Proper 5, Pentecost 3, Ordinary Time 10
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle A
Object:
Seasonal Theme
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
Jesus sees us as individuals and is willing to touch us with healing compassion.
Note: On these Sundays after Pentecost, we do the scripture readings in what is called Lectio Continua, or "reading in course" which means we are reading in order from Genesis, Romans, and Matthew. This often results in little or no connection between the readings for a given Sunday.
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 12:1-9
Abraham And Sarah
Abram is promised to be the father of a great nation if he will make a break from his past. In the interest of the future he is to pack up and go to a land were he had never been. And he is promised the blessing of a lineage to follow after him. At the time his wife Sarah was childless and Abe was 75 years old. In his one hundredth year he conceived a son, Isaac.
Abraham's trip from Syria was the same as migrating people in the second millennium. Shechem was about forty miles north of Jerusalem. It was an intersection of north-south and east-west routes of travel and had a good water supply. Some commentaries believe the Sychar of John 4:5 may be this Shechem. The Oak of Moreh was a Canaanite holy place: an old Canaanite sanctuary of the god El. First called Lug and then Beth-el, it has been associated with our Old Testament Jacob. The Negev is the southern dry highland of Palestine. Back then, there were better practices of irrigation which made it more livable than at present. We're off to the land of Canaan!
New Testament Lesson
Romans 4:13-25
Grace Through Faith
Paul is using the Abraham story of Genesis to illustrate his belief that it is grace given through our faith (v. 16) rather than keeping the law which justifies (v. 25) and saves us. His illustration of Abraham hinges on two things: Abraham's faith and God's undeserved grace. So God had made Abraham a big promise and that promise could be kept because Abraham believed God could and would keep the promise. It was the kind of devout faith which simply took God at God's word.
The Romans have it put before them two ways: the one way which will always fail is getting right with God by our own efforts; the other way is to enter our relationship with God based on grace. All we need to do is trust. And, of course, we have the Holy Spirit to help us do that.
Verses 18-25 simply say Abraham and Sarah trusted God to keep the promise. Abe believed God could make possible what seemed to others, and the rational world, impossible. If and when we individually or together can do that, great things are still just as possible. If all we do is based on our own skill and knowledge, we will probably end up pessimists. If we take God's grace and power seriously like Abraham and Sarah, we are bound to be much more optimistic.
We can add another great word Paul uses here: promise (epaggelia), which means a promise made unconditionally and purely out of the goodness of one's heart. No strings attached!
The Gospel
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Call Of Matthew And A New Miracle
The first portion of this reading is the call of Matthew and the following criticism of Jesus for eating in Matthew's home with sinners. This call might be compared with the call of Abraham in the Old Testament reading. Matthew's call to be a disciple of Jesus was as unlikely as Abraham and Sarah's to have a son! Matthew was hated by everyone for gathering the taxes of the Romans and Abraham and Sarah were much too old to conceive a child. Abraham left a secure home and Matthew left a secure job.
While Matthew left his IRS position, he did take his pen with him and thus recorded for us much of the ministry and teachings of Jesus. He is the one who must have taken great comfort and written down Jesus' words to those who were so critical of him: "For I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners" (v. 13b).
Verses 18-26 are the record of Jesus' going to the home of one of the leaders of the Synagogue and bringing back to life his daughter. But on the way to this home a woman sought healing. And in the midst of that crowd he healed her. It's a sort of "on the way" miracle. (And she was considered unclean -- see Leviticus 15:25.)
In a time when in our culture the individual is given less and less importance, here we have God's son who takes time to care about (and for) two separate individuals. There is such voluminous tenderness acted out. They were both females who had even less importance in the male-dominated society.
So Jairus (the name means "he will enlighten or diffuse light") met him in the crowd at church, but Jesus went home with him. There is an interesting sequence as Matthew wrote it: first the call of Matthew and the criticism of Jesus' going to his home and eating with sinners; then he agrees to go to the home of Jairus to help a little girl; and on the way there is this woman who had been struggling with vaginal bleeding for many years. It's like, at that moment for Jesus, no one else existed except the particular one in need. All three Synoptics report these amazing events.
Like the woman who just wanted to touch him, we too can touch him in our time of need -- in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and in the coming upon us of the Holy Spirit just like those early disciples.
Preaching Possibilities
A. Easily this Sunday's theme could be the call of God by using the Old Testament heroes, Abraham and Sarah, and the Gospel writer's own story of his call while at work as a tax collector for the Roman Government.
John Calvin wrote of the three stages of a call:
1. The secret call when only inwardly you begin to be aware God wants you for a special discipleship.
2. The churchly call when the bureaucracy of the organized church begins to test and help you discern what God is calling you to be and do.
3. The congregational call when a particular congregation votes on whether you are the one God's Spirit is calling to serve them in word and sacrament ministry.
That could be explained and then you could move to the belief that all Christians are called to be ministers in their daily lives through their baptism. Using Abraham, Sarah, Matthew, and yourself as examples you can develop the idea of the ordained ministry and especially the ministry of the laity in their daily lives. Some of the elements of that discipleship of the laity would be:
1. A ministry of presence on God's behalf (incarnational),
2. A ministry of witness and stewardship mode for life style,
3. A ministry of justice, mercy, and advocacy,
4. A ministry of best use of one's natural gifts,
5. A ministry of peace.
B. The lesson from Romans will easily stand alone. Especially if last week you focused on Paul's great theological words of faith, justification, and salvation, today you might add to this powerhouse list:
1. Unconditional promise (v. 16),
2. Grace (v. 16),
3. Righteousness (v. 22),
4. Hope (v. 18).
C. A topical sermon could use all three readings focusing on the optimistic hope:
1. Abraham's hoping against all the evidence to the contrary;
2. Paul's hope that someone hated by everyone else could be loved by Jesus;
3. The woman's hope that she could be healed from a hemorrhage; and
4. Jairus' hope Jesus could care about his very ill daughter.
All these hopes depended on someone's belief that God could... would... or was predisposed to do so.
After suggesting the above, I'll still stick with the "on the way" healing and the calling out of her sick bed Jairus' little daughter. They are such compelling stories of how God wants to relate to us.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. Retell the story in either contemporary or traditional terms. "While Jesus was holding an evangelism rally in a local church..." or "One day when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue..."
2. These stories of miraculous healings teach us about God:
a. God wants to go home with us not just see us in church.
b. Jesus gave them a foretaste of the resurrection: even after death, God cares for us.
c. God is compassionate and sees each of us as individuals.
3. These stories teach something about ourselves also:
a. We can expect great things to happen to us when in God's presence.
b. No situation we face is ever hopeless.
c. We also have a new life after this one.
4. The author must have put these stories here to tell us what happens when the Kingdom of God breaks into our lives: outcasts are paid attention to, children blessed, and homes dramatically changed.
5. Now let's look at the flip side of these stories.
a. What to do when our families ridicule our faith.
b. Taking Jesus home.
c. We have a ministry of wholeness and health to carry out as disciples of Jesus today.
d. How we must see beyond the crowd to individuals to love on God's behalf.
6. So what?
a. You can take Jesus home with you today.
b. You can look for the misfits, outcasts, and outsiders even here in church and try to find ways to love and help.
c. We can also be prepared for the deaths we must face.
7. Now frame the sermon by returning to your opening sentence, whether in contemporary or traditional setting and conclude the story. "It was quite a day in the life of that congregation. The church and the members would never be the same again because...."
Prayer Of The Day
For your call to Abraham, Sarah, Matthew, and also to us, we give thanks today. Bless us with open ears to hear and respond to your invitation for us to follow you and be faithful disciples. Use us to see on your behalf the individual who would touch you for healing and encouragement. Give compassion through us as individuals and as a gathering of the faithful. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Possible Stories
On February 9, 2000, a Hong Kong radio station announced that Mayo Clinic scientists discovered that optimists live longer than pessimists by about twenty percent. It could mean pessimists don't get the medical help they need or it could mean they have a poorer immune system to fight diseases. It could mean they don't think it makes a difference so therefore don't take action like stopping smoking. It definitely shows a connection between mind and body. Perhaps Abraham and Sarah lived so long because they were optimists!
In the little Bavarian town of Alt Oetting, there is a Chapel of the Black Madonna where many miracles are prayed for and take place. All around the outside of the little chapel are paintings on little plaques called in German Bavarian votiv tafeln. They depict the miracles which happened in the lives of those who requested them. What miracles could be portrayed in the entrance or on the outside wall of our church? In the synagogue there would be at least two: a young girl getting off her deathbed and a woman in a crowd touching Jesus' garment.
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.
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
Jesus sees us as individuals and is willing to touch us with healing compassion.
Note: On these Sundays after Pentecost, we do the scripture readings in what is called Lectio Continua, or "reading in course" which means we are reading in order from Genesis, Romans, and Matthew. This often results in little or no connection between the readings for a given Sunday.
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 12:1-9
Abraham And Sarah
Abram is promised to be the father of a great nation if he will make a break from his past. In the interest of the future he is to pack up and go to a land were he had never been. And he is promised the blessing of a lineage to follow after him. At the time his wife Sarah was childless and Abe was 75 years old. In his one hundredth year he conceived a son, Isaac.
Abraham's trip from Syria was the same as migrating people in the second millennium. Shechem was about forty miles north of Jerusalem. It was an intersection of north-south and east-west routes of travel and had a good water supply. Some commentaries believe the Sychar of John 4:5 may be this Shechem. The Oak of Moreh was a Canaanite holy place: an old Canaanite sanctuary of the god El. First called Lug and then Beth-el, it has been associated with our Old Testament Jacob. The Negev is the southern dry highland of Palestine. Back then, there were better practices of irrigation which made it more livable than at present. We're off to the land of Canaan!
New Testament Lesson
Romans 4:13-25
Grace Through Faith
Paul is using the Abraham story of Genesis to illustrate his belief that it is grace given through our faith (v. 16) rather than keeping the law which justifies (v. 25) and saves us. His illustration of Abraham hinges on two things: Abraham's faith and God's undeserved grace. So God had made Abraham a big promise and that promise could be kept because Abraham believed God could and would keep the promise. It was the kind of devout faith which simply took God at God's word.
The Romans have it put before them two ways: the one way which will always fail is getting right with God by our own efforts; the other way is to enter our relationship with God based on grace. All we need to do is trust. And, of course, we have the Holy Spirit to help us do that.
Verses 18-25 simply say Abraham and Sarah trusted God to keep the promise. Abe believed God could make possible what seemed to others, and the rational world, impossible. If and when we individually or together can do that, great things are still just as possible. If all we do is based on our own skill and knowledge, we will probably end up pessimists. If we take God's grace and power seriously like Abraham and Sarah, we are bound to be much more optimistic.
We can add another great word Paul uses here: promise (epaggelia), which means a promise made unconditionally and purely out of the goodness of one's heart. No strings attached!
The Gospel
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Call Of Matthew And A New Miracle
The first portion of this reading is the call of Matthew and the following criticism of Jesus for eating in Matthew's home with sinners. This call might be compared with the call of Abraham in the Old Testament reading. Matthew's call to be a disciple of Jesus was as unlikely as Abraham and Sarah's to have a son! Matthew was hated by everyone for gathering the taxes of the Romans and Abraham and Sarah were much too old to conceive a child. Abraham left a secure home and Matthew left a secure job.
While Matthew left his IRS position, he did take his pen with him and thus recorded for us much of the ministry and teachings of Jesus. He is the one who must have taken great comfort and written down Jesus' words to those who were so critical of him: "For I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners" (v. 13b).
Verses 18-26 are the record of Jesus' going to the home of one of the leaders of the Synagogue and bringing back to life his daughter. But on the way to this home a woman sought healing. And in the midst of that crowd he healed her. It's a sort of "on the way" miracle. (And she was considered unclean -- see Leviticus 15:25.)
In a time when in our culture the individual is given less and less importance, here we have God's son who takes time to care about (and for) two separate individuals. There is such voluminous tenderness acted out. They were both females who had even less importance in the male-dominated society.
So Jairus (the name means "he will enlighten or diffuse light") met him in the crowd at church, but Jesus went home with him. There is an interesting sequence as Matthew wrote it: first the call of Matthew and the criticism of Jesus' going to his home and eating with sinners; then he agrees to go to the home of Jairus to help a little girl; and on the way there is this woman who had been struggling with vaginal bleeding for many years. It's like, at that moment for Jesus, no one else existed except the particular one in need. All three Synoptics report these amazing events.
Like the woman who just wanted to touch him, we too can touch him in our time of need -- in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and in the coming upon us of the Holy Spirit just like those early disciples.
Preaching Possibilities
A. Easily this Sunday's theme could be the call of God by using the Old Testament heroes, Abraham and Sarah, and the Gospel writer's own story of his call while at work as a tax collector for the Roman Government.
John Calvin wrote of the three stages of a call:
1. The secret call when only inwardly you begin to be aware God wants you for a special discipleship.
2. The churchly call when the bureaucracy of the organized church begins to test and help you discern what God is calling you to be and do.
3. The congregational call when a particular congregation votes on whether you are the one God's Spirit is calling to serve them in word and sacrament ministry.
That could be explained and then you could move to the belief that all Christians are called to be ministers in their daily lives through their baptism. Using Abraham, Sarah, Matthew, and yourself as examples you can develop the idea of the ordained ministry and especially the ministry of the laity in their daily lives. Some of the elements of that discipleship of the laity would be:
1. A ministry of presence on God's behalf (incarnational),
2. A ministry of witness and stewardship mode for life style,
3. A ministry of justice, mercy, and advocacy,
4. A ministry of best use of one's natural gifts,
5. A ministry of peace.
B. The lesson from Romans will easily stand alone. Especially if last week you focused on Paul's great theological words of faith, justification, and salvation, today you might add to this powerhouse list:
1. Unconditional promise (v. 16),
2. Grace (v. 16),
3. Righteousness (v. 22),
4. Hope (v. 18).
C. A topical sermon could use all three readings focusing on the optimistic hope:
1. Abraham's hoping against all the evidence to the contrary;
2. Paul's hope that someone hated by everyone else could be loved by Jesus;
3. The woman's hope that she could be healed from a hemorrhage; and
4. Jairus' hope Jesus could care about his very ill daughter.
All these hopes depended on someone's belief that God could... would... or was predisposed to do so.
After suggesting the above, I'll still stick with the "on the way" healing and the calling out of her sick bed Jairus' little daughter. They are such compelling stories of how God wants to relate to us.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. Retell the story in either contemporary or traditional terms. "While Jesus was holding an evangelism rally in a local church..." or "One day when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue..."
2. These stories of miraculous healings teach us about God:
a. God wants to go home with us not just see us in church.
b. Jesus gave them a foretaste of the resurrection: even after death, God cares for us.
c. God is compassionate and sees each of us as individuals.
3. These stories teach something about ourselves also:
a. We can expect great things to happen to us when in God's presence.
b. No situation we face is ever hopeless.
c. We also have a new life after this one.
4. The author must have put these stories here to tell us what happens when the Kingdom of God breaks into our lives: outcasts are paid attention to, children blessed, and homes dramatically changed.
5. Now let's look at the flip side of these stories.
a. What to do when our families ridicule our faith.
b. Taking Jesus home.
c. We have a ministry of wholeness and health to carry out as disciples of Jesus today.
d. How we must see beyond the crowd to individuals to love on God's behalf.
6. So what?
a. You can take Jesus home with you today.
b. You can look for the misfits, outcasts, and outsiders even here in church and try to find ways to love and help.
c. We can also be prepared for the deaths we must face.
7. Now frame the sermon by returning to your opening sentence, whether in contemporary or traditional setting and conclude the story. "It was quite a day in the life of that congregation. The church and the members would never be the same again because...."
Prayer Of The Day
For your call to Abraham, Sarah, Matthew, and also to us, we give thanks today. Bless us with open ears to hear and respond to your invitation for us to follow you and be faithful disciples. Use us to see on your behalf the individual who would touch you for healing and encouragement. Give compassion through us as individuals and as a gathering of the faithful. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Possible Stories
On February 9, 2000, a Hong Kong radio station announced that Mayo Clinic scientists discovered that optimists live longer than pessimists by about twenty percent. It could mean pessimists don't get the medical help they need or it could mean they have a poorer immune system to fight diseases. It could mean they don't think it makes a difference so therefore don't take action like stopping smoking. It definitely shows a connection between mind and body. Perhaps Abraham and Sarah lived so long because they were optimists!
In the little Bavarian town of Alt Oetting, there is a Chapel of the Black Madonna where many miracles are prayed for and take place. All around the outside of the little chapel are paintings on little plaques called in German Bavarian votiv tafeln. They depict the miracles which happened in the lives of those who requested them. What miracles could be portrayed in the entrance or on the outside wall of our church? In the synagogue there would be at least two: a young girl getting off her deathbed and a woman in a crowd touching Jesus' garment.
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.
