Proper 10
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII Cycle C
Seasonal Theme
Jesus' acts of compassion and teaching ministry.
Theme For The Day
Identifying our neighbors who are in the side ditches of our community and need our help.
Old Testament Lesson
Amos 7:7-17
Amos Prophesies
This is a third vision of Amos following a locust plague (7:1-3) and a supernatural fire (7:4-6) and now the plumb line (7:7-9). This was a cord with a weight at the end, which showed that the wall (Israel) was leaning so much it would surely fall. The divine patience had run out. This royal dynasty would die.
In verses 10-17, Amos is condemned by Amaziah the priest at Bethel. (There are always those, who when the powerful are confronted, will sidle up to them for their favor and tell them what they want to hear.) Shame on you, Amaziah! Amos is asked to hear a call to a new parish where he will no longer threaten these religious with the brutal truth.
Amos' reply makes this book consequential. He declares he is not one of those prophets organized to profit from the temple vocation. Amos just tells of God's inescapable call. He was a shepherd and a worker who punctured the unripe fruit of the sycamore-fig tree so it would become edible.
He scarcely has refused to be still or recant, when he again predicts disaster for the people and their land and that they will be scattered into exile.
New Testament Lesson
Colossians 1:1-14
Paul's Thankfulness For Faith
We have the beginning of this short letter by Paul, written while in prison in Rome, to the Colossians in order to refute a heresy circulating there. It trumpets the complete adequacy of Christ over the emptiness of human philosophy. Paul begins by complimenting these Christians on their faithfulness and their love for each other (v. 4). We have here the essence of the Christian life. This is a double loyalty -- to Christ and to people. There is not only right thinking but also loving action. These are the twin piers of our life in Christ.
Then comes that which is so beautiful in verse 9. Paul is praying for them. He prays for their patience, strength, and joy. According to Paul's Greek, the patience is a conquering patience and a patience with people. Then comes joy. It is a joy that no circumstance and no person can take away from us. It is not so tough to be joyful when things are going well, but here is a joy regardless of our worldly situation. It is a joy that is not the absence of trouble but is the presence of God.
The Gospel
Luke 10:25-37
The Parable Of The Good Samaritan
It is such a familiar passage, perhaps we can just list some information not so commonly understood.
If the priest had helped and touched the man, he would have his turn of duty in the Temple canceled. Bandits often used decoys on this dangerous road, so the Levite was very cautious. "Samaritan" was often used to describe a person who broke the ceremonial laws (see John 8:48). This Samaritan seemed to have good credit with the innkeeper!
The lawyer probably wore a phylactery around his wrist that would have the law on it from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-20. So Jesus was telling the lawyer to answer his own question by reading what he had strapped to his wrist. Leviticus 18:19 would have been there added by the scribes.
William Barclay adds a comment which rings true for me after many years in the ministry. "It is no new experience to find the orthodox more interested in dogmas than in help and to find the person the orthodox despise to be the person who loves his/her fellow humans. In the end we will be judged not by the creed we hold but by the life we live!"
The Jews had defined love of neighbor to be love of their fellow Jews. This story blows that idea to pieces.
Preaching Possibilities
A. I have previously recommended a series on Colossians. Please see the "heads up" suggestions just before this section on Proper 10, Pentecost 8, Ordinary Time 15. While it is a bit of a stretch, one can connect the three readings by talking of what is "out of plumb" in Israel in the Amos passage, the admonition of Paul in Colossians not to weary in doing good, and Jesus' parable which defines neighbor and calls for acts of compassion for those in need.
B. I have dealt with this parable in The Parables Of Jesus And Their Flip Side in the chapter titled "Safer Roads And Real Life" (CSS Publishing Company, 2001).
C. The Old Testament Lesson has a lot to say to us. And it offers a great metaphor -- the plumb line. Be sure to see the first metaphor listed below in Possible Metaphors And Stories. How do we measure our practice of discipleship today? And how far out of plumb is the Christian Church and our congregation in following God as God's servants? You might consider hanging a plumb line in your sanctuary and listing below it the elements that indicate on plumb and out of plumb. On plumb: love of Christ and others! But out of plumb: hating others, unwillingness to share, refusal to witness, causing dissention in the church, unkindness, and so on.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Retell the parable in your own words and in the context of your community "A bishop was on his way to preach in St. John's church, when he came across an African family with a flat tire along the side of Route 101," and so on.
B. Ask the congregation to imagine which of the characters in the story they are most like: the Samaritan, the Levite, the innkeeper, the beaten in the ditch.
C. Tell your listeners what you learn from the parable:
1. We ought be willing to help any one in need like:
a. Prisoners in jail;
b. Victims of child abuse;
c. Those infected with AIDS;
d. Mentally challenged on our streets;
e. Refugees around this war-torn world;
f. The hungry; and
g. Those of different sexual preference.
2. We must help even those who bring the situation upon themselves.
3. Our help ought to go beyond duty. We ought to give our own physical help.
D. Move to the action beyond immediate help. We ought to work to make the roads safe so this won't continue to happen (the flip side of the parable).
E. List out some areas in your community where the congregation could do good and perhaps make a difference.
F. Return to the parable in your context and retell it this time with proper action on behalf of the modern day priest, Levite, and Samaritan.
Prayer For The Day
Help us, O God, to see those beaten and suffering in our ditches here in (your city). Show us the proper response to their pain and move us to act as well as pray and feel pity. And let us begin right here in our congregation where there are many who seek loving comfort and support. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
When you visit the large Roman Catholic Cathedral off the central plaza in Mexico City you will see a long plumb line hanging from its ceiling and extending to the floor in the center of the sanctuary. It measures how far off center the building has moved during and after a recent and large earthquake. Amos recommended the measure long ago, and we still have need of it.
In a graduation ceremony of a Bible school under a colorful large tent, a little boy got lost from his father and began to cry. One of the many graduates up front heard the cry and got up and came back the aisle to retrieve her young son in distress. Without seeing, she knew the cry and took action to comfort. No one else in that large crowd moved, but she did. It all took place in Kathmandu, Nepal, and I was so moved by the attentive compassion. Jesus once told a parable of a Samaritan who heard the cry for help when no one else did, too.
It is in seeking the lost that we realize the full joy of being the found.
"When we don't speak for ourselves, someone else will speak for us," said Jill June of Planned Parenthood of Iowa. She added, "When we don't act, others will act for us." Perhaps this is what church mothers and fathers meant by sins of omission.
Jesus' acts of compassion and teaching ministry.
Theme For The Day
Identifying our neighbors who are in the side ditches of our community and need our help.
Old Testament Lesson
Amos 7:7-17
Amos Prophesies
This is a third vision of Amos following a locust plague (7:1-3) and a supernatural fire (7:4-6) and now the plumb line (7:7-9). This was a cord with a weight at the end, which showed that the wall (Israel) was leaning so much it would surely fall. The divine patience had run out. This royal dynasty would die.
In verses 10-17, Amos is condemned by Amaziah the priest at Bethel. (There are always those, who when the powerful are confronted, will sidle up to them for their favor and tell them what they want to hear.) Shame on you, Amaziah! Amos is asked to hear a call to a new parish where he will no longer threaten these religious with the brutal truth.
Amos' reply makes this book consequential. He declares he is not one of those prophets organized to profit from the temple vocation. Amos just tells of God's inescapable call. He was a shepherd and a worker who punctured the unripe fruit of the sycamore-fig tree so it would become edible.
He scarcely has refused to be still or recant, when he again predicts disaster for the people and their land and that they will be scattered into exile.
New Testament Lesson
Colossians 1:1-14
Paul's Thankfulness For Faith
We have the beginning of this short letter by Paul, written while in prison in Rome, to the Colossians in order to refute a heresy circulating there. It trumpets the complete adequacy of Christ over the emptiness of human philosophy. Paul begins by complimenting these Christians on their faithfulness and their love for each other (v. 4). We have here the essence of the Christian life. This is a double loyalty -- to Christ and to people. There is not only right thinking but also loving action. These are the twin piers of our life in Christ.
Then comes that which is so beautiful in verse 9. Paul is praying for them. He prays for their patience, strength, and joy. According to Paul's Greek, the patience is a conquering patience and a patience with people. Then comes joy. It is a joy that no circumstance and no person can take away from us. It is not so tough to be joyful when things are going well, but here is a joy regardless of our worldly situation. It is a joy that is not the absence of trouble but is the presence of God.
The Gospel
Luke 10:25-37
The Parable Of The Good Samaritan
It is such a familiar passage, perhaps we can just list some information not so commonly understood.
If the priest had helped and touched the man, he would have his turn of duty in the Temple canceled. Bandits often used decoys on this dangerous road, so the Levite was very cautious. "Samaritan" was often used to describe a person who broke the ceremonial laws (see John 8:48). This Samaritan seemed to have good credit with the innkeeper!
The lawyer probably wore a phylactery around his wrist that would have the law on it from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-20. So Jesus was telling the lawyer to answer his own question by reading what he had strapped to his wrist. Leviticus 18:19 would have been there added by the scribes.
William Barclay adds a comment which rings true for me after many years in the ministry. "It is no new experience to find the orthodox more interested in dogmas than in help and to find the person the orthodox despise to be the person who loves his/her fellow humans. In the end we will be judged not by the creed we hold but by the life we live!"
The Jews had defined love of neighbor to be love of their fellow Jews. This story blows that idea to pieces.
Preaching Possibilities
A. I have previously recommended a series on Colossians. Please see the "heads up" suggestions just before this section on Proper 10, Pentecost 8, Ordinary Time 15. While it is a bit of a stretch, one can connect the three readings by talking of what is "out of plumb" in Israel in the Amos passage, the admonition of Paul in Colossians not to weary in doing good, and Jesus' parable which defines neighbor and calls for acts of compassion for those in need.
B. I have dealt with this parable in The Parables Of Jesus And Their Flip Side in the chapter titled "Safer Roads And Real Life" (CSS Publishing Company, 2001).
C. The Old Testament Lesson has a lot to say to us. And it offers a great metaphor -- the plumb line. Be sure to see the first metaphor listed below in Possible Metaphors And Stories. How do we measure our practice of discipleship today? And how far out of plumb is the Christian Church and our congregation in following God as God's servants? You might consider hanging a plumb line in your sanctuary and listing below it the elements that indicate on plumb and out of plumb. On plumb: love of Christ and others! But out of plumb: hating others, unwillingness to share, refusal to witness, causing dissention in the church, unkindness, and so on.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Retell the parable in your own words and in the context of your community "A bishop was on his way to preach in St. John's church, when he came across an African family with a flat tire along the side of Route 101," and so on.
B. Ask the congregation to imagine which of the characters in the story they are most like: the Samaritan, the Levite, the innkeeper, the beaten in the ditch.
C. Tell your listeners what you learn from the parable:
1. We ought be willing to help any one in need like:
a. Prisoners in jail;
b. Victims of child abuse;
c. Those infected with AIDS;
d. Mentally challenged on our streets;
e. Refugees around this war-torn world;
f. The hungry; and
g. Those of different sexual preference.
2. We must help even those who bring the situation upon themselves.
3. Our help ought to go beyond duty. We ought to give our own physical help.
D. Move to the action beyond immediate help. We ought to work to make the roads safe so this won't continue to happen (the flip side of the parable).
E. List out some areas in your community where the congregation could do good and perhaps make a difference.
F. Return to the parable in your context and retell it this time with proper action on behalf of the modern day priest, Levite, and Samaritan.
Prayer For The Day
Help us, O God, to see those beaten and suffering in our ditches here in (your city). Show us the proper response to their pain and move us to act as well as pray and feel pity. And let us begin right here in our congregation where there are many who seek loving comfort and support. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
When you visit the large Roman Catholic Cathedral off the central plaza in Mexico City you will see a long plumb line hanging from its ceiling and extending to the floor in the center of the sanctuary. It measures how far off center the building has moved during and after a recent and large earthquake. Amos recommended the measure long ago, and we still have need of it.
In a graduation ceremony of a Bible school under a colorful large tent, a little boy got lost from his father and began to cry. One of the many graduates up front heard the cry and got up and came back the aisle to retrieve her young son in distress. Without seeing, she knew the cry and took action to comfort. No one else in that large crowd moved, but she did. It all took place in Kathmandu, Nepal, and I was so moved by the attentive compassion. Jesus once told a parable of a Samaritan who heard the cry for help when no one else did, too.
It is in seeking the lost that we realize the full joy of being the found.
"When we don't speak for ourselves, someone else will speak for us," said Jill June of Planned Parenthood of Iowa. She added, "When we don't act, others will act for us." Perhaps this is what church mothers and fathers meant by sins of omission.
