Responding to Our Gifts
Commentary
Too many of us, I think, spend too much time blaming our past and the gifts we have received from others and then going on from that point. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul makes the extraordinary statement that "forgetting what lies behind, I press on toward the goal for the upward call in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14)
Let me suggest that this includes the heritage that is ours. It is important that we do not spend too much time standing around complaining about what we have or do not have. Worse is the assumption that these things are our right and self-generated. Such an attitude encourages a pride which is unworthy of us.
All of us are in large part products of our past. That does not mean that we can complain about it or take unjustifiable pride. The gifts from our past are entrusted to us without cost for safekeeping. If I encounter any attitude toward gifts from the past that is more prevalent than any other, it is just the lack of awareness of those gifts. Accepting them as our right with such an unawareness breeds a kind of pride that is destructive.
More than this is the fact that all of us receive such gifts. There are those who imagine that some receive them and others do not. The truth is that every one of us is a recipient of some blessing that came with the package. We may be physically naked and without clothing when we are born, but we are not naked inside. Just watch a newborn child sometime and you will be amazed at how many traits seem to be already there. Of course I do not mean for a moment to overplay this matter lest some imagine that all we have and are comes from the past, that we are shaped and motivated by our behavior and that we have very little if any freedom.
It is, I think, the Good News that we are free to do something with what we have been given --to reshape, to redirect, and to choose, what we will do with the gift. The Gospel (Good News) is that we cannot only forget what we have done but that in large part we can change what we are. We are not determined. We are not foreordained. We are given freedom in large measure and with that freedom comes responsibility.
OUTLINE I
God's Altar Call
Psalm 95:6-11
Introduction: I am interested in the fact that Psalm 95 in large part duplicates the movements found in Isaiah 6:1-8. In both selections one begins by being ushered into the presence of the glory of God. Once one realizes that presence, a sense of unworthiness overwhelms him. That sense of unworthiness calls to remembrance God's great gifts as compared to our own lack of obedience. Options for sermonizing on this text are:
A. Put emphasis on the place of worship in our lives. Worship can serve many purposes, but above all else it ushers us into the presence of God so that we may see ourselves as God sees us. Then we are moved to admit our disobedience and repent.
B. Comment on the meaning and purpose of judgment. There are those in your congregation who see judgment in every act of God that cuts across their pathway. They need to hear that the purpose of judgment is to awaken the sinner, turn the heart, and move one to repentance. Be careful not to gloss judgment over, but do be more careful to give grace its due. One can say that our God is one who relentlessly pursues us into every nook and cranny of life and will not let us be lost. See Luke 15.
C. Isn't it interesting that in these last verses of the poem those who are spoken to are spoken to as if they participated in the disobedience of their ancestors? Throughout the literature of this people, there is a constant attempt to bring the reader on the scene. I am reminded of an early television show called You Were There. Its intent was to seek to involve the viewer in what happened. Old Testament writers do that. They seek to make the hearer, or the reader, share the experience and make it her own. Identification is at a premium. We are, after all, a part of the common bundle we call humanity.
Conclusion: Whatever approach you use, be sure to make it contemporary. Do what the Old Testament writers did and seek to make it the experience of the hearers.
OUTLINE II
Check Your Heritage
2 Timothy 1:3-14
Introduction: The consideration of one's heritage, what one has been given by those who came before, is one of the themes of the Old Testament. It is clear that in every age that is a fact. Some of us would like to lay claim to being self-made, but the truth is that when we enter this world, both our genes and our environment are already there and offering us both problems and gifts. This selection moves easily into two parts.
A. Remembrance. Here is a young man who obviously has much going for him. Above all else he has been brought up in a religious home and given quite a heritage. The appeal is for him to remember and to know the kind of person he is called to be. Verse 7 is the clue to the image being held up for Timothy to emulate. All of us have received great gifts from our parents. Our task is to accept them and to build upon them.
B. Response. To have been given such marvelous gifts imposes a responsibility. Timothy is to be proud of what he has been given and, if necessary, to accept whatever cost that implies. It apparently was no popular thing to be a Christian during his time and apparently it could cost one much. The writer imposes a summary of the Gospel and challenges Timothy to live a life in keeping with what he has been taught.
Conclusion: All of us come with some built-in gifts. Others of us receive many more good gifts as we are nurtured into maturity. Sometimes we receive gifts we cannot use, some which hinder us, and others which are wonderful. It is important that we know that it is not the gift that is the key, but how we respond to it, how we manage it, and what we do with it. Even the worst of gifts can be turned into blessings, if we are a people who remembers that the decisions we make about what we have been given are more important than the gifts themselves.
OUTLINE III
Antidote for Pride
Luke 17:1-10
Introduction:Often the lectionary provides us with material which at first glance seems unusable and disconnected. This is surely the case with this Scripture. One struggles to find a common denominator, some theme common to what is put down here. The material, it seems to me, can be handled in several ways.
A. Responsibility for One Another. We are not to cause others to stumble, and if they do, we are to seek to restore them. There is always a heavy sense of responsibility for one another in Luke's Gospel.
B. The Need for Faith. Jesus' disciples made the error that many of us make in imagining that if we have "enough faith" we can do anything. Television ministers constantly remind us that if we just had enough faith we could recover our health, find wealth and joy, and be immune to what harms others. Here Jesus places the emphasis on what God does for us rather than the amount of faith we have.
C. Servanthood. This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus. Everybody seems to want to be noticed and needed. Here there is a command to self-abnegation. We are, in the words of Matthew 5, to let our "light so shine" that others may see our good works (and too many stop here), and give glory to God.
Conclusion: Responsibility, faith, servant-hood. These can be treated as a whole or as separate subjects in three sermons. You will note that very often Luke copies from Mark and uses the material in a different way. He does this since his church has different needs than did Mark's. Even so, what he records here is applicable to the church in any age, and that includes our own. We, too, have a responsibility for one another, we, too, need to focus our attention on God rather than flexing our faith muscles, and we, too, need to be reminded of our call to servanthood lest we seek to be the ones served.
Let me suggest that this includes the heritage that is ours. It is important that we do not spend too much time standing around complaining about what we have or do not have. Worse is the assumption that these things are our right and self-generated. Such an attitude encourages a pride which is unworthy of us.
All of us are in large part products of our past. That does not mean that we can complain about it or take unjustifiable pride. The gifts from our past are entrusted to us without cost for safekeeping. If I encounter any attitude toward gifts from the past that is more prevalent than any other, it is just the lack of awareness of those gifts. Accepting them as our right with such an unawareness breeds a kind of pride that is destructive.
More than this is the fact that all of us receive such gifts. There are those who imagine that some receive them and others do not. The truth is that every one of us is a recipient of some blessing that came with the package. We may be physically naked and without clothing when we are born, but we are not naked inside. Just watch a newborn child sometime and you will be amazed at how many traits seem to be already there. Of course I do not mean for a moment to overplay this matter lest some imagine that all we have and are comes from the past, that we are shaped and motivated by our behavior and that we have very little if any freedom.
It is, I think, the Good News that we are free to do something with what we have been given --to reshape, to redirect, and to choose, what we will do with the gift. The Gospel (Good News) is that we cannot only forget what we have done but that in large part we can change what we are. We are not determined. We are not foreordained. We are given freedom in large measure and with that freedom comes responsibility.
OUTLINE I
God's Altar Call
Psalm 95:6-11
Introduction: I am interested in the fact that Psalm 95 in large part duplicates the movements found in Isaiah 6:1-8. In both selections one begins by being ushered into the presence of the glory of God. Once one realizes that presence, a sense of unworthiness overwhelms him. That sense of unworthiness calls to remembrance God's great gifts as compared to our own lack of obedience. Options for sermonizing on this text are:
A. Put emphasis on the place of worship in our lives. Worship can serve many purposes, but above all else it ushers us into the presence of God so that we may see ourselves as God sees us. Then we are moved to admit our disobedience and repent.
B. Comment on the meaning and purpose of judgment. There are those in your congregation who see judgment in every act of God that cuts across their pathway. They need to hear that the purpose of judgment is to awaken the sinner, turn the heart, and move one to repentance. Be careful not to gloss judgment over, but do be more careful to give grace its due. One can say that our God is one who relentlessly pursues us into every nook and cranny of life and will not let us be lost. See Luke 15.
C. Isn't it interesting that in these last verses of the poem those who are spoken to are spoken to as if they participated in the disobedience of their ancestors? Throughout the literature of this people, there is a constant attempt to bring the reader on the scene. I am reminded of an early television show called You Were There. Its intent was to seek to involve the viewer in what happened. Old Testament writers do that. They seek to make the hearer, or the reader, share the experience and make it her own. Identification is at a premium. We are, after all, a part of the common bundle we call humanity.
Conclusion: Whatever approach you use, be sure to make it contemporary. Do what the Old Testament writers did and seek to make it the experience of the hearers.
OUTLINE II
Check Your Heritage
2 Timothy 1:3-14
Introduction: The consideration of one's heritage, what one has been given by those who came before, is one of the themes of the Old Testament. It is clear that in every age that is a fact. Some of us would like to lay claim to being self-made, but the truth is that when we enter this world, both our genes and our environment are already there and offering us both problems and gifts. This selection moves easily into two parts.
A. Remembrance. Here is a young man who obviously has much going for him. Above all else he has been brought up in a religious home and given quite a heritage. The appeal is for him to remember and to know the kind of person he is called to be. Verse 7 is the clue to the image being held up for Timothy to emulate. All of us have received great gifts from our parents. Our task is to accept them and to build upon them.
B. Response. To have been given such marvelous gifts imposes a responsibility. Timothy is to be proud of what he has been given and, if necessary, to accept whatever cost that implies. It apparently was no popular thing to be a Christian during his time and apparently it could cost one much. The writer imposes a summary of the Gospel and challenges Timothy to live a life in keeping with what he has been taught.
Conclusion: All of us come with some built-in gifts. Others of us receive many more good gifts as we are nurtured into maturity. Sometimes we receive gifts we cannot use, some which hinder us, and others which are wonderful. It is important that we know that it is not the gift that is the key, but how we respond to it, how we manage it, and what we do with it. Even the worst of gifts can be turned into blessings, if we are a people who remembers that the decisions we make about what we have been given are more important than the gifts themselves.
OUTLINE III
Antidote for Pride
Luke 17:1-10
Introduction:Often the lectionary provides us with material which at first glance seems unusable and disconnected. This is surely the case with this Scripture. One struggles to find a common denominator, some theme common to what is put down here. The material, it seems to me, can be handled in several ways.
A. Responsibility for One Another. We are not to cause others to stumble, and if they do, we are to seek to restore them. There is always a heavy sense of responsibility for one another in Luke's Gospel.
B. The Need for Faith. Jesus' disciples made the error that many of us make in imagining that if we have "enough faith" we can do anything. Television ministers constantly remind us that if we just had enough faith we could recover our health, find wealth and joy, and be immune to what harms others. Here Jesus places the emphasis on what God does for us rather than the amount of faith we have.
C. Servanthood. This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus. Everybody seems to want to be noticed and needed. Here there is a command to self-abnegation. We are, in the words of Matthew 5, to let our "light so shine" that others may see our good works (and too many stop here), and give glory to God.
Conclusion: Responsibility, faith, servant-hood. These can be treated as a whole or as separate subjects in three sermons. You will note that very often Luke copies from Mark and uses the material in a different way. He does this since his church has different needs than did Mark's. Even so, what he records here is applicable to the church in any age, and that includes our own. We, too, have a responsibility for one another, we, too, need to focus our attention on God rather than flexing our faith muscles, and we, too, need to be reminded of our call to servanthood lest we seek to be the ones served.
