Proper 8 | Ordinary Time 13 - A
Wayne Brouwer
Schuyler Rhodes
Robert Maynard once told how he became a writer. The journey, he said, began when he was a young boy walking to school one morning. He came to a fresh patch of concrete in the sidewalk. Somebody had just finished troweling it smooth, and it was just waiting for him!
He bent over to write his name in the cement, when suddenly there was a hulking shadow engulfing him. Looking up in terror he saw the biggest construction mason he had ever seen in his life! The guy was holding a garbage can lid, ready to smash the first little kid who dared mess up his new sidewalk!
Maynard says he tried to run, but the guy caught him around the waist and shouted, "What do you think you're doing?! Why are you trying to spoil my work?!"
Maynard remembers babbling...
He bent over to write his name in the cement, when suddenly there was a hulking shadow engulfing him. Looking up in terror he saw the biggest construction mason he had ever seen in his life! The guy was holding a garbage can lid, ready to smash the first little kid who dared mess up his new sidewalk!
Maynard says he tried to run, but the guy caught him around the waist and shouted, "What do you think you're doing?! Why are you trying to spoil my work?!"
Maynard remembers babbling...
R. Craig Maccreary
Nowadays it is hard for any television viewer to avoid the reality show genre where "real
people" are forced into a variety of contests against each other in order to win the grand
prize. I think it would be interesting to add this approach to a group of preachers to see
what would happen. Who would be kicked off the island first? Who would be cut from
the team? Who does not come back to compete next week? Cutthroat competition among
preachers, temptations for clergy to cheat, the heartbreak of defeat as we find out who is
the biggest loser: I think there just might be an audience for this. Certainly it seems no
wackier than some of the reality shows that have made it onto the broadcast
schedules.
Of course, you are outraged at the idea. It seems no more...
Of course, you are outraged at the idea. It seems no more...
David Kalas
The children gather on the playground for a game: perhaps kickball, or basketball, or touch football. All the eligible players line up in front of the two captains, and then the great process begins: picking teams.
Perhaps some of the kids stand quietly, even shyly, waiting, hoping to be picked. Not the eager ones, though. They do not stand quietly. They raise and wave their hands! "Hey, over here! Pick me! Pick me!"
If it's a football game, they will likely do the same thing out on the field. Eager for the quarterback to throw the ball to them, they will wave their arms and call, "Over here! I'm open! Throw it to me!"
The man or woman of God ought to have something of that eagerness: the readiness to be chosen and used by God. Raise your hand and...
Perhaps some of the kids stand quietly, even shyly, waiting, hoping to be picked. Not the eager ones, though. They do not stand quietly. They raise and wave their hands! "Hey, over here! Pick me! Pick me!"
If it's a football game, they will likely do the same thing out on the field. Eager for the quarterback to throw the ball to them, they will wave their arms and call, "Over here! I'm open! Throw it to me!"
The man or woman of God ought to have something of that eagerness: the readiness to be chosen and used by God. Raise your hand and...
David Coffin
The 2018 movieThe Command narrated the disaster of the flagship Russian nuclear Submarine “Kursk,” which sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea in 2000. The disaster and rescue operations were stymied by governmental negligence. As the 23 sailors fought for survival aboard the disabled sub, their families were desperate for answers and updates of their loved ones aboard the sunken vessel. The constant reply was that it is their duty to trust the government process without question. Essentially the Russian government wanted blind obedience by these Russian families as the disabled submarine faced obstacles and impossible odds. In the beginning, the Russian government resisted offers for help for other nations. Is faith in the community of the Russian military and navel community...
Wayne Brouwer
Fred Craddock tells of a vacation encounter in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee years ago that moved him deeply. He and his wife took supper one evening in a place called The Black Bear Inn. One side of the building was all glass, open to a magnificent mountain view. Glad to be alone, the Craddocks were a bit annoyed when an elderly man ambled over and struck up a nosy conversation: “Are you on vacation?” “Where are you from?” “What do you do?”
When he discovered that Fred taught in a seminary, the man suddenly had a preacher story to tell. “I was born back here in these mountains,” he said. “My mother was not married, and her shame fell upon me. The children at school called me horrible names. During recess I would go hide in the weeds until the bell rang,” he told...
When he discovered that Fred taught in a seminary, the man suddenly had a preacher story to tell. “I was born back here in these mountains,” he said. “My mother was not married, and her shame fell upon me. The children at school called me horrible names. During recess I would go hide in the weeds until the bell rang,” he told...
David Coffin
How does one preach in the middle of the summer and vacation time, when God is possibly the last thing on people’s minds? Unless there is a summer weather disaster or tragic shooting incident at a populated tourist attraction, the whole topic of God, life, and death matters all seem distant if not morbid. This is still the season when the church does its mission. Matthew 28:16-20 still applies: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Greek: Ethne). This week’s texts provide opportunities to raise the question of what god we are serving in our actions. That is, what concern or reason for living really drives our lives? (Tillich, The Courage to Be, pp. 167-178).
Genesis 22:1-14
Genesis 22:1-14
David Coffin
A single mother and her child are living with her parents. The daughter/mother has been struggling with drugs and alcoholism for some time now. She has been arrested for driving under the influence and may have her child taken away from her unless she attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at a local church. The grandmother has been allowing her daughter to use the family credit cards and to abuse the household in many ways as she was on drinking binges with her latest boyfriend. Now both of them are attending Alcoholics Anonymous (for the daughter) and Al-Anon Family Groups for the Mother or Grandmother. Both of these 12-step groups tell the women that they must be committed to a new way of living. They will now have to let go of their old ways and have faith in their "higher power" (whom...
Without question the story of "The Sacrifice of Isaac" is one of the most horrific in the whole Bible. Through the centuries, readers have been almost morbidly drawn to this spectacle. Painters such as Rembrandt have found here the subject for some of the most powerful and haunting images in all of Western art. The story as been analyzed by theologians, philosophers, psychologists and hosts of others, including just ordinary folk, for insight into the complexities of the relationship between the human and the divine. As much as we might want to forget that this story was even a part of our sacred tradition, we seem constantly drawn back to it like a moth drawn to the flame.
Many church folks feel the congregation and its pastor are not doing a good job if church membership has not grown at an expected rate over the past year. Certainly they have a point. On the basis of the way we evaluate effectiveness and success, the numbers ought to indicate how things are going.
Our lessons for today, especially the first lesson and the gospel account, raise another possibility. Popularity might simply mean that people attend this or that church because they like what they hear, or rather that the preaching and the teaching are fitted to what the audience wants. Giving an unpopular message, like the news that God accepts us not because we are lovable but precisely when we are not, can keep the numbers down. It's not the good old American way! Earn your own...
Our lessons for today, especially the first lesson and the gospel account, raise another possibility. Popularity might simply mean that people attend this or that church because they like what they hear, or rather that the preaching and the teaching are fitted to what the audience wants. Giving an unpopular message, like the news that God accepts us not because we are lovable but precisely when we are not, can keep the numbers down. It's not the good old American way! Earn your own...
The readings for today are not a neat match for each other. The story in which Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac belongs in the "test of faith" sequence. What strikes me most about the other two readings is the notion of substitution, surrogacy, or deceiving appearances.
In the case of Romans 6, the believer is given a choice of identities. Because both the new person and the old are the same body, with the same members, and the two look the same, Paul says that each must determine to whom or to what to yield the members. Not how we appear but to whom and to what we are attracted and attached: that is what is at stake here. It is possible to give one's members over to sin and evil. But the price of that is slavery: one might as well be wearing chains. And to...
In the case of Romans 6, the believer is given a choice of identities. Because both the new person and the old are the same body, with the same members, and the two look the same, Paul says that each must determine to whom or to what to yield the members. Not how we appear but to whom and to what we are attracted and attached: that is what is at stake here. It is possible to give one's members over to sin and evil. But the price of that is slavery: one might as well be wearing chains. And to...
Lectionary Commentary and Sermon Illustrations
Emphasis Preaching Journal provides in-depth lectionary-based commentary on lectionary texts, plus thousands of sermon illustrations to help you create riveting sermons.For over 45 years, Emphasis has provided subscribers with scripturally sound, lectionary-based commentaries and sermon illustrations that connect with the people in the pews.
For each week, Emphasis writers delve into the heart of the lectionary readings, providing you with several fresh, solid ideas -- based squarely on the lectionary texts -- for creating sermons that speak powerfully to your audience. They look for overall themes that hold the readings together. Then, they zero in on the themes and the specific scripture links, suggesting directions for the sermon and worship service. Since a single idea each week may not provide what you are looking for at that particular time, writers suggest several, giving you the opportunity to select the one that matches your specific needs.
