Proper 27, Proper 28
Preaching
PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
A Narrative Approach
We have chosen to discuss two texts together in one chapter. We set the context for the relationship of these texts to each other in Chapter 34. In Matthew 24:3 the disciples asked Jesus about the signs and the when of his coming at the end of the age. The material in 24:4-35 is primarily directed to the question of the sign. Jesus begins to answer the when question in 24:36. As we noted in the previous chapter, Jesus proceeds to tell five stories in answer to the question: when? We discussed Jesus' first story in Chapter 34. Jesus' second story-answer is located in 24:45-51, a text which is omitted from the Matthean lectionary. Jesus' third and fourth story-answers to the when question are the texts we are considering together in this chapter. Jesus' final story-answer is his parable of the judgment of the nations in Matthew 25:31-46. This text is appointed for Christ The King Sunday and will be discussed in Chapter 36.
Our proposal is that on one of the two Sundays for which these texts are appointed we tell three of Jesus' story-answers as our sermon. The three stories for our telling would be 24:45-51 and the stories under consideration in this chapter.
All three stories have similar casts of characters: a master or lord and one or more servants or attendants. And the plots are also similar: the lord assigns tasks (or tasks are clearly defined by tradition); the master or lord leaves for an indefinite period of time; the servants or attendants perform their tasks well or badly; suddenly the lord returns, and the servants are called to account; some are praised and others are blamed.1
When we look at these stories in the larger framework of Matthew's Gospel it is quite clear that they mean what they say. Here are stories told to answer a question. (Once again we catch Jesus thinking in stories.)
The lectionary, however, calls upon us to take up two of these three stories as isolated texts in their own right. We are called upon to mine them for deeper meanings for our sermon. We agree with Smith when he cautions us about the allegorizing that will inevitably result when we treat these stories/parables as texts to be examined in isolation from their context. We can certainly press the details of these stories and discover hidden meanings. We can let the stories stand for our doctrines of the end times. We can find an idea hidden here and there that might be worth a point in our sermon. Such approaches to these texts, however, might violate their basic nature. We end up forcing stories to yield ideas. It is hard to believe that this is what Jesus had in mind when he told these fairly simple and straightforward stories to answer the disciples' question: When?
It is interesting to note that in each of the three stories that we would recommend for telling, the subject is engaged in quite ordinary tasks of life. A servant is put in charge of his master's possessions. Ten maidens prepare for a wedding. Three servants are entrusted with talents which they are to steward until the journeying one returns. Jesus does not imagine our human waiting for the end of the age to be some kind of spiritual exercise quite separate from daily life. There is no advice about going into seclusion or retreat. Rather, we are called to fidelity in the vocations of life. It would be good to underscore this reality in the telling of these stories.
Homiletical Directions
Our homiletical directions have already been given. On one of these Sundays in November tell three of the stories that Jesus told (Matthew 24:45--25:30) in answer to the disciples' when question. The disciples' when question, of course, is our question as well. Our introduction should make that clear. Once the question is established as our when question--simply tell the stories. The stories say what Jesus means. We will not need any explanations. No points need to be made. Let the stories do their work! Trust them. Trust the Spirit to work with them. If this open-endedness is too risky for you or your people it might be well to close with a prayer that helps people gather up the stories for their own lives. A carefully chosen sermon hymn will also be important.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 292.
Our proposal is that on one of the two Sundays for which these texts are appointed we tell three of Jesus' story-answers as our sermon. The three stories for our telling would be 24:45-51 and the stories under consideration in this chapter.
All three stories have similar casts of characters: a master or lord and one or more servants or attendants. And the plots are also similar: the lord assigns tasks (or tasks are clearly defined by tradition); the master or lord leaves for an indefinite period of time; the servants or attendants perform their tasks well or badly; suddenly the lord returns, and the servants are called to account; some are praised and others are blamed.1
When we look at these stories in the larger framework of Matthew's Gospel it is quite clear that they mean what they say. Here are stories told to answer a question. (Once again we catch Jesus thinking in stories.)
The lectionary, however, calls upon us to take up two of these three stories as isolated texts in their own right. We are called upon to mine them for deeper meanings for our sermon. We agree with Smith when he cautions us about the allegorizing that will inevitably result when we treat these stories/parables as texts to be examined in isolation from their context. We can certainly press the details of these stories and discover hidden meanings. We can let the stories stand for our doctrines of the end times. We can find an idea hidden here and there that might be worth a point in our sermon. Such approaches to these texts, however, might violate their basic nature. We end up forcing stories to yield ideas. It is hard to believe that this is what Jesus had in mind when he told these fairly simple and straightforward stories to answer the disciples' question: When?
It is interesting to note that in each of the three stories that we would recommend for telling, the subject is engaged in quite ordinary tasks of life. A servant is put in charge of his master's possessions. Ten maidens prepare for a wedding. Three servants are entrusted with talents which they are to steward until the journeying one returns. Jesus does not imagine our human waiting for the end of the age to be some kind of spiritual exercise quite separate from daily life. There is no advice about going into seclusion or retreat. Rather, we are called to fidelity in the vocations of life. It would be good to underscore this reality in the telling of these stories.
Homiletical Directions
Our homiletical directions have already been given. On one of these Sundays in November tell three of the stories that Jesus told (Matthew 24:45--25:30) in answer to the disciples' when question. The disciples' when question, of course, is our question as well. Our introduction should make that clear. Once the question is established as our when question--simply tell the stories. The stories say what Jesus means. We will not need any explanations. No points need to be made. Let the stories do their work! Trust them. Trust the Spirit to work with them. If this open-endedness is too risky for you or your people it might be well to close with a prayer that helps people gather up the stories for their own lives. A carefully chosen sermon hymn will also be important.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 292.
