Login / Signup

Free Access

Proper 22 / Pentecost 17 / Ordinary Time 27

Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle C
Theme For The Day
Faith is an unfailing source of spiritual power that we can tap into in difficult times.

Old Testament Lesson
Lamentations 1:1-6
The Lonely City
The poems of Lamentations are traditionally attributed to Jeremiah (hence their location in the Bible immediately following this larger prophetic book) -- although most scholars now agree that these poems were written by others. Their historical setting is the ruins of the Jerusalem Temple, following the Babylonian invasion. They are the songs of a defeated and dispirited people, who are trying, against difficult odds, to carry on divine worship. "How lonely sits the city ... how like a widow she has become!" The once free and independent city, the holy city of Yahweh, "has become a vassal" (v. 1). The one who has caused this suffering is Yahweh (v. 5), but the people are clearly responsible -- for it is their apostasy that has led them down the road to misery.

New Testament Lesson
2 Timothy 1:1-14
True And False Teaching
The author of this letter is writing to a church beset with the problem of false teachers. "Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me," he says in verse 13 -- a verse which summarizes the principal concern of the letter. The mention of "the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands" (v. 6) is a reference to ordination -- a concept completely absent from the genuinely Pauline letters, and one which reflects this late document's concern with establishing and maintaining the church's organizational structures. A possible three-point sermon is outlined in verse 7: the Spirit's gifts of power, love, and self-discipline as over against "a spirit of cowardice." The reference to shame in verse 8 reflects the experience of this church in encountering stiff opposition and even persecution: the letter is an exhortation to perseverance through difficult times.

The Gospel
Luke 17:5-10
Teachings On Faith And Obedience
This passage is part of a larger selection of four miscellaneous teachings of Jesus (vv. 1-10) which have little relationship to one another. There are two distinct teachings in today's lectionary selection: verses 5-6, on faith; and verses 7-10, on obedience. Both are mini-parables. Although it can be debated whether or not Jesus himself presented these teachings as a single unit, Luke has chosen to present them in this way. The two earlier teachings (vv. 1-2, on sinning against brothers and sisters; and vv. 3-4, on the need to forgive) demonstrate the difficulty of the Christian life. It is no wonder, therefore, that the disciples plead that the Lord increase their faith (v. 5). Jesus deflects their entreaty, portraying faith as a force so powerful that even the tiniest amount of it is more than sufficient to perform wonders. He is saying that they should not be preoccupied with increasing their faith, because even the tiniest amount of it is more than enough. The particular type of conditional phrase he uses here ("If you had faith ...") implies that the disciples do in fact already possess that faith. In verses 7-10, he puts the disciples in their place, reminding them that they are servants of God, and are expected to perform servant duties. This message is a hard sell in our individualistic, freedom-loving culture, but is worth presenting all the same, since it is a theme repeated often throughout the gospels. The use of the word "apostles" in verse 5 (rather than "disciples") reveals Luke's concern with the church of his own day.

Preaching Possibilities
When the disciples ask Jesus about faith, he often has a way of deflecting their questions -- not avoiding them exactly, but answering them indirectly through the use of parables. One of Jesus' shortest parables is the parable of the mustard seed, but just because it's short doesn't make it easy to understand.

"Increase our faith!" the disciples demand of their master. In response, Jesus says to them, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (Luke 17:6). The mustard seed is among the tiniest of seeds. If we were holding one in the palm of the hand, we might miss seeing it, unless it were in the company of others. Yet Jesus says even this tiny morsel of faith is all that's needed to uproot a mighty tree.

There's no reason to think Jesus is scolding the disciples, here; criticizing them for their lack of faith. The original Greek contains no hint of criticism. It's as though he's saying, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed -- and you do -- that faith is more than enough to uproot a mighty tree!" So when the disciples come to their Lord and demand, "Increase our faith!" Jesus' response is, "You've already got all the faith you need -- even a mustard-seed measure is more than enough!"

This image Jesus uses -- emphasizing the power of the small -- is something like nuclear fusion, that holy grail of theoretical physicists. The sort of atomic power unleashed by the atomic bomb -- and that generates electricity in our nuclear power plants today -- is nuclear fission. It costs a fortune to begin that kind of nuclear reaction, and the outcome is inherently unstable and dangerous. A nuclear fusion reaction, by contrast -- if the scientists can ever figure out how to pull it off -- would be safe, stable, and inexpensive. It uses hydrogen atoms (found everywhere), rather than the rare and expensive uranium. It derives its energy from combining sub-atomic particles, rather than splitting them.

In teaching about the power locked inside a mustard-seed measure of faith, Jesus is speaking of a sort of faith fusion. Activate the tiniest fragment of faith, he's saying, and we can accomplish things undreamed of! Faith, for him, is a sort of spiritual power or energy, that's available in abundance. When the disciples ask him to increase their supply of faith, his kidding reply is meant to be comfortable and affirming: "What for?" he asks. "Even that tiny bit of faith you characters carry around with you is more than enough!"

There are times in life when we would eagerly make the same demand of Jesus: "Increase our faith!" There are times in life -- seasons of challenge and suffering -- when we may be tempted to roll our eyes heavenward and sigh aloud, "If only I had more faith!" What Jesus is saying in those situations of trial and challenge, is that it's not more faith we need; we just need to take the faith we've already been given and deploy it more effectively.

When, coming to the Lord's table, we take into our hands a tiny morsel of bread, or drink from the cup of sacramental wine, it may seem like what we're holding in our hands is insignificant and inconsequential. It's ordinary stuff, that bread and wine -- no different in substance from what might sit on our dinner table at home. Yet, like the atom of hydrogen that's transformed by nuclear fusion into a blaze of power, that bread and that cup have the ability to transform our lives in astonishing ways. There is nothing magical about the material stuff of the communion elements. It's all about the power we Christians call the Holy Spirit, that activates them in our lives.

Jesus said to his disciples that a mustard-sized morsel of faith is more than enough to uproot a mighty tree and cast it into the sea. There's no telling what a cube of communion bread or a sip of communion wine can do, for people of faith who come to the Lord's table hungry and searching for what our host has prepared for us.

Prayer For The Day
We know, O Lord,
that we're not supposed to make our faith into a work:
yet time and again, we do exactly that.
Help us, in these sacred moments of worship and prayer,
to relax ...
to let go ...
to simply trust in your remarkable ability to flow into and through our hearts,
inspiring us,
empowering us,
saving us.
For we ask it in the name of Christ,
who bids us come.
Amen.

To Illustrate
A number of years ago, the well-known preacher Henry Drummond preached a classic sermon titled "The Greatest Thing in the World." Drummond concluded his sermon with a bit of a school-science-project illustration. If you place a piece of iron, he said, in the presence of an electrified field, that piece of iron itself will become electrified. In the presence of that electrical field, it's changed into a magnet. As long as it remains in contact with that field of electromagnetic power, it will attract other pieces of iron to itself.

Many of us can remember how to make electromagnets, from elementary-school science class. You take an old iron nail, wrap a piece of wire around it, and attach both ends of the wire to the terminals of a dry-cell battery. In no time at all, that electrified nail is attracting all manner of paper clips, thumbtacks, and iron filings.

Is the nail itself changed? Not one bit. It's the power flowing through it that makes the difference.

That's the way it is with faith. We all have it; but every so often, we doubt that we have it. We get all introspective, and ask ourselves, "Where's the faith? Do I still have it? Did I lose it? If so, can I find it again?"

Is it even possible to "lose" faith? It seems doubtful. Faith isn't a possession of ours in the first place. It's a spiritual power that originates with God and comes to us as a gift. What we must do, in a season of doubt, is to hook ourselves up to God's battery terminals, so the surge of spiritual energy will flow into us -- and, through us, to others.

***

Not a single one of the new powers discovered by [humanity] possesses any redeeming force. Neither fire, nor steam, nor explosives, nor electricity, nor atomic energy can change [human] nature. The greatest force ever bestowed on [the human race] streamed forth in blood and sweat and tears and death on Calvary ... when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on the cross. It was a power so great that it shattered the last fortress -- death. It was a power so great that it made atonement for all the sin of all the world. It was a power so great that it provided for those who would accept it the ability to live victoriously like children of God, in fellowship with him who made the world and the sun, the moon and the stars. It was power that would enable believers to do the mighty works of Christ, and to experience, flowing in and through their own lives, the energy of God. Here is a power so tremendous that with it nothing is impossible; and without it, nothing we do has any eternal value or significance.
-- Peter Marshall, in a sermon written not long after the discovery of nuclear power

***

In the Christian vision, one Greek word has consistently characterized the Holy Spirit: dynamis from which we get our word dynamite. The Spirit is Power, the Spirit is dynamite.
-- Walter J. Burghardt

***

Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can. Or it can be channeled through the engine of a Honda in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power. The Holy Spirit works both ways.

At Pentecost, he exploded on the scene; his presence was like "tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power. But he also works through the church -- the institution God began to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, Christians are provided with staying power.
-- Anonymous

***

A seeker challenged Imam Sadiq, "Convince me of the existence of God."

Knowing that the man had traveled the seas, the Imam asked him, "Have you ever been caught in a fierce storm in the middle of a voyage, your rudder gone, your sails torn, your vessel in danger of capsizing, and no land in sight?"

The man replied, "Yes."

The Imam then asked him, "Yet was not there always, despite your black despair, a glimmer of hope in your heart that someone, somewhere -- some unnamed and unknown power -- could still save you?"

"Yes," the man answered again.

To which the Imam replied, "That power is God."
-- Beliefnet.com

***

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
-- C. S. Lewis
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 16 | OT 21 | Pentecost 11
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 17 | OT 22 | Pentecost 12
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 18 | OT 23 | Pentecost 13
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message is a role play. You can do this with only two children playing the parts of the two women, but if you have more children, you could have two more playing the parts of the children, another playing the part of the synagogue leader, and another playing the part of the country’s leader. You can also add any other roles you might want to add to make it interesting. Also, I have created places for your characters to speak, but you can add more of those to make it all more fun and memorable.

* * *

The Immediate Word

Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Christopher Keating
Nazish Naseem
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Katy Stenta
For August 24, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Wayne Brouwer
C. Knight Aldrich, a medical doctor and the first chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago (1955-1964), was a keen analyst of the motivations for our behaviors. He worked with the social services agencies of Chicago for a time, particularly spending hours with teenagers who had been arrested for shoplifting or other theft. Aldrich interviewed them to find out how they had come to this. He also talked with the parents, attempting to discover how they had handled the problem from the first time they knew about it.
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 77:1-6

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
“We have questions about your conduct as our pastor,” Carl announced as soon as Pastor John sat down at the hastily called board meeting. “We have received complaints about you from the congregation.”

“Complaints?” Pastor John frowned. “From whom and about what?”

“Mrs. Finnigan saw you coming out of what she politely described as ‘A Gentleman’s Club’ last Thursday night when she was driving downtown.” Bruce scowled. “Do you deny this?”

“Not at all,” Pastor John said. “I did have to go to that place on Thursday evening.”

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
Jesus was aware of people's deepest needs and what prompted their actions. In our worship today let us consider how we can discover people's deepest needs and the motives for their actions.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we see only the surface and condemn without real understanding.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we are afraid to get sufficiently close to other people to see their inner needs.
Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
(See Epiphany 4/Ordinary Time 4, Cycle C, for an alternative approach.)

The old saying, "experience is the best teacher," could serve as a subtitle for this psalm. Written as a prayer for help in a time of distress or oppression, the psalm subtly hints at a recognition and awareness that only comes with time. There is a track record, so to speak, that the psalmist is aware of: God's record of dependability. Based on God's proven record of saving power and grace, the psalmist is able to pray for salvation, but at the same time celebrate the certainty of its arrival.
Lee Ann Dunlap
Carrie's1 high school guidance counselor noticed she had been acting out a bit in school recently. She had appeared depressed and had been having some authority issues over rules and such. The guidance counselor set Carrie up with a local pastor who had been volunteering a few hours each Friday after a teen suicide a few months before. Most of the other students who came to see the pastor just needed someone to listen to their usual teen issues and heartaches. But, shortly into their time together, Carrie began to open up about some real grown-up problems.
Kirk R. Webster
It's a typical Sunday morning at St. Stephen Presbyterian Church in Orlando, Florida. The people file in and sit down in plush pews. Their attention is drawn to the chancel where they see choir members calmly seated, robed in dark blue and white. The mahogany altar table is draped with a silk parament. Two bronze candleholders stand guard at the table edges.
R. Robert Cueni
As was his custom, Jesus went that Sabbath morning to the synagogue for worship. As he was preaching and teaching, he happened to glance toward the fringe of the crowd where he saw a very crippled woman. She was bent over and was unable to stand up straight. When he inquired, Jesus was told the woman had been that way for eighteen years.
John H. Will
Call to Worship
Indeed, this is a day of rest and gladness.
This is God's Sabbath, created for our reflection and renewal.
Let us then not profane it, but keep it holy.
We do this as we honor God and commit ourselves to the well--being of God's creation.
Each of us individually needs a personal rejuvenation of spirit.
Together we seek a strengthening of community, a community that continues to build itself in love.
So do we come as one people to worship God, our Maker and our Sustainer.

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL