The Impact Of Our Self-Images
Commentary
Some great philosopher declared, "I think, therefore I am." He might well have said, I think, therefore I am what I think I am."
All of the lessons for this Sunday, in one way or another, point to a dimension about us that is determinative when we begin to make choices and decisions. If we think small and see ourselves as alone, we expect small results from what we do. If we take the short view of life, we limit our plans to the expected threescore and ten and we lose much. If we think our new life comes after the great resurrection, rather than beginning in the here and now, we are likely to become stagnant and not make much of what God has entrusted to our keeping.
The truth about us is most of our waking hours are consumed by our concern for things which support our everyday life. Necessities drive us. Then comes our dreams and wants. Close on their heels comes what others expect of us. So we wear ourselves out trying to fulfill all those visions of who and what we are. When we sleep, we sleep in order to rest so we can get up and get at supporting our daily lives again.
Therefore, when someone tries to get our attention and remind us we are something more than meat, that there is something eternal about us and our destiny, we become burdened all the more. Now, we say, here is something else for us to do. Many of us would rather not hear it. We have enough to do to keep body and soul together.
Body and soul. There it is. The problem is, however, that sometimes we succeed in building a great body, working on a mind which is at least capable, and remaining spiritual pygmies -- stunted, blinded, insensible to another and greater dimension of our being which could, if we would pay attention, enrich us as a whole person.
If we could and would take the longer view of eternity into consideration; if we could and would be convinced, in the here and now, we can be recreated and made new; if we really would and could believe God is always near and ready to work with us, if we will let him, then our whole lives could be enriched with new visions, new possibilities, new joy.
OUTLINE I
Expect Great Things
2 Kings 13:14-20a
Introduction: Review the extraordinary history of Elijah and Elisha. Tell some of the stories related to them and keep attention focused on the fact that the writers of these stories are intent on revealing the power of God not the power of the prophets. Do some work on the concept of charisma in the Hebrew Scriptures; let the congregation understand such men were empowered, clothed, endowed with the Spirit, not because of anything in them but simply through the grace of God.
1. So Little to Work With. Go back and read the chapters preceding chapter 13 to learn Israel's forces have been reduced to ineffectiveness by the Syrians. In 13:7 we are informed there were no more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen. Not much to work with when the enemy has so much. Little wonder Joash is afraid.
Here it will be helpful if you will go back to the stories of David and his numbering of the people of Israel. To number the people was to show a lack of faith that Yahweh, God of war, could deliver his people.
2. Joash's Big Opportunity. Shoot the Arrow! Victory is assured. Strike the ground with your arrows! Show your confidence! And Joash blows it. Timidly he strokes the ground. Because of his timidity his victories over the Syrians will not be final. Somehow he has failed to hear what the prophet is saying. He misses the point. Fearful because of his limited forces he has discounted the power of God to bring victory. There is a great story about the presence and power of God in 2 Kings 6:15-19. Elisha is involved in that one, too. Look it up.
Conclusion: Now is the time to make the point. How many of us are like Joash? We look about us, add up our visible resources, and conclude what is possible is limited. So, bereft of the gifts of God, we attempt and accomplish small things. Refer to the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and how small things (five loaves and two fishes) accomplish great things when placed in the hand and under the power of God. Challenge the congregation to begin to see themselves as persons with unlimited potential when they are in league with God's gift of power.
Close with a prayer I once heard from an old southern gentleman: "Lord, help me to remember, ain't nothing you and I can't do together."
OUTLINE II
The Long View Versus the Short View
Luke 12:13-21
Introduction: It will be an interesting discipline to check out the context of this Scripture lesson and discover here Luke uses follow-up material which Matthew has placed in the Sermon on the Mount. Here is a different arrangement for a different church.
Matthew is addressing a church in need of direction and organization. His Gospel is in large part a membership training manual. Luke's church is better organized and already has the Sermon on the Mount in hand, no doubt. Thus Luke can use it for another purpose.
1. The Acknowledgement. It is probable Jesus created quite a positive impression with the hearer in the multitude. After being so blunt and clear about Pharisees and speaking so plainly about God's love and care, the hearer has found a man he can trust. So, he brings his problem. He pays Jesus a high compliment because he accords him the position of magistrate -- judge -- one who can help him with his problem. Jesus demures; rather than being a judge he becomes a counselor and raises an altogether different and more meaningful issue. Now the questioner must deal with his own sense of what is important.
2. The Story. Take time to review the parable Jesus tells. Here is a man who sees life as having to do only with the projected threescore and ten. While one is strong and healthy and things are going well he had better lay up something for his old age and retirement. Of course, this is a worthy concern. What is unworthy is his focus on himself alone. He plans to take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. There seems to be no thought for anyone else.
The Point. Not rich toward God. Does not think of what God may require of him. Does not think of others at all. This one has drawn his life into a very small circle. He will not be missed by many. Whether he lives or dies matters to no one else. Who knows what the phrase "this night your soul is required" means? Can it mean he is already spiritually dead? It may be a better reading than concluding God somehow strikes out at selfish people in anger and kills them.
Conclusion: What about us? Are we all meat? Is threescore and ten our only concern? What if there is more? What is our view? Short range? How do our plans measure up to our view?
Outline III
The Resurrected Life
Colossians 3:1-11
Introduction: All too often we in the church speak of the resurrection only in terms of what comes after death and what it means in the future. From our Scripture selection for today it is clear Paul sees another dimension. It may be a good thing to review the meaning and mode of baptism both in the Jewish tradition and for the early Church. The symbolism of dying (when immersed) and rising (when one comes out of the water) is a powerful one. For Paul, the resurrected, (new) life is not just something that begins in the hereafter. It is a present possibility -- even more, a present demand.
1. The New Mind. In the present, one can begin to "think God's thoughts after him." This takes deliberate doing. It is not something which becomes automatic when we have become disciples. It is a discipline to which we must give ourselves. There are those who seem to think once they are saved they go on automatic pilot and from that time forward they will think all the right thought and do all the right things. Such is not likely unless they make a willful decision to do so.
2. The New Life. Note the imperative which Paul uses. Put to death ... put away ... put on. These are things we must do. But the point is, now these are possibilities, we can do them, whereas before, we had no power to do so. Now, freed from the power of sin, given the power of the Spirit these are real possibilities and, since they are, we are held accountable to realize them in our daily lives.
3. The New Nature. Note Paul does not picture one who has now become perfected. Rather, he speaks of our being renewed, and that is something constantly going on in our lives. God works on us from the inside out. We are constantly working on ourselves from the outside in. Both are necessary in order for us to be made new.
Conclusion: Since resurrection is a now experience, appeal to your hearers to let it begin to work its wonder of renewal and re-creation on us Now.
All of the lessons for this Sunday, in one way or another, point to a dimension about us that is determinative when we begin to make choices and decisions. If we think small and see ourselves as alone, we expect small results from what we do. If we take the short view of life, we limit our plans to the expected threescore and ten and we lose much. If we think our new life comes after the great resurrection, rather than beginning in the here and now, we are likely to become stagnant and not make much of what God has entrusted to our keeping.
The truth about us is most of our waking hours are consumed by our concern for things which support our everyday life. Necessities drive us. Then comes our dreams and wants. Close on their heels comes what others expect of us. So we wear ourselves out trying to fulfill all those visions of who and what we are. When we sleep, we sleep in order to rest so we can get up and get at supporting our daily lives again.
Therefore, when someone tries to get our attention and remind us we are something more than meat, that there is something eternal about us and our destiny, we become burdened all the more. Now, we say, here is something else for us to do. Many of us would rather not hear it. We have enough to do to keep body and soul together.
Body and soul. There it is. The problem is, however, that sometimes we succeed in building a great body, working on a mind which is at least capable, and remaining spiritual pygmies -- stunted, blinded, insensible to another and greater dimension of our being which could, if we would pay attention, enrich us as a whole person.
If we could and would take the longer view of eternity into consideration; if we could and would be convinced, in the here and now, we can be recreated and made new; if we really would and could believe God is always near and ready to work with us, if we will let him, then our whole lives could be enriched with new visions, new possibilities, new joy.
OUTLINE I
Expect Great Things
2 Kings 13:14-20a
Introduction: Review the extraordinary history of Elijah and Elisha. Tell some of the stories related to them and keep attention focused on the fact that the writers of these stories are intent on revealing the power of God not the power of the prophets. Do some work on the concept of charisma in the Hebrew Scriptures; let the congregation understand such men were empowered, clothed, endowed with the Spirit, not because of anything in them but simply through the grace of God.
1. So Little to Work With. Go back and read the chapters preceding chapter 13 to learn Israel's forces have been reduced to ineffectiveness by the Syrians. In 13:7 we are informed there were no more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen. Not much to work with when the enemy has so much. Little wonder Joash is afraid.
Here it will be helpful if you will go back to the stories of David and his numbering of the people of Israel. To number the people was to show a lack of faith that Yahweh, God of war, could deliver his people.
2. Joash's Big Opportunity. Shoot the Arrow! Victory is assured. Strike the ground with your arrows! Show your confidence! And Joash blows it. Timidly he strokes the ground. Because of his timidity his victories over the Syrians will not be final. Somehow he has failed to hear what the prophet is saying. He misses the point. Fearful because of his limited forces he has discounted the power of God to bring victory. There is a great story about the presence and power of God in 2 Kings 6:15-19. Elisha is involved in that one, too. Look it up.
Conclusion: Now is the time to make the point. How many of us are like Joash? We look about us, add up our visible resources, and conclude what is possible is limited. So, bereft of the gifts of God, we attempt and accomplish small things. Refer to the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and how small things (five loaves and two fishes) accomplish great things when placed in the hand and under the power of God. Challenge the congregation to begin to see themselves as persons with unlimited potential when they are in league with God's gift of power.
Close with a prayer I once heard from an old southern gentleman: "Lord, help me to remember, ain't nothing you and I can't do together."
OUTLINE II
The Long View Versus the Short View
Luke 12:13-21
Introduction: It will be an interesting discipline to check out the context of this Scripture lesson and discover here Luke uses follow-up material which Matthew has placed in the Sermon on the Mount. Here is a different arrangement for a different church.
Matthew is addressing a church in need of direction and organization. His Gospel is in large part a membership training manual. Luke's church is better organized and already has the Sermon on the Mount in hand, no doubt. Thus Luke can use it for another purpose.
1. The Acknowledgement. It is probable Jesus created quite a positive impression with the hearer in the multitude. After being so blunt and clear about Pharisees and speaking so plainly about God's love and care, the hearer has found a man he can trust. So, he brings his problem. He pays Jesus a high compliment because he accords him the position of magistrate -- judge -- one who can help him with his problem. Jesus demures; rather than being a judge he becomes a counselor and raises an altogether different and more meaningful issue. Now the questioner must deal with his own sense of what is important.
2. The Story. Take time to review the parable Jesus tells. Here is a man who sees life as having to do only with the projected threescore and ten. While one is strong and healthy and things are going well he had better lay up something for his old age and retirement. Of course, this is a worthy concern. What is unworthy is his focus on himself alone. He plans to take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. There seems to be no thought for anyone else.
The Point. Not rich toward God. Does not think of what God may require of him. Does not think of others at all. This one has drawn his life into a very small circle. He will not be missed by many. Whether he lives or dies matters to no one else. Who knows what the phrase "this night your soul is required" means? Can it mean he is already spiritually dead? It may be a better reading than concluding God somehow strikes out at selfish people in anger and kills them.
Conclusion: What about us? Are we all meat? Is threescore and ten our only concern? What if there is more? What is our view? Short range? How do our plans measure up to our view?
Outline III
The Resurrected Life
Colossians 3:1-11
Introduction: All too often we in the church speak of the resurrection only in terms of what comes after death and what it means in the future. From our Scripture selection for today it is clear Paul sees another dimension. It may be a good thing to review the meaning and mode of baptism both in the Jewish tradition and for the early Church. The symbolism of dying (when immersed) and rising (when one comes out of the water) is a powerful one. For Paul, the resurrected, (new) life is not just something that begins in the hereafter. It is a present possibility -- even more, a present demand.
1. The New Mind. In the present, one can begin to "think God's thoughts after him." This takes deliberate doing. It is not something which becomes automatic when we have become disciples. It is a discipline to which we must give ourselves. There are those who seem to think once they are saved they go on automatic pilot and from that time forward they will think all the right thought and do all the right things. Such is not likely unless they make a willful decision to do so.
2. The New Life. Note the imperative which Paul uses. Put to death ... put away ... put on. These are things we must do. But the point is, now these are possibilities, we can do them, whereas before, we had no power to do so. Now, freed from the power of sin, given the power of the Spirit these are real possibilities and, since they are, we are held accountable to realize them in our daily lives.
3. The New Nature. Note Paul does not picture one who has now become perfected. Rather, he speaks of our being renewed, and that is something constantly going on in our lives. God works on us from the inside out. We are constantly working on ourselves from the outside in. Both are necessary in order for us to be made new.
Conclusion: Since resurrection is a now experience, appeal to your hearers to let it begin to work its wonder of renewal and re-creation on us Now.
