Proper 16 / Pentecost 13 / Ordinary Time 21
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
An almighty, caring God who dwells among us.
Collect of the Day
After recognizing how the word feeds the people with eternal life, petitions are offered that God direct our choices and preserve the faithful in truth that they may live in God. Same emphases as the Collect for the preceding Sunday.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 84
* A Karah Psalm of Pilgrimage, in this case praising Mount Zion (in Jerusalem) as the goal for the pilgrim.
* Praise for the Temple is offered (vv. 1-2). All who are there, even the birds, find a home in it (vv. 3-4). Martin Luther interprets this Psalm as pertaining to Christ's church (Luther's Works, Vol. 11, p. 136).
* The joys of making a pilgrimage to the Temple are extolled (vv. 5-7).
* Reference to the pilgrims' shield, the face of God's anointed (vv. 8-9), refers to the king who functioned as the protector of such pilgrims (Psalms 61:6-7). We do not know the exact location of the valley of Baca (v. 6).
* The superiority of life in the Temple to anywhere else is extolled (vv. 9-12).
or Psalm 34:15-22
* See Pentecost 11 for an overall view of the Psalm.
* These verses continue the Psalmist's commending of his faith to the congregation.
* The Lord's eyes are on the righteous, open to their cry, while He cuts off the remembrance of evildoers (vv. 15-17).
* He is near the brokenhearted, saving the crushed in spirit (v. 18).
* The Lord rescues the righteous from afflictions, which are many (vv. 19-20).
* Evil brings death to the wicked. Those hating the righteous are condemned (v. 21).
* The Lord redeems the life of His servants (v. 22).
Sermon Text and Title
"Among Us, But Beyond Us"
1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
After clarifying the ancient Jewish belief that God was present in the Jerusalem Temple, to proclaim that though God transcends our creaturely existence He was in the past and is still today really among us. To clarify this mystery while still celebrating God's presence with us (God's relation to the world as panentheism).
2. Exegesis (see First Lesson of Pentecost 12)
* The story of the Jerusalem Temple, and especially of Solomon's prayer of dedication (vv. 22-30).
* The account begins with the moving of the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple (vv. 1, 6). Reference to the "city of David" is likely to Zion in Jerusalem's southeast.
* Reference is made to Yahweh's glory filling the Temple (vv. 10-11). The cloud filling the house of the Lord is likely a token of God's glorious presence (John Wesley, Commentary on the Bible, p. 210).
* The king's prayer begins with praise, that the Lord is the greatest of gods, steadfast in love. His covenant with David is remembered (vv. 22-25). The covenant's provisional/contingent character is noted (vv. 23, 25).
* The Lord's watchfulness over the Temple is requested that He heed and forgive those praying toward the Temple (vv. 29-30). But it is still recognized that God is so sovereign as not to be contained in the Temple or anywhere else in the creation (vv. 27, 30). This has implications for why the Deuteronomist stress on centralized worship does not preclude finding God in other settings, even on foreign soil.
* The influence on the prayer of the Deuteronomistic source, writing after the Babylonian Exile, is suggested by the petition that the people be brought into the land given to their ancestors (v. 34) and by the expansion of the prayer, which also includes an openness to having the Lord hear the prayer of Gentiles (vv. 41-43).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text clarifies the importance of the temple for early Jewish faith. But also in exploring God's relation to the world we are made aware that God really dwells among us and with us, yet in the mystery of the Trinity His omnipresence is not localized, for He at the same time dwells beyond us while He dwells lovingly with us.
* John Wesley sees in verse 43 an early indication of God's favor toward sinners and the Gentiles (Commentary on the Bible, p. 211).
* Commenting on our text, the great modern reformed theologian Karl Barth tried to explain God's presence:
God's omnipresence, to speak in general terms, is the perfection in which He is present, and in which He, the one who is distinct from and pre-eminent over everything else, possesses a place, His own place, which is distinct from all other places and also pre-eminent over them all… God's omnipresence in the Christian sense of the concept has the very opposite meaning that God possesses space, His own space, and that just because of His spatiality, He is also able to be the triune, the Lord of everything else, and therefore the One in and over all things….
The prayer [vv. 27-30] does not dispute that God actually dwells on earth… But it clearly points to the fact that God dwells on earth in His own way, not in the way in which anyone else dwells on earth.
(Church Dogmatics, Vol. II/1, pp. 468-469)
* See the third bullet point in this section of the Gospel, Pentecost 6, for Augustine's similar vision of God as a vast ocean in which the cosmos exists like a sponge.
* Process philosophy provides a similar vision of God's relation to the world. On one hand, God has a "consequent nature" that directly engages the cosmos through actual interactions (prehensions) and is effected by the things of the world. But this vision of God that almost appears pantheistic is balanced by God's "primordial nature" transcends reality in providing the conditions for all that exists (Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, pp. 3637, 39).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See the data reported in this section for the Gospel, Pentecost 10.
* The reference to hearing prayers of the Gentiles (vv. 41-43) entails an openness of the Hebrews to immigrants, but a 2010 Rasmussen Report found that 4 in 10 Americans are not in favor of immigrant-friendly policies.
5. Gimmick
Where is God? Nearby? Far away? Imminent? Transcendent?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* The ancient Hebrews had an answer to these questions. Part of their answer was that Yahweh dwelt in the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:8) and now with the dedication of the Jerusalem Temple and the Ark's relocation into it He dwelt in that temple (vv. 10-11).
* We twenty-first-century believers are too sophisticated for that line of thinking, right? We believe in a God who would never be confined by earthly things. That's why so many Americans think of God as distant. See the data reported in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 10.
* But wait, if God is not dwelling among us, where is He? It used to be you could point to the clouds but modern science and space travel have demonstrated how primitive that way of thinking is.
* Then there is another problem. Ask the congregation if we do not believe that God resides in buildings, like the church in which you are worshiping. Recall Jesus' claim in Matthew 18:20 regarding His presence in the midst of gathered worship. Does it not follow then that He is present to us now (or Jesus is a liar)? (If the preacher belongs to a denomination that believes in Christ's bodily presence in the communion elements, that point should also be made.)
* Extol the virtues of that belief, for it makes God more involved in our lives than the average American thinks He is. In many ways the ancient Hebrews of Solomon's day and their ancestors who lived after the era of Moses had a far healthier understanding of God by speaking of His localized presence than we modern Americans do.
* But how can we make sense of this idea and still have an almighty God not confined to earthly things -- a God worthy of being called God?
* Reflect on or employ the quotation by Karl Barth in Theological Insights. Emphasize how God transcends the universe but not in the sense that He is in sky. He has His own space, residing in a different dimension than space and time.
Also highlight how Barth insists on God's presence among us, though again not in the same way in which anyone else appears on earth.
* Either develop the insights of process theology (last bullet point of Theological Insights) or of Augustine (the lead given in fourth bullet point of that section).
* If Augustine is employed, emphasize the great ocean that God is and that the whole universe is but a tiny sponge. In either case, proceed to note how God is impacted by what happens on earth (as the pollution of a sponge impacts the ocean and in the sense that God's consequent nature is affected by what we do). In that sense God is with us, among us, but far beyond us. (It might also be noted that a triune God can be among and beyond us, just like He can be three and still one at the same time.)
7. Wrap-Up
Where is God? Among us but beyond us. We have a God so much greater than the whole cosmos that it cannot contain Him, a God who dwells in a reality far beyond the universe, and yet out of love this magnificent God comes and dwells among us! This is a God not so almighty and magnificent that He is not wrapped up in our lives. But He is a God not so familiar that we can't even conceive of the space and time He occupies. Such a God is truly worthy of our praise (and our attention from Monday through Saturday).
Sermon Text and Title
"Struggles With Evil"
Ephesians 6:10-20
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim good news about the trials we have in struggling with evil and to assure that God's grace (Justification, Baptism, and the Holy Spirit) affords us with the armor we need to keep the faith and overcome evil (sin).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A discussion of God's armor and the Christian's warfare. Evil is depicted as a force, including the devil (vv. 11-12).
* The armor we are to wear includes the belt of truth and righteousness (vv. 13-15), the shield of faith, and the hammer of salvation (vv. 16-17). This armor may relate to the gifts of baptism (4:24). We are also urged by Paul (while reminding us of his confinement in prison [v. 20]) to pray in the Spirit and persevere in supplication for all the saints (v. 18).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Confronted with evil understood as a force, Justification, Baptism, Sanctification, and the Holy Spirit provide tools to resist in the struggle.
* The righteousness we have with which to fight is clear reference to Justification by faith as part of the Christian's armor. Reference to the Spirit makes it clear that God's grace is fighting the war for us.
* About the struggle, John Calvin notes: "If the Lord aids us by His mighty power, we have no reason to shrink from the combat" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXI/1, p. 334).
* John Wesley put it this way:
Let us then receive every trial with calm resignation, and with humble confidence that He who with all power, all wisdom, all mercy, and all faithfulness will first support us in every temptation, and then deliver us out of all….
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 484)
* Elaborating further, Wesley notes:
Next to the love of God, there is nothing which Satan so cordially abhors as the love of our neighbour… To effect these ends, he is continually labouring, with all his skill and power, to infuse evil thoughts of every kind into the hearts of men.
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 376)
* Understanding references to the armor of faith and salvation (vv. 16-17) in terms of baptism makes comments by Martin Luther on the subject relevant. In describing our armor against evil and temptations he wrote:
For as has been said, if anyone has fallen into sin, he should all the more remember his Baptism, how God has made a covenant with him to forgive all his sins… Upon this truth, upon this alliance with God, a man must joyfully dare to rely.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 35, p. 37)
If… these temptations come to you, you must, as I have said, value the words of Christ more than [your own] thought. He will not lie to you; but your own thoughts will deceive you.
(Ibid., p. 89)
* Wesley echoed similar sentiments:
A consciousness of the love of Christ Jesus will effectually quench them all [the temptations of Satan]…. Jesus hath died for you! What can your faith withstand? Believe, hold fast your shield! And who shall pluck you from his hand?
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 380)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See this section for the Gospel, Pentecost 6.
5. Gimmick
Sometimes temptations feel bigger than we are. Ask the congregation what tempts them.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Invite the congregation to struggle with whether what tempts them traps them, whether it is easy to will to overcome the evils and temptations with which they struggle. Suggest it is not easy for you. Sometimes it feels like evil traps us, is a force with which we cannot cope.
* It is so easy to get caught up in evil. Nineteenth-century Irish writer Oscar Wilde said it well: "We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
* Martin Luther King Jr. powerfully described another way in which we become enmeshed in evil: "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really in cooperation with it."
* Give examples of how we have accepted evil and so are guilty of it according to King. Cite our ecological wantonness, our ongoing poverty in America as well as worldwide, and (if they still continue) the wars with Arab nations and terrorist groups.
* Invite the congregation to return to what tempts them. The temptations really do not go away. Suggest how anger, hatred, and bad habits do not vanish. They trap us. Martin Luther is right when he claimed that Original Sin is like a man's beard, that even when you shave it the beard remains and grows and by the next morning comes back as thick as ever (What Luther Says, pp. 1302-1303).
* Evil and temptations keep on bugging us; like Paul says, we are engaged in struggles with cosmic powers, with spiritual forces (v. 12).
* What can we do? Polls indicate that most Americans think that God will punish us for failure to overcome temptations. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 6, for relevant data.) Ask the congregation if they agree. But Paul has another way: He claims that our loving God gets involved in our struggles with evil on our behalf! Indeed, He has given us the armor to withstand the evil that confronts us (vv. 13ff)!
* Use the first and last quotations by John Wesley in Theological Insights. We can be confident of God's mercy that all the forces of evil cannot pluck us from His hands. No matter how low we go, God will be there to catch us!
* What precisely is this armor God provides in contending with evil? Paul tells us: He speaks of the breastplate of righteousness (v. 15), the shield of faith (v. 16), and the hammer of salvation (v. 17). The Spirit's presence (v. 18) is also noted. And elsewhere he also referred to baptism (4:24).
* The breastplate of righteousness. When we were saved (Justification by Grace), God declared us righteous (Romans 4:5). And as righteous we will not be so likely to be the sort of person who caves into evil. Baptism is a reminder of this righteousness we have received (Romans 6:4). Use the quotes by Martin Luther in Theological Insights.
Whenever we feel that are caving in to the temptations, to evil, it is just a matter of remembering our baptisms (having the elders tell us what baptism day was like), and we will have a reminder of our righteousness that God goes with us, and then it won't be such a struggle. How could people who are righteous like us cave in to evil, especially since we have God walking with us?
* Speaking of God's companionship with us, His willingness to struggle with evil alongside us, this is where the presence of the Holy Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit, God's presence along with us, and His companionship in struggling with evil means we're not alone, for He will fight for us. Use Psalm 34, the third, fourth, and fifth bullet points of Theological Insights. Also use the quotes by Martin Luther and Karl Barth in the fourth and last bullet points of Theological Insights for the First Lesson, Pentecost. All the terror of evil is taken care of by the Holy Spirit who accompanies us. It is always easier to struggle with evil when you're not alone.
7. Wrap-Up
Next time temptation feels bigger than you are or guilt feels like you can't beat it, remember that the armor of faith, the assurance of salvation, baptism, and the Holy Spirit are lying there, walking alongside you. Evil and the devil have no chance with an almighty, caring God on our side like we have! Temptations, evil might win a skirmish or two. But they cannot prevail!
Sermon Text and Title
"Christ the Bread of Life Dwells in You! While We Live in Him"
John 6:56-69
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Christ as bread of life, dwelling in us yet transcending us (Christology and God's Relation to the World), is like friendship; it not only wonderfully benefits us (Justification by Grace) but sets us free to do good (Sanctification as Spontaneity of Good works).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* In a synagogue in Capernaum (v. 59), Jesus continues to respond to Jewish critics of His identification of Himself with the bread of life (vv. 51ff). Those who eat His flesh and drink His blood abide in Him and He in them (v. 56). This gives life to recipients, He proclaims (v. 57). He continues to contrast this bread that gives eternal life to the bread in the wilderness given the Jews (vv. 58, 31).
* The disciples begin to complain about Jesus' teaching, saying that it was difficult to accept (v. 60). He confronts them, contending again that the Spirit gives life and the flesh is useless. He asks them what if they were to see the ascension of the Son of Man (vv. 61-63)?
* Knowing some did not believe, Jesus notes that none can come to Him unless the Father grants it (vv. 64-65).
* As a result, many followers deserted Jesus (v. 66). Jesus asked the twelve if they would depart, but Peter confesses that He has the words of eternal life and confesses Jesus as the Holy One of God (vv. 67-69).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text demands attention to the fact that Christ is with us and in us (in response to the sense of God's distance caused by our secular ethos) but also transcends us (God's Relation to the World as Panentheism). This combination of intimacy and otherness, like friendship, leads to Christian freedom (Justification by Grace and Sanctification as spontaneity of good works).
* On Panentheism, see the fourth and fifth bullet points of this section for the First Lesson.
* Reflecting on the rejection of Jesus' message by some of His followers (v. 66), John Calvin notes that it will never be possible to exercise such caution that Christian teaching will not be an occasion of offense to many (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 277).
* Martin Luther had his own take on the implications of this rejection:
The gospel will and must be constructed on a different foundation from that of might or great, learned, and smart men… It is necessary for the gospel to be despised outwardly by the world, to be trodden underfoot and persecuted, yes, even for those who claim to be good Christians often to fall away from it entirely. There is, after all, another power which preserves this doctrine.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 158)
* Luther also regarded verse 65 as a critique of works. He proclaimed:
Thus, since faith is created in us without our work and power but solely by the grace of God, it must be esteemed and honored highly. If we were to compare faith with good works, it would be like the sun beside a candle….
(Ibid., p. 181)
* He further explains how receiving Christ as bread of life undercuts our need to perform works and is the only way in which good works are possible: "When Christ comes, then you will do what the law prescribes and whatever else you are to do" (Ibid., p. 151).
* Karl Barth claims that the text testifies to the radicality that it is only in Christ that one receives the word of eternal life (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/3, pp. 87ff).
* Luther also offers a nice analogy for explaining how Christ the bread of life can be in us but transcends us (we in Him). Christ becomes an intimate friend: "The union is so constituted that Christ is in us and is truly one body with us that He abides in us mightily with His strength and power, much more closely than any friend" (Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 150).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See the data reported in this section for the Gospel, Pentecost 10.
5. Gimmick
Cite verse 56. Remind the congregation how we talked about this matter last week (assuming you preached on the gospel) but it is an awfully difficult concept to grasp. Note how the disciples found it difficult to understand (v. 60). What do we make of a God who actually lives in us, and then brings us to live in Him?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* When we feed on Christ, He dwells in us and we in Him. He is in our guts like the food we ate this morning. But how can that be? How can God so diminish Himself that He dwells in our guts? Consider John Calvin's comments in Theological Insights regarding how offensive Christian teaching is to many. Note how many of Jesus' disciples had problems with this teaching, no doubt also because of the offense they took over His claim that the bread of life He gives is not the same as (is superior to) the bread God showered on the Israelites during the Exodus (ch. 16) (vv. 56-60).
* Some of the great theologians of the church give us ways of understanding these comments of Jesus. How can Christ be in us, yet be beyond us, be the almighty God that He is?
* Consider using the leads provided in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. If you are employing Augustine's image of God as the infinite ocean into which a sponge (the universe) is plunged, elaborate on how with this image we can explain the sense in which we are in Christ (like a sponge in the ocean) and that God is in us (for the ocean's waters permeate the sponge which is the cosmos).
* Use the last quotation in Theological Insights. Think of the reality Jesus describes like an intense friendship, a friendship unlike any other on this earth.
* Good friends get into your life. They are tied up with your ups and downs. When they care about you, it affects them. But then they take you into their lives. Their strengths, their power, often get exercised on your behalf. They work to your advantage. We truly live in the lives of our friends. Would we expect it to be any different in our friendship with Jesus?
* Jesus' claim that He lives in us while we live in Him is not so hard to understand in light of these models. Just like being our best friend, He is an almighty God who dwells among us.
* Note what an important word this idea of God's presence to us is, in view of how many Americans find our Lord distant from their everyday lives. (Follow up on the lead given in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.)
* Having this sort of friendship with the bread of life affords other wonderful benefits for us. Jesus says no one can believe these things about Him unless drawn by the Father (v. 65). Faith is a gift of the Father, like friendship is a gift.
* Consider the quotation by Martin Luther in the fifth bullet point of Theological Insights. Drawn by God to faith, gives faith a value far superior to anything we do. In other words, Jesus' gift of the bread of life, His friendship with us, entails that works don't save. Salvation (like friendship with Him) is a sure thing!
* Use the Luther quote in the sixth bullet point of Theological Insights. To have Christ, to have the bread of life, to be surrounded by Christ's power and strength, leads believers to want to do the works of the law. When we live in Christ and He in us, all the anxieties are gone and good works happen spontaneously. They take care of themselves.
7. Wrap-Up
When we receive Christ the bread of life, when He comes to dwell in us and we come to live in Him, all sorts of good things happen. We get closer to God and feel His presence in our lives. And when that happens it sets us free from anxieties about our worth and about our relation to God. In Christ, with Him in you, you find yourself doing good, not as a duty, but with pleasure. Many good things happen in life because our almighty, caring God dwells among us. Heads-up -- He'll be all around you this week.
An almighty, caring God who dwells among us.
Collect of the Day
After recognizing how the word feeds the people with eternal life, petitions are offered that God direct our choices and preserve the faithful in truth that they may live in God. Same emphases as the Collect for the preceding Sunday.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 84
* A Karah Psalm of Pilgrimage, in this case praising Mount Zion (in Jerusalem) as the goal for the pilgrim.
* Praise for the Temple is offered (vv. 1-2). All who are there, even the birds, find a home in it (vv. 3-4). Martin Luther interprets this Psalm as pertaining to Christ's church (Luther's Works, Vol. 11, p. 136).
* The joys of making a pilgrimage to the Temple are extolled (vv. 5-7).
* Reference to the pilgrims' shield, the face of God's anointed (vv. 8-9), refers to the king who functioned as the protector of such pilgrims (Psalms 61:6-7). We do not know the exact location of the valley of Baca (v. 6).
* The superiority of life in the Temple to anywhere else is extolled (vv. 9-12).
or Psalm 34:15-22
* See Pentecost 11 for an overall view of the Psalm.
* These verses continue the Psalmist's commending of his faith to the congregation.
* The Lord's eyes are on the righteous, open to their cry, while He cuts off the remembrance of evildoers (vv. 15-17).
* He is near the brokenhearted, saving the crushed in spirit (v. 18).
* The Lord rescues the righteous from afflictions, which are many (vv. 19-20).
* Evil brings death to the wicked. Those hating the righteous are condemned (v. 21).
* The Lord redeems the life of His servants (v. 22).
Sermon Text and Title
"Among Us, But Beyond Us"
1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
After clarifying the ancient Jewish belief that God was present in the Jerusalem Temple, to proclaim that though God transcends our creaturely existence He was in the past and is still today really among us. To clarify this mystery while still celebrating God's presence with us (God's relation to the world as panentheism).
2. Exegesis (see First Lesson of Pentecost 12)
* The story of the Jerusalem Temple, and especially of Solomon's prayer of dedication (vv. 22-30).
* The account begins with the moving of the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple (vv. 1, 6). Reference to the "city of David" is likely to Zion in Jerusalem's southeast.
* Reference is made to Yahweh's glory filling the Temple (vv. 10-11). The cloud filling the house of the Lord is likely a token of God's glorious presence (John Wesley, Commentary on the Bible, p. 210).
* The king's prayer begins with praise, that the Lord is the greatest of gods, steadfast in love. His covenant with David is remembered (vv. 22-25). The covenant's provisional/contingent character is noted (vv. 23, 25).
* The Lord's watchfulness over the Temple is requested that He heed and forgive those praying toward the Temple (vv. 29-30). But it is still recognized that God is so sovereign as not to be contained in the Temple or anywhere else in the creation (vv. 27, 30). This has implications for why the Deuteronomist stress on centralized worship does not preclude finding God in other settings, even on foreign soil.
* The influence on the prayer of the Deuteronomistic source, writing after the Babylonian Exile, is suggested by the petition that the people be brought into the land given to their ancestors (v. 34) and by the expansion of the prayer, which also includes an openness to having the Lord hear the prayer of Gentiles (vv. 41-43).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text clarifies the importance of the temple for early Jewish faith. But also in exploring God's relation to the world we are made aware that God really dwells among us and with us, yet in the mystery of the Trinity His omnipresence is not localized, for He at the same time dwells beyond us while He dwells lovingly with us.
* John Wesley sees in verse 43 an early indication of God's favor toward sinners and the Gentiles (Commentary on the Bible, p. 211).
* Commenting on our text, the great modern reformed theologian Karl Barth tried to explain God's presence:
God's omnipresence, to speak in general terms, is the perfection in which He is present, and in which He, the one who is distinct from and pre-eminent over everything else, possesses a place, His own place, which is distinct from all other places and also pre-eminent over them all… God's omnipresence in the Christian sense of the concept has the very opposite meaning that God possesses space, His own space, and that just because of His spatiality, He is also able to be the triune, the Lord of everything else, and therefore the One in and over all things….
The prayer [vv. 27-30] does not dispute that God actually dwells on earth… But it clearly points to the fact that God dwells on earth in His own way, not in the way in which anyone else dwells on earth.
(Church Dogmatics, Vol. II/1, pp. 468-469)
* See the third bullet point in this section of the Gospel, Pentecost 6, for Augustine's similar vision of God as a vast ocean in which the cosmos exists like a sponge.
* Process philosophy provides a similar vision of God's relation to the world. On one hand, God has a "consequent nature" that directly engages the cosmos through actual interactions (prehensions) and is effected by the things of the world. But this vision of God that almost appears pantheistic is balanced by God's "primordial nature" transcends reality in providing the conditions for all that exists (Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, pp. 3637, 39).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See the data reported in this section for the Gospel, Pentecost 10.
* The reference to hearing prayers of the Gentiles (vv. 41-43) entails an openness of the Hebrews to immigrants, but a 2010 Rasmussen Report found that 4 in 10 Americans are not in favor of immigrant-friendly policies.
5. Gimmick
Where is God? Nearby? Far away? Imminent? Transcendent?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* The ancient Hebrews had an answer to these questions. Part of their answer was that Yahweh dwelt in the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:8) and now with the dedication of the Jerusalem Temple and the Ark's relocation into it He dwelt in that temple (vv. 10-11).
* We twenty-first-century believers are too sophisticated for that line of thinking, right? We believe in a God who would never be confined by earthly things. That's why so many Americans think of God as distant. See the data reported in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 10.
* But wait, if God is not dwelling among us, where is He? It used to be you could point to the clouds but modern science and space travel have demonstrated how primitive that way of thinking is.
* Then there is another problem. Ask the congregation if we do not believe that God resides in buildings, like the church in which you are worshiping. Recall Jesus' claim in Matthew 18:20 regarding His presence in the midst of gathered worship. Does it not follow then that He is present to us now (or Jesus is a liar)? (If the preacher belongs to a denomination that believes in Christ's bodily presence in the communion elements, that point should also be made.)
* Extol the virtues of that belief, for it makes God more involved in our lives than the average American thinks He is. In many ways the ancient Hebrews of Solomon's day and their ancestors who lived after the era of Moses had a far healthier understanding of God by speaking of His localized presence than we modern Americans do.
* But how can we make sense of this idea and still have an almighty God not confined to earthly things -- a God worthy of being called God?
* Reflect on or employ the quotation by Karl Barth in Theological Insights. Emphasize how God transcends the universe but not in the sense that He is in sky. He has His own space, residing in a different dimension than space and time.
Also highlight how Barth insists on God's presence among us, though again not in the same way in which anyone else appears on earth.
* Either develop the insights of process theology (last bullet point of Theological Insights) or of Augustine (the lead given in fourth bullet point of that section).
* If Augustine is employed, emphasize the great ocean that God is and that the whole universe is but a tiny sponge. In either case, proceed to note how God is impacted by what happens on earth (as the pollution of a sponge impacts the ocean and in the sense that God's consequent nature is affected by what we do). In that sense God is with us, among us, but far beyond us. (It might also be noted that a triune God can be among and beyond us, just like He can be three and still one at the same time.)
7. Wrap-Up
Where is God? Among us but beyond us. We have a God so much greater than the whole cosmos that it cannot contain Him, a God who dwells in a reality far beyond the universe, and yet out of love this magnificent God comes and dwells among us! This is a God not so almighty and magnificent that He is not wrapped up in our lives. But He is a God not so familiar that we can't even conceive of the space and time He occupies. Such a God is truly worthy of our praise (and our attention from Monday through Saturday).
Sermon Text and Title
"Struggles With Evil"
Ephesians 6:10-20
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim good news about the trials we have in struggling with evil and to assure that God's grace (Justification, Baptism, and the Holy Spirit) affords us with the armor we need to keep the faith and overcome evil (sin).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A discussion of God's armor and the Christian's warfare. Evil is depicted as a force, including the devil (vv. 11-12).
* The armor we are to wear includes the belt of truth and righteousness (vv. 13-15), the shield of faith, and the hammer of salvation (vv. 16-17). This armor may relate to the gifts of baptism (4:24). We are also urged by Paul (while reminding us of his confinement in prison [v. 20]) to pray in the Spirit and persevere in supplication for all the saints (v. 18).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Confronted with evil understood as a force, Justification, Baptism, Sanctification, and the Holy Spirit provide tools to resist in the struggle.
* The righteousness we have with which to fight is clear reference to Justification by faith as part of the Christian's armor. Reference to the Spirit makes it clear that God's grace is fighting the war for us.
* About the struggle, John Calvin notes: "If the Lord aids us by His mighty power, we have no reason to shrink from the combat" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXI/1, p. 334).
* John Wesley put it this way:
Let us then receive every trial with calm resignation, and with humble confidence that He who with all power, all wisdom, all mercy, and all faithfulness will first support us in every temptation, and then deliver us out of all….
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 484)
* Elaborating further, Wesley notes:
Next to the love of God, there is nothing which Satan so cordially abhors as the love of our neighbour… To effect these ends, he is continually labouring, with all his skill and power, to infuse evil thoughts of every kind into the hearts of men.
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 376)
* Understanding references to the armor of faith and salvation (vv. 16-17) in terms of baptism makes comments by Martin Luther on the subject relevant. In describing our armor against evil and temptations he wrote:
For as has been said, if anyone has fallen into sin, he should all the more remember his Baptism, how God has made a covenant with him to forgive all his sins… Upon this truth, upon this alliance with God, a man must joyfully dare to rely.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 35, p. 37)
If… these temptations come to you, you must, as I have said, value the words of Christ more than [your own] thought. He will not lie to you; but your own thoughts will deceive you.
(Ibid., p. 89)
* Wesley echoed similar sentiments:
A consciousness of the love of Christ Jesus will effectually quench them all [the temptations of Satan]…. Jesus hath died for you! What can your faith withstand? Believe, hold fast your shield! And who shall pluck you from his hand?
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 380)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See this section for the Gospel, Pentecost 6.
5. Gimmick
Sometimes temptations feel bigger than we are. Ask the congregation what tempts them.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Invite the congregation to struggle with whether what tempts them traps them, whether it is easy to will to overcome the evils and temptations with which they struggle. Suggest it is not easy for you. Sometimes it feels like evil traps us, is a force with which we cannot cope.
* It is so easy to get caught up in evil. Nineteenth-century Irish writer Oscar Wilde said it well: "We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
* Martin Luther King Jr. powerfully described another way in which we become enmeshed in evil: "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really in cooperation with it."
* Give examples of how we have accepted evil and so are guilty of it according to King. Cite our ecological wantonness, our ongoing poverty in America as well as worldwide, and (if they still continue) the wars with Arab nations and terrorist groups.
* Invite the congregation to return to what tempts them. The temptations really do not go away. Suggest how anger, hatred, and bad habits do not vanish. They trap us. Martin Luther is right when he claimed that Original Sin is like a man's beard, that even when you shave it the beard remains and grows and by the next morning comes back as thick as ever (What Luther Says, pp. 1302-1303).
* Evil and temptations keep on bugging us; like Paul says, we are engaged in struggles with cosmic powers, with spiritual forces (v. 12).
* What can we do? Polls indicate that most Americans think that God will punish us for failure to overcome temptations. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 6, for relevant data.) Ask the congregation if they agree. But Paul has another way: He claims that our loving God gets involved in our struggles with evil on our behalf! Indeed, He has given us the armor to withstand the evil that confronts us (vv. 13ff)!
* Use the first and last quotations by John Wesley in Theological Insights. We can be confident of God's mercy that all the forces of evil cannot pluck us from His hands. No matter how low we go, God will be there to catch us!
* What precisely is this armor God provides in contending with evil? Paul tells us: He speaks of the breastplate of righteousness (v. 15), the shield of faith (v. 16), and the hammer of salvation (v. 17). The Spirit's presence (v. 18) is also noted. And elsewhere he also referred to baptism (4:24).
* The breastplate of righteousness. When we were saved (Justification by Grace), God declared us righteous (Romans 4:5). And as righteous we will not be so likely to be the sort of person who caves into evil. Baptism is a reminder of this righteousness we have received (Romans 6:4). Use the quotes by Martin Luther in Theological Insights.
Whenever we feel that are caving in to the temptations, to evil, it is just a matter of remembering our baptisms (having the elders tell us what baptism day was like), and we will have a reminder of our righteousness that God goes with us, and then it won't be such a struggle. How could people who are righteous like us cave in to evil, especially since we have God walking with us?
* Speaking of God's companionship with us, His willingness to struggle with evil alongside us, this is where the presence of the Holy Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit, God's presence along with us, and His companionship in struggling with evil means we're not alone, for He will fight for us. Use Psalm 34, the third, fourth, and fifth bullet points of Theological Insights. Also use the quotes by Martin Luther and Karl Barth in the fourth and last bullet points of Theological Insights for the First Lesson, Pentecost. All the terror of evil is taken care of by the Holy Spirit who accompanies us. It is always easier to struggle with evil when you're not alone.
7. Wrap-Up
Next time temptation feels bigger than you are or guilt feels like you can't beat it, remember that the armor of faith, the assurance of salvation, baptism, and the Holy Spirit are lying there, walking alongside you. Evil and the devil have no chance with an almighty, caring God on our side like we have! Temptations, evil might win a skirmish or two. But they cannot prevail!
Sermon Text and Title
"Christ the Bread of Life Dwells in You! While We Live in Him"
John 6:56-69
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim Christ as bread of life, dwelling in us yet transcending us (Christology and God's Relation to the World), is like friendship; it not only wonderfully benefits us (Justification by Grace) but sets us free to do good (Sanctification as Spontaneity of Good works).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* In a synagogue in Capernaum (v. 59), Jesus continues to respond to Jewish critics of His identification of Himself with the bread of life (vv. 51ff). Those who eat His flesh and drink His blood abide in Him and He in them (v. 56). This gives life to recipients, He proclaims (v. 57). He continues to contrast this bread that gives eternal life to the bread in the wilderness given the Jews (vv. 58, 31).
* The disciples begin to complain about Jesus' teaching, saying that it was difficult to accept (v. 60). He confronts them, contending again that the Spirit gives life and the flesh is useless. He asks them what if they were to see the ascension of the Son of Man (vv. 61-63)?
* Knowing some did not believe, Jesus notes that none can come to Him unless the Father grants it (vv. 64-65).
* As a result, many followers deserted Jesus (v. 66). Jesus asked the twelve if they would depart, but Peter confesses that He has the words of eternal life and confesses Jesus as the Holy One of God (vv. 67-69).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text demands attention to the fact that Christ is with us and in us (in response to the sense of God's distance caused by our secular ethos) but also transcends us (God's Relation to the World as Panentheism). This combination of intimacy and otherness, like friendship, leads to Christian freedom (Justification by Grace and Sanctification as spontaneity of good works).
* On Panentheism, see the fourth and fifth bullet points of this section for the First Lesson.
* Reflecting on the rejection of Jesus' message by some of His followers (v. 66), John Calvin notes that it will never be possible to exercise such caution that Christian teaching will not be an occasion of offense to many (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVII/2, p. 277).
* Martin Luther had his own take on the implications of this rejection:
The gospel will and must be constructed on a different foundation from that of might or great, learned, and smart men… It is necessary for the gospel to be despised outwardly by the world, to be trodden underfoot and persecuted, yes, even for those who claim to be good Christians often to fall away from it entirely. There is, after all, another power which preserves this doctrine.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 158)
* Luther also regarded verse 65 as a critique of works. He proclaimed:
Thus, since faith is created in us without our work and power but solely by the grace of God, it must be esteemed and honored highly. If we were to compare faith with good works, it would be like the sun beside a candle….
(Ibid., p. 181)
* He further explains how receiving Christ as bread of life undercuts our need to perform works and is the only way in which good works are possible: "When Christ comes, then you will do what the law prescribes and whatever else you are to do" (Ibid., p. 151).
* Karl Barth claims that the text testifies to the radicality that it is only in Christ that one receives the word of eternal life (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/3, pp. 87ff).
* Luther also offers a nice analogy for explaining how Christ the bread of life can be in us but transcends us (we in Him). Christ becomes an intimate friend: "The union is so constituted that Christ is in us and is truly one body with us that He abides in us mightily with His strength and power, much more closely than any friend" (Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 150).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See the data reported in this section for the Gospel, Pentecost 10.
5. Gimmick
Cite verse 56. Remind the congregation how we talked about this matter last week (assuming you preached on the gospel) but it is an awfully difficult concept to grasp. Note how the disciples found it difficult to understand (v. 60). What do we make of a God who actually lives in us, and then brings us to live in Him?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* When we feed on Christ, He dwells in us and we in Him. He is in our guts like the food we ate this morning. But how can that be? How can God so diminish Himself that He dwells in our guts? Consider John Calvin's comments in Theological Insights regarding how offensive Christian teaching is to many. Note how many of Jesus' disciples had problems with this teaching, no doubt also because of the offense they took over His claim that the bread of life He gives is not the same as (is superior to) the bread God showered on the Israelites during the Exodus (ch. 16) (vv. 56-60).
* Some of the great theologians of the church give us ways of understanding these comments of Jesus. How can Christ be in us, yet be beyond us, be the almighty God that He is?
* Consider using the leads provided in the second bullet point of Theological Insights. If you are employing Augustine's image of God as the infinite ocean into which a sponge (the universe) is plunged, elaborate on how with this image we can explain the sense in which we are in Christ (like a sponge in the ocean) and that God is in us (for the ocean's waters permeate the sponge which is the cosmos).
* Use the last quotation in Theological Insights. Think of the reality Jesus describes like an intense friendship, a friendship unlike any other on this earth.
* Good friends get into your life. They are tied up with your ups and downs. When they care about you, it affects them. But then they take you into their lives. Their strengths, their power, often get exercised on your behalf. They work to your advantage. We truly live in the lives of our friends. Would we expect it to be any different in our friendship with Jesus?
* Jesus' claim that He lives in us while we live in Him is not so hard to understand in light of these models. Just like being our best friend, He is an almighty God who dwells among us.
* Note what an important word this idea of God's presence to us is, in view of how many Americans find our Lord distant from their everyday lives. (Follow up on the lead given in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.)
* Having this sort of friendship with the bread of life affords other wonderful benefits for us. Jesus says no one can believe these things about Him unless drawn by the Father (v. 65). Faith is a gift of the Father, like friendship is a gift.
* Consider the quotation by Martin Luther in the fifth bullet point of Theological Insights. Drawn by God to faith, gives faith a value far superior to anything we do. In other words, Jesus' gift of the bread of life, His friendship with us, entails that works don't save. Salvation (like friendship with Him) is a sure thing!
* Use the Luther quote in the sixth bullet point of Theological Insights. To have Christ, to have the bread of life, to be surrounded by Christ's power and strength, leads believers to want to do the works of the law. When we live in Christ and He in us, all the anxieties are gone and good works happen spontaneously. They take care of themselves.
7. Wrap-Up
When we receive Christ the bread of life, when He comes to dwell in us and we come to live in Him, all sorts of good things happen. We get closer to God and feel His presence in our lives. And when that happens it sets us free from anxieties about our worth and about our relation to God. In Christ, with Him in you, you find yourself doing good, not as a duty, but with pleasure. Many good things happen in life because our almighty, caring God dwells among us. Heads-up -- He'll be all around you this week.
