Proper 12
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII Cycle C
Seasonal Theme
Jesus' acts of compassion and teaching ministry.
Theme For The Day
We have a holy parent who wants to hear our prayers and to answer them.
Old Testament Lesson
Hosea 1:2-10
The Family Of Hosea
We move today from the last two Sundays' readings from Amos to this Sunday and the next reading from Hosea, who prophesized soon after the ministry of Amos. Hosea identified the unnamed enemy in Amos as Assyria. His book is first in that portion of the Bible called the Minor Prophets.
In this portion of the book, Hosea's family life serves as a metaphor to describe God's message for the people. Hosea wants to say that Israel commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord, so he uses his marriage to an unfaithful wife named Gomer. Her name literally means "perfection." She was one of the holy cult women, which to Hosea was no more than common prostitution. The names of their three children are parodies on names of Baal cult children.
"Jezreel" announces the end of the dynasty.
"Not pitied" announces God will not forgive Israel for it's unfaithfulness. God's patience has run out.
"Not my people" announces that the covenant between God and the people is broken. That which goes all the way back to the days of Abraham is finished!
New Testament Lesson
Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)
The Fullness Of Life In Christ
This reading is full of allusions to the heresy Paul is writing to correct and which threatened to pollute the Colossian church. Evidently, the false teachers were teaching that the Christ is not enough. One needs other divine and angelic powers in addition to Jesus. They were advocating for the worship of angels (v. 18), astrology (v. 8), philosophy (v. 8), circumcision (v. 11), ascetic rules (v. 16). In verses 13-15 Paul uses a series of vivid pictures to demonstrate what God has done for us.
1. When dead, God made us alive (v. 13).
2. God erased the demands made against us (v. 14).
3. God nailed our indictment to the cross (v. 14b).
4. God made the authorities powerless (v. 15).
So Christ is all that is needed. Sin is forgiven and evil conquered. So the admonishment of verses 6 and 7 holds. Continue to live your lives in Christ, remaining faithful and abounding in thankfulness.
The Gospel
Luke 11:1-13
Jesus Teaches About Prayer
A few things to notice about Luke's record of Jesus' teaching a prayer formula for disciples. We start by calling God "father." A father can be approached by his children and delights to provide for them. Before asking anything for ourselves, we reverence God. All life is covered, such as present needs, past sins, and future trials.
Notice, too, it ends without "... the kingdom, the power, and the glory," which was first a choir response and which later got incorporated into the spoken corpus of the prayer. In verses 5-13 we have a parable about going to a neighbor for bread. It gives us encouragement to ask in prayer with the confidence God will answer. This is a parable of contrast. Jesus is saying if this irritated neighbor would give bread for a late arriving guest of his neighbor, think how much more God will give it. Barclay writes: "... we are not wringing gifts from an unwilling God, but that we are going to one who knows our needs better than we know them ourselves and whose heart towards us is the heart of generous love."
And God always answers our prayers; however, the answer given is not always what we wanted or expected. So go right on asking, searching, and knocking.
Preaching Possibilities
A. The three readings could connect this way: "Three pictures of God."
1. Hosea says God's patience has run out.
2. Paul says God has forgiven our sins.
3. Luke says pray, and God is like a father who wants to provide.
B. The Hosea account lends itself to narrative preaching as we tell the story of Hosea marrying a prostitute and bringing three children into the world, each one's name communicating truths about God to the people. The fact the wife is a prostitute will get and hold attention and keep the message close to the ground. The three children's names will make an easy outline of truths by using their names. (See my explanation in the comments on the reading.)
C. If you are following my earlier recommendation to preach a series on the Colossians texts in continuum reading that I have provided, a suggested outline of moves for today is listed there.
D. The Gospel has two definite parts: the disciple's prayer and the parable of asking late at night for bread from a neighbor. Both are about prayer, but I would select one or the other and try to focus on it.
Because there are many model sermons on the Lord's prayer, I'll go with the parable in this lectionary workbook.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
Title: Asking For Bread
A. Begin by running the story. Retell verses 5-8 in your own words. Give some background on how they would all be sleeping together on the floor and the father would be reticent to disturb the whole family.
B. Tell of a time when you were wakened in the middle of the night and you really didn't want to get up.
C. Move to what Jesus is trying to teach disciples like us by telling this parable:
1. While it's not always what we want, God does answer prayers.
2. If this man would answer, think how much more it is so that God will answer!
3. There is a holy hospitality here on the flip side of the story we Christians ought to consider following as well.
D. Move to verse 9. Pick up your Bible and read the verse slowly and deliberately as a great promise from God to all your hearers today.
E. An optional move would be to address the subject of how family members ought to treat each other who have such a loving and gracious God as theirs.
F. Or move to consider when and how you and your congregation are tempted to say with the bothered neighbor late at night, "Do not bother me ..." (v. 7b).
G. Close with a story from Possible Metaphors And Stories below.
Prayer For The Day
Teach us disciples to pray also, dear God, and give us the reassurance that you always answer. Please help us to open the door when we are asking for help and not to be upset at the inconvenience of it all. Thanks for being the kind of Holy Parent who is always ready to listen and to provide. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
New Christians are so often my best teachers of theology. One such person in Kathmandu, Nepal, told us so simply, "To pray for a blessing is to throw oneself into the stream of God's will." It changed my view of prayer forever!
The late Katherine Brownfield, who sent me humor, sent me this gem: A little boy was asked in Bible school to memorize the Lord's Prayer. Sitting on the floor in the living room, head bowed and chubby hands folded, he reverently said: "Our Father, who are in heaven, how did you know my name?"
God knows us by name, each one, as God knows every sparrow which falls from the heavens.
Peter Narum told me about a flood. It was up to the first floor the first day and a boat came and offered to remove the homeowner from the home. The answer was: "No, I trust God."
The second day, water was up to the second floor and a boat came and offered to help. Same response: "No, I trust God."
The third day, the man was on the roof and the water was still rising. A helicopter came to help. "No, I trust God."
In heaven now, the man said to God, "I trusted you; why didn't you help?"
God answered, "I tried; I sent two boats and a helicopter."
God often sends answers to our prayers through others.
In the television special, September Gun, Ben Sunday, a gunfighter, tells a nun, "The secret of good baked beans is to be hungry as hell," and "When you shoot, pray; when they shoot, duck."
There are times to pray and times to act. A combination of both is probably the best: action and prayer.
Jesus' acts of compassion and teaching ministry.
Theme For The Day
We have a holy parent who wants to hear our prayers and to answer them.
Old Testament Lesson
Hosea 1:2-10
The Family Of Hosea
We move today from the last two Sundays' readings from Amos to this Sunday and the next reading from Hosea, who prophesized soon after the ministry of Amos. Hosea identified the unnamed enemy in Amos as Assyria. His book is first in that portion of the Bible called the Minor Prophets.
In this portion of the book, Hosea's family life serves as a metaphor to describe God's message for the people. Hosea wants to say that Israel commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord, so he uses his marriage to an unfaithful wife named Gomer. Her name literally means "perfection." She was one of the holy cult women, which to Hosea was no more than common prostitution. The names of their three children are parodies on names of Baal cult children.
"Jezreel" announces the end of the dynasty.
"Not pitied" announces God will not forgive Israel for it's unfaithfulness. God's patience has run out.
"Not my people" announces that the covenant between God and the people is broken. That which goes all the way back to the days of Abraham is finished!
New Testament Lesson
Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)
The Fullness Of Life In Christ
This reading is full of allusions to the heresy Paul is writing to correct and which threatened to pollute the Colossian church. Evidently, the false teachers were teaching that the Christ is not enough. One needs other divine and angelic powers in addition to Jesus. They were advocating for the worship of angels (v. 18), astrology (v. 8), philosophy (v. 8), circumcision (v. 11), ascetic rules (v. 16). In verses 13-15 Paul uses a series of vivid pictures to demonstrate what God has done for us.
1. When dead, God made us alive (v. 13).
2. God erased the demands made against us (v. 14).
3. God nailed our indictment to the cross (v. 14b).
4. God made the authorities powerless (v. 15).
So Christ is all that is needed. Sin is forgiven and evil conquered. So the admonishment of verses 6 and 7 holds. Continue to live your lives in Christ, remaining faithful and abounding in thankfulness.
The Gospel
Luke 11:1-13
Jesus Teaches About Prayer
A few things to notice about Luke's record of Jesus' teaching a prayer formula for disciples. We start by calling God "father." A father can be approached by his children and delights to provide for them. Before asking anything for ourselves, we reverence God. All life is covered, such as present needs, past sins, and future trials.
Notice, too, it ends without "... the kingdom, the power, and the glory," which was first a choir response and which later got incorporated into the spoken corpus of the prayer. In verses 5-13 we have a parable about going to a neighbor for bread. It gives us encouragement to ask in prayer with the confidence God will answer. This is a parable of contrast. Jesus is saying if this irritated neighbor would give bread for a late arriving guest of his neighbor, think how much more God will give it. Barclay writes: "... we are not wringing gifts from an unwilling God, but that we are going to one who knows our needs better than we know them ourselves and whose heart towards us is the heart of generous love."
And God always answers our prayers; however, the answer given is not always what we wanted or expected. So go right on asking, searching, and knocking.
Preaching Possibilities
A. The three readings could connect this way: "Three pictures of God."
1. Hosea says God's patience has run out.
2. Paul says God has forgiven our sins.
3. Luke says pray, and God is like a father who wants to provide.
B. The Hosea account lends itself to narrative preaching as we tell the story of Hosea marrying a prostitute and bringing three children into the world, each one's name communicating truths about God to the people. The fact the wife is a prostitute will get and hold attention and keep the message close to the ground. The three children's names will make an easy outline of truths by using their names. (See my explanation in the comments on the reading.)
C. If you are following my earlier recommendation to preach a series on the Colossians texts in continuum reading that I have provided, a suggested outline of moves for today is listed there.
D. The Gospel has two definite parts: the disciple's prayer and the parable of asking late at night for bread from a neighbor. Both are about prayer, but I would select one or the other and try to focus on it.
Because there are many model sermons on the Lord's prayer, I'll go with the parable in this lectionary workbook.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
Title: Asking For Bread
A. Begin by running the story. Retell verses 5-8 in your own words. Give some background on how they would all be sleeping together on the floor and the father would be reticent to disturb the whole family.
B. Tell of a time when you were wakened in the middle of the night and you really didn't want to get up.
C. Move to what Jesus is trying to teach disciples like us by telling this parable:
1. While it's not always what we want, God does answer prayers.
2. If this man would answer, think how much more it is so that God will answer!
3. There is a holy hospitality here on the flip side of the story we Christians ought to consider following as well.
D. Move to verse 9. Pick up your Bible and read the verse slowly and deliberately as a great promise from God to all your hearers today.
E. An optional move would be to address the subject of how family members ought to treat each other who have such a loving and gracious God as theirs.
F. Or move to consider when and how you and your congregation are tempted to say with the bothered neighbor late at night, "Do not bother me ..." (v. 7b).
G. Close with a story from Possible Metaphors And Stories below.
Prayer For The Day
Teach us disciples to pray also, dear God, and give us the reassurance that you always answer. Please help us to open the door when we are asking for help and not to be upset at the inconvenience of it all. Thanks for being the kind of Holy Parent who is always ready to listen and to provide. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
New Christians are so often my best teachers of theology. One such person in Kathmandu, Nepal, told us so simply, "To pray for a blessing is to throw oneself into the stream of God's will." It changed my view of prayer forever!
The late Katherine Brownfield, who sent me humor, sent me this gem: A little boy was asked in Bible school to memorize the Lord's Prayer. Sitting on the floor in the living room, head bowed and chubby hands folded, he reverently said: "Our Father, who are in heaven, how did you know my name?"
God knows us by name, each one, as God knows every sparrow which falls from the heavens.
Peter Narum told me about a flood. It was up to the first floor the first day and a boat came and offered to remove the homeowner from the home. The answer was: "No, I trust God."
The second day, water was up to the second floor and a boat came and offered to help. Same response: "No, I trust God."
The third day, the man was on the roof and the water was still rising. A helicopter came to help. "No, I trust God."
In heaven now, the man said to God, "I trusted you; why didn't you help?"
God answered, "I tried; I sent two boats and a helicopter."
God often sends answers to our prayers through others.
In the television special, September Gun, Ben Sunday, a gunfighter, tells a nun, "The secret of good baked beans is to be hungry as hell," and "When you shoot, pray; when they shoot, duck."
There are times to pray and times to act. A combination of both is probably the best: action and prayer.
