Third Sunday After The Epiphany
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle B
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (C, RC)
IsnÍt this a fascinating story? God was mad at those folks in Nineveh. Of course, one must take stories like this at face value. It would have been grossly unfair if God had really punished an entire city full of people for the offenses of some of them. Surely there were many fine people living there as well. But of course that would have been to miss the point. This is a parable, probably referring to the exile, and to the Assyrians. A three-day walk would have been sixty or more miles, obviously much more than any city. The biblical student may wish to pursue the symbolism: the Assyrians (Ninevites) repented at the first announcement of judgment, whereas Jonah seems completely unrepentant of his sinfulness.
Lesson 1: Jeremiah 3:21„4:2 (E)
We find essentially the same message here in Jeremiah as that in Jonah. God is distressed by the actions and attitudes of the people of Israel. Nonetheless, he also loves them and offers through the prophet the promise of forgiveness if they truly and earnestly repent.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (C, RC); 1 Corinthians 7:17-23 (E)
Paul seems here to expect the parousia, the culmination of the historical process. Perhaps Jesus will return to turn history in a new direction. Much has changed since PaulÍs time. For one thing, most of us are aware that Paul, for all his spiritual sensitivity, would not have been your basic marriage counselor. My own reaction, being in a happy marriage, is that I would stand beside my beloved in a time of crisis. Or maybe Paul merely meant that the sexual part of marriage would no longer be relevant. Regardless, Paul was off on his timing, but his point seems to be that in our relationship with Christ we do well to place a little less emphasis on the material side of life, and more on the spiritual.
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20 (C, RC, E)
Following the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus begins to display his ministry to the people around him. One of his first projects is the creation of a band of followers who can later carry out JesusÍ ministry to the larger territory. So we hear the message which would most characterize JesusÍ preaching: ñThe right time has come, and the Kingdom of God is near! Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News.'' Some facts stand out in this passage which are relevant to us. One is the fact that Jesus only chose what might be called ñcommon men'' to be part of his band of friends. There were no professional men, no one with education. These men were hard-working fishermen. Another fact is that Jesus seems to have felt the need for a close community of people with whom he could share his ideas and teachings. Stop and reflect: we only have on record about the number of words you and I speak in our workplace in a day or less. Yet these were good friends. They must have spent many hours around the campfire talking, arguing, joking. Jesus had a good sense of humor. Some of his friends, James and John, for example, were sometimes quite argumentative. Yes, IÍll bet there was many a good old heated discussion among those fellows.
A third important fact is that Jesus acted when the time was right. In one sense the Kingdom was always near. But the time was right for people to hear of it, to respond. A fourth fact to be noted is that these men were not merely called to be friends and to discuss. They were to be ñfishers of men'' (whoops „ sorry, theyÍve cleaned that up recently: read ñfish for people'').
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñRepentance And Renewal Of Life''
Text: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Theme: For the preacher the important word here is that repentance brings us into a new relationship with God. We need also point out that the concept of GodÍs intention to punish the people for their collective sins needs a lot of interpretation.
1. There is a moral basis to our universe. On the one hand, we are not taught by Jesus that God specifically punishes as the Old Testament folks believed. But there is an obvious set of consequences to wrongdoing, and these are surely established by God. Immorality has its prices. All the way from embarrassment, guilt feelings, broken relationships, hardened hearts, to criminal proceedings and lost fortunes, immorality is guaranteed to be destructive.
2. Since we are all sinners, we all stand in need of repentance. To repent means more than being sorry. It means the making of a sincere effort to correct the wrongs we have done, and to avoid any repetition.
3. To truly repent is not easy, since it requires inward change. I canÍt go through life wanting to do bad things, even though I may have a high degree of self-restraint and avoid doing them. Therefore, I will require inward change and renewal. That is possible, but not by a mere effort of the will. It will take some higher power to do that. Fortunately, God will grant renewal to the person who, seeing the damage of a wayward life, desires to change.
4. This is all complicated by the fact that not every situation has a right or wrong solution. Joseph Fletcher said it well a long time ago: ñChristian ethics, or moral theology, is not a scheme of living according to a code but a continuous effort to relate love to a world of relativities through a casuistry obedient to love; its constant task is to work out the strategy and tactics of love, for ChristÍs sake.''
Title: ñFirst Things First''
Text: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Theme: I am indebted to William Barclay for calling attention to another passage: Ephesians 5:22-26, in which Paul uses the analogy of marriage in such a way as to reveal a far nobler sense of its importance than would seem to be the case here. By the time he wrote Ephesians, Paul had come to realize that the parousia was not imminent. But in this Corinthians passage, he seems to believe that it is and that we do well to turn from even the most treasured and valued of our earthly possessions. I have to be honest and say that for myself, I would use one of the other two lectionary passages this coming Sunday. However, if required to preach on this passage, I would raise the question of the BibleÍs view of marriage, point out that the ancients had a very high sense of the importance of marriage, and that Jesus taught the way of unfailing loyalty, willing sacrifice, and forgiving love. Those would be my three points.
Title: ñSpreading The News''
Text: Mark 1:14-20
Theme: We have isolated four important facets to this report of the calling of some apostles. They were ordinary, unpretentious folks; they were to try to win others to the faith; they were to know the time was right; and they were to share this faith as part of a community. So:
1. Anyone can be a worthy witness. Of course itÍs better if we are biblically literate and articulate spokespersons. But thatÍs not what wins people. We respond to Jesus not by what he said so much as by what he is. As someone well said: Accepting Christ is like falling in love.
2. We must be sure the time is right. By this I mean that many people are outside the faith for reasons God understands, whether we do or not. I know one young person who fears for her fatherÍs eternal soul because she thinks he hasnÍt accepted Christ. I think he will at the proper time. We must be patient.
3. Our most winning strategy is to personify the love of Christ in our relationships and let that do the talking for us. But do keep in mind what Jesus said: ñFollow me and I will make you fish for people.'' That becomes part of our calling.
4. Once a person begins to accept the Christian faith, we best mature in that faith in a group setting. I for one moved from believing in Jesus Christ to an understanding of its promise and its obligations by becoming a member of a study group which shared the experience.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
In 1983, The New Yorker reported an interview of Alexander Solzhenitsyn on the occasion of his reception of the Templeton Award in London. He began his speech by saying: ñOver half a century ago, when I was still a small child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ïMen have forgotten God. ThatÍs why all this has happened.Í And if I were called upon to identify briefly the principal trait of the twentieth century, here , too, I would be unable to find anything more precise and pithy than to repeat once again, ïMen have forgotten God.Í ''
____________
Jesus told of two men who went into a temple to pray. One rather ostentatiously thanked God that he had been able to live a righteous life. Seeing what he considered to be a wretched tax collector, an undesirable if he ever saw one, he used him as an example, thanking God that he, a Pharisee (you can just imagine him standing a little taller with that proud thought), was not guilty of any of the many wrongs he felt sure that other fellow had done. ñIÍm not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer like everybody else,'' he prayed. He may very well have spoken these words aloud so the other man might hear and be properly scolded.
The other man? Yes, heÍd done a few things in his time. He did, indeed, work for the hated Roman occupation forces. It was wrong. He knew that. Yes, that Pharisee gentleman probably did obey the hundreds of little laws which he had no doubt memorized. But that was no affair of the tax collectorÍs. He knew he had done wrong. He confessed, openly, to his God, then prayed, ñGod, have pity on me, a sinner.''
Jesus, having in the first place addressed this story to ñpeople who were sure of their own goodness,'' concluded, ñI tell you the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God.'' The story is in Luke 18:9-14.
____________
The process of repentance begins with sorrow. In other words, thereÍs real discomfort in true repentance. A number of years ago, a movie which has recently reappeared on television, Love Story, contained a line which I thought trivial then and still do. The much-quoted line was, ñLove means not having to say youÍre sorry.'' On the contrary, love means being able to say, ñIÍm sorry.'' A healthy-minded person must have self-critical faculties in good working order which enable us to reflect on some things weÍve said and done (or failed to do) and experience regret. Maturity means being able to express that sentiment appropriately. We are all occasionally guilty of saying or doing things we later wish we hadnÍt. Of course, itÍs possible to overdo this point. IÍm not recommending that we go into a major guilt trip every time we slip a little. But at the same time, IÍd guess we all know people who seem capable of hurtful conduct yet it doesnÍt seem to trouble them. The person who doesnÍt occasionally say, ñBoy, that was a stupid thing I did,'' or ñI canÍt believe I said something that silly,'' or who never goes to a friend and says, ñCan you forgive me?'' is likely to be someone with very few friends. ñIÍm sorry'' can do wonders for relationships.
____________
I love Bruce LarsenÍs story about the time some friends were visiting, and as they were preparing to leave, they had trouble getting everything in their car. So Bruce offered to give them a car luggage rack he had in his garage. The friends were expressing their gratitude and Bruce admits he was magnanimously accepting their appreciation when his wife walked in and said, ñBruce, youÍre not giving them that old rack, are you? You know it never worked right.'' He was, of course, quite embarrassed and apologetic. HeÍs to be admired for sharing that very human story with the rest of us. ThatÍs honesty. Repentance starts there, the inward look which leads us to genuinely catch ourselves in the things we do or say which are petty or selfish or hurtful.
____________
I recently did something I wasnÍt very proud about. I was driving downtown and, being late for a meeting and in something of a hurry, found myself driving behind a driver in a gleaming BMW who was doing exactly the speed limit. In an effort to hurry him along a little bit, I pulled up too close to him (I hate it when someone tailgates me) and before long he speeded up a bit. Since that was working, I got even closer, he increased his speed even more, at which point a police car pulled out of a side street, lights flashing. I immediately slowed down and the officer pulled alongside me. I looked over and flashed my most disarming smile. He nodded, speeded up, and pulled the other poor guy over. As I passed, doing a sedate 55 miles an hour, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the officer getting ready to write a speeding ticket for the man I knew full well had speeded up to get out of my way. We had just entered a main highway and there was no way I could return to the scene of my crime, since one doesnÍt back up on a high-speed highway while a police officer is watching. The only good thing I can say about that is that I felt badly enough that I have honestly tried not to do that sort of thing again. The harm was done, but I didnÍt like myself very well.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 62:5-12 (C) „ ñFor God alone my soul waits in silence.''
Psalm 24 (RC) „ ñThe earth is the LordÍs and all that is in it.''
Psalm 130 (E) „ ñOut of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.''
Prayer Of The Day
O God, it is as though a voice speaks to me, deep within my being, calling me to a finer life, to richer relationships, to satisfaction with the person I am becoming. Yet, I know things about myself which fall terribly short of that life placed before me through Christ. Help me, O Lord, to step forth and aspire to that which calls me, to become the person you are encouraging me to be. In Christ I pray.
Lesson 1: Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (C, RC)
IsnÍt this a fascinating story? God was mad at those folks in Nineveh. Of course, one must take stories like this at face value. It would have been grossly unfair if God had really punished an entire city full of people for the offenses of some of them. Surely there were many fine people living there as well. But of course that would have been to miss the point. This is a parable, probably referring to the exile, and to the Assyrians. A three-day walk would have been sixty or more miles, obviously much more than any city. The biblical student may wish to pursue the symbolism: the Assyrians (Ninevites) repented at the first announcement of judgment, whereas Jonah seems completely unrepentant of his sinfulness.
Lesson 1: Jeremiah 3:21„4:2 (E)
We find essentially the same message here in Jeremiah as that in Jonah. God is distressed by the actions and attitudes of the people of Israel. Nonetheless, he also loves them and offers through the prophet the promise of forgiveness if they truly and earnestly repent.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (C, RC); 1 Corinthians 7:17-23 (E)
Paul seems here to expect the parousia, the culmination of the historical process. Perhaps Jesus will return to turn history in a new direction. Much has changed since PaulÍs time. For one thing, most of us are aware that Paul, for all his spiritual sensitivity, would not have been your basic marriage counselor. My own reaction, being in a happy marriage, is that I would stand beside my beloved in a time of crisis. Or maybe Paul merely meant that the sexual part of marriage would no longer be relevant. Regardless, Paul was off on his timing, but his point seems to be that in our relationship with Christ we do well to place a little less emphasis on the material side of life, and more on the spiritual.
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20 (C, RC, E)
Following the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus begins to display his ministry to the people around him. One of his first projects is the creation of a band of followers who can later carry out JesusÍ ministry to the larger territory. So we hear the message which would most characterize JesusÍ preaching: ñThe right time has come, and the Kingdom of God is near! Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News.'' Some facts stand out in this passage which are relevant to us. One is the fact that Jesus only chose what might be called ñcommon men'' to be part of his band of friends. There were no professional men, no one with education. These men were hard-working fishermen. Another fact is that Jesus seems to have felt the need for a close community of people with whom he could share his ideas and teachings. Stop and reflect: we only have on record about the number of words you and I speak in our workplace in a day or less. Yet these were good friends. They must have spent many hours around the campfire talking, arguing, joking. Jesus had a good sense of humor. Some of his friends, James and John, for example, were sometimes quite argumentative. Yes, IÍll bet there was many a good old heated discussion among those fellows.
A third important fact is that Jesus acted when the time was right. In one sense the Kingdom was always near. But the time was right for people to hear of it, to respond. A fourth fact to be noted is that these men were not merely called to be friends and to discuss. They were to be ñfishers of men'' (whoops „ sorry, theyÍve cleaned that up recently: read ñfish for people'').
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: ñRepentance And Renewal Of Life''
Text: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Theme: For the preacher the important word here is that repentance brings us into a new relationship with God. We need also point out that the concept of GodÍs intention to punish the people for their collective sins needs a lot of interpretation.
1. There is a moral basis to our universe. On the one hand, we are not taught by Jesus that God specifically punishes as the Old Testament folks believed. But there is an obvious set of consequences to wrongdoing, and these are surely established by God. Immorality has its prices. All the way from embarrassment, guilt feelings, broken relationships, hardened hearts, to criminal proceedings and lost fortunes, immorality is guaranteed to be destructive.
2. Since we are all sinners, we all stand in need of repentance. To repent means more than being sorry. It means the making of a sincere effort to correct the wrongs we have done, and to avoid any repetition.
3. To truly repent is not easy, since it requires inward change. I canÍt go through life wanting to do bad things, even though I may have a high degree of self-restraint and avoid doing them. Therefore, I will require inward change and renewal. That is possible, but not by a mere effort of the will. It will take some higher power to do that. Fortunately, God will grant renewal to the person who, seeing the damage of a wayward life, desires to change.
4. This is all complicated by the fact that not every situation has a right or wrong solution. Joseph Fletcher said it well a long time ago: ñChristian ethics, or moral theology, is not a scheme of living according to a code but a continuous effort to relate love to a world of relativities through a casuistry obedient to love; its constant task is to work out the strategy and tactics of love, for ChristÍs sake.''
Title: ñFirst Things First''
Text: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Theme: I am indebted to William Barclay for calling attention to another passage: Ephesians 5:22-26, in which Paul uses the analogy of marriage in such a way as to reveal a far nobler sense of its importance than would seem to be the case here. By the time he wrote Ephesians, Paul had come to realize that the parousia was not imminent. But in this Corinthians passage, he seems to believe that it is and that we do well to turn from even the most treasured and valued of our earthly possessions. I have to be honest and say that for myself, I would use one of the other two lectionary passages this coming Sunday. However, if required to preach on this passage, I would raise the question of the BibleÍs view of marriage, point out that the ancients had a very high sense of the importance of marriage, and that Jesus taught the way of unfailing loyalty, willing sacrifice, and forgiving love. Those would be my three points.
Title: ñSpreading The News''
Text: Mark 1:14-20
Theme: We have isolated four important facets to this report of the calling of some apostles. They were ordinary, unpretentious folks; they were to try to win others to the faith; they were to know the time was right; and they were to share this faith as part of a community. So:
1. Anyone can be a worthy witness. Of course itÍs better if we are biblically literate and articulate spokespersons. But thatÍs not what wins people. We respond to Jesus not by what he said so much as by what he is. As someone well said: Accepting Christ is like falling in love.
2. We must be sure the time is right. By this I mean that many people are outside the faith for reasons God understands, whether we do or not. I know one young person who fears for her fatherÍs eternal soul because she thinks he hasnÍt accepted Christ. I think he will at the proper time. We must be patient.
3. Our most winning strategy is to personify the love of Christ in our relationships and let that do the talking for us. But do keep in mind what Jesus said: ñFollow me and I will make you fish for people.'' That becomes part of our calling.
4. Once a person begins to accept the Christian faith, we best mature in that faith in a group setting. I for one moved from believing in Jesus Christ to an understanding of its promise and its obligations by becoming a member of a study group which shared the experience.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
In 1983, The New Yorker reported an interview of Alexander Solzhenitsyn on the occasion of his reception of the Templeton Award in London. He began his speech by saying: ñOver half a century ago, when I was still a small child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ïMen have forgotten God. ThatÍs why all this has happened.Í And if I were called upon to identify briefly the principal trait of the twentieth century, here , too, I would be unable to find anything more precise and pithy than to repeat once again, ïMen have forgotten God.Í ''
____________
Jesus told of two men who went into a temple to pray. One rather ostentatiously thanked God that he had been able to live a righteous life. Seeing what he considered to be a wretched tax collector, an undesirable if he ever saw one, he used him as an example, thanking God that he, a Pharisee (you can just imagine him standing a little taller with that proud thought), was not guilty of any of the many wrongs he felt sure that other fellow had done. ñIÍm not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer like everybody else,'' he prayed. He may very well have spoken these words aloud so the other man might hear and be properly scolded.
The other man? Yes, heÍd done a few things in his time. He did, indeed, work for the hated Roman occupation forces. It was wrong. He knew that. Yes, that Pharisee gentleman probably did obey the hundreds of little laws which he had no doubt memorized. But that was no affair of the tax collectorÍs. He knew he had done wrong. He confessed, openly, to his God, then prayed, ñGod, have pity on me, a sinner.''
Jesus, having in the first place addressed this story to ñpeople who were sure of their own goodness,'' concluded, ñI tell you the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God.'' The story is in Luke 18:9-14.
____________
The process of repentance begins with sorrow. In other words, thereÍs real discomfort in true repentance. A number of years ago, a movie which has recently reappeared on television, Love Story, contained a line which I thought trivial then and still do. The much-quoted line was, ñLove means not having to say youÍre sorry.'' On the contrary, love means being able to say, ñIÍm sorry.'' A healthy-minded person must have self-critical faculties in good working order which enable us to reflect on some things weÍve said and done (or failed to do) and experience regret. Maturity means being able to express that sentiment appropriately. We are all occasionally guilty of saying or doing things we later wish we hadnÍt. Of course, itÍs possible to overdo this point. IÍm not recommending that we go into a major guilt trip every time we slip a little. But at the same time, IÍd guess we all know people who seem capable of hurtful conduct yet it doesnÍt seem to trouble them. The person who doesnÍt occasionally say, ñBoy, that was a stupid thing I did,'' or ñI canÍt believe I said something that silly,'' or who never goes to a friend and says, ñCan you forgive me?'' is likely to be someone with very few friends. ñIÍm sorry'' can do wonders for relationships.
____________
I love Bruce LarsenÍs story about the time some friends were visiting, and as they were preparing to leave, they had trouble getting everything in their car. So Bruce offered to give them a car luggage rack he had in his garage. The friends were expressing their gratitude and Bruce admits he was magnanimously accepting their appreciation when his wife walked in and said, ñBruce, youÍre not giving them that old rack, are you? You know it never worked right.'' He was, of course, quite embarrassed and apologetic. HeÍs to be admired for sharing that very human story with the rest of us. ThatÍs honesty. Repentance starts there, the inward look which leads us to genuinely catch ourselves in the things we do or say which are petty or selfish or hurtful.
____________
I recently did something I wasnÍt very proud about. I was driving downtown and, being late for a meeting and in something of a hurry, found myself driving behind a driver in a gleaming BMW who was doing exactly the speed limit. In an effort to hurry him along a little bit, I pulled up too close to him (I hate it when someone tailgates me) and before long he speeded up a bit. Since that was working, I got even closer, he increased his speed even more, at which point a police car pulled out of a side street, lights flashing. I immediately slowed down and the officer pulled alongside me. I looked over and flashed my most disarming smile. He nodded, speeded up, and pulled the other poor guy over. As I passed, doing a sedate 55 miles an hour, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the officer getting ready to write a speeding ticket for the man I knew full well had speeded up to get out of my way. We had just entered a main highway and there was no way I could return to the scene of my crime, since one doesnÍt back up on a high-speed highway while a police officer is watching. The only good thing I can say about that is that I felt badly enough that I have honestly tried not to do that sort of thing again. The harm was done, but I didnÍt like myself very well.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 62:5-12 (C) „ ñFor God alone my soul waits in silence.''
Psalm 24 (RC) „ ñThe earth is the LordÍs and all that is in it.''
Psalm 130 (E) „ ñOut of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.''
Prayer Of The Day
O God, it is as though a voice speaks to me, deep within my being, calling me to a finer life, to richer relationships, to satisfaction with the person I am becoming. Yet, I know things about myself which fall terribly short of that life placed before me through Christ. Help me, O Lord, to step forth and aspire to that which calls me, to become the person you are encouraging me to be. In Christ I pray.
