Proper 11, Pentecost 9, Ordinary Time 16
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle B
Seasonal Theme
We learn of the Christian faith and how we are to follow Jesus as his disciples.
Theme For The Day
The radical nature of Jesus' compassion for us and our need to have compassion for others on God's behalf.
Old Testament Lesson
2 Samuel 7:1-14a
God's Covenant With David
David is now established in Jerusalem and his thoughts turn to building a permanent structure in which to install the ark. Compared with his own dwelling, the tent in which the ark was kept was no longer appropriate. David talked it over with the prophet Nathan who at first approved and then later reversed himself and said the Lord would build David a house instead. He promises David offspring, a kingdom forever, and that David would be God's son. So David is promised a dynasty of kings. It would begin with him and go on forever (v. 16).
New Testament Lesson
Ephesians 2:11-22
One In Christ
The key word here as Paul talks about unity in the church is peace. It describes a two-fold harmonizing in Christ.
A. Verses 11-12: Paul always claimed circumcision was inward. See Romans 2:25-29. This book of Ephesians tells the Gentile Christians that this Jewish heritage is also theirs within the church.
B. Verses 13-18: Because of Christ's death the Gentiles are also God's people. Perhaps Paul was remembering Isaiah 57:19 here. Jew and Gentile are now one in the church.
C. Verse 2:14b: This metaphor may have been the wall erected in the Temple in Jerusalem. What is said is that reconciliation with our God means necessary reconciliation with our fellow believers. There can be no separation wall in church. We are partners in receiving God's saving grace in Christ.
D. Verses 15-18: The unity in the church is like a new person, a new humanity. When we remember the image of the church's being the "Body of Christ" present in the world, we have rich preaching possibilities. Unity is further emphasized in verse 18 with "one Spirit."
E. Verses 19-22: "Saints" here probably refers to all Christians. "Household" pictures the church as God's family who are bound together under God's parental care.
F. Verse 20: Another metaphor here describes the church as a building with Jesus Christ as the corner stone. The Greek could mean either cornerstone or foundation stone.
G. Verses 21-22: Here one could use the metaphor of Christ as the mortar of the building. It's also an interesting concept that we Christians are built together to form the church.
The Gospel
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Sheep Without A Shepherd
The disciples have returned from their mission and at this time Jesus is very popular. Rest for Jesus and his disciples was impossible. They went across the northern tip of Galilee for some peace and quiet; but there was a crowd waiting for them. I think any other person would have been aggravated and resented this intrusion on his/her privacy. The key for me in the whole passage is verse 34, "... he had compassion for them." So back to work trying to make a difference for these who were like a bunch of sheep without a shepherd.
Verses 53-56 describe this compassion in action at Gennesaret. Picture that crowd bringing sick of all kinds and laying them out on mats so that Jesus might see them and do something. The whole pericope reeks of compassion. One could impute all sorts of wrong motivation to this crowd. Most came to use Jesus for some purpose. Get healed, get fed, get entertained. Still Jesus had compassion. It's a big element in the radical apostolic of discipleship.
Preaching Possibilities
If you have not used any of the Samuel passages yet, this could be a good Sunday to teach some history.
A. Proper 4: Samuel is called (1 Samuel 3:1-20).
B. Proper 5: Samuel anoints Saul as king (1 Samuel 8:4-20).
C. Proper 6: The choice and anointing of David (1 Samuel 15:34--16:13).
D. Proper 7: David takes on Goliath (1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49).
E. Proper 8: David grieves over Nathan and Saul (2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27).
F. Proper 9: David is anointed king (2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10).
G. Proper 10: David brings the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19).
H. Today (11): God's covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:1-14a).
The New Testament Reading is also pregnant with possibilities. It is an opportunity to teach about the Christian church in the time of Paul and in our contemporary time right here and now. A number of Paul's metaphors for the church will work as your outline:
A. Circumcision and non-circumcision
B. Far off have been brought near
C. Christ is our peace
D. He has torn down the dividing wall
E. One new humanity
F. Access in one Spirit to the Father
G. No longer aliens but citizens
H. Members of the household of God
I. Jesus Christ as the foundation stone
J. We are building blocks of the church
There is a wonderful opportunity to plead for peace in your congregation and to confront racism there and in your community as well. Anti-Semitism should also be held up as wrong spirited for all Christians.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
Let's use my sermon outline based on audience reaction and apply the Gospel for today.1
A. Build a fire. There are times when crowds disgust us. They are there for the wrong reason and we are simply being used.
B. Build a bridge. All of us here today get tired of the constant badgering we receive from homeless or helpless or organizations who send mail pleading for help.
C. Make your point. The point is that a disciple of Christ has a model of compassion that is way beyond considering the legitimacy of the request for help.
D. An example. Now retell the story of Jesus at Gennesaret from the Gospel for today. He called the crowd sheep without a shepherd. Explain its meaning.
1. Sheep without a shepherd are helpless to their many enemies. They are very vulnerable animals as we are.
2. Sheep without a shepherd get lost easily. Life can be very bewildering without our shepherd to lead us.
3. Sheep without a shepherd will have a tough time finding pasture and thus sustenance for life. We need a shepherd to point us to life's sustenance also.
E. Witness. Admit your own feelings sometimes as people continually beg for help. And admit you need to take seriously this compelling story of compassion for others.
F. Action. List out some ways the congregation together and members individually might be more compassionate in your community. Don't forget money and how it can act in compassion for others.
G. Frame. Return to the opening "fire" listed above or a metaphor listed below used as the fire and make your summary of what you have said in reverse order.
Prayer For The Day
Help us, O God, to feel and act with compassion as Jesus modeled for us along the Sea of Galilee's shore. When we are tempted to give in to weariness and feel our privacy invaded, show us the way to be your instrument of kindness in a cruel world. And as Jesus taught us, move us to help even those who will never appreciate our efforts. In Jesus-the-shepherd-of-the-lost-sheep's name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
To go with the New Testament Reading: A New York Times article by Natalie Angier, August 26, 2000, was headlined, "Race Is Only Skin Deep." She wrote that scientists say it may be easy to tell at a glance whether a person is African or Caucasian or Asian but the differences dissolve at the DNA level. (May they dissolve at our church's level as well!)
Dr. Craig Venter is quoted as saying, "We all evolved in the last 100,000 years from the same small number of tribes that migrated out of Africa and colonized the world." Venter and scientists at the National Institutes of Health have unanimously declared there is only one race.
So equatorial populations developed dark skin, presumably to protect against ultraviolet radiation, while people in northern latitudes evolved pale skin, the better to produce vitamin D from pale sunlight.
Dr. Harold Freeman said that only about .01 percent of your genes is reflected in your external appearance like skin color, nose width, shape of eyes, etc. We ought think about ethnicity rather than race. Ethnicity encompasses both genetics and culture.
One Saturday in Hong Kong, my computer crashed and I could not get it started again. The Norwegian professor worked on it and finally got it going. Then all the directions were in Norwegian! Words like arkiv, rediger, innhold, elikett, and spesilt appear. My hearing aid stopped working on the same day but I was afraid to ask him to fix it! What a marvelous worldwide universal church we have with many languages but all one people!
An ad for Pioneer in Newsweek shows a man and a woman in pajamas reclining on a couch reading the newspaper. The caption is: "We bring the revolution home." Under the picture are the words: "Sunday morning. Time to kick back, get comfortable and perfect the art of doing nothing. Ideal compassion. Pioneer's new six-disc CD player." We know a different peace and compassion.
In the medical lab where I had to give some blood I noticed a tongue depressor and a capsule of smelling salts taped to the wall near the chair where I was seated. It was there obviously "just in case" of an emergency. We often practice our Christian faith in such a fashion. It is there "just in case." But we rarely think of ourselves as the "just in case" -- it's for someone else. God wants to use us to help because the need in someone else's life is now.
____________
1. For more on this type of sermon structure, see my The Preacher's Edge, CSS Publishing Company, 1996.
We learn of the Christian faith and how we are to follow Jesus as his disciples.
Theme For The Day
The radical nature of Jesus' compassion for us and our need to have compassion for others on God's behalf.
Old Testament Lesson
2 Samuel 7:1-14a
God's Covenant With David
David is now established in Jerusalem and his thoughts turn to building a permanent structure in which to install the ark. Compared with his own dwelling, the tent in which the ark was kept was no longer appropriate. David talked it over with the prophet Nathan who at first approved and then later reversed himself and said the Lord would build David a house instead. He promises David offspring, a kingdom forever, and that David would be God's son. So David is promised a dynasty of kings. It would begin with him and go on forever (v. 16).
New Testament Lesson
Ephesians 2:11-22
One In Christ
The key word here as Paul talks about unity in the church is peace. It describes a two-fold harmonizing in Christ.
A. Verses 11-12: Paul always claimed circumcision was inward. See Romans 2:25-29. This book of Ephesians tells the Gentile Christians that this Jewish heritage is also theirs within the church.
B. Verses 13-18: Because of Christ's death the Gentiles are also God's people. Perhaps Paul was remembering Isaiah 57:19 here. Jew and Gentile are now one in the church.
C. Verse 2:14b: This metaphor may have been the wall erected in the Temple in Jerusalem. What is said is that reconciliation with our God means necessary reconciliation with our fellow believers. There can be no separation wall in church. We are partners in receiving God's saving grace in Christ.
D. Verses 15-18: The unity in the church is like a new person, a new humanity. When we remember the image of the church's being the "Body of Christ" present in the world, we have rich preaching possibilities. Unity is further emphasized in verse 18 with "one Spirit."
E. Verses 19-22: "Saints" here probably refers to all Christians. "Household" pictures the church as God's family who are bound together under God's parental care.
F. Verse 20: Another metaphor here describes the church as a building with Jesus Christ as the corner stone. The Greek could mean either cornerstone or foundation stone.
G. Verses 21-22: Here one could use the metaphor of Christ as the mortar of the building. It's also an interesting concept that we Christians are built together to form the church.
The Gospel
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Sheep Without A Shepherd
The disciples have returned from their mission and at this time Jesus is very popular. Rest for Jesus and his disciples was impossible. They went across the northern tip of Galilee for some peace and quiet; but there was a crowd waiting for them. I think any other person would have been aggravated and resented this intrusion on his/her privacy. The key for me in the whole passage is verse 34, "... he had compassion for them." So back to work trying to make a difference for these who were like a bunch of sheep without a shepherd.
Verses 53-56 describe this compassion in action at Gennesaret. Picture that crowd bringing sick of all kinds and laying them out on mats so that Jesus might see them and do something. The whole pericope reeks of compassion. One could impute all sorts of wrong motivation to this crowd. Most came to use Jesus for some purpose. Get healed, get fed, get entertained. Still Jesus had compassion. It's a big element in the radical apostolic of discipleship.
Preaching Possibilities
If you have not used any of the Samuel passages yet, this could be a good Sunday to teach some history.
A. Proper 4: Samuel is called (1 Samuel 3:1-20).
B. Proper 5: Samuel anoints Saul as king (1 Samuel 8:4-20).
C. Proper 6: The choice and anointing of David (1 Samuel 15:34--16:13).
D. Proper 7: David takes on Goliath (1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49).
E. Proper 8: David grieves over Nathan and Saul (2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27).
F. Proper 9: David is anointed king (2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10).
G. Proper 10: David brings the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19).
H. Today (11): God's covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:1-14a).
The New Testament Reading is also pregnant with possibilities. It is an opportunity to teach about the Christian church in the time of Paul and in our contemporary time right here and now. A number of Paul's metaphors for the church will work as your outline:
A. Circumcision and non-circumcision
B. Far off have been brought near
C. Christ is our peace
D. He has torn down the dividing wall
E. One new humanity
F. Access in one Spirit to the Father
G. No longer aliens but citizens
H. Members of the household of God
I. Jesus Christ as the foundation stone
J. We are building blocks of the church
There is a wonderful opportunity to plead for peace in your congregation and to confront racism there and in your community as well. Anti-Semitism should also be held up as wrong spirited for all Christians.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
Let's use my sermon outline based on audience reaction and apply the Gospel for today.1
A. Build a fire. There are times when crowds disgust us. They are there for the wrong reason and we are simply being used.
B. Build a bridge. All of us here today get tired of the constant badgering we receive from homeless or helpless or organizations who send mail pleading for help.
C. Make your point. The point is that a disciple of Christ has a model of compassion that is way beyond considering the legitimacy of the request for help.
D. An example. Now retell the story of Jesus at Gennesaret from the Gospel for today. He called the crowd sheep without a shepherd. Explain its meaning.
1. Sheep without a shepherd are helpless to their many enemies. They are very vulnerable animals as we are.
2. Sheep without a shepherd get lost easily. Life can be very bewildering without our shepherd to lead us.
3. Sheep without a shepherd will have a tough time finding pasture and thus sustenance for life. We need a shepherd to point us to life's sustenance also.
E. Witness. Admit your own feelings sometimes as people continually beg for help. And admit you need to take seriously this compelling story of compassion for others.
F. Action. List out some ways the congregation together and members individually might be more compassionate in your community. Don't forget money and how it can act in compassion for others.
G. Frame. Return to the opening "fire" listed above or a metaphor listed below used as the fire and make your summary of what you have said in reverse order.
Prayer For The Day
Help us, O God, to feel and act with compassion as Jesus modeled for us along the Sea of Galilee's shore. When we are tempted to give in to weariness and feel our privacy invaded, show us the way to be your instrument of kindness in a cruel world. And as Jesus taught us, move us to help even those who will never appreciate our efforts. In Jesus-the-shepherd-of-the-lost-sheep's name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
To go with the New Testament Reading: A New York Times article by Natalie Angier, August 26, 2000, was headlined, "Race Is Only Skin Deep." She wrote that scientists say it may be easy to tell at a glance whether a person is African or Caucasian or Asian but the differences dissolve at the DNA level. (May they dissolve at our church's level as well!)
Dr. Craig Venter is quoted as saying, "We all evolved in the last 100,000 years from the same small number of tribes that migrated out of Africa and colonized the world." Venter and scientists at the National Institutes of Health have unanimously declared there is only one race.
So equatorial populations developed dark skin, presumably to protect against ultraviolet radiation, while people in northern latitudes evolved pale skin, the better to produce vitamin D from pale sunlight.
Dr. Harold Freeman said that only about .01 percent of your genes is reflected in your external appearance like skin color, nose width, shape of eyes, etc. We ought think about ethnicity rather than race. Ethnicity encompasses both genetics and culture.
One Saturday in Hong Kong, my computer crashed and I could not get it started again. The Norwegian professor worked on it and finally got it going. Then all the directions were in Norwegian! Words like arkiv, rediger, innhold, elikett, and spesilt appear. My hearing aid stopped working on the same day but I was afraid to ask him to fix it! What a marvelous worldwide universal church we have with many languages but all one people!
An ad for Pioneer in Newsweek shows a man and a woman in pajamas reclining on a couch reading the newspaper. The caption is: "We bring the revolution home." Under the picture are the words: "Sunday morning. Time to kick back, get comfortable and perfect the art of doing nothing. Ideal compassion. Pioneer's new six-disc CD player." We know a different peace and compassion.
In the medical lab where I had to give some blood I noticed a tongue depressor and a capsule of smelling salts taped to the wall near the chair where I was seated. It was there obviously "just in case" of an emergency. We often practice our Christian faith in such a fashion. It is there "just in case." But we rarely think of ourselves as the "just in case" -- it's for someone else. God wants to use us to help because the need in someone else's life is now.
____________
1. For more on this type of sermon structure, see my The Preacher's Edge, CSS Publishing Company, 1996.
