A potpourri of possibilities
Commentary
There are no doubt times when the preacher faces the lectionary readings of the day for the first time and sighs in frustration. No spark leaps out to trigger thought. That is the way I reacted to my first scanning of today's readings. The first is a miracle story and those are always a bit daunting. The second is from the book of Revelation and that is always a challenge. The third reading from John left me perplexed. I would welcome being instructed as to the reasons for its inclusion on this particular Sunday.
One thing following a lectionary does is to force us to wrestle with passages we might just skip. So let me suggest two strategies for evoking a creative insight that will lead to a sermon. The first is to engage in some creative brooding. This can be the most difficult and even painful part of sermon preparation. Once an idea gels, the words flow. A preacher thinking about a scriptural passage out of which he wishes a sermon to emerge is much like a sculptor brooding over a block of granite from which he wants to create a work of art. The artist like the preacher is seeking the afflatus, the spark of inspiration.
The sculptor may walk away from the block, but the wrestling goes on. The late Halford Luccock wrote a valuable book that is probably no longer available, In The Minister's Workshop. One chapter dealt with the use of the subconscious mind in sermon preparation. Flashes of insight or ideas can come at odd times. Always keep a note pad and pencil handy, even on the night table beside your bed. But creative thoughts do not just come out of the blue, they emerge only out of a process that involves strenuous mental activity.
Another strategy for dealing with scripture passages in preaching was suggested to me many years ago by, of all things, a book on gardening, Gardening In The Shade, written by a Mrs. H.K. Morse. She listed some 500 perennials, annuals, and shrubs that thrive in the shade and included beautiful photographs of ferns and flowers growing in shady places. So what does this suggest for preaching? Just this. In looking at a passage we naturally focus on the main actors, Peter, Paul, David, whoever. In the background, in their shadows so to speak, there are other characters who are apt to be overlooked. Today's reading from Acts is a case in point.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Acts 9:36-43
Peter last appeared in the lectionary reading for Easter 2 (Acts 5:27-32). Here we met him as an activist and effective preacher, fresh out of jail, and hauled again before the authorities. In this passage we meet him in a pastoral role responding to human need. Does this lead to thoughts about a full ministry on the part of minister or congregation, one that is both prophetic and pastoral, public and personal? It is wrong noting that Peter delivered no sermon in Joppa (modern Jaffa), but many believed in the Lord as a result of his ministry. Peter's actions spoke the word of grace. In The Canterbury Tales there is a priest of whom Chaucer notes, "Christie's law and his Apostles taught, but first he practiced it himself."
Peter is not alone in this account. There are others present, growing in the shade. Tabitha certainly catches our eye. Tabitha is an Aramaic name that means gazelle. Dorcas is the Greek equivalent. One wonders if this is a nickname. If it is, it might tell us something about her. A gazelle is a small, graceful, and swift African and Asiatic antelope noted for its soft radiant eyes. We do know that she was devoted to good works and acts of charity. The widows who lovingly show Peter some of her handiwork suggest the esteem in which she was held. The church may well have appointed her to care for widows.
Even this brief mention of her in Acts inspired the formation of Dorcas societies in Anglican and other congregations. She is representative of so many women within the church who work out of the limelight. Dorcas sees that the blankets get to Church World Service, the Christmas gifts to the City Missionary Society, the donations of food to the food bank. She enlists the servers for the homeless shelter. Here is an occasion to recognize her and celebrate the presence of Dorcas and her sisters.
Also in the shade are the unnamed widows mentioned in the account. Their presence reminds us of Luke's broader interest in the oppressed and despised, especially women. In his writings we meet Anna (Luke 2:36-38), the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), the widow with the copper coins (Luke 21:2-3), and the widows of the early church (Acts 6:1). Widows in the biblical narratives represent the poor who have no clout. Miracles involving widows declare God's purpose to raise up the powerless, abused, and neglected. To care about them is part of the church's mission. Let the term widow embrace for us elderly abused women whether or not they are widows. This is one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. We think of abuse primarily in terms of younger women, but the chilling fact is that in our society a million plus women over 65 are each year the objects of abuse by spouses or caregivers. (See Forgotten Victims of Abuse, Bulletin of the American Association of Retired Persons, September, 1994.) Let the church be aware!
There is an interesting linkage between 2 Kings 4:32, Mark 5:40, and Acts 9:40. The apostles minister in the full tradition of the prophets of Israel and Jesus.
Revelation 7:9-17
This reading in which we may well hear a bit of the hymnody and liturgy of the early church is a key scene in this section of Revelation that deals with the opening of the seven seals. We encounter the symbol of the Risen Jesus that is central in Revelation, the Victorious Lamb. (See Charting the Course for Easter Sunday this year.) John's intent here is to assure those still part of the ongoing struggle that the martyrs are safe in the presence of God.
Those who come out of the great ordeal are safe before the throne of God, but the ordeal continues on earth. It would be challenging to build a sermon on the tension between two particular verses in Revelation that, though not from this particular reading, are germane to the message of the book. The first is Revelation 13:3 where John describes via the beast symbol the Roman imperial system. "One of its heads seems to have received a death blow, but its mortal wound had been healed." The second is Revelation 5:6: "I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain."
The first text may reflect the rumor of "Nero Redivus" that circulated in the empire after his death, just as in the years after World War II there were rumors that Hitler was still alive. I sense a deeper level of interpretation: individual tyrants may receive mortal wounds, but tyranny has a way of living on. Hitler died, but Hitlerism is still around. Let Shakespeare assist us. Julius Caesar may lie dead from the mortal wounds inflicted by his assassins but in the chaos that ensues Caesarism is alive and well. In the end Brutus exclaims, "O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet! Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords in our own proper entrails" (Act 5, Scene 4). The second verse rings with the church's faith in the ultimate victory of the cross way of Jesus. In the meantime the struggle with the beast goes on. Take the thought from here.
John 10:22-30
I still have fresh in mind the recent comment of a colleague who voiced to me his opinion that the Fourth Gospel is anti-Semitic. The way John uses the term "the Jews" in his gospel might suggest that. But we forget that the basic disagreement was an intramural moral controversy within Judaism. John is Jewish. The earliest members of his community were Jewish. It is better to interpret those whom he calls "the Jews" to mean "the establishment."
One thing following a lectionary does is to force us to wrestle with passages we might just skip. So let me suggest two strategies for evoking a creative insight that will lead to a sermon. The first is to engage in some creative brooding. This can be the most difficult and even painful part of sermon preparation. Once an idea gels, the words flow. A preacher thinking about a scriptural passage out of which he wishes a sermon to emerge is much like a sculptor brooding over a block of granite from which he wants to create a work of art. The artist like the preacher is seeking the afflatus, the spark of inspiration.
The sculptor may walk away from the block, but the wrestling goes on. The late Halford Luccock wrote a valuable book that is probably no longer available, In The Minister's Workshop. One chapter dealt with the use of the subconscious mind in sermon preparation. Flashes of insight or ideas can come at odd times. Always keep a note pad and pencil handy, even on the night table beside your bed. But creative thoughts do not just come out of the blue, they emerge only out of a process that involves strenuous mental activity.
Another strategy for dealing with scripture passages in preaching was suggested to me many years ago by, of all things, a book on gardening, Gardening In The Shade, written by a Mrs. H.K. Morse. She listed some 500 perennials, annuals, and shrubs that thrive in the shade and included beautiful photographs of ferns and flowers growing in shady places. So what does this suggest for preaching? Just this. In looking at a passage we naturally focus on the main actors, Peter, Paul, David, whoever. In the background, in their shadows so to speak, there are other characters who are apt to be overlooked. Today's reading from Acts is a case in point.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Acts 9:36-43
Peter last appeared in the lectionary reading for Easter 2 (Acts 5:27-32). Here we met him as an activist and effective preacher, fresh out of jail, and hauled again before the authorities. In this passage we meet him in a pastoral role responding to human need. Does this lead to thoughts about a full ministry on the part of minister or congregation, one that is both prophetic and pastoral, public and personal? It is wrong noting that Peter delivered no sermon in Joppa (modern Jaffa), but many believed in the Lord as a result of his ministry. Peter's actions spoke the word of grace. In The Canterbury Tales there is a priest of whom Chaucer notes, "Christie's law and his Apostles taught, but first he practiced it himself."
Peter is not alone in this account. There are others present, growing in the shade. Tabitha certainly catches our eye. Tabitha is an Aramaic name that means gazelle. Dorcas is the Greek equivalent. One wonders if this is a nickname. If it is, it might tell us something about her. A gazelle is a small, graceful, and swift African and Asiatic antelope noted for its soft radiant eyes. We do know that she was devoted to good works and acts of charity. The widows who lovingly show Peter some of her handiwork suggest the esteem in which she was held. The church may well have appointed her to care for widows.
Even this brief mention of her in Acts inspired the formation of Dorcas societies in Anglican and other congregations. She is representative of so many women within the church who work out of the limelight. Dorcas sees that the blankets get to Church World Service, the Christmas gifts to the City Missionary Society, the donations of food to the food bank. She enlists the servers for the homeless shelter. Here is an occasion to recognize her and celebrate the presence of Dorcas and her sisters.
Also in the shade are the unnamed widows mentioned in the account. Their presence reminds us of Luke's broader interest in the oppressed and despised, especially women. In his writings we meet Anna (Luke 2:36-38), the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8), the widow with the copper coins (Luke 21:2-3), and the widows of the early church (Acts 6:1). Widows in the biblical narratives represent the poor who have no clout. Miracles involving widows declare God's purpose to raise up the powerless, abused, and neglected. To care about them is part of the church's mission. Let the term widow embrace for us elderly abused women whether or not they are widows. This is one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. We think of abuse primarily in terms of younger women, but the chilling fact is that in our society a million plus women over 65 are each year the objects of abuse by spouses or caregivers. (See Forgotten Victims of Abuse, Bulletin of the American Association of Retired Persons, September, 1994.) Let the church be aware!
There is an interesting linkage between 2 Kings 4:32, Mark 5:40, and Acts 9:40. The apostles minister in the full tradition of the prophets of Israel and Jesus.
Revelation 7:9-17
This reading in which we may well hear a bit of the hymnody and liturgy of the early church is a key scene in this section of Revelation that deals with the opening of the seven seals. We encounter the symbol of the Risen Jesus that is central in Revelation, the Victorious Lamb. (See Charting the Course for Easter Sunday this year.) John's intent here is to assure those still part of the ongoing struggle that the martyrs are safe in the presence of God.
Those who come out of the great ordeal are safe before the throne of God, but the ordeal continues on earth. It would be challenging to build a sermon on the tension between two particular verses in Revelation that, though not from this particular reading, are germane to the message of the book. The first is Revelation 13:3 where John describes via the beast symbol the Roman imperial system. "One of its heads seems to have received a death blow, but its mortal wound had been healed." The second is Revelation 5:6: "I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain."
The first text may reflect the rumor of "Nero Redivus" that circulated in the empire after his death, just as in the years after World War II there were rumors that Hitler was still alive. I sense a deeper level of interpretation: individual tyrants may receive mortal wounds, but tyranny has a way of living on. Hitler died, but Hitlerism is still around. Let Shakespeare assist us. Julius Caesar may lie dead from the mortal wounds inflicted by his assassins but in the chaos that ensues Caesarism is alive and well. In the end Brutus exclaims, "O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet! Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords in our own proper entrails" (Act 5, Scene 4). The second verse rings with the church's faith in the ultimate victory of the cross way of Jesus. In the meantime the struggle with the beast goes on. Take the thought from here.
John 10:22-30
I still have fresh in mind the recent comment of a colleague who voiced to me his opinion that the Fourth Gospel is anti-Semitic. The way John uses the term "the Jews" in his gospel might suggest that. But we forget that the basic disagreement was an intramural moral controversy within Judaism. John is Jewish. The earliest members of his community were Jewish. It is better to interpret those whom he calls "the Jews" to mean "the establishment."
