Lent 2
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
Remembering the spiritual roots of grace.
Collect of the Day
After remembering the way God used Jesus' shameful death to give life, petitions are offered that we may so glory in the Cross as to suffer shame and loss for Christ's sake gladly. A prayer petitioning that the faithful might live the Christian life (Sanctification) as cross-bearers.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 22:23-31
* A lament prayer for deliverance from mortal illness, attributed to David.
* We focus on the part of the Psalm in which the Psalmist vows on recovery to offer a formal thanksgiving in the Temple.
* God is praised for caring for the poor (v. 26). There is a prophecy that all ethnic groups will worship Him and that future generations will serve Him.
Sermon Text and Title
"Remembering God's Nurturing Grace"
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To portray Justification by Grace through Faith in a fresh way, as God's nurturing, and to help the flock see this Word in the Old Testament, appreciating how faith is enhanced by seeing God's love throughout time.
2. Exegesis (see Baptism of Our Lord)
* The everlasting covenant with Abraham and his offspring, as narrated by P. (See ch. 15 for the earlier account of this covenant by J and E.)
* God is known as El Shaddai (v. 1), the One of the mountains that was the divine name current in the pre-Mosaic period (Exodus 6:2-3).
* The covenant with Abram will make him an ancestor of many nations (vv. 2, 6-7). God selects Abram for no particular reason. He is to be blameless, but all he does is do homage before God (vv. 1, 3).
* Abraham's new name means ancestor (v. 5). His wife, it is promised, will have a son, giving rise to great nations and peoples (v. 16). Her name is changed from Sarai to Sarah (meaning "princess") (v. 15).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A text on reporting God's covenant with Abraham, which because it was unmerited testifies to Justification by Grace throughout the whole breadth of biblical (and human) history.
* Regarding the promises of offspring and the nations that would spring from him, Martin Luther wrote:
But sacred scripture points out very clearly that eternal and spiritual blessings are included in the material blessings. For we are not created like oxen and asses; we are created for eternity… Moreover, the material promises are like nuts and apples with which we attract children to ourselves. Thus we are led and attracted to the love of eternal things, and the hope of immortality is nourished, so to speak, by the material promises.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 3, p. 149)
* Luther also suggests that Shaddai in God's Name relates to the Hebrew term for breast (Shad). Thus as El Shaddai, God's Name entails that God has breasts to support and sustain the Hebrews (Ibid., pp. 82-83).
* John Calvin claims that God Almighty's directive to Abram to walk before Him and be blameless (v. 1) reminds us "that there is no other method of living piously and justly, than that of depending on God" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. I/1, p. 444): "Whence the gratuitous kindness of God shines the more clearly, because, although men impede the cause of it by obstacles of their own, it nevertheless comes to them" (Ibid., p. 459).
* In the same spirit implying the importance of grace in this text, Luther wrote: "Hence the philosophers, too, conclude that before doing any good work the person must be good and reason must be right before anything is properly done" (Luther's Works, Vol. 3, p. 85).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* The covenant with Abraham is a belief shared by three great religions -- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Could the common ancestry held by these faiths in Abraham be a sign of our oneness across religious differences? Note the meaning of the name "Abraham" in verse 5.
5. Gimmick
The story of God's covenant with Abraham. What does it have to do with us twenty-first-century Christians? (Pause to let point sink in.) The story of this covenant teaches us a lot about grace and why it matters in everyday life. It also calls us to remember God's goodness.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* John Calvin makes an important observation about this story and what it has to do with us. The story, he claims, teaches us that the only way to be blameless before God is to depend totally on Him. That happened when Abraham fell on his knees before God (v. 3). See the bullet point pertaining to Calvin in Theological Insights.
* We often fail to think of grace in the Old Testament. But there is no reference here to Abraham being worthy before God due to his keeping the Law of God. No, the covenant with him was established long before there was a Moses to get the Ten Commandments. It is even promised to Abraham before God gets around to the expectation that Abraham's people be circumcised (vv. 2, 9ff). And also keep in mind that the term grace [chen] appears in the Old Testament (6:8; 19:19). It literally means "favor." It fits. God showed favor to Abraham above others for no particular reason, save perhaps his faith. The Old Testament testifies to grace at this point.
* The parallels between the Testaments are even more profound when we note that the Greek word in the New Testament for grace [charis] also translates as "favor." To talk about God's grace is just a way of saying that God favors us.
* God has favored His people since before there was a Jewish people. And God promises Abraham in our lesson that he will be the ancestor of many nations (v. 5b). That is the significance of the changing of his name from Abram to Abraham (v. 5a). It seems that Abraham is not just the ancestor of the Jews. He is the ancestor of all who are faithful to God (like us).
* What is gained for faith by appreciating the ancient roots of God's grace? Is this just mere history? Memories like these, appreciating the deep roots of God's favor and love deepens and strengthens faith. The narration of the old TV show The Wonder Years had it right: "Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." Or as William Faulkner once wrote: "The past is never dead, it is not even past."
* Memories make you feel good. They keep loved ones, happy days, alive. So we are strengthened in who we are as people of faith, when we remember. When we see God show unmerited favor to the ancestors, to those who believed God long before we were conceived of, it gets a little easier to believe that God shows unmerited favor to us today.
* Our lesson today provides at least one more compelling insight regarding God's name in this text. Martin Luther nicely pinpointed it. See the third bullet point in Theological Insights. As El Shaddai, God's Name implies that God has breasts to support and sustain the faithful!
* Our story is all about the nurturing care of God for us and all the faithful. Indeed, God's care for us, God's grace, is a lot like a mother's love for a child. Mothers certainly show favor to their children. And in good parent-child relations there are plenty of good memories, acts of memory that make the love and nurturing received even better.
That's how it is when like today we remember the spiritual roots of God's nurturing grace. Revel today (and more importantly during the week) in God's nurturing grace and love.
7. Wrap-Up
One closing strategy might be to cite the data in the Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights section of the Second Lesson. Then one could note that we need the nurturing of a mother, why we need God's grace. That just as a mother loves her child without that child needing to earn it, neither do we with God. Another possibility would simply be to note that a mother's nurturing love is sweet. But in God's grace we have a love far greater than that. For the Lord, the king of universe, gently lifts us out our doldrums and insecurities and gently puts us in His lap (Luther's Works, Vol. 3, p. 139). That is a love well worth dreaming about and remembering. Wish the congregation that a lot of good memories be made this week.
Sermon Text and Title
"Salvation Through Faith and Why We Need It"
Romans 4:13-25
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Justification by Faith as a Word that brings bold confidence in face of depression and lack of such confidence.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Paul's discourse on the true descendents of Abraham. He begins by noting that the promise made to Abraham and his descendents is not made through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith (v. 13). Reference to Abraham inheriting the world is a Jewish interpretation of Genesis 12:6 (see Sirach 44:19-21).
* The law brings wrath; it renders faith and the promise null and void (vv. 15, 14).
* The promise to Abraham and his people must depend on faith in order that grace is guaranteed (v. 16). Abraham is seen as a model here, hoping against hope (vv. 17-18). Reference is made to Genesis 17:5 and Abraham's status as the father of many nations.
* Abraham's faith was reckoned righteous, as will be the case for those who believe God who raised Jesus (vv. 22-25; cf. Genesis 15:6).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Teaches Forensic Justification (v. 22) and freedom from the Law (v. 13).
* Interpreting the Law's role in working wrath (v. 15), Martin Luther writes:
Thus the Law works wrath, that is, when it is not fulfilled, it shows the wrath of God to those who have failed to provide for its fulfillment.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 279)
For the Law, as long as it is without faith which fulfills it, makes all people sinners and establishes the fact they are guilty and thus unworthy of the promise, indeed worthy of wrath and desolation, and in consequence it turns the promise into a threat.
(Ibid., p. 281)
* John Calvin nicely describes how the Law leads to sin: "For such is the viciousness of our nature, that the more we are taught what is right and just, the more openly is our iniquity discovered…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, p. 171).
* He nicely summarizes the faithful's total dependence on grace:
… when we are called by the Lord we emerge from nothing; for whatever we seem to be we have not, no not a spark of anything good, which can render us fit for the kingdom of God that we may indeed on the other hand be in a suitable state to hear the call of God, we must be altogether dead in ourselves.
(Ibid., p. 175)
* He proceeds to add: "And this connection of faith with the Word ought be well understood and carefully remembered; for faith can bring us nothing more than what it receives from the Word" (Ibid., p. 182).
* Luther proceeds to describe faith (what it does and why we need it):
Faith is a divine work in us which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1[:12-13]… O, it is a living busy, active mighty thing this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly… This knowledge of and confidence in God's grace [that faith provides] makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and with all creatures. And this is the work which the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything out of love and praise to God who has shown him this grace.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 35, pp. 370-371)
* Luther deemed a Satisfaction Theory taught in this lesson (v. 25):
The death of Christ is the death of sin, and His resurrection is the life of righteousness, because through His death He has made satisfaction for sin, and through His resurrection He has brought us righteousness.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 284)
* Speaking of what God has done, Calvin writes: "The chief thing was indeed the restoration of life; it was necessary that the fallen state of the whole world should be repaired" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, p. 168).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A Gallup poll conducted over a decade ago indicated that nearly 1 in 3 Americans suffer from low self-esteem.
* CBS News reported in 2008 that 5% of Americans suffer depression.
5. Gimmick
Are you down in the dumps? Wonder about where your life is headed? Feeling depressed? You have a lot of friends. Cite data above in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Perhaps you are not paralyzed with such depression or low self-esteem. But all of us can use a boost once in a while, some extra confidence.
* Paul has a word for us today that gives hope. He gets us back to the spiritual roots of grace and salvation through faith. He talks about what we heard in today's First Lesson, tells us about Abraham and how he and his true descendants received God's promise, not by what they did but by grace through faith (vv. 13-14).
* Paul proceeds to talk about how works of the law, how trying to prove your worth gets you nowhere, and for that reason it depends on faith, for the promise God has for us rests on grace (vv. 15-16).
* In fact all the depression, the lack of self-esteem, our own doubts boil down to efforts to prove ourselves, to show by what we do (own, buy, or look like) that we are valuable. We let others define us, like in the old rock song: "You're no good, you're no good, you're no good, Baby, you're no good." Or we sing to ourselves silently the lyrics of a mid-1990s disk of Beck: "So from head to toe, I'm a loser, baby. So why don't you kill me?"
* Paul and our Lord whose Word of comfort the apostle here proclaims seem to understand our despair -- how difficult it is to believe we are valuable in God's sight. He talks about hoping against hope, just like Abraham believed he would be the father of many nations despite being childless in old age (vv. 18-19).
* Faith as hoping against hope, hoping that I am good and valuable even though I feel like a nobody. Martin Luther has a beautiful, comforting elaboration on this point. He spoke of the boldness of faith, a boldness that is only possible because faith is a gift. Elaborate on the second quote by Luther in Theological Insights, also noting how faith (this work of God's grace) makes us bold.
* For Luther, faith is out of our hands. That is why we can be so bold and courageous. It is why we can now readily and joyfully believe that though we may feel like a "nobody," we are really somebody.
* John Calvin made a similar point. In faith, he said, we emerge from nothing. Nobodies become somebodies. That is why Justification through Faith matters.
* It is interesting to note how Paul describes the dynamics of this becoming somebody through faith. He teaches that in faith we are reckoned righteous. The resurrection of Jesus leads us to be reckoned righteous (vv. 22, 24). God counts us as righteous, declares us righteous and good despite how we feel. That is how God makes somebody who feels he is nobody into somebody.
* Martin Luther had it right. We can be certain, he said, because we are snatched outside ourselves, so we don't need to depend on ourselves, our strength, conscience, experience, person, or works, and can depend on God, on the righteousness He gives us, which is a lot more certain than we could ever be in ourselves (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 387). Faith makes nobodies into somebodies.
7. Wrap-Up
Conclude after a pause. Why do we need salvation through faith, not by works? Have the congregation consider their insecurities, uncertainties. Close by thanking God for giving us the gift of forgiveness and salvation, giving us the courage we need to believe that we really are somebody. The Lent and Easter message is that we are that valuable.
Sermon Text and Title
"Remember the Cross: God's Way, Not Our Way!"
Mark 8:31-38
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim a word of condemnation against our sinful desire to have God do things our way, to help people understand what bearing a cross involves (Sanctification), and the assurance God gives in our journey (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Following Peter's confession of Him as messiah (v. 29), Jesus teaches that the Son of Man must suffer (v. 31). The title functions here to refer to Jesus' Passion.
* Peter rebukes Jesus for this teaching (v. 32) and was in turn sternly rebuked for setting his mind on human things (v. 33).
* Jesus continues with a discourse on discipleship, calling followers to take up their cross and follow Him (v. 34). We save our lives by losing them (v. 35).
* Those ashamed of Jesus and His words in this adulterous, sinful generation will find the Son of Man (understood as referring to Jesus' role in judgment) ashamed of them when He comes in His glory (v. 38).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A story of human sin (rebelling against the hidden ways of God) and Sanctification (Christian life as bearing one's cross).
* Regarding Peter's rash rebuke of Jesus (v. 32), John Calvin has written (regarding the Matthean equivalent [16:22]):
Still, it was highly presumptuous in Peter to advise our Lord to spare Himself, as if He had been deficient in prudence or self-command. But so completely are men hurried on and driven headlong by inconsiderate zeal, that they do not hesitate to pass judgment on God Himself, according to their own fancy.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/2, p. 301)
So deeply is pride rooted in the hearts of men, that they think wrong is done them, and complain, if God does not comply with every thing that they consider to be right.
(Ibid.)
* John Wesley nicely describes what is entailed in taking up the Cross: "And every one that would follow Christ, that would be His real disciple, must not only deny himself, but take up His cross also. A cross is anything contrary to our will, anything displeasing to our nature" (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 108).
* Augustine reminds us that Jesus' directive to take up the cross and follow Him is not hard or grievous, because He aids us (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6, p. 408). Further elaborating on the meaning of this directive, Augustine adds: "The world is loved; but let Him be preferred by whom the world was made. Great is the world; but sweeter is He by whom the world was made" (Ibid., p. 410).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Cross-bearing does not seem very popular in America these days. It goes against the grain of our desire for instant gratification. Witness the success of prosperity gospel preaching and the growth of congregations inspired by this ideology.
* Neurobiologists note that concentration on activities activating the frontal lobe of our brains, activities that get us away from acting on our immediate impulses (as presumably happens when we practice some self-denial in bearing crosses), leads to a consistent morality and is pleasurable as more dopamine is released in the brain (Andrew Newberg, Why We Believe What We Believe, pp. 187-188).
* Regarding adultery, Cosmopolitan magazine reports that 54% of married women had had at least one affair. The Jarvis Report on sexual behavior in America set the figure at 33% for married men. MSNBC had the figure of 21%.
5. Gimmick
Set the scene for the lesson. Note that sometime between 26 and 32 AD (depending on the actual date of Jesus' birth) Jesus and His weather-beaten band of disciples had arrived at the little country town of Caesarea Philippi (in the extreme north of Israel). They needed time alone. And while walking, a history-making event transpired. Peter became the first human being to confess that Jesus was the messiah (vv. 27-29). The story goes on in our Gospel Lesson today to teach us some important questions about life and our relation to God.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* The popular Jewish image of the Messiah in Jesus' lifetime was that the messiah, when he came, would be a great army general who would lead the Jews into war against the Roman army and win back Israel's freedom. The Anointed One (Messiah) would be a mighty man of war, one who would never be defeated by the powers of death.
* But Jesus began to say some things that seemed to embarrass Peter and his courageous confession. He prophesied that He would have to suffer and die (v. 31). This is not what was to happen to the Messiah. Miffed, Peter rebuked Him (v. 32). Jesus responded telling Peter to get behind Him, for his mind was on human, not divine things (v. 33).
* Jesus next proceeded with more controversial teachings (which were an elaboration of his rebuke of Peter). He told His disciples that if anyone would become his follower they should deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, for whoever wants to save their life will lose it in this adulterous and sinful generation (vv. 34-37). Take up your cross.
* Begin to tell the story of Pastor Jones going to the hospital for his parishioner Bob Smith, dying of cancer. The pastor himself was struggling with why this fine middle-aged family man was dying. His wife asked the question that day in the hospital, "Why?"
* It does not have to be illness that leads to such questions. It can be loss of a job, family problems, problems with kids, faith crises, social embarrassments. When these problems emerge we ask God why. In a sense this was at the root of Peter's challenge to Jesus regarding His claim that he would suffer. Peter in this story represents us!
* Like us, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah. We do that too. But like us, Peter had a definite idea of what Jesus and God should be like, and when Jesus didn't measure up he got angry. We get angry under circumstances where God is not giving us what we want. Consider the Calvin quotes in Theological Insights.
* This is an American hang-up. We think we deserve good from God if we hold up our end of the bargain. Why else is the prosperity gospel so big in America today? Americans want and expect a God who gives us what we want.
* Like Peter, we pay more attention to our precious little ideas than we do to the Word of God. We don't really listen, and so we don't really get corrected. Listen to what Jesus promises in our lesson. Start with what he does not promise: He does not promise job security, good health, A's on a report card, athletic ability, good looks, fame, and popularity (or even acne-free skin). He promises something better: Salvation! The love of God. He promises a joy and peace that stands even when the whole world is collapsing around us.
* Next Jesus promises one more thing that is not too attractive at first glance: He promises a cross. Quote verse 34. Life is saved by losing it (v. 35). Jesus knows this will be tough to swallow in His sinful and adulterous generation (v. 38). He's sure right about us today, as we whore from one favorite latest gadget to another in our rush to accumulate goods or to our latest lover (even if we are married). (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights and the same section for the Gospel, Christmas and for the Second Lesson, Epiphany 3, for other results on adultery and statistics on our whoring after goods.)
* This is like the cross we found to be laid on Bob Smith and his family, like the ones we have borne. We need to clarify the nature of this cross. It is not the same as the one Jesus bore. Only he went to the Cross for our sins. But as long as there is sin in the world, Christians will encounter evils and disappointments that try to rob them of faith. Our crosses are opportunities to cling all the more to Jesus, to depend on God's love to get us through. Note Augustine's point in Theological Insights about how it is not hard or grievous to bear our crosses, because God is there to get us through.
* Crosses in life make us all the more dependent on God's love. It is like the seventeenth-century Scottish clergyman Samuel Rutherford once put it: "How soon would faith freeze without a cross." (One could suggest that prosperity gospel admirers have a frozen faith, certainly not one uncompromisingly dependent on the love of God [since theirs is more a faith that uses God as a meal-ticket].)
* In a hidden, surprising way something good comes out of bearing those crosses in life. Sick and suffering people are often led back to God. And when you go through those things, the things of the world begin not to matter so much to you. Augustine had it right. Use his quote at the end of Theological Insights. Bearing the cross does not make you otherworldly. Note that we can continue to marvel at the things of the world. It is just a matter of getting your priorities right. And since you are going to have to say good-bye someday to the things of this world, dying to them now, putting them in second place to God, is good preparation for the kingdom.
7. Wrap-Up
Ask about the peace and joy that bearing the cross is supposed to give you. Note the data related to neurobiology in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. In forgetting ourselves, doing God's thing and not the world's thing, we are blessed with an overflow of brain chemicals that leads to happiness and makes us more prone to being moral. Jesus had it right: Those who lose their life for His sake (in bearing crosses) save it. Crosses are good for faith -- by God's grace they even bring joy.
Remembering the spiritual roots of grace.
Collect of the Day
After remembering the way God used Jesus' shameful death to give life, petitions are offered that we may so glory in the Cross as to suffer shame and loss for Christ's sake gladly. A prayer petitioning that the faithful might live the Christian life (Sanctification) as cross-bearers.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 22:23-31
* A lament prayer for deliverance from mortal illness, attributed to David.
* We focus on the part of the Psalm in which the Psalmist vows on recovery to offer a formal thanksgiving in the Temple.
* God is praised for caring for the poor (v. 26). There is a prophecy that all ethnic groups will worship Him and that future generations will serve Him.
Sermon Text and Title
"Remembering God's Nurturing Grace"
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To portray Justification by Grace through Faith in a fresh way, as God's nurturing, and to help the flock see this Word in the Old Testament, appreciating how faith is enhanced by seeing God's love throughout time.
2. Exegesis (see Baptism of Our Lord)
* The everlasting covenant with Abraham and his offspring, as narrated by P. (See ch. 15 for the earlier account of this covenant by J and E.)
* God is known as El Shaddai (v. 1), the One of the mountains that was the divine name current in the pre-Mosaic period (Exodus 6:2-3).
* The covenant with Abram will make him an ancestor of many nations (vv. 2, 6-7). God selects Abram for no particular reason. He is to be blameless, but all he does is do homage before God (vv. 1, 3).
* Abraham's new name means ancestor (v. 5). His wife, it is promised, will have a son, giving rise to great nations and peoples (v. 16). Her name is changed from Sarai to Sarah (meaning "princess") (v. 15).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A text on reporting God's covenant with Abraham, which because it was unmerited testifies to Justification by Grace throughout the whole breadth of biblical (and human) history.
* Regarding the promises of offspring and the nations that would spring from him, Martin Luther wrote:
But sacred scripture points out very clearly that eternal and spiritual blessings are included in the material blessings. For we are not created like oxen and asses; we are created for eternity… Moreover, the material promises are like nuts and apples with which we attract children to ourselves. Thus we are led and attracted to the love of eternal things, and the hope of immortality is nourished, so to speak, by the material promises.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 3, p. 149)
* Luther also suggests that Shaddai in God's Name relates to the Hebrew term for breast (Shad). Thus as El Shaddai, God's Name entails that God has breasts to support and sustain the Hebrews (Ibid., pp. 82-83).
* John Calvin claims that God Almighty's directive to Abram to walk before Him and be blameless (v. 1) reminds us "that there is no other method of living piously and justly, than that of depending on God" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. I/1, p. 444): "Whence the gratuitous kindness of God shines the more clearly, because, although men impede the cause of it by obstacles of their own, it nevertheless comes to them" (Ibid., p. 459).
* In the same spirit implying the importance of grace in this text, Luther wrote: "Hence the philosophers, too, conclude that before doing any good work the person must be good and reason must be right before anything is properly done" (Luther's Works, Vol. 3, p. 85).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* The covenant with Abraham is a belief shared by three great religions -- Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Could the common ancestry held by these faiths in Abraham be a sign of our oneness across religious differences? Note the meaning of the name "Abraham" in verse 5.
5. Gimmick
The story of God's covenant with Abraham. What does it have to do with us twenty-first-century Christians? (Pause to let point sink in.) The story of this covenant teaches us a lot about grace and why it matters in everyday life. It also calls us to remember God's goodness.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* John Calvin makes an important observation about this story and what it has to do with us. The story, he claims, teaches us that the only way to be blameless before God is to depend totally on Him. That happened when Abraham fell on his knees before God (v. 3). See the bullet point pertaining to Calvin in Theological Insights.
* We often fail to think of grace in the Old Testament. But there is no reference here to Abraham being worthy before God due to his keeping the Law of God. No, the covenant with him was established long before there was a Moses to get the Ten Commandments. It is even promised to Abraham before God gets around to the expectation that Abraham's people be circumcised (vv. 2, 9ff). And also keep in mind that the term grace [chen] appears in the Old Testament (6:8; 19:19). It literally means "favor." It fits. God showed favor to Abraham above others for no particular reason, save perhaps his faith. The Old Testament testifies to grace at this point.
* The parallels between the Testaments are even more profound when we note that the Greek word in the New Testament for grace [charis] also translates as "favor." To talk about God's grace is just a way of saying that God favors us.
* God has favored His people since before there was a Jewish people. And God promises Abraham in our lesson that he will be the ancestor of many nations (v. 5b). That is the significance of the changing of his name from Abram to Abraham (v. 5a). It seems that Abraham is not just the ancestor of the Jews. He is the ancestor of all who are faithful to God (like us).
* What is gained for faith by appreciating the ancient roots of God's grace? Is this just mere history? Memories like these, appreciating the deep roots of God's favor and love deepens and strengthens faith. The narration of the old TV show The Wonder Years had it right: "Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." Or as William Faulkner once wrote: "The past is never dead, it is not even past."
* Memories make you feel good. They keep loved ones, happy days, alive. So we are strengthened in who we are as people of faith, when we remember. When we see God show unmerited favor to the ancestors, to those who believed God long before we were conceived of, it gets a little easier to believe that God shows unmerited favor to us today.
* Our lesson today provides at least one more compelling insight regarding God's name in this text. Martin Luther nicely pinpointed it. See the third bullet point in Theological Insights. As El Shaddai, God's Name implies that God has breasts to support and sustain the faithful!
* Our story is all about the nurturing care of God for us and all the faithful. Indeed, God's care for us, God's grace, is a lot like a mother's love for a child. Mothers certainly show favor to their children. And in good parent-child relations there are plenty of good memories, acts of memory that make the love and nurturing received even better.
That's how it is when like today we remember the spiritual roots of God's nurturing grace. Revel today (and more importantly during the week) in God's nurturing grace and love.
7. Wrap-Up
One closing strategy might be to cite the data in the Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights section of the Second Lesson. Then one could note that we need the nurturing of a mother, why we need God's grace. That just as a mother loves her child without that child needing to earn it, neither do we with God. Another possibility would simply be to note that a mother's nurturing love is sweet. But in God's grace we have a love far greater than that. For the Lord, the king of universe, gently lifts us out our doldrums and insecurities and gently puts us in His lap (Luther's Works, Vol. 3, p. 139). That is a love well worth dreaming about and remembering. Wish the congregation that a lot of good memories be made this week.
Sermon Text and Title
"Salvation Through Faith and Why We Need It"
Romans 4:13-25
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Justification by Faith as a Word that brings bold confidence in face of depression and lack of such confidence.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Paul's discourse on the true descendents of Abraham. He begins by noting that the promise made to Abraham and his descendents is not made through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith (v. 13). Reference to Abraham inheriting the world is a Jewish interpretation of Genesis 12:6 (see Sirach 44:19-21).
* The law brings wrath; it renders faith and the promise null and void (vv. 15, 14).
* The promise to Abraham and his people must depend on faith in order that grace is guaranteed (v. 16). Abraham is seen as a model here, hoping against hope (vv. 17-18). Reference is made to Genesis 17:5 and Abraham's status as the father of many nations.
* Abraham's faith was reckoned righteous, as will be the case for those who believe God who raised Jesus (vv. 22-25; cf. Genesis 15:6).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Teaches Forensic Justification (v. 22) and freedom from the Law (v. 13).
* Interpreting the Law's role in working wrath (v. 15), Martin Luther writes:
Thus the Law works wrath, that is, when it is not fulfilled, it shows the wrath of God to those who have failed to provide for its fulfillment.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 279)
For the Law, as long as it is without faith which fulfills it, makes all people sinners and establishes the fact they are guilty and thus unworthy of the promise, indeed worthy of wrath and desolation, and in consequence it turns the promise into a threat.
(Ibid., p. 281)
* John Calvin nicely describes how the Law leads to sin: "For such is the viciousness of our nature, that the more we are taught what is right and just, the more openly is our iniquity discovered…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, p. 171).
* He nicely summarizes the faithful's total dependence on grace:
… when we are called by the Lord we emerge from nothing; for whatever we seem to be we have not, no not a spark of anything good, which can render us fit for the kingdom of God that we may indeed on the other hand be in a suitable state to hear the call of God, we must be altogether dead in ourselves.
(Ibid., p. 175)
* He proceeds to add: "And this connection of faith with the Word ought be well understood and carefully remembered; for faith can bring us nothing more than what it receives from the Word" (Ibid., p. 182).
* Luther proceeds to describe faith (what it does and why we need it):
Faith is a divine work in us which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1[:12-13]… O, it is a living busy, active mighty thing this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly… This knowledge of and confidence in God's grace [that faith provides] makes men glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and with all creatures. And this is the work which the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer everything out of love and praise to God who has shown him this grace.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 35, pp. 370-371)
* Luther deemed a Satisfaction Theory taught in this lesson (v. 25):
The death of Christ is the death of sin, and His resurrection is the life of righteousness, because through His death He has made satisfaction for sin, and through His resurrection He has brought us righteousness.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 284)
* Speaking of what God has done, Calvin writes: "The chief thing was indeed the restoration of life; it was necessary that the fallen state of the whole world should be repaired" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, p. 168).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A Gallup poll conducted over a decade ago indicated that nearly 1 in 3 Americans suffer from low self-esteem.
* CBS News reported in 2008 that 5% of Americans suffer depression.
5. Gimmick
Are you down in the dumps? Wonder about where your life is headed? Feeling depressed? You have a lot of friends. Cite data above in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Perhaps you are not paralyzed with such depression or low self-esteem. But all of us can use a boost once in a while, some extra confidence.
* Paul has a word for us today that gives hope. He gets us back to the spiritual roots of grace and salvation through faith. He talks about what we heard in today's First Lesson, tells us about Abraham and how he and his true descendants received God's promise, not by what they did but by grace through faith (vv. 13-14).
* Paul proceeds to talk about how works of the law, how trying to prove your worth gets you nowhere, and for that reason it depends on faith, for the promise God has for us rests on grace (vv. 15-16).
* In fact all the depression, the lack of self-esteem, our own doubts boil down to efforts to prove ourselves, to show by what we do (own, buy, or look like) that we are valuable. We let others define us, like in the old rock song: "You're no good, you're no good, you're no good, Baby, you're no good." Or we sing to ourselves silently the lyrics of a mid-1990s disk of Beck: "So from head to toe, I'm a loser, baby. So why don't you kill me?"
* Paul and our Lord whose Word of comfort the apostle here proclaims seem to understand our despair -- how difficult it is to believe we are valuable in God's sight. He talks about hoping against hope, just like Abraham believed he would be the father of many nations despite being childless in old age (vv. 18-19).
* Faith as hoping against hope, hoping that I am good and valuable even though I feel like a nobody. Martin Luther has a beautiful, comforting elaboration on this point. He spoke of the boldness of faith, a boldness that is only possible because faith is a gift. Elaborate on the second quote by Luther in Theological Insights, also noting how faith (this work of God's grace) makes us bold.
* For Luther, faith is out of our hands. That is why we can be so bold and courageous. It is why we can now readily and joyfully believe that though we may feel like a "nobody," we are really somebody.
* John Calvin made a similar point. In faith, he said, we emerge from nothing. Nobodies become somebodies. That is why Justification through Faith matters.
* It is interesting to note how Paul describes the dynamics of this becoming somebody through faith. He teaches that in faith we are reckoned righteous. The resurrection of Jesus leads us to be reckoned righteous (vv. 22, 24). God counts us as righteous, declares us righteous and good despite how we feel. That is how God makes somebody who feels he is nobody into somebody.
* Martin Luther had it right. We can be certain, he said, because we are snatched outside ourselves, so we don't need to depend on ourselves, our strength, conscience, experience, person, or works, and can depend on God, on the righteousness He gives us, which is a lot more certain than we could ever be in ourselves (Luther's Works, Vol. 26, p. 387). Faith makes nobodies into somebodies.
7. Wrap-Up
Conclude after a pause. Why do we need salvation through faith, not by works? Have the congregation consider their insecurities, uncertainties. Close by thanking God for giving us the gift of forgiveness and salvation, giving us the courage we need to believe that we really are somebody. The Lent and Easter message is that we are that valuable.
Sermon Text and Title
"Remember the Cross: God's Way, Not Our Way!"
Mark 8:31-38
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim a word of condemnation against our sinful desire to have God do things our way, to help people understand what bearing a cross involves (Sanctification), and the assurance God gives in our journey (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Following Peter's confession of Him as messiah (v. 29), Jesus teaches that the Son of Man must suffer (v. 31). The title functions here to refer to Jesus' Passion.
* Peter rebukes Jesus for this teaching (v. 32) and was in turn sternly rebuked for setting his mind on human things (v. 33).
* Jesus continues with a discourse on discipleship, calling followers to take up their cross and follow Him (v. 34). We save our lives by losing them (v. 35).
* Those ashamed of Jesus and His words in this adulterous, sinful generation will find the Son of Man (understood as referring to Jesus' role in judgment) ashamed of them when He comes in His glory (v. 38).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A story of human sin (rebelling against the hidden ways of God) and Sanctification (Christian life as bearing one's cross).
* Regarding Peter's rash rebuke of Jesus (v. 32), John Calvin has written (regarding the Matthean equivalent [16:22]):
Still, it was highly presumptuous in Peter to advise our Lord to spare Himself, as if He had been deficient in prudence or self-command. But so completely are men hurried on and driven headlong by inconsiderate zeal, that they do not hesitate to pass judgment on God Himself, according to their own fancy.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/2, p. 301)
So deeply is pride rooted in the hearts of men, that they think wrong is done them, and complain, if God does not comply with every thing that they consider to be right.
(Ibid.)
* John Wesley nicely describes what is entailed in taking up the Cross: "And every one that would follow Christ, that would be His real disciple, must not only deny himself, but take up His cross also. A cross is anything contrary to our will, anything displeasing to our nature" (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 108).
* Augustine reminds us that Jesus' directive to take up the cross and follow Him is not hard or grievous, because He aids us (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6, p. 408). Further elaborating on the meaning of this directive, Augustine adds: "The world is loved; but let Him be preferred by whom the world was made. Great is the world; but sweeter is He by whom the world was made" (Ibid., p. 410).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Cross-bearing does not seem very popular in America these days. It goes against the grain of our desire for instant gratification. Witness the success of prosperity gospel preaching and the growth of congregations inspired by this ideology.
* Neurobiologists note that concentration on activities activating the frontal lobe of our brains, activities that get us away from acting on our immediate impulses (as presumably happens when we practice some self-denial in bearing crosses), leads to a consistent morality and is pleasurable as more dopamine is released in the brain (Andrew Newberg, Why We Believe What We Believe, pp. 187-188).
* Regarding adultery, Cosmopolitan magazine reports that 54% of married women had had at least one affair. The Jarvis Report on sexual behavior in America set the figure at 33% for married men. MSNBC had the figure of 21%.
5. Gimmick
Set the scene for the lesson. Note that sometime between 26 and 32 AD (depending on the actual date of Jesus' birth) Jesus and His weather-beaten band of disciples had arrived at the little country town of Caesarea Philippi (in the extreme north of Israel). They needed time alone. And while walking, a history-making event transpired. Peter became the first human being to confess that Jesus was the messiah (vv. 27-29). The story goes on in our Gospel Lesson today to teach us some important questions about life and our relation to God.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* The popular Jewish image of the Messiah in Jesus' lifetime was that the messiah, when he came, would be a great army general who would lead the Jews into war against the Roman army and win back Israel's freedom. The Anointed One (Messiah) would be a mighty man of war, one who would never be defeated by the powers of death.
* But Jesus began to say some things that seemed to embarrass Peter and his courageous confession. He prophesied that He would have to suffer and die (v. 31). This is not what was to happen to the Messiah. Miffed, Peter rebuked Him (v. 32). Jesus responded telling Peter to get behind Him, for his mind was on human, not divine things (v. 33).
* Jesus next proceeded with more controversial teachings (which were an elaboration of his rebuke of Peter). He told His disciples that if anyone would become his follower they should deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, for whoever wants to save their life will lose it in this adulterous and sinful generation (vv. 34-37). Take up your cross.
* Begin to tell the story of Pastor Jones going to the hospital for his parishioner Bob Smith, dying of cancer. The pastor himself was struggling with why this fine middle-aged family man was dying. His wife asked the question that day in the hospital, "Why?"
* It does not have to be illness that leads to such questions. It can be loss of a job, family problems, problems with kids, faith crises, social embarrassments. When these problems emerge we ask God why. In a sense this was at the root of Peter's challenge to Jesus regarding His claim that he would suffer. Peter in this story represents us!
* Like us, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah. We do that too. But like us, Peter had a definite idea of what Jesus and God should be like, and when Jesus didn't measure up he got angry. We get angry under circumstances where God is not giving us what we want. Consider the Calvin quotes in Theological Insights.
* This is an American hang-up. We think we deserve good from God if we hold up our end of the bargain. Why else is the prosperity gospel so big in America today? Americans want and expect a God who gives us what we want.
* Like Peter, we pay more attention to our precious little ideas than we do to the Word of God. We don't really listen, and so we don't really get corrected. Listen to what Jesus promises in our lesson. Start with what he does not promise: He does not promise job security, good health, A's on a report card, athletic ability, good looks, fame, and popularity (or even acne-free skin). He promises something better: Salvation! The love of God. He promises a joy and peace that stands even when the whole world is collapsing around us.
* Next Jesus promises one more thing that is not too attractive at first glance: He promises a cross. Quote verse 34. Life is saved by losing it (v. 35). Jesus knows this will be tough to swallow in His sinful and adulterous generation (v. 38). He's sure right about us today, as we whore from one favorite latest gadget to another in our rush to accumulate goods or to our latest lover (even if we are married). (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights and the same section for the Gospel, Christmas and for the Second Lesson, Epiphany 3, for other results on adultery and statistics on our whoring after goods.)
* This is like the cross we found to be laid on Bob Smith and his family, like the ones we have borne. We need to clarify the nature of this cross. It is not the same as the one Jesus bore. Only he went to the Cross for our sins. But as long as there is sin in the world, Christians will encounter evils and disappointments that try to rob them of faith. Our crosses are opportunities to cling all the more to Jesus, to depend on God's love to get us through. Note Augustine's point in Theological Insights about how it is not hard or grievous to bear our crosses, because God is there to get us through.
* Crosses in life make us all the more dependent on God's love. It is like the seventeenth-century Scottish clergyman Samuel Rutherford once put it: "How soon would faith freeze without a cross." (One could suggest that prosperity gospel admirers have a frozen faith, certainly not one uncompromisingly dependent on the love of God [since theirs is more a faith that uses God as a meal-ticket].)
* In a hidden, surprising way something good comes out of bearing those crosses in life. Sick and suffering people are often led back to God. And when you go through those things, the things of the world begin not to matter so much to you. Augustine had it right. Use his quote at the end of Theological Insights. Bearing the cross does not make you otherworldly. Note that we can continue to marvel at the things of the world. It is just a matter of getting your priorities right. And since you are going to have to say good-bye someday to the things of this world, dying to them now, putting them in second place to God, is good preparation for the kingdom.
7. Wrap-Up
Ask about the peace and joy that bearing the cross is supposed to give you. Note the data related to neurobiology in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. In forgetting ourselves, doing God's thing and not the world's thing, we are blessed with an overflow of brain chemicals that leads to happiness and makes us more prone to being moral. Jesus had it right: Those who lose their life for His sake (in bearing crosses) save it. Crosses are good for faith -- by God's grace they even bring joy.
