Proper 12
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook, SERIES II
for use with Common, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Lectionaries
Comments on the Lessons
The 2 Kings pericope is part of the section of 5:1-27, dealing with Elisha curing the leprosy of
Naaman. The Genesis reading relates Abraham's intercession for Sodom. In the Colossians passage
Paul deals with false teachings and warns readers to avoid them and cling to Christ. The reading from Luke contains Jesus' sayings on prayer, including the Lord's Prayer.
Commentary
2 Kings 5:1-15ab (C)
The date of this story seems to be about the time of Amos. Elisha died about 800 B.C. Naaman's leprosy was not of the kind which made him an outcast from society. It appears to have been an embarrassing skin disease but not leprosy per se.
Note that neither the name of the king of Syria nor the king of Israel is mentioned, and the account assumes Syria held the upper hand. Naaman is the Syrian commander-in-chief. He has received many honors, but he now has leprosy. A little maid from Israel, captured in a raid, had told her mistress that there was a prophet in Samaria who could cure Naaman's leprosy. This prophet was Elisha. Notice that the king of Syria commands the king of Israel to heal Naaman. This causes the king of Israel great concern, but he is relieved when Elisha sends to the king of Syria and invites Naaman to come to him for help. The value of the silver and gold which Naaman brought with him has been estimated to have been worth as much as $80,000. In addition, there were ten festal garments of great worth.
Naaman was disturbed for two reasons: (1) Elisha did not himself come out to heal him in more dramatic, public fashion, and (2) Naaman was told to wash in the river Jordan. In 1953 I went for a swim in the Jordan, where it flows from the Sea of Galilee. It is not impressive in size. It is no wonder Naaman resented this command. Elisha spoke to Naaman through a messenger, a normal custom for prophets. He insisted that Naaman bathe in the Jordan, an Israelite river, which would demonstrate that there was indeed a prophet in Israel. (v. 8)
Naaman thought it the duty of Elisha, whom he regarded as inferior socially, to come out to him. He expected some physical gesture, a ritual of some kind, and the invoking of the name of Israel's God.
In verse 14 we learn that Naaman's flesh was restored like that of a little child and he was clean after he dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had commanded him.
Then in verse 15 we have a striking confession of monotheism, much like the confession of Islam. Naaman returned to Elisha with his company. Standing before him, he declared there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Some think there was a tendency to monotheism already in Syria, which prepared Naaman to confess that the one God was none other than Yahweh, Israel's God.
The story goes on in the following verses to tell of Naaman's offered gift, which Elisha refused, and Naaman's taking earth from Israel back with him to Syria (since it was believed that a god could not be worshiped apart from his own land).
Genesis 18:20-32 (L) (RC)
Our pericope is part of a larger section of 18:16--19:38 and must be read in the context of the larger reading in order to understand it properly. There are three elements in this larger section: (1) a theological reflection (18:16-32), (2) the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (19:1-19), and (3) the old narrative about the children of Lot in 19:30-38. They come from different writers but are held together by the figure of Lot. Note that 19:29 is the hinge by which the two texts of 19:1-28 and 18:16-32 are brought together. It appears that 18:16-32 is a later theological reflection on an earlier narrative of 19:1-28. The preacher is urged to read this earlier narrative first, in order to understand the reflection in our pericope.
The major contrast in these two readings is the tension between the faith of Abraham and humanity's straying from God. While 19:1-28 gives a closed, fated view of the world, our pericope seeks to break open and criticize the popular religious conviction of 19:1-28. Our pericope is concerned with how God's grace breaks into a system of retribution which Israel had taken over from the theology of the ancient Near East. A reading of the larger section suggests that God had rather simplistically taken the popular attitude expressed in 19:28, until Abraham raised the question in our pericope concerning God's willingness to set aside the closed system and approach his world in another fashion. Abraham brings to God this new theological possibility.
In verse 22 we read that "Abraham still stood before the Lord," but a very early Hebrew text which commands great authority reads rather, "God stood before Abraham." This would agree with the notion of Abraham being God's theological teacher in this pericope, but early scribes apparently thought this irreverent and so changed it to read as we have it in the RSV. The earlier reading shows Abraham pressing God to consider a new alternative to the prevailing theology of retribution.
Note that 19:17-19, which led up to our pericope, reveals Abraham as the one chosen, blessed and charged by God. This enables Abraham to give this challenge to God. Abraham is chosen by God to do his purpose of righteousness and justice. Calvin has said that the picture of Abraham exhibited in this passage shows he has a "sense of humanity." Abraham's concern is not only for moral obedience but also for the well-being of those who have rebelled against God.
Comparing this text with that of the flood narrative, we see more clearly the theological innovation here. In the flood narrative the innovation was about the pain in the heart of God while here it centers on God's valuing the righteous more than seeking the destruction of the unrighteous.
The question which Abraham puts to God is essentially this: If God is truly God and not a capricious tyrant, can he then destroy an entire city even though it is wicked and deserves destruction (according to human standards)? In other words, can God be content with the indictment/punishment scheme of chapter 19, or must God intervene in his gracious freedom to break the cause-and-effect of indictment and punishment in the divine scheme of things?
The central thrust of these central verses (18:23-33) is "righteousness." They raise the question of God's rightousness, its nature, power and authority, in the face of great wickedness. According to the conventional theology of Genesis 19, innocent people have the power to save only themselves, while the guilty can take down with them others who may be innocent. (This notion affected the covenant concept of the American Puritans, who were concerned for public and private morality in order to avoid the wrath of God on their covenant communities.)
Abraham asks God two critical questions: (1) Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? (v. 23); (2) Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (v. 25) Abraham develops a link between God's compassionate justice and God's holiness. The character of God is the central issue here. Abraham deals with specific issues which God must consider. Abraham urges the possibility that innocent people have the power to save others and the power to override the destructiveness of guilt.
Like barter in a Near Eastern market, Abraham brings God down from fifty to ten, but we need not get caught up the numbers. Since this is a literary device, they are incidental. The outcome of the argument is that it will take only a small number of righteous people to save Sodom, the rest are guilty. This is a major change on God's part, since he is now more concerned about and moved by a small number of people who obey him than by a large group who do not. God is shown not to be an accountant or scorekeeper, ready to pounce on the wicked, to judge and to punish, but rather a God who is more concerned to celebrate the righteousness (right-relatedness) of a few.
There is good news in this passage. It points toward Jesus of Nazareth, the one who is righteous enough to save. (Romans 5:15-17) So the narrative concludes with God breaking out of the role of a mere man of that period, to act instead like God, the merciful God Abraham knows him to be. God is not indifferent toward evil and guilt, but in Jesus Christ he turns his anger and judgment upon himself for the sake of the world.
Colossians 2:6-15 (C) (L)
Colossians 2:12-14 (RC)
Warning against false teaching and a focus on Christ's redemption of humanity are thrusts of this pericope. In verses 6-7 Paul recalls basic Christian instructions which had been given the Colossians. "Received" refers to the tradition about Christ Jesus the Lord, but also to the fact that Christ had come into their lives as a gift of the Spirit. Paul's use of "the Lord" may refer to the Messiah, a concept from their basic Old Testament training concerning Christ. "The faith" (v. 7) refers to the Christian religion. They were taught this by Epaphras, Paul's beloved fellow servant. "Abounding in thanksgiving" points to their present Christian life, lived in gratitude to God as their response to the Gospel.
We need to realize that the main doctrinal themes of Colossians consists of just a few themes to which Paul returns again and again, although each treatment of a theme has its own emphasis. The basic statement of these themes is in the text of 1:15-20, a liturgical text which Paul and his readers shared in common.
Now in verses 8-15 Paul uses some of the favorite terms of the false teachers in Colossae, but uses them to his own advantage, as any persuasive speaker and writer seeks to do. We should also note that Paul's opponents seem rather nebulous, and so he does not make a frontal attack on them (since this would put them on the spot). He sets forth the true doctrine of the Christian faith, the real heart of the Christian message, from which his readers are being tempted to depart. The heart of this message, of course, is the redemption by Christ and the believer's acceptance of and enjoyment of baptism and its gifts.
Paul contrasts the two authorities behind the two kinds of teachings they have been given: Christ, and the elemental spirits of the universe (the principalities and powers, verse 15). While the angels and elemental spirits of the universe may seem to have power, Paul sees them as the center of a web of false doctrine upsetting the Colossians. While angels and Christ are both agents of God, Christ is the superior and has made a public example of them, triumphing over them. In Christ, says Paul, the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, and he is the head of all rule and authority.
Paul tells his readers they were buried with Christ in baptism, in which they were also raised with him through faith in the working of God. Paul sees Christian baptism as the equivalent of Old Testament circumcision. Each is the rite through which one is admitted to the covenant community. Baptism is a death and resurrection with Christ to new life, dramatically portrayed in immersion, but also expressed in sprinkling and pouring, which washes away sin and brings the new resurrection life by faith.
There appears to have been pressure on the Colossians to adopt the rite of circumcision as a religiously desirable (if not required ) action. Paul takes the term and shows its true meaning: circumcision for a believer in Christ means baptism. God in Christ has made the believer alive with him, having forgiven all trespasses, cancelling the bond which stood against us, doing this through Christ's death on the Cross.
Luke 11:1-13
These sayings of Jesus concerning prayer include the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples at their request. This teaching is given on the road to Jerusalem, as additional instruction about the meaning of discipleship. Matthew and Luke give versions of the Lord's Prayer, but Luke's is the shorter. A comparison of the two reveals that at some points one is more original than the other, and the words in Matthew's version, which have no parallel in Luke, seem to be liturgical additions. A comparison of the two versions indicates that Matthew's is more precise and more likely to be original than Luke's more generalized form. Note that Matthew has altered the original by addition, but Luke had made changes by modification. Matthew's version (6:9-13) was the version used in Jewish Christianity, while Luke's was used by Gentile Christians at the end of the first century. Recall that Jesus spoke and prayed in Aramaic. This creates some difficulties for discovering the original prayer Jesus gave the disciples, since the Greek text must be translated into Aramaic.
This passage teaches disciples what to pray for (vv. 2-4) and why one should develop the habit of praying (vv. 5-13). There are several versions of the original prayer. Here is one:
Father:
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come.
Give us this day our bread for the morrow;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
And lead us not into temptation (but deliver us from the Evil One).
Consider that the first part is concerned with God, with two "thou petitions." The second part has three "us petitions." There is a strong eschatological thrust to the entire prayer, focusing on the New Age which is breaking in by the power of the Spirit.
Jesus addresses God as "Father" (or, as Matthew puts it, "Our Father"), and in doing so introduces a radically new term for God, Abba. This was the term a child used in addressing a human father. While a Jew might say "Our Father," the term used would have been a formal and exclusively religious term, not "Abba" (which translates "Daddy" or "Poppa"). Jesus taught the disciples to pray with the same family intimacy he used in prayer.
The first two petitions ask for the same thing, namely that God will intervene to bring the New Age to pass. This means that God's name will be reverenced and his rule accepted universally. To pray for God's name to be hallowed is to ask that God will act to reveal his holiness and love. Since this involves human response, so it is also the praying person's dedication to the task of making God's name (nature) hallowed or holy in the world. The second petition asks for the Kingdom to come now. The Kingdom is God's rule of righteousness and love, established by his grace. This also calls for human faith and obedience to God's rule. God's kingdom came in Jesus and, to some extent, in his disciples, but this prayer is that the kingdom may grow and expand to all people.
The next petition is for bread for the morrow, just enough for the coming day, as God provided manna in the wilderness for each day's needs. The Greek word for "daily" may also mean "for the future." A number of scholars now see it as a prayer for the bread of the New Age, the food of the messianic banquet. But Luke sees the petition as the disciples' prayer for God to go on supplying their daily physical needs day by day. Recall Luke's hostility to the accumulation of unneeded possessions, as noted in 12:16-21. The thrust here is a prayer for what one needs for the day, and for no more!
The next petition is for forgiveness, and in the New Age this will mean, ultimately, the blotting out of sins. Luke uses "sins" to refer to our offenses against God. But he leaves the debtor term in the second part of the petition. The thrust of this petition is that the one praying asks God to forgive his or her sins against him as they continually forgive all of their debtors (understood in terms of "things"). The prayer asks for something within history. This is a prayer which rules out the unforgiving spirit or resentment toward others which would then close one's heart to God's mercy. Our forgiving of others is not the ground up which God gives forgiveness, but is the basis on which humans can receive God's forgiveness.
The final petition asks God to protect the one praying in the midst of any trial which could prove too much for them to withstand. It is a prayer for God's power to avoid one's destruction by evil. Matthew adds, "but save us from the evil one." This may originally have referred to the final battle between God and Satan, but Luke has shifted the eschatological reference. For Luke, it refers to the ordinary temptations of daily life.
The parable of the friend at midnight, verses 5-8, encourages importunity in prayer and explains why it is necessary. Oriental hospitality demanded that a host provide food for a guest whenever the person might arrive. The friend of the host hesitated to get up and give him bread for his friend. It would involve waking the whole family, all of whom slept on mats on the floor of the common room. But the constant knocking at the door would rouse the friend to get up and give him bread.
This parable, found only in Luke, stresses "how much more" God, who is eager and willing to answer our prayers, will do so than the friend who got up to give bread in the middle of the night. The disciples should pray because God wants to answer. This is his nature - to give good gifts to those who ask him.
Verses 9-10 urge the person praying to go on praying because God is certain to answer the one who asks, seeks and knocks. (A-S-K is an acrostic for Ask-Seek-Knock!) In verses 11-13 we have another "how much more" story, in which God is shown to be much more gracious and responsive than a human father. The fish referred to a type of unclean fish in the Sea of Galilee, one which grows to five feet in length, crawls on land and resembles a snake. The scorpion looks like an egg when its legs are closed around it. The thrust of these two sayings is that even sinful parents will not trick their children with things positively harmful, and if this is the case, then how much more will God not give good gifts to those who ask him? Luke says, "How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." (v. 13) For Luke, the good gift of the heavenly Father is not things, but rather the Holy Spirit. God will not only not give anything harmful to those who ask him, but will give himself by the power of the Holy Spirit to whose who ask him.
Theological Reflections
The thrust of the 2 Kings reading is on the healing of Naaman by Elisha, when Naaman obeys Elisha's command to wash seven times in the Jordan. Righteousness is the theme of the Genesis passage, and the power of a few righteous to save many who are wicked from God's punishment. It reveals God as the merciful God Abraham knows him to be. In Colossians Paul deals with false teachings, to refute them in light of the redemption of humanity in Christ. Christ is the fulness of God, who has triumphed over the angels and elemental spirits. Believers participate in his triumph through baptism, in which one dies to sin and is raised to new life. Luke records sayings about prayer, including the Lord's Prayer as a model for praying. Jesus urges the disciples to pray with importunity, trusting in God to give not only good gifts but the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who pray in this way.
Homiletical Moves
2 Kings 5:1-15ab
Naaman's Flesh Was Restored and He Was Clean
1. Naaman, commander of the Syrian army, is a leper but is told by a little Hebrew maid about Elisha the prophet in Israel, one who could cure him
2. Naaman goes to Israel with a letter from the king of Syria, and with gifts, seeking healing from Elisha
3. Elisha does not come out to Naaman but sends him to wash seven times in the Jordan; this angers Naaman, but he obeys
4. Naaman is healed, his flesh is restored and he is clean
5. Let us trust in Christ to heal us of our sin and brokenness, and let us obey him.
Genesis 18:20-32 (L) (RC)
Saved for the Sake of Ten Righteous
1. Abraham questions God whether he will destroy Sodom, the righteous with the wicked
2. Abraham bargains with God to save Sodom for the sake of ten righteous; God promises to do so
3. God has given his Son, the Righteous One, to save a world of sinners
4. Let us trust in God, who is a God of mercy, and not a capricious tyrant
Colossians 2:6-15 (C) (L)
Colossians 2:12-14 (RC)
God Has Made Us Alive With Christ!
1. Avoid those who would make a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition and the elemental spirits of the universe
2. We have come to fulness of life in Christ, in whom the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily
3. We were buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him through faith
4. Let us trust in God, who mas made us alive with Christ, having forgiven all our trespasses, canceled the bond against us, and triumphed over the principalities and powers
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 11:1-13
When You Pray, Say: "Father ..."
1. Jesus and the disciples were praying; one asked him to teach them to pray as John the Baptizer taught his disciples to pray
2. Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer
3. Jesus told them a parable which urges importunity in praying, even as a host would be persistent in seeking bread for a guest from a friend in the night
4. Jesus urges us to ask, seek and knock, trusting God to give not only good gifts to those who so pray but to give the Holy Spirit, his very presence
In developing the sermon on this passage the preacher may choose to preach from the movements of the entire passage, as noted above, or from the Lord's Prayer only. The Lord's Prayer lends itself to a series of sermons on prayer, taking each petition for the thurst of a sermon. Trust and persistence in prayer are two aspects of prayer to be stressed, no matter what direction the sermon goes.
Hymn for Proper 12: Christ is Made the Sure Foundation
Prayer
Gracious God, we thank you for saving us because of the Righteous One, Jesus Christ. We thank you that through faith in him we have been buried with him in baptism and raised with him to fulness of life. Thank you for healing us of our brokenness through Christ the divine physician. Thank you for teaching us to pray trusting your promises and persisting in prayer, knowing that you give not only good gifts but the Holy Spirit to those who ask, seek and knock. Teach us to rely upon your promises for our daily bread, to accept your forgiveness and in turn to forgive others. We ask you to deliver us from temptation itself, but to strengthen us when we are tempted. Amen
The 2 Kings pericope is part of the section of 5:1-27, dealing with Elisha curing the leprosy of
Naaman. The Genesis reading relates Abraham's intercession for Sodom. In the Colossians passage
Paul deals with false teachings and warns readers to avoid them and cling to Christ. The reading from Luke contains Jesus' sayings on prayer, including the Lord's Prayer.
Commentary
2 Kings 5:1-15ab (C)
The date of this story seems to be about the time of Amos. Elisha died about 800 B.C. Naaman's leprosy was not of the kind which made him an outcast from society. It appears to have been an embarrassing skin disease but not leprosy per se.
Note that neither the name of the king of Syria nor the king of Israel is mentioned, and the account assumes Syria held the upper hand. Naaman is the Syrian commander-in-chief. He has received many honors, but he now has leprosy. A little maid from Israel, captured in a raid, had told her mistress that there was a prophet in Samaria who could cure Naaman's leprosy. This prophet was Elisha. Notice that the king of Syria commands the king of Israel to heal Naaman. This causes the king of Israel great concern, but he is relieved when Elisha sends to the king of Syria and invites Naaman to come to him for help. The value of the silver and gold which Naaman brought with him has been estimated to have been worth as much as $80,000. In addition, there were ten festal garments of great worth.
Naaman was disturbed for two reasons: (1) Elisha did not himself come out to heal him in more dramatic, public fashion, and (2) Naaman was told to wash in the river Jordan. In 1953 I went for a swim in the Jordan, where it flows from the Sea of Galilee. It is not impressive in size. It is no wonder Naaman resented this command. Elisha spoke to Naaman through a messenger, a normal custom for prophets. He insisted that Naaman bathe in the Jordan, an Israelite river, which would demonstrate that there was indeed a prophet in Israel. (v. 8)
Naaman thought it the duty of Elisha, whom he regarded as inferior socially, to come out to him. He expected some physical gesture, a ritual of some kind, and the invoking of the name of Israel's God.
In verse 14 we learn that Naaman's flesh was restored like that of a little child and he was clean after he dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had commanded him.
Then in verse 15 we have a striking confession of monotheism, much like the confession of Islam. Naaman returned to Elisha with his company. Standing before him, he declared there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. Some think there was a tendency to monotheism already in Syria, which prepared Naaman to confess that the one God was none other than Yahweh, Israel's God.
The story goes on in the following verses to tell of Naaman's offered gift, which Elisha refused, and Naaman's taking earth from Israel back with him to Syria (since it was believed that a god could not be worshiped apart from his own land).
Genesis 18:20-32 (L) (RC)
Our pericope is part of a larger section of 18:16--19:38 and must be read in the context of the larger reading in order to understand it properly. There are three elements in this larger section: (1) a theological reflection (18:16-32), (2) the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (19:1-19), and (3) the old narrative about the children of Lot in 19:30-38. They come from different writers but are held together by the figure of Lot. Note that 19:29 is the hinge by which the two texts of 19:1-28 and 18:16-32 are brought together. It appears that 18:16-32 is a later theological reflection on an earlier narrative of 19:1-28. The preacher is urged to read this earlier narrative first, in order to understand the reflection in our pericope.
The major contrast in these two readings is the tension between the faith of Abraham and humanity's straying from God. While 19:1-28 gives a closed, fated view of the world, our pericope seeks to break open and criticize the popular religious conviction of 19:1-28. Our pericope is concerned with how God's grace breaks into a system of retribution which Israel had taken over from the theology of the ancient Near East. A reading of the larger section suggests that God had rather simplistically taken the popular attitude expressed in 19:28, until Abraham raised the question in our pericope concerning God's willingness to set aside the closed system and approach his world in another fashion. Abraham brings to God this new theological possibility.
In verse 22 we read that "Abraham still stood before the Lord," but a very early Hebrew text which commands great authority reads rather, "God stood before Abraham." This would agree with the notion of Abraham being God's theological teacher in this pericope, but early scribes apparently thought this irreverent and so changed it to read as we have it in the RSV. The earlier reading shows Abraham pressing God to consider a new alternative to the prevailing theology of retribution.
Note that 19:17-19, which led up to our pericope, reveals Abraham as the one chosen, blessed and charged by God. This enables Abraham to give this challenge to God. Abraham is chosen by God to do his purpose of righteousness and justice. Calvin has said that the picture of Abraham exhibited in this passage shows he has a "sense of humanity." Abraham's concern is not only for moral obedience but also for the well-being of those who have rebelled against God.
Comparing this text with that of the flood narrative, we see more clearly the theological innovation here. In the flood narrative the innovation was about the pain in the heart of God while here it centers on God's valuing the righteous more than seeking the destruction of the unrighteous.
The question which Abraham puts to God is essentially this: If God is truly God and not a capricious tyrant, can he then destroy an entire city even though it is wicked and deserves destruction (according to human standards)? In other words, can God be content with the indictment/punishment scheme of chapter 19, or must God intervene in his gracious freedom to break the cause-and-effect of indictment and punishment in the divine scheme of things?
The central thrust of these central verses (18:23-33) is "righteousness." They raise the question of God's rightousness, its nature, power and authority, in the face of great wickedness. According to the conventional theology of Genesis 19, innocent people have the power to save only themselves, while the guilty can take down with them others who may be innocent. (This notion affected the covenant concept of the American Puritans, who were concerned for public and private morality in order to avoid the wrath of God on their covenant communities.)
Abraham asks God two critical questions: (1) Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? (v. 23); (2) Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (v. 25) Abraham develops a link between God's compassionate justice and God's holiness. The character of God is the central issue here. Abraham deals with specific issues which God must consider. Abraham urges the possibility that innocent people have the power to save others and the power to override the destructiveness of guilt.
Like barter in a Near Eastern market, Abraham brings God down from fifty to ten, but we need not get caught up the numbers. Since this is a literary device, they are incidental. The outcome of the argument is that it will take only a small number of righteous people to save Sodom, the rest are guilty. This is a major change on God's part, since he is now more concerned about and moved by a small number of people who obey him than by a large group who do not. God is shown not to be an accountant or scorekeeper, ready to pounce on the wicked, to judge and to punish, but rather a God who is more concerned to celebrate the righteousness (right-relatedness) of a few.
There is good news in this passage. It points toward Jesus of Nazareth, the one who is righteous enough to save. (Romans 5:15-17) So the narrative concludes with God breaking out of the role of a mere man of that period, to act instead like God, the merciful God Abraham knows him to be. God is not indifferent toward evil and guilt, but in Jesus Christ he turns his anger and judgment upon himself for the sake of the world.
Colossians 2:6-15 (C) (L)
Colossians 2:12-14 (RC)
Warning against false teaching and a focus on Christ's redemption of humanity are thrusts of this pericope. In verses 6-7 Paul recalls basic Christian instructions which had been given the Colossians. "Received" refers to the tradition about Christ Jesus the Lord, but also to the fact that Christ had come into their lives as a gift of the Spirit. Paul's use of "the Lord" may refer to the Messiah, a concept from their basic Old Testament training concerning Christ. "The faith" (v. 7) refers to the Christian religion. They were taught this by Epaphras, Paul's beloved fellow servant. "Abounding in thanksgiving" points to their present Christian life, lived in gratitude to God as their response to the Gospel.
We need to realize that the main doctrinal themes of Colossians consists of just a few themes to which Paul returns again and again, although each treatment of a theme has its own emphasis. The basic statement of these themes is in the text of 1:15-20, a liturgical text which Paul and his readers shared in common.
Now in verses 8-15 Paul uses some of the favorite terms of the false teachers in Colossae, but uses them to his own advantage, as any persuasive speaker and writer seeks to do. We should also note that Paul's opponents seem rather nebulous, and so he does not make a frontal attack on them (since this would put them on the spot). He sets forth the true doctrine of the Christian faith, the real heart of the Christian message, from which his readers are being tempted to depart. The heart of this message, of course, is the redemption by Christ and the believer's acceptance of and enjoyment of baptism and its gifts.
Paul contrasts the two authorities behind the two kinds of teachings they have been given: Christ, and the elemental spirits of the universe (the principalities and powers, verse 15). While the angels and elemental spirits of the universe may seem to have power, Paul sees them as the center of a web of false doctrine upsetting the Colossians. While angels and Christ are both agents of God, Christ is the superior and has made a public example of them, triumphing over them. In Christ, says Paul, the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, and he is the head of all rule and authority.
Paul tells his readers they were buried with Christ in baptism, in which they were also raised with him through faith in the working of God. Paul sees Christian baptism as the equivalent of Old Testament circumcision. Each is the rite through which one is admitted to the covenant community. Baptism is a death and resurrection with Christ to new life, dramatically portrayed in immersion, but also expressed in sprinkling and pouring, which washes away sin and brings the new resurrection life by faith.
There appears to have been pressure on the Colossians to adopt the rite of circumcision as a religiously desirable (if not required ) action. Paul takes the term and shows its true meaning: circumcision for a believer in Christ means baptism. God in Christ has made the believer alive with him, having forgiven all trespasses, cancelling the bond which stood against us, doing this through Christ's death on the Cross.
Luke 11:1-13
These sayings of Jesus concerning prayer include the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples at their request. This teaching is given on the road to Jerusalem, as additional instruction about the meaning of discipleship. Matthew and Luke give versions of the Lord's Prayer, but Luke's is the shorter. A comparison of the two reveals that at some points one is more original than the other, and the words in Matthew's version, which have no parallel in Luke, seem to be liturgical additions. A comparison of the two versions indicates that Matthew's is more precise and more likely to be original than Luke's more generalized form. Note that Matthew has altered the original by addition, but Luke had made changes by modification. Matthew's version (6:9-13) was the version used in Jewish Christianity, while Luke's was used by Gentile Christians at the end of the first century. Recall that Jesus spoke and prayed in Aramaic. This creates some difficulties for discovering the original prayer Jesus gave the disciples, since the Greek text must be translated into Aramaic.
This passage teaches disciples what to pray for (vv. 2-4) and why one should develop the habit of praying (vv. 5-13). There are several versions of the original prayer. Here is one:
Father:
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come.
Give us this day our bread for the morrow;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
And lead us not into temptation (but deliver us from the Evil One).
Consider that the first part is concerned with God, with two "thou petitions." The second part has three "us petitions." There is a strong eschatological thrust to the entire prayer, focusing on the New Age which is breaking in by the power of the Spirit.
Jesus addresses God as "Father" (or, as Matthew puts it, "Our Father"), and in doing so introduces a radically new term for God, Abba. This was the term a child used in addressing a human father. While a Jew might say "Our Father," the term used would have been a formal and exclusively religious term, not "Abba" (which translates "Daddy" or "Poppa"). Jesus taught the disciples to pray with the same family intimacy he used in prayer.
The first two petitions ask for the same thing, namely that God will intervene to bring the New Age to pass. This means that God's name will be reverenced and his rule accepted universally. To pray for God's name to be hallowed is to ask that God will act to reveal his holiness and love. Since this involves human response, so it is also the praying person's dedication to the task of making God's name (nature) hallowed or holy in the world. The second petition asks for the Kingdom to come now. The Kingdom is God's rule of righteousness and love, established by his grace. This also calls for human faith and obedience to God's rule. God's kingdom came in Jesus and, to some extent, in his disciples, but this prayer is that the kingdom may grow and expand to all people.
The next petition is for bread for the morrow, just enough for the coming day, as God provided manna in the wilderness for each day's needs. The Greek word for "daily" may also mean "for the future." A number of scholars now see it as a prayer for the bread of the New Age, the food of the messianic banquet. But Luke sees the petition as the disciples' prayer for God to go on supplying their daily physical needs day by day. Recall Luke's hostility to the accumulation of unneeded possessions, as noted in 12:16-21. The thrust here is a prayer for what one needs for the day, and for no more!
The next petition is for forgiveness, and in the New Age this will mean, ultimately, the blotting out of sins. Luke uses "sins" to refer to our offenses against God. But he leaves the debtor term in the second part of the petition. The thrust of this petition is that the one praying asks God to forgive his or her sins against him as they continually forgive all of their debtors (understood in terms of "things"). The prayer asks for something within history. This is a prayer which rules out the unforgiving spirit or resentment toward others which would then close one's heart to God's mercy. Our forgiving of others is not the ground up which God gives forgiveness, but is the basis on which humans can receive God's forgiveness.
The final petition asks God to protect the one praying in the midst of any trial which could prove too much for them to withstand. It is a prayer for God's power to avoid one's destruction by evil. Matthew adds, "but save us from the evil one." This may originally have referred to the final battle between God and Satan, but Luke has shifted the eschatological reference. For Luke, it refers to the ordinary temptations of daily life.
The parable of the friend at midnight, verses 5-8, encourages importunity in prayer and explains why it is necessary. Oriental hospitality demanded that a host provide food for a guest whenever the person might arrive. The friend of the host hesitated to get up and give him bread for his friend. It would involve waking the whole family, all of whom slept on mats on the floor of the common room. But the constant knocking at the door would rouse the friend to get up and give him bread.
This parable, found only in Luke, stresses "how much more" God, who is eager and willing to answer our prayers, will do so than the friend who got up to give bread in the middle of the night. The disciples should pray because God wants to answer. This is his nature - to give good gifts to those who ask him.
Verses 9-10 urge the person praying to go on praying because God is certain to answer the one who asks, seeks and knocks. (A-S-K is an acrostic for Ask-Seek-Knock!) In verses 11-13 we have another "how much more" story, in which God is shown to be much more gracious and responsive than a human father. The fish referred to a type of unclean fish in the Sea of Galilee, one which grows to five feet in length, crawls on land and resembles a snake. The scorpion looks like an egg when its legs are closed around it. The thrust of these two sayings is that even sinful parents will not trick their children with things positively harmful, and if this is the case, then how much more will God not give good gifts to those who ask him? Luke says, "How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." (v. 13) For Luke, the good gift of the heavenly Father is not things, but rather the Holy Spirit. God will not only not give anything harmful to those who ask him, but will give himself by the power of the Holy Spirit to whose who ask him.
Theological Reflections
The thrust of the 2 Kings reading is on the healing of Naaman by Elisha, when Naaman obeys Elisha's command to wash seven times in the Jordan. Righteousness is the theme of the Genesis passage, and the power of a few righteous to save many who are wicked from God's punishment. It reveals God as the merciful God Abraham knows him to be. In Colossians Paul deals with false teachings, to refute them in light of the redemption of humanity in Christ. Christ is the fulness of God, who has triumphed over the angels and elemental spirits. Believers participate in his triumph through baptism, in which one dies to sin and is raised to new life. Luke records sayings about prayer, including the Lord's Prayer as a model for praying. Jesus urges the disciples to pray with importunity, trusting in God to give not only good gifts but the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who pray in this way.
Homiletical Moves
2 Kings 5:1-15ab
Naaman's Flesh Was Restored and He Was Clean
1. Naaman, commander of the Syrian army, is a leper but is told by a little Hebrew maid about Elisha the prophet in Israel, one who could cure him
2. Naaman goes to Israel with a letter from the king of Syria, and with gifts, seeking healing from Elisha
3. Elisha does not come out to Naaman but sends him to wash seven times in the Jordan; this angers Naaman, but he obeys
4. Naaman is healed, his flesh is restored and he is clean
5. Let us trust in Christ to heal us of our sin and brokenness, and let us obey him.
Genesis 18:20-32 (L) (RC)
Saved for the Sake of Ten Righteous
1. Abraham questions God whether he will destroy Sodom, the righteous with the wicked
2. Abraham bargains with God to save Sodom for the sake of ten righteous; God promises to do so
3. God has given his Son, the Righteous One, to save a world of sinners
4. Let us trust in God, who is a God of mercy, and not a capricious tyrant
Colossians 2:6-15 (C) (L)
Colossians 2:12-14 (RC)
God Has Made Us Alive With Christ!
1. Avoid those who would make a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition and the elemental spirits of the universe
2. We have come to fulness of life in Christ, in whom the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily
3. We were buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him through faith
4. Let us trust in God, who mas made us alive with Christ, having forgiven all our trespasses, canceled the bond against us, and triumphed over the principalities and powers
This Preacher's Preference
Luke 11:1-13
When You Pray, Say: "Father ..."
1. Jesus and the disciples were praying; one asked him to teach them to pray as John the Baptizer taught his disciples to pray
2. Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer
3. Jesus told them a parable which urges importunity in praying, even as a host would be persistent in seeking bread for a guest from a friend in the night
4. Jesus urges us to ask, seek and knock, trusting God to give not only good gifts to those who so pray but to give the Holy Spirit, his very presence
In developing the sermon on this passage the preacher may choose to preach from the movements of the entire passage, as noted above, or from the Lord's Prayer only. The Lord's Prayer lends itself to a series of sermons on prayer, taking each petition for the thurst of a sermon. Trust and persistence in prayer are two aspects of prayer to be stressed, no matter what direction the sermon goes.
Hymn for Proper 12: Christ is Made the Sure Foundation
Prayer
Gracious God, we thank you for saving us because of the Righteous One, Jesus Christ. We thank you that through faith in him we have been buried with him in baptism and raised with him to fulness of life. Thank you for healing us of our brokenness through Christ the divine physician. Thank you for teaching us to pray trusting your promises and persisting in prayer, knowing that you give not only good gifts but the Holy Spirit to those who ask, seek and knock. Teach us to rely upon your promises for our daily bread, to accept your forgiveness and in turn to forgive others. We ask you to deliver us from temptation itself, but to strengthen us when we are tempted. Amen
