Proper 17 / Pentecost 14 / Ordinary Time 22
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
A love that changes lives.
Collect of the Day
After confessing that God is our strength while we are weak, petitions are offered that we be protected from all dangers and be cleansed from all evil arising from within ourselves. Justification (by Grace) and providence are emphasized.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
* A Korah Psalm; a love song or ode for a royal wedding. Martin Luther regards it as a love song between Christ and the church (Luther's Works, Vol. 10, pp. 208-210).
* The author claims to be a professional writer, joyful in his task of addressing the king (v. 1).
* The king is addressed in the most flattering language (v. 2). Martin Luther sees this handsomeness as referring to how we are changed by grace (Luther Works, Vol. 10, p. 209). For John Wesley, the reference is to the handsomeness of Christ (Commentary on the Bible, p. 283).
* The king may be addressed here as God (vv. 6-7), a common practice in the ancient Near East but unprecedented in Hebrew Scriptures. John Calvin relates these references to the king to Christ (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. V/2, pp. 179-180).
* Daughters of kings are said to be among the king's ladies of honor (v. 9).
* If we read the Psalm prophetically, texts referring to the king as God could be understood as praise for the Lord's righteousness (and how He anoints companions with gladness [v. 7]). For Martin Luther, the reference to being anointed is seen as a spiritual anointing with grace and gifts of the church by God (Luther's Works, Vol. 10, p. 218).
or Psalm 15
* A liturgy for admission to the temple, traditionally attributed to David.
* The question is raised regarding who shall be admitted to the Temple (v. 1).
* The answer is that it only those with the requisite moral requirement, those who walk blamelessly, do what is right, speak the truth, do not slander, do no evil. Despise the wicked, honor the faithful, stand by their oaths, lend no money at interest, and take no bribes (vv. 2-5).
* Regarding this answer, John Calvin notes that though the church is often defaced by such impurity, as long as doctrine is pure we should not be disturbed by faults and sins (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. IV/2, p. 204).
Sermon Text and Title
"A Love That Changes Lives"
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the life-changing character of the unconditional love of God (Justification by Grace as Intimate Union and its implications for Sanctification and Social Ethics [its witness to the character of true love that critiques the American media's prevailing view of love as a casual affair]).
2. Exegesis
* A book of love poems of Israel, the date of composition uncertain. (It resembles Egyptian love songs of the thirteenth and twelfth century BC.) Some consider it a unified love poem; others regard it is as a loose anthology of originally independent songs.
* The tradition of attributing the book to Solomon (the Song of Songs which is Solomon's) cannot be substantiated. This attribution (1:1) was due to mention of his name in 3:9, 11; 8:11-12 and to a claim made in 1 Kings 4:32. In making this connection to Solomon the biblical canon sets the book in the category of Wisdom Literature, for Solomon is Israel's wise man par excellence (1 Kings 3:1ff; 5:1ff).
* Jews and Christians have historically interpreted the love songs as an interaction between God and the faithful (between Christ [the lover in the book is a shepherd or king] and the church for Christians).
* The tie between Hebraic wisdom and erotic language as reflected in the song is evident in Proverbs 7:6ff; 9:1ff; Sirach 51:13ff. Wisdom is pictured as a woman entering those passing.
* The entire book is a love dialogue between the couple. It probes the mystery and wisdom of human love; the union of lovers is a means for discovering common identity.
There is an ambivalence to love (characteristic of responses to the Hebrew Bible's view of wisdom). Yet nothing can quench it, though it cannot be bought, and so it defies/disrupts the social order.
* The lesson is the reminiscence of a springtime visit of the lover to his beloved. He comes to take her away, as the winter is past (vv. 10-11, 13).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The focus is on the love of God and how it changes us (Justification by Grace as Intimate Union and Sanctification [construed as the spontaneity of good works]).
* John Wesley believes that the text's reference to the voice of the beloved is Christ's voice, the word of grace (Commentary on the Bible, p. 319).
* He also contends that the text's reference to winter (v. 11) is about spiritual troubles arising from guilt. But Christ, he contends, has removed these impediments (Ibid.).
* Martin Luther indicates that verse 10 is a word of great sweetness, giving sure confidence to the believer (Luther's Works, Vol. 15, p. 218).
* Medieval German mystic Hildegard of Bingen offered reflections on the love of God and how it changes us: "… the Holy Spirit is the kindler and illuminator of the hearts of faithful men… who gently kindles the hearts and minds of the faithful" (In Her Words, p. 110).
* The great medieval mystic Bernard of Clairvaux beautifully describes what it is like to be in this intimate relation with God; see Wrap-Up for the Gospel, Good Friday.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Neuropsychological research has established that in the practice of both spirituality and human love our brains are bathed with the neurochemical dopamine, which is responsible for relaxation, creativity, and energy. It also makes human beings feel good, as its components belong to the same family as amphetamines, creating similar dynamics in the brain as when cocaine is injected (Helen Fisher, Why We Love; Dean Hamer, The God Gene).
5. Gimmick
Describe the Song of Solomon (Use first bullet point of Exegesis.) and then ask what this ancient love song has to do with us.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* "Love Makes the World Go Round," sang Perry Como, Jane Morgan, and Paul Anka to different tunes. Human beings are love-crazed. We are addicted to it, it seems. Mother Teresa essentially made this point as she once observed: "The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."
* Famed psychologist Erich Fromm concurred, as he contended: "Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence."
* That human beings yearn for love like this is evidenced by the warm and glowy feelings most everybody feels at a wedding. But the fact that there are very few examples of such lifetime love affairs in popular culture (TV shows, movies, YouTube) says a lot about how we live in a society that seems to disallow or undermine this ideal in favor of the casual, "exciting" affair.
* We say we love love, but we live in a society that is rather uncomfortable with the essence of love, its long-term, life-changing character. This is one of the reasons why marriage is under siege today (see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 19, for statistics on divorce in America).
* With such attitudes in the air it's not surprising that most American Christians would have a hard time thinking of their relation to God and Jesus as a love affair, like our lesson does. Given the fragility of committed human love, we don't want to think of our relation to God that way. And besides, we Americans (and Europeans), saturated as we are with dualistic modes of thinking (mind-body, flesh-spirit), have a hard time with thinking about our spirituality (relation to God) in earthy, physical ways. This is one of the reasons the Song of Solomon is not the most popular book of the Bible for many of us.
* In fact, there are all sorts of reasons for us to recover the Song of Solomon's way of talking about our relationship to God in Christ. Let's think for a moment about faith (our relationship with God) as intimate love.
* Love is a gift; you don't earn it. And so John Wesley believes that this is a voice of grace; Martin Luther hears a genuine sweetness in this image being wooed by God, a sweetness that results in confidence. (See Theological Insights for these references.) Ask the congregation if they do not experience confidence in the loves of their life. All the more does our love affair with Jesus inspire such confidence.
* C.S. Lewis nicely talks about this confidence by pointing out how God's love is different from ordinary human love. He states the difference nicely: "But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference…."
* The love God has for us is a critique of the way love gets portrayed in the media these days. True love is not something that comes and goes, not just a "chapter" in our lives (as the latest divorced stars and politicians say). Talking about God's love in this intimate way might just help us launch a critique of the media's worldview, to the good of the moral fiber of our nation.
* Speaking of change, love changes you, changes lives. Note the quotations in Theological Insights by Hildegard of Bingen and Bernard of Clairveaux. God our lover kindles our hearts, softens them. Good works (doing our lover's thing) can't help but follow when you're overcome by a love like that.
* God's love changes you. This theme appears in our lesson. Use John Wesley's observation in the third bullet point of Theological Insights. Note how in our lesson the lover comes to take his loved one away; the winter is past and the spring has come (vv. 10b-11). Those are also the circumstances of God's love, of Jesus' love, for us. He comes for us to put us in a new situation, having set aside the winter of our sinful condition.
7. Wrap-Up
Want a more fervent, pleasurable relationship with God? Start thinking about it in terms of the intimacy, the cuddling and snuggling images of the Song of Solomon (and of Psalm 45 assigned today). Remind the congregation of how good it feels to be in love, and so this way of thinking about our relation to God is all the more likely to be experienced in this pleasurable way. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights and the reference to the brain chemicals activated in such relationships.)
Don't forget how love changes us. The love we have with God, powerful as it is, is all the more likely to change us into the sort of people who belong to Jesus' family, who do Jesus' thing. Driven by a love like that, we might just be able to help change America and its lackadaisical attitude toward love. Yes, God's love changes lives.
Sermon Text and Title
"Listen a Little More, Talk a Little Less, and Do a Little More"
James 1:17-27
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To condemn our sin manifested in our verbosity and inaction and to proclaim that God's forgiving love (Justification by Grace) can drive us to be better listeners and more activist (Sanctification and Social Ethics).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A discussion of living the faith.
* All generous acts and perfect gifts are said to be from above, from the Father. The word has given Christians birth so that they are first fruits of His creatures (vv. 17-18).
* This urges Christians be quick to listen and slow to anger, since anger does not produce God's righteousness (vv. 19-20). (This is an example of the wisdom character of James, as remaining silent to receive instruction was not only ancient Hebraic wisdom [Proverbs 12:15; 19:27], but also ancient Egyptian wisdom.) This urges the faithful to rid themselves of all wickedness, welcoming in meekness -- the word that is now growing in them to give life (v. 21).
* This also urges the faithful to be doers of the word, not merely hearers. For mere hearers are those who just glance in a mirror and forget what they were like (vv. 22-23). But those who look into the perfect law (a reference usually applied to the Mosaic Law, but here referring to the gospel, called the "law of liberty") and who persevere will be blessed (vv. 24-25).
* One's religion is worthless if he does not bridle his tongue. Religious observance that is pure before God cares for orphans and widows in their distress and also keeps the self unstained by the world (vv. 26-27).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A consideration of Christian life (Sanctification, esp. with regard to being a listener and a doer) and condemnation of sin along with a critique of the legalism of James, leading to an awareness that it is only by God's forgiving love that the beginning of such behavior is possible (Justification by Grace). Social Ethics (concern for the poor) is also considered.
* Despite the historic critique of the book's "legalism," this text gives God and the word the credit for our works and for becoming Christian (vv. 17-18). John Calvin notes that these verses entail that "it is natural to God to do good." He also observes that the text teaches that we have become new creatures (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXII/2, p. 292).
* Martin Luther in a sermon on this text interpreted its exhortation as a "Tak[ing] heed to accept in purity and to maintain with patience the word so graciously and richly given…" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 300).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Google the latest statistics on poverty and children in poverty.
* See statistics on poverty in this section for the First Lessons, Advent 3 and Easter 2.
5. Gimmick
Silence is golden, the Four Seasons sang in their rock hit. Silence is golden! (long pause)
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Read verse 26 on bridling the tongue. Bridle your tongue. The same message is evident in verse 19 where the author of James exhorts us to be slow to speak. See the third bullet point of Exegesis.
* Being a good listener gets mixed reviews in society today. We talk about the importance of hearing our colleagues, hearing our customers, but speak of an "active listening," which is really a veiled way of saying that we move the conversation in the direction we want it to go. Also just listening is not the pathway to success in our present entrepreneurial ethos, where selling yourself and self-promotion are the name of the game.
* There is a lot of folk wisdom about the virtues of shutting up to listen. It is as Will Rogers put it: "Never miss a good chance to shut up."
* First-century BC Roman author Publilius Syrus concurred: "I have often regretted my speech, never my silence."
* Others in the same line of thinking include the ancient philosopher Epictetus, who once observed: "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."
* American columnist Doug Larson commented on the wisdom of such an insight: "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."
* As a sign of this wisdom, nineteenth-century English lyricist Martin Fraquhar Tupper wrote: "Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech."
* Is that all there is to it? Listen a little more, talk a little less, and the world will be a better place? It's a lot more complex than that. Concede that as a preacher you like to talk. Silence may be golden, but we still like to call attention to ourselves with our mouths. And then there is the culture of self-promotion in society today that keeps us talking.
* Note how James seems to recognize our destructively chronic loquaciousness. Cite verse 17 regarding that all good gifts (including the ability to listen) are gifts of God. John Calvin's comments in Theological Insights might be employed.
* Silence, the ability to listen more and not shoot off your mouth so much, is a gift of God, a work of the Holy Spirit and His love that changes us. But there is more to James' wisdom in today's Bible lesson. Read verses 22-23. Listening opens you up to doing. The listener is more open to the cues and needs of others. If you are talking all the time, it is more about you than the other.
* Benjamin Franklin helps us make the transition to action: "Well done is better than well said."
* James also has some profound advice on what we should be doing as listening Christians. Read verses 26-27. We are to care for orphans, widows, all those in distress, for the poor. When you talk a little less and listen a little more, you have more space to do something for the poor and others in need. But keep in mind that such good deeds are gifts of God, the result of a love that changes us.
7. Wrap-Up
The gift of listening is especially tied with an enhanced spirituality, for it is by the ear (by hearing the Word and believing it) that we are saved! This insight reminds us that when we listen, we receive. The more we become listeners, the more we may come to appreciate how all the good we have is by grace, by the love of God that changes us, changes us into doers and listeners who talk a little less. Listen this week for the love of God's action on you and me.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Ways of the Church and Society Won't Save You!"
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To condemn sin manifest in certain socio-cultural and ecclesiastical expectations (esp. expectations on women, men, racial stereotypes, ecclesiastical customs), noting how they interfere with our doing God's will, which can only happen with the forgiving love of God (Justification by Grace) that may free us properly to use some of the norms and customs of these institutions to serve God (Sanctification and Social Ethics).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem to Gennesaret (a village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, at least eighty miles north of the capital) to challenge Jesus, specifically on why He allowed His disciples to violate rituals of cleanliness (vv. 1-5; cf. Leviticus 15:11). The claim that all Jews observed this custom (v. 3) is an overstatement (Leviticus 22:1-2, 5-16).
* Jesus cites Isaiah 29:13, accusing His critics of merely honoring God with their lips (with mere human teachings) and not in their hearts (vv. 6-8). The fact that it is the Septuagint (the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) that is cited suggests that these were not Jesus' own words.
* Jesus then elaborates (in verses not included in the lesson) about how such human expectations were making it more difficult for Jews to honor (care for) their parents (vv. 9-13) (since they were obligated to make offerings to God that might have been used to help their parents). Next He reiterates that nothing outside people can defile them, but only what comes out of a person (vv. 14-15).
* After an interaction with the disciples in private (vv. 16-20), Jesus continues to note that the evil things that defile come from within. He speaks of evil intentions, like theft, murder, adultery, envy, and so forth (vv. 21-23).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* An examination of the cultural/institutional dynamics of sin and how only by grace can we be forgiven (Justification by Grace), but that some of the norms and customs of these institutions can facilitate our pilgrimage in holiness and justice (Sanctification and Social Ethics).
* John Calvin demonstrates a balanced approach to Jesus' condemnation of human customs. He wrote:
Now as He [God] permits believers to have outward ceremonies, by means of which they may perform the exercises of godliness, so He does not suffer them to mix up those ceremonies with His own word, as if religion consisted in them.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/2, p. 249)
* John Wesley sees Jesus' remarks about defilement flowing from the human heart as a teaching of Original Sin (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 9, p. 425).
* About religious obligations Martin Luther warned: "Here it is necessary to know that the observance of such regulations is of no help in attaining goodness before God…" (Luther's Works, Vol. 40, p. 304).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* For racial/ethnic and gender imbalances in society, see the statistics in this section for the First Lesson, Advent 3.
* A 2009 Barna Group poll indicated suspicion of the church among Americans, as 50% believe a growing number of people they know are tired of the same church experience.
5. Gimmick
Tell the story of the first five verses in the best storytelling mode, pointing out what a rebel Jesus was. Jesus stood up to social convention, allowing His disciples to violate rituals of cleanliness (vv. 1-5). He challenged His critics for holding to mere human traditions in such a way that it impedes our ethical obligations to parents and others (vv. 9-13). (Use third bullet point in Exegesis.) There are no two ways about it: Jesus wants us to be critical of the ways of church and society.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* We should be clear about what Jesus is rebelling against. We will want to continue such rebellion. For we are as much in bondage to unhelpful social and church customs as were the people of Israel in His day. A number of stories can be told.
* Tell the story of Rico and Jeannette, subjects of interviews in a book by sociologist Richard Sennett, The Corrosion of Character. This thirty-plus couple was living the American dream, freelance or supervisor jobs, upwardly mobile. They had learned the rules of the game -- flexibility, being willing to relocate for the sake of career, and being computer-literate. But they admit that for all their success they felt they might be losing control of their lives. It is hard to fit in time for children and each other. The relationships formed are superficial; there is no job security. Ask the congregation if they have had these feelings. When you do everything right economically in America these days, it doesn't guarantee happiness or peace of mind. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul.
* The lifestyle of self-promotion that current economic realities seem to demand is not fulfilling. Famed cellist Benjamin Whichcote offers a penetrating observation in this connection: "None are so empty as those who are full of themselves."
* In his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, famed nineteenth-century author and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche noted that life lived by human prudence requires good acting, people who invent themselves. Wanting people to enjoy looking at them, their wisdom is not very wise and is rather laughable (The Portable Nietzsche, pp. 255-256).
* Other stories of how the ways of church and society co-opt us are abundant. There's Rasheed, a young African-American college student who is having trouble going home. His Ivy League and prep school education had made him less tolerant of black church ways and the emotionalism of his inner-city community. Too many times when he had lapsed into African-American expressions he had been greeted with stares by his white peers and their faculty. Back in the 'hood, old friends said he was acting white. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul. Repeat refrain after each example.
The church has not been guiltless on this score, as white church leadership has rarely been friendly to encouraging black Christians to maintain their distinct worship styles. The ways of society and the church can lead you to lose your soul.
* How about Helen, one of the best of the crop of the young executives in a Fortune 500 company, whose career track was in a little jeopardy if she cried one more time at a meeting. The whispers were beginning to emerge that she might not be tough enough. Women need to be strong. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul.
* Ask men in the congregation if they have not felt the pressures of society to choke back emotions they might have wanted to show. Why? Society does not countenance emotional men. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul.
* Cite the second bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. Sometimes the ways of the church can also lead you to lose your soul.
* Yes, Jesus is right to rebel against these trends. But let's be clear on His thinking and intentions. It is not the case in His view that the unhelpful agendas of church and society damn or condemn us. It's how you use these norms and values that can defile you (vv. 14-15). Cite the quotation by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. Both Luther and Jesus are making it clear that the observance of church and social regulations don't save.
* That being the case, it follows that we are only saved by God's work, by His grace. A hymn by Martin Luther well captures this insight (how if works do not save, we must be saved by grace):
My own good works availed me naught,
No merit they attaining;…
But God beheld my wretched state
Before the world's foundation,
And mindful of His mercies great,
He planned my soul's salvation…
(What Luther Says, p. 719)
* Jesus took His rebellious stand to make it clear that you don't get to heaven by being a good citizen, a successful businessperson, whatever. You are saved by God's unconditional love.
* None of this entails that all that goes on in church and society must be shunned. Consider the quotation by John Calvin in Theological Insights. God permits us to maintain traditional ceremonies and practices in the church. Much of what is done in the business world and the media has value, as long as we keep these practices in their place. There is nothing wrong in principle with risk-taking, flexible business strategies, team-management, the internet, and a sense that spouses may leave unhealthy marriages. We just need to use the ways of church and society in a manner that they don't scar our souls… in ways that can enrich our service of God.
* Jesus did not abolish the cult of sacrifice and rituals of cleanliness. He just wanted to be sure that they didn't get in our way. So use social expectations, use the rituals and traditions of our church, use them to enrich your service to God and other people. Know that those rituals and practices won't save you, won't give happiness, don't define who you are. But they might, just might, give you the resources and entrees you need to do some good.
7. Wrap-Up
Invite the congregation to reflect on the practices of the congregation, on things that happen on the job that perhaps could be used to serve God and other human beings. Then pray and engage discussions about how that could begin to happen. Know that as the love of God changes lives, magnificent love can change the ways of church and society too!
A love that changes lives.
Collect of the Day
After confessing that God is our strength while we are weak, petitions are offered that we be protected from all dangers and be cleansed from all evil arising from within ourselves. Justification (by Grace) and providence are emphasized.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
* A Korah Psalm; a love song or ode for a royal wedding. Martin Luther regards it as a love song between Christ and the church (Luther's Works, Vol. 10, pp. 208-210).
* The author claims to be a professional writer, joyful in his task of addressing the king (v. 1).
* The king is addressed in the most flattering language (v. 2). Martin Luther sees this handsomeness as referring to how we are changed by grace (Luther Works, Vol. 10, p. 209). For John Wesley, the reference is to the handsomeness of Christ (Commentary on the Bible, p. 283).
* The king may be addressed here as God (vv. 6-7), a common practice in the ancient Near East but unprecedented in Hebrew Scriptures. John Calvin relates these references to the king to Christ (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. V/2, pp. 179-180).
* Daughters of kings are said to be among the king's ladies of honor (v. 9).
* If we read the Psalm prophetically, texts referring to the king as God could be understood as praise for the Lord's righteousness (and how He anoints companions with gladness [v. 7]). For Martin Luther, the reference to being anointed is seen as a spiritual anointing with grace and gifts of the church by God (Luther's Works, Vol. 10, p. 218).
or Psalm 15
* A liturgy for admission to the temple, traditionally attributed to David.
* The question is raised regarding who shall be admitted to the Temple (v. 1).
* The answer is that it only those with the requisite moral requirement, those who walk blamelessly, do what is right, speak the truth, do not slander, do no evil. Despise the wicked, honor the faithful, stand by their oaths, lend no money at interest, and take no bribes (vv. 2-5).
* Regarding this answer, John Calvin notes that though the church is often defaced by such impurity, as long as doctrine is pure we should not be disturbed by faults and sins (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. IV/2, p. 204).
Sermon Text and Title
"A Love That Changes Lives"
Song of Solomon 2:8-13
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the life-changing character of the unconditional love of God (Justification by Grace as Intimate Union and its implications for Sanctification and Social Ethics [its witness to the character of true love that critiques the American media's prevailing view of love as a casual affair]).
2. Exegesis
* A book of love poems of Israel, the date of composition uncertain. (It resembles Egyptian love songs of the thirteenth and twelfth century BC.) Some consider it a unified love poem; others regard it is as a loose anthology of originally independent songs.
* The tradition of attributing the book to Solomon (the Song of Songs which is Solomon's) cannot be substantiated. This attribution (1:1) was due to mention of his name in 3:9, 11; 8:11-12 and to a claim made in 1 Kings 4:32. In making this connection to Solomon the biblical canon sets the book in the category of Wisdom Literature, for Solomon is Israel's wise man par excellence (1 Kings 3:1ff; 5:1ff).
* Jews and Christians have historically interpreted the love songs as an interaction between God and the faithful (between Christ [the lover in the book is a shepherd or king] and the church for Christians).
* The tie between Hebraic wisdom and erotic language as reflected in the song is evident in Proverbs 7:6ff; 9:1ff; Sirach 51:13ff. Wisdom is pictured as a woman entering those passing.
* The entire book is a love dialogue between the couple. It probes the mystery and wisdom of human love; the union of lovers is a means for discovering common identity.
There is an ambivalence to love (characteristic of responses to the Hebrew Bible's view of wisdom). Yet nothing can quench it, though it cannot be bought, and so it defies/disrupts the social order.
* The lesson is the reminiscence of a springtime visit of the lover to his beloved. He comes to take her away, as the winter is past (vv. 10-11, 13).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The focus is on the love of God and how it changes us (Justification by Grace as Intimate Union and Sanctification [construed as the spontaneity of good works]).
* John Wesley believes that the text's reference to the voice of the beloved is Christ's voice, the word of grace (Commentary on the Bible, p. 319).
* He also contends that the text's reference to winter (v. 11) is about spiritual troubles arising from guilt. But Christ, he contends, has removed these impediments (Ibid.).
* Martin Luther indicates that verse 10 is a word of great sweetness, giving sure confidence to the believer (Luther's Works, Vol. 15, p. 218).
* Medieval German mystic Hildegard of Bingen offered reflections on the love of God and how it changes us: "… the Holy Spirit is the kindler and illuminator of the hearts of faithful men… who gently kindles the hearts and minds of the faithful" (In Her Words, p. 110).
* The great medieval mystic Bernard of Clairvaux beautifully describes what it is like to be in this intimate relation with God; see Wrap-Up for the Gospel, Good Friday.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Neuropsychological research has established that in the practice of both spirituality and human love our brains are bathed with the neurochemical dopamine, which is responsible for relaxation, creativity, and energy. It also makes human beings feel good, as its components belong to the same family as amphetamines, creating similar dynamics in the brain as when cocaine is injected (Helen Fisher, Why We Love; Dean Hamer, The God Gene).
5. Gimmick
Describe the Song of Solomon (Use first bullet point of Exegesis.) and then ask what this ancient love song has to do with us.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* "Love Makes the World Go Round," sang Perry Como, Jane Morgan, and Paul Anka to different tunes. Human beings are love-crazed. We are addicted to it, it seems. Mother Teresa essentially made this point as she once observed: "The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."
* Famed psychologist Erich Fromm concurred, as he contended: "Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence."
* That human beings yearn for love like this is evidenced by the warm and glowy feelings most everybody feels at a wedding. But the fact that there are very few examples of such lifetime love affairs in popular culture (TV shows, movies, YouTube) says a lot about how we live in a society that seems to disallow or undermine this ideal in favor of the casual, "exciting" affair.
* We say we love love, but we live in a society that is rather uncomfortable with the essence of love, its long-term, life-changing character. This is one of the reasons why marriage is under siege today (see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 19, for statistics on divorce in America).
* With such attitudes in the air it's not surprising that most American Christians would have a hard time thinking of their relation to God and Jesus as a love affair, like our lesson does. Given the fragility of committed human love, we don't want to think of our relation to God that way. And besides, we Americans (and Europeans), saturated as we are with dualistic modes of thinking (mind-body, flesh-spirit), have a hard time with thinking about our spirituality (relation to God) in earthy, physical ways. This is one of the reasons the Song of Solomon is not the most popular book of the Bible for many of us.
* In fact, there are all sorts of reasons for us to recover the Song of Solomon's way of talking about our relationship to God in Christ. Let's think for a moment about faith (our relationship with God) as intimate love.
* Love is a gift; you don't earn it. And so John Wesley believes that this is a voice of grace; Martin Luther hears a genuine sweetness in this image being wooed by God, a sweetness that results in confidence. (See Theological Insights for these references.) Ask the congregation if they do not experience confidence in the loves of their life. All the more does our love affair with Jesus inspire such confidence.
* C.S. Lewis nicely talks about this confidence by pointing out how God's love is different from ordinary human love. He states the difference nicely: "But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference…."
* The love God has for us is a critique of the way love gets portrayed in the media these days. True love is not something that comes and goes, not just a "chapter" in our lives (as the latest divorced stars and politicians say). Talking about God's love in this intimate way might just help us launch a critique of the media's worldview, to the good of the moral fiber of our nation.
* Speaking of change, love changes you, changes lives. Note the quotations in Theological Insights by Hildegard of Bingen and Bernard of Clairveaux. God our lover kindles our hearts, softens them. Good works (doing our lover's thing) can't help but follow when you're overcome by a love like that.
* God's love changes you. This theme appears in our lesson. Use John Wesley's observation in the third bullet point of Theological Insights. Note how in our lesson the lover comes to take his loved one away; the winter is past and the spring has come (vv. 10b-11). Those are also the circumstances of God's love, of Jesus' love, for us. He comes for us to put us in a new situation, having set aside the winter of our sinful condition.
7. Wrap-Up
Want a more fervent, pleasurable relationship with God? Start thinking about it in terms of the intimacy, the cuddling and snuggling images of the Song of Solomon (and of Psalm 45 assigned today). Remind the congregation of how good it feels to be in love, and so this way of thinking about our relation to God is all the more likely to be experienced in this pleasurable way. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights and the reference to the brain chemicals activated in such relationships.)
Don't forget how love changes us. The love we have with God, powerful as it is, is all the more likely to change us into the sort of people who belong to Jesus' family, who do Jesus' thing. Driven by a love like that, we might just be able to help change America and its lackadaisical attitude toward love. Yes, God's love changes lives.
Sermon Text and Title
"Listen a Little More, Talk a Little Less, and Do a Little More"
James 1:17-27
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To condemn our sin manifested in our verbosity and inaction and to proclaim that God's forgiving love (Justification by Grace) can drive us to be better listeners and more activist (Sanctification and Social Ethics).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* A discussion of living the faith.
* All generous acts and perfect gifts are said to be from above, from the Father. The word has given Christians birth so that they are first fruits of His creatures (vv. 17-18).
* This urges Christians be quick to listen and slow to anger, since anger does not produce God's righteousness (vv. 19-20). (This is an example of the wisdom character of James, as remaining silent to receive instruction was not only ancient Hebraic wisdom [Proverbs 12:15; 19:27], but also ancient Egyptian wisdom.) This urges the faithful to rid themselves of all wickedness, welcoming in meekness -- the word that is now growing in them to give life (v. 21).
* This also urges the faithful to be doers of the word, not merely hearers. For mere hearers are those who just glance in a mirror and forget what they were like (vv. 22-23). But those who look into the perfect law (a reference usually applied to the Mosaic Law, but here referring to the gospel, called the "law of liberty") and who persevere will be blessed (vv. 24-25).
* One's religion is worthless if he does not bridle his tongue. Religious observance that is pure before God cares for orphans and widows in their distress and also keeps the self unstained by the world (vv. 26-27).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* A consideration of Christian life (Sanctification, esp. with regard to being a listener and a doer) and condemnation of sin along with a critique of the legalism of James, leading to an awareness that it is only by God's forgiving love that the beginning of such behavior is possible (Justification by Grace). Social Ethics (concern for the poor) is also considered.
* Despite the historic critique of the book's "legalism," this text gives God and the word the credit for our works and for becoming Christian (vv. 17-18). John Calvin notes that these verses entail that "it is natural to God to do good." He also observes that the text teaches that we have become new creatures (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXII/2, p. 292).
* Martin Luther in a sermon on this text interpreted its exhortation as a "Tak[ing] heed to accept in purity and to maintain with patience the word so graciously and richly given…" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 300).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Google the latest statistics on poverty and children in poverty.
* See statistics on poverty in this section for the First Lessons, Advent 3 and Easter 2.
5. Gimmick
Silence is golden, the Four Seasons sang in their rock hit. Silence is golden! (long pause)
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Read verse 26 on bridling the tongue. Bridle your tongue. The same message is evident in verse 19 where the author of James exhorts us to be slow to speak. See the third bullet point of Exegesis.
* Being a good listener gets mixed reviews in society today. We talk about the importance of hearing our colleagues, hearing our customers, but speak of an "active listening," which is really a veiled way of saying that we move the conversation in the direction we want it to go. Also just listening is not the pathway to success in our present entrepreneurial ethos, where selling yourself and self-promotion are the name of the game.
* There is a lot of folk wisdom about the virtues of shutting up to listen. It is as Will Rogers put it: "Never miss a good chance to shut up."
* First-century BC Roman author Publilius Syrus concurred: "I have often regretted my speech, never my silence."
* Others in the same line of thinking include the ancient philosopher Epictetus, who once observed: "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."
* American columnist Doug Larson commented on the wisdom of such an insight: "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."
* As a sign of this wisdom, nineteenth-century English lyricist Martin Fraquhar Tupper wrote: "Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech."
* Is that all there is to it? Listen a little more, talk a little less, and the world will be a better place? It's a lot more complex than that. Concede that as a preacher you like to talk. Silence may be golden, but we still like to call attention to ourselves with our mouths. And then there is the culture of self-promotion in society today that keeps us talking.
* Note how James seems to recognize our destructively chronic loquaciousness. Cite verse 17 regarding that all good gifts (including the ability to listen) are gifts of God. John Calvin's comments in Theological Insights might be employed.
* Silence, the ability to listen more and not shoot off your mouth so much, is a gift of God, a work of the Holy Spirit and His love that changes us. But there is more to James' wisdom in today's Bible lesson. Read verses 22-23. Listening opens you up to doing. The listener is more open to the cues and needs of others. If you are talking all the time, it is more about you than the other.
* Benjamin Franklin helps us make the transition to action: "Well done is better than well said."
* James also has some profound advice on what we should be doing as listening Christians. Read verses 26-27. We are to care for orphans, widows, all those in distress, for the poor. When you talk a little less and listen a little more, you have more space to do something for the poor and others in need. But keep in mind that such good deeds are gifts of God, the result of a love that changes us.
7. Wrap-Up
The gift of listening is especially tied with an enhanced spirituality, for it is by the ear (by hearing the Word and believing it) that we are saved! This insight reminds us that when we listen, we receive. The more we become listeners, the more we may come to appreciate how all the good we have is by grace, by the love of God that changes us, changes us into doers and listeners who talk a little less. Listen this week for the love of God's action on you and me.
Sermon Text and Title
"The Ways of the Church and Society Won't Save You!"
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To condemn sin manifest in certain socio-cultural and ecclesiastical expectations (esp. expectations on women, men, racial stereotypes, ecclesiastical customs), noting how they interfere with our doing God's will, which can only happen with the forgiving love of God (Justification by Grace) that may free us properly to use some of the norms and customs of these institutions to serve God (Sanctification and Social Ethics).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Pharisees and scribes come from Jerusalem to Gennesaret (a village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, at least eighty miles north of the capital) to challenge Jesus, specifically on why He allowed His disciples to violate rituals of cleanliness (vv. 1-5; cf. Leviticus 15:11). The claim that all Jews observed this custom (v. 3) is an overstatement (Leviticus 22:1-2, 5-16).
* Jesus cites Isaiah 29:13, accusing His critics of merely honoring God with their lips (with mere human teachings) and not in their hearts (vv. 6-8). The fact that it is the Septuagint (the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) that is cited suggests that these were not Jesus' own words.
* Jesus then elaborates (in verses not included in the lesson) about how such human expectations were making it more difficult for Jews to honor (care for) their parents (vv. 9-13) (since they were obligated to make offerings to God that might have been used to help their parents). Next He reiterates that nothing outside people can defile them, but only what comes out of a person (vv. 14-15).
* After an interaction with the disciples in private (vv. 16-20), Jesus continues to note that the evil things that defile come from within. He speaks of evil intentions, like theft, murder, adultery, envy, and so forth (vv. 21-23).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* An examination of the cultural/institutional dynamics of sin and how only by grace can we be forgiven (Justification by Grace), but that some of the norms and customs of these institutions can facilitate our pilgrimage in holiness and justice (Sanctification and Social Ethics).
* John Calvin demonstrates a balanced approach to Jesus' condemnation of human customs. He wrote:
Now as He [God] permits believers to have outward ceremonies, by means of which they may perform the exercises of godliness, so He does not suffer them to mix up those ceremonies with His own word, as if religion consisted in them.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/2, p. 249)
* John Wesley sees Jesus' remarks about defilement flowing from the human heart as a teaching of Original Sin (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 9, p. 425).
* About religious obligations Martin Luther warned: "Here it is necessary to know that the observance of such regulations is of no help in attaining goodness before God…" (Luther's Works, Vol. 40, p. 304).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* For racial/ethnic and gender imbalances in society, see the statistics in this section for the First Lesson, Advent 3.
* A 2009 Barna Group poll indicated suspicion of the church among Americans, as 50% believe a growing number of people they know are tired of the same church experience.
5. Gimmick
Tell the story of the first five verses in the best storytelling mode, pointing out what a rebel Jesus was. Jesus stood up to social convention, allowing His disciples to violate rituals of cleanliness (vv. 1-5). He challenged His critics for holding to mere human traditions in such a way that it impedes our ethical obligations to parents and others (vv. 9-13). (Use third bullet point in Exegesis.) There are no two ways about it: Jesus wants us to be critical of the ways of church and society.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* We should be clear about what Jesus is rebelling against. We will want to continue such rebellion. For we are as much in bondage to unhelpful social and church customs as were the people of Israel in His day. A number of stories can be told.
* Tell the story of Rico and Jeannette, subjects of interviews in a book by sociologist Richard Sennett, The Corrosion of Character. This thirty-plus couple was living the American dream, freelance or supervisor jobs, upwardly mobile. They had learned the rules of the game -- flexibility, being willing to relocate for the sake of career, and being computer-literate. But they admit that for all their success they felt they might be losing control of their lives. It is hard to fit in time for children and each other. The relationships formed are superficial; there is no job security. Ask the congregation if they have had these feelings. When you do everything right economically in America these days, it doesn't guarantee happiness or peace of mind. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul.
* The lifestyle of self-promotion that current economic realities seem to demand is not fulfilling. Famed cellist Benjamin Whichcote offers a penetrating observation in this connection: "None are so empty as those who are full of themselves."
* In his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, famed nineteenth-century author and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche noted that life lived by human prudence requires good acting, people who invent themselves. Wanting people to enjoy looking at them, their wisdom is not very wise and is rather laughable (The Portable Nietzsche, pp. 255-256).
* Other stories of how the ways of church and society co-opt us are abundant. There's Rasheed, a young African-American college student who is having trouble going home. His Ivy League and prep school education had made him less tolerant of black church ways and the emotionalism of his inner-city community. Too many times when he had lapsed into African-American expressions he had been greeted with stares by his white peers and their faculty. Back in the 'hood, old friends said he was acting white. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul. Repeat refrain after each example.
The church has not been guiltless on this score, as white church leadership has rarely been friendly to encouraging black Christians to maintain their distinct worship styles. The ways of society and the church can lead you to lose your soul.
* How about Helen, one of the best of the crop of the young executives in a Fortune 500 company, whose career track was in a little jeopardy if she cried one more time at a meeting. The whispers were beginning to emerge that she might not be tough enough. Women need to be strong. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul.
* Ask men in the congregation if they have not felt the pressures of society to choke back emotions they might have wanted to show. Why? Society does not countenance emotional men. The ways of society can lead you to lose your soul.
* Cite the second bullet point of Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights. Sometimes the ways of the church can also lead you to lose your soul.
* Yes, Jesus is right to rebel against these trends. But let's be clear on His thinking and intentions. It is not the case in His view that the unhelpful agendas of church and society damn or condemn us. It's how you use these norms and values that can defile you (vv. 14-15). Cite the quotation by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. Both Luther and Jesus are making it clear that the observance of church and social regulations don't save.
* That being the case, it follows that we are only saved by God's work, by His grace. A hymn by Martin Luther well captures this insight (how if works do not save, we must be saved by grace):
My own good works availed me naught,
No merit they attaining;…
But God beheld my wretched state
Before the world's foundation,
And mindful of His mercies great,
He planned my soul's salvation…
(What Luther Says, p. 719)
* Jesus took His rebellious stand to make it clear that you don't get to heaven by being a good citizen, a successful businessperson, whatever. You are saved by God's unconditional love.
* None of this entails that all that goes on in church and society must be shunned. Consider the quotation by John Calvin in Theological Insights. God permits us to maintain traditional ceremonies and practices in the church. Much of what is done in the business world and the media has value, as long as we keep these practices in their place. There is nothing wrong in principle with risk-taking, flexible business strategies, team-management, the internet, and a sense that spouses may leave unhealthy marriages. We just need to use the ways of church and society in a manner that they don't scar our souls… in ways that can enrich our service of God.
* Jesus did not abolish the cult of sacrifice and rituals of cleanliness. He just wanted to be sure that they didn't get in our way. So use social expectations, use the rituals and traditions of our church, use them to enrich your service to God and other people. Know that those rituals and practices won't save you, won't give happiness, don't define who you are. But they might, just might, give you the resources and entrees you need to do some good.
7. Wrap-Up
Invite the congregation to reflect on the practices of the congregation, on things that happen on the job that perhaps could be used to serve God and other human beings. Then pray and engage discussions about how that could begin to happen. Know that as the love of God changes lives, magnificent love can change the ways of church and society too!
