Proper 18 / Pentecost 16 / Ordinary Time 23
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Theme of the Day
God cares for the poor.
Collect of the Day
After praising God for transforming sickness into health and death into life, petitions are offered that the faithful be opened to the power of His presence so they are ready to proclaim God's promises to the world. Providence and Evangelism are the dominant themes.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 125
* A Song of Ascent (Pilgrims' Song), praying for deliverance from national enemies. This is a group lament.
John Calvin thinks that the church is here described emblematically by the situation of the city (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VI/2, pp. 89-90).
* Expresses confidence that the Lord will surround His people and remove wickedness in the land (vv. 1-3).
* Prayer is offered that the Lord would do good to the good while those who turn aside will be given over to evildoers (vv. 4-5).
or Psalm 146
* A hymn praising God for His help.
* Reminds us not to put our trust in anyone but God, for all human beings will lose their breath and return to the earth in death (vv. 3-4).
* Those whose help is in God are happy (v. 5).
* Over-against human inadequacy, God is said to be the One who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in it, who executes justice for the oppressed, feeds the hungry, sets the prisoners free, loves the righteous, and upholds orphans and widows (vv. 6-9).
Sermon Text and Title
"Wisdom and Wealth Don't Mix"
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim and teach the biblical witness to God's preference and concern for the poor (Social Ethics), with some attention to how this relates to the biblical concept of wisdom and its roots in the benevolent grace of God (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis
* A compilation of several wisdom sayings, aphorisms traditionally ascribed to Solomon, but some of which came from Gentile scriptures (chs. 30-31) that received final editing in the Post-Exilic period (sixth century BC and later). Some of these sayings are indebted to other ancient Near-Eastern cultures (esp. Egypt). Wisdom (sometimes personified as female) in the Hebraic context was the work of sages, generally equated with the way of righteousness. It was a practical knowledge of life rooted in basic experience and in faith. (See Possible Sermon Moves, First Lesson, Pentecost 12.)
* Main Sections: (1) The Proverbs of Solomon (1:1--9:18); (2) The Proverbs of Solomon (10:1--22:16); (3) The words of the wise (22:17--23:11); (4) Sayings of the wise (24:23-24); (5) The Proverbs of Solomon, preserved by the men of Hezekiah (25:1--29:27); (6) The words of Augur (30:1ff); (7) The words of Lemuel (31:1-10); and (8) The acrostic poem (using consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet to begin each line) on the "good wife" (31:11-31).
* Central Themes: (1) Wisdom is sometimes personified as female. It is a gift of God in the first chapters, but a mere rational process from chapter 10 on. We are to understand the wisdom of these later (older) chapters in the context of the divine order sketched in the first nine chapters; (2) Optimism, for wisdom brings success; (3) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a recognition of the divine order of reward and judgment in life; (4) The need for wisdom; (5) Advice for getting along in community, stressing moderation, cautiousness, submission to elders; (6) Advice on labor and property; and (7) Call for commitment to God and loving justice.
* A Proverb from the older collection contrasting the way of wisdom and the way of fools, with attention to the poor.
* Caring for the poor is praised (v. 9). They are not to be oppressed (v. 2).
* The Lord pleads the cause of the poor (v. 23). The last two passages have direct parallels in the ancient Egyptian book of wisdom, The Instruction of Amen.Em-Opet, 28.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text seems to vindicate the teaching of the Latin American liberation theologians regarding the "preferential option for the poor." This is the idea that because God favors the poor, so the followers of our Lord should prioritize them and their needs (Gustavo Gutierrez, Frontiers of Theology in Latin America, pp. 8-9). Also see the seventh bullet point in this section for the First Lesson, Advent 3.
* Martin Luther's comments on wealth are relevant at this point:
Riches are the most insignificant things on earth, the smallest gift God can give a man. What are they in comparison with the word of God? In fact, what are they in comparison even with physical endowments and beauty? What are they in comparison with gifts of the mind? And yet we act as if this were not so! The matter, form, effect, and goal of riches are worthless. That's why our Lord God generally gives riches to crude asses to whom He doesn't give anything else.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 54, p. 452)
* Lactantius, a theologian of the early church wrote:
Riches also do not render men illustrious, except that they are able to make them more conspicuous by good works. For men are rich, not because they possess riches, but because they employ them on works of justice; and they who seem to be poor on this account are rich, because they are not in want, and desire nothing.
(Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7, p. 151)
* But wisdom (and so concern for the poor associated with it) is not something we achieve; wisdom and knowledge emerge from faith (the fear of the Lord) (1:7).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* For statistics on poverty, follow the advice in this section for the Second Lesson, Pentecost 14.
5. Gimmick
Are you wise? Do you aspire to wisdom? Can it help you get ahead?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Have the congregation recall the essence of the lesson taken from the book of Proverbs, a compilation of wisdom sayings that give advice which at first glance seems to be bad for business -- to diminish the importance of wealth (v. 1), to deny injustice (v. 8), and to care for the poor (vv. 9, 22).
* What does wisdom have to do with economics? Can we, should we, really run our businesses and family finances this way?
* Note that we have talked about wisdom previously (if you preached on the First Lesson, Pentecost 12). Either way, offer a brief refresher on wisdom by reviewing the second through the seventh bullet points in this section of that sermon.
* Wisdom is practical knowledge about how to live with integrity. John Wesley speaks of Wisdom as "the faculty of discerning the best ends, and the fittest means..." It is prudence or discretion, he says (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 7, p. 43).
* Our lesson today adds some other dimensions about wisdom. Wisdom in the Hebraic sense, insofar as it is about living with integrity, is also about how to gain and maintain a good name. This is evident in verse 1.
* In ancient cultures, a good name was what made you somebody, more than wealth. Consequently the first of the great Western philosophers, Socrates, once said: "Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of…." A good name is indeed better than riches (v. 1).
* Our Proverb teaches us that you lose this good name, are not wise, if you practice injustice (v. 8). How to practice justice? How do you live wisely? And does it help you get ahead in life?
* Reiterate the diminishing of the value of wealth taught by this lesson, how a good name is better than wealth (v. 1). This is a theme consistent elsewhere in the Bible, even in the teachings of 1 Timothy (6:10) that the love of money is indeed the root of all evil.
* Cite Martin Luther's comments on wealth in Theological Insights (unless there are very wealthy members in the congregation). But for all its insignificance, wealth does bring power. That is a point made elsewhere in our Proverbs passage in verses not assigned. The text speaks of the rich ruling over the poor and the borrower becoming a slave of the lender (v. 7). We should never forget the warning of Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan: "Affluence creates poverty." Indicate how that is the case by following the advice given in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights and citing relevant statistics on poverty in America.
* Wisdom, according to our lesson, renounces this sort of exercise of power, by not exploiting the poor (v. 22), by sharing our bounty with them (v. 9). That's (in part) how you get a good name.
* You are truly rich when you use your wealth on behalf of the poor. Cite the quote by Lactantius in Theological Insights.
* In a sense, biblical wisdom sounds like it is bad for business. But consider this idea that one who refuses to exploit the poor, who seeks their interests, is really rich. Those who are wealthy command clout and are more likely to swing the big deal, to get the attention. In that sense, could it be that biblical wisdom, the concern about a good name and values, in making us be accounted truly rich, might just be good for business in the long run, good for families and the financial picture for churches? A good reputation and wisdom attract people. And so practicing such wisdom, not making the bottom line as important, caring about the rights of the poor, might not be so economically unwise after all.
7. Wrap-Up
One more thing needs to be said about wisdom in connection with how it relates to wealth and poverty. We cannot achieve wisdom on our own; on our own we are too selfish to want to give away our power to the poor. Cite the first bullet point in Theological Insights. Wise people know that wisdom and the passion for justice that characterize them are not something we can manipulate. It is the gift of God who cares for the poor, who when push comes to shove prefers the poor. Read verses 22-23 (emphasizing again v. 23, and perhaps the Psalm [146:5-7]).
Sermon Text and Title
"Poverty Is the Church's Business"
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim our wanton disregard of the poor (Social Ethics) and our sin along with empowering forgiveness (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* On respect due the poor, coupled with attention to the relation of faith and works.
* Claims it is not possible to reconcile faith in Jesus Christ with partiality toward the rich (vv. 1-4). In fact, God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith (v. 5).
* Note that the flock is being oppressed by the rich and so their dishonoring the poor is all the more problematic (vv. 6-7).
* Cites the "royal law" (taught in Leviticus 19:18) to love your neighbor as yourself. To show partiality is to sin (v. 9).
* Adds that whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point is accountable for the whole law (v. 11). Illustrate this point (v. 11). Judgment will be without mercy to one who has shown no mercy (v. 12).
* Proceeds to reflect on the relationship between faith and works that faith does not save. It does no good to have faith if one naked and hungry is just told to wait for God to relieve their needs. Faith without works is dead (vv. 14-17).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text promotes reflection on Social Ethics (God's preference for the poor). A view of Sanctification involving the exhorting of good works seems to be taught, with an understanding of Justification by Grace and works (or Pelagianism). Or the text can be reinterpreted as calls to care for the poor as a matter of common morality (Social Ethics with church and state in paradoxical tension).
* See Theological Insights for the First Lesson.
* John Calvin claims that the reference to God choosing the poor (v. 5) does not mean God does not pour out His grace on all, but His will is to prefer the poor to the mighty who may never learn not to flatter themselves (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXII/2, p. 303).
* Calvin also contends that verses 11-12 entail that:
Since none of us can stand before God, except we be delivered and freed from the strict rigour of the law we ought so to act, that we may not through too much severity exclude the indulgence or mercy of God, of which we all have need to the last.
(Ibid., p. 308)
* Martin Luther offered some interesting comments on the epistle's teaching about our responsibility for the poor: "If you are called to renounce money, possessions, honor, and men's favor, remember you have a treasure more precious than all the honors and possessions of the world" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 293).
* The relationship posited between faith and works is problematic for Protestants. It may be necessary to preach against the text, or to refer to these verses as law (the demands God makes of us which condemn our sin), not as a description of how faith in Christ functions (gospel). These are passages which show us that were it not for Christ's death we would deserve condemnation for not doing enough works along with our faith.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See this Section for the First Lesson.
5. Gimmick
One of the greatest American revivalists Dwight Moody (the Billy Graham of his era) said, "I don't see how a man can follow Christ and not be successful." (Citation in my When Did Jesus Become Republican?, p. 25.) Is he right?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* The book of James (and our First Lesson) point out how wrong Moody and many Christians who agree with him are. Review the second bullet point of Exegesis. It seems that the Bible does teach that poverty is the church's business.
* If the church is in the world it can't help but address poverty, given American realities. Follow up on the leads provided by Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the First Lesson.
* Poverty is a horrible reality to endure. In his Lives of Cognoscenti, Eli Khamarov wrote: "Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn't commit."
* We are responsible for causing the poverty in our nation. At least this was Charles Darwin's thinking: "If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." (Darwin was not such a bad guy after all, was he? He sounds like a Christian here.)
* The book of James will not tolerate this situation. Oh, you might say that our lesson is not concerned with the problem of poverty in society but just with loving treatment to the poor in our church (vv. 2-4). But then beginning on verse 5, the text makes a generalization that God has chosen the poor (see the first bullet point of Theological Insights for the First Lesson and the third bullet point of Theological Insights for this lesson). And what follows are reflections on what was happening in society as a whole (the rich exploiting even the members of James' church [vv. 6-7]). No, our text is a mandate to honor the poor, to elevate their circumstances (v. 6).
* Martin Luther understood the text this way. Cite his views from the next-to-last bullet point in Theological Insights; also consider the quotation by Lactantius in Theological Insights for the First Lesson. Christians made wealthy in the gospel, filled with all the good gifts of God (even if money is not one of them), can't help but give what they have away to the poor. Yes, poverty is the church's business.
* Ask the congregation to consider what can be concretely done in the congregation, in the community, for poverty. Ask if the congregation is a welcoming place for the poor, if someone entering off the street would be welcome, or whether the parish would function much like the community James addressed (vv. 2-4). Urge the congregation to keep in mind the question of who will help the poor the most as they enter the voting booth in two months.
* To those who contend that the church should focus on spiritual matters, not on just materialistic preoccupations like hunger, the late Mahatma Gandhi offers a penetrating comment: "There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." Until this point sinks in, until we realize that we might have to feed, clothe, and house folks before trying to save them with the gospel, we shouldn't expect much success. It's no wonder because failure to minister the way Gandhi suggests is unbiblical.
* Speaking of the message of salvation, today's Second Lesson is problematic, not just because of its teaching on poverty, but also on account of its teaching of faith and works. The lesson concludes that faith without works is dead (v. 17). Can we ever do enough works in order to be sure we are saved? Is this concern to care for the poor something we should do on our own?
* Use the fourth and sixth bullet points of Theological Insights to address this range of problems. The commands in the lesson regarding poverty are not mere directives of what we need to do to please God, but are texts condemning us of our sin (just as this sermon's references to caring for the poor condemn this congregation) -- for we all have flunked in our care for the poor, as long as any are still around. (Consider again the Darwin quote above.) But the caring God takes care of the poor, is working to set them free, and is giving the faithful like us the ability and the yearning to start doing something about it. Elsewhere the book of James seems to concede this (1:17), that all good (even caring for the poor) is a work of God.
7. Wrap-Up
We have been reminded today that poverty is the church's business. Ask the congregation if they agree that the poor are their business and that as long as there are poor people in our nation it is the fault of the institutions of our nation, our fault. But we all need to remember what our lesson teaches: that God has chosen the poor (v. 5), that we have a God who cares for the poor, that if we begin to break out of the apathy of most churches and start doing something it will only be by the grace of God. With a God who loves the poor like He does, how can we His faithful people fail to enter the fray and prevail? And if it gets frustrating, remember He'll do the heavy lifting.
Sermon Text and Title
"Listen! What God Gives Is for Everyone"
Mark 7:24-37
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
The good news that God's unconditional love and care (Justification by Grace) is not bound by social class or our deafness (sin) is announced and celebrated.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Several healings executed by Jesus are reported. The first is the healing of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. The event takes place in the region of Tyre (far northeast of Jerusalem on the Mediterranean Sea) (v. 24a).
* Jesus tries to remain incognito, but the Syrophoenician woman (a Gentile) begs to have an unclean spirit exorcised from her daughter (vv. 24b-26).
* Jesus puts her off as a Gentile, claiming that He has come to care for Jews (feeding the children, not the dogs) (v. 27). For Jews to call Gentiles "dogs" was not necessarily pejorative, as dogs were household pets in Jewish homes. The woman responds that even dogs eat children's crumbs (v. 28). This moves Jesus to heal the daughter from a distance, as the mother finds her healthy after Jesus dismissed her to go home (vv. 29-30).
* Jesus leaves Tyre, heading toward the Sea of Galilee. He heals a deaf man who had a speech impediment (through Jesus putting fingers in the man's ears and touching his tongue with Jesus' own saliva) (vv. 31-35). Only in Mark's version of the miracle are these details given.
* Jesus maintains the messianic secret (v. 36). But instead, what He has done is proclaimed (v. 37).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The Syrophoenician woman illustrates the life of freedom from the Law (Justification by Grace and Sanctification) in contrast to Jewish legalism, and the deaf man illustrates that the deafness of sin is not an impediment to God's love (Justification by Grace).
* John Calvin claims that the text entails a reminder that we obtain both speech and hearing from Christ; "For He pours His energy into our tongues and pierces our ears with His fingers" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/2, p. 272).
* Martin Luther contended that all who refuse to hear the word of God are like the deaf man in the lesson (vv. 31ff) (Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 397).
* Elaborating on this point in another sermon, the Reformer proclaimed:
The ears and tongues of Christians are thus different from the ears and tongues of the world. Or of unbelievers, caring naught for silver or gold, but only for that which is said of Christ and how to speak and teach of Jesus.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/2, p. 386)
* Concerning the people who brought the deaf man to Jesus, Luther writes:
This we may also learn here in these good people. They do not need this work themselves, nor do they look to themselves, but to the poor man, and think how they may help him; they seek no reward, but act independently and freely.
(Ibid., Vol. 2/2, pp. 372-373)
* The first Reformer offers an interesting reflection on the relation between the preaching and living in furthering the kingdom: "… a godly life serves to show the word so much the mightier in its power. But the word leads to Christ, though it be preached by a sinner" (Ibid., p. 379).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See this section for the First Lesson.
5. Gimmick
What's the matter? How come you never seem to understand what I say? (get louder) Don't you listen? Are you deaf? (take long pause)
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Jesus hung around people who couldn't hear. That is the background for the healing of the deaf man in today's gospel (vv. 31-35). He still hangs around deaf folks -- like us. Lots of times we don't hear God's word. In fact, when we consider the other miracle in our Gospel Lesson, maybe we'll begin to realize how deaf we've been. Consider the comments by Martin Luther in the third bullet point of Theological Insights.
* Our gospel tells another story, one that we often don't hear in our deafness: the story of the healing of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. Tell the story. Jesus was trying to remain incognito. Then recount verses 24-26.
* Use the third bullet point of Exegesis. Be sure the congregation understands the significance of the woman being a Gentile and her status as a second-class member of the region in the eyes of Jews. (We should also keep in mind that as a woman she was a second-class denizen of society in the Roman empire.) Yet Jesus responded to her request!
* Jesus hangs out with the second-class members of society. Note how that is God's style. Highlight the presence of this theme in the other lessons (Proverbs 2:9; James 2:5-7) and the Psalm (146:6-9).
* The Syrophoenician woman was of a very different social class than Jesus and his Jewish followers. Although her class and ethnicity was not to be the focus of Jesus' ministry (which by God's plan was foremost to the Jews), He opened Himself to her request. Ask the congregation if we have been, would be so open to the arrival of someone from a different social background than us, someone off the streets. Suggest that based on the composition of the congregation at present, we have not been too open to everybody (not as good in practice as we say we are).
* There are certainly plenty of opportunities for this outreach. Point to examples of poverty in the local community. If useful, cite the data on poverty in America by following up the leads given in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the First Lesson.
* Our story makes other points that heighten our awareness that what God gives is for everyone, even the poor: Back to the second healing, the healing of the deaf man (vv. 31ff). He too, due to his disability and being poor was as much an outcast as the Syrophoenician woman. But not only did Jesus respond to this man. Martin Luther points out that the people who brought the deaf man to Jesus were caring for the poor. See the next-to-last bullet point in Theological Insights. Can we, the followers of Jesus, do any less? The gifts of God, what He gives, truly are for everyone!
* Jesus performed two healings in our Gospel Lesson for today. He continues healing to this very day. He takes deafmutes like us, churchgoers who have acted like the only ones who matter to Jesus are people like us, people who have been deaf to the word of this lesson, and made us people who can do things differently.
* Use the second and fourth bullet points of Theological Insights. We have been given new ears and tongues, different from those of other human beings, for our tongues (and our deeds) now bear in them the energies of God. As Martin Luther once put it, we are "the fingers of our Lord God" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 400). Our tongues, our arms, legs, and hearts now by the grace of God have the ability to reach out to the poor, to those different from us, so that what God has given to everyone really receives a witness, so that everyone knows it.
7. Wrap-Up
Keep in mind, when Jesus healed the deaf man, today's Gospel Lesson also reports that He gave him the ability to speak (v. 35). Who says Jesus no longer performs miracles? Our deafness to the universal character of God's love, to our mandate to reach out to everyone and care for everyone -- that deafness has been healed. If not right now, someday God's going to have His way with us. We have the ability to help implement God's work in making what He has done available to all! The miracle of healing, healing to enable us to bring this word to everybody, to care for everybody, has happened to us! Can you believe it? Or are you deaf? It doesn't matter because God will open those ears someday.
God cares for the poor.
Collect of the Day
After praising God for transforming sickness into health and death into life, petitions are offered that the faithful be opened to the power of His presence so they are ready to proclaim God's promises to the world. Providence and Evangelism are the dominant themes.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 125
* A Song of Ascent (Pilgrims' Song), praying for deliverance from national enemies. This is a group lament.
John Calvin thinks that the church is here described emblematically by the situation of the city (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VI/2, pp. 89-90).
* Expresses confidence that the Lord will surround His people and remove wickedness in the land (vv. 1-3).
* Prayer is offered that the Lord would do good to the good while those who turn aside will be given over to evildoers (vv. 4-5).
or Psalm 146
* A hymn praising God for His help.
* Reminds us not to put our trust in anyone but God, for all human beings will lose their breath and return to the earth in death (vv. 3-4).
* Those whose help is in God are happy (v. 5).
* Over-against human inadequacy, God is said to be the One who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in it, who executes justice for the oppressed, feeds the hungry, sets the prisoners free, loves the righteous, and upholds orphans and widows (vv. 6-9).
Sermon Text and Title
"Wisdom and Wealth Don't Mix"
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim and teach the biblical witness to God's preference and concern for the poor (Social Ethics), with some attention to how this relates to the biblical concept of wisdom and its roots in the benevolent grace of God (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis
* A compilation of several wisdom sayings, aphorisms traditionally ascribed to Solomon, but some of which came from Gentile scriptures (chs. 30-31) that received final editing in the Post-Exilic period (sixth century BC and later). Some of these sayings are indebted to other ancient Near-Eastern cultures (esp. Egypt). Wisdom (sometimes personified as female) in the Hebraic context was the work of sages, generally equated with the way of righteousness. It was a practical knowledge of life rooted in basic experience and in faith. (See Possible Sermon Moves, First Lesson, Pentecost 12.)
* Main Sections: (1) The Proverbs of Solomon (1:1--9:18); (2) The Proverbs of Solomon (10:1--22:16); (3) The words of the wise (22:17--23:11); (4) Sayings of the wise (24:23-24); (5) The Proverbs of Solomon, preserved by the men of Hezekiah (25:1--29:27); (6) The words of Augur (30:1ff); (7) The words of Lemuel (31:1-10); and (8) The acrostic poem (using consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet to begin each line) on the "good wife" (31:11-31).
* Central Themes: (1) Wisdom is sometimes personified as female. It is a gift of God in the first chapters, but a mere rational process from chapter 10 on. We are to understand the wisdom of these later (older) chapters in the context of the divine order sketched in the first nine chapters; (2) Optimism, for wisdom brings success; (3) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a recognition of the divine order of reward and judgment in life; (4) The need for wisdom; (5) Advice for getting along in community, stressing moderation, cautiousness, submission to elders; (6) Advice on labor and property; and (7) Call for commitment to God and loving justice.
* A Proverb from the older collection contrasting the way of wisdom and the way of fools, with attention to the poor.
* Caring for the poor is praised (v. 9). They are not to be oppressed (v. 2).
* The Lord pleads the cause of the poor (v. 23). The last two passages have direct parallels in the ancient Egyptian book of wisdom, The Instruction of Amen.Em-Opet, 28.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text seems to vindicate the teaching of the Latin American liberation theologians regarding the "preferential option for the poor." This is the idea that because God favors the poor, so the followers of our Lord should prioritize them and their needs (Gustavo Gutierrez, Frontiers of Theology in Latin America, pp. 8-9). Also see the seventh bullet point in this section for the First Lesson, Advent 3.
* Martin Luther's comments on wealth are relevant at this point:
Riches are the most insignificant things on earth, the smallest gift God can give a man. What are they in comparison with the word of God? In fact, what are they in comparison even with physical endowments and beauty? What are they in comparison with gifts of the mind? And yet we act as if this were not so! The matter, form, effect, and goal of riches are worthless. That's why our Lord God generally gives riches to crude asses to whom He doesn't give anything else.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 54, p. 452)
* Lactantius, a theologian of the early church wrote:
Riches also do not render men illustrious, except that they are able to make them more conspicuous by good works. For men are rich, not because they possess riches, but because they employ them on works of justice; and they who seem to be poor on this account are rich, because they are not in want, and desire nothing.
(Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7, p. 151)
* But wisdom (and so concern for the poor associated with it) is not something we achieve; wisdom and knowledge emerge from faith (the fear of the Lord) (1:7).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* For statistics on poverty, follow the advice in this section for the Second Lesson, Pentecost 14.
5. Gimmick
Are you wise? Do you aspire to wisdom? Can it help you get ahead?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Have the congregation recall the essence of the lesson taken from the book of Proverbs, a compilation of wisdom sayings that give advice which at first glance seems to be bad for business -- to diminish the importance of wealth (v. 1), to deny injustice (v. 8), and to care for the poor (vv. 9, 22).
* What does wisdom have to do with economics? Can we, should we, really run our businesses and family finances this way?
* Note that we have talked about wisdom previously (if you preached on the First Lesson, Pentecost 12). Either way, offer a brief refresher on wisdom by reviewing the second through the seventh bullet points in this section of that sermon.
* Wisdom is practical knowledge about how to live with integrity. John Wesley speaks of Wisdom as "the faculty of discerning the best ends, and the fittest means..." It is prudence or discretion, he says (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 7, p. 43).
* Our lesson today adds some other dimensions about wisdom. Wisdom in the Hebraic sense, insofar as it is about living with integrity, is also about how to gain and maintain a good name. This is evident in verse 1.
* In ancient cultures, a good name was what made you somebody, more than wealth. Consequently the first of the great Western philosophers, Socrates, once said: "Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of…." A good name is indeed better than riches (v. 1).
* Our Proverb teaches us that you lose this good name, are not wise, if you practice injustice (v. 8). How to practice justice? How do you live wisely? And does it help you get ahead in life?
* Reiterate the diminishing of the value of wealth taught by this lesson, how a good name is better than wealth (v. 1). This is a theme consistent elsewhere in the Bible, even in the teachings of 1 Timothy (6:10) that the love of money is indeed the root of all evil.
* Cite Martin Luther's comments on wealth in Theological Insights (unless there are very wealthy members in the congregation). But for all its insignificance, wealth does bring power. That is a point made elsewhere in our Proverbs passage in verses not assigned. The text speaks of the rich ruling over the poor and the borrower becoming a slave of the lender (v. 7). We should never forget the warning of Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan: "Affluence creates poverty." Indicate how that is the case by following the advice given in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights and citing relevant statistics on poverty in America.
* Wisdom, according to our lesson, renounces this sort of exercise of power, by not exploiting the poor (v. 22), by sharing our bounty with them (v. 9). That's (in part) how you get a good name.
* You are truly rich when you use your wealth on behalf of the poor. Cite the quote by Lactantius in Theological Insights.
* In a sense, biblical wisdom sounds like it is bad for business. But consider this idea that one who refuses to exploit the poor, who seeks their interests, is really rich. Those who are wealthy command clout and are more likely to swing the big deal, to get the attention. In that sense, could it be that biblical wisdom, the concern about a good name and values, in making us be accounted truly rich, might just be good for business in the long run, good for families and the financial picture for churches? A good reputation and wisdom attract people. And so practicing such wisdom, not making the bottom line as important, caring about the rights of the poor, might not be so economically unwise after all.
7. Wrap-Up
One more thing needs to be said about wisdom in connection with how it relates to wealth and poverty. We cannot achieve wisdom on our own; on our own we are too selfish to want to give away our power to the poor. Cite the first bullet point in Theological Insights. Wise people know that wisdom and the passion for justice that characterize them are not something we can manipulate. It is the gift of God who cares for the poor, who when push comes to shove prefers the poor. Read verses 22-23 (emphasizing again v. 23, and perhaps the Psalm [146:5-7]).
Sermon Text and Title
"Poverty Is the Church's Business"
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim our wanton disregard of the poor (Social Ethics) and our sin along with empowering forgiveness (Justification by Grace).
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* On respect due the poor, coupled with attention to the relation of faith and works.
* Claims it is not possible to reconcile faith in Jesus Christ with partiality toward the rich (vv. 1-4). In fact, God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith (v. 5).
* Note that the flock is being oppressed by the rich and so their dishonoring the poor is all the more problematic (vv. 6-7).
* Cites the "royal law" (taught in Leviticus 19:18) to love your neighbor as yourself. To show partiality is to sin (v. 9).
* Adds that whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point is accountable for the whole law (v. 11). Illustrate this point (v. 11). Judgment will be without mercy to one who has shown no mercy (v. 12).
* Proceeds to reflect on the relationship between faith and works that faith does not save. It does no good to have faith if one naked and hungry is just told to wait for God to relieve their needs. Faith without works is dead (vv. 14-17).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text promotes reflection on Social Ethics (God's preference for the poor). A view of Sanctification involving the exhorting of good works seems to be taught, with an understanding of Justification by Grace and works (or Pelagianism). Or the text can be reinterpreted as calls to care for the poor as a matter of common morality (Social Ethics with church and state in paradoxical tension).
* See Theological Insights for the First Lesson.
* John Calvin claims that the reference to God choosing the poor (v. 5) does not mean God does not pour out His grace on all, but His will is to prefer the poor to the mighty who may never learn not to flatter themselves (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XXII/2, p. 303).
* Calvin also contends that verses 11-12 entail that:
Since none of us can stand before God, except we be delivered and freed from the strict rigour of the law we ought so to act, that we may not through too much severity exclude the indulgence or mercy of God, of which we all have need to the last.
(Ibid., p. 308)
* Martin Luther offered some interesting comments on the epistle's teaching about our responsibility for the poor: "If you are called to renounce money, possessions, honor, and men's favor, remember you have a treasure more precious than all the honors and possessions of the world" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 4/1, p. 293).
* The relationship posited between faith and works is problematic for Protestants. It may be necessary to preach against the text, or to refer to these verses as law (the demands God makes of us which condemn our sin), not as a description of how faith in Christ functions (gospel). These are passages which show us that were it not for Christ's death we would deserve condemnation for not doing enough works along with our faith.
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See this Section for the First Lesson.
5. Gimmick
One of the greatest American revivalists Dwight Moody (the Billy Graham of his era) said, "I don't see how a man can follow Christ and not be successful." (Citation in my When Did Jesus Become Republican?, p. 25.) Is he right?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* The book of James (and our First Lesson) point out how wrong Moody and many Christians who agree with him are. Review the second bullet point of Exegesis. It seems that the Bible does teach that poverty is the church's business.
* If the church is in the world it can't help but address poverty, given American realities. Follow up on the leads provided by Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the First Lesson.
* Poverty is a horrible reality to endure. In his Lives of Cognoscenti, Eli Khamarov wrote: "Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn't commit."
* We are responsible for causing the poverty in our nation. At least this was Charles Darwin's thinking: "If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." (Darwin was not such a bad guy after all, was he? He sounds like a Christian here.)
* The book of James will not tolerate this situation. Oh, you might say that our lesson is not concerned with the problem of poverty in society but just with loving treatment to the poor in our church (vv. 2-4). But then beginning on verse 5, the text makes a generalization that God has chosen the poor (see the first bullet point of Theological Insights for the First Lesson and the third bullet point of Theological Insights for this lesson). And what follows are reflections on what was happening in society as a whole (the rich exploiting even the members of James' church [vv. 6-7]). No, our text is a mandate to honor the poor, to elevate their circumstances (v. 6).
* Martin Luther understood the text this way. Cite his views from the next-to-last bullet point in Theological Insights; also consider the quotation by Lactantius in Theological Insights for the First Lesson. Christians made wealthy in the gospel, filled with all the good gifts of God (even if money is not one of them), can't help but give what they have away to the poor. Yes, poverty is the church's business.
* Ask the congregation to consider what can be concretely done in the congregation, in the community, for poverty. Ask if the congregation is a welcoming place for the poor, if someone entering off the street would be welcome, or whether the parish would function much like the community James addressed (vv. 2-4). Urge the congregation to keep in mind the question of who will help the poor the most as they enter the voting booth in two months.
* To those who contend that the church should focus on spiritual matters, not on just materialistic preoccupations like hunger, the late Mahatma Gandhi offers a penetrating comment: "There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." Until this point sinks in, until we realize that we might have to feed, clothe, and house folks before trying to save them with the gospel, we shouldn't expect much success. It's no wonder because failure to minister the way Gandhi suggests is unbiblical.
* Speaking of the message of salvation, today's Second Lesson is problematic, not just because of its teaching on poverty, but also on account of its teaching of faith and works. The lesson concludes that faith without works is dead (v. 17). Can we ever do enough works in order to be sure we are saved? Is this concern to care for the poor something we should do on our own?
* Use the fourth and sixth bullet points of Theological Insights to address this range of problems. The commands in the lesson regarding poverty are not mere directives of what we need to do to please God, but are texts condemning us of our sin (just as this sermon's references to caring for the poor condemn this congregation) -- for we all have flunked in our care for the poor, as long as any are still around. (Consider again the Darwin quote above.) But the caring God takes care of the poor, is working to set them free, and is giving the faithful like us the ability and the yearning to start doing something about it. Elsewhere the book of James seems to concede this (1:17), that all good (even caring for the poor) is a work of God.
7. Wrap-Up
We have been reminded today that poverty is the church's business. Ask the congregation if they agree that the poor are their business and that as long as there are poor people in our nation it is the fault of the institutions of our nation, our fault. But we all need to remember what our lesson teaches: that God has chosen the poor (v. 5), that we have a God who cares for the poor, that if we begin to break out of the apathy of most churches and start doing something it will only be by the grace of God. With a God who loves the poor like He does, how can we His faithful people fail to enter the fray and prevail? And if it gets frustrating, remember He'll do the heavy lifting.
Sermon Text and Title
"Listen! What God Gives Is for Everyone"
Mark 7:24-37
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
The good news that God's unconditional love and care (Justification by Grace) is not bound by social class or our deafness (sin) is announced and celebrated.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* Several healings executed by Jesus are reported. The first is the healing of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. The event takes place in the region of Tyre (far northeast of Jerusalem on the Mediterranean Sea) (v. 24a).
* Jesus tries to remain incognito, but the Syrophoenician woman (a Gentile) begs to have an unclean spirit exorcised from her daughter (vv. 24b-26).
* Jesus puts her off as a Gentile, claiming that He has come to care for Jews (feeding the children, not the dogs) (v. 27). For Jews to call Gentiles "dogs" was not necessarily pejorative, as dogs were household pets in Jewish homes. The woman responds that even dogs eat children's crumbs (v. 28). This moves Jesus to heal the daughter from a distance, as the mother finds her healthy after Jesus dismissed her to go home (vv. 29-30).
* Jesus leaves Tyre, heading toward the Sea of Galilee. He heals a deaf man who had a speech impediment (through Jesus putting fingers in the man's ears and touching his tongue with Jesus' own saliva) (vv. 31-35). Only in Mark's version of the miracle are these details given.
* Jesus maintains the messianic secret (v. 36). But instead, what He has done is proclaimed (v. 37).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The Syrophoenician woman illustrates the life of freedom from the Law (Justification by Grace and Sanctification) in contrast to Jewish legalism, and the deaf man illustrates that the deafness of sin is not an impediment to God's love (Justification by Grace).
* John Calvin claims that the text entails a reminder that we obtain both speech and hearing from Christ; "For He pours His energy into our tongues and pierces our ears with His fingers" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/2, p. 272).
* Martin Luther contended that all who refuse to hear the word of God are like the deaf man in the lesson (vv. 31ff) (Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 397).
* Elaborating on this point in another sermon, the Reformer proclaimed:
The ears and tongues of Christians are thus different from the ears and tongues of the world. Or of unbelievers, caring naught for silver or gold, but only for that which is said of Christ and how to speak and teach of Jesus.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/2, p. 386)
* Concerning the people who brought the deaf man to Jesus, Luther writes:
This we may also learn here in these good people. They do not need this work themselves, nor do they look to themselves, but to the poor man, and think how they may help him; they seek no reward, but act independently and freely.
(Ibid., Vol. 2/2, pp. 372-373)
* The first Reformer offers an interesting reflection on the relation between the preaching and living in furthering the kingdom: "… a godly life serves to show the word so much the mightier in its power. But the word leads to Christ, though it be preached by a sinner" (Ibid., p. 379).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See this section for the First Lesson.
5. Gimmick
What's the matter? How come you never seem to understand what I say? (get louder) Don't you listen? Are you deaf? (take long pause)
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Jesus hung around people who couldn't hear. That is the background for the healing of the deaf man in today's gospel (vv. 31-35). He still hangs around deaf folks -- like us. Lots of times we don't hear God's word. In fact, when we consider the other miracle in our Gospel Lesson, maybe we'll begin to realize how deaf we've been. Consider the comments by Martin Luther in the third bullet point of Theological Insights.
* Our gospel tells another story, one that we often don't hear in our deafness: the story of the healing of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter. Tell the story. Jesus was trying to remain incognito. Then recount verses 24-26.
* Use the third bullet point of Exegesis. Be sure the congregation understands the significance of the woman being a Gentile and her status as a second-class member of the region in the eyes of Jews. (We should also keep in mind that as a woman she was a second-class denizen of society in the Roman empire.) Yet Jesus responded to her request!
* Jesus hangs out with the second-class members of society. Note how that is God's style. Highlight the presence of this theme in the other lessons (Proverbs 2:9; James 2:5-7) and the Psalm (146:6-9).
* The Syrophoenician woman was of a very different social class than Jesus and his Jewish followers. Although her class and ethnicity was not to be the focus of Jesus' ministry (which by God's plan was foremost to the Jews), He opened Himself to her request. Ask the congregation if we have been, would be so open to the arrival of someone from a different social background than us, someone off the streets. Suggest that based on the composition of the congregation at present, we have not been too open to everybody (not as good in practice as we say we are).
* There are certainly plenty of opportunities for this outreach. Point to examples of poverty in the local community. If useful, cite the data on poverty in America by following up the leads given in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the First Lesson.
* Our story makes other points that heighten our awareness that what God gives is for everyone, even the poor: Back to the second healing, the healing of the deaf man (vv. 31ff). He too, due to his disability and being poor was as much an outcast as the Syrophoenician woman. But not only did Jesus respond to this man. Martin Luther points out that the people who brought the deaf man to Jesus were caring for the poor. See the next-to-last bullet point in Theological Insights. Can we, the followers of Jesus, do any less? The gifts of God, what He gives, truly are for everyone!
* Jesus performed two healings in our Gospel Lesson for today. He continues healing to this very day. He takes deafmutes like us, churchgoers who have acted like the only ones who matter to Jesus are people like us, people who have been deaf to the word of this lesson, and made us people who can do things differently.
* Use the second and fourth bullet points of Theological Insights. We have been given new ears and tongues, different from those of other human beings, for our tongues (and our deeds) now bear in them the energies of God. As Martin Luther once put it, we are "the fingers of our Lord God" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 6, p. 400). Our tongues, our arms, legs, and hearts now by the grace of God have the ability to reach out to the poor, to those different from us, so that what God has given to everyone really receives a witness, so that everyone knows it.
7. Wrap-Up
Keep in mind, when Jesus healed the deaf man, today's Gospel Lesson also reports that He gave him the ability to speak (v. 35). Who says Jesus no longer performs miracles? Our deafness to the universal character of God's love, to our mandate to reach out to everyone and care for everyone -- that deafness has been healed. If not right now, someday God's going to have His way with us. We have the ability to help implement God's work in making what He has done available to all! The miracle of healing, healing to enable us to bring this word to everybody, to care for everybody, has happened to us! Can you believe it? Or are you deaf? It doesn't matter because God will open those ears someday.
