Proper 25
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
The church year theological clue
In older Lutheran Lectionaries, the readings for the last three Sundays, no matter how many Sundays there were in the Trinity/Pentecost season, all dealt with eschatological themes and the last things; they warned the church of the impending conclusion of Pentecost, as well as the Parousia. That sort of warning - that the end of the year and the end time are approaching - is not sounded in the new lectionaries (with the exception of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Lutheran Worship), but it probably is not needed. When the numbering of the Sundays after Pentecost reaches, "twenty-plus," and when All Saints' Sunday is behind, and when the Gregorian calendar is approaching the middle of the month, Christ the King Sunday and Advent, with their unmistakable announcements of the Parousia, are close at hand. An "eschatological shift" is actually made on the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, so this is the last Sunday of Pentecost wherein the eschatological framework of Pentecost may seem to be indistinct. The Gospel for the Day pictures Jesus as the "supreme law-giver," who reinterprets the Ten Commandments for all time and for all people. It has to do with the love of God and people as the key to the kingdom of God.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - This revision of a classic collect has been shifted from the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity/Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost to this Sunday, partly because it has a deep concern for the ultimate things of God ("increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity"), but also because it anticipates what the Gospel for the Day has to say about the love of God and human beings ("and that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command," that is, to love both God and people). The theological clue for this day's worship surfaces in this "theme prayer" before it emerges in today's Gospel; it recognizes that human beings cannot generate love, whether it be for God or people, and that only God can move human hearts to love for him, his will, and for love like his that embraces all other persons in the world.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 18:1-3, 46, 50 (R) - Here is a song of thanksgiving, possibly written by David after a military victory, which might be used on any, or many, worship occasions. Those excerpts from the psalm which are intended to be a responsory to the first reading don't accomplish their task very well, except for the first line of the first verse ("I love you, O Lord my strength"). That portion of the psalm - in the context of the entire psalm - attests to the fact that the writer loves the Lord God with all of his heart, soul, and mind in response for all that God has done for him. For him, the good, gracious, and powerful God has become a lovable God, and he can do nothing else but respond to God's loving actions with a declaration of his own love for God.
Psalm 1 (E, L) - A most fitting response to both Exodus 22:21-27 and Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18, emerges in this psalm, which talks about people who have lived righteously, obeying the dictates of God, because "their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night." Such people are richly blessed by God ("like trees planted by streams of water"); they will endure and receive God's full blessing in the judgment, but the wicked are doomed to perish at the end of time.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, in your loving wisdom you have set us beside the fountain of life, like a tree planted by running streams. Grant that the cross of your Son may become our tree of life in the paradise of your saints, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 128 (C) - The third verse of this six-verse psalm reveals why it was chosen as a responsory to the first reading about Ruth's impending involvement with Boaz, who ultimately married her: "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive shoots round about your table." The problem is that Ruth doesn't actually marry Boaz until chapter four of the story, and she doesn't bear a son, Obed, who was the grandfather of David, until the very end of the tale. But the psalm is a rather good description of Boaz, a good and righteous man who only wanted to do what was right for Ruth and her mother-in-law. He was a man who "feared the Lord" and was, in return, blessed by God.
The readings:
Exodus 22:20-26 (R); 22:21-27 (E)
The first reading was chosen to complement the Gospel for the Day with its emphasis upon whole-heartedly loving other persons as much as you love yourself. It spells out part of the code of laws and gives concrete examples of some of the ways that one should demonstrate love for God in one's relationships with other people. It could very well be read in the pulpit, after the Gospel for the Day, especially if one is preaching from this text.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 (L)
Again, this reading has been chosen because, in concrete ways, it calls for positive loving actions toward other people by those who claim to love God. It is the source of Jesus' sayings in the Gospel for the Day, defining one's responsibilities toward one's neighbors clearly and carefully. The last verse was actually quoted by Jesus in his response to the question of the lawyer: "but you shall love your neighbor as yourself." It emphasizes the importance which Jesus gave to the fact that people who claim that they love God must demonstrate that love by their attitude and actions toward the people they know and interact with every day of their lives.
Ruth 2:1-13 (C)
Once Naomi and Ruth were settled in Bethlehem, after their trip from Moab, Ruth asked Naomi's permission to go out and glean in the fields wherever an owner would be kind enough to allow her to follow the reapers. By chance, she made her way into the fields of Boaz, a relative of her late father-in-law, Elimelech, who asked his foreman about her identity and, when he had learned who she was, gave her a warm greeting, told her to stay in his fields, and warned his male servants not to harm her. In answer to her question about his goodness toward her, he told her that he knew what she had done for Naomi, and invited her to have "bread and wine" with him. Ruth had "found favor" with an important man and one who would make a considerate husband.
1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10 (R, L)
In the continuation of his address to the members of the church at Thessalonika, Paul reminds them that he and his companions tried to be an example of Christian living for them, commending them on their positive response at being "imitators of us and of the Lord." In their Christian faith and life style, they acquired the reputation of exemplary Christian living and influenced other people of Greece by renouncing the worship of idols and accepting the good news in Jesus Christ. They heard the gospel, learned of Jesus' death and resurrection, and lived in expectation of his imminent return. Paul couldn't ask any more than that of them.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (E, C)
Somehow, through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul and his companions got the courage to preach the good news to the Thessalonians, despite the terrible treatment they had received from the people at Philippi. He reminds them that they were not attempting to deceive anyone, nor were they trying to raise money for themselves. God had chosen them and had given them the mandate to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to please people, not to gain honor and glory for themselves, but to fulfill the will and intentions of God. Paul declares that they have come to know and love the Thessalonians so well that they not only wanted to turn over the gospel to them but the "whole lives," as well. His picture of the congregation at Thessalonika is positive and appealing in this part of his letter to them.
Matthew 22:34-40 (R); 22:34-40 (41-46) (L); 22:34-46 (E, C)
In this pericope, Jesus stops the questions and the attempts of the scribes and Pharisees to entrap him in his teachings once and for all. The lawyer who went to him, hoping to trip up Jesus with his question, "Teacher, which is the great commandment of the law?", received an answer provided by scripture itself in Jesus' "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." He also received a lesson that he hadn't asked for when Jesus continued, "And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." By itself, this two-fold answer, in which Jesus connected two parts of the law contained in the Bible, was enough to silence him, but when Jesus asked the question, "What do you think about Christ? Whose son is he?", and engaged them in the ensuing dialogue about Christ as David's son, he silenced them completely and once and for all when he asked, quoting scripture, "If David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" The only course of action open to them was to get rid of him, and they proceeded to do just that.
Sermon suggestions:
Matthew 22:34-40 (R, L) "The Two Dimensions of the Law."
Jesus really believed that the two dimensions of the law - loving God with all of one's heart, soul, and mind, and loving one's neighbor as oneself - really belong together and are inseparable. He proved that he loved God by becoming "obedient unto death" and entrusting his life and his mission to the Lord at the cross and the tomb. Most of the martyrs have similarly died for the faith, proving therein their love for God; they comprise part of the army - one great company - in the noble army of martyrs, beginning with Stephen, most of the Apostles, and a growing legion of people who loved the Lord enough that they were ready to lay down their lives in the name of the Son of God. That kind of love may be enough, in the case of the martyrs and confessors of the church, but it may not suffice for the rest of us who have never been threatened with torture or death for Jesus' sake.
The second dimension of the law carries equal force for most of the children of God. If we say we love God, we must demonstrate that love in our relationships with other people, our neighbors - perhaps even laying down our lives on their behalf. Jesus' first word on the cross was, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." He died, demonstrating to the world not only his love for God, but his love for other people. Every October 17, I remember the Beatification of Father Maximilian Kolbe in St. Peter's Basilica - my wife and I were there. He was one of the martyrs of the Auschwitz, who loved other people so much that he took the place of a condemned man in the concentration camp, a man who had a wife and two sons in the camp. When Father Kolbe had been the leader of a one-thousand person Franciscan religious community outside of Warsaw, the Nazis refrained from arresting him, despite his open opposition to them, for a considerable period of time; they obviously didn't want him to become a martyr, a symbol of innocent suffering for the Poles. But after they finally arrested him and put him in Auschwitz, they insulted and mistreated him, and he might easily have become a martyr for the faith. An escape from Auschwitz by one man changed all of that; ten men were chosen by the officer in charge and doomed to die for the escape of one man. When one of the ten cried out, "I have a wife and children," Father Kolbe immediately stepped forward and asked to take the man's place in the infamous "Hunger Bunker" of Auschwitz; he offered himself as one who was willing to die a martyr's death for another human being. He loved his neighbor more than he loved his own life, because he loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, and mind.
1. Love for God and people is the spontaneous response of Christians to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The cross of Christ frees persons from the threat of the law, and it also makes new creatures out of people who are able to love God and each other.
2. Godly love is more than mere emotion. It is emotion that is informed by knowledge of God's good and gracious actions toward his creatures in the Garden of Eden, in the beginnings of Israel, from Egypt to Calgary to wherever we are in his world. That is the kind of love that will really be two-dimensional - toward God and toward people. That is the love that puts self-love in proper perspective.
3. Christian love is expressed in positive actions toward God and people. Those who profess to love God worship him and serve him. Those who really love God love his people, too, and express their love for others by their words and deeds. Love goes into action, or it is incomplete and/or defective. Christian love is active, or it is not genuine love, at all. It is giving oneself to others - in the name of Jesus Christ.
4. God, in Jesus and through Word and Spirit, enables us to love as we should. Without God's help and initiative, we could not hope to have a well-rounded and two-dimensional love that would result in loving actions toward God and his people; we might still love ourselves more than we love God and other people. We know that "we love, because he first loved us," and that is what, finally, makes true love possible.
Exodus 22:20-26 (R); 22:21-27 (E) - "The Other Side of the Law."
1. God has decreed that his people must love one another, as well as love him.
2. Care of strangers, widows, orphans, and the poor is a demonstration of God-like love. It reminded the Israelites - and us, as well - that they were "strangers" in a foreign land, "widowed and orphaned," and really poor, at one time.
3. Godly people will love and care for others the way that God has cared for them - in the Exodus and the Promised Land, and in the cross of Jesus Christ.
4. Loving care and actions offer proof that our professions of love toward God are genuine.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 (L) - "What It Means to be Holy."
1. Holiness begins with God, who alone is holy. His actions - love, mercy, justice - express his holiness to people.
2. Holiness involves the people of God. Their lives are to reflect God's holiness, which they cannot generate on their own or by themselves.
3. Holiness expresses the goodness of God in human relationships. It takes the concrete form of concern, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and generosity toward people in need or in deep trouble.
4. Holiness is God's love in action in his people's lives. Made holy - whole - by the Lord their God, the children of God live in obedience, faith, hope, and love.
Ruth 2:1-13 - "A Twist to the Tale."
1. The plot thickens. Once Naomi and Ruth are settled back in Bethlehem, Ruth secures permission of Naomi to go out into the fields "to find favor" with a man, who will be kind enough to allow her to follow his reapers to get food for Naomi and herself.
2. A stroke of luck. She chooses a field in which to glean, that, it turns out, belongs to Boaz, a relative of her late father-in-law, Elimelech. This seems to have been, according to the story, a lucky choice.
3. Protection and food. Ruth found favor, indeed, with Boaz, who gave her protection in the fields and guaranteed - through orders to his foreman - that her work would be worthwhile, her gleaning sufficient for her and Naomi's needs.
4. Bright prospects. That's what really came out of the incident; she found sufficient favor in the eyes of Boaz that, before long, she became his wife.
1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10 (R, L) - "The Power in Example."
1. Paul and his companions offered the Thessalonians an example of Christian faith and life.
2. Moved by the Word and the Holy Spirit, the Thessalonians became imitators of that Christian life-style.
3. Their new life-style - a combination of faith, hope, and loving action - deeply moved other Greeks and became an example of the new life in Christ for them.
4. The story went out to all of their world. This shows us how they, and we, in one way, participate in the work of the gospel in all the world.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (E, C) - "An Explanation for an Effective Mission."
1. Jesus decreed that the good news should go out to all of the world. That is behind all of Paul's evangelistic and missionary activity.
2. God himself chose and called Paul and his companions to preach the Word to all the world. He sent them to the Thessalonians with the good news.
3. Christian preaching, whether in Thessalonika or anywhere in our world, is done to please God, not people. That's why preachers, missionaries, and other witnesses for Christ may dare to face resistance and outright opposition to the good news.
4. Preaching, witnessing, and ministry bring their own reward to God's people. God's approval is more important than any amount of money that full-time evangelists and missionaries might be paid. That's how it is and always will be in service of God and the gospel.
In older Lutheran Lectionaries, the readings for the last three Sundays, no matter how many Sundays there were in the Trinity/Pentecost season, all dealt with eschatological themes and the last things; they warned the church of the impending conclusion of Pentecost, as well as the Parousia. That sort of warning - that the end of the year and the end time are approaching - is not sounded in the new lectionaries (with the exception of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's Lutheran Worship), but it probably is not needed. When the numbering of the Sundays after Pentecost reaches, "twenty-plus," and when All Saints' Sunday is behind, and when the Gregorian calendar is approaching the middle of the month, Christ the King Sunday and Advent, with their unmistakable announcements of the Parousia, are close at hand. An "eschatological shift" is actually made on the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, so this is the last Sunday of Pentecost wherein the eschatological framework of Pentecost may seem to be indistinct. The Gospel for the Day pictures Jesus as the "supreme law-giver," who reinterprets the Ten Commandments for all time and for all people. It has to do with the love of God and people as the key to the kingdom of God.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW) - This revision of a classic collect has been shifted from the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity/Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost to this Sunday, partly because it has a deep concern for the ultimate things of God ("increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity"), but also because it anticipates what the Gospel for the Day has to say about the love of God and human beings ("and that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command," that is, to love both God and people). The theological clue for this day's worship surfaces in this "theme prayer" before it emerges in today's Gospel; it recognizes that human beings cannot generate love, whether it be for God or people, and that only God can move human hearts to love for him, his will, and for love like his that embraces all other persons in the world.
The Psalm of the Day - Psalm 18:1-3, 46, 50 (R) - Here is a song of thanksgiving, possibly written by David after a military victory, which might be used on any, or many, worship occasions. Those excerpts from the psalm which are intended to be a responsory to the first reading don't accomplish their task very well, except for the first line of the first verse ("I love you, O Lord my strength"). That portion of the psalm - in the context of the entire psalm - attests to the fact that the writer loves the Lord God with all of his heart, soul, and mind in response for all that God has done for him. For him, the good, gracious, and powerful God has become a lovable God, and he can do nothing else but respond to God's loving actions with a declaration of his own love for God.
Psalm 1 (E, L) - A most fitting response to both Exodus 22:21-27 and Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18, emerges in this psalm, which talks about people who have lived righteously, obeying the dictates of God, because "their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night." Such people are richly blessed by God ("like trees planted by streams of water"); they will endure and receive God's full blessing in the judgment, but the wicked are doomed to perish at the end of time.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord God, in your loving wisdom you have set us beside the fountain of life, like a tree planted by running streams. Grant that the cross of your Son may become our tree of life in the paradise of your saints, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 128 (C) - The third verse of this six-verse psalm reveals why it was chosen as a responsory to the first reading about Ruth's impending involvement with Boaz, who ultimately married her: "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive shoots round about your table." The problem is that Ruth doesn't actually marry Boaz until chapter four of the story, and she doesn't bear a son, Obed, who was the grandfather of David, until the very end of the tale. But the psalm is a rather good description of Boaz, a good and righteous man who only wanted to do what was right for Ruth and her mother-in-law. He was a man who "feared the Lord" and was, in return, blessed by God.
The readings:
Exodus 22:20-26 (R); 22:21-27 (E)
The first reading was chosen to complement the Gospel for the Day with its emphasis upon whole-heartedly loving other persons as much as you love yourself. It spells out part of the code of laws and gives concrete examples of some of the ways that one should demonstrate love for God in one's relationships with other people. It could very well be read in the pulpit, after the Gospel for the Day, especially if one is preaching from this text.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 (L)
Again, this reading has been chosen because, in concrete ways, it calls for positive loving actions toward other people by those who claim to love God. It is the source of Jesus' sayings in the Gospel for the Day, defining one's responsibilities toward one's neighbors clearly and carefully. The last verse was actually quoted by Jesus in his response to the question of the lawyer: "but you shall love your neighbor as yourself." It emphasizes the importance which Jesus gave to the fact that people who claim that they love God must demonstrate that love by their attitude and actions toward the people they know and interact with every day of their lives.
Ruth 2:1-13 (C)
Once Naomi and Ruth were settled in Bethlehem, after their trip from Moab, Ruth asked Naomi's permission to go out and glean in the fields wherever an owner would be kind enough to allow her to follow the reapers. By chance, she made her way into the fields of Boaz, a relative of her late father-in-law, Elimelech, who asked his foreman about her identity and, when he had learned who she was, gave her a warm greeting, told her to stay in his fields, and warned his male servants not to harm her. In answer to her question about his goodness toward her, he told her that he knew what she had done for Naomi, and invited her to have "bread and wine" with him. Ruth had "found favor" with an important man and one who would make a considerate husband.
1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10 (R, L)
In the continuation of his address to the members of the church at Thessalonika, Paul reminds them that he and his companions tried to be an example of Christian living for them, commending them on their positive response at being "imitators of us and of the Lord." In their Christian faith and life style, they acquired the reputation of exemplary Christian living and influenced other people of Greece by renouncing the worship of idols and accepting the good news in Jesus Christ. They heard the gospel, learned of Jesus' death and resurrection, and lived in expectation of his imminent return. Paul couldn't ask any more than that of them.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (E, C)
Somehow, through the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul and his companions got the courage to preach the good news to the Thessalonians, despite the terrible treatment they had received from the people at Philippi. He reminds them that they were not attempting to deceive anyone, nor were they trying to raise money for themselves. God had chosen them and had given them the mandate to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to please people, not to gain honor and glory for themselves, but to fulfill the will and intentions of God. Paul declares that they have come to know and love the Thessalonians so well that they not only wanted to turn over the gospel to them but the "whole lives," as well. His picture of the congregation at Thessalonika is positive and appealing in this part of his letter to them.
Matthew 22:34-40 (R); 22:34-40 (41-46) (L); 22:34-46 (E, C)
In this pericope, Jesus stops the questions and the attempts of the scribes and Pharisees to entrap him in his teachings once and for all. The lawyer who went to him, hoping to trip up Jesus with his question, "Teacher, which is the great commandment of the law?", received an answer provided by scripture itself in Jesus' "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." He also received a lesson that he hadn't asked for when Jesus continued, "And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." By itself, this two-fold answer, in which Jesus connected two parts of the law contained in the Bible, was enough to silence him, but when Jesus asked the question, "What do you think about Christ? Whose son is he?", and engaged them in the ensuing dialogue about Christ as David's son, he silenced them completely and once and for all when he asked, quoting scripture, "If David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" The only course of action open to them was to get rid of him, and they proceeded to do just that.
Sermon suggestions:
Matthew 22:34-40 (R, L) "The Two Dimensions of the Law."
Jesus really believed that the two dimensions of the law - loving God with all of one's heart, soul, and mind, and loving one's neighbor as oneself - really belong together and are inseparable. He proved that he loved God by becoming "obedient unto death" and entrusting his life and his mission to the Lord at the cross and the tomb. Most of the martyrs have similarly died for the faith, proving therein their love for God; they comprise part of the army - one great company - in the noble army of martyrs, beginning with Stephen, most of the Apostles, and a growing legion of people who loved the Lord enough that they were ready to lay down their lives in the name of the Son of God. That kind of love may be enough, in the case of the martyrs and confessors of the church, but it may not suffice for the rest of us who have never been threatened with torture or death for Jesus' sake.
The second dimension of the law carries equal force for most of the children of God. If we say we love God, we must demonstrate that love in our relationships with other people, our neighbors - perhaps even laying down our lives on their behalf. Jesus' first word on the cross was, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." He died, demonstrating to the world not only his love for God, but his love for other people. Every October 17, I remember the Beatification of Father Maximilian Kolbe in St. Peter's Basilica - my wife and I were there. He was one of the martyrs of the Auschwitz, who loved other people so much that he took the place of a condemned man in the concentration camp, a man who had a wife and two sons in the camp. When Father Kolbe had been the leader of a one-thousand person Franciscan religious community outside of Warsaw, the Nazis refrained from arresting him, despite his open opposition to them, for a considerable period of time; they obviously didn't want him to become a martyr, a symbol of innocent suffering for the Poles. But after they finally arrested him and put him in Auschwitz, they insulted and mistreated him, and he might easily have become a martyr for the faith. An escape from Auschwitz by one man changed all of that; ten men were chosen by the officer in charge and doomed to die for the escape of one man. When one of the ten cried out, "I have a wife and children," Father Kolbe immediately stepped forward and asked to take the man's place in the infamous "Hunger Bunker" of Auschwitz; he offered himself as one who was willing to die a martyr's death for another human being. He loved his neighbor more than he loved his own life, because he loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, and mind.
1. Love for God and people is the spontaneous response of Christians to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The cross of Christ frees persons from the threat of the law, and it also makes new creatures out of people who are able to love God and each other.
2. Godly love is more than mere emotion. It is emotion that is informed by knowledge of God's good and gracious actions toward his creatures in the Garden of Eden, in the beginnings of Israel, from Egypt to Calgary to wherever we are in his world. That is the kind of love that will really be two-dimensional - toward God and toward people. That is the love that puts self-love in proper perspective.
3. Christian love is expressed in positive actions toward God and people. Those who profess to love God worship him and serve him. Those who really love God love his people, too, and express their love for others by their words and deeds. Love goes into action, or it is incomplete and/or defective. Christian love is active, or it is not genuine love, at all. It is giving oneself to others - in the name of Jesus Christ.
4. God, in Jesus and through Word and Spirit, enables us to love as we should. Without God's help and initiative, we could not hope to have a well-rounded and two-dimensional love that would result in loving actions toward God and his people; we might still love ourselves more than we love God and other people. We know that "we love, because he first loved us," and that is what, finally, makes true love possible.
Exodus 22:20-26 (R); 22:21-27 (E) - "The Other Side of the Law."
1. God has decreed that his people must love one another, as well as love him.
2. Care of strangers, widows, orphans, and the poor is a demonstration of God-like love. It reminded the Israelites - and us, as well - that they were "strangers" in a foreign land, "widowed and orphaned," and really poor, at one time.
3. Godly people will love and care for others the way that God has cared for them - in the Exodus and the Promised Land, and in the cross of Jesus Christ.
4. Loving care and actions offer proof that our professions of love toward God are genuine.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 (L) - "What It Means to be Holy."
1. Holiness begins with God, who alone is holy. His actions - love, mercy, justice - express his holiness to people.
2. Holiness involves the people of God. Their lives are to reflect God's holiness, which they cannot generate on their own or by themselves.
3. Holiness expresses the goodness of God in human relationships. It takes the concrete form of concern, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and generosity toward people in need or in deep trouble.
4. Holiness is God's love in action in his people's lives. Made holy - whole - by the Lord their God, the children of God live in obedience, faith, hope, and love.
Ruth 2:1-13 - "A Twist to the Tale."
1. The plot thickens. Once Naomi and Ruth are settled back in Bethlehem, Ruth secures permission of Naomi to go out into the fields "to find favor" with a man, who will be kind enough to allow her to follow his reapers to get food for Naomi and herself.
2. A stroke of luck. She chooses a field in which to glean, that, it turns out, belongs to Boaz, a relative of her late father-in-law, Elimelech. This seems to have been, according to the story, a lucky choice.
3. Protection and food. Ruth found favor, indeed, with Boaz, who gave her protection in the fields and guaranteed - through orders to his foreman - that her work would be worthwhile, her gleaning sufficient for her and Naomi's needs.
4. Bright prospects. That's what really came out of the incident; she found sufficient favor in the eyes of Boaz that, before long, she became his wife.
1 Thessalonians 1:5b-10 (R, L) - "The Power in Example."
1. Paul and his companions offered the Thessalonians an example of Christian faith and life.
2. Moved by the Word and the Holy Spirit, the Thessalonians became imitators of that Christian life-style.
3. Their new life-style - a combination of faith, hope, and loving action - deeply moved other Greeks and became an example of the new life in Christ for them.
4. The story went out to all of their world. This shows us how they, and we, in one way, participate in the work of the gospel in all the world.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (E, C) - "An Explanation for an Effective Mission."
1. Jesus decreed that the good news should go out to all of the world. That is behind all of Paul's evangelistic and missionary activity.
2. God himself chose and called Paul and his companions to preach the Word to all the world. He sent them to the Thessalonians with the good news.
3. Christian preaching, whether in Thessalonika or anywhere in our world, is done to please God, not people. That's why preachers, missionaries, and other witnesses for Christ may dare to face resistance and outright opposition to the good news.
4. Preaching, witnessing, and ministry bring their own reward to God's people. God's approval is more important than any amount of money that full-time evangelists and missionaries might be paid. That's how it is and always will be in service of God and the gospel.
