Login / Signup

Free Access

Learn and Live

Commentary
There are lessons to be learned at all levels of life. In Hosea (and Psalm 107) we learn as spiritual children to recognize that our heavenly parent chides us to improve us, and that regardless of what may come our way, we are loved and that will have a great bearing on our future.

In Colossians we learn what it means to be a community of faith instead of a solitary believer.

In Luke we learn that it’s not always about us and our prosperity. There is a wider perspective, and a more divine peace that should motivate us as God’s people to seek the welfare of all, and not just ourselves.

Hosea 11:1-11, Psalm 107:1-9, 43
The prophet tells a story, and of course it doesn’t take us long to figure out it’s about us, and our history with God. God laments that as a loving parent cares for a child’s welfare and prepares for the best future possible, so Israel was brought out of Egypt. God raised this child with love and compassion, yet the child strayed deliberately, and in consequence, self-imposed punishments were endured by this child. Yet God is a loving parent and won’t give up. A bright future is ordained for the child who learns a lesson from the consequences endured.

Complaint, punishment, and restoration is the pattern to be found in the reading from Psalm 107 as well. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!” it says liturgically. One can hear the call and response in this reading. And in addition to the wandering in the desert, the children of Israel endured other stories are told that remind us God is reaching out to us. God helped individuals who lost their way (4-9), rescued prisoners (10-16), healed the sick (17-22), saved those in danger on the sea (23-32), and God’s power is demonstrated over nature, and in God’s care for the needy (33-42). Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

The psalm closes with a wisdom statement (43): “Let those who are wise give heed to these things and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.” Learn from the prophet Hosea. Learn from the psalm. God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Colossians 3:1-11
With words that call to mind the famous passage in Galatians 3:28, we read: “In Christ there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised Barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all….” How did this come to be? Paul reminds the believers in Colossae that they have died to this world and have been raised in Christ. That’s what makes the new life possible. It may not be obvious to the larger world, but we’re no longer a part of it. That’s why there follows a series of imperatives. Commands. “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly….” Paul lists those things in the verses that follow and there are a lot of them. All of them dehumanize others, making them objects, when all of us are sisters and brothers in Christ. This is a new world, a new community. Learn it. Live it.

Luke 12:13-21
The lesson to be learned here is a little tricky. Let’s bear in mind that on the surface nothing that the person Jesus labels as “fool” in this parable is wrong. Crop management, successful harvest, wise stewardship in upgrading equipment and facilities – these are good things! So, what’s the lesson to be learned?

The reading begins with an individual who listens to Jesus, recognizes his wisdom, and calls on him to arbitrate a legal case he has against his brother regarding his inheritance. In the Graeco-Roman world, it was not uncommon for two individuals to stop someone whose wisdom both would accept and ask that person to adjudicate their disagreement. You will recall that in the Book of Ruth, Boaz seeks out the old men of the town whose gather at the city gate to adjudicate the legal question of who owns Naomi’s property and therefore who should marry this Moabite woman.

So, what is wrong with this person asking? Perhaps it is less a matter of justice and more the “me, me, me” attitude of this bystander who sees a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of Jesus’s expertise to pad his pockets. Jesus doesn’t call him a whitewashed sepulcher or anything like that. He even calls him “friend.” But Jesus follows his question, “Who set me up to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” with a parable. Stories invite us to become participants in the lesson, and in this case, we see a wise landowner respond to an abundant harvest with plans to preserve that harvest and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

What’s wrong with that? As it says in Ecclesiastes 8:15, “So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun that to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves….” Yes, it’s true. But as Ben Witherington III and Amy-Jill Levine note in their joint commentary on Luke, the rich man “has no community, no wife, and no children, as far as we know.” It’s all about him, and he ignores the well-being over others. It was wise to build a barn, but foolish to think the harvest all belonged to him. His psyche, his core being, is at rest, he thinks, because he’s got it all under control, when none of us controls everything about our destiny. Nothing is laid aside for the poor.

I think of Scrooge’s legacy in Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. It was in sharing his hard-earned money, blessing the poor, saving Tiny Tim, and raising the level of prosperity for his employee that his psyche could truly have been at peace.

I’m safe, we sometimes think. Let others fall prey to poverty, the pandemic, the ups and down of the economy. But it’s not always about us. Is the purpose of church to increase our bottom line? Should we leave one church and attend another because we’ll have more people to draw into our business net? Should we consider possible political connections in choosing a church?
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
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

The Immediate Word

Nazish Naseem
Mary Austin
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
For October 12, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 29:1,4-7

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
As he entered a village, ten men with a skin disease approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (vv. 12-13)

“I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.”

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: This message is a role-play story. If you have enough children, you could have them play the roles of the ten lepers. However, for the most fun, I suggest planning ahead and recruiting ten adults from your congregation to play the roles.

* * *

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott

Call to Worship:

Jesus healed ten sick people, but nine of them were only interested in themselves and their own condition. Just one was able to look beyond his own concerns and say thank you. In our worship today let us look beyond ourselves and see God.

Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we are consumed by ourselves and fail to really care about other people.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes we focus so intently on ourselves that we forget to say thank you.
Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
(See Easter 6, Cycle A for an alternative approach to vv. 8-20.)

Schuyler Rhodes
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (v. 10). "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). These two powerful statements reveal for us the inadequacies of the translation process of the English language. These two juxtaposing passages reveal only a tiny fraction of the contradictions and conflicts found within our holy Word. No wonder people have trouble reading and understanding.
Scott Suskovic
"... suffer as I do" (2 Timothy 1:12).

It was in 1965 that the Rolling Stones recorded the song, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." Even today, over forty years later, we are still saying the same words and feeling the same emptiness of trying and trying, but getting no satisfaction. Commercials promise it with whiter teeth and fresher breath. Wall Street promises it with higher returns. Soap operas promise it with a dynamic love life. Yet those who have conquered each of those summits come up with the same cry, "I can't get no satisfaction." Can you?

Stephen M. Crotts
Have you ever had this experience? You walk into a dark room to do something, flick on the light switch, and nothing happens. I suspect a lot of our Thanksgivings are like that. Thursday late in November rolls around and suddenly it's Thanksgiving! So everybody gives thanks! But quite often the gratitude is just not there. Like the light switch, we reach for it at the appropriate time and it won't work. It's burned out.
Richard E. Gribble, CSC
Once there was a wise king who died. His son, who was young and rather brash, came to the throne and after only two months ordered a review all of his father's appointments. He called in the royal secretary, the royal treasurer, and the viceroy for interviews. He found them all to be unworthy and sent them into exile with only the shirts on their backs. Next he decided to interview the local bishop. A courier was sent to the bishop's residence with this message: "You are to report to the palace and answer the following three questions: 1) What direction does God face? 2) What am I worth?

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL