Proper 26
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
The church year theological clue
If a congregation happened to be following the readings listed in Lutheran Worship, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's revision of the Roman Ordo and the LBW lectionary, the people would have caught the eschatological clue last Sunday; the Lutheran Worship lectionary follows the older Lutheran practice of abandoning the numerical progression of the Sundays in Pentecost and assigning the same three sets of readings - always eschatological - for the last three Sundays of Pentecost. The LBW accomplishes almost the same thing by assigning eschatological readings to the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost and any Sundays following up to Christ the King Sunday in Cycle A; the LBW takes Matthew 25:1-13, and places it on this Sunday. This choice - in this year only - along with the other lections, makes an "early eschatological announcement" that clearly strengthens the eschatological framework of the church year. It insists that the last things need to be considered by the church. The people of God must constantly be aware that their pilgrimage is taking them to the end of the era and to the fullness of the reign of Jesus Christ over heaven and earth.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) This prayer clearly announces the "last things" in the good news, which the church is to remember and celebrate; it is specifically "tailored" for the Matthew 25:1-13 Gospel of the Day, the familiar story of the ten maidens "who went to meet the bridegroom." It declares: "Lord, when the day of wrath comes we have no hope except in your grace...." The petition pleads: "Make us so to watch for the last days that the consummation of our hope may be the joy of the marriage feast of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." The eschatological theme of the remainder of Pentecost, therefore, surfaces in the liturgy on the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost every year (in the LBW), simply because there is only one Prayer of the Day that has been prepared for the three years of the lectionary.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 131:1-3 (R) - A repentant priest or Pharisee could have composed this psalm: "O Lord, I am not proud; I have no haughty looks." In this respect, it "works" as a responsory to the first reading. It also strikes an eschatological note, which is compatible with one of the last Sundays in the church year, in the concluding verse (3) of this very brief psalm: "O Israel, wait upon the Lord, from this time forth forevermore."
Psalm 43 (E) - Here is a psalm that fits perfectly into the context of the Gospel for the Day, one of Jesus' teachings during the week that led up to his condemnations and crucifixion. The psalmist could have been composing words for Jesus' prayer to God, when he prayed desperately, "Give judgment for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked." The familiar lines, "Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling," take on new meaning in the light of Calvary and the tomb. Jesus could say with the psalmist, "Put your trust in God; ... who is the help of my countenance and my God" - even, and especially, in the face of death.
Psalm 63:1-8 (L) - As a responsory to the first reading, this psalm doesn't seem to work, but it is relevant to the theological concerns of people who are conscious that the last things are close at hand. It is also suited to people who are in any sort of trouble, as surely as the psalmist was: "O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a barren and dry land where there is no water." The goal of the Christian pilgrimage is suggested in the psalmist's words, "Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, that I might behold your power and your glory." With praise and thanksgiving - and more than a mere measure of hope - the psalmist throws himself upon the mercy of God in true faith and love. In this, he offers the Christian a model of eschatological piety.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Heavenly Father, creator of unfailing light, enlighten those who call to you. May our lives proclaim your goodness, our work give you honor, and our voices praise you forever; for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 127 (C)
The first half of Psalm 63 might make a better responsory to the first reading of the Episcopal lectionary because it picks up the "darkness" theme of Micah 3:5-12 with its harsh prediction: "The sun will set for the prophets, the day will go black for them." Psalm 127 offers a corrective for the corruption of the priests and Pharisees, which surfaces once more in the Gospel for the Day, and in Jesus' lament over Jerusalem (at the end of Chapter 23): "Unless the Lord builds the house, their labor is in vain who build it. Unless the Lord watches over the city, in vain the watchman keeps his vigil." After a word of hope at the end of verse 3, the psalm becomes more specifically addressed to the blessing that comes with children.
The readings:
Leviticus 1:14b--2:2b, 8-10 (R)
The warning of God's messenger (Malachi means "my messenger") to the priests, who instituted new practices in the worship of God after the return from exile, also speaks to the priests and Pharisees of Jesus' time, who corrupted the worship of God even more. Malachi makes a connection to the importance of the teaching function of those who are called and ordained to the service of God, and in this he addresses contemporary clergy about an essential ingredient in their ministry: "The lips of the priest ought to safeguard knowledge; his mouth is where instruction should be sought, since he is the messenger of Yahweh Sabaoth." Too many clergy of Malachi's day had "strayed from the way" and had caused many to stumble; they had destroyed the covenant of Levi; for this, they will be reviled by the people and judged harshly by the Lord God.
Micah 3:5-12 (E)
Here is another warning - and a condemnation by God - to the prophets, who have failed to function in the ways that properly fulfill the duties of their office as servants of God and, as Micah speaks for the Lord God, "who lead my people astray." Like the prophets against whom Jesus speaks in the Gospel for the Day, they are concerned with their own welfare, and care little for the well being of the people. Micah tells them,
And so the night will come to you: an end of vision; darkness for you: an end of divination.... Then the seers will be covered with shame, the diviners with confusion; they will all cover their lips, because no answer comes from God.
The least that they can expect is that their office will be rendered ineffectual by God, and, as a result, Jerusalem will become "a heap of rubble, and the mountain of the Temple a wooded height."
Amos 5:18-24 (L)
For some reason, the original first reading assigned to this Sunday, Zephaniah 1:14-16, with its insistence that "The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast," was replaced with this lection from Amos 5, which also refers to "the day of the Lord." Micah is convinced that there will be "trouble for those of you who are waiting so longingly for the day of the Lord." It will be a day of darkness, "all gloom, without a single ray of light." There must be harmony between the things that are done and said in worship and the lives of the people outside of the Temple; that will be pleasing and acceptable to God. Those who make false idols of any kind for themselves are doomed to exile from the kingdom of the Lord God. Amos speaks to the people as well as to the priests and other religious leaders - then and now.
Ruth 4:7-17 (C)
One could anticipate that the story of Ruth and Boaz would turn out this way; he would come to appreciate and love her, and take her for his wife. He did just that, making his declaration publicly before the elders and "all the people" of Bethlehem. After she became his wife, Ruth gave him a son, Obed, who was the father of Jesse, David's father. Ruth, through this involved story that has some elements of a modern soap opera in it, became the great-grandmother of King David, which is one of the reasons that the lovely story of Ruth's fidelity to Naomi is included in the Old Testament. This is not just another touching tale of devotion and love; it has a godly purpose built into it.
1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13 (R); 2:9-13, 17-20 (E, C)
The context of this reading is Paul's appreciation of, and thanksgiving for, the people of Thessalonika, who received him and his companions and heard the good news with genuine joy. He reminds them that God has chosen Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to preach to the Thessalonians, entrusting the good news to them, and that their preaching has sought to glorify God, not themselves. He reminisces about how hard they worked - Paul as a tentmaker - to support themselves so that they would not pose a financial burden upon the community. He also speaks of their message as the Word of God, and commends them to receive it eagerly; that Word was God's message, not human wisdom or invention. And the Word was beneficial for the Thessalonians, because they received it eagerly for what it is - the Word of God - and, apparently, with prayer and thanskgiving. Paul spells out a concise summary of his theology of preaching in the middle of these readings, and then goes on to tell the Thessalonians how much he and his companions want to return and see them again, assuring them that they are their "pride and joy." This chapter reads like a religious love story, and it must have moved the people of the Thessalonian congregation quite deeply, because they knew the circumstances in which Paul was writing to them.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (1518) (L)
I know a man who, when he is invited to any sort of a buffet supper - be it meager or bountiful - selects his food on what he calls his own theory: "I skip the preliminaries and get to the good stuff." He will bypass appetizers, salad, and even fruit, and move along the tables to the meats and vegetables - and desserts - that have been prepared and spread before the guests. The committee that selected the readings of the LBW might be accused of operating on that principle, inasmuch as they bypassed all of chapters two and three of this letter and moved to the last five verses of chapter four, which had the better theological content for this Sunday. But it was not a matter of counting chapters two and three unimportant or of lesser value to contemporary congregations, rather it was to accommodate the obvious shift to an emphasis on the last things and to sharpen the image of the Second Coming of Christ the King at the end of time. In this lection, Paul assures the Thessalonians that God will take to himself, "through Christ," those who have already died. They will be raised up from the grave and received by God before those who are still living. All this will happen when the Lord returns with "a cry of command, the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God."
This reading, it will be noted, changes from the system of thematic harmony of first reading and Gospel of the Lutheran Lectionary, with the second lesson "floating freely" in semi-contiuous short-courses, back to the theological compatibility of all three readings of the first half of the church year.
Matthew 23:1-12 (R, E, C)
In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus' attack on the scribes and Pharisees begins emphatically in his address to "the crowds," but continues to pick up steam as the chapter progresses. He regards the office of the scribes and Pharisees quite highly; they are the keepers of the Hebrew tradition, because "they occupy the seat of Moses." This means that their teachings should be heard and followed by the people, but the trouble is that their lives do not match their teachings. In short, Jesus sees them as hypocrites who say one thing but do another. They are religious "showboats," who want to be seen and honored by people for their religiosity; they demand, in one way or another, that they be addressed respectfully, even reverently, as rabbi. Jesus then turns from the crowds to the scribes and Pharisees and speaks directly to them, teaching that they should not insist on being called rabbi, or master, or father, or teacher, for those titles are reserved for the Father and the Son. From verse thirteen to the end of the chapter, Jesus gives the religious leaders example after example of their hypocrisy, ending with his prophecy about the persecution of those whom he will send to them, and his touching lament for Jerusalem.
Matthew 25:1-13 (L)
In some of the old single series lectionaries, especially in the Lutheran lectionary, with its last three Sundays so clearly oriented to the last things, this Gospel was appointed for the Last Sunday after Trinity; it follows that it should be appointed for one of the concluding and thematically eschatological Sundays - in the LBW lectionary - of Pentecost. It reminds us again of the wedding feast and the ten young maidens, five of whom were wise, who had enough oil for their lamps, and five who were foolish, and had to go out and buy additional oil when their lamps went out. At any rate, those who were wise enough to bring a sufficient amount of oil to see them through the night until the bridegroom arrived were received by him and given entrance to the feast; the others were locked out, despite their pleas of, "Lord, lord, open to us." "Truly," Jesus told them and all others who are not prepared adequately for his Second Coming, "I do not know you." His "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour" puts us all on the alert, attuned to the Word and Spirit, which supply "oil" for our "lamps" in sufficient, even abundant, measure. Sermon suggestions
Matthew 23:1-12 (R, E, C) - "Preaching and Practice."
In the center of yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune, there was a two-page advertisement. On the first page, in 3 1/2 inch print, were the two words, "we practice;" the other page carried three words, "what we preach." The ad was placed by Group Health, Inc. Their message was, "Group health leads the way in quality care," on the first page, listing all the different specialties and the physicians and dentists who offer quality health care in them. The photographs of eight physicians and one dentist, most of whom were department chairpersons, along with their credentials, were published with the names of staff doctors and dentists. Under "what we preach," Group Health's ten-point program for "quality assurance," was printed out on the rest of the page. Point #2 caught my eye; "Every physician is reviewed by fellow physicians." In effect, that was what Jesus was doing in his attack on the scribes and the Pharisees; they failed his review - miserably!
1. Preachers, like the Pharisees and scribes before them, are the protectors and proclaimers of the Christian tradition. The people should expect - and demand - that they preach the Word of God and nothing else.
2. People are to hear the Word gladly. The words of God come to his people through the words of human beings, who speak, under the pressure of prayer and the Holy Spirit, what has been given to the church in the witness of the apostles and the Scriptures.
Recently, I heard about a powerful politician who attended a local church on a Sunday, some years ago, when the pastor was preaching about the tragedy that was occurring in Vietnam. The report is that he was offended and never again went back to that church. Was the offense commited by the preacher? Did he preach something other than the gospel? Or was the problem in what the politician heard, or even in how he heard the gospel speaking to, even condemning his support of the war in Southeast Asia? Since I didn't hear or read the sermon, I am not in a position to answer these questions, but the situation points up the necessity for preaching that is faithful to the gospel and hearing the Word in the spirit of prayer and humility.
3. We all need to practice what we preach. All of us are witnesses for Christ in the world, and it is incumbent upon us - clergy and laity - to live out the gospel of our Lord in everything that we say and do. (Jim Bakker and two of his associates were indicted for fraud on the day that this was revised.)
4. Then, the Lord will declare, "Well done, good and faithful servants."
Matthew 25:1-13 (L) - "Jesus will return."
Some years ago, my family and I had a strange experience on a visit to Europe. A long-time friend of mine was living in a foreign country, and we had told him and his wife that we would be in Europe the next summer; this resulted in an invitation, "Be sure to come to visit us." We promised that we would, and later indicated that we would be there during the second week of August. When we arrived in the city, I called my friend at his office; he hadn't remembered that we were coming and, with his family, had made plans to go out of the city the next day. Embarrassed, he asked us to go out to their home for dinner that evening, but things got even more complicated when he couldn't reach his wife, who was doing some last minute shopping for their trip. When we arrived, expecting to be served dinner, he was out scurrying around, attempting to find a store open where he could buy something for supper. The whole evening was almost a disaster, and proved to be embarrassing for all of us. Not only that, but my family and I didn't get anything to eat until we returned to our hotel. They weren't prepared for our visit, despite the fact that we had told them when we were coming.
1. "Prepared" Christians hear, know, and keep, the word of the Lord. They are the ones who always have a sufficient supply of "oil" for their lamps, prepared for Jesus' return.
2. Unprepared Christians hear, but do not really know or keep the Word of God. Their supply of "oil" is dangerously low and may run out at any time. They may not even think about the promised - and sudden - return of the Lord.
3. Christians are involved in a lifetime of preparation. We are always "becoming" the people of God. Hearing and doing the Word is our business, and we have to do both as long as we live. That's what the Christian life is all about.
4. Hearing and keeping the Word is the way that we watch for the coming of the Lord. Matthew still says - to us - "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
Malachi 1:14--2:2b, 8-10 (R) - "The Father and the Covenant
1. Yahweh is our mentor. He has made a covenant with us with Christ, just as he did with Abraham and the people of Israel.
2. God is the Father of Jew and Christian. That's what we had better remember all of our days.
3. Keepers of the covenant. That's what he expects all of us to be through the power of the Word and Holy Spirit.
4. Keep the faith and love one another. God will accept that.
Micah 3:5-12 - "Corruption and Condemnation."
1. Corruption among the clergy: a field day for the prophet - corruption brings condemnation by God himself.
2. Corrupt clergy become contemptible in the eyes of the people of God. Do all of us corrupt the relationship we have with God? Are we all guilty?
3. Either/or - renounce sin, or the whole community will be in jeopardy.
4. Repent and live again as children of God.
(Both of these texts accomodate the theme of the unfaithful scribes and Pharisees, and might be incorporated into sermons on Matthew 23.)
Amos 5:18-24 - "A Day of Darkness or Deliverance?"
1. A time of reckoning is coming for God's people. All will be held accountable for the way they have lived.
2. It will be a day of darkness or a day of deliverance. Which will it be? The choice is ours; we can bring judgment and destruction down upon ourselves and our world.
3. Fidelity and obedience. Those are what God expects from people who claim to love him. Godly people will work for the "good" and for peace among all people.
4. The faithful have nothing to fear - in this life or at the end of it.
Ruth 4:7-17 - "The Happy Ending."
1. Ruth and Boaz apparently did "live happily ever after." That's the jist of this last chapter in the intriguing story of the young Moabite woman. She became the wife of Boaz, and this was pleasing to God.
2. God had plans for Ruth. She was to bring new blood into the Hebrew nation through the birth of a son, Obed. He would be the father of Jesse, making Ruth the great grandmother of King David and matriarch of the line which Jesus claimed as his own.
3. Jesus could claim Ruth as an ancestor. Her story must have been told to him by his mother, Mary, before he learned to read the sacred scriptures.
4. Through Jesus, we too are related to Ruth. Ours is to learn her story and to live lives that are open to the leading and direction of God the Father.
1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13 (R); 2:9-13, 17-20 (E, C) - "Lessonsfor Preachers and People."
1. The people of God need to remember how kindly God has dealt with them. With the Thessalonian Christians, we recall the good news that has been given us in Christ. God has been good and merciful to us.
2. The preachers have to remember that they have been called to be pastors as well as preachers. A pastor is to treat the people the same way that God does - patiently, kindly, and compassionately - and to preach the Word faithfully and fearlessly.
3. Both people and pastors live by the Word of God. He is the source of the life we share in the name of Jesus Christ. The gospel means deliverance for us all.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (15-18) - "Delivered by A Death."
1. Christians need have no fear of death. They have been delivered by Jesus' death - and resurrection - from the bonds of sin and death.
2. Christians hope - We have God's promise that God will raise the dead, just as he raised the Lord from the tomb and corruption.
3. Christians dare to live by that hope. God has made room for the living and the dead in his eternal kingdom
4. Christians expect to meet the Lord when he returns and raises the dead to be with him. That really gives us comfort in the face of death.
If a congregation happened to be following the readings listed in Lutheran Worship, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's revision of the Roman Ordo and the LBW lectionary, the people would have caught the eschatological clue last Sunday; the Lutheran Worship lectionary follows the older Lutheran practice of abandoning the numerical progression of the Sundays in Pentecost and assigning the same three sets of readings - always eschatological - for the last three Sundays of Pentecost. The LBW accomplishes almost the same thing by assigning eschatological readings to the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost and any Sundays following up to Christ the King Sunday in Cycle A; the LBW takes Matthew 25:1-13, and places it on this Sunday. This choice - in this year only - along with the other lections, makes an "early eschatological announcement" that clearly strengthens the eschatological framework of the church year. It insists that the last things need to be considered by the church. The people of God must constantly be aware that their pilgrimage is taking them to the end of the era and to the fullness of the reign of Jesus Christ over heaven and earth.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) This prayer clearly announces the "last things" in the good news, which the church is to remember and celebrate; it is specifically "tailored" for the Matthew 25:1-13 Gospel of the Day, the familiar story of the ten maidens "who went to meet the bridegroom." It declares: "Lord, when the day of wrath comes we have no hope except in your grace...." The petition pleads: "Make us so to watch for the last days that the consummation of our hope may be the joy of the marriage feast of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." The eschatological theme of the remainder of Pentecost, therefore, surfaces in the liturgy on the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost every year (in the LBW), simply because there is only one Prayer of the Day that has been prepared for the three years of the lectionary.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 131:1-3 (R) - A repentant priest or Pharisee could have composed this psalm: "O Lord, I am not proud; I have no haughty looks." In this respect, it "works" as a responsory to the first reading. It also strikes an eschatological note, which is compatible with one of the last Sundays in the church year, in the concluding verse (3) of this very brief psalm: "O Israel, wait upon the Lord, from this time forth forevermore."
Psalm 43 (E) - Here is a psalm that fits perfectly into the context of the Gospel for the Day, one of Jesus' teachings during the week that led up to his condemnations and crucifixion. The psalmist could have been composing words for Jesus' prayer to God, when he prayed desperately, "Give judgment for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked." The familiar lines, "Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling," take on new meaning in the light of Calvary and the tomb. Jesus could say with the psalmist, "Put your trust in God; ... who is the help of my countenance and my God" - even, and especially, in the face of death.
Psalm 63:1-8 (L) - As a responsory to the first reading, this psalm doesn't seem to work, but it is relevant to the theological concerns of people who are conscious that the last things are close at hand. It is also suited to people who are in any sort of trouble, as surely as the psalmist was: "O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a barren and dry land where there is no water." The goal of the Christian pilgrimage is suggested in the psalmist's words, "Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, that I might behold your power and your glory." With praise and thanksgiving - and more than a mere measure of hope - the psalmist throws himself upon the mercy of God in true faith and love. In this, he offers the Christian a model of eschatological piety.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Heavenly Father, creator of unfailing light, enlighten those who call to you. May our lives proclaim your goodness, our work give you honor, and our voices praise you forever; for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 127 (C)
The first half of Psalm 63 might make a better responsory to the first reading of the Episcopal lectionary because it picks up the "darkness" theme of Micah 3:5-12 with its harsh prediction: "The sun will set for the prophets, the day will go black for them." Psalm 127 offers a corrective for the corruption of the priests and Pharisees, which surfaces once more in the Gospel for the Day, and in Jesus' lament over Jerusalem (at the end of Chapter 23): "Unless the Lord builds the house, their labor is in vain who build it. Unless the Lord watches over the city, in vain the watchman keeps his vigil." After a word of hope at the end of verse 3, the psalm becomes more specifically addressed to the blessing that comes with children.
The readings:
Leviticus 1:14b--2:2b, 8-10 (R)
The warning of God's messenger (Malachi means "my messenger") to the priests, who instituted new practices in the worship of God after the return from exile, also speaks to the priests and Pharisees of Jesus' time, who corrupted the worship of God even more. Malachi makes a connection to the importance of the teaching function of those who are called and ordained to the service of God, and in this he addresses contemporary clergy about an essential ingredient in their ministry: "The lips of the priest ought to safeguard knowledge; his mouth is where instruction should be sought, since he is the messenger of Yahweh Sabaoth." Too many clergy of Malachi's day had "strayed from the way" and had caused many to stumble; they had destroyed the covenant of Levi; for this, they will be reviled by the people and judged harshly by the Lord God.
Micah 3:5-12 (E)
Here is another warning - and a condemnation by God - to the prophets, who have failed to function in the ways that properly fulfill the duties of their office as servants of God and, as Micah speaks for the Lord God, "who lead my people astray." Like the prophets against whom Jesus speaks in the Gospel for the Day, they are concerned with their own welfare, and care little for the well being of the people. Micah tells them,
And so the night will come to you: an end of vision; darkness for you: an end of divination.... Then the seers will be covered with shame, the diviners with confusion; they will all cover their lips, because no answer comes from God.
The least that they can expect is that their office will be rendered ineffectual by God, and, as a result, Jerusalem will become "a heap of rubble, and the mountain of the Temple a wooded height."
Amos 5:18-24 (L)
For some reason, the original first reading assigned to this Sunday, Zephaniah 1:14-16, with its insistence that "The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast," was replaced with this lection from Amos 5, which also refers to "the day of the Lord." Micah is convinced that there will be "trouble for those of you who are waiting so longingly for the day of the Lord." It will be a day of darkness, "all gloom, without a single ray of light." There must be harmony between the things that are done and said in worship and the lives of the people outside of the Temple; that will be pleasing and acceptable to God. Those who make false idols of any kind for themselves are doomed to exile from the kingdom of the Lord God. Amos speaks to the people as well as to the priests and other religious leaders - then and now.
Ruth 4:7-17 (C)
One could anticipate that the story of Ruth and Boaz would turn out this way; he would come to appreciate and love her, and take her for his wife. He did just that, making his declaration publicly before the elders and "all the people" of Bethlehem. After she became his wife, Ruth gave him a son, Obed, who was the father of Jesse, David's father. Ruth, through this involved story that has some elements of a modern soap opera in it, became the great-grandmother of King David, which is one of the reasons that the lovely story of Ruth's fidelity to Naomi is included in the Old Testament. This is not just another touching tale of devotion and love; it has a godly purpose built into it.
1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13 (R); 2:9-13, 17-20 (E, C)
The context of this reading is Paul's appreciation of, and thanksgiving for, the people of Thessalonika, who received him and his companions and heard the good news with genuine joy. He reminds them that God has chosen Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to preach to the Thessalonians, entrusting the good news to them, and that their preaching has sought to glorify God, not themselves. He reminisces about how hard they worked - Paul as a tentmaker - to support themselves so that they would not pose a financial burden upon the community. He also speaks of their message as the Word of God, and commends them to receive it eagerly; that Word was God's message, not human wisdom or invention. And the Word was beneficial for the Thessalonians, because they received it eagerly for what it is - the Word of God - and, apparently, with prayer and thanskgiving. Paul spells out a concise summary of his theology of preaching in the middle of these readings, and then goes on to tell the Thessalonians how much he and his companions want to return and see them again, assuring them that they are their "pride and joy." This chapter reads like a religious love story, and it must have moved the people of the Thessalonian congregation quite deeply, because they knew the circumstances in which Paul was writing to them.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (1518) (L)
I know a man who, when he is invited to any sort of a buffet supper - be it meager or bountiful - selects his food on what he calls his own theory: "I skip the preliminaries and get to the good stuff." He will bypass appetizers, salad, and even fruit, and move along the tables to the meats and vegetables - and desserts - that have been prepared and spread before the guests. The committee that selected the readings of the LBW might be accused of operating on that principle, inasmuch as they bypassed all of chapters two and three of this letter and moved to the last five verses of chapter four, which had the better theological content for this Sunday. But it was not a matter of counting chapters two and three unimportant or of lesser value to contemporary congregations, rather it was to accommodate the obvious shift to an emphasis on the last things and to sharpen the image of the Second Coming of Christ the King at the end of time. In this lection, Paul assures the Thessalonians that God will take to himself, "through Christ," those who have already died. They will be raised up from the grave and received by God before those who are still living. All this will happen when the Lord returns with "a cry of command, the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God."
This reading, it will be noted, changes from the system of thematic harmony of first reading and Gospel of the Lutheran Lectionary, with the second lesson "floating freely" in semi-contiuous short-courses, back to the theological compatibility of all three readings of the first half of the church year.
Matthew 23:1-12 (R, E, C)
In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus' attack on the scribes and Pharisees begins emphatically in his address to "the crowds," but continues to pick up steam as the chapter progresses. He regards the office of the scribes and Pharisees quite highly; they are the keepers of the Hebrew tradition, because "they occupy the seat of Moses." This means that their teachings should be heard and followed by the people, but the trouble is that their lives do not match their teachings. In short, Jesus sees them as hypocrites who say one thing but do another. They are religious "showboats," who want to be seen and honored by people for their religiosity; they demand, in one way or another, that they be addressed respectfully, even reverently, as rabbi. Jesus then turns from the crowds to the scribes and Pharisees and speaks directly to them, teaching that they should not insist on being called rabbi, or master, or father, or teacher, for those titles are reserved for the Father and the Son. From verse thirteen to the end of the chapter, Jesus gives the religious leaders example after example of their hypocrisy, ending with his prophecy about the persecution of those whom he will send to them, and his touching lament for Jerusalem.
Matthew 25:1-13 (L)
In some of the old single series lectionaries, especially in the Lutheran lectionary, with its last three Sundays so clearly oriented to the last things, this Gospel was appointed for the Last Sunday after Trinity; it follows that it should be appointed for one of the concluding and thematically eschatological Sundays - in the LBW lectionary - of Pentecost. It reminds us again of the wedding feast and the ten young maidens, five of whom were wise, who had enough oil for their lamps, and five who were foolish, and had to go out and buy additional oil when their lamps went out. At any rate, those who were wise enough to bring a sufficient amount of oil to see them through the night until the bridegroom arrived were received by him and given entrance to the feast; the others were locked out, despite their pleas of, "Lord, lord, open to us." "Truly," Jesus told them and all others who are not prepared adequately for his Second Coming, "I do not know you." His "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour" puts us all on the alert, attuned to the Word and Spirit, which supply "oil" for our "lamps" in sufficient, even abundant, measure. Sermon suggestions
Matthew 23:1-12 (R, E, C) - "Preaching and Practice."
In the center of yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune, there was a two-page advertisement. On the first page, in 3 1/2 inch print, were the two words, "we practice;" the other page carried three words, "what we preach." The ad was placed by Group Health, Inc. Their message was, "Group health leads the way in quality care," on the first page, listing all the different specialties and the physicians and dentists who offer quality health care in them. The photographs of eight physicians and one dentist, most of whom were department chairpersons, along with their credentials, were published with the names of staff doctors and dentists. Under "what we preach," Group Health's ten-point program for "quality assurance," was printed out on the rest of the page. Point #2 caught my eye; "Every physician is reviewed by fellow physicians." In effect, that was what Jesus was doing in his attack on the scribes and the Pharisees; they failed his review - miserably!
1. Preachers, like the Pharisees and scribes before them, are the protectors and proclaimers of the Christian tradition. The people should expect - and demand - that they preach the Word of God and nothing else.
2. People are to hear the Word gladly. The words of God come to his people through the words of human beings, who speak, under the pressure of prayer and the Holy Spirit, what has been given to the church in the witness of the apostles and the Scriptures.
Recently, I heard about a powerful politician who attended a local church on a Sunday, some years ago, when the pastor was preaching about the tragedy that was occurring in Vietnam. The report is that he was offended and never again went back to that church. Was the offense commited by the preacher? Did he preach something other than the gospel? Or was the problem in what the politician heard, or even in how he heard the gospel speaking to, even condemning his support of the war in Southeast Asia? Since I didn't hear or read the sermon, I am not in a position to answer these questions, but the situation points up the necessity for preaching that is faithful to the gospel and hearing the Word in the spirit of prayer and humility.
3. We all need to practice what we preach. All of us are witnesses for Christ in the world, and it is incumbent upon us - clergy and laity - to live out the gospel of our Lord in everything that we say and do. (Jim Bakker and two of his associates were indicted for fraud on the day that this was revised.)
4. Then, the Lord will declare, "Well done, good and faithful servants."
Matthew 25:1-13 (L) - "Jesus will return."
Some years ago, my family and I had a strange experience on a visit to Europe. A long-time friend of mine was living in a foreign country, and we had told him and his wife that we would be in Europe the next summer; this resulted in an invitation, "Be sure to come to visit us." We promised that we would, and later indicated that we would be there during the second week of August. When we arrived in the city, I called my friend at his office; he hadn't remembered that we were coming and, with his family, had made plans to go out of the city the next day. Embarrassed, he asked us to go out to their home for dinner that evening, but things got even more complicated when he couldn't reach his wife, who was doing some last minute shopping for their trip. When we arrived, expecting to be served dinner, he was out scurrying around, attempting to find a store open where he could buy something for supper. The whole evening was almost a disaster, and proved to be embarrassing for all of us. Not only that, but my family and I didn't get anything to eat until we returned to our hotel. They weren't prepared for our visit, despite the fact that we had told them when we were coming.
1. "Prepared" Christians hear, know, and keep, the word of the Lord. They are the ones who always have a sufficient supply of "oil" for their lamps, prepared for Jesus' return.
2. Unprepared Christians hear, but do not really know or keep the Word of God. Their supply of "oil" is dangerously low and may run out at any time. They may not even think about the promised - and sudden - return of the Lord.
3. Christians are involved in a lifetime of preparation. We are always "becoming" the people of God. Hearing and doing the Word is our business, and we have to do both as long as we live. That's what the Christian life is all about.
4. Hearing and keeping the Word is the way that we watch for the coming of the Lord. Matthew still says - to us - "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
Malachi 1:14--2:2b, 8-10 (R) - "The Father and the Covenant
1. Yahweh is our mentor. He has made a covenant with us with Christ, just as he did with Abraham and the people of Israel.
2. God is the Father of Jew and Christian. That's what we had better remember all of our days.
3. Keepers of the covenant. That's what he expects all of us to be through the power of the Word and Holy Spirit.
4. Keep the faith and love one another. God will accept that.
Micah 3:5-12 - "Corruption and Condemnation."
1. Corruption among the clergy: a field day for the prophet - corruption brings condemnation by God himself.
2. Corrupt clergy become contemptible in the eyes of the people of God. Do all of us corrupt the relationship we have with God? Are we all guilty?
3. Either/or - renounce sin, or the whole community will be in jeopardy.
4. Repent and live again as children of God.
(Both of these texts accomodate the theme of the unfaithful scribes and Pharisees, and might be incorporated into sermons on Matthew 23.)
Amos 5:18-24 - "A Day of Darkness or Deliverance?"
1. A time of reckoning is coming for God's people. All will be held accountable for the way they have lived.
2. It will be a day of darkness or a day of deliverance. Which will it be? The choice is ours; we can bring judgment and destruction down upon ourselves and our world.
3. Fidelity and obedience. Those are what God expects from people who claim to love him. Godly people will work for the "good" and for peace among all people.
4. The faithful have nothing to fear - in this life or at the end of it.
Ruth 4:7-17 - "The Happy Ending."
1. Ruth and Boaz apparently did "live happily ever after." That's the jist of this last chapter in the intriguing story of the young Moabite woman. She became the wife of Boaz, and this was pleasing to God.
2. God had plans for Ruth. She was to bring new blood into the Hebrew nation through the birth of a son, Obed. He would be the father of Jesse, making Ruth the great grandmother of King David and matriarch of the line which Jesus claimed as his own.
3. Jesus could claim Ruth as an ancestor. Her story must have been told to him by his mother, Mary, before he learned to read the sacred scriptures.
4. Through Jesus, we too are related to Ruth. Ours is to learn her story and to live lives that are open to the leading and direction of God the Father.
1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13 (R); 2:9-13, 17-20 (E, C) - "Lessonsfor Preachers and People."
1. The people of God need to remember how kindly God has dealt with them. With the Thessalonian Christians, we recall the good news that has been given us in Christ. God has been good and merciful to us.
2. The preachers have to remember that they have been called to be pastors as well as preachers. A pastor is to treat the people the same way that God does - patiently, kindly, and compassionately - and to preach the Word faithfully and fearlessly.
3. Both people and pastors live by the Word of God. He is the source of the life we share in the name of Jesus Christ. The gospel means deliverance for us all.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (15-18) - "Delivered by A Death."
1. Christians need have no fear of death. They have been delivered by Jesus' death - and resurrection - from the bonds of sin and death.
2. Christians hope - We have God's promise that God will raise the dead, just as he raised the Lord from the tomb and corruption.
3. Christians dare to live by that hope. God has made room for the living and the dead in his eternal kingdom
4. Christians expect to meet the Lord when he returns and raises the dead to be with him. That really gives us comfort in the face of death.
