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United in the Grace of Christ

Commentary
2 Samuel 19:5-9, 15, 31-33
The First Lesson is found in a book of the Bible whose existence as a distinct text derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, which divided the story of Israel’s monarchy into four sections (1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings). This book is probably the result of two or three sources: (1) early traditions about Samuel and Saul; (2) editor-molded materials brought together into a connected history, implying a critique of the events, deeming kingship as problematic; and (3) incorporating the previous strand into the more Deuteronomistic history (the result of the religious reforms under King Josiah n 621 BC). This last source entails that a central theme in the book is a struggle to remain obedient to the torah.

The lesson is an account of the battle of the Forest of Ephraim and David’s army’s triumph over the forces of his rebellious son Absalom (vv.5-8), Absalom’s death (vv,9,15), and David’s grief (vv.31033). The narrative may have been addressed to the citizens of Israel who were outraged by Absalom’s execution. For the account seems to shield David from blame.

The account commences with David instructing his military leaders to deal gently with Absalom (v.5). David’s army routs Absalom’s forces (largely assembled with support from the northern tribes of Israel [15:9-12]) (vv.6-8). Absalom’s head was caught in an oak and left hanging. He had been riding a mule, the customary mount for royalty (which he was claiming from himself) (v.9). The lesson omits the ethical struggles of David’s captain Joab, who finally thrust spears at Absalom (vv.10-14). Eventually the armor-bearers kill Absalom (v.15). The lesson omits a burial of Absalom and the desire of Ahimaaz (the son of a priest) to inform David of the outcome. Joab had chosen a Cushite (a black man from Africa) as his emissary (vv.16-30).  

There are significant segments of the American population who have been betrayed by their nation. One in three Native Americans live in poverty, and this was their land before most of our ancestors got here. The US Census Bureau reported in 2020 that nearly one in five African Americans (18.8%) and 15.7% of Hispanics live in poverty. The American majority have betrayed these members of our American family no less profoundly than Absalom betrayed the patriarch of his family, David. As Absalom’s betrayal of David was a betrayal of God and his plans, so our betrayal of the poor and oppressed on our soil is a betrayal of God.

We are most likely to get the point across regarding David’s compassion to Absalom as a model for the faithful, if the story of the lesson is told in a dramatic, compelling way. Help hearers in majority white congregations to identify with Absalom and in minority congregations to identify with David. Absalom’s sin against David is no worse than what American has done to its minority citizens. Help white congregations to appreciate the heinous character of their betrayal, but to see David as a pointer to God’s forgiveness. (In making us aware of the depth of our sin, note how it was a person of color [the Cushite] who communicated the message to God/David.) Raise with congregants how overcome with that awesome love (Martin Luther claimed it is a love greater than the oceans [What Luther Says, p. 821]) we might begin to make amends to those American family members we have so betrayed. For minorities hearing this sermon and identifying with David, it is good to be reminded that David’s forgiveness of us Absaloms is really God’s forgiveness, not a forgiveness they must offer. For David is a cipher/sign for God working through those who have been wronged. But knowing God’s forgiveness is given to the betrayers, it may be the beginning of bonding with those betrayed.

Ephesians 4:25--5:2
The is part of as circular letter, either written by Paul from prison late in his career or by a follower of the apostle who had had a hand in assembling the collection of his epistles. It was likely addressed to a younger generation of Christians (1:15). This lesson is an appeal by the author to renounce pagan ways (begun earlier in Chapter 4) (v.17). Among the behaviors exhorted include speaking truth, not letting the sun go down on one’s anger, giving no opportunity to the devil, working honestly to share with the poor and only talking constructively about building others  up (4:25-29). Exhortation is offered that we do not grieve the Holy Spirit with which the faithful are sealed to the day of redemption [apolutrosis] (v.30). Other behaviors exhorted include putting away all bitterness, wrangling, and slander, while being kind and forgiving [charizomai] as God in Christ forgave us (4:31-32a). Readers are again urged not to grieve the Holy Spirit, with which the faithful have been marked as a seal (4:30). Forgiveness through God in Christ is proclaimed (4:32b). But we are exhorted to imitate [mimetai] God, to love [agapao] as Christ loved us in offering a sacrifice [thusia] to God (5:1-2).

America is plagued by a lot of anger, not least of all directed towards those of a different political orientation. According to a new Cygnal and Lounge Group poll, 76% of American voters are experiencing anger (32%), fear (31%), and sadness (13%). Don’t make this a sermon about having to forgive. But follow the Pauline logic, focus the sermon on how God in Christ has forgiven us for all the dumb things we have said, taught, and espoused. Help the flock to recognize that when we stay angry and don’t forgive, we grieve the Holy Spirit. There seems to be scientific evidence that being wrapped up in God’s forgiveness, in religious activities, makes forgiving easier. Anthropologists and neurochemists have found that these activities result in pleasant stimulation of feelings and also more social cohesion (Nicholas Wade, The Faith Instinct, pp.79-81). Also don’t overlook the sound biblical advice in the lesson: Never let the sun go down on your anger (4:26).

John 6:35, 41-51
The gospel is drawn from the last of the gospels to be written, probably not composed until the last two decades of the first century. It is very different in style in comparison to the other three (so-called synoptic) gospels. It is probably based on these earlier gospels. The book has been identified with John the Son of Zebedee, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and this claim was made as long as late in the first century by the famed theologian of the early church Irenaeus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.1, p.414). It is likely that it was written by a disciple of John. It was probably written for a Jewish Christian community in conflict with the synagogue, one in which Christians had been expelled from Jewish society. Its aim was to encourage its readers to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (20:31).

The lesson begins with Jesus’ identification of himself as the Bread of Life, that whoever comes to him will never hunger or thirst (v.35). Several verses not included in the lesson follow, in which Jesus assures hearers that everything the Father gives him will come, and that he will never drive away those who come, for God’s will is that he should lose nothing but raise it up on the last day (vv.36-40). Jews then protest this identification of himself as the Bread of Life that came down from heaven, for he is just the son of Joseph (vv.41-42).

Jesus then warns against complaining, noting that none can come to him unless drawn by the Father (vv.43-44). As implied in verse 37, faith is God’s work. Jesus’ response continues: All are taught by God, so that everyone who learned from the Father comes to Jesus, for he alone is the one who has seen the Father (vv.45-46). Jesus proceeds to assert again that he is the Bread of Life and that the Jewish ancestors eating manna in the wilderness still died but that those eating his bread have eternal life. This bread given for the life of the world is his flesh (vv.48-51).

America has long been a stressed-out nation. In the Spring of 2020 long before the worse stress of the pandemic hit, Gallup reported 60% of us were stressed. We did not need the pandemic to feel stress. For modern life often feels like a meaningless treadmill.

This is a lesson for sermons aiming to alleviate stress. The key is to focus on the meaning of Jesus as the Bread of Life. Bread is the source of energy. To be in Christ is to have that energy. In addition, just as bread gets in our guts, so we have that kind of union with Christ, bearing him with us. This entails that the latest task and the stress it seems to bring is not part of a meaningless treadmill. It must have eternal significance, for Christ goes with us, so and so it much be of significance.

Other possible themes would be to relate eating the Bread of life to the Lord’s Supper, preaching on its significance as the source of our energy in coping with everyday life. Also, we can celebrate the comfort in verse 37 that God drives no one away from him.

All the lessons and sermons on them relate to unity, the unity we have with God and/or the unity he wants us to have with each other. Alone we are not able to establish that unity, but by uniting himself with us and our plight, the grace of God creates unity and the joy, energy, and sense of wholeness that comes with it.
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The Immediate Word

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For April 20, 2025:

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Object: A bowl and a towel.

* * *

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

Have you ever gotten in trouble for not doing what you were supposed to do? (Let them respond.) Maybe it was something you were supposed to do at home, or maybe it was something you were supposed to do for someone else. Well, our story today is about the time Jesus’ friends didn’t do what Jesus told them they were supposed to do.
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Activity: The Easter Game. See the note. 
John Jamison
Object: A box of Kleenex?

* * *

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

Today is the day we call Good Friday, and it is the day that Jesus died. What happened on Good Friday is the story I want to tell you about. It is a short story, but it is also a very sad story. (Show the Kleenex.) It is so sad that I brought a box of Kleenex with me in case we need it. Let’s hear our story together.

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The vision of Isaiah, the new heaven and new earth, a world we cannot begin to imagine, moves us from the sorrow of Good Friday and the waiting of Saturday, into the joy of the resurrection. Isaiah proclaims from God, “no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress.” What a moment, what a time that will be. What hope there is in this prophecy? God’s promises are laid out before us. God’s promises are proclaimed to us.
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What do you do on the night before God saves you? 

The children of Israel had been languishing in hopeless bondage for centuries. How many of them had lived and died under the taskmaster’s whip? How many of them had cried out to the Lord for help without seeing their prayers answered?  And so, as surely as their bodies were weighed down under the weight of their physical burdens, their spirits must also have been weighed down under years of bondage and despair.
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Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
It is perhaps not widely known, but the Community Blood Center has a website that contains stories of blood recipients.  I spent some time on that website as I thought about this passage. One of the stories that struck me was Kristen’s. Kristen’s time of need came during the birth of her first child. After a smooth pregnancy, she experienced serious problems during delivery, which led to a massive hemorrhage. She needed transfusions immediately, and ended up receiving 28 units of platelets, plasma, and whole blood.

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John E. Sumwalt
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. (v. 14)

Mary weeps as she comes to the tomb that first Easter morning. She weeps because her dearest friend is dead. When this friend comes up behind her she turns around and sees him, but she doesn't really see him. Do you know what I mean?

Mary thought Jesus was the gardener. She implores him, "Sir, if you have taken him away tell me where you have laid him…"  She sees him but she doesn't see him.
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I’m sorry but I have some bad news. John heard the words of the doctor again as he sat in the pew waiting for the service to start on Good Friday. He was at church because he was a regular and he hoped, he prayed that he could escape the rising fear and dread that had come from the medical appointment yesterday. The doctor had been sure there was no problem when John had told him the symptoms he was experiencing a couple of weeks ago. The doctor even told him to just ignore them as they were a sign of getting older.
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In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ (v. 25)

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Dennis Koch
Gospel Theme:

Different paces and paths to resurrection faith

Gospel Note:
John here obviously mingles at least two Easter morning traditions, the one featuring Mary Magdalene and the other starring Peter and the beloved disciple. The overall effect, however, is to show three different paths and paces to resurrection faith: the unnamed disciple rushes to the empty tomb and comes to faith simply upon viewing it; Mary slowly but finally recognizes the risen Christ and believes; Peter, however, simply goes home, perhaps to await further evidence.
Pamela Urfer
Cast: Two Roman soldiers, FLAVIUS and LUCIUS, and an ANGEL

Length:
15 minutes

FLAVIUS and LUCIUS are seated on their stools, center stage.

FLAVIUS: (Complaining) What was all the hurry about for this burial? I don't understand why we had to rush.

LUCIUS:
(Distracted but agreeable) Hmmmm.

FLAVIUS: I don't know why I even ask. It's so typical of the military: Hurry up and wait.

LUCIUS:
True.

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The liturgy can start with a procession in which a child carries the Easter candle from the West end of the church to the altar at the East end, stopping at intervals to raise the candle high and cry, "Christ our Light". The people respond with "Alleluia!" All the candles in church are then lit from the Easter candle.

Call to worship:

The Lord is risen, he is risen indeed! Let us rejoice and be glad in him!

Invitation to confession:

Jesus, we turn to you.

Lord, have mercy.

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