Proper 5
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: 1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24) (C); 1 Kings 17:17-24 (RC, E)
This one offers a real challenge. Elijah visits a woman who has been commanded to prepare him a small amount of food. After some negotiations, she obliges him and the food, surprisingly, seems to last endlessly in accord with God's promise. I don't notice these things happening today, but this is probably a story designed to show that when God makes a promise, He keeps it. However, the woman's only son becomes ill to the point of death. Elijah takes him to his room and asks God why He allowed this to happen since everyone involved has done as asked. Thereupon, Elijah threw himself on the boy, asked God for the boy's life, and the boy was restored. Upon returning her son to his mother, she pronounced Elijah a true Son of God and speaker of truth.
If one were preaching on the reliability of God this might make a usable illustration. However, it's doubtful that any of us will use this as our text for next Sunday, so I plan to spend my time and energies in a careful examination of the Epistle and Gospel texts.
Lesson 2: Galatians 1:11-24 (C, E); Galatians 1:11-19 (RC)
In this passage, Paul insists that his understanding of the gospel was conveyed to him by Jesus. He is at pains to make it clear that he isn't merely parroting something told to him by others, not even Peter himself. His conversation with Peter took place much later, after Paul's credentials were widely accepted. Granted, he had been a devout Jew in his earlier years, but now he was all the more devout in his devotion to Jesus.
This passage might be used to discuss the fact that God can change anyone if God wishes. However, Paul felt that he was chosen even before he was born, and that raises its own issue about preexistence, and about free will (am I destined for some specific role?). We can only guess about some of these questions. Perhaps some may feel as Paul seems to have felt, that Jesus actually answers these questions through our prayers or intuition. Even so, there is no way to be sure. This is true about all faith matters, of course, so each of us must arrive at some conviction and live by that. I believe that I, like Paul (though in a much diminished way), was chosen from the beginning for my role as minister. Most of you will feel that way too I would guess. This enables me to look back at some of my disappointments and failures and feel that, unknown to me at the time, I was being prepared for my later years. I find great comfort in this belief.
Gospel: Luke 7:11-17 (C, RC, E)
Here we have another instance of Jesus bringing someone back to life who had apparently been dead. I see two preaching themes immediately. One is the idea that Jesus brings new life where there is death. While I know of no contemporary cases of literal return from death (that undiscovered country from which no traveler returns), I do know of countless forms of death from which Christ has brought grateful and joyous believers back to real life. Depression, anxiety, grief, rejection and isolation, loneliness, failure, feelings of injustice -- these are some of the death forms which beset many people. And Jesus can bring new life into these dark places.
The other preaching theme here, and it is the one I would choose -- actually, it's closely related to the first -- is recovery from grief. That one phrase of Jesus, "Don't cry," spoke to me, as I thought back over the deaths of my parents, my young brother, my young wife, my dear niece. This is a splendid opportunity to address the problem of grief which is destined to beset each of us if we live very long.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "You Have A Mission"
Text: Galatians 1:11-17
Theme: Paul assumed that he was chosen for his ministry from the very beginning of his time on earth. Since I believe such things, I am interested in the course of Paul's preparation. First of all, he was born into the culture to which he would eventually minister, and was imbued with Jewish beliefs and customs. He knew the people. Second, he was a failure in his early life. We don't know many details, but no one could have been as anti-Christian as Paul unless he had deep and profound emotions. This tells us that Paul's capacity for strong and sustained feelings were later to be the characteristics which would make him a deeply committed Christian. Third, we know that Paul suffered what must have been a very painful upsetting of his life, and only through that brokenness was he reconstituted as the man we now know. This seems to be how God works.
1. Each of us has a mission in life. I don't think that necessarily means I am to be a carpenter, or a mail carrier, or a doctor. It does mean I have special skills which equip me to do such things in the service of others. Our world works because there are doctors (thank God for that), and carpenters, and trash collectors, and machinists, and nurses (thank God again), and insurance people, and so forth. I am also convinced that people who pray and trust are led into their life's mission.
2. God prepares us. One of my ministerial acquaintances has three grown children. One is a professional woman. A second is a very successful executive. The third one quit high school to be a garage mechanic. My friend celebrated him and encouraged him. You see his son had prayed, and my friend had realized that this was a work which he could do well and which would make him happy. It was what he believed God had equipped his son to do. In God's eyes (and, fortunately, Dad's eyes) all three vocations are equally worthy because all three are serving by the standards of Jesus.
3. God often uses failure as part of one's preparation. A young fellow named Phillips was a school teacher. One day he was called in by the principal, told he was a terrible teacher, and he was fired. Phillips went home, retired to his room and vowed to remain there forever. A day or so later, a friend came by to see him. His father told the visitor: "Phillips is in his room for the present. One of these days he will come out. Then I will tell him you were here." Of course he did come out, and began to evaluate his future. He decided the only thing he was good for was the church. So he went off to seminary. He later was able to make something of himself. His full name: Phillips Brooks, one of church history's most celebrated clergymen.
4. God empowers us in our work. It probably doesn't matter one whit to God whether I'm a garage mechanic, a mail carrier, or a doctor so long as I am following God's lead, and am doing my vocation the way Jesus would have done it (or at least am trying to do so). What does matter is that I follow God's lead in discovering my particular life's work, and that I do it in a worthy, serving manner.
Title: "Don't Cry"
Text: Luke 7:11-17
Theme: Grief. It will come to each of us if it has not already. Of course grief results not only from the death of someone we love, but from many other causes. A broken love affair. A lost job. A move. I recall moving out of the home where I had lived for eleven years. As I stood looking at the rooms where I had spent many happy hours I silently wept. But the grief over death is the most painful and long lived.
Several years ago, one of the ministers in the church where I was pastor decided to start what she called a "Grief Recovery" group for people who have had difficulty coming to terms with the loss of loved ones. She decided to limit the group to twelve people. To her surprise, the group was immediately filled, with a waiting list. So, she opened a second group and it was filled as well. That program became a regular part of the overall program at St. Luke's church.
One evening, when a session of the Grief Recovery group was concluding, two young men, ages in late thirties as I recall, (they had only met in the group) were talking. One said how much the group meant to him, and he wished there were some way to help others. The other man, still grieving the loss of a child, said to him: "We can help each other. We can cry together." And suddenly both men, long stoic in their outward demeanor, wrapped arms around each other and wept together. You see, healing had begun, and Jesus did it, did it through the church, did it through the community of love which grew out of God's healing love.
1. Jesus heals through prayer.
2. Jesus heals through the Church.
3. Jesus heals through the shared pain of others. (Remember Luther's words: "Every man is a little Christ to his neighbor.")
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Martin Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, says that an American is more likely to suffer from clinical depression than at any time in the past century. Seligman, also president of The American Psychological Association, points out that our nation is suffering an epidemic of clinical depression.
____________
The sadness of lost love and young years gone is captured in the words of the song:
Once upon a time a girl with moonlight in her hair
Put her hand in mine and said she loved me so!
But that was once upon a time, very long ago.
Once upon a hill we sat beneath a willow tree,
Counting all the stars and waiting for the dawn
But that was once upon a time. Now the tree is gone.
How the breeze ruffled through her hair.
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn't there.
We were young and didn't have a care.
Where did it go?
Once upon a time the world was sweeter than we know.
Everything was ours; how happy we were then.
But somehow once upon a time never comes again.
____________
Harry Emerson Fosdick reported the words of a college president. The man said he could tell when a student had ceased to be a child and had begun genuinely to mature. He said it was when that student "says of some important work, 'I can give myself to that.' "
____________
George Bernard Shaw, asked what he considered the purpose of human life on this planet to be, opined that he had decided that the other planets used this one as an asylum for their insane.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 146 -- "Praise the Lord!"
Prayer Of The Day
Comfort those who grieve, we pray. Reassure the saddened victims of life's tragedies that your presence is eternal, that renewed strength is theirs in due course, that every tear will at last be dried, and one day we will understand. Amen.
Lesson 1: 1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24) (C); 1 Kings 17:17-24 (RC, E)
This one offers a real challenge. Elijah visits a woman who has been commanded to prepare him a small amount of food. After some negotiations, she obliges him and the food, surprisingly, seems to last endlessly in accord with God's promise. I don't notice these things happening today, but this is probably a story designed to show that when God makes a promise, He keeps it. However, the woman's only son becomes ill to the point of death. Elijah takes him to his room and asks God why He allowed this to happen since everyone involved has done as asked. Thereupon, Elijah threw himself on the boy, asked God for the boy's life, and the boy was restored. Upon returning her son to his mother, she pronounced Elijah a true Son of God and speaker of truth.
If one were preaching on the reliability of God this might make a usable illustration. However, it's doubtful that any of us will use this as our text for next Sunday, so I plan to spend my time and energies in a careful examination of the Epistle and Gospel texts.
Lesson 2: Galatians 1:11-24 (C, E); Galatians 1:11-19 (RC)
In this passage, Paul insists that his understanding of the gospel was conveyed to him by Jesus. He is at pains to make it clear that he isn't merely parroting something told to him by others, not even Peter himself. His conversation with Peter took place much later, after Paul's credentials were widely accepted. Granted, he had been a devout Jew in his earlier years, but now he was all the more devout in his devotion to Jesus.
This passage might be used to discuss the fact that God can change anyone if God wishes. However, Paul felt that he was chosen even before he was born, and that raises its own issue about preexistence, and about free will (am I destined for some specific role?). We can only guess about some of these questions. Perhaps some may feel as Paul seems to have felt, that Jesus actually answers these questions through our prayers or intuition. Even so, there is no way to be sure. This is true about all faith matters, of course, so each of us must arrive at some conviction and live by that. I believe that I, like Paul (though in a much diminished way), was chosen from the beginning for my role as minister. Most of you will feel that way too I would guess. This enables me to look back at some of my disappointments and failures and feel that, unknown to me at the time, I was being prepared for my later years. I find great comfort in this belief.
Gospel: Luke 7:11-17 (C, RC, E)
Here we have another instance of Jesus bringing someone back to life who had apparently been dead. I see two preaching themes immediately. One is the idea that Jesus brings new life where there is death. While I know of no contemporary cases of literal return from death (that undiscovered country from which no traveler returns), I do know of countless forms of death from which Christ has brought grateful and joyous believers back to real life. Depression, anxiety, grief, rejection and isolation, loneliness, failure, feelings of injustice -- these are some of the death forms which beset many people. And Jesus can bring new life into these dark places.
The other preaching theme here, and it is the one I would choose -- actually, it's closely related to the first -- is recovery from grief. That one phrase of Jesus, "Don't cry," spoke to me, as I thought back over the deaths of my parents, my young brother, my young wife, my dear niece. This is a splendid opportunity to address the problem of grief which is destined to beset each of us if we live very long.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "You Have A Mission"
Text: Galatians 1:11-17
Theme: Paul assumed that he was chosen for his ministry from the very beginning of his time on earth. Since I believe such things, I am interested in the course of Paul's preparation. First of all, he was born into the culture to which he would eventually minister, and was imbued with Jewish beliefs and customs. He knew the people. Second, he was a failure in his early life. We don't know many details, but no one could have been as anti-Christian as Paul unless he had deep and profound emotions. This tells us that Paul's capacity for strong and sustained feelings were later to be the characteristics which would make him a deeply committed Christian. Third, we know that Paul suffered what must have been a very painful upsetting of his life, and only through that brokenness was he reconstituted as the man we now know. This seems to be how God works.
1. Each of us has a mission in life. I don't think that necessarily means I am to be a carpenter, or a mail carrier, or a doctor. It does mean I have special skills which equip me to do such things in the service of others. Our world works because there are doctors (thank God for that), and carpenters, and trash collectors, and machinists, and nurses (thank God again), and insurance people, and so forth. I am also convinced that people who pray and trust are led into their life's mission.
2. God prepares us. One of my ministerial acquaintances has three grown children. One is a professional woman. A second is a very successful executive. The third one quit high school to be a garage mechanic. My friend celebrated him and encouraged him. You see his son had prayed, and my friend had realized that this was a work which he could do well and which would make him happy. It was what he believed God had equipped his son to do. In God's eyes (and, fortunately, Dad's eyes) all three vocations are equally worthy because all three are serving by the standards of Jesus.
3. God often uses failure as part of one's preparation. A young fellow named Phillips was a school teacher. One day he was called in by the principal, told he was a terrible teacher, and he was fired. Phillips went home, retired to his room and vowed to remain there forever. A day or so later, a friend came by to see him. His father told the visitor: "Phillips is in his room for the present. One of these days he will come out. Then I will tell him you were here." Of course he did come out, and began to evaluate his future. He decided the only thing he was good for was the church. So he went off to seminary. He later was able to make something of himself. His full name: Phillips Brooks, one of church history's most celebrated clergymen.
4. God empowers us in our work. It probably doesn't matter one whit to God whether I'm a garage mechanic, a mail carrier, or a doctor so long as I am following God's lead, and am doing my vocation the way Jesus would have done it (or at least am trying to do so). What does matter is that I follow God's lead in discovering my particular life's work, and that I do it in a worthy, serving manner.
Title: "Don't Cry"
Text: Luke 7:11-17
Theme: Grief. It will come to each of us if it has not already. Of course grief results not only from the death of someone we love, but from many other causes. A broken love affair. A lost job. A move. I recall moving out of the home where I had lived for eleven years. As I stood looking at the rooms where I had spent many happy hours I silently wept. But the grief over death is the most painful and long lived.
Several years ago, one of the ministers in the church where I was pastor decided to start what she called a "Grief Recovery" group for people who have had difficulty coming to terms with the loss of loved ones. She decided to limit the group to twelve people. To her surprise, the group was immediately filled, with a waiting list. So, she opened a second group and it was filled as well. That program became a regular part of the overall program at St. Luke's church.
One evening, when a session of the Grief Recovery group was concluding, two young men, ages in late thirties as I recall, (they had only met in the group) were talking. One said how much the group meant to him, and he wished there were some way to help others. The other man, still grieving the loss of a child, said to him: "We can help each other. We can cry together." And suddenly both men, long stoic in their outward demeanor, wrapped arms around each other and wept together. You see, healing had begun, and Jesus did it, did it through the church, did it through the community of love which grew out of God's healing love.
1. Jesus heals through prayer.
2. Jesus heals through the Church.
3. Jesus heals through the shared pain of others. (Remember Luther's words: "Every man is a little Christ to his neighbor.")
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Martin Seligman, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, says that an American is more likely to suffer from clinical depression than at any time in the past century. Seligman, also president of The American Psychological Association, points out that our nation is suffering an epidemic of clinical depression.
____________
The sadness of lost love and young years gone is captured in the words of the song:
Once upon a time a girl with moonlight in her hair
Put her hand in mine and said she loved me so!
But that was once upon a time, very long ago.
Once upon a hill we sat beneath a willow tree,
Counting all the stars and waiting for the dawn
But that was once upon a time. Now the tree is gone.
How the breeze ruffled through her hair.
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn't there.
We were young and didn't have a care.
Where did it go?
Once upon a time the world was sweeter than we know.
Everything was ours; how happy we were then.
But somehow once upon a time never comes again.
____________
Harry Emerson Fosdick reported the words of a college president. The man said he could tell when a student had ceased to be a child and had begun genuinely to mature. He said it was when that student "says of some important work, 'I can give myself to that.' "
____________
George Bernard Shaw, asked what he considered the purpose of human life on this planet to be, opined that he had decided that the other planets used this one as an asylum for their insane.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 146 -- "Praise the Lord!"
Prayer Of The Day
Comfort those who grieve, we pray. Reassure the saddened victims of life's tragedies that your presence is eternal, that renewed strength is theirs in due course, that every tear will at last be dried, and one day we will understand. Amen.
