Epiphany 3
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Theme of the Day
Now is the time!
Collect of the Day
Acknowledging our call by grace, we pray for the Spirit to strengthen us to make us worthy of our call. Stress on grace and Sanctification again.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 62:5-12
* Psalm attributed to David which refers to God as Elohim. Expression of confidence in God's protection.
* Total dependence on God (v. 7). For life is but an instant (v. 9).
* God is a God of love (v. 12). This affirmation is made, though we are to be repaid according to our works (and are worthy of death).
Sermon Text and Title
"God Loves You: It's Urgent!"
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Realized Eschatology, the urgency of deciding for or serving Christ in the present, for God can use us even when we are not really ready, willing, and able.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A Prophetic book using satire to communicate the theme of undeserved forgiveness of foreign people.
* Likely written in the sixth or fifth centuries BC as Jews struggled to adjust to the Babylonian Captivity. Drawing on Mediterranean folklore, a story is told of Jonah, who seems to have been a Northern Kingdom prophet who counseled Jeroboam II in the eighth century BC.
* Main Sections: (1) First call of God to Jonah to preach to Nineveh, his efforts to flee, his being swallowed by a whale, and prayer for miraculous liberation along with Jonah's deliverance (chs. 1-2); (2) Second call to preach in Nineveh, its success, and Jonah's regrets about it (chs. 3-4).
* Central themes: (1) Breaks with narrow sectarianism; and (2) God's mercy and forgiveness is for all.
* After Jonah's deliverance from the whale (2:10), he is commanded a second time to preach in Nineveh (the capital of Assyria). He goes and succeeds in calling the people to repentance (vv. 1-5). (The three days it took to traverse the city [v. 3] recalls Jonah's three days in the fish's belly [1:17].) As a result, God spared them (v. 10).
* As is widely recognized, after the lesson ends Jonah expresses his unhappiness about God saving foreigners (4:1-2; 1:3). God responds with a reiteration of His concern for all, even Ninevites (3:11). Salvation is of the Lord (2:9b). This is a critique of a misunderstanding of Israel's election as a particular status.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Deals with Realized Eschatology (its implications living with urgency in the present).
* For more on Realized Eschatology, see Gospel, Advent 1.
* John Calvin explains Jonah's courage in going to Nineveh. He notes the experience he had had in the whale and writes:
Hence the more any one has found the kindness of God, the more courageously he ought to proceed in the discharge of his office, and confidently to commit to God his life and his safety, and resolutely to surmount all the perils of the world.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIV/2, pp. 94-95)
* Commenting on verse 5 on the Ninevites' response to Jonah's preaching, Martin Luther notes how the text reports that first they believed and only subsequently proclaimed a fast:
This [faith] is the standard and rule with which all things that are added concerning works must be harmonized. For if faith in the heart is sincere, it does not have need for any teacher of good works; it knows in itself what must be done… After a man has been justified by faith, it is inevitable that the fruits of justification follow, since a bad tree is not able not to bear good fruits, and a good tree bad fruits, as Christ says (Matthew 7:8).
(Luther's Works, Vol. 19, p. 23)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Nineveh was located in modern-day Iraq. The Assyrian Empire (whose capital Nineveh was) was noted as a great enemy of Israel, having conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and subjecting it to Gentile influence. There are interesting parallels between Israeli-Assyrian relations and our own relations with the Iraqis and other Muslims in that region.
5. Gimmick
Start out with an assertion: I need to think about why I'm doing this before plunging in, got to be sure I'm helping for the right reasons. Guess what, the book of Jonah says that God isn't hung up on our motives.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Concede that we all know (or think we know) the story of Jonah. But there is a lot more to it than Jonah getting swallowed by that whale. Ask the congregation to rediscover Jonah with you.
* Ask the congregation if they know why Jonah ended up in that whale. It is because he refused to go to Nineveh when God called him to go there (1:1-2). But Jonah did not want to heed God and fled, hoping he could escape God's presence as the Lord only dwelt in Israel -- a typically Hebraic attitude in the eighth century BC (1:3). But the Lord interfered with Jonah's escape by sea, sending a great storm that sailors tried to placate by throwing overboard one of their passengers, Jonah. That's how he got swallowed by that whale (1:4ff).
* Why did Jonah not want to go to Nineveh? Recall that Ninevites were Gentiles. Why would a Jew want to help them and risk being contaminated? This was especially problematic in the era when Jonah was written (after the Babylonian Captivity), for after returning from Babylon the Jews became very concerned about losing their identity through mixing with Gentile occupiers of Israel. And when it came to the citizens of Nineveh, the feelings would be even stronger. Nineveh was capital of the Assyrian empire, the very nation that had conquered the Jews' Northern Kingdom, Israel (and its capital Samaria), and largely decimated Jewish uniqueness in the region through intermarriage and cultural attrition. Also the Assyrians had the reputation of being fierce warriors. They had taken land that had once belonged to Israel (Samaria) and made it their own. Better to understand why Jonah would not want to help those people: It would be like trying to save Hitler or the perpetrators of 9/11. An interesting sidelight. Citizens of Nineveh are ancestors of modern Iraq. We did not try to save them after 9/11, did we?
* The plot thickens: Even after God has the whale release Jonah in response to his pleas (2:10), God has the prophet go to Nineveh to proclaim the Lord's Word of judgment of repentance (3:1-2). This time he went (even if he did not like it) (3:3).
* Reflect on God's marvelous love here. Not only is God loving to those who had persecuted His chosen people, He also had forgiven Jonah. John Calvin believed that it was this kindness of God that drove Jonah to go (see quote in Theological Insights).
* God's love drives people to urgent action. That may explain why the Ninevites repented (3:5ff). Note how quickly they acted, with urgency. Jonah's ministry had been successful. The medieval mystic John of the Cross spoke of "Love's urgent longings" (Ascent, Book One, Prologue). God's awesome love creates these urgent longings in us.
* Note the contrast: Jonah the man of faith had dragged his feet in responding to God's call. But the evil people of Nineveh had responded with urgency to God's ways. It is often like that today. While the church is meeting in committees to make judgments, non-Christians lead the way on cutting-edge social issues like advocating for peace and economic or ecological justice. If you miss the opportunity to respond right now you miss a chance to serve God. Ask the congregation about the times they have frittered away opportunities to do good.
* Consider the use of quotations in Theological Insights and Possible Sermon Moves in Gospel, Advent 1 to illustrate the point. Comedian George Carlin offered another interesting, perhaps relevant observation: "There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past."
* After today's lesson ends, there is another side of Jonah that teaches us a lot about God's compelling love and about life. Seems that after his success in Nineveh with the repentance of the people, Jonah was not happy that God spared the people as a result of his preaching (4:1-3). Seems weird at first glance. But would we feel any different if our preaching saved Hitler, Osama bin Laden, or other offspring of the Assyrians -- Iraqi military men? Is Jonah really so hard to understand? Do we really wish our enemies the best? But God's compelling love has its way ultimately with us.
* Sometimes we make excuses for not doing the right thing by claiming we are not ready yet, not sure of our motives. Jonah's story puts that to rest. Even when Jonah did not have the right motives, God could still use him. He'll use you to do good for somebody, even if the next time you don't have your heart in it.
* Cite the first bullet point in Theological Insights section of today's Gospel Lesson regarding John Calvin's claim that God can use us even prior to our repentance. It is as the great artist Leonardo da Vinci once put it: "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
* It doesn't matter if you are willing to do it, have the right motives. When it comes to the work of God, "Just do it" (by God's grace)!
* Hang around God enough, see His compelling love, a love that won't give up on the most despicable people, that won't let our judgmentalism and narrowness have the final say, a love that will even forgive us for that, and that love will likely get its way. It is as today's Psalm (62) says, speaking of our total dependence on God (v. 7) and also of God's great love (v. 12). God's awesome love makes us urgent responders. No more dallying in His presence.
7. Wrap-Up
Address the congregation (call them) a group of Jonah's. Ask them what Ninevehs they have. Assure them that perhaps this week there will be such Ninevehs. Certainly America's enemies in the Near East and part of the Arab world qualify. Invite the congregation this week when encountering enemies or inertia, when hearing the war news, to stop for a minute in prayer or just remember Jonah. If God could get His way with stubborn Jonah and forgive him for all his selfishness and procrastination, even forgive his and Israel's enemies, we can rest assured that God will get His way urgently with us. And we need not have to have fear that our past procrastination has interfered with our relationship with God. God's love is too urgent to let all us Jonahs get lost.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Future Is Present!"
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Realized Eschatology and a vision of the Christian life (Sanctification) as a life lived "in," but not "of," the world.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* In the context of his discussion of marriage throughout the chapter, Paul notes that the end will soon come (vv. 29, 31).
* As a result of the imminence of the end, Paul advises those with wives to live as though they had not (v. 29), to mourn as though not mourning (v. 30), to deal with the world as though not dealing with it (v. 31).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Another opportunity to proclaim Realized Eschatology. On the intertwining of present, future, and past, see Second Lesson, Advent 2.
* Another reason past, present, and future relate has to do with the continuity of Creation and Redemption, the outcome of the Trinity doctrine. Its core supposition, that the God who created us is the God who will save us, entails that the kingdom of God of the eschaton is not totally unlike the good things of the present created order.
* John Calvin explains this text as pertaining to awakening us to the urgency of life, how this insight allows us to possess what we have loosely:
Hence, it is not without good reason, that the apostle, with the view of arousing us from this stupidity, calls us to consider the shortness of this life, and infers from this, that we ought to use all the things of this world, as if we did not use them. For the man who considers that he is a stranger in the world uses the things of this world as if they were another's -- that is, as things lent to us for a single day.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XX/1, p. 257)
* Martin Luther's provided reflections would have us remember the eternal blessing that is ours in faith, not getting too caught up on the things of the world:
This is the general teaching for all Christians, that they should treasure that eternal blessing which is theirs in the faith, despising this life so that they do not sink too deeply into it either with love and desire or suffering and boredom, but should rather behave like guests on earth, using everything for a short time because of need and not just for pleasure.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 28, p. 52)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Philosopher Alain de Botton has characterized much of the pressure and anxiety members of industrialized Western societies feel as a function of our mad quest for finding recognition by the world, which we think we can gain from our acquisition of power, influence, wealth, and things (Status Anxiety).
Botton also notes that once we have acquired or achieved something our levels of happiness begin to decline (Ibid., pp. 196-197).
* Western society has placed higher expectations on marriage than in other contexts due to expectations of marriage (Lawrence Friedman, The Horizontal Society, esp. p. 7).
* Americans' shopping mania (desire to accumulate things) is well known. As recently as 2008, household debt exceeded disposable income by 129.3%.
5. Gimmick
Read the lesson again with a sense of urgency in the voice.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Note how odd these words seem. Yet they are good advice, if we reflect on them in light of contemporary American life.
* Americans today frequently are heard to lament about being "burned out" or fretting about their "legacy." Ask the congregation if they share these anxieties. The preacher might confess them himself/herself. Relate these anxieties to the analysis of Alain de Botton above in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights regarding how much of our anxiety is occasioned by the mad quest for gaining recognition from the world.
* We let the quest for status, recognition, power, wealth, reputation, and conformity of our family lifestyle to what the media says it should be like define who we are. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal had it right. We are unhappy because deep down we realize that the present pleasures are false and the pleasures for which we yearn are vain (Pensees, p. 49).
* In our lesson, the suggestion is that we don't make those things quite as important. We have something else waiting for us: The time grows short, Paul says (v. 29a); the kingdom of God is at hand. Live your everyday life, but the structures of our era, even the relationships of earthly existence, are passing away. Won't last long. Don't matter much.
* The big house, the material possessions we crave, the power and influence we desire: They ultimately do not matter much. Like good looks and brain power, they are here today and gone tomorrow. But God and His kingdom are forever!
* Thomas Jefferson had it right: "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."
* How can we live like this? Paul tells us. But first you have to realize a core Christian truth of our Trinitarian God, that what God will do in the future does not destroy the good things in the present. (See the second bullet point in Theological Insights for elaboration.) This is the sense in which we can agree with the French philosopher Simone Weil: "The future is made of the same stuff as the present."
* Here is where Paul's advice is relevant and can help us live today with all the tensions and anxieties of modern life. In verses just prior to our lesson's beginning he claimed that it is just as well if we remain as we are (v. 26). That makes sense, because the good things of the present will be preserved in God's kingdom -- just made better. And that is when he tells us to live with our spouses as though we had none to mourn and rejoice as though not engaged in such experiences, to make purchases as though owning nothing, to interact with the world (our jobs, institutions, etc.) as if we had no dealings with them (vv. 29-31). There is nothing wrong with all these experiences -- as long as we don't make too much of them, realize they are passing compared to the beautiful, eternal things of the soon-to-be-realized (already in some sense present) kingdom of God. Paul would have us live "in" these worldly things, but not be "of" them.
* Don't look for these things (even family) to make you feel like you are valuable. Only the eternal things of the kingdom of God (already present in some sense) can do that.
* How do you live this way? Cite the quotes of Calvin and Luther in Theological Insights. Explore with the congregation the feelings that they have had when staying overnight in a swanky hotel (Luther) or being a stranger/alien in another land (Calvin) or living briefly in a section in America from which they did not hale. You enjoy everything good in those settings, but don't get as upset by the rumors of ups and downs that might have or be beginning to transpire in those contexts. After all, we are moving on in a short time or don't have as much invested in them. Our home (what is precious) is elsewhere and our roots are elsewhere. When you live this way as a Christian, the beautiful, eternal realities of the future kingdom of God are already present. The present doesn't matter as much and that makes the realities of the present a lot less burdensome.
* Augustine elaborates on this point. Because of sin, he says that the present realities of life (like jobs, families, gaining possessions) are like children's games (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 1, p. 49). Kids know there's more to life (growing up) than games. But the games are fun. Their future, our future, is already present. For that reason and because games don't define who you are like, what lies up ahead (the future) does, the realities of the present are nothing to get so uptight about. We can view them as games that are a lot of fun.
7. Wrap-Up
Close with a word of comfort. Ask the congregation again if they ever feel anxious, burned out. These feelings come because they feel they must "make it" in society in order to be someone. But God's word and the reality of the coming kingdom proclaim that they already are "somebody." The kingdom of God is a reality in which we all count; no need to prove ourselves. Alain de Botton describes how living with that reality in the present can make a difference:
[In the kingdom] the dread of "losers" having to live alongside "winners" will be tempered and contained by a basic equality of dignity and resources. And [then] the dichotomy between succeeding/flourishing and failing/withering will lose some of its excruciating sharpness.
(Status Anxiety, p. 251)
When we live with that vision of the future present, we no longer need to get so anxious about what happens in the present. And life becomes sweeter.
Sermon Text and Title
"It's Urgent: The Kingdom of God Is at Hand!"
Mark 1:14-20
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To exhort a lifestyle (Sanctification) governed by an awareness that the kingdom of God is at hand (Realized Eschatology), a sense of the urgency of life makes us bold in the interests of seeing life in light of God and His mandates for justice and love (Social Ethics).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* The beginning of Jesus' activity in Galilee.
* After John the Baptist's arrest, Jesus begins proclaiming God's good news (v. 14). It is summarized as a call to repentance and eschatological urgency (v. 15). This is the oldest, most historically authentic account of His preaching.
The kingdom's proclamation precedes the call to repentance in this verse. Consequently it follows that the kingdom's coming is not dependent on human deeds.
* An account of the call and response of Simon and his brother Andrew, fishermen who left their father Zebedee to follow Jesus (vv. 16-20). In typical Markan fashion, these responses and those of others called are said to be "immediate" (vv. 18-20), signifying the eschatological urgency of the response. The urgency also reminds us that God's grace is not contingent on deliberation.
* Lack of details about how the call of these disciples happened makes it easier for the reader to find himself in the story.
This allows readers to see discipleship as a new matter of acting, not an ethical decision or even a thoughtful acceptance of proposition.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Realized Eschatology is the focus. This theme transcends our present attitudes and feelings. The vision of the kingdom of God also offers a perspective for Christian living (Sanctification) in the present.
* John Calvin notes that in speaking of the kingdom of God prior to the call to repentance it follows that repentance depends on the gospel (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 225).
* Consider the first Calvin quote in Theological Insights for the First Lesson. Also see Gospel, Advent 1.
* Calvin describes who Jesus called:
Christ selected rough mechanics, persons not only destitute of learning, but inferior in capacity, that He might train, or rather renew them by the power of His Spirit, so as to excel all the wise men of the world. He intended to humble, in this manner, the pride of the flesh… to humble the pride of those who think that heaven is not open to the unlearned….
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 243)
* This in turn entails that the kingdom's coming is not contingent on human deeds.
* Preaching on this text, John Wesley warns against feeling that repentance purges all sin. Such a mindset leads to pride and thinking more highly than we ought (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 158). The sin that remains in the justified mandates the need for repentance (Ibid., p. 161).
A conviction of utter helplessness is also essential to repentance, an awareness that of ourselves we cannot think or do one good thing (Ibid., p. 164).
* Wesley also emphasizes the urgency of the call of Jesus: "Happy are they who follow Christ at the first call" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 425).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* The famed American political speech by Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream," employed precisely this sense that the kingdom of God is at hand, and used it to sketch a model for equality and American unity. Likewise this vision, though incarnate in the election of our first black president, can be deployed to address the poverty and powerlessness of certain segments of American society today. For relevant statistics, consult this section for the Gospel, Advent 3.
5. Gimmick
Begin with the adage "Don't put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today." Then proceed to note that it was just after John the Baptist had been arrested (v. 14) that one of his protégés, a carpenter's son from Galilee, began preaching. With excitement and enthusiasm proclaim: "The time is fulfilled, and kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news!" (v. 5). The kingdom has come near. Don't wait 'til tomorrow. It's urgent.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Continue to tell the story of the lesson (interspersing at appropriate points the comment with "Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent.").
* Tell the story of Harvey and Mary, locked in an unhappy marriage, kids falling in with the wrong crowd, not doing the jobs they had dreamed of when young. Still in their mid-thirties when these realities became apparent, they took no action, feeling they had enough on their plates and just too paralyzed to act. The years rolled by. Things got worse. The marriage gone, two of the kids in trouble, and unhappy lives. Don't put it off until tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Use the quotation of Martin Luther King Jr. in Theological Insights, the Gospel for Advent 1. "We are confronted today with the fierce urgency of the now."
* American self-help author J. Jackson Brown Jr. has it right: "You must take action now that will move you toward your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life."
* Without that urgency, life gets routine, gets boring. And you just stay stuck in circumstances that probably don't satisfy. The longer you stay there, the harder it gets to move on. But when you heed the call of Jesus, move with Him into the future, life looks a lot better. Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Consider the disciples in our Gospel Lesson. These all too ordinary men (see the first Calvin quotation in Theological Insights) responded urgently to Jesus' call. And look at what has become of Peter and Andrew and John and James. These so ordinary Hebraic peasants have become world-famous through the ages. By God's grace that moved them to respond, they knew that "Now is the Time." Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Sometimes we make excuses for not doing the right thing by claiming we are not ready yet, not sure of our motives. He will use you to do good for somebody even the next time you don't have your heart in it. Cite the first bullet point in Theological Insights regarding John Calvin's claim that God can use us even prior to our repentance.
* It is as the great artist Leonardo da Vinci once put it: "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
* It doesn't matter if you are willing to do it, have the right motives. When it comes to the work of God, "Just do it" (by God's grace)! It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Christians have this future orientation. Tony Campolo has it right: "Your past is important, but it is not nearly as important to your present as the way you see your future."
* Conclude by noting that our nation needs this future-oriented perspective. What Martin Luther King Jr. said is still correct today: We are confronted with the fierce urgency of the new. Ask how we can avoid confronting the patterns of middle-class squeeze, wars, and growing poverty since the Reagan years. (For statistics, see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel Lesson, Advent 3.) If we take our bearings from today's future-oriented Word of Jesus, like Dr. King advocated in his famous 1963 speech in Washington, we have resources. We were told in that speech how the dream (the vision of the kingdom of God) promised equality and justice (A Testament of Hope, pp. 219-220). Five years later he included ending war and overcoming poverty in that dream (calling it a revolution) (Ibid., pp. 273-274). Ask the congregation if we can afford to wait another minute to change all these social and political abuses. Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
7. Wrap-Up
Review the story of Harvey and Mary. Ask if some in the congregation may not have these feelings from time to time. We dare not wait, or their destiny could be ours (or at least a life of boredom and progressive discontent until the grave). Jesus has a new and better way. Respond. Our nation cannot continue indefinitely with all the poverty, ethnic, sexual, and international tensions. Announce again: It's urgent! The kingdom of God is at hand but then proclaim good news: We do not have to worry about whether we have the strength alone to take the urgent risk. Review again the first bullet point concerning Calvin in Theological Insights. Repentance depends on the gospel (on the promise of the kingdom of God). It may be urgent, but God will do the heavy lifting for us. Say it again: "Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God is on the horizon!"
Now is the time!
Collect of the Day
Acknowledging our call by grace, we pray for the Spirit to strengthen us to make us worthy of our call. Stress on grace and Sanctification again.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 62:5-12
* Psalm attributed to David which refers to God as Elohim. Expression of confidence in God's protection.
* Total dependence on God (v. 7). For life is but an instant (v. 9).
* God is a God of love (v. 12). This affirmation is made, though we are to be repaid according to our works (and are worthy of death).
Sermon Text and Title
"God Loves You: It's Urgent!"
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Realized Eschatology, the urgency of deciding for or serving Christ in the present, for God can use us even when we are not really ready, willing, and able.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A Prophetic book using satire to communicate the theme of undeserved forgiveness of foreign people.
* Likely written in the sixth or fifth centuries BC as Jews struggled to adjust to the Babylonian Captivity. Drawing on Mediterranean folklore, a story is told of Jonah, who seems to have been a Northern Kingdom prophet who counseled Jeroboam II in the eighth century BC.
* Main Sections: (1) First call of God to Jonah to preach to Nineveh, his efforts to flee, his being swallowed by a whale, and prayer for miraculous liberation along with Jonah's deliverance (chs. 1-2); (2) Second call to preach in Nineveh, its success, and Jonah's regrets about it (chs. 3-4).
* Central themes: (1) Breaks with narrow sectarianism; and (2) God's mercy and forgiveness is for all.
* After Jonah's deliverance from the whale (2:10), he is commanded a second time to preach in Nineveh (the capital of Assyria). He goes and succeeds in calling the people to repentance (vv. 1-5). (The three days it took to traverse the city [v. 3] recalls Jonah's three days in the fish's belly [1:17].) As a result, God spared them (v. 10).
* As is widely recognized, after the lesson ends Jonah expresses his unhappiness about God saving foreigners (4:1-2; 1:3). God responds with a reiteration of His concern for all, even Ninevites (3:11). Salvation is of the Lord (2:9b). This is a critique of a misunderstanding of Israel's election as a particular status.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Deals with Realized Eschatology (its implications living with urgency in the present).
* For more on Realized Eschatology, see Gospel, Advent 1.
* John Calvin explains Jonah's courage in going to Nineveh. He notes the experience he had had in the whale and writes:
Hence the more any one has found the kindness of God, the more courageously he ought to proceed in the discharge of his office, and confidently to commit to God his life and his safety, and resolutely to surmount all the perils of the world.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIV/2, pp. 94-95)
* Commenting on verse 5 on the Ninevites' response to Jonah's preaching, Martin Luther notes how the text reports that first they believed and only subsequently proclaimed a fast:
This [faith] is the standard and rule with which all things that are added concerning works must be harmonized. For if faith in the heart is sincere, it does not have need for any teacher of good works; it knows in itself what must be done… After a man has been justified by faith, it is inevitable that the fruits of justification follow, since a bad tree is not able not to bear good fruits, and a good tree bad fruits, as Christ says (Matthew 7:8).
(Luther's Works, Vol. 19, p. 23)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Nineveh was located in modern-day Iraq. The Assyrian Empire (whose capital Nineveh was) was noted as a great enemy of Israel, having conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and subjecting it to Gentile influence. There are interesting parallels between Israeli-Assyrian relations and our own relations with the Iraqis and other Muslims in that region.
5. Gimmick
Start out with an assertion: I need to think about why I'm doing this before plunging in, got to be sure I'm helping for the right reasons. Guess what, the book of Jonah says that God isn't hung up on our motives.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Concede that we all know (or think we know) the story of Jonah. But there is a lot more to it than Jonah getting swallowed by that whale. Ask the congregation to rediscover Jonah with you.
* Ask the congregation if they know why Jonah ended up in that whale. It is because he refused to go to Nineveh when God called him to go there (1:1-2). But Jonah did not want to heed God and fled, hoping he could escape God's presence as the Lord only dwelt in Israel -- a typically Hebraic attitude in the eighth century BC (1:3). But the Lord interfered with Jonah's escape by sea, sending a great storm that sailors tried to placate by throwing overboard one of their passengers, Jonah. That's how he got swallowed by that whale (1:4ff).
* Why did Jonah not want to go to Nineveh? Recall that Ninevites were Gentiles. Why would a Jew want to help them and risk being contaminated? This was especially problematic in the era when Jonah was written (after the Babylonian Captivity), for after returning from Babylon the Jews became very concerned about losing their identity through mixing with Gentile occupiers of Israel. And when it came to the citizens of Nineveh, the feelings would be even stronger. Nineveh was capital of the Assyrian empire, the very nation that had conquered the Jews' Northern Kingdom, Israel (and its capital Samaria), and largely decimated Jewish uniqueness in the region through intermarriage and cultural attrition. Also the Assyrians had the reputation of being fierce warriors. They had taken land that had once belonged to Israel (Samaria) and made it their own. Better to understand why Jonah would not want to help those people: It would be like trying to save Hitler or the perpetrators of 9/11. An interesting sidelight. Citizens of Nineveh are ancestors of modern Iraq. We did not try to save them after 9/11, did we?
* The plot thickens: Even after God has the whale release Jonah in response to his pleas (2:10), God has the prophet go to Nineveh to proclaim the Lord's Word of judgment of repentance (3:1-2). This time he went (even if he did not like it) (3:3).
* Reflect on God's marvelous love here. Not only is God loving to those who had persecuted His chosen people, He also had forgiven Jonah. John Calvin believed that it was this kindness of God that drove Jonah to go (see quote in Theological Insights).
* God's love drives people to urgent action. That may explain why the Ninevites repented (3:5ff). Note how quickly they acted, with urgency. Jonah's ministry had been successful. The medieval mystic John of the Cross spoke of "Love's urgent longings" (Ascent, Book One, Prologue). God's awesome love creates these urgent longings in us.
* Note the contrast: Jonah the man of faith had dragged his feet in responding to God's call. But the evil people of Nineveh had responded with urgency to God's ways. It is often like that today. While the church is meeting in committees to make judgments, non-Christians lead the way on cutting-edge social issues like advocating for peace and economic or ecological justice. If you miss the opportunity to respond right now you miss a chance to serve God. Ask the congregation about the times they have frittered away opportunities to do good.
* Consider the use of quotations in Theological Insights and Possible Sermon Moves in Gospel, Advent 1 to illustrate the point. Comedian George Carlin offered another interesting, perhaps relevant observation: "There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past."
* After today's lesson ends, there is another side of Jonah that teaches us a lot about God's compelling love and about life. Seems that after his success in Nineveh with the repentance of the people, Jonah was not happy that God spared the people as a result of his preaching (4:1-3). Seems weird at first glance. But would we feel any different if our preaching saved Hitler, Osama bin Laden, or other offspring of the Assyrians -- Iraqi military men? Is Jonah really so hard to understand? Do we really wish our enemies the best? But God's compelling love has its way ultimately with us.
* Sometimes we make excuses for not doing the right thing by claiming we are not ready yet, not sure of our motives. Jonah's story puts that to rest. Even when Jonah did not have the right motives, God could still use him. He'll use you to do good for somebody, even if the next time you don't have your heart in it.
* Cite the first bullet point in Theological Insights section of today's Gospel Lesson regarding John Calvin's claim that God can use us even prior to our repentance. It is as the great artist Leonardo da Vinci once put it: "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
* It doesn't matter if you are willing to do it, have the right motives. When it comes to the work of God, "Just do it" (by God's grace)!
* Hang around God enough, see His compelling love, a love that won't give up on the most despicable people, that won't let our judgmentalism and narrowness have the final say, a love that will even forgive us for that, and that love will likely get its way. It is as today's Psalm (62) says, speaking of our total dependence on God (v. 7) and also of God's great love (v. 12). God's awesome love makes us urgent responders. No more dallying in His presence.
7. Wrap-Up
Address the congregation (call them) a group of Jonah's. Ask them what Ninevehs they have. Assure them that perhaps this week there will be such Ninevehs. Certainly America's enemies in the Near East and part of the Arab world qualify. Invite the congregation this week when encountering enemies or inertia, when hearing the war news, to stop for a minute in prayer or just remember Jonah. If God could get His way with stubborn Jonah and forgive him for all his selfishness and procrastination, even forgive his and Israel's enemies, we can rest assured that God will get His way urgently with us. And we need not have to have fear that our past procrastination has interfered with our relationship with God. God's love is too urgent to let all us Jonahs get lost.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Future Is Present!"
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Realized Eschatology and a vision of the Christian life (Sanctification) as a life lived "in," but not "of," the world.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* In the context of his discussion of marriage throughout the chapter, Paul notes that the end will soon come (vv. 29, 31).
* As a result of the imminence of the end, Paul advises those with wives to live as though they had not (v. 29), to mourn as though not mourning (v. 30), to deal with the world as though not dealing with it (v. 31).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Another opportunity to proclaim Realized Eschatology. On the intertwining of present, future, and past, see Second Lesson, Advent 2.
* Another reason past, present, and future relate has to do with the continuity of Creation and Redemption, the outcome of the Trinity doctrine. Its core supposition, that the God who created us is the God who will save us, entails that the kingdom of God of the eschaton is not totally unlike the good things of the present created order.
* John Calvin explains this text as pertaining to awakening us to the urgency of life, how this insight allows us to possess what we have loosely:
Hence, it is not without good reason, that the apostle, with the view of arousing us from this stupidity, calls us to consider the shortness of this life, and infers from this, that we ought to use all the things of this world, as if we did not use them. For the man who considers that he is a stranger in the world uses the things of this world as if they were another's -- that is, as things lent to us for a single day.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XX/1, p. 257)
* Martin Luther's provided reflections would have us remember the eternal blessing that is ours in faith, not getting too caught up on the things of the world:
This is the general teaching for all Christians, that they should treasure that eternal blessing which is theirs in the faith, despising this life so that they do not sink too deeply into it either with love and desire or suffering and boredom, but should rather behave like guests on earth, using everything for a short time because of need and not just for pleasure.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 28, p. 52)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Philosopher Alain de Botton has characterized much of the pressure and anxiety members of industrialized Western societies feel as a function of our mad quest for finding recognition by the world, which we think we can gain from our acquisition of power, influence, wealth, and things (Status Anxiety).
Botton also notes that once we have acquired or achieved something our levels of happiness begin to decline (Ibid., pp. 196-197).
* Western society has placed higher expectations on marriage than in other contexts due to expectations of marriage (Lawrence Friedman, The Horizontal Society, esp. p. 7).
* Americans' shopping mania (desire to accumulate things) is well known. As recently as 2008, household debt exceeded disposable income by 129.3%.
5. Gimmick
Read the lesson again with a sense of urgency in the voice.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Note how odd these words seem. Yet they are good advice, if we reflect on them in light of contemporary American life.
* Americans today frequently are heard to lament about being "burned out" or fretting about their "legacy." Ask the congregation if they share these anxieties. The preacher might confess them himself/herself. Relate these anxieties to the analysis of Alain de Botton above in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights regarding how much of our anxiety is occasioned by the mad quest for gaining recognition from the world.
* We let the quest for status, recognition, power, wealth, reputation, and conformity of our family lifestyle to what the media says it should be like define who we are. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal had it right. We are unhappy because deep down we realize that the present pleasures are false and the pleasures for which we yearn are vain (Pensees, p. 49).
* In our lesson, the suggestion is that we don't make those things quite as important. We have something else waiting for us: The time grows short, Paul says (v. 29a); the kingdom of God is at hand. Live your everyday life, but the structures of our era, even the relationships of earthly existence, are passing away. Won't last long. Don't matter much.
* The big house, the material possessions we crave, the power and influence we desire: They ultimately do not matter much. Like good looks and brain power, they are here today and gone tomorrow. But God and His kingdom are forever!
* Thomas Jefferson had it right: "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."
* How can we live like this? Paul tells us. But first you have to realize a core Christian truth of our Trinitarian God, that what God will do in the future does not destroy the good things in the present. (See the second bullet point in Theological Insights for elaboration.) This is the sense in which we can agree with the French philosopher Simone Weil: "The future is made of the same stuff as the present."
* Here is where Paul's advice is relevant and can help us live today with all the tensions and anxieties of modern life. In verses just prior to our lesson's beginning he claimed that it is just as well if we remain as we are (v. 26). That makes sense, because the good things of the present will be preserved in God's kingdom -- just made better. And that is when he tells us to live with our spouses as though we had none to mourn and rejoice as though not engaged in such experiences, to make purchases as though owning nothing, to interact with the world (our jobs, institutions, etc.) as if we had no dealings with them (vv. 29-31). There is nothing wrong with all these experiences -- as long as we don't make too much of them, realize they are passing compared to the beautiful, eternal things of the soon-to-be-realized (already in some sense present) kingdom of God. Paul would have us live "in" these worldly things, but not be "of" them.
* Don't look for these things (even family) to make you feel like you are valuable. Only the eternal things of the kingdom of God (already present in some sense) can do that.
* How do you live this way? Cite the quotes of Calvin and Luther in Theological Insights. Explore with the congregation the feelings that they have had when staying overnight in a swanky hotel (Luther) or being a stranger/alien in another land (Calvin) or living briefly in a section in America from which they did not hale. You enjoy everything good in those settings, but don't get as upset by the rumors of ups and downs that might have or be beginning to transpire in those contexts. After all, we are moving on in a short time or don't have as much invested in them. Our home (what is precious) is elsewhere and our roots are elsewhere. When you live this way as a Christian, the beautiful, eternal realities of the future kingdom of God are already present. The present doesn't matter as much and that makes the realities of the present a lot less burdensome.
* Augustine elaborates on this point. Because of sin, he says that the present realities of life (like jobs, families, gaining possessions) are like children's games (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 1, p. 49). Kids know there's more to life (growing up) than games. But the games are fun. Their future, our future, is already present. For that reason and because games don't define who you are like, what lies up ahead (the future) does, the realities of the present are nothing to get so uptight about. We can view them as games that are a lot of fun.
7. Wrap-Up
Close with a word of comfort. Ask the congregation again if they ever feel anxious, burned out. These feelings come because they feel they must "make it" in society in order to be someone. But God's word and the reality of the coming kingdom proclaim that they already are "somebody." The kingdom of God is a reality in which we all count; no need to prove ourselves. Alain de Botton describes how living with that reality in the present can make a difference:
[In the kingdom] the dread of "losers" having to live alongside "winners" will be tempered and contained by a basic equality of dignity and resources. And [then] the dichotomy between succeeding/flourishing and failing/withering will lose some of its excruciating sharpness.
(Status Anxiety, p. 251)
When we live with that vision of the future present, we no longer need to get so anxious about what happens in the present. And life becomes sweeter.
Sermon Text and Title
"It's Urgent: The Kingdom of God Is at Hand!"
Mark 1:14-20
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To exhort a lifestyle (Sanctification) governed by an awareness that the kingdom of God is at hand (Realized Eschatology), a sense of the urgency of life makes us bold in the interests of seeing life in light of God and His mandates for justice and love (Social Ethics).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* The beginning of Jesus' activity in Galilee.
* After John the Baptist's arrest, Jesus begins proclaiming God's good news (v. 14). It is summarized as a call to repentance and eschatological urgency (v. 15). This is the oldest, most historically authentic account of His preaching.
The kingdom's proclamation precedes the call to repentance in this verse. Consequently it follows that the kingdom's coming is not dependent on human deeds.
* An account of the call and response of Simon and his brother Andrew, fishermen who left their father Zebedee to follow Jesus (vv. 16-20). In typical Markan fashion, these responses and those of others called are said to be "immediate" (vv. 18-20), signifying the eschatological urgency of the response. The urgency also reminds us that God's grace is not contingent on deliberation.
* Lack of details about how the call of these disciples happened makes it easier for the reader to find himself in the story.
This allows readers to see discipleship as a new matter of acting, not an ethical decision or even a thoughtful acceptance of proposition.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Realized Eschatology is the focus. This theme transcends our present attitudes and feelings. The vision of the kingdom of God also offers a perspective for Christian living (Sanctification) in the present.
* John Calvin notes that in speaking of the kingdom of God prior to the call to repentance it follows that repentance depends on the gospel (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 225).
* Consider the first Calvin quote in Theological Insights for the First Lesson. Also see Gospel, Advent 1.
* Calvin describes who Jesus called:
Christ selected rough mechanics, persons not only destitute of learning, but inferior in capacity, that He might train, or rather renew them by the power of His Spirit, so as to excel all the wise men of the world. He intended to humble, in this manner, the pride of the flesh… to humble the pride of those who think that heaven is not open to the unlearned….
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 243)
* This in turn entails that the kingdom's coming is not contingent on human deeds.
* Preaching on this text, John Wesley warns against feeling that repentance purges all sin. Such a mindset leads to pride and thinking more highly than we ought (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 158). The sin that remains in the justified mandates the need for repentance (Ibid., p. 161).
A conviction of utter helplessness is also essential to repentance, an awareness that of ourselves we cannot think or do one good thing (Ibid., p. 164).
* Wesley also emphasizes the urgency of the call of Jesus: "Happy are they who follow Christ at the first call" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 425).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* The famed American political speech by Martin Luther King Jr., "I Have a Dream," employed precisely this sense that the kingdom of God is at hand, and used it to sketch a model for equality and American unity. Likewise this vision, though incarnate in the election of our first black president, can be deployed to address the poverty and powerlessness of certain segments of American society today. For relevant statistics, consult this section for the Gospel, Advent 3.
5. Gimmick
Begin with the adage "Don't put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today." Then proceed to note that it was just after John the Baptist had been arrested (v. 14) that one of his protégés, a carpenter's son from Galilee, began preaching. With excitement and enthusiasm proclaim: "The time is fulfilled, and kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news!" (v. 5). The kingdom has come near. Don't wait 'til tomorrow. It's urgent.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Continue to tell the story of the lesson (interspersing at appropriate points the comment with "Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent.").
* Tell the story of Harvey and Mary, locked in an unhappy marriage, kids falling in with the wrong crowd, not doing the jobs they had dreamed of when young. Still in their mid-thirties when these realities became apparent, they took no action, feeling they had enough on their plates and just too paralyzed to act. The years rolled by. Things got worse. The marriage gone, two of the kids in trouble, and unhappy lives. Don't put it off until tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Use the quotation of Martin Luther King Jr. in Theological Insights, the Gospel for Advent 1. "We are confronted today with the fierce urgency of the now."
* American self-help author J. Jackson Brown Jr. has it right: "You must take action now that will move you toward your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life."
* Without that urgency, life gets routine, gets boring. And you just stay stuck in circumstances that probably don't satisfy. The longer you stay there, the harder it gets to move on. But when you heed the call of Jesus, move with Him into the future, life looks a lot better. Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Consider the disciples in our Gospel Lesson. These all too ordinary men (see the first Calvin quotation in Theological Insights) responded urgently to Jesus' call. And look at what has become of Peter and Andrew and John and James. These so ordinary Hebraic peasants have become world-famous through the ages. By God's grace that moved them to respond, they knew that "Now is the Time." Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Sometimes we make excuses for not doing the right thing by claiming we are not ready yet, not sure of our motives. He will use you to do good for somebody even the next time you don't have your heart in it. Cite the first bullet point in Theological Insights regarding John Calvin's claim that God can use us even prior to our repentance.
* It is as the great artist Leonardo da Vinci once put it: "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."
* It doesn't matter if you are willing to do it, have the right motives. When it comes to the work of God, "Just do it" (by God's grace)! It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
* Christians have this future orientation. Tony Campolo has it right: "Your past is important, but it is not nearly as important to your present as the way you see your future."
* Conclude by noting that our nation needs this future-oriented perspective. What Martin Luther King Jr. said is still correct today: We are confronted with the fierce urgency of the new. Ask how we can avoid confronting the patterns of middle-class squeeze, wars, and growing poverty since the Reagan years. (For statistics, see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel Lesson, Advent 3.) If we take our bearings from today's future-oriented Word of Jesus, like Dr. King advocated in his famous 1963 speech in Washington, we have resources. We were told in that speech how the dream (the vision of the kingdom of God) promised equality and justice (A Testament of Hope, pp. 219-220). Five years later he included ending war and overcoming poverty in that dream (calling it a revolution) (Ibid., pp. 273-274). Ask the congregation if we can afford to wait another minute to change all these social and political abuses. Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God has come near.
7. Wrap-Up
Review the story of Harvey and Mary. Ask if some in the congregation may not have these feelings from time to time. We dare not wait, or their destiny could be ours (or at least a life of boredom and progressive discontent until the grave). Jesus has a new and better way. Respond. Our nation cannot continue indefinitely with all the poverty, ethnic, sexual, and international tensions. Announce again: It's urgent! The kingdom of God is at hand but then proclaim good news: We do not have to worry about whether we have the strength alone to take the urgent risk. Review again the first bullet point concerning Calvin in Theological Insights. Repentance depends on the gospel (on the promise of the kingdom of God). It may be urgent, but God will do the heavy lifting for us. Say it again: "Don't put it off 'til tomorrow. It's urgent. The kingdom of God is on the horizon!"
