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Proper 22 / Pentecost 17 / Ordinary Time 27

Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle C
Theme For The Day
Faith is an unfailing source of spiritual power that we can tap into in difficult times.

Old Testament Lesson
Lamentations 1:1-6
The Lonely City
The poems of Lamentations are traditionally attributed to Jeremiah (hence their location in the Bible immediately following this larger prophetic book) -- although most scholars now agree that these poems were written by others. Their historical setting is the ruins of the Jerusalem Temple, following the Babylonian invasion. They are the songs of a defeated and dispirited people, who are trying, against difficult odds, to carry on divine worship. "How lonely sits the city ... how like a widow she has become!" The once free and independent city, the holy city of Yahweh, "has become a vassal" (v. 1). The one who has caused this suffering is Yahweh (v. 5), but the people are clearly responsible -- for it is their apostasy that has led them down the road to misery.

New Testament Lesson
2 Timothy 1:1-14
True And False Teaching
The author of this letter is writing to a church beset with the problem of false teachers. "Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me," he says in verse 13 -- a verse which summarizes the principal concern of the letter. The mention of "the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands" (v. 6) is a reference to ordination -- a concept completely absent from the genuinely Pauline letters, and one which reflects this late document's concern with establishing and maintaining the church's organizational structures. A possible three-point sermon is outlined in verse 7: the Spirit's gifts of power, love, and self-discipline as over against "a spirit of cowardice." The reference to shame in verse 8 reflects the experience of this church in encountering stiff opposition and even persecution: the letter is an exhortation to perseverance through difficult times.

The Gospel
Luke 17:5-10
Teachings On Faith And Obedience
This passage is part of a larger selection of four miscellaneous teachings of Jesus (vv. 1-10) which have little relationship to one another. There are two distinct teachings in today's lectionary selection: verses 5-6, on faith; and verses 7-10, on obedience. Both are mini-parables. Although it can be debated whether or not Jesus himself presented these teachings as a single unit, Luke has chosen to present them in this way. The two earlier teachings (vv. 1-2, on sinning against brothers and sisters; and vv. 3-4, on the need to forgive) demonstrate the difficulty of the Christian life. It is no wonder, therefore, that the disciples plead that the Lord increase their faith (v. 5). Jesus deflects their entreaty, portraying faith as a force so powerful that even the tiniest amount of it is more than sufficient to perform wonders. He is saying that they should not be preoccupied with increasing their faith, because even the tiniest amount of it is more than enough. The particular type of conditional phrase he uses here ("If you had faith ...") implies that the disciples do in fact already possess that faith. In verses 7-10, he puts the disciples in their place, reminding them that they are servants of God, and are expected to perform servant duties. This message is a hard sell in our individualistic, freedom-loving culture, but is worth presenting all the same, since it is a theme repeated often throughout the gospels. The use of the word "apostles" in verse 5 (rather than "disciples") reveals Luke's concern with the church of his own day.

Preaching Possibilities
When the disciples ask Jesus about faith, he often has a way of deflecting their questions -- not avoiding them exactly, but answering them indirectly through the use of parables. One of Jesus' shortest parables is the parable of the mustard seed, but just because it's short doesn't make it easy to understand.

"Increase our faith!" the disciples demand of their master. In response, Jesus says to them, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you" (Luke 17:6). The mustard seed is among the tiniest of seeds. If we were holding one in the palm of the hand, we might miss seeing it, unless it were in the company of others. Yet Jesus says even this tiny morsel of faith is all that's needed to uproot a mighty tree.

There's no reason to think Jesus is scolding the disciples, here; criticizing them for their lack of faith. The original Greek contains no hint of criticism. It's as though he's saying, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed -- and you do -- that faith is more than enough to uproot a mighty tree!" So when the disciples come to their Lord and demand, "Increase our faith!" Jesus' response is, "You've already got all the faith you need -- even a mustard-seed measure is more than enough!"

This image Jesus uses -- emphasizing the power of the small -- is something like nuclear fusion, that holy grail of theoretical physicists. The sort of atomic power unleashed by the atomic bomb -- and that generates electricity in our nuclear power plants today -- is nuclear fission. It costs a fortune to begin that kind of nuclear reaction, and the outcome is inherently unstable and dangerous. A nuclear fusion reaction, by contrast -- if the scientists can ever figure out how to pull it off -- would be safe, stable, and inexpensive. It uses hydrogen atoms (found everywhere), rather than the rare and expensive uranium. It derives its energy from combining sub-atomic particles, rather than splitting them.

In teaching about the power locked inside a mustard-seed measure of faith, Jesus is speaking of a sort of faith fusion. Activate the tiniest fragment of faith, he's saying, and we can accomplish things undreamed of! Faith, for him, is a sort of spiritual power or energy, that's available in abundance. When the disciples ask him to increase their supply of faith, his kidding reply is meant to be comfortable and affirming: "What for?" he asks. "Even that tiny bit of faith you characters carry around with you is more than enough!"

There are times in life when we would eagerly make the same demand of Jesus: "Increase our faith!" There are times in life -- seasons of challenge and suffering -- when we may be tempted to roll our eyes heavenward and sigh aloud, "If only I had more faith!" What Jesus is saying in those situations of trial and challenge, is that it's not more faith we need; we just need to take the faith we've already been given and deploy it more effectively.

When, coming to the Lord's table, we take into our hands a tiny morsel of bread, or drink from the cup of sacramental wine, it may seem like what we're holding in our hands is insignificant and inconsequential. It's ordinary stuff, that bread and wine -- no different in substance from what might sit on our dinner table at home. Yet, like the atom of hydrogen that's transformed by nuclear fusion into a blaze of power, that bread and that cup have the ability to transform our lives in astonishing ways. There is nothing magical about the material stuff of the communion elements. It's all about the power we Christians call the Holy Spirit, that activates them in our lives.

Jesus said to his disciples that a mustard-sized morsel of faith is more than enough to uproot a mighty tree and cast it into the sea. There's no telling what a cube of communion bread or a sip of communion wine can do, for people of faith who come to the Lord's table hungry and searching for what our host has prepared for us.

Prayer For The Day
We know, O Lord,
that we're not supposed to make our faith into a work:
yet time and again, we do exactly that.
Help us, in these sacred moments of worship and prayer,
to relax ...
to let go ...
to simply trust in your remarkable ability to flow into and through our hearts,
inspiring us,
empowering us,
saving us.
For we ask it in the name of Christ,
who bids us come.
Amen.

To Illustrate
A number of years ago, the well-known preacher Henry Drummond preached a classic sermon titled "The Greatest Thing in the World." Drummond concluded his sermon with a bit of a school-science-project illustration. If you place a piece of iron, he said, in the presence of an electrified field, that piece of iron itself will become electrified. In the presence of that electrical field, it's changed into a magnet. As long as it remains in contact with that field of electromagnetic power, it will attract other pieces of iron to itself.

Many of us can remember how to make electromagnets, from elementary-school science class. You take an old iron nail, wrap a piece of wire around it, and attach both ends of the wire to the terminals of a dry-cell battery. In no time at all, that electrified nail is attracting all manner of paper clips, thumbtacks, and iron filings.

Is the nail itself changed? Not one bit. It's the power flowing through it that makes the difference.

That's the way it is with faith. We all have it; but every so often, we doubt that we have it. We get all introspective, and ask ourselves, "Where's the faith? Do I still have it? Did I lose it? If so, can I find it again?"

Is it even possible to "lose" faith? It seems doubtful. Faith isn't a possession of ours in the first place. It's a spiritual power that originates with God and comes to us as a gift. What we must do, in a season of doubt, is to hook ourselves up to God's battery terminals, so the surge of spiritual energy will flow into us -- and, through us, to others.

***

Not a single one of the new powers discovered by [humanity] possesses any redeeming force. Neither fire, nor steam, nor explosives, nor electricity, nor atomic energy can change [human] nature. The greatest force ever bestowed on [the human race] streamed forth in blood and sweat and tears and death on Calvary ... when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on the cross. It was a power so great that it shattered the last fortress -- death. It was a power so great that it made atonement for all the sin of all the world. It was a power so great that it provided for those who would accept it the ability to live victoriously like children of God, in fellowship with him who made the world and the sun, the moon and the stars. It was power that would enable believers to do the mighty works of Christ, and to experience, flowing in and through their own lives, the energy of God. Here is a power so tremendous that with it nothing is impossible; and without it, nothing we do has any eternal value or significance.
-- Peter Marshall, in a sermon written not long after the discovery of nuclear power

***

In the Christian vision, one Greek word has consistently characterized the Holy Spirit: dynamis from which we get our word dynamite. The Spirit is Power, the Spirit is dynamite.
-- Walter J. Burghardt

***

Power can be used in at least two ways: it can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can. Or it can be channeled through the engine of a Honda in a controlled burn and used to transport a person 350 miles. Explosions are spectacular, but controlled burns have lasting effect, staying power. The Holy Spirit works both ways.

At Pentecost, he exploded on the scene; his presence was like "tongues of fire" (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by one burst of God's power. But he also works through the church -- the institution God began to tap the Holy Spirit's power for the long haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, Christians are provided with staying power.
-- Anonymous

***

A seeker challenged Imam Sadiq, "Convince me of the existence of God."

Knowing that the man had traveled the seas, the Imam asked him, "Have you ever been caught in a fierce storm in the middle of a voyage, your rudder gone, your sails torn, your vessel in danger of capsizing, and no land in sight?"

The man replied, "Yes."

The Imam then asked him, "Yet was not there always, despite your black despair, a glimmer of hope in your heart that someone, somewhere -- some unnamed and unknown power -- could still save you?"

"Yes," the man answered again.

To which the Imam replied, "That power is God."
-- Beliefnet.com

***

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
-- C. S. Lewis
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Epiphany 7 (OT 7)
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New & Featured This Week

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John Jamison
Object: Two pairs of headphones. One should be a larger, more traditional pair, and the other a smaller, ‘ear bud’ pair.

* * *

John Jamison
Object: A phone with a camera, a candy bar, and all kinds of noisemakers. You could use a real megaphone or make one by rolling up a piece of poster board. Other noisemakers could be bells, horns, whistles, pan lids to bang together, and anything else that can make a lot of noise.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
George Reed
Dean Feldmeyer
For March 9, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Frank Ramirez
Ash Wednesday is a day for remembering our sins, asking for forgiveness, and resolving to change. In his essay “On Forgiveness,” C.S. Lewis made an important distinction between asking forgiveness for sins and excusing our sins. Instead of confessing fault, people make excuses for what they’ve done – not only to God, but to each other. How many times have you heard (or made) what seemed to be an apology, but which ended up as an excuse for which no blame was taken?
David Coffin
Around 1987, an aspiring young musician left the confines of his Midwest rural Indiana home to try to find fame and fortune in the streets of Los Angeles, California. He found the streets as a place to fight survival as he saw homelessness, ruthless predators taking advantage of people and he ended up living in a friend’s mother’s basement.
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Isaiah 58:1-12

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
   the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
   no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
(vv. 9-12)
Peter Andrew Smith
Jonathan picked up the phone on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hi, I’m calling from Blessings Outreach Ministry,” the voice on the other end said. “Am I speaking to Mr. Jonathan LeSalle?

“Yes, it is.”

“Mr. LeSalle, I’m Bethany from the donations committee. I’m calling to thank you for your extremely generous gift you made last week. You’ve made so many wonderful things possible.”

“You’re very welcome,” Jonathan said. “I’ve been supporting your efforts for years and finally had a year where I was able to make a sizeable donation to help out.”

SermonStudio

Bonnie Bates
As we enter the Lenten season, we reflect on the life of Jesus, his ministry, his sacrifice, and his love for us. Paul contrasted, in this letter, the concepts of righteousness to the law and to faith, accenting that righteousness that comes from faith is the more important. The word, God’s word, is not distant from us, rather it is near us, near our lips and our heart. Knowing Jesus and proclaiming our faith, these are what brings us into relationship with God.
Wayne Brouwer
Jesus was tempted.

We know the story is there, but it isn’t our favorite, is it? Somehow it tarnishes our ideas about Jesus. Was he as wimpy as we are, almost ready to step over the edge of whatever morality we might have left, at the first offer?
Mariann Edgar Budde
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
-- Isaiah 58:11-12

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
-- 2 Corinthians 6:2c

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The story of Jesus in the wilderness warns us against temptations to self-sufficiency, power, and invulnerability.

Old Testament Lesson
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Firstfruits
John N. Brittain
Mitchell (obviously not his real name) was a pillar of the church I served a quarter century ago and an inspiration to many. A firmly established independent business man, he was in one of those lines of work that depended on a good name, and a high reputation, and he had both. Every year Mitchell would be among the first to turn in his pledge card making whatever adjustment in commitment the finance committee had suggested; he was similarly enthusiastic about special projects.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
When Tracy was going on fifteen, her family decided to move to the city from the sleepy market town where Tracy had lived all her life. Tracy was so excited she could hardly wait. Nothing ever happened in the country. There was nothing to do, and along with all her friends, Tracy was usually bored. But things were so different in the city. There were cinemas and pubs and clubs. There was dancing and rock bands and bowling alleys. And there were buses!

Special Occasion

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