Easter Sunday: Security Breach!!

Okay, I'll level with you: this is a busy week. For you and for me.  It's also a bit unique when it comes to preaching: let's face it, Easter Sunday isn't like any other Sunday.  On one level it is: each Sunday is like a 'little Easter.' Yep, that's true.  But I'm guessing you don't have a special Breakfast, Lillies, and unusual amounts of visitors every Sunday. If you do, please let me know how you pull that off!

So, like I said, this is a busy week.  And this blogpost will have a slightly different approach. I'm going out on a limb by saying that most preachers will spend more time on the Gospel lesson this Sunday than the others...just a shot in the dark, but hey, I'll live dangerously for a bit. With this in mind I'll be centering on the text from Matthew as well as making some observations about Easter as well as sharing some good quotes that could be useful. Enjoy!


Observations on Matthew 28:1-10:

• SECURITY BREACH! Chapter 27 ended with the religious leaders asking Pilate to put a guard on the tomb. His answer gives us a great image: "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." (27:65) This is exactly what they do: they make it as secure as they CAN.  And their security proves to be completely ineffective against the power of God.  Chairman Mao once said, "Power comes from the barrel of a gun" and most of the world acts as if that were the case.  Want to keep something secure? Send in the guys with weapons. But swords and spears (or guns and bombs for that matter) are ineffective against God.  What happens to the soldiers? They shake and become like dead men. (28:4) Want to see what the power of God, and the Lord of Life can do?  Read these verses from Matthew 28. No spear, sword, or gun can compare.  Easter shows us that God is on the loose and that the powers of this world can't contain the Resurrected Jesus.

• DON'T FORGET THE EARTHQUAKE: When my daughter first heard this story and able to understand it (she was about 2 and a half) she was fixated on the fact that there was an earthquake.  She found this aspect of the story so important that she finds it necessary to remind me any time I don't include it in a telling of the Resurrection (during Children's Sermons for instance).  Usually we forget to mention it or talk about it, but earthquakes have a way of getting our attention, whether you are 2 years old, or 82. Here's the point: who knows what part of the story might grab people?  You could be concentrating on one aspect, and something else will speak to your listeners. Not much you can do to prepare for this, but just be aware!

• HE'S NOT HERE!  During my year of internship I had the opportunity to preach at my congregation's Sunrise Service, which took place in the town's cemetary.  I remember the police officer who patrolled the cemetary came over to join the service.  It was a cold morning, with plenty of fog.  Anyone there had to make considerable effort to be there.  So, since I can be something of a smart alec, I started by saying, "I have some news for you: WE'RE IN THE WRONG PLACE! HE'S NOT HERE! HE'S RISEN!"  I went on to talk about how you sometimes have to go to the wrong place to find your way to the right place.  Think of the word's of the angel, "...I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.  Come see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples..."  We can leave our Easter celebrations to tell everyone that he has been raised.

• LIKE YOU DO: When the women encounter Jesus, they do the only thing that is completely natural: they worship him.  What else can you do?  That's just the natural response.  All of the theology would come later: the councils and wrangling about Jesus' nature and his connection with God the Father and all of that.  Right now, when you encounter Jesus the natural thing is to worship him, even if they Nicene Creed hasn't been invented yet.  And Jesus tells them to do two things: DO NOT BE AFRAID and GO.  Those two commands are for us as well.  When you encounter the Risen Jesus, fear is shown to not have the final word.  We also have a mission and a purpose.

• REPAIRING THE BREACH: And what exactly are the women supposed to GO and do? Jesus says,"tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."  These are the "brothers" who had denied him, abandoned him and fallen asleep in the Garden. Jesus could have said, "Go and tell my brothers that they are fired." He didn't. He repairs the breach...that THEY had created. That's how Jesus works.  He's calling his brothers back: he's calling YOU back.

Preaching on Easter:

• Get excited! Be happy! Show some JOY. This is a big and joyous day.  There is a Youtube clip of a Norwegian explorer traveling through Antarctica named Aleksander Gamme.  His expedition's goal is to hike to the South Pole AND back.  In order to do this he leaves caches of food and equipment along the way, so that in his return he can pick them up and eat in order to survive. This video clip shows him on DAY 86 (no joke) reaching one of his caches. He's been traveling for so long that he can't remember what he packed in this particular cache. Wonder of wonders he discovers...Cheese Doodles.  His reaction is PRICELESS. Can our reaction to the news of the resurrection be this overwhelming? You can watch the clip by clicking here, or here or by looking up "Basic needs-extreme happiness" on youtube. If you show this clip in worship, be WARNED, you'll want to cut it off before it's over because some of the other videos advertised will not be of the right variety for a worship service!

• While you are happy and joyous, don't forget that we are celebrating an empty TOMB for a reason. Jesus was DEAD and he died in a horrible and lonely way.  The tomb is empty, but don't forget that there was a need for a tomb in the first place.

• Easter can bring visitors (or at least the C & E crowd) to worship like hardly any other service.  The story of Christ's resurrection might seem very, very familiar to you, but it might not to all of your hearers.  This might actually be NEW news, in addition to GOOD news.  Be sure to tell the story and get in the details that might have been missed by the casual observer.  If a person can be termed a "casual" observer, it means that they have missed something in the TRANSFORMATIVE and AMAZING story.

Good Quotes:

A Real Relationship:

"If Jesus really is risen, raised from the dead and living now with a spiritual body, then we can indeed have a relationship with a Jesus who is real, not just imaginary.  We can come to know this Jesus and be challenged by him,  We can grow to love this Jesus in ways that are both intimate and mature.  And we can experience what it means to be in a reciprocal relationship with a spiritual being who loves us back-indeed who loved us first. (1 John 4:9)" 

Mark Allan Powell, Loving Jesus, 29-30

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Jesus is an "Is" not a "Was":

"Imagine a Thomas Jefferson society composed of people enamored of that man and his ideas.  They might gather weekly to discuss his writings and to talk about how his principles remain significant and relevant today. I could understand the appeal of such a group, regardless of whether I wanted to belong to that society myself.  But suppose that this group decides Jefferson is still alive, that his 'spirit' is present at their meetings, that he is guiding them and helping them as they live out their lives in this world.  If that were the case, I think I might conclude that these people had lost their grip on reality.  But Christians claim something like that with regard to Jesus Christ.  We believe that he is alive, risen from the dead, and that we are able to relate to him in ways that are not just symbolic or imaginary."

Mark Allan Powerll, Loving Jesus, 53.

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Messiahs in the First Century:

"In not one single case [of messianic movements in the first century] do we hear the slightest mentions of the disappointed followers claiming that their hero had been raised from the dead.  They knew better.  Resurrection was not a private event.  Jewish revolutionaries whose leader had been executed by the authorities, and who managed to escape arrest themselves, had two options: give up the revolution or find another leader.  Claiming that the original leader was alive again was simply not an option. Unless, of course, he was."

N.T. Wright Who Was Jesus, pg. 63.

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Preaching to Skeptics:

"Each year at Easter I get to preach on the Resurrection.  In my sermon I always say to my skeptical, secular friends that, even if they can't believe in the resurrection, they should want it to be true.  Most of them care deeply about justice for the poor, alleviating hunger and disease, and caring for the environment.  Yet many of them believe that the material world was caused by accident and that the world and everything in it will eventually simply burn up in the death of the sun.  They find it discouraging that so few people care about justice without realizing that their own worldview undermines any motivation to make the world a better place.  Why sacrifice for the needs of others if in the end nothing we do will make any difference?  If the resurrection of Jesus happened, that means there's infinite hope and reason to pour ourselves out for the needs of the world."

Timothy Keller, The Reason for God, 220. (His whole chapter on the resurrection is a good one).

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Experiencing the salvation of Easter (and Good Friday):

"What about the problem of death?...Imagine the experience of Jesus....He is seized and subjected to all that we are already familiar with, and breaths his last in the most excruciating pain, alone.  What possible sense does this make? Is there a good God? If so, what is this God doing?  This is death at its worst, death the end of everything.  His life is simply wrested away from him, no hand lifted in his defense.  But then he is raised from death, making some appearances to his friends and other chosen witnesses.  Again God has broken through the darkness.  The God who seems to be absent when tragedy befalls us and wipes us out, absent or at least powerless, is mysteriously present and powerful deep inside it all.  God is present and at work, bring life out of death, good out of evil, and meaning out of absurdity.  Even when death and absurdity seem most to be having their way, God is at work on our behalf prevailing against them.  This is something terribly important to understand about God, and we experience it in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This is the revelation that saves us, this experience of the kind of God we have.  The twin evils of sin and death reach a climax in the tragic killing of Jesus, yet right here in his death and resurrection the presence and power of God are most powerfully felt.  This experience saves us, because it entirely transforms our understanding and heals our hearts.  No longer do we have to fear sin and death as we otherwise would, no longer do they darken the face of existence and drain our hearts of all energy.  Christ is the light of the world, his Father the source of our hope."

Thomas N. Hart, To Know and Follow Jesus, pg. 14-15

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From a historian who has no personal reason to admit that the resurrection actually occurred:


"What the Gospels tell us happened after the Crucifixion was the ultimate good news: Jesus came back to human life after three days in the tomb.  Somehow a criminal's death and defeat on the Cross, 'Good Friday', as Christians came to call it, were transformed by his followers into a triumph of life over death, and the Passion narratives ended with the story of Easter Resurrection.  This Resurrection is not a matter which historians can authenticate; it is a different sort of truth, or statement about truth.  It is the most troubling, difficult affirmation in Christianity, but over twenty centuries Christians have thought it central to their faith.  Easter is the earliest Christian festival, and it was for its celebration that the Passion narratives were created by the first Christians.

Belief in the truth of the Resurrection Story and in Jesus' power to overcome death has made Christians act over twenty centuries in the most heroic, joyful, beautiful and terrible ways...Historians might take comfort from the fact that nowhere in the New Testament is there a description of the Resurrection: it was beyond the capacity or the intention of the writers to describe it, and all they described were its effects.  The New Testament is thus a literature with a blank at its centre; yet this blank is also its intense focus.  The beginning of the long Christian conversation lies in the chorus of assertions in the writings of the New Testament that after Jesus' death his tomb was found empty."

Diarmaid MacCulloch, Christianity: the First Three Thousand Years, pg. 93-94

Preaching on Good Friday

Really and truly ALL preaching should be Good Friday preaching...and Easter Sunday preaching.

I've heard others say (don't ask me who) that if Jesus Christ didn't have to die and be raised for your sermon to work, it's a waste of time...at least as a sermon.  I don't think you should let a statement like that freak you out to the point of worrying and asking: "did I talk about the crucifixion ENOUGH?" But we proclaim Christ Crucified and Risen.  That's what we do.  Hopefully, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we live our lives in such a way that shows we believe it happened.

Some pastors decide not to preach on Good Friday and I get that. They let the story speak for itself, which makes a certain amount of sense.  But if you ARE preaching on Good Friday, here are a few thoughts that might help:


Get People to Inhabit the Story:

I heard an interview with historian David McCullough where he was asked how an author should prepare to write a work of history (he's written biographies of John Adams, Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman among many other books). His answer has stuck with me. "I marinate yourself in the time period." He means we should get to know as much as we can about it, surround yourself with it, become comfortable with it.

I believe the same is certainly true for devotional bible study in general and for experiencing Holy Week in particular.  Marinate yourself in the story.  Who might you be like? The disciples? Someone in the crowd? A religious leader?  Which one. What would have it felt like to experience these events?

As a kid, Holy Week was a very special time for me. Our congregation had a potluck meal and service on Maundy Thursday, a Tenebrae service on Good Friday, and two Easter Sunday Services. (on Saturday Night the guys cooked up the sausage for the Easter Breakfast).  I had (and have) a pretty active imagination and all of these services spoke to my senses. When all the lights went out on Good Friday and we stood there in the dark and whispered the Lord's Prayer it was like Jesus had died all over again...I felt the pathos and pain.  And then on Easter morning out cross was covered in lilies and everything was bright and shining and amazing.  Easter was so important not IN SPITE of my Good Friday experience but BECAUSE of my Good Friday experience.

Marinate yourself and your people in the story.


Now is Not the Time to Bash a Particular Theory of Atonement:

There are plenty of ways to understand the significance of Jesus' death on the cross.  The New Testament itself does not have just one theory of atonement.  In the history of Christianity many faithful individuals have attempted to describe that significance: Christus Victor, Penal Substitution, the Happy Exchange, etc., etc.  While the Penal Substitution Theory of Atonement is very popular and prevalent in the United States it is rather hated by most of the Lutheran Pastors I know (or at least most of the Lutheran Pastors who talk about it a lot). That's cool, I get it.  But slamming someone else's theory of atonement (which might be very close to their heart and the way in which they connect with Christ) isn't that productive.

When you do this, it becomes very difficult to make the sermon about anything other than a statement of "I'm right and you are wrong." At best people will be put off a bit, at worst it could cause a brother or sister in Christ to stumble.  If you want to introduce a new theory of atonement, do it with humility and grace.  Make it clear that this is ANOTHER way of looking at the cross, not the ONLY way.


Actually Talk about the Cross:

Okay, this  might seem like a no-brainer, but it needs to be said. I went to a Community Good Friday Service where one of the local pastors got up to preach and began by saying, "You probably expect me to talk about the Crucifixion of Jesus, but I'm going to talk about something else." I can't remember what his sermon was about (it was about 20 years ago) but I do remember that he kept his promise: his sermon did not have anything to do with the death of Jesus. Yeah, don't do that.


Don't Go Overboard:

So, I talked about marinating yourself and your people in the story. That's a good idea, but I think we always have to be careful not to overdo it.  Maybe Good Friday is the ONE day of the year when you really won't go overboard in dwelling on Jesus' death and suffering, BUT you don't want it to turn into a fetish for violence and suffering.  Yes, Jesus suffered, yes it was extremely painful and terrible, but spending a tremendous amount of time describing the various ways that Jesus was hurt can boarder on the pornographic.  In many ways, "less is more" in the way that you present what happens. The atmosphere that you set in the worship space as well as your tone and mannerisms will communicate more than a blow-by-blow account of the suffering that Jesus faced.

Talk about why it's a "Good" Friday: 

Okay, okay: I haven't studied the etymology of the term "Good Friday" and I don't think any of the people in my congregation really, really want to know where the term comes from.  But the name "Good Friday" provides a chance to talk about why the day and the events it commemorates is so important.  Note how it's not called "Happy Friday" or "Excellent Friday" or "Exciting Friday" or even "Great Friday."  Nope: we're talking about the trial, beating, abandonment and crucifixion of Jesus, it was not a "happy" day.

But when Jesus died on the cross, he saved us from our sins.  He made things right between God and humanity.  Good Friday is a day of "atonement" which describes exactly what it says: "at-one-ment."  It wasn't a cheerful day, or an easy day, or a happy day. But it was a GOOD day because Jesus accomplished his mission and he can say 'it is finished.'


Make it Very Clear that "The Jews" did NOT Kill Jesus:

It's 2014 so it might be tempting to think that we don't have to keep saying this, but we most certainly do.  Anti-Judaic and/or anti-semetitic voices are most certainly still out there.  "The Jews" did not kill Jesus.  Technically Roman soldiers were the ones who literally nailed him to the cross.  The Religious Leaders were the ones who tried him and brought him before Pilate...and not all of the religious leaders took part in the mockery of a trial that took place.  So the "powers that be" (both religious, political and military) killed Jesus: some were Jews, some were Gentiles.  But to really get at the heart of the matter: humanity killed Jesus.

I grew up watching the TV miniseries "Jesus of Nazareth" and the images in it are fused into my consciousness.  One of the many things this miniseries did well was to show that no one knew how to deal with "this guy" Jesus. The Zealots were disappointed he didn't want political revolution, the religious leaders thought he'd cause trouble and the Romans just wanted him to go away.  As the miniseries goes forward the viewer ends up saying, "They're going to kill this guy."

The hard truth is that we would have done the same had we been there. We might have yelled "Crucify him!" or at least stayed silent while others said it.  We would have run away like the disciples did, we would have denied Jesus the way Peter did. Ultimately WE, the human race, killed Jesus.

Everybody Put Your Palms in the Air!

Just a thought...

So, it's Palm Sunday: huzzah!  And for many of us it's also "Passion Sunday." That probably means a procession of some kind, people putting their palms in the air and waving them around like they just don't care and a really LONG Passion Story Reading.

 Personally I have NEVER met a pastor who is excited that we've turned Palm Sunday into Sunday of the Passion. Like many (if not all) of you, I wish it was ONLY Palm Sunday. But, like most of you, I see the need for a "Sunday of the Passion." too.  To go right from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday (because fewer and fewer people attend Maundy Thursday and Good Friday) misses the Cross.  Not good, not good at all.  If you have a solution to this, please let me know!

Okay, so long lessons, with lots going on.  This might be a week for either: A) No sermon or B) A very, very short one.  

With this in mind...
 

So what should you say on Palm Sunday concerning the "Triumphal Entry?"

Historical Background:

So much of Jesus' "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem fits into life and expectations in First Century Judea and we could certainly miss the significance of what was happening.  Giving some background could be very useful. But I have to remember that just because I enjoy a history lesson doesn't mean that everyone will.

Still, why does it matter that he came in riding on a donkey? Check out Zech. 9:9.

Also, what would the significance of the palms be? If anything, I bet with could be a real 'red-flag' to the Romans and Jewish Religious leaders: watch out, there could be trouble! Rabble getting crazy in the streets, that sort of thing.

Compare and Contrast:
 

Comparisons and contrasts can always be useful. When Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Jerusalem in 1898 to dedicate the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer he rode into the city on horseback in full uniform, complete with spiked helmet.  Because this made him so tall that he couldn't enter through the city gates without ducking (which was supposedly beneath his dignity), there were two special arches built for him so that he could enter without crouching.

Compare that with Jesus, coming in on a donkey (or two if you are reading Matthew). Jesus isn't riding a warhorse and is not in some shiny military uniform. He's a meek king riding on a donkey, like Zechariah says. In fairness to Matthew, I don't think he invisioned Jesus riding two donkeys with a foot on the back of each one. I bet he thought Jesus rode one with the other next to it.

 

A Bit of Humor:
 

I like what the Skit Guys have to say about Palm Sunday:  SKIT GUYS YOUTUBE VIDEO. (But if you are going to show this on Sunday, buy it at their website.

This is what I think...
 

I'm going to say this like a broken record...or whatever the digital MP3 equivalent of a broken record is...

THIS WEEK IS ALL ABOUT THE STORY AND HOW WE CAN FIT INTO IT.

ASK YOURSELF AND OTHERS: WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS STORY? PART OF THE CROWD? A DISCIPLE? WHERE DO YOU FIT IN? 

AND HOW WILL YOU FIT IN AS THE STORY PROGRESSES? ARE YOU LIKE THE DISCIPLES WHO RUN AWAY? WHO ARE YOU?

Lent 3: Who Shall 'Scape a Whipping?

Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
Romans 5:1-11
John 4:5-42

First Lesson: Exodus 17:1-7

Challenges:

This is a pretty straightforward, well-told passage.  It hits many familiar themes in Scripture and in our own experience.  I guess that an obvious connection with the Gospel Lesson is the presence of water, living water, that brings LIFE.  

Opportunities:

There are some very familiar human experiences in this passage, the most notable being our curious preference for slavery over freedom (especially when freedom becomes difficult).  Like the Israelites who wonder out loud "why-oh-why-where-they-brought-out-of-Egypt," how often do we wish to return to the oppressive habits, compulsions and states of being that God has liberated us from?  Let's face it: the wilderness is scary, even if it involves our freedom.  What wilderness is God bringing you into?  Bringing your congregation into?  And how is God providing for you?

Also, this is a classic example of the "murmuring motif."  Whatever you do, don't just mention this motif off-handedly as if people will really know what that actually means.  Instead, why not act it out a little?  "Bringing us out here...hmph...grump...middle of the desert...grrr...what do they think they're....hrrumph...son of a...grrr."  Perhaps this will remind your audience of themselves from time to time.

The Good News: 

The Lord has had and will continue to have ample opportunities to give up on "this people."  Instead the Lord gives them water and provides for their needs.  God does the same for us.  It reminds me of a line from Hamlet.  Hamlet tells Polonius to care for some actors who have arrived at Elsinore and Polonius answers, "My lord, I will use them according to their desert." And Hamlet replies [and this is key], "God's bodkin man, much better: use every man after his desert, and who shall scape whipping?  Use them after your own honor and dignity-the less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty. Take them in."  (Act 2, scene 2).  Thank God [literally] that the Israelites and we are not 'used after our desert.' That's grace.

Psalm: Psalm 95

Challenges:

This is a wonderful psalm and it almost feels churlish to come up with some challenges that might occur when dealing with it. But, alas, that is what this blog is for (challenges, not churlishness).  If a person had not just heard the First Reading from Exodus, or if a person HAD just heard this reading and was thinking of something else at the time (which, let's face it, is entirely possible within a worship service setting), they might not really understand what happened at Meribah and Massah (see verse 8).  That might have to be explained again.  Also, there's nothing wrong with looking at the Lord (or Jesus for that matter) as our shepherd. The Bible uses this image all of the time and it's one of my favorites. Just always remember that an image/metaphor/analogy/whatever can only go so far. Shepherds kept sheep not just out of the kindness of their hearts, but also to make money off of the animals.  So ultimately, like every other image/metaphor/analogy out there, the idea of us being "the sheep of his pasture" can only go so far.  Be aware of this if you decide to wax eloquent on verse 7.

Opportunities:

All I had to do was start reading this psalm and the music of Morning Prayer in the ELW (Evangelical Lutheran Worship) jumped into my head....and at the time of publishing has yet to leave. This Sunday could be a good chance to use this Psalmody as an alternative to reciting the Psalm responsively.  You can find it on pages 299-301 in the ELW.  I don't know how this jives with your Lenten piety, but I think it could be really neat. I'd suggest having a cantor or choir sing the verses and have the congregation sing the refrain. Have fun!

The Good News: 

The good news is pretty much spelled out there for everyone to see in this psalm. This reading just gets my blood pumping, does it do the same thing to you?  (again, Morning Prayer is still lodged in my brain, so that might have something to do with it).

Second Lesson: Romans 5:1-11

Challenges:

Once again, an amazing passage from Romans.  Once again, it is a very thick passage which can be quite a slog on Sunday Morning. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but WOW: reading Romans in worship is tough.  There's a lot to get across and if your lector/reader/whatever isn't prepared to change their voice with the sentences, inflect at changes in thought and go at a measured pace it will be very hard for people to get what's going on here.  If I had all the time in the world, I'd sit down with my lector/reader/whatever and do a little Bible Study on what this is saying: perhaps that would help.

But whatever you do, never, never, never, NEVER berate the reader for the way they read in front of everyone.  I was berated in such a way approximately seven years ago after I had read a lesson in worship and the situation is still very vivid in my memory.  Outside of one of your readers saying "Satan is Lord" at the end of a lesson, DON'T CRITICIZE THEM IN PUBLIC!

And one other thing: Paul seems to be talking about the wrath of God here. Mainline Protestants will doubtless be a bit twitchy at these verses.  Take a deep breath and realize that not every verse in the Bible will support your own theology and that Scripture is a conversation of faith between many different voices. Then realize that evangelicals who sing about 'the wrath of God' aren't completely out in left field and approach people who disagree with you with a bit more humility. (always a good idea)

Opportunities:

The fact that this passage can be hard to read in worship is really too bad because there is some AMAZING stuff here.  You have justification, you have insightful comments on suffering, you have the reconciliation of God and humanity through Jesus Christ. BLAM! That's come cool stuff.

I really like how Paul talks about how we get to "share in the glory of God."  For Paul here and other places (Philippians 3 anyone?), to share in the glory of God also means sharing in the sufferings of Christ.  For Paul suffering, hardship and adversity...with Christ...take on significance and meaning that transcend our fears.

Here's another opportunity: turn this passage into a story. (That's a method that's worked well for people like the prophet Nathan and Jesus himself).  Talk about two people who are estranged.  It's really one person's fault.  But the other person gives up a great deal so that the two can be reconciled.  Is this fair? Of course not! And that's the whole point.  God's love and grace and mercy are not fair: we don't have them coming.  But they are there anyway through Christ.  That's good news!

The Good News: 

There are so many pieces of good news here that I hardly know where to start.  I'll keep it to this: there is peace between God and humanity, reconciliation between God and us.  Paul is very, very clear that all of this justification and reconciliation comes from God through Christ.  Christ died for the ungodly.  Christ justified us with his blood.  If you think about it, it's totally "unfair"and thank God for that!  Look back up at the 'good news' section of the Exodus passage...the quote from Hamlet and all that.  This ultimately applies to this passage too.  We all deserve a whipping for what we've done and/or what we've left undone.  But God doesn't treat us "according to our desert."  Again: thank God for that.

Gospel: John 4:5-42

Challenges:

This is a wonderful, amazing, insightful and "classic" (in the literary sense), story.  There are other intelligent commentaries out there that talk about ways the church has misinterpreted this story over the years. I'd check them out (www.workingpreacher.org).  Just as a quick run through: nothing here says that this woman is "living in sin."  Jesus doesn't call her to repent.  It's quite possible that her former husbands died or divorced her. We don't know. But we can be sure that life has not been easy or pleasant for her.  It's important to mention these things, but it's also important to not go off on a tangent about how the former view of her past is so wrong.  Sure, it's wrong, but you don't have to belabor the point! People want to hear about changed lives, application for today and the grace of God at work, not a lecture.

Also, as usual, any time Samaritans are mentioned you'll probably have to do a quick review of who they were and why they didn't get along with the Jews.  No matter how many times you say it, it's still important! 

Opportunities:

So Paul was talking about reconciliation in Romans 5 and we get to see some of it played out here. Jews and Samaritans don't get along that well.  As a matter of fact, why not write a quick description of the Samaritans and their relationship with the Jews and save it in your preaching notes. That way, any time the Samaritans are mentioned in worship, you have that to repeat. I doubt people will get tired of hearing the same description over and over again on Sunday morning...after all, other things happen to them in between listening to sermons and a bit of repetition might be helpful!

Maybe you could paint a picture of what life would have been like for this woman.  How it was undoubtedly hard and lonely, even in everyday mundane ways (carrying this darn bucket in the harsh sun of the hottest time of day just so I don't have to talk to anyone else from the village).  What would it have been like to have to live with a man who wasn't your husband, which meant he had absolutely NO responsibilities in regards to her safety or well-being.  It would have been precarious at best.  But her life is changed and her witnessing makes a difference, even though what she says is less than definitive.

The Good News:

When people encounter Jesus, their lives are changed.  Quite often this happens because he changes their circumstances: because they encountered Jesus they can now see, hear, walk, live, be part of society when they couldn't before.  But there are also people like this Samaritan woman. What exactly has changed for her?  NOTHING.  Her circumstances are EXACTLY the same as they were before she came to the well to get some water.  But are things the same? No, they are ABSOLUTELY DIFFERENT. Encountering Jesus changes her life in amazing ways.  She leaves her water jar and runs into town.  What's the difference? She is known by Jesus, the Messiah. We often talk about how it is important to "know Jesus" and it absolutely is important and life-changing. What's even more life changing is being KNOWN by Jesus.  She didn't go looking for this when she went to the well, but salvation and significance and meaning and new life found her.

Her experience reminds me of the experience of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus (Cleopas and his companion).  They encounter the Risen Christ and they are absolutely changed: their hearts are burning within them.  Have any of their circumstances changed? Nope, not a bit. Yet their lives are COMPLETELY changed. They head back to Jerusalem where there are authorities who want to arrest them.  They are changed, their life is new.  That's good news.


BONUS: 

You might have seen this cartoon (below). It's pretty funny. But if "finding Jesus" is important, being found by him is even more important still.  Just ask the Samaritan woman at the well!

Lent 2: Born Again....From Above...Again

Genesis 12:1-4a

Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17

First Lesson: Genesis 12:1-4a

Challenges:

Okay, I'll admit it, the John 3 text is going to get more attention today. Those of you looking for good stuff on Genesis 12: you can have a refund if you'd like. I use this challenge over and over again, but that's because it keeps popping up.  How much time do you have to go into who Abram (Abraham) is and what this is all about?  How much do people really want to know?  It's a short lesson, but there's a lot to it. 

Opportunities:

I read this text and it makes me think of what the Gospel of John is talking about when it mentions 'Eternal Life." Basically Abram (Abraham) is being blessed so that he can be a blessing.  Abram is not only being blessed, he is also given a purpose.  This gives him meaning and significance: something that we are all looking for. If "Eternal Life" in John isn't just about a long, long, long, long time, but about something more than that: I see it here in what Abram is being called to be.

 

The Good News: 

There are many pieces of good news here: I believe that, like Abram, we are blessed to be a blessing as well.  We are given a purpose, meaning and significance.  This is life-giving.  Also, here we see the beginning of God's plan to bless the entire world.  My ancestors were not living in the Fertile Crescent at this time, they were off worshipping trees in northern Europe.  But eventually they will be blessed by the God of Abraham through Jesus Christ.  What's the longest street in your town/city? Basically you can say that this is the beginning of that street and that it will stretch through town all the way to the other end, where we are.  It's a tremendous endeavor to bless the world and now we are a part of it.  After all "Father Abraham had many sons.  Many sons had Father Abraham and I am one of them and so are you..."

Psalm: Psalm 121

Challenges:

What does 'help from the Lord' actually look like in our lives today? Miraculous intervention?  Coincidence?  Something else? 

Opportunities:

This strikes me of a psalm about faith...about trust.  The person saying this is using words of trust.  What does trust look like?

The Good News: 

I don't know the percentage of trust that the person who originally spoke these words had in God.  Was it 70% trust, 30% doubt? Was it a 50/50 split? Ultimately, however, looking at it that way isn't helpful.  I think these words can both reflect and name the trust we already have and they can also engender trust/faith in God that we didn't know what there.  I truly believe faith and doubt isn't a clear percentage in us: they are all wrapped up into one. 

Second Lesson: Romans 4;1-5, 13-17

Challenges:

Romans is an excellent book...no doubt about it.  It is foundational for us as Christians. It's also rather dense and takes some careful consideration. If you have a person from the congregation reading this lesson are they familiar with the words? Did they practice reading it outloud a few times?  Last week, when the lesson from Romans was even denser than this one, our lector called in sick and the person who took his place gave it her all but with only a few minutes of time to read it over, it was a real slog.  This, of course, is a challenge and I don't have a ready answer.

 

Opportunities:

What IS faith?  This is a great chance to talk about the many other meanings of the word other than just "belief."  I often use "trust" as synomymous with faith.  Abram trusted God and left his home and acted on the promise. It can also be said that Abram messed up tremendously and severely lacked in faith as his travels continued (the "that's not my wife that's my sister" incident in Egypt comes to mind).  But what does it mean to have faith?  I like to say, "Having faith in a bridge means trusting that it won't collapse while you walk on it."

The Good News: 

I mentioned above that Abram/Abraham's faith wasn't perfect...not by any means...and that brings me comfort.  You and I are the same way.  When I strive for a righteousness that comes from me a few different things happen: 1) I fail...surprise, surprise 2) I decieve myself 3) I make myself miserable and my life looks harried and stressful.  When I am able to step back and realize that righteousness doesn't come from me, but rather is a gift from God my life is changed....very much for the better.  If this life is a gigantic potluck...God is the one bringing the righteousness to the table (I imagine that God's righteousness at a potluck would look a lot of like Oreo dirt pudding, but that's just me).

 

Gospel: John 3:1-17

Challenges:

So there's this Greek word, anothen and it can either be translated "again" or "from above."  I could imagine that it can be something of a "fighting word" if we let it. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but in the United States, the idea of "being born again" carries a tremendous amount of cultural weight (some would call it baggage).  In many ways this could be a distraction. If you are a mainline pastor, it could be really tempting to turn this into a diatribe against "evangelical" churches that insist on translating this "born again" rather than "from above."  To do this drastically misses the point. The commentary on this text at the Working Preacher website does a good job talking about how it really can be "both/and" not "either/or."  You can read that here.

Now is not the time to get into denominational, theological, or cultural arguments that show why we are right and they are wrong: to do this would miss an amazing opportunity to talk about something important.  Let's not be like the two competing news anchors in the Ron Burgundy movie who are eaching trying to get in the last word at the end of the broadcast: "You stay classy San Diego..." "And thanks for stopping by..." "But, mainly, stay classy..." "Thanks for stopping by..."
And another thing...anytime Jesus says something in the Gospel of John it can feel very abstract, other-worldly and...well...remote to me.  That could just be me and people like me.  Maybe you don't feel that way.  But there will be people like me listening to your sermon!

Opportunities:

To say somemore about anothen: The People's New Testament Commentary says "The issue is not how many times one has been born (Nicodemus's misunderstanding) but the origin of one's life (Jesus' meaning).  This kind of misunderstanding is a frequent Johannine literary and theological technique, with Jesus intending his statement at one leve, but being heard only at a different, mundane level."  Maybe you could site another humorous example of this found in other gospels where Jesus says "Beware of the yeast of the pharisees" and the Disciples think "He's telling us this because we don't have any bread!" And Jesus basically has a "face-palm" moment. (the Disciples have a way of causing those kind of moments).

 

The Good News:

Verses 16 and 17 (especially 16 of course) get a great deal of play-time.  If there is a verse that most people, Christian or not, know it's John 3:16. It's been parodied and mocked on many occasions.  Maybe one way to see good news is to look at the Greek word for love that is used here: agape.  This is "self-giving" love.  Maybe this is a great chance to talk about what God's love really means.  God gave of Godself in order to save the world.  There was sacrifice (TREMENDOUS sacrifce) involved.  An awareness of this warms the heart in a profound way.

And when it comes to talking about "eternal life" the guys from The People's New Testament Commentary have some more good things to say: "Eternal life does not mean just an endless extension of this-worldly life, but a new order of being, the life of the age to come, in John's theology already present in the life of Christian faith." I like to think of ETERNAL LIFE not just having "two dimensions" but being a "three-dimensional" thing: long and deep and broad and wide. 

Lent 1: [No] Sympathy for the Devil

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4: 1-11

 

First Lesson: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

 

Challenges:

Talk about a selection of scripture that carries a tremendous amount of weight.  Talk about ancient words that still have a pull on the human pysche. Talk about a story that just about "everyone" knows (sortof...kindof...even if they get the details wrong).  It's always a challenge to talk about scripture that people know (or think they know).  There are too many challenges to talk about here.  But how about this one: anytime someone tells me "You can do anything except fill in the blank here what do I immediately want to do (or am at least curious about)? Of course that thing.  Someone might ask, "What was God thinking?"

 

Opportunities:

Rob Bell talks about this in his book Velvet Elvis in a way that is really helpful (especially in light of the Bill Nye/Ken Ham science/creation debate).  He says "...Is the greatest truth about Adam and Eve and the fruit that it happened, or that it happens?  This story, one of the first in the Bible, is true for us because it is our story. We have all taken the fruit.  We have all crossed boundaries.  We have all made decisions to do things our way and then looked back and said to ourselves, What was I thinking? The fruit looked so great to Adam and Eve for those brief moments, but the consequences were with them for the rest of their lives.  Their story is our story.  We see ourselves in them.  The story is true because it happened and because it happens. It is an accurate description of how life is.  The reason the stories in the Bible have resonated with so many people over the years is that they have seen themselves in these stories." (Velvet Elvis  58-59)

 

The Good News: 

Two things: this story ends before we get some good news.  Later on God will clothe Adam and Eve and continue to be with them.  Much, much later than that God will send God's Son Jesus and take care of sin once and for all.  You have to go beyond these actual verses to get good news, but it's there...thanks be to God (literally).

Psalm: Psalm 32

 

Challenges:

Apparently the author of this psalm hasn't read Luther's Bondage of the Will.  What was he thinking being born a few thousand years too early? Come on! It's like this person has an actual choice to turn back to God and acknowledge their sin. Hmmmm....

 

Opportunities:

Again and again I hear people talk about wanting sermons to be relevant to their lives. They'll get no argument from me.  This is an AMAZING psalm if you want to talk about relevance.  How often do we waste away inside when we are holding a transgression within us and are unwilling to admit our imperfections? How stressful and depressing and scary is our life when we feel like we can't mess up one little bit? How amazing is it when we can take that messy burden we are holding and give it over to God and then receive forgiveness and instruction? If you're preaching on the Gospel (where Jesus is victorious over temptation) you can turn to this passage so people know that they don't have to be perfect like Jesus. This is a practical thing.

The Good News: 

See opportunities.

Second Lesson: Romans 5:12-19

Challenges:

 

I see what you are doing here RCL.  I'm picking up what you're putting down.  Genesis 2 and 3 for the first lesson and then Matthew 4 for the Gospel and this lesson from Romans to tie the two together. Touche! At the same time, 'Original Sin' doesn't have the same weight that it might have in years gone by.  This lesson has been tough for many people, especially people who hold to the idea that the Bible is the literal, infallible Word of God.  (I go with the "inspired" Word of God approach myself). If there really wasn't just ONE Adam, then how does Paul's point work with the ONE Jesus bringing the free gift of grace?  I don't want to dismiss this out of hand in a snarky way, of course.  It's worth thinking about.

Opportunities:

I talk about what Rob Bell says about the Adam/Eve/Fruit story above. Check it out in the "opportunties" section.  Maybe we all can insert our names (male and female) where it says "Adam."  Because his story is our story.  Maybe we don't have to think about this, as Rob Bell says, as something that HAPPENED, but something that is HAPPENING in our lives. 

 

The Good News: 

"But the free gift is not like the trespass..." The free gift of grace abounds for the many.  If we start playing a game where we weigh our good deeds versus our bad deeds a few different things will happen: we'll either think we're winning the game and decieve ourselves, we'll feel like we're always losing the game (which, while accurate, won't help our lives be transformed alone) or we'll just decide to stop playing and live selfishly.  Instead, we can observe the game and our inability to win and then look to Christ and the free gift of grace that comes from him.  Then we are free from deception, depression and apathy.  Christ makes us free.

Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

Challenges:

This is a pretty well known story as they go.  It's certainly captured our collective mind.  Dave Matthews wrote a song about this exchange between Jesus and the tempter ("Save Me") where he changed the story drastically.  He has the Devil asking Jesus for help and Jesus not really getting it. (I really love Dave Matthews and his music, but I didn't love the thrust of the song). There's also the pesky issue of whether Jesus' resistance to temptation is something we should emulate or something that we know that we can't and are just glad that Jesus can.  I think it's both. 

 

Opportunities:

Okay, so I'm never going to measure up to Jesus' track record against temptation. If I could that whole dying-on-the-cross thing would be a waste of time.  At the same time, this is a great time to talk about how we face temptation.  To just say "Well, Jesus does it for us and aren't we glad he does?" And leave it at that is okay, but will leave people a little less than excited. It could also lead people to think, hey it doesn't really matter what I do, it's all cool. They might not think this consciously, but these sorts of thoughts have a way of boring into our subconscious and are then lived out in our lives.

So, how do you resist temptation? And what do you do when (not if) you fail?  The answer to the second question is found in Psalm 32. Go read that one again, it's good!  How to resist? I believe we can take a page from Jesus' book (literally!) by turning to scripture.  If we can have a few verses stored away in our minds (or even written on scraps of paper in our wallets or purses) they can be very helpful.

At the same time, it's important to remember that the tempter knows and uses scripture too. And let's face it, the Tempter knows it better than us.  Just a thought. Also, did you notice how the Tempter waits until Jesus is at his weakest...famished from a lack of food?  It can happen to us.  It's often tempting (interesting) to have some sort of sympathy for the Devil.  There's the Dave Matthew example mentioned above, and of course the Rolling Stones song, but it's nothing new. Even John Milton in Paradise Lost seemed to have a secret respect or admiration for Satan.  And besides, Americans love an underdog.  This is scary isn't it?  How can we show the Tempter for who he really is? Someone selfish who will throw anyone else under the bus if it helps him out, because "that's just the way the world works."

And another thing: the great take-away for me is the fact that the Tempter is trying to get Jesus to use his power, privilege and advantage for his own selfish gain.  This is something we all have to watch out for.  Even the most lowly of us have SOMEONE or SOMETHING (even if it's the family pet or a younger brother or sister) who we can take advantage of. 

If you are looking for an image to this text: I see this as a verbal and spiritual boxing match or fencing duel between Jesus and the Tempter.  You could even call this encounter like it's a boxing match between the two. Perhaps you could even ring a bell to start the rounds.

 

The Good News:

Jesus passes the test.  He is victorious.  At the end of this story, his mission has not be derailed. If it had, I'm sure he would have been a good earthly king (at least better than most), but he would have continued on the same old story and there would still be a tremendous gulf between God and humanity. Instead, that gulf has been bridged and the bridge is the One who took all that the Tempter could throw at him and won.

Transfiguration of Our Lord

Exodus 24:12-18

Psalm 2
2 Peter 1:16-21

Matthew 17:1-9

First Lesson: Exodus 24:12-18

Challenges:

Seems like a pretty straightforward story as you read it.  Moses goes up the mountain and he leaves Aaron and Hur behind to take care of things in his absence.  Moses encounters God on the mountain and God like a devouring fire.  Again, a bit terrifying, but still pretty straightforward.  This brings up to me the question of our access to God. I feel that we humans push to one extreme or the other.  Sometimes we feel that God is totally and completely aloof and "other" and "alien."  This can make us feel separated from God in a way that isn't healthy. At other times we act like God is hear always and is something like a warm, cuddly teddy bear that we can hold when we're feeling bad.  This is an image of God that never challenges us.  It's so very easy for us to fall into one extreme or the other...even to the point where we over-correct one extreme to the other.

Opportunities:

This could be a good chance to talk about the awe and majesty of God.  The phenomenal power that God wields can indeed be impressive.  Have you experienced power like this? Has it inspired you? Terrified you? Both at the same time?  This could also be a chance to talk about the importance of delegation when you are a leader. Moses leaves Aaron and Hur behind to settle disputes, etc. (Of course, things go bad when the people convince Aaron to make other gods for them at the foot of the mountain in chapter 32...)

The Good News: 

God comes and meets the people through Moses.  God reaches out and gives the people a way of life and a leader.  God has saved the people from slavery and is now giving them a way of life that will bring joy and happiness and community to them.

Psalm: Psalm 2

Challenges:

The image of "the LORD" here isn't too positive.  The Lord is something of a bully: acting with derision toward enemies and other peoples.  I don't particularly like the way God is portrayed here.  How can this work for us today?

Also, it can be very surprising for us to learn that Ancient Kings claimed to be 'the Son of God' all of the time, since they are "God's Annointed." This could take you aback if you're only thinking of Jesus as having that role.

Opportunities:

It's easy to feel like there is no control in the world, as if it will all fall apart in a minute or two. Maybe your life or the lives of the people who will be listening to you feel like they are teetering on the edge of falling apart. This can be a good chance to talk about how God is indeed in control. It doesn't mean that absolutely everything that happens comes from God, but that ultimately God's Kingdom is coming one way or the other.

The Good News: 

There are many ways to view God and we get many different descriptions of God throughout the bible. It is always good news for us that we get to view God through the "lens" of Jesus, who we proclaim as God's Anointed One every time we call him "Christ."

Second Lesson: 2 Peter 1:16-21

Challenges:

Wow, big stuff going on here.  This is Peter telling people about his experience.  Granted it can be a bit hard to follow his line of thought, especially if your attention is taken elsewhere in the middle of the reading of the lesson.

Opportunities:

There's that moment in most of our lives (hopefully when we're relatively young) where we realize that just because something is written in a book doesn't make it true.  It's an astounding and rather disorienting experience.   It means that we need to think critically about the sources of our information.  It also means that deciding what is really truth, fact or anything else is very difficult.  How do we know what to believe.  I love history and I read lots of books about World War II.  Thousands of scholars have written books about this subject, and each has a slightly (or drastically) different view on the conflict.  Which one is right? That's where critical thinking comes in.  The author of this passage is talking about something similar.  How do we know a prophecy comes from God or not? How do we know what is "of God" or not?  We have a community of faith around us, of course. It also helps if a voice from heaven says, ""This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." 

This could be a great chance to talk about how we decide what is true, what is right and what is "fact." How do we know who to trust? It's not an easy question, but one we really need to be asking constantly.

The Good News: 

Throughout the New Testament you get a sense that the people who are writing these gospels and letters were profoundly changed by something that they experienced.  Their lives were changed.  They encountered SOMETHING and it was powerful and inspiring and wonderful (even if they were terrified from time to time). I get a sense of that encounter here.  It is really amazing.

Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9

Challenges:

I think it's really, really easy for us to be down on the tired, stupid disciples (especially Peter) and the sad way they react to this glorious experience.  Now, it is true that Peter says something colossally stupid, but dwelling on this seems to miss the point.  Would you have done any better? I'm sure I wouldn't have.  Besides, if we dwell on how wrong Peter is, it's possible we can miss the absolutely amazing thing that is happening here: something that is totally beyond Peter's (or our) experience.  JESUS' FACE SHINES LIKE THE SUN! THERE'S A HUGE CLOUD! THERE'S A VOICE FROM HEAVEN! Are you kidding me?!?! Criticizing Peter for saying the wrong thing seems to miss the point. I'm surprised he got out any words at all.  We certainly don't have to say that he was right in what he said. But criticizing Peter feels like being a "Monday Morning Quarterback" or in this case a "Valley Disciple." Now, their performance at the Garden of Gethsemane is another matter....

Opportunities:

This is a great chance to talk about the experience of God's mystery and "otherness."  Having a brush with the Divine can be completely and totally awe-inspiring.  What are ways that we can experience this awe or otherness?  On an actual mountain-top?  In a great crowd of people?  In a beautiful building?  It's so easy for us to get so "comfortable" with God that maybe we need a bit of awe-someness.

This is also the perfect "you had to be there to understand it" moment.  I wouldn't be surprised if Peter, James and John kept quiet for a long time.  How could you explain what happened? Have you ever been on a religious retreat or some other profound experience that cannot be completely described to someone who was not there?  

The Good News:

There seems to be a tremendous convergence of grace here.  Jesus has the opportunity to speak with Moses and Elijah.  While Matthew doesn't mention the subject of their conversation (that comes in Luke) I think we can safely assume that the conversation was positive and helpful to him.  The disciples had the amazing chance (while terrifying at the time) to experience Jesus in his glory and God the Father in action. This experience must have brought them great inspiration and comfort later on.  And for thousands of years believers have been inspired by this story.  That seems to be the way God works: with so much mysterious grace and blessing bouncing around it's hard to keep track of it all.

Epiphany 7: "Perfect, Just Perfect!"

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Psalm Psalm 119:33-40

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Matthew 5:38-48

 

First Lesson: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18

 

Challenges:

As I read this passage, I found very few challenges initially, but they soon began to crop up. One that came to mind was that many of these commands were geared toward a different society and economy (leaving food in the fields, etc.). Of course, it is totally appropriate to "update" these commands and to show that God expects society to care for everyone.  It is possible that there could be something of a brou-ha-ha over HOW exactly we care for those in need. Some might see this and say "Yep, farmers are supposed to help the poor, not the government!" Getting into the details of HOW we help the poor can put us into a quagmire of incriminations and unhealthy knee-jerk reactions.

Opportunities:

It is often maintained by opponents of "Religion" that our holy books are outdated and archaic. In fairness a great deal of Leviticus, with it's directions on how to slaughter which animal where, provides easy ammunition to the likes of Bill Maher.  But then you get something like this passage in Leviticus 19 and I HOPE that no matter who you are, this sounds like a good way to go. Justice, equity, community, and so much more.  To me these things aren't out of date or archaic.  They point to something amazing and life-giving.  If you are looking at this, perhaps you could joke about how crazy Leviticus is, until you get here and it sounds amazing.

The Good News: 

 

God could say, "Hey, I don't care what you do or how you treat each other as long as I get my nicely smelling sacrifices."  God DOESN'T say this.  God cares about how we treat each other, God cares about justice, God cares about you when you are being mistreated, cheated and oppressed. God cares.

Psalm: Psalm 119:33-40

Challenges:

 

These are wonderful verses, really wonderful. Hard to find a challenge here. The only thing to watch out for is the danger of not describing the actual statutes, decrees, commandments and promise.  What do they look like? What would it look like to live this way?

Opportunities:

This is a great chance to talk about following God's way as an actual "way of life."  It's a way that can change your life and, while not necessarily make it easier, it can make it better.  The Sochi Olympics have been in the news and on people's minds.  How can following God's way be like training as an athlete?  Is there a parallel? (The Apostle Paul certainly thought so!)

 

The Good News: 

 

Perhaps you are looking for a guide in life. Perhaps you feel like a rudderless ship and you need some direction. God provides us this direction, not only in God's Word but also with a community that helps us interpret and live out what's found there.

 

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Challenges:

I mention in the opportunities below that the "you" being referred to in verse 16 is a plural "you" and this means that we're talking about the community here. As a Lutheran and thus a ecclesiastical descendant of the first Protestants, I have to admit that the breaking of community hits home. Of course we Protestants could say, "Well it was the Catholics who kicked us out!" And the Catholics could say, "No, it went this way..." but the point is there was a break in the community that led to individuals or whole groups to die in rather nasty ways.  Breaking community is a tricky thing. I'm not saying it's wrong to do so, I'm just saying it should never be done lightly. It also means that as Christians the burden of proof should be on those who are against ecumenism, rather than those who are for it.

 

Opportunities:

Very important to note that the "you" that is being addressed here is a plural "you" or, to quote my Southern Brethren, "y'all."  Verse 16 has often been used to talk about how you shouldn't drink alcohol or do anything else harmful to your body.  Of course, there's the whole question of what exactly is good or bad for your body (a glass of wine...or a tub of fried chicken), but that's a whole other conversation. This is talking about the community as the temple.  This is a great chance to talk about the value of community and how we can work together.  Perhaps you could show how it is easy to break one small stick, but if you put a bunch of small sticks together they are harder to break.

The Good News: 

The church in Corinth was holy because God made it holy. We are holy because God makes us holy.  The holiness is up to God and comes from God, not us.  We have a community that comes from God and we are not alone.  While it might be tempting to get worried about eloquent detractors of Christianity, it's good to remember that there have been such detractors from the beginning and yet we are still here and still holy because of God.

 

Gospel: Matthew 5:38-38

Challenges:

I'll admit it, I struggle with this one, especially about resisting evil-doers.  Self-defense is important.  Protecting your family is important.  I remember in college our campus ministry group sang a song called "One Tin Soldier" about two groups of people, the valley people and the mountain people. The valley people attacked the mountain people in order to get a treasure kept on the mountain and after all of the mountain people were slaughtered, the valley people discovered that the treasure was the statement "Peace on Earth." The point at the end of the song says, 'Go ahead and hate your neighbor...do it in the name of heaven, you can justify it in the end...but there won't be any trumpets blowing come the judgment day..." Of course the point of the song is that we should NOT be like the valley people.

I myself, take a second, unintended, point from the song: if you are the mountain people you should be prepared to defend yourself because there are valley people out there who will attack you.  Again, not what the writer of the song intended, but there it is. As a character in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings says, "It needs but one foe, not two, to start a war...and those without swords still die on them."

I get, I really do, the idea that revenge and conquest and "military glory" get us nowhere.  I also write this about hearing of unspeakable oppression and crimes against humanity coming out of North Korea. How do we stop this? I hope nonviolently.  But the reality is always complicated.  

Opportunities:

 

When it comes to "loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you" I have heard of congregations praying for Osama bin Laden and other hated individuals: I believe this can be powerful. Who is an individual that is hard for you or your congregation to pray for?  What would it be like to mention them in the Prayers of Intercession?  Who would you mention and how would people react?

And another thing, about this whole "perfection" thing in verse 48, there is a book you need to read. It's called Made for Goodness and it's by Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu.  You can find it here.  When it was given to me I had my doubts, but as I read it was amazing.  They write an entire chapter on this idea of Godly perfection, which they see not as flawlessness, but rather WHOLENESS. Desmond Tutu remembers his Grandmother's home in the apartheid-era blacktownship of Stirtonville.  It was a home with a dirt floor and was held together with scraps of wire, but he says, "...to me, growing up, the house in Stirtonville was perfect.  It was a place in which we could live a good life.  It was a home that was loved in.  Our life in Stirtonville did not meet the usual definition of perfection.  But our life in that place was whole.  Caring and concern filled the gaps that circumstance created." (pg. 41)

He also says, "As you read "Be perfect" you may find your stomach coiling into an anxious knot as you wonder what is now to be demanded of you that you cannot achieve.  As human beings, we hear in the command to be perfect a demand for flawlessness.  But flawlessness is not the goal of God's invitation....But God's call to be perfect is not just a command-it is an invitation.  It is an invitation to something possible.  It is an invitation to something life-giving, to something joy-creating.  God invites us to a godly perfection.  Godly perfection is not flawlessness.  Godly perfection is wholeness." (pg. 42-43)
 

The Good News:

See above on what Desmond Tutu and Mpho Tutu have to say about "perfection."

Epiphany 6: Setting the Bar Very High

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 119:1-8
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37

First Lesson: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Challenges:

If you are a Christian, especially a Lutheran, you have a very complicated and complex relationship with "the Law" of God.  For the most part, it'd be hard to deny the value of having the Law around: community, justice, love for neighbor, respect for God, etc. etc.  At the same time the most avid "nomian" (is that a word? "Antinomian" is, so why not "nomian?") has to admit that there is no way that anyone can follow the Law completely or perfectly.  So does this passage, with its blessings and curses lead us to despair? It very well might! Quite literally, thank God for Grace given to us through Jesus Christ! But then, there is a pesky issue of what do we do with the Law now?  Different people have different answers: some are good and some are...not as good.  It can all be confusing.

Opportunities:

A choice between life or death seems rather simple on the outside. It's much like British Comedian Eddie Izzard's "Cake or death?" routine, which you can see here. Of course we choose death all the time (both individually and collectively).  Destructive behaviors, destructive relationships, destructive economic systems.  How often do we always choose short term verses long term benefits? How often do we choose to be conveniently blind at the right moments?  There are so many examples of this, you might as well google "destructive behaviors:"I'm sure there will be plenty of hits.  Not only do we choose death, often we pay money for the opportunity! 

The Good News: 

Again and again throughout the Old Testament, it's important to see that GOD CARES.  It matters to God how we treat each other.  Other gods seem to not care about "petty little things" like, you know, ethical living.  But the God of Israel, the God of you, me and the entire Universe, cares deeply about oppression, corruption and dissolute living.  And as you read Deuteronomy and the prophets you get the true sense that this is because God actually has a heart for the poor, downtrodden, alien, etc.  Deuteronomy shows this to be true. It can be true today too.  Some people will say, "God doesn't care about football games or who wins."  Well, I don't think God really cares who wins, but I do believe that God cares deeply about HOW the games are played and HOW people treat each other.  That's God's M.O.  Thank God for that.

Psalm: Psalm 119:1-8

Challenges:

'Happy are those who..."  Yeah, sure must be nice being them.  In the meantime, give me a second to super-glue my good intentions back together...just so that they can get blown to pieces all over again.

Opportunities:

Maybe not this week, but at sometime it would makes sense to get a Jewish perspective on what Torah means to them: something tells me it'll be different from a Christian view!  (Note I didn't say THE Jewish perspective, there are certainly many different Jewish perspectives, like there are many Christian ones).  I imagine that Torah will look like a way of life that creates a meaningful life.  Connect this with the bold statement that Jesus came to fulfill the Law (see Matthew 5:17) and that packs a punch!

The Good News: 

Once again: Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, I have not come to abolish but to fulfill." (Matt. 5:17) Jesus is in the fulfillment business and that's good news.

Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Challenges:

I completely see Paul's point here and I can only imagine what it was like to deal with this congregation in Corinth. At the same time, I find myself wondering when the transition from flesh to spirit will take place. In some ways we're still waiting. Don't we say today "I belong to Luther" and "I belong to Calvin" and "I belong to Rome?" Maybe we're STILL not ready for things of the spirit.  But again, Paul wasn't writing about an abstract, ethereal situation, he was writing to a certain group of people in a certain situation and had to make some sweeping comments and generalizations.

Opportunities:

I made reference to denominations in my "challenges" section, and verses 5-9 is an amazing statement for ecumenism.  If you plant or water, if you are eloquent in words or powerful in deeds (or a combination of all the above) what really matters is the One who gives growth.  This connects very, very nicely with last week's Gospel lesson and how Jesus' followers are to do good works so that others will see them and give glory to our Father in heaven.

Could our present-day denominations treat each other in similar ways?  If so, it would go well beyond "liking" each other.  I doubt Paul and Apollos "liked" each other that well. But Paul is able to see beyond personal likes and dislikes as well. If only we could do the same! I have often seen liberal mainline people make snide remarks about evangelicals, and I'm sure that evangelicals do the same.  Hopefully we can come to the point where we say, "Wow, I might not "like" you, but we don't have the luxury of pettiness.  There are too many important things going on to get distracted."

The Good News: 

It's so very easy to get entangled in tribalism, jealousy and competition when it comes to working with fellow servants of Jesus.  We love to tout numbers, programs, buildings and "relevance." There are too many problems to name with this situation, not the least of which is the fact that even if a Christian "wins" a competition with a fellow believer, they still "lose." Paul struggled with this as well.  He points us toward something new beyond these entanglements: the One who gives growth.  This gives us "common purpose" as he says, and that is transformative, liberating, and darn-right exciting.

Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37

Challenges:

These sayings of Jesus feel like a succession of jabs, uppercuts and hooks to my guilty spirit.  Of course, there's no way that we can live up to this.  Lutheran theology serves very well in a situation like this and I'm able to say "Well, this conviction leads me to the realization that I am saved by Grace through Faith."  Still, I find myself curious: the writer of the Gospel of Matthew was not a Lutheran (or even a mainline Protestant...shocking I know!) and so I wonder if in Matthew, we really ARE supposed to do these things.  Frankly, I just don't know.  And that's a challenge.

You're walking a very fine line with this Gospel Lesson: there's the danger of making people despair and think it's all hopeless and also the danger or people shrugging and saying, "Well, I'm saved by grace, who cares if I don't take any of this seriously?!?!" Holding things in tension is very good and important, but not always easy!

Opportunities:

Sometimes we often equate sin with actions that are "fun."  You know, messing around with someone else's girlfriend or boyfriend, fibbing here and there: that sort of thing.  Then there are the things that might not be "fun" but are still considered "good" or at least "understandible." Like "blowing off steam"or "getting something off your chest" when you are mad at someone.  Of course, many of the people listening to you preach will know full well that there is nothing "fun" about their spouse or partner being unfaithful, or being caught up in a lie, or to be placed into a mental or spiritual place that is dark and rotting because of that downward spiral of negativity that came from "blowing off steam."  Many people have been there.

This could be a chance to call sin what it is: brokeness, falling short, missing the mark.  Jesus is going right at the heart of things here: showing us that outward appearances can simply be a mask for a rotten heart underneath.  Jesus tells us to do good works (be salt and light and all that), so that people will see our good works and give glory to God, but what people see on the outside starts from the inside.

Also: a great opportunity to show how something we do in worship (pass the peace) comes from the teachings of Jesus (i.e. 5:

The Good News:

Finding Good News of "Gospel" in these specific passages is very difficult, unless you bring in other passages.  Of course, one way to look at these statements about anger, divorce and oaths is to say that they are invitations to a new and different life where you get the chance to put down all the baggage you've been carrying.  Look to Matthew 11:29-30.

I mentioned that this passage can be a chance to call sin what it is.  This can also be a good chance for us to look at the kind of life that Jesus is inviting us into.  It's the kind of life where women are not objectified, where people are filled with integrity and where you don't have to get caught up in a cycle of negativity because "that's just how it is."  Jesus is saying, "you don't have to live that way, there is an alternative."

The people behind the "Sermon Brainwave" podcast on the Working Preacher website always do a good job, but they really hit the ball out of the park in talking about this Gospel lesson. Be sure to listen by clicking here.