Easter 7
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
The awesome ways of God.
Collect of the Day
We pray that the Spirit might transform us and the world that we may find joy. Predestination, the Holy Spirit, and Justification are prominent themes.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 1
* A Wisdom Psalm contrasting the fate of the righteous and the wicked. Righteousness, it is said, makes you happy (v. 1).
* The law is indirectly praised (like Psalm 119), as righteousness is associated with obedience to the law (v. 2). Yet the stress on righteousness can elsewhere be understood in relation to God's work (v. 6) in accord with the Easter word (see Gospel, vv. 17, 19; Romans 3:21-26).
* The righteousness planted in God spontaneously bears good fruit (v. 3).
Sermon Text and Title
"The Lord Is Always Before Us!"
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Christ's presence among us (through the work of the Holy Spirit and as a result of the ascension) in all dimensions of our lives. This is a different way of developing the themes in the sermon on the Second Lesson, Ascension.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Portions of two of Peter's sermons.
* Soon after the ascension, Peter, addressing a crowd of 120, claims scripture has been fulfilled as testified by the Holy Spirit through King David concerning Judas Iscariot (1:15-17).
* The lesson continues with a sermon he delivers on Pentecost, ensuring that observers properly understand that the ecstatic experience of the Spirit of the followers of Jesus not be interpreted as a drunken binge (2:15). In that context, Peter claims that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (2:21).
* He proceeds to recount how Jesus' ministry fulfilled the divine plan, even His crucifixion and especially His resurrection. Death could not hold Him (2:22-24).
* Peter cites Psalm 16:8-9, noting the Lord is always before us and that we will not be stricken, so our hearts can be glad and our flesh can live in hope (2:25-26).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text provides another opportunity to consider how Christology (since the ascension) is cosmic and how Christ's universal presence is among us through the Holy Spirit. The lesson affords an excellent opportunity to link together the ascension and Pentecost (the gift of the Holy Spirit).
* Martin Luther saw the text as an extolling of the Holy Spirit:
If Christ did not sit at the right hand of God, or daily pour out His Holy Spirit, the Christian faith would languish, for it is contrary to all human reasoning and opposed also by the devil. Therefore, if there were not this daily outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the devil would not allow a single person to cling in faith to Christ….
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 171)
* About the Holy Spirit, Karl Barth wrote: "… the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that His power is on certain men, that He comes to them as such, that He is 'poured out' on them, that He 'sits' on them and 'fells' them…" (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p. 649).
* John Calvin saw the text as an opportunity to give testimony to God's providence. About that matter he wrote:
By this example (I say) we are taught so to give the chiefest room to God's providence, that we keep ourselves without our bounds, and that we thrust not ourselves rashly and indiscreetly into the secrets of God, whither our eyesight doth not pierce.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVIII/2, p. 98)
* Note the third through seventh bullet points in Theological Insights for the Second Lesson, Ascension.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* The scientific community is exploring the possibility that religion may have offered evolutionary advantages to homo sapiens, regarding the trust and cooperation religion nurtures among adherents. Ecstatic experiences of the Spirit are identified as the core religious experiences in nurturing these evolutionary advantages (Nicholas Wade, The Faith Instinct).
* A late 2008 Barna Research Group poll found that 2 out of 3 Americans regard the Holy Spirit as merely a symbol of God's presence, not a living entity.
* See the poll data cited in this section for the Gospel, Ascension of Our Lord, regarding Americans' sense of God's distance.
5. Gimmick
Read 2:25-26. Note that these are words from Psalm 16 (vv. 8-11). Stress again that the Lord is always before us!
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Americans, it seems, do not really believe that the Lord is always before us (at least a lot of us don't). Cite data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Ascension. Many of us feel God is far removed from our lives, just a distant observer.
* We call this idea of God's detachment Deism, and several of America's Founders held this belief (Thomas Jefferson, Writings, pp. 1466ff).
* Deism is not Christian faith! We need to wake up ourselves and our community to the fact that ordinary American religiosity is not the same as the faith of Jesus Christ. Christian faith is a lot better. Because we Christians believe in Christ, it is like the Psalm Peter quoted says: "… I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced."
* Why be glad? Why rejoice? Because the Lord is always before us, always present to us. And then Peter in today's sermons recorded in Acts gives us another reason: Because all who call on our Lord's Name will be saved (2:21). Death can't hold Jesus (2:24).
* Much better to have the real thing than a distant memory, right? Ask the congregation to think of a loved one. Ask which they would rather have, the presence of that loved one or the chance to think of him or her by fond memory. Thank goodness, Peter proclaims here, we have the real thing. The Lord goes before us, is always present with us!
* Martin Luther says that this is a text about the Holy Spirit, praising Him. Consider the second bullet point in Theological Insights.
* This attention to the role of Holy Spirit in bringing our Lord before us is certainly an appropriate theme with Pentecost next week, and the church's celebration of the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-21). Note in fact that the second sermon of Peter cited in the lesson today transpired on Pentecost because observers thought that the disciples' ecstatic experiences of the Spirit were the result of being drunk (2:13ff). And even in his earlier sermon reported in this lesson, Peter testified that the events of Jesus' betrayal fulfilled the earlier testimonies of the Spirit (1:15-16).
* We need this testimony to the Spirit because, despite all the reported manifestations of the Holy Spirit among Pentecostals and charismatics, Betty and Joe Public still have trouble with the idea. Cite the poll data pertaining to the Spirit in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. It is no accident that God is distant to many Americans. It has to do with the fact that many of us think that the Holy Spirit doesn't hang out in our churches, but only in the ecstatic experience of Pentecostal bodies. We need to get the word out that the Holy Spirit hangs around this place and brings Jesus (brings God) with Him.
* How does this Holy Spirit bring us to Christ? Often silently, sometimes surprisingly, but never without the joy and gladness that Peter proclaimed (2:26).
* The great nineteenth-century reformed theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher provides some handles on how the Spirit works in bringing us Christ. He said that without the Holy Spirit no living relationship with Christ was possible (The Christian Faith, pp. 574ff), presumably because only when the Spirit works is Christ made present for such a living relationship to be made possible.
* Along the same lines, John Calvin offers a compelling image. He contends that the Holy Spirit is "the power of God" (Institutes, pp. 142-143). Or we might say it as Calvin's modern disciple Karl Barth did, that the Spirit is the "power in which Christ attests Himself" (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p. 648).
* The Spirit is power. Why is that good news, a word of joy and happiness?
* When the going gets tough, when it's hard to believe that the Lord is before us, the Holy Spirit does not just bring Jesus. He makes us experience Him. Again the great modern theologian Karl Barth had it right. Cite the third bullet point in Theological Insights. The Spirit sits on and fells our stubborn disbelief. Wow, that's the power of God!
* The Spirit is even patient with us. Use the Luther quote in the fourth bullet point for the First Lesson for Pentecost. The Spirit consoles until His work is complete.
7. Wrap-Up
The Lord goes before us, never abandons us. It is such a joyful comforting word that we are not abandoned, that we have a guide and companionship in all the nooks and crannies of life, that the Lord is present everywhere in the universe. Consider the Martin Luther King quote in the seventh bullet of point of Theological Insights for the Second Lesson, Ascension. Because the Lord goes before us, travels with us, all life yearns to come together in harmony. That's a word to keep you from being shaken, make your heart glad, and keep you rejoicing (2:25-26).
Sermon Text and Title
"What God Says Sure Beats the Competitors"
1 John 5:9-13
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To make clear that God's awesome word must have the final say in our lives, not the brands of spirituality floating in the American air, coupled with a word of forgiveness (Justification by Grace) for our transgressions (sin) on that score.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A concluding discussion of victorious faith.
* After referring to the testimony of the Spirit (vv. 6-8), it is noted that human testimony is not as great as the testimony of God (v. 9).
* Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe have made Him a liar (v. 10).
* The testimony is that God gave us eternal life, a life in His Son (v. 11). Whoever has the Son has life; without the Son there is no life (v. 12).
* The author claims to be writing to those who believe in the name of the Son of God, so they know they have eternal life (v. 13).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text's focus on a Christocentric faith entails that God's word alone must have the final say in our lives, not other forms of (New Age) spirituality. Forgiveness (Justification by Grace) for our idolatry is implied in verses 12-13.
* John Calvin contends that the text means that we should disregard speculations about God and hold only to the plain way of salvation He has revealed (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXII/2, p. 264).
* In much the same vein, Martin Luther wrote:
To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol… That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.
(The Book of Concord, Tappert ed., p. 365)
* In relation to this text, Luther added a word of comforting forgiveness in the midst of our indiscretion: "Therefore John wants us to know and no longer to doubt or tremble but to have certain knowledge that we live and grow in faith" (Luther's Works, Vol. 30, p. 321).
* Preaching on this text, Martin Luther further lauded faith, claiming that it "is not the cold, ineffective, empty, lifeless conception which… others imagine it to be; no, it is a living, active power, ever followed by victories and other appropriate fruits" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 240).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Alternatives to traditional Christian beliefs abound among Americans (even among professed Christians who make up the majority of those polled). A 2009 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 1 in 4 Americans believed that spiritual energy is located in mountains, trees, and crystals. One in four also believe in astrology, while 24% believe in reincarnation.
* An earlier 2007 Beliefnet poll found that 58% of Americans believed that good people outside their own faith tradition could attain salvation.
5. Gimmick
Read verse 9 with authority, stressing that the testimony of God is greater than human testimony.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Provide historical background on 1 John (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible), emphasizing that the book was written because a number of false beliefs floating around in the culture of the Roman empire were creeping into the church. Note that the situation is much like today.
* Cite the poll data noted in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. Americans have certainly been lured by a lot of unChristian ways of thinking. Ask the congregation where they stand. Do they read the astrology predictions in the paper, believe in ghosts and reincarnation, ever talk about spiritual energy? Perhaps they believe one can be spiritual without being religious.
* Can you even be saved without Jesus Christ? Almost 3 out of 5 Americans think you can. But that's not what the Bible says, at least not in the Second Lesson.
* Note how the celebration of Easter continues this week. But what good was Jesus' resurrection if it didn't save us? Our lesson says this. Read verse 12.
* Elaborate on the second and third bullet points in Theological Insights.
* What you trust is your god. Just as the people to whom 1 John was written were whoring after popular ideas and false gods of the Roman empire, so it is with us. We go whoring after "spirituality," spiritual energies, and the stars.
* We call ourselves Christian, but we really have trusted these other paths to spirituality, have become idolaters.
* Why should we want these secular alternatives to the God of Jesus Christ? It is no contest. What God says sure bests the competitors. Read verse 9. God's way of salvation beats the competition because alternative American spiritualities teach that you need to do things to have a good life. Not so with God's way of saving us. Use the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights.
* The testimony of God is the greatest, better than what we human beings can discern. Read the second bullet point in Theological Insights. God's is the plain way of salvation.
* The plain way of salvation works. Yes, we have blown things. But it is not too late to turn around. Easter is about forgiveness. Consider the fourth bullet point in Theological Insights and the fifth bullet point in Theological Insights of the Second Lesson for Ash Wednesday. All our waywardness is forgiven in Jesus Christ.
* It is also an awesome, powerful way. Read Luther's comments in the final bullet point of Theological Insights.
7. Wrap-Up
What God says sure bests the competitors. Human ways of spirituality and salvation leave it up to us to find satisfaction and salvation for ourselves. But God's way in Jesus is a sheer gift; it gives us the power to bear fruit. Quit working so hard looking for meaning in life. What God says and gives sure bests the competitors!
Sermon Text and Title
"In, But Not of the World"
John 17:6-19
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To describe the Christian life (Sanctification) as a world-denying mode of being, dependent not on ourselves (the dynamics of Original Sin), but on God's grace (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Conclusion of Jesus' farewell discourse with part of His high-priestly prayer.
* Jesus prays, reminding His Father that he has made the Father's name known to all those He has been given, for the followers of Jesus are the Father's (vv. 6, 10).
* They have been taught that all Jesus has comes from the Father, that He came from the Father, and this they have believed (vv. 7-8).
* Jesus claims that His petitions are on behalf of His followers, not on behalf of the world (v. 9).
* Urges that the Father protect His followers in the Father's name, since all that He has is the Father's and vice versa. Jesus would have His followers be one, as He and the Father are One (vv. 10-11).
* Jesus notes how He had protected His followers whom the Father had given to Him in the Father's name, while He was with them, losing only one [Judas Iscariot] in order to fulfill scripture (v. 12).
* Jesus says that since He is coming to the Father He speaks these things in the world so His followers may have His joy and become complete in themselves (v. 13).
* He adds that He has given His followers the Father's Word, and the world hates them and Him because they do not belong to the world (vv. 14, 16). The Greek word translated "world" is kosmos, literally referring to present human reality.
* Jesus does not petition that His followers be removed from the world, but that they be protected from the evil one (v. 15). Asks that they be sanctified in truth; the Father's word is said to be truth (v. 18).
* Jesus notes that as He was sent into the world by the Father, so He has sent them into the world (v. 18). For their sake Jesus sanctifies Himself so His followers may be sanctified in truth (v. 19).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Sanctification (living in, but not of the world), Original Sin (as concupiscence), and our dependence on God's grace (Justification by Grace) are all considered. These insights entail that as long as we remain in this world we remain sinners. Themes of the unity of the church or the Trinity (unity of Father and Son) could also be developed.
* The great preacher of the early church John Chrysostom comments on Jesus speaking things in the world (v. 13). He notes that we in the world are like little children who have been deprived of our playthings, cry, but do not even know how to desire the realities missing. Wealth, honor, and glory are like these toys. Like children we cry over them and do not give heed to heavenly things (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 14, p. 301).
* Martin Luther's version of the world's ways is described in terms of our own self-centeredness (concupiscence, or "turned in on ourselves"):
… in particular cases human nature knows and wills what is good but in general neither knows nor wills it. The reason is that it knows nothing but its own good, or what is good and honorable and useful for itself, but not what is good for God and other people… And this is in agreement with scripture, which describes man as so turned in on himself that he uses not only physical but even spiritual goods for his own purposes and in all things seeks only himself.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 345)
* About the world's hatred of Christians (v. 14), Karl Barth wrote:
The Christian is not hated as a human individual who is repulsive to the one who hates him on account of his personal being and action. He is hated as the bearer and representative of a specific claim and cause… not because they are Peter, Paul, or John, but because they represent to all men and to the world the alien and intolerable cause of the kingdom, the coup d'etat of God.
(Church Dogmatics, Index, p. 364)
* Concerning verse 14's reference to the world's hatred for Jesus' followers, John Chrysostom notes:
For this is the natural course of things, and everywhere virtue is wont to engender hatred from wicked men. For envying those who desire to live properly, and thinking to prepare and excuse for themselves if they can overthrow the credit of others, they hate them as having pursuits opposite to their own, and use every means to shame their way of life.
(Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 14, p. 302)
* Regarding sanctification, John also writes:
He that practiceth showing mercy to him that needeth, will soon cease from covetousness. For as the physician continually tending wounded persons is easily sobered, beholding human nature in the calamities of others; so we, if we enter upon the work of abiding the poor, shall easily become truly wise, and shall not admire riches, not deem present things any great matter.
(Ibid., p. 302)
* While in prison in 1944, Dietrich Bonhoeffer made a similar point:
… it is only by living completely in the world that one learns to have faith. One must completely abandon any attempt to make something of oneself, whether it be a saint or a converted sinner or a churchman (a so-called priestly type!), a righteous man or an unrighteous one, a sick man or a healthy one. By this worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings, but those of the world….
(Letters and Papers from Prison, p. 193)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* To be completely immersed in a project bigger than ourselves leads to the secretion of the pleasurable monoamine dopamine, and so results in happiness (Daniel Amen, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life).
* Regarding Martin Luther's claim that we are self-centered, modern genetic theory seems to bear out this point. Scientist Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene, esp. pp. 2-3) speaks of our "selfish genes," desiring their own propagation, and thus explaining heterosexual love and love for one's own kin. The preceding bullet point offers another example of the selfish character of human love, that love is reinforced by pleasure.
5. Gimmick
Picture the context for Jesus' teachings in the lesson -- on the night of the Last Supper and after its completion (13:30), Jesus offers a kind of final love-letter to His disciples, His farewell discourse (17:1ff).
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* In the middle of the discourse Jesus offered a prayer on behalf of His followers, on our behalf. Read verses 16-18. Jesus prays that we would remain in the world, though we do not belong to it. We are in, but not of, the world. But what does that mean? How do we live that way?
* It does not mean that Jesus or John are denying the goodness of the physical dimensions of reality. The Greek word translated "world" really refers to present human reality. See details in the eighth bullet point of Exegesis.
* Ask what this human reality is with which Jesus would have us live in tension. Martin Luther explains it well. Use his quote in the third bullet point of Theological Insights. We are turned in on ourselves. To describe the world as kosmos is to refer to human existence as intractably and incorrigibly selfish. Also consider the second bullet point in Theological Insights to elaborate on how our self-centeredness traps us so much that we lose our way.
* Ask the congregation if this is not true, if they do not do good deeds, show affection, go to church, in order at least in part to feel good about themselves. Use the second bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. We are trapped by our egocentricity, curved in on ourselves.
* Yet Jesus' prayer says that we do not really belong to this egocentric reality. He wants to send us back into it in order to infiltrate it with something new and precious.
* He sends us back into the world sanctified (v. 19). We are made holy (or as the Greek word connotes, "set apart"). In but not of the world. (Note how the First Lesson suggests that this is a work of the Holy Spirit; consider the third bullet point in Theological Insights for the First Lesson. The Holy Spirit makes us holy, "sits on us" until we submit to Him.)
* Set apart from the world, we now belong to God. Not to the world? What it is like? It is freeing. No longer turned in on ourselves, we are opened to exciting new things beyond our own egos.
* The way of the world, being addicted to the intractable egocentrism of the world, is a tiring, draining, anxiety-filled way to live. It is a vicious circle, always trying to prove your worth. But the believer knows his or her worth already, that he or she is holy, is somebody (in God's eyes).
* Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great Lutheran theologian martyred by Hitler for his efforts to liberate Germany, powerfully described what life in the world, but not of the world, looks like. Use the last bullet point in Theological Insights. We are so worldly that we concern ourselves with the world's problems, not our own, having thrown ourselves completely in God's arms.
* When you are so preoccupied with God's love for you, then you stop spending time trying to validate yourself. Being made holy, owned by God, we start doing holy things, and it comes easy, becomes a little easier to distance ourselves from our outrageous selfishness. Use the quotation by John Chrysostom in the sixth bullet point of Theological Insights. Or the following quotation by Luther in a sermon on the Second Lesson could be employed:
How can there enter into the heart of the Christian who believes he has received ineffable and eternal treasure through the Son of God, the inclination to permit his neighbor to suffer a trivial want when he can easily extend relief? Much less would it be possible for the Christian to injure or to do injustice to the neighbor for the sake of shamefully gaining some small advantage.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 238)
* The things of the world don't matter so much when you get with God and the needs of others. In fact, the things of the world are seen as being there to help other people.
* We should not get too otherworldly about all this. In a sense, Jesus' prayers that we not be of the world have been answered. But we remain in the world, mired in selfish ways. We still look to feed our egos. Yet wonders of wonders, we remain holy. We still belong to Jesus and the Father! And God still does with us whatever He wants, overcoming our selfishness. Through our selfish aims (our "selfish genes," elaborate on the points in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights), God and His Holy Spirit get a hold of us and use us to give our loved ones love. The poor and underprivileged may miraculously receive care from us!
* To say "no" to the world is a miracle, the result of divine intervention.
7. Wrap-Up
Note that Jesus really did have His prayer answered. The Holy Spirit often overcomes our selfishness and takes us out of the world, while keeping us in the world to serve and love it, despite our remaining selfishness and sin. What a wonderful way to live! No more needing to prove anything to ourselves and others, removed from the rat race, we have been thrown back on God's love, to live in, but not of, the world!
The awesome ways of God.
Collect of the Day
We pray that the Spirit might transform us and the world that we may find joy. Predestination, the Holy Spirit, and Justification are prominent themes.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 1
* A Wisdom Psalm contrasting the fate of the righteous and the wicked. Righteousness, it is said, makes you happy (v. 1).
* The law is indirectly praised (like Psalm 119), as righteousness is associated with obedience to the law (v. 2). Yet the stress on righteousness can elsewhere be understood in relation to God's work (v. 6) in accord with the Easter word (see Gospel, vv. 17, 19; Romans 3:21-26).
* The righteousness planted in God spontaneously bears good fruit (v. 3).
Sermon Text and Title
"The Lord Is Always Before Us!"
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Christ's presence among us (through the work of the Holy Spirit and as a result of the ascension) in all dimensions of our lives. This is a different way of developing the themes in the sermon on the Second Lesson, Ascension.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Portions of two of Peter's sermons.
* Soon after the ascension, Peter, addressing a crowd of 120, claims scripture has been fulfilled as testified by the Holy Spirit through King David concerning Judas Iscariot (1:15-17).
* The lesson continues with a sermon he delivers on Pentecost, ensuring that observers properly understand that the ecstatic experience of the Spirit of the followers of Jesus not be interpreted as a drunken binge (2:15). In that context, Peter claims that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (2:21).
* He proceeds to recount how Jesus' ministry fulfilled the divine plan, even His crucifixion and especially His resurrection. Death could not hold Him (2:22-24).
* Peter cites Psalm 16:8-9, noting the Lord is always before us and that we will not be stricken, so our hearts can be glad and our flesh can live in hope (2:25-26).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text provides another opportunity to consider how Christology (since the ascension) is cosmic and how Christ's universal presence is among us through the Holy Spirit. The lesson affords an excellent opportunity to link together the ascension and Pentecost (the gift of the Holy Spirit).
* Martin Luther saw the text as an extolling of the Holy Spirit:
If Christ did not sit at the right hand of God, or daily pour out His Holy Spirit, the Christian faith would languish, for it is contrary to all human reasoning and opposed also by the devil. Therefore, if there were not this daily outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the devil would not allow a single person to cling in faith to Christ….
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 171)
* About the Holy Spirit, Karl Barth wrote: "… the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that His power is on certain men, that He comes to them as such, that He is 'poured out' on them, that He 'sits' on them and 'fells' them…" (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p. 649).
* John Calvin saw the text as an opportunity to give testimony to God's providence. About that matter he wrote:
By this example (I say) we are taught so to give the chiefest room to God's providence, that we keep ourselves without our bounds, and that we thrust not ourselves rashly and indiscreetly into the secrets of God, whither our eyesight doth not pierce.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVIII/2, p. 98)
* Note the third through seventh bullet points in Theological Insights for the Second Lesson, Ascension.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* The scientific community is exploring the possibility that religion may have offered evolutionary advantages to homo sapiens, regarding the trust and cooperation religion nurtures among adherents. Ecstatic experiences of the Spirit are identified as the core religious experiences in nurturing these evolutionary advantages (Nicholas Wade, The Faith Instinct).
* A late 2008 Barna Research Group poll found that 2 out of 3 Americans regard the Holy Spirit as merely a symbol of God's presence, not a living entity.
* See the poll data cited in this section for the Gospel, Ascension of Our Lord, regarding Americans' sense of God's distance.
5. Gimmick
Read 2:25-26. Note that these are words from Psalm 16 (vv. 8-11). Stress again that the Lord is always before us!
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Americans, it seems, do not really believe that the Lord is always before us (at least a lot of us don't). Cite data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Ascension. Many of us feel God is far removed from our lives, just a distant observer.
* We call this idea of God's detachment Deism, and several of America's Founders held this belief (Thomas Jefferson, Writings, pp. 1466ff).
* Deism is not Christian faith! We need to wake up ourselves and our community to the fact that ordinary American religiosity is not the same as the faith of Jesus Christ. Christian faith is a lot better. Because we Christians believe in Christ, it is like the Psalm Peter quoted says: "… I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced."
* Why be glad? Why rejoice? Because the Lord is always before us, always present to us. And then Peter in today's sermons recorded in Acts gives us another reason: Because all who call on our Lord's Name will be saved (2:21). Death can't hold Jesus (2:24).
* Much better to have the real thing than a distant memory, right? Ask the congregation to think of a loved one. Ask which they would rather have, the presence of that loved one or the chance to think of him or her by fond memory. Thank goodness, Peter proclaims here, we have the real thing. The Lord goes before us, is always present with us!
* Martin Luther says that this is a text about the Holy Spirit, praising Him. Consider the second bullet point in Theological Insights.
* This attention to the role of Holy Spirit in bringing our Lord before us is certainly an appropriate theme with Pentecost next week, and the church's celebration of the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-21). Note in fact that the second sermon of Peter cited in the lesson today transpired on Pentecost because observers thought that the disciples' ecstatic experiences of the Spirit were the result of being drunk (2:13ff). And even in his earlier sermon reported in this lesson, Peter testified that the events of Jesus' betrayal fulfilled the earlier testimonies of the Spirit (1:15-16).
* We need this testimony to the Spirit because, despite all the reported manifestations of the Holy Spirit among Pentecostals and charismatics, Betty and Joe Public still have trouble with the idea. Cite the poll data pertaining to the Spirit in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. It is no accident that God is distant to many Americans. It has to do with the fact that many of us think that the Holy Spirit doesn't hang out in our churches, but only in the ecstatic experience of Pentecostal bodies. We need to get the word out that the Holy Spirit hangs around this place and brings Jesus (brings God) with Him.
* How does this Holy Spirit bring us to Christ? Often silently, sometimes surprisingly, but never without the joy and gladness that Peter proclaimed (2:26).
* The great nineteenth-century reformed theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher provides some handles on how the Spirit works in bringing us Christ. He said that without the Holy Spirit no living relationship with Christ was possible (The Christian Faith, pp. 574ff), presumably because only when the Spirit works is Christ made present for such a living relationship to be made possible.
* Along the same lines, John Calvin offers a compelling image. He contends that the Holy Spirit is "the power of God" (Institutes, pp. 142-143). Or we might say it as Calvin's modern disciple Karl Barth did, that the Spirit is the "power in which Christ attests Himself" (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p. 648).
* The Spirit is power. Why is that good news, a word of joy and happiness?
* When the going gets tough, when it's hard to believe that the Lord is before us, the Holy Spirit does not just bring Jesus. He makes us experience Him. Again the great modern theologian Karl Barth had it right. Cite the third bullet point in Theological Insights. The Spirit sits on and fells our stubborn disbelief. Wow, that's the power of God!
* The Spirit is even patient with us. Use the Luther quote in the fourth bullet point for the First Lesson for Pentecost. The Spirit consoles until His work is complete.
7. Wrap-Up
The Lord goes before us, never abandons us. It is such a joyful comforting word that we are not abandoned, that we have a guide and companionship in all the nooks and crannies of life, that the Lord is present everywhere in the universe. Consider the Martin Luther King quote in the seventh bullet of point of Theological Insights for the Second Lesson, Ascension. Because the Lord goes before us, travels with us, all life yearns to come together in harmony. That's a word to keep you from being shaken, make your heart glad, and keep you rejoicing (2:25-26).
Sermon Text and Title
"What God Says Sure Beats the Competitors"
1 John 5:9-13
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To make clear that God's awesome word must have the final say in our lives, not the brands of spirituality floating in the American air, coupled with a word of forgiveness (Justification by Grace) for our transgressions (sin) on that score.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A concluding discussion of victorious faith.
* After referring to the testimony of the Spirit (vv. 6-8), it is noted that human testimony is not as great as the testimony of God (v. 9).
* Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe have made Him a liar (v. 10).
* The testimony is that God gave us eternal life, a life in His Son (v. 11). Whoever has the Son has life; without the Son there is no life (v. 12).
* The author claims to be writing to those who believe in the name of the Son of God, so they know they have eternal life (v. 13).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text's focus on a Christocentric faith entails that God's word alone must have the final say in our lives, not other forms of (New Age) spirituality. Forgiveness (Justification by Grace) for our idolatry is implied in verses 12-13.
* John Calvin contends that the text means that we should disregard speculations about God and hold only to the plain way of salvation He has revealed (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXII/2, p. 264).
* In much the same vein, Martin Luther wrote:
To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol… That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.
(The Book of Concord, Tappert ed., p. 365)
* In relation to this text, Luther added a word of comforting forgiveness in the midst of our indiscretion: "Therefore John wants us to know and no longer to doubt or tremble but to have certain knowledge that we live and grow in faith" (Luther's Works, Vol. 30, p. 321).
* Preaching on this text, Martin Luther further lauded faith, claiming that it "is not the cold, ineffective, empty, lifeless conception which… others imagine it to be; no, it is a living, active power, ever followed by victories and other appropriate fruits" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 240).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Alternatives to traditional Christian beliefs abound among Americans (even among professed Christians who make up the majority of those polled). A 2009 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 1 in 4 Americans believed that spiritual energy is located in mountains, trees, and crystals. One in four also believe in astrology, while 24% believe in reincarnation.
* An earlier 2007 Beliefnet poll found that 58% of Americans believed that good people outside their own faith tradition could attain salvation.
5. Gimmick
Read verse 9 with authority, stressing that the testimony of God is greater than human testimony.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Provide historical background on 1 John (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible), emphasizing that the book was written because a number of false beliefs floating around in the culture of the Roman empire were creeping into the church. Note that the situation is much like today.
* Cite the poll data noted in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. Americans have certainly been lured by a lot of unChristian ways of thinking. Ask the congregation where they stand. Do they read the astrology predictions in the paper, believe in ghosts and reincarnation, ever talk about spiritual energy? Perhaps they believe one can be spiritual without being religious.
* Can you even be saved without Jesus Christ? Almost 3 out of 5 Americans think you can. But that's not what the Bible says, at least not in the Second Lesson.
* Note how the celebration of Easter continues this week. But what good was Jesus' resurrection if it didn't save us? Our lesson says this. Read verse 12.
* Elaborate on the second and third bullet points in Theological Insights.
* What you trust is your god. Just as the people to whom 1 John was written were whoring after popular ideas and false gods of the Roman empire, so it is with us. We go whoring after "spirituality," spiritual energies, and the stars.
* We call ourselves Christian, but we really have trusted these other paths to spirituality, have become idolaters.
* Why should we want these secular alternatives to the God of Jesus Christ? It is no contest. What God says sure bests the competitors. Read verse 9. God's way of salvation beats the competition because alternative American spiritualities teach that you need to do things to have a good life. Not so with God's way of saving us. Use the fourth bullet point of Theological Insights.
* The testimony of God is the greatest, better than what we human beings can discern. Read the second bullet point in Theological Insights. God's is the plain way of salvation.
* The plain way of salvation works. Yes, we have blown things. But it is not too late to turn around. Easter is about forgiveness. Consider the fourth bullet point in Theological Insights and the fifth bullet point in Theological Insights of the Second Lesson for Ash Wednesday. All our waywardness is forgiven in Jesus Christ.
* It is also an awesome, powerful way. Read Luther's comments in the final bullet point of Theological Insights.
7. Wrap-Up
What God says sure bests the competitors. Human ways of spirituality and salvation leave it up to us to find satisfaction and salvation for ourselves. But God's way in Jesus is a sheer gift; it gives us the power to bear fruit. Quit working so hard looking for meaning in life. What God says and gives sure bests the competitors!
Sermon Text and Title
"In, But Not of the World"
John 17:6-19
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To describe the Christian life (Sanctification) as a world-denying mode of being, dependent not on ourselves (the dynamics of Original Sin), but on God's grace (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Conclusion of Jesus' farewell discourse with part of His high-priestly prayer.
* Jesus prays, reminding His Father that he has made the Father's name known to all those He has been given, for the followers of Jesus are the Father's (vv. 6, 10).
* They have been taught that all Jesus has comes from the Father, that He came from the Father, and this they have believed (vv. 7-8).
* Jesus claims that His petitions are on behalf of His followers, not on behalf of the world (v. 9).
* Urges that the Father protect His followers in the Father's name, since all that He has is the Father's and vice versa. Jesus would have His followers be one, as He and the Father are One (vv. 10-11).
* Jesus notes how He had protected His followers whom the Father had given to Him in the Father's name, while He was with them, losing only one [Judas Iscariot] in order to fulfill scripture (v. 12).
* Jesus says that since He is coming to the Father He speaks these things in the world so His followers may have His joy and become complete in themselves (v. 13).
* He adds that He has given His followers the Father's Word, and the world hates them and Him because they do not belong to the world (vv. 14, 16). The Greek word translated "world" is kosmos, literally referring to present human reality.
* Jesus does not petition that His followers be removed from the world, but that they be protected from the evil one (v. 15). Asks that they be sanctified in truth; the Father's word is said to be truth (v. 18).
* Jesus notes that as He was sent into the world by the Father, so He has sent them into the world (v. 18). For their sake Jesus sanctifies Himself so His followers may be sanctified in truth (v. 19).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Sanctification (living in, but not of the world), Original Sin (as concupiscence), and our dependence on God's grace (Justification by Grace) are all considered. These insights entail that as long as we remain in this world we remain sinners. Themes of the unity of the church or the Trinity (unity of Father and Son) could also be developed.
* The great preacher of the early church John Chrysostom comments on Jesus speaking things in the world (v. 13). He notes that we in the world are like little children who have been deprived of our playthings, cry, but do not even know how to desire the realities missing. Wealth, honor, and glory are like these toys. Like children we cry over them and do not give heed to heavenly things (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 14, p. 301).
* Martin Luther's version of the world's ways is described in terms of our own self-centeredness (concupiscence, or "turned in on ourselves"):
… in particular cases human nature knows and wills what is good but in general neither knows nor wills it. The reason is that it knows nothing but its own good, or what is good and honorable and useful for itself, but not what is good for God and other people… And this is in agreement with scripture, which describes man as so turned in on himself that he uses not only physical but even spiritual goods for his own purposes and in all things seeks only himself.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 345)
* About the world's hatred of Christians (v. 14), Karl Barth wrote:
The Christian is not hated as a human individual who is repulsive to the one who hates him on account of his personal being and action. He is hated as the bearer and representative of a specific claim and cause… not because they are Peter, Paul, or John, but because they represent to all men and to the world the alien and intolerable cause of the kingdom, the coup d'etat of God.
(Church Dogmatics, Index, p. 364)
* Concerning verse 14's reference to the world's hatred for Jesus' followers, John Chrysostom notes:
For this is the natural course of things, and everywhere virtue is wont to engender hatred from wicked men. For envying those who desire to live properly, and thinking to prepare and excuse for themselves if they can overthrow the credit of others, they hate them as having pursuits opposite to their own, and use every means to shame their way of life.
(Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 14, p. 302)
* Regarding sanctification, John also writes:
He that practiceth showing mercy to him that needeth, will soon cease from covetousness. For as the physician continually tending wounded persons is easily sobered, beholding human nature in the calamities of others; so we, if we enter upon the work of abiding the poor, shall easily become truly wise, and shall not admire riches, not deem present things any great matter.
(Ibid., p. 302)
* While in prison in 1944, Dietrich Bonhoeffer made a similar point:
… it is only by living completely in the world that one learns to have faith. One must completely abandon any attempt to make something of oneself, whether it be a saint or a converted sinner or a churchman (a so-called priestly type!), a righteous man or an unrighteous one, a sick man or a healthy one. By this worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously not our own sufferings, but those of the world….
(Letters and Papers from Prison, p. 193)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* To be completely immersed in a project bigger than ourselves leads to the secretion of the pleasurable monoamine dopamine, and so results in happiness (Daniel Amen, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life).
* Regarding Martin Luther's claim that we are self-centered, modern genetic theory seems to bear out this point. Scientist Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene, esp. pp. 2-3) speaks of our "selfish genes," desiring their own propagation, and thus explaining heterosexual love and love for one's own kin. The preceding bullet point offers another example of the selfish character of human love, that love is reinforced by pleasure.
5. Gimmick
Picture the context for Jesus' teachings in the lesson -- on the night of the Last Supper and after its completion (13:30), Jesus offers a kind of final love-letter to His disciples, His farewell discourse (17:1ff).
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* In the middle of the discourse Jesus offered a prayer on behalf of His followers, on our behalf. Read verses 16-18. Jesus prays that we would remain in the world, though we do not belong to it. We are in, but not of, the world. But what does that mean? How do we live that way?
* It does not mean that Jesus or John are denying the goodness of the physical dimensions of reality. The Greek word translated "world" really refers to present human reality. See details in the eighth bullet point of Exegesis.
* Ask what this human reality is with which Jesus would have us live in tension. Martin Luther explains it well. Use his quote in the third bullet point of Theological Insights. We are turned in on ourselves. To describe the world as kosmos is to refer to human existence as intractably and incorrigibly selfish. Also consider the second bullet point in Theological Insights to elaborate on how our self-centeredness traps us so much that we lose our way.
* Ask the congregation if this is not true, if they do not do good deeds, show affection, go to church, in order at least in part to feel good about themselves. Use the second bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. We are trapped by our egocentricity, curved in on ourselves.
* Yet Jesus' prayer says that we do not really belong to this egocentric reality. He wants to send us back into it in order to infiltrate it with something new and precious.
* He sends us back into the world sanctified (v. 19). We are made holy (or as the Greek word connotes, "set apart"). In but not of the world. (Note how the First Lesson suggests that this is a work of the Holy Spirit; consider the third bullet point in Theological Insights for the First Lesson. The Holy Spirit makes us holy, "sits on us" until we submit to Him.)
* Set apart from the world, we now belong to God. Not to the world? What it is like? It is freeing. No longer turned in on ourselves, we are opened to exciting new things beyond our own egos.
* The way of the world, being addicted to the intractable egocentrism of the world, is a tiring, draining, anxiety-filled way to live. It is a vicious circle, always trying to prove your worth. But the believer knows his or her worth already, that he or she is holy, is somebody (in God's eyes).
* Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great Lutheran theologian martyred by Hitler for his efforts to liberate Germany, powerfully described what life in the world, but not of the world, looks like. Use the last bullet point in Theological Insights. We are so worldly that we concern ourselves with the world's problems, not our own, having thrown ourselves completely in God's arms.
* When you are so preoccupied with God's love for you, then you stop spending time trying to validate yourself. Being made holy, owned by God, we start doing holy things, and it comes easy, becomes a little easier to distance ourselves from our outrageous selfishness. Use the quotation by John Chrysostom in the sixth bullet point of Theological Insights. Or the following quotation by Luther in a sermon on the Second Lesson could be employed:
How can there enter into the heart of the Christian who believes he has received ineffable and eternal treasure through the Son of God, the inclination to permit his neighbor to suffer a trivial want when he can easily extend relief? Much less would it be possible for the Christian to injure or to do injustice to the neighbor for the sake of shamefully gaining some small advantage.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 238)
* The things of the world don't matter so much when you get with God and the needs of others. In fact, the things of the world are seen as being there to help other people.
* We should not get too otherworldly about all this. In a sense, Jesus' prayers that we not be of the world have been answered. But we remain in the world, mired in selfish ways. We still look to feed our egos. Yet wonders of wonders, we remain holy. We still belong to Jesus and the Father! And God still does with us whatever He wants, overcoming our selfishness. Through our selfish aims (our "selfish genes," elaborate on the points in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights), God and His Holy Spirit get a hold of us and use us to give our loved ones love. The poor and underprivileged may miraculously receive care from us!
* To say "no" to the world is a miracle, the result of divine intervention.
7. Wrap-Up
Note that Jesus really did have His prayer answered. The Holy Spirit often overcomes our selfishness and takes us out of the world, while keeping us in the world to serve and love it, despite our remaining selfishness and sin. What a wonderful way to live! No more needing to prove anything to ourselves and others, removed from the rat race, we have been thrown back on God's love, to live in, but not of, the world!
