Sermonstudio

COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS

Lesson 1: Genesis 1:1--2:4a (C); Genesis 1:1--2:3 (E)

Perhaps the most significant line in this lengthy passage is this one: "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them ..." Homiletically, one might preach on the fact that all of creation is a result of God's wishes and actions and therefore is good. My own inclination would be to consider the meaning of the idea that you and I have been created in God's image. That, in turn, must affect how we view others, including lawbreakers, the terribly poor, and the people of other ethnic groups toward whom we may feel superiority or animosity. Another approach would be to relate this to one's own feelings about oneself. If God created me, I must be good, and if I'm good, I must be good for something, and if I'm good for something, I must make a contribution to my world for the sake of others. If God is the source of creation, and I am in his image, then I must be creative in some way.

Lesson 1: Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 (RC)

Moses, preparing the tablets for the Law, encounters God and discovers that God, whom he will now know as "Lord," will go with him and his people. Despite their stubborn ways, Moses defends his fellow Israelites as basically good people and asks the Lord to forgive them for their dumb mistakes.

Lesson 2: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 (C, RC); 2 Corinthians 13:(5-10) 11-14 (E)

Harmony. That's what Paul was requesting. Agree with each other, live in peace. The holy kiss is pretty much passe these days, except in some very limited Christian circles. I suppose the handshake or the quick hug have taken its place. Anyway, Paul's point is to head off what he knew perfectly well would happen anyway in many churches, disagreements and conflict. Just because we're Christians doesn't mean we immediately give up our ego-centered bad habits. But we must try, and the ideal church is one in which we have mutual respect for each other, are able to present our opinions with gentleness, and understand that we cannot always have our way. Even as I write this, I have heard of one fellow pastor who is working night and day with admirable sincerity and dedication to enable a relocation of his church, which is now too small and too landlocked to embrace its future. Someone left him a recorded message charging him with trying to build a monument to himself, which he most definitely is not trying to do. One hears the bitter ring of petty jealousy in that. Paul would have had some pretty direct comments for that caller. I love the comments of one Methodist bishop who years ago was subject to biting criticism from some obviously jealous pipsqueaks. Preaching at Annual Conference on the subject of Jonah and the Great Fish, he said, "I am willing to be consumed by a great fish. I am not willing to be nibbled to death by minnows." That doesn't mean we need not take serious account of legitimate criticism. It does, however, point up that when you try to do something noteworthy, you will inevitably have your voluble detractors. If you listen to all of them you'll never get anything else accomplished.

Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20 (C, E)

The apostles say good-bye and, though some are troubled by doubt, begin their missionary work. Their charge is to remember that Jesus will always be with them and to make no exceptions in their offer of baptism and new life to all. This in the name of Jesus Christ.

Gospel: John 3:16-18 (RC)

Here we have a problem. Verse sixteen is, of course, one of our favorites. But after John states that we are not condemned if we believe in Jesus, he goes on to insist that those who do not believe in Jesus are condemned. Perhaps the first step here, for those of us who do not quite believe that last, is to define our terms. Perhaps this statement by John is somewhat mitigated by the earlier statement that Jesus was not sent into the world to condemn the world but to save the world.

William Barclay helped me solve this one. He used the analogy of a music lover who takes a friend to hear a splendid symphony. The auditorium is filled with glorious music. However, the friend turns out not to be a music lover. He is, frankly, bored and wishing the whole thing would end soon. He is, thus, judged by the music. No one judged him. He wasn't rejected by anyone, or punished by anyone. He simply learned something about himself and, in terms of musical appreciation, he was a monumental failure.

When we are confronted by Jesus, we begin to see ourselves for what we really are. We see our selfishness, our little petty faults, our wrongs from the past. We are condemned, not by Jesus, nor by God, not in the sense that they have pronounced a punishment. We are simply condemned by the revelation about ourselves. So, just as our non-musical friend may still take a course in musical appreciation, so, upon meeting Jesus, we can allow ourselves to be changed. That is up to us. If we do not, we are condemned, not by Jesus, not by God. By our own self.

SERMON SUGGESTIONS

Title: "Are We Like God?"

Text: Genesis 1:27

Theme: Man in the image of God. Woman in the image of God. What does it mean? It certainly does not mean that we have God-like qualities, at least I don't. Nor can I think of anyone among my loved ones or acquaintances who is God-like, and most of them are pretty great people. I do remember one professor from long ago who argued that I'm wrong, that we do have qualities, undeveloped, like those of God. As I remember, he wasn't a very good example to make his point. What I do think is that we were intended, from the beginning of creation, to be as perfect as we can be, which isn't very, but which is more so if we try than if we don't. What this does mean is:

1. I am to try to create. God has equipped each of us with talents, with emotional and intellectual faculties of a particular sort, and with physical capabilities. We are to use those accordingly, doing something which contributes to the good of others, something which leaves this world a little better than we found it. How well I do is not to be judged by what I contribute, but by what I contribute based on what I was capable of contributing. Jesus told about some fellows with a differing number of talents.

2. I am to try to be good. Moral excellence should be my goal, and while I find myself falling rather discouragingly short at times, I am to persevere. Part of this effort is to acknowledge my shortcomings, to repent, and to press on.

3. I am to try to give love. I can't always control what I feel toward other people. There aren't many people in this world whom I don't like, but there are a few. I can't stand anyone who steals. I suppose it's something from my upbringing. To me it's one of the worst of all crimes and if I were really God all thieves would be punished. (I'd make exceptions for someone who is truly hungry, or has some other legitimate reason.) Same with abuse of another person. Fortunately for a lot of people I'm not God. Love, however, is not a matter of how I feel toward other people, it's a matter of how I treat other people. I believe God's will for me is to treat others with unfailing kindness. Bishop Fulton Sheen once said that there are three characteristics of a true Christian: Kindness, kindness, and kindness. I agree.

Title: "Is Ours A Peaceful Church?"

Text: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Theme: The church should be a place of peace and harmony. That doesn't mean we must pretend to be something we are not, but it does mean a person should be able to find a conflict-free environment in his or her church. That's difficult, since we are also trying to win people into the church who are a long way from the state of redemption we might
wish. It's like the two little girls who were studying for their catechism exam. One told her friend, "I'm already up to 'paradise.' " "I'm ahead of you," the other taunted. "I'm already beyond 'redemption.' "

Paul has urged that we "agree with one another." I don't think he meant we have to give up our integrity, or pretend beliefs we don't really hold. He was probably referring to the teachings of Jesus, not to such political issues as what color to paint the bathrooms, or can we afford to pave the parking lot? Like so many Christian teachings, we have here an idea toward which we are to strive.

1. We are to pray for peace in our relationships. The emphasis here is on "pray." God has a way of softening hard feelings. It's hard to pray sincerely with someone, then disagree with them in any but the gentlest way.

2. We are to work at bringing peace. I have a dear friend, a clergyman, with whom I disagree on about everything. We have a great time together. One time we were having quite a disagreement while seated in a restaurant. My friend became quite heated (I know how to get him stirred up). He spoke quite angrily, loud enough to be heard at the next table. When I looked shocked, my friend reached across the table, put his hand on mine, and with a smile said, "I love you, my friend." No one has ever been able to stay mad at that man.

3. We are to accept each other as we work at this and make our mistakes. I have been involved in seven building programs in churches I have served. All of us know that building programs offer many opportunities for disagreement. I have seen my share of these. However, I can only recall one or two families who departed unhappily. The reason was that we talked as we went along about the need to allow honest disagreement, to do so in good spirit, and to regroup at the end. It works (if we pray together).

Title: "Doubt Can Make A Strong Faith"

Text: Matthew 28:16-20

Theme: Matthew seems unconcerned at the fact that some of the apostles doubted, as they gathered to pay last respects to Jesus. He doesn't say what their doubts were about. Actually, doubt is not only a normal phenomenon, it is, in the opinion of some, a healthy one. George Buttrick called doubt "the reverse side of the coin of faith." He wrote: "Everybody doubts, skeptic and believer, pulpit and pew. That is a prime fact." Paul Tillich argued that the person who has never been troubled by the problem of doubt is a person who has never genuinely struggled with the problem of faith. Perhaps we don't share that doubt on a warm, sunny day, when we feel well and our loved ones are safe. It's in the dark of night, when the pain is most severe, or our child long overdue, or our discouragement at rock-bottom, that doubt enters in. That must have been a severe crisis time for those apostles, though we read about the event in the comfort of a well lit study. Matthew understood. It was normal, healthy. They'd do fine.

1. The best solution to doubt is work. Get moving. Take on something difficult. Jesus sent the apostles out into a troubled world and they'd soon be too busy to worry about their doubts.

2. They were to witness to others. There, too, is an antidote to doubt. A famous trapeze artist was once asked how in the world he was able to get over a high vault. He replied: "I throw my heart over and my body follows." Same here. Act out your faith, and you begin to feel your faith.

3. Jesus is with us. That was his promise. Yes, there are times when it all crashes in on us, but Jesus never lets us bear more than we're able. Struggling with doubt for some is like a form of spiritual push-ups. It finally issues in a stronger faith.

ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS

"Filled with a strange new hope they came,
The blind, the leper, the sick, the lame.
Frail of body and spent of soul,
As many as touched him were made whole.
On every tongue was the healer's name.
Through all the country they spread his fame.
But doubt clung to his wooden crutch,
And said 'We mustn't expect too much.'

Down through the ages the promise came,
Of healing for sorrow, and sin, and shame.
Help for the helpless, and sight for the blind,
Healing for body and soul and mind.

The Christ we follow is still the same,
With blessings which all who will may claim.
But how often we miss love's healing touch,
By saying, 'We mustn't expect too much.' "

I have not been able to learn the author of this excellent poem. I heard it quoted by Lloyd Ogilvie several years ago.

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In Archibald MacLeish's powerful play J.B., the main character has suffered losses similar to those of Job, on whose life the play is based. Toward the end of the play he tries to work through to some understanding of the meaning of his family's disaster and in dialogue with his wife, Sarah, he hears her contend:

I will not stay here if you lie --
Connive in your own destruction, cringe to it:
Not if you betray my children ...
I will not stay to listen ...
They are dead, and they are innocent:
I will not let you sacrifice their deaths
To make injustice justice and God good!
If you buy quiet with their innocence --
Theirs or yours -- I will not love you.

J.B. frantically tries to understand, unwilling to concede that God is responsible, but equally unable to explain how this could happen otherwise, argues: "We have the choice to live or die, all of us ... curse God and die." Then J.B. makes his final plea:

God is God, or we are nothing --
Mayflies that leave their husks behind --
Our tiny lives ridiculous -- a suffering
Not even sad that Someone Somewhere
Laughs at us as we laugh at apes.
We have no choice but to be guilty.
God is unthinkable if we are innocent.

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In his classic Dynamics of Faith, Paul Tillich wrote this: "If doubt appears, it should not be considered as the negation of faith, but as an element which was always and will always be present in the act of faith." Then he made this remarkable statement: "Serious doubt is confirmation of faith."

Elsewhere (in Dynamics), Tillich wrote this: "Doubt does not question whether a given proposition is true or false. It does not reject every concrete truth, but it is aware of the element of insecurity in every existential truth. At the same time the doubt which is implied in faith accepts this insecurity ... is an act of courage. Faith includes courage ... There is no faith without an intrinsic 'in spite of' and the courageous affirmation of oneself in the statement of ultimate concern."

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In Kenneth Roberts' Northwest Passage, we read the adventures of a group of soldier-explorers in the northwest woods. Based on actual history, the company of men, exhausted, freezing, struggles through nearly impenetrable woods and swamps. At last, they struggle into a clearing and find the remnants of a long dead camp. Nailed to a tree is a piece of animal hide bearing a map which shows the way to their destination. Made by a man they know, the map tells them to move farther north, where the temperatures will be unbearably colder. Meanwhile, many of the men are convinced they should be pushing southward, where the temperature is warmer and the ground more level. According to the map, that would only take them into dangerous swamps. What should they do? Should they follow their own logic, or follow the directions of one whose instructions seem logically wrong to them? Whom should they trust? That symbolizes our dilemma at times.

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Psalm Of The Day

Psalm 8 (C) -- "O Lord, our sovereign, how majestic is your name."

Psalm 150 (E) -- "Let everything that breathes praise the Lord."

Prayer Of The Day

Eternal God, for the promise of forgiveness for our wrongs, and of new life in Christ, we are most grateful. As we stumble at times, falling short, impulsively saying hurtful words to others, even those we love, doing things which in our best moments we know to be wrong, often blinding ourselves to our own faults while exaggerating in our minds the faults of others, we come to you now in penitence and pray for forgiveness. We also pray for enlightenment, that we might see ourselves more clearly, and become more like you created us to be. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.