Proper 10
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
The church year theological clue
As the first third of the Pentecost cycle/season approaches its conclusion, the preacher must keep in mind that the theological framework of the season continues to be eschatological; the church continues to wait and work in anticipation of the Parousia. The Gospel for the Day, supported by the first reading, continues to provide the primary theme for worship and preaching, depending on whether or not one reads the shorter or longer lection, while the second reading continues to go its own way and sounds its own eschatological note.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - Two prayers are provided for this Sunday, neither of which bears any relationship to the older, classic collect used on this day. The first is so conceived and constructed as to complement, if not announce, the "seed/Word" theme of Matthew 13, the Gospel for the Day. It gives thanks to God for "planting in us the seed of your word," and asks for the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may "receive it with joy," "live according to it, and grow in faith and hope and love." Obviously, this is the prayer that should be read on this day. The other prayer has to do with witnessing to the love of God by the way we live; it will be considered in the future in conjunction with other Gospels assigned to this day.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 65 (L); 65:10-14 (R); 65:9-14 (E) - The last six or seven verses of this psalm, which Roman Catholics and Episcopalians use on this day, make it abundantly clear that this is a thanksgiving for an abundant crop of grain about to be harvested. It picks up the theme of the Old Testament reading that speaks of the Word of the Lord, what might be called "the seed of salvation," which will not return "empty" after it has been sown in the hearts of people. It makes a solid connection with the parable of "the Sower and the Seed" in the Gospel for the Day. The Word of the Lord will grow and bear fruit, therefore the workers in the kingdom may rejoice and give thanks. The Lutheran usage includes the first part of the Psalm, which emphasizes that it is always proper for sinful creatures to give thanks to God for the salvation he gives to his creatures - in Christ, from the perspective of the church.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, joy marks your presence; beauty, abundance, and peace are the tokens of your work in all creation. Work also in our lives, that by these signs we may see the splendor of your love and may praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 69:6-15 (C) - A brief commentary on this psalm is included in the material for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost.
The readings:
Exodus 2:11-22 (C)
Here is another first reading that is not included in the other lectionaries; it has little or no relationship to the second reading or the Gospel, except as it is an integral part of the exodus story, in which Christians and Hebrews both have a stake. It relates the incident when Moses, now a grown man, killed an Egyptian who was mistreating one of the Hebrews. He thought he had committed the deed in secret, but discovered, when he reproved a Hebrew for mistreating another Jew, that his infamy was known by the Hebrews and would soon be common knowledge and reach the ears of Pharaoh. This happened and he fled for his life to Midian, where he was kind to the daughters of Reuel/Jethro, a priest, who invited him to have dinner with them and ultimately, gave him his daughter, Zipporah, as his wife. She bore him his first son, while he was in self-imposed exile from Egypt.
Isaiah 55:10-11 (L, R)
This pericope offers insight and even corrective to any who might interpret the Gospel for the Day as an occasion to preach about the condition of the "soil" in which the Word/seed is sown. It is about the Word of God, the seed that God plants in human hearts, where it will germinate, grow, and provide harvest; it is not simply about the seed that a farmer sows in the fields, tends, and is watered by the rain and, finally, gives ripe grain for the reapers. Isaiah declares, as God's prophet, "so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty." He insists that God's Word "shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." God will not fail in his intention to save the world, especially in the work of his Son, Jesus Christ, we Christians dare to add.
Isaiah 55:1-5, 10-13 (E)
The Book of Common Prayer expands the first reading of Roman Catholics and Lutherans in two directions. First, it provides a preface and context for verses 10 and 11 in the form of an invitation, "Come to the waters all you who are thirsty; ... Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk." (Jerusalem Bible) God sows his seed, his Word, freely and abundantly in the world and offers it, at no cost, to all who accept his invitation. Second, there is a kind of postlude provided in verses 12 and 13 for those who have accepted the invitation and have received the Word: "Yes, you will leave with joy and be lead away in safety...." Indeed, the Word of the Lord will bear fruit and feed the hunger and thirst of people who will receive God's gracious invitation to them. Verses 10 and 11 remain as the heart of the first reading for this day.
Romans 8:18-23 (R); 8:18-25 (L)
Here is a powerful reminder that God created the entire world and everything in it - the "created order" - and not just the human race. Paul recognizes that humanity is out of harmony with the created world, as well as with the Creator; the world, as well as people, is in desperate trouble because human beings have desecrated it and much of what is in it, rather than caring for the earth as commanded by God. Both human beings and the world are in need of redemption; and when people are reconciled to God, they need also be reconciled to the world. Paul not only knows that people live in hope, waiting for the redemption of their bodies at the last day, but he is also aware that they have already been "adopted" as the children of God in Christ, and are to live in harmony with the creator and his creation, in the meantime.
Romans 8:9-1 7 (E, C)
Roman and Lutheran pastors would do well to read this again; it provides the background and context for their second reading, 8:18-23 and 8:18-25. Paul informs the Roman Christians about the life in the Spirit; they are really living by the Spirit of God and the promise of the risen Christ, that they, too, will be raised up and know the glory of the resurrection at the proper time. They are able to live spiritual lives in the world, rather than unspiritual, because the Spirit lives in them and fosters their interest in the spiritual, the things of God, rather than those things which are unspiritual. So they are to live in hope, as well as the reality of the resurrection of the Lord.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (L, E, C); 13:1-23 (R)
In the first nine verses of this Gospel, Jesus teaches the parable about the sower, the seed, and the soil; the longer reading, be it optional or a required extension of the Gospel, adds the allegorical explanation, which most scholars believe is a later addition, or redaction, to the parable. The point of the parable is that the mission of the church - to preach the Word, plant the seed of salvation in the whole world - will succeed; the seed is strong and powerful, and life-giving. It germinates and grows in the minds and hearts of people, and causes their faith to flower and reach maturity. Jesus was teaching the disciples that despite the hostility and actual enmity which would ultimately claim his life, his mission - and theirs, too, as his disciples - will succeed. Despite set-backs and frustration from evident failures in the past (it would seem that the mission to Israel has been something of a failure, and that there is competition and a continuing debate about the authenticity of the two communities), the church - then and now - is to continue to believe this as it plants the seeds of salvation wherever the Word is preached.
Sermon suggestions:
Matthew 13:1-9 (18-23) (L); 13:1-9, 18-23 (E, C); 13:1-23 (R) - "The Seed and the Soil."
This is one of those rare Sundays in Pentecost in which the three lessons coordinate - accidentally - with each other. It seems well to link the first two readings with the Gospel for the Day.
People who hear this Gospel will react differently to it after surviving the drought of the summer of 1988. Substantial crop failures resulted, not because there was anything wrong with the seed, but because there was not enough rain to nurture the various plants and allow them to grow to maturity. Some people may think that Jesus omitted an important element in the parable of the Sower; he not only omitted rain but also sun and warmth. Others, who comprehend that the passage is talking about a plentiful harvest in the good soil where the seed was sown might think only of what might, or should have been, a bumper crop of wheat, or corn, or soybeans. Still others may make no connection between the parable and actual agriculture, preferring to take the allegorical approach which concentrates on the type of soil - human hearts, minds, and spirits - in which the seed/Word is sown. A few might comprehend that this Gospel just may be about the ultimate success of the church's mission - preaching the gospel - in the world.
1. A supply of good seed. That's why the Lord has given to the church in the Word, the gospel, which the church is to spread through the world. The Word/seed will germinate and grow because it is good. Isaiah knew that long before Jesus gave the parable of sower, seed, and soil.
2. The inhospitable soil. That's what the church often encounters when the good news is proclaimed to people. Some Christians wonder about the ability of God to reach human hearts and turn them to himself, when he is unable to guarantee an actual harvest in the fields in many parts of the world. Droughts and devastating famines occur just about every year. Numerous people cannot begin to sing:
We plow the fields and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand.
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft refreshing rain.
The trouble may not simply be in the soil; the problem may be in lack of spiritual sustenance and power, some force to keep the Word/seed growing in human hearts - "even the birds of the air."
I drove past a school the other day and noticed at least two hundred Canada geese were gathered on the grounds, obviously eating something. It finally dawned on me that they were eating newly sown grass seed; a major addition was under construction and just about finished, so the land had been levelled and seeded. I suspect there will be many bare spots that will have to be reseeded next spring.
3. The nurture of the Spirit. Here's where the second reading, Romans 8, comes into the picture. The Spirit of God causes the seed to germinate, to grow, and to mature in the minds and souls of human beings. The Spirit brings God's "rain" to the hearts of people, and guarantees a plentiful harvest for the Lord. Paul considers this the business of living by and in the Spirit.
4. Plant with faith. God's kingdom has come into the world in Jesus Christ, and it will continue to grow as the Word is preached throughout the earth; his "word ... shall not return to [him] empty." God himself, according to Isaiah, has said this, and promised that this will come to be. And Jesus adds, with his parable, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear."
Exodus 2:11-22 - "Truth Will Come Out."
1. Truth Will Come Out. That's the obvious lesson in this first reading. Moses thought that no one had seen him when he murdered the Egyptian, and that he would get away with the killing. He didn't, because someone saw him and the word quickly got around the Hebrew people.
2. Fear seeks an escape. So it was with Moses; he couldn't cover up the murder, so he fled to the land of Midian after the truth came out; he left Egypt because he feared for his life. The truth followed him, much as it does when we commit a crime, or do something of which we are ashamed. Sinners can never fully escape the consequence of their deeds.
3. The truth changes people. Moses seems to have become a changed person after he arrived in Midian; he went out of his way to help the daughters of Reuel water their sheep and obtain drinking water themselves. Did he understand the consequence of his deed? Did he raise any mea culpa in Midian? We'll never know, but we know that we must repent and turn around when confronted by our sins.
4. God provides a way back. He did for Moses, or the people of Israel might be in Egypt to this day. And he does for us - in Jesus Christ our Lord - not merely back to him but into a new life, as well.
Isaiah 55:10-11 - "The Kingdom Will Come."
1. Isaiah believed that was God's intention.
2. Isaiah knew it would happen. The good seed would be planted and "watered" by God. That's why he prophesied that it would be so.
3. Isaiah proclaimed the Word. He knew that his work was to preach God's powerful, never-failing Word. He did just that, and gave the church an example, as well as a prophecy.
Romans 8:18-25 (L); 8:18-23 (R) - "Glory and Grace."
1. Glory - that's what's in our future. We may dare to expect it, and may even wait for God's future glory with "eager longing." There is a better day coming!
2. Grace - that's what is ours right now. We have been redeemed in Christ, and live the new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has given us "the first fruits of the Spirit."
3. Gospel - God has made all things new. We can believe that, in light of his resurrection. We had better believe it, because it is - and will be - so.
Romans 8:9-17 (E, C) - "The New Life."
1. Jesus has given us new life. It came in his resurrection and, specifically, in our baptism.
2. New life means new interests. Christians are to be interested - and involved - in those things that belong to the kingdom. They have to be concerned about the spread of the good news, if they are really Christians.
As the first third of the Pentecost cycle/season approaches its conclusion, the preacher must keep in mind that the theological framework of the season continues to be eschatological; the church continues to wait and work in anticipation of the Parousia. The Gospel for the Day, supported by the first reading, continues to provide the primary theme for worship and preaching, depending on whether or not one reads the shorter or longer lection, while the second reading continues to go its own way and sounds its own eschatological note.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - Two prayers are provided for this Sunday, neither of which bears any relationship to the older, classic collect used on this day. The first is so conceived and constructed as to complement, if not announce, the "seed/Word" theme of Matthew 13, the Gospel for the Day. It gives thanks to God for "planting in us the seed of your word," and asks for the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may "receive it with joy," "live according to it, and grow in faith and hope and love." Obviously, this is the prayer that should be read on this day. The other prayer has to do with witnessing to the love of God by the way we live; it will be considered in the future in conjunction with other Gospels assigned to this day.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 65 (L); 65:10-14 (R); 65:9-14 (E) - The last six or seven verses of this psalm, which Roman Catholics and Episcopalians use on this day, make it abundantly clear that this is a thanksgiving for an abundant crop of grain about to be harvested. It picks up the theme of the Old Testament reading that speaks of the Word of the Lord, what might be called "the seed of salvation," which will not return "empty" after it has been sown in the hearts of people. It makes a solid connection with the parable of "the Sower and the Seed" in the Gospel for the Day. The Word of the Lord will grow and bear fruit, therefore the workers in the kingdom may rejoice and give thanks. The Lutheran usage includes the first part of the Psalm, which emphasizes that it is always proper for sinful creatures to give thanks to God for the salvation he gives to his creatures - in Christ, from the perspective of the church.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, joy marks your presence; beauty, abundance, and peace are the tokens of your work in all creation. Work also in our lives, that by these signs we may see the splendor of your love and may praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 69:6-15 (C) - A brief commentary on this psalm is included in the material for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost.
The readings:
Exodus 2:11-22 (C)
Here is another first reading that is not included in the other lectionaries; it has little or no relationship to the second reading or the Gospel, except as it is an integral part of the exodus story, in which Christians and Hebrews both have a stake. It relates the incident when Moses, now a grown man, killed an Egyptian who was mistreating one of the Hebrews. He thought he had committed the deed in secret, but discovered, when he reproved a Hebrew for mistreating another Jew, that his infamy was known by the Hebrews and would soon be common knowledge and reach the ears of Pharaoh. This happened and he fled for his life to Midian, where he was kind to the daughters of Reuel/Jethro, a priest, who invited him to have dinner with them and ultimately, gave him his daughter, Zipporah, as his wife. She bore him his first son, while he was in self-imposed exile from Egypt.
Isaiah 55:10-11 (L, R)
This pericope offers insight and even corrective to any who might interpret the Gospel for the Day as an occasion to preach about the condition of the "soil" in which the Word/seed is sown. It is about the Word of God, the seed that God plants in human hearts, where it will germinate, grow, and provide harvest; it is not simply about the seed that a farmer sows in the fields, tends, and is watered by the rain and, finally, gives ripe grain for the reapers. Isaiah declares, as God's prophet, "so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty." He insists that God's Word "shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." God will not fail in his intention to save the world, especially in the work of his Son, Jesus Christ, we Christians dare to add.
Isaiah 55:1-5, 10-13 (E)
The Book of Common Prayer expands the first reading of Roman Catholics and Lutherans in two directions. First, it provides a preface and context for verses 10 and 11 in the form of an invitation, "Come to the waters all you who are thirsty; ... Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk." (Jerusalem Bible) God sows his seed, his Word, freely and abundantly in the world and offers it, at no cost, to all who accept his invitation. Second, there is a kind of postlude provided in verses 12 and 13 for those who have accepted the invitation and have received the Word: "Yes, you will leave with joy and be lead away in safety...." Indeed, the Word of the Lord will bear fruit and feed the hunger and thirst of people who will receive God's gracious invitation to them. Verses 10 and 11 remain as the heart of the first reading for this day.
Romans 8:18-23 (R); 8:18-25 (L)
Here is a powerful reminder that God created the entire world and everything in it - the "created order" - and not just the human race. Paul recognizes that humanity is out of harmony with the created world, as well as with the Creator; the world, as well as people, is in desperate trouble because human beings have desecrated it and much of what is in it, rather than caring for the earth as commanded by God. Both human beings and the world are in need of redemption; and when people are reconciled to God, they need also be reconciled to the world. Paul not only knows that people live in hope, waiting for the redemption of their bodies at the last day, but he is also aware that they have already been "adopted" as the children of God in Christ, and are to live in harmony with the creator and his creation, in the meantime.
Romans 8:9-1 7 (E, C)
Roman and Lutheran pastors would do well to read this again; it provides the background and context for their second reading, 8:18-23 and 8:18-25. Paul informs the Roman Christians about the life in the Spirit; they are really living by the Spirit of God and the promise of the risen Christ, that they, too, will be raised up and know the glory of the resurrection at the proper time. They are able to live spiritual lives in the world, rather than unspiritual, because the Spirit lives in them and fosters their interest in the spiritual, the things of God, rather than those things which are unspiritual. So they are to live in hope, as well as the reality of the resurrection of the Lord.
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (L, E, C); 13:1-23 (R)
In the first nine verses of this Gospel, Jesus teaches the parable about the sower, the seed, and the soil; the longer reading, be it optional or a required extension of the Gospel, adds the allegorical explanation, which most scholars believe is a later addition, or redaction, to the parable. The point of the parable is that the mission of the church - to preach the Word, plant the seed of salvation in the whole world - will succeed; the seed is strong and powerful, and life-giving. It germinates and grows in the minds and hearts of people, and causes their faith to flower and reach maturity. Jesus was teaching the disciples that despite the hostility and actual enmity which would ultimately claim his life, his mission - and theirs, too, as his disciples - will succeed. Despite set-backs and frustration from evident failures in the past (it would seem that the mission to Israel has been something of a failure, and that there is competition and a continuing debate about the authenticity of the two communities), the church - then and now - is to continue to believe this as it plants the seeds of salvation wherever the Word is preached.
Sermon suggestions:
Matthew 13:1-9 (18-23) (L); 13:1-9, 18-23 (E, C); 13:1-23 (R) - "The Seed and the Soil."
This is one of those rare Sundays in Pentecost in which the three lessons coordinate - accidentally - with each other. It seems well to link the first two readings with the Gospel for the Day.
People who hear this Gospel will react differently to it after surviving the drought of the summer of 1988. Substantial crop failures resulted, not because there was anything wrong with the seed, but because there was not enough rain to nurture the various plants and allow them to grow to maturity. Some people may think that Jesus omitted an important element in the parable of the Sower; he not only omitted rain but also sun and warmth. Others, who comprehend that the passage is talking about a plentiful harvest in the good soil where the seed was sown might think only of what might, or should have been, a bumper crop of wheat, or corn, or soybeans. Still others may make no connection between the parable and actual agriculture, preferring to take the allegorical approach which concentrates on the type of soil - human hearts, minds, and spirits - in which the seed/Word is sown. A few might comprehend that this Gospel just may be about the ultimate success of the church's mission - preaching the gospel - in the world.
1. A supply of good seed. That's why the Lord has given to the church in the Word, the gospel, which the church is to spread through the world. The Word/seed will germinate and grow because it is good. Isaiah knew that long before Jesus gave the parable of sower, seed, and soil.
2. The inhospitable soil. That's what the church often encounters when the good news is proclaimed to people. Some Christians wonder about the ability of God to reach human hearts and turn them to himself, when he is unable to guarantee an actual harvest in the fields in many parts of the world. Droughts and devastating famines occur just about every year. Numerous people cannot begin to sing:
We plow the fields and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered
By God's almighty hand.
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft refreshing rain.
The trouble may not simply be in the soil; the problem may be in lack of spiritual sustenance and power, some force to keep the Word/seed growing in human hearts - "even the birds of the air."
I drove past a school the other day and noticed at least two hundred Canada geese were gathered on the grounds, obviously eating something. It finally dawned on me that they were eating newly sown grass seed; a major addition was under construction and just about finished, so the land had been levelled and seeded. I suspect there will be many bare spots that will have to be reseeded next spring.
3. The nurture of the Spirit. Here's where the second reading, Romans 8, comes into the picture. The Spirit of God causes the seed to germinate, to grow, and to mature in the minds and souls of human beings. The Spirit brings God's "rain" to the hearts of people, and guarantees a plentiful harvest for the Lord. Paul considers this the business of living by and in the Spirit.
4. Plant with faith. God's kingdom has come into the world in Jesus Christ, and it will continue to grow as the Word is preached throughout the earth; his "word ... shall not return to [him] empty." God himself, according to Isaiah, has said this, and promised that this will come to be. And Jesus adds, with his parable, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear."
Exodus 2:11-22 - "Truth Will Come Out."
1. Truth Will Come Out. That's the obvious lesson in this first reading. Moses thought that no one had seen him when he murdered the Egyptian, and that he would get away with the killing. He didn't, because someone saw him and the word quickly got around the Hebrew people.
2. Fear seeks an escape. So it was with Moses; he couldn't cover up the murder, so he fled to the land of Midian after the truth came out; he left Egypt because he feared for his life. The truth followed him, much as it does when we commit a crime, or do something of which we are ashamed. Sinners can never fully escape the consequence of their deeds.
3. The truth changes people. Moses seems to have become a changed person after he arrived in Midian; he went out of his way to help the daughters of Reuel water their sheep and obtain drinking water themselves. Did he understand the consequence of his deed? Did he raise any mea culpa in Midian? We'll never know, but we know that we must repent and turn around when confronted by our sins.
4. God provides a way back. He did for Moses, or the people of Israel might be in Egypt to this day. And he does for us - in Jesus Christ our Lord - not merely back to him but into a new life, as well.
Isaiah 55:10-11 - "The Kingdom Will Come."
1. Isaiah believed that was God's intention.
2. Isaiah knew it would happen. The good seed would be planted and "watered" by God. That's why he prophesied that it would be so.
3. Isaiah proclaimed the Word. He knew that his work was to preach God's powerful, never-failing Word. He did just that, and gave the church an example, as well as a prophecy.
Romans 8:18-25 (L); 8:18-23 (R) - "Glory and Grace."
1. Glory - that's what's in our future. We may dare to expect it, and may even wait for God's future glory with "eager longing." There is a better day coming!
2. Grace - that's what is ours right now. We have been redeemed in Christ, and live the new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has given us "the first fruits of the Spirit."
3. Gospel - God has made all things new. We can believe that, in light of his resurrection. We had better believe it, because it is - and will be - so.
Romans 8:9-17 (E, C) - "The New Life."
1. Jesus has given us new life. It came in his resurrection and, specifically, in our baptism.
2. New life means new interests. Christians are to be interested - and involved - in those things that belong to the kingdom. They have to be concerned about the spread of the good news, if they are really Christians.
