregational life and leadership for awhile now, I’ve heard many
people refer to Matthew 18 when it comes to dealing with someone you disagree
with or feel wronged by. Interestingly
enough, it’s usually in said in the context of, “Well, they should have done it
the Matthew 18 way, not the way they did it!”
I have very, very rarely seen someone deal with conflict in this
way.
On
another note, it is important that if the person who has wronged you did so in
an abusive way approaching them one-on-one is certainly not a good idea. How does this actually work in real life?
Opportunities:
There
is less value in taking this text and figuring out how you can get it perfectly
right and much, MUCH more value in getting the “spirit” of the message. Don’t get caught up in the technicalities
(“Gosh, I approached the person with THREE people rather than ONE or TWO
others…darn, I’ll have to start all over again.” Instead, look how this
teaching is really about strengthening community. If you drag in the entire community right off
the bat it causes immense problems. How
often to people (and by “people” I mean you and I) tell everyone EXCEPT the
person they have a problem with. It
spreads ill feelings and erodes trust.
In essence, it can kill a community.
I
think people get this on a gut level, even though they take part in it
themselves. We often say during the Confession, “We are in bondage to sin and
cannot free ourselves….” This is certainly true when it comes to situations
like this. Approaching it from the point
of view of the community can really change the dynamic and get people
listening.
Good News:
Conflict
is inevitable in any community: Jesus acknowledges the truth in this. This means that when our congregations,
families, marriages, etc. face conflict we can realize that this doesn’t mean
that we’ve failed…we’re just a part of a community. It’s HOW we deal with the conflict that
matters. Jesus has given us a schematic for this very endeavor: not to be
followed in a slavish or micro-managing way, but it in a life-giving, community
building way.
Narrative: Genesis 6:16-22; 9:8-15
Challenges:
“Noah’s Ark” is such a well-known story that there could very well be quite a bit of confusion. The Children’s version that most of us learned in Sunday School probably varies quite a bit from the actual Biblical account. Getting people to open their minds and ears to what is actually written in the Bible can be a challenge.
With
this in mind, it’s important to remember that this is a story about mass-death
and destruction. While there are plenty
of children’s toys, paintings and accessories that deal with Noah’s Ark (I’ve
even seen Noah’s Ark wallpaper), this is a very disturbing story. How do we get
this across without being obsessed with death and destruction…thereby sucking out
any of the wonder of this story?
Having
said this, of course, I have to admit that one of my daughters loves the story
of Noah’s Ark and we talk about it and tell is quite often.
Opportunities:
In
a previous sermon on Genesis 6, I emphasized the real horror of this story by
suggesting (somewhat facetiously) that kid’s Ark play-sets should include
little wooden or plastic animals with “x’s” over their eyes to depict all of
the animals that were killed by the flood. Afterward on person came up to me and
said, “Pastor Ed, that was pretty messed up!”
Rainbows
are often considered cute and frilly.
When God speaks about placing his ‘bow’ in the clouds, God is talking
about hanging up his great “war bow” as a sign of peace. Rather than cute and frilly, the rainbow is
really a decommissioned weapon.
The
Hebrews believed that when God created the Heavens and the Earth, God placed a
dome in the sky that kept out the waters of chaos (see Genesis 1:6-8). When the flood came it says that both “the fountains
of the great deep burst forth” and that “the windows of the heavens were opened.” It’s interesting that God doesn’t necessarily
send rain that wasn’t there already. Instead God simply stops doing what he had
been doing: holding back the waters of chaos, both above and below. That really
means that every moment of life on Earth was a blessing from God…as the waters
were held back.
In
essence, when God regrets creating humankind and decides to destroy them/us, it’s
by doing what humans act like they want already: life without God. With the flood, we see what life without God
really looks like: deadly chaos.
Good News:
The
Flood ends and God promises it won’t happen again. (It’s tempting to leave it at that).
When
God says that the covenant that God has made with Noah is also made with his
descendants, this means that you and I are included in this story. It’s a promise that we can count on.
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