Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - A
Wayne Brouwer
According to social researchers there are five basic reasons why people fail to make long-
term commitments such as marriage. First, some are hurt by a past relationship that came
undone in a nasty or painful way. "Once bitten, twice shy" is the way the modern proverb
puts it. Troublesome difficulties in a passionate romance where we allowed ourselves to
become vulnerable and then felt abused or misused by the object of our emotions can
cause us to pull back from similar future possibilities.
William H. Shepherd
God works in hidden ways.
It's an oft-heard saying, perhaps a cliché, but there is a reason certain phrases become clichés. The Bible gives plenty of evidence of a God who works in hidden ways.
Our lections this morning give us three such pieces of evidence. In Jacob, God was at work to fulfill the promise given to Abraham that he would become a great nation -- even in the trickery that kept Jacob in virtual serfdom for fourteen years. In the letter to the Romans, Paul speaks of God's work in a Spirit we cannot see, who speaks words we cannot hear, and the Gospel of Matthew pictures the kingdom of heaven growing through hidden processes and surprising turns. The promise of all three lessons is that at the end of the road, everything will turn out for the good....
It's an oft-heard saying, perhaps a cliché, but there is a reason certain phrases become clichés. The Bible gives plenty of evidence of a God who works in hidden ways.
Our lections this morning give us three such pieces of evidence. In Jacob, God was at work to fulfill the promise given to Abraham that he would become a great nation -- even in the trickery that kept Jacob in virtual serfdom for fourteen years. In the letter to the Romans, Paul speaks of God's work in a Spirit we cannot see, who speaks words we cannot hear, and the Gospel of Matthew pictures the kingdom of heaven growing through hidden processes and surprising turns. The promise of all three lessons is that at the end of the road, everything will turn out for the good....
Mark Ellingsen
Genesis 29:15-28
The First Lesson, drawn from the Bible’s Book of Origins (the reason why we name it Genesis), the product of four distinct oral strands, recounts the story of Jacob winning Rachel. The source of this account is unclear. The account begins with Laban, the father of Rachel, who was also the brother of Jacob’s mother (v.10), running to meet Jacob, kissing him, and coming to him as kin (vv.13-14). Then Laban proposed that since they were kin [ach, literally “brother”] Jacob should serve him for nothing (and then asked about wages Jacob wanted ) (v.15). Laban’s two daughters are described (vv.16-17). (Rachel the younger is portrayed as graceful and beautiful compared to her elder sister Leah.) Jacob loved [aheb]...
The First Lesson, drawn from the Bible’s Book of Origins (the reason why we name it Genesis), the product of four distinct oral strands, recounts the story of Jacob winning Rachel. The source of this account is unclear. The account begins with Laban, the father of Rachel, who was also the brother of Jacob’s mother (v.10), running to meet Jacob, kissing him, and coming to him as kin (vv.13-14). Then Laban proposed that since they were kin [ach, literally “brother”] Jacob should serve him for nothing (and then asked about wages Jacob wanted ) (v.15). Laban’s two daughters are described (vv.16-17). (Rachel the younger is portrayed as graceful and beautiful compared to her elder sister Leah.) Jacob loved [aheb]...
Sandra Herrmann
Our three selections for today have not much in the way of similarities. We have the story of Jacob, who cheated his own brother, Esau, and so had to leave home; his mother sends him to her brother Laban, who in turn cheats Jacob. It seems this talent for being a cheat runs in the family. But this is no excuse for anti-Semitism, despite what Shakespeare apparently thought.
In Romans, we have the deep theological musings of Paul, who figures he’ll be executed in Rome. He is ruminating, as do all of us who face the reality of death, on his relationship with God, and his faith that “all things work together in God” and that “nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God.” This is not mere whistling in the dark. It is evident in his words as well as his conclusions...
In Romans, we have the deep theological musings of Paul, who figures he’ll be executed in Rome. He is ruminating, as do all of us who face the reality of death, on his relationship with God, and his faith that “all things work together in God” and that “nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God.” This is not mere whistling in the dark. It is evident in his words as well as his conclusions...
Frank Ramirez
Turning the tables is an effective storytelling device in both comedy and tragedy. Jacob, a champion table-turner, suddenly gets a taste of his own medicine.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans the tables are turned when those who seem to have no influence, who have nothing in the eyes of the powerful, suddenly come to know that we do have friends in high places -- the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Turning tables is a regular device in the parables of Jesus. In this set of one-liners shared by Jesus, the abundance that is out there in plain sight belies the myth of scarcity. The kingdom of heaven is available to all who will just look and see! And someday the tables will be turned on the powerful who have rejected this message of love. There will be a...
In Paul’s letter to the Romans the tables are turned when those who seem to have no influence, who have nothing in the eyes of the powerful, suddenly come to know that we do have friends in high places -- the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Turning tables is a regular device in the parables of Jesus. In this set of one-liners shared by Jesus, the abundance that is out there in plain sight belies the myth of scarcity. The kingdom of heaven is available to all who will just look and see! And someday the tables will be turned on the powerful who have rejected this message of love. There will be a...
David Coffin
So a person believes they have gotten a job or are active in a community that calls itself "Christian." Is this place a snapshot of the Kingdom of God (or Heaven as St. Matthew calls it), or are we all in process of becoming the "Kingdom of God?" Today's texts provide ambiguities of how God's kingdom comes together with varying personalities and concerns.
One can identify a joker, or trickster in a given organization. We wonder, "When will this person ever grow up?" But then we see God's hand at work when this same person reaps what he or she sows because of their tricks, white lies or secretive stunts comes to haunt them. This is the world of Jacob in Genesis 29. But there are other people at work within the organization also.
One can identify a joker, or trickster in a given organization. We wonder, "When will this person ever grow up?" But then we see God's hand at work when this same person reaps what he or she sows because of their tricks, white lies or secretive stunts comes to haunt them. This is the world of Jacob in Genesis 29. But there are other people at work within the organization also.
Wayne Brouwer
Schuyler Rhodes
When I was in high school a new music teacher came to town. He was fresh out of college and full of ambition. But here he was, stuck in a very rural community where people didn't put up with (as they called it) "long-haired music," either from the Beatles or Beethoven.
Still, he was determined to teach us good music. We were going to sing selections from Handel's Messiah for our Christmas concert. Most of us had never heard of Georg Frederic Handel, and when we first tried to sight-read through the selections we became convinced we didn't like his music. It was too hard, too complicated. More than that, Handel wouldn't allow us to sing simple harmonies; no, he created different parts for each voice, and we in the bass section weren't able to hide all our typical...
Still, he was determined to teach us good music. We were going to sing selections from Handel's Messiah for our Christmas concert. Most of us had never heard of Georg Frederic Handel, and when we first tried to sight-read through the selections we became convinced we didn't like his music. It was too hard, too complicated. More than that, Handel wouldn't allow us to sing simple harmonies; no, he created different parts for each voice, and we in the bass section weren't able to hide all our typical...
Several years ago a friend was unloading her van in the steeply inclined driveway next to her home. For some reason the brakes failed and the van began to roll down the drive. Hoping to stop the van before damage was done to it or the house, she ran to the driver's side of the car and attempted to put a foot on the brake. The momentum of the van and the slope of the driveway worked together to throw her to the ground under the wheels of the van. Severe damage was done to some of her interior organs. As she lay conscious in the driveway waiting for help, she began to think of her two small children and her husband. "How unfair it would be to them for me to die," she thought. "And how unfair to me, to miss seeing them grow up." But later, as she recounted this story fully recovered, she...
The first great commandment that we should "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind" (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27) challenges our thinking that love is simply a matter of the heart or of the soul. The inclusion of strength implies the involvement of the body, and the mention of the mind (not in the Deuteronomy passage but in all three Gospel passages) certainly challenges us to consider the ways we love God with our reason.
If you are a preacher who likes to pull all of the texts for the day into your sermon, this Sunday will stretch your creativity. In addition to the three readings, we have a Gospel text in which there are not less than five parables! It is not necessary, of course, to consider all three lessons in your sermon. Yet, having heard them read, it is helpful to your hearers if something from each of them can be reinforced in your sermon.
A common element may be this -- that there are some things in life for which it is worthwhile to sacrifice everything. Jacob lived for seven years in obedience to his father-in-law, working diligently in the full expectation that his reward would be the woman he loved so passionately -- Rachel. Instead, he got Leah. But Jacob's love for...
A common element may be this -- that there are some things in life for which it is worthwhile to sacrifice everything. Jacob lived for seven years in obedience to his father-in-law, working diligently in the full expectation that his reward would be the woman he loved so passionately -- Rachel. Instead, he got Leah. But Jacob's love for...
Lectionary Commentary and Sermon Illustrations
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