Proper 4
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle C
The Church Year Theological Clue
The Roman Catholic Church alone has a specific theological clue for this Sunday in the feast of Corpus Christi, which always occurs the Sunday after Trinity Sunday - no exceptions. The church year framework really does supply a couple of clues for observing this Sunday in the other churches, however, one implicit and the other more or less explicit. Every Sunday is a "little Easter," and this is true for the entire year including the Sundays of Pentecost. It would be proper each Sunday of this cycle/season for the people to engage in dialogue with the liturgical leader or lector, "Christ is risen!" and "He is risen indeed!" Each of the Sundays of Pentecost has the express theological content of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; they are Sundays that have built into them, as has every Sunday of the year - kerygmatic content in general, including the incarnation, and anastasial theology, in particular, reflecting the resurrection of the Lord.
More explicit, of course, is the stamp of Pentecost, season of the Spirit, cycle of the church, a time of growth and learning, a time to engage in the work of the church. Pentecost may not strike all of the kerygmatic chords that the first half of the church year sounds, but it clearly announces the fact that the Holy Spirit is alive and well and at work in the hearts of people who are living in this world. Pentecost is thoroughly liturgical - leitourgia - calling for and encouraging the work of the people of God when they are gathered together or engaged in a mini-diaspora during the week. The thrust of this theology is on the grace of God in the church and the lives of the people of God, and on their obedient response to the commands of the Christ to serve and witness, as well as worship, in his name.
The Prayer Of The Day
The prayer in The Lutheran Book Of Worship picks up the obedience theme in response to the redeeming works that God has done in Jesus Christ: "Lord God of all nations, you have revealed your will to your people and promised your help to us all. Help us to hear and to do what you command, that the darkness may be overcome by the power of your light; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Indirectly and implicitly, this collection calls upon God to work in us through the Word and the Spirit that we might respond thankfully and obediently to God's love in Jesus Christ."
The Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 96:1-9 (E) - This psalm finds multiple use in the several lectionaries. It was last used by The Book Of Common Prayer on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C. Comments appear above.
Psalm 117 (L) - Here is a psalm that will be used twice in the Pentecost season/cycle; the second occasion is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. It is only two verses in length, but those two verses say it all! God is good and loving and kind and his mercy and faithfulness will endure forever. He is worthy to be praised by all people: "Praise the Lord, all you nations; laud him, all you peoples. For his loving kindness toward us is great, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Hallelujah!"
Psalm prayer (LBW) - The address to God in this psalm is so similar to the Prayer of the Day that they function as compatible collects in the liturgy. This psalm-prayer might well be read as a second Prayer of the (this) Day, or on Pentecost. The author must have had Pentecost in mind when it was prepared: "Lord God, you have revealed your kindness to all people. Gather the nations into your Church, that in all the various tongues of this world one hymn of praise may be offered to you; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Readings
1 Kings 9:22-23, 41-43 (C); 8:22-23, 27-30, 41-43 (E); 8:41-43 (L) - (Note: In 1992, The
Book Of Common Prayer would use the readings for Proper 7 on the Second Sunday after Pentecost. The propers for Proper 7 are included with the liturgical materials for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost.)
Verses 41 and 43 are "consensus" verses, which the several lectionaries agree upon; the other verses vary from one lectionary to another. They are also the reason that this reading was chosen for this day; they speak of hospitality for the stranger, who is to be welcomed into the house of the Lord as an evangelistic procedure. It "connects" with the Gospel for the Day, which tells the story of the Roman centurion, who helped to build the synagogue in Capernaum and whose servant was "sick unto death." Foreigners were to be welcomed to the temple, which Solomon had just completed and dedicated, by the Jews who worship there so that all people might know the name of the Lord and believe in him; Solomon asked God to respond positively to their prayers. Jesus fulfilled that precept of the temple when he received the emissaries of the centurion, who told about the dying slave and asked for healing; Jesus healed the man. And, the story declares, the centurion was a man of great faith, who even believed in Jesus Christ and the power of God that operated through him. The other verses of the text, which are Solomon's prayer to God on completion of the temple, lead to and support this part of the prayer.
Galatians 1:1-10 (E, L, C) - (Note: Readings from the letter to the Galatians comprise the second reading for the next six weeks. They offer a short course on this Pauline letter).
There was trouble in the congregation at Galatia, and Paul had to write a letter and send it to them to straighten out the situation. Some of the Christians were embracing a false gospel, "another" gospel, it is called, a kind of alternate view of Christianity. The true gospel relates how Jesus Christ "gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age." The true, and only, gospel, Paul affirms over and over again in his writings, embraces the story of Jesus' death and resurrection, as well as the promise of his coming again. Paul expects the risen and ascended Lord to return while he and the others are still alive. That "good news" is the gospel of Christ, which he commends to the Galatians in the hope that it will put an end to the controversy that raged there.
Luke 7:1-10 (E, L, C) - The Roman Catholic ORDO makes no use of this pericope during the year of St. Luke, but the other three lectionaries concur on its placement on the Second Sunday after Pentecost. The setting is the conclusion of Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" and his entrance into Capernaum. There he is met by some pious Jews, who have come on behalf of a Roman centurion, the benefactor of their local synagogue; his servant is desperately ill, apparently in danger of dying. They tell Jesus, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue." Jesus went with them and as they approached the house the centurion sent friends with a message that he is "unworthy to have you come under my roof.... But say the word, and let my servant be healed." Jesus was impressed: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." The messengers returned to the centurion's house and discovered that the servant was healed. Jesus and the centurion apparently never met, but this man could not possibly have been the centurion who was in charge of Jesus' execution on the cross.
Sermon Suggestions, Synopses, Sketches, Stories
Luke 7:1-10 (E, L, C) - "Only The Unworthy Can Be Saved."
1. This is the story of a Roman centurion, who either loved his servant/slave or had enough money invested in the man that he didn't want to lose him.
2. That he was a good man is self-evident; a delegation of Jews from Capernaum went to Jesus to plead with him to heal the centurion's servant. He loved their nation, they told him, and he even built their synagogue.
3. Jesus must have concluded that the man loved his servant rather than feared that he would lose money, if the man died.
4. Jesus went with the Jews, but another delegation stopped him before he reached the centurion's home, telling him that the centurion said, "I am not worthy to have you come under my roof."
5. Jesus was amazed at the man, at his humility, apparent repentance, and faith and he healed the servant, without ever seeing the man, apparently, and as he was requested to do.
6. Jesus made a shocking statement: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."
On New Year's Eve, a few years ago, a story appeared in a newspaper (Jim Klobuchar was the writer) about a 17-year-old boy who was dying. He has been a "vegetable" since he was four years of age. He lives in a care home and has to have everything done for him. In contrast to the hair care commercial - "I'm worth it" - he doesn't seem to be worth very much. Klobuchar says, "His mother finds herself groping for some message in his life, a quality to make him important or memorable to at least one person other than those who love him, in a world that does not seem to need him." He asks, "What would make Eric important?" And then, a few paragraphs later, he answers his own question: "But I think there is something ... memorable about Eric. He is someone who is treasured for who and what he is, not for what he might have been. Helpless now and unaware, he has aroused in those who comfort him the simplest and purest kind of love, without limit and without condition. In this way he has strengthened the humanity of those around him, and by doing that, made it a better world." Kiobuchar concludes, "I don't know anything a human being can do that is more important."
Could it be that there was something of that type of relationship between the slave and the centurion? Could it be that as he cared for the dying man, he recognized his own helplessness and unworthiness, and that his love and his knowledge of his very unworthiness made him worthy of Jesus' response and blessing?
This much we know: Jesus came to save all people, but he can only save those who know they are unworthy of his love and grace and believe that he is the Lord.
1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43 (C); 8:22-23, 27-30, 41-43 (E); 8:41-43 (L) - "A House Of Prayer For All People."
1. That's what Solomon and, more importantly, God wanted the temple in Jerusalem to be.
2. And so, in his dedicatory prayer, Solomon asked God to receive and bless all the foreigners who came to pray in the temple.
3. He opened the way for Jesus to receive and bless both the centurion and his servant (in the Gospel for the Day) and all people.
4. And he established an important principle of evangelism for the church: That is, to receive any strangers with genuine hospitality and invite them to pray with your congregation. They may very well become believers.
The first time I visited St. John's Abbey, which is located on the campus of St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, our guide, Father Colman Barry, took us through the Benedictine monastery (which is rarely done any more), including the quarters of the abbot. He said, something like this: "When the abbot has a visitor, he invites him into this little chapel for prayer. Then he takes the person into his private dining room for lunch or dinner. And after that they retire to his office/study to discuss the business that prompted the visit." Hospitality is the keynote of that community, and they might have learned it from Solomon, as well as from St. Benedict (it is a Benedictine abbey), or even from Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10 (E, L, C) - "Trouble City."
1. Galatia, from a Christian perspective, was "Trouble City." The congregation was being divided by a "false gospel" that was being preached there and which some people believed.
2. Paul had to straighten them out and he did it by reminding them that there is only one gospel, not two, and the gospel that had been preached to them originally was authentic. He declared that anyone preaching a false gospel should be accursed - even an angel from heaven.
3. And so, he reminded them that the good news in Jesus is that he died to deliver them - us - from sin and death and that this was the will of God for Jesus and humanity. Jesus came to save people by dying on the cross and by opening the "gate of heaven" through that death and his subsequent resurrection.
4. The true servant/preacher seeks only to please God and declare the word that brings faith and life, refusing to water down or alter the gospel so that it pleases people or is made to accommodate this age.
The Roman Catholic Church alone has a specific theological clue for this Sunday in the feast of Corpus Christi, which always occurs the Sunday after Trinity Sunday - no exceptions. The church year framework really does supply a couple of clues for observing this Sunday in the other churches, however, one implicit and the other more or less explicit. Every Sunday is a "little Easter," and this is true for the entire year including the Sundays of Pentecost. It would be proper each Sunday of this cycle/season for the people to engage in dialogue with the liturgical leader or lector, "Christ is risen!" and "He is risen indeed!" Each of the Sundays of Pentecost has the express theological content of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; they are Sundays that have built into them, as has every Sunday of the year - kerygmatic content in general, including the incarnation, and anastasial theology, in particular, reflecting the resurrection of the Lord.
More explicit, of course, is the stamp of Pentecost, season of the Spirit, cycle of the church, a time of growth and learning, a time to engage in the work of the church. Pentecost may not strike all of the kerygmatic chords that the first half of the church year sounds, but it clearly announces the fact that the Holy Spirit is alive and well and at work in the hearts of people who are living in this world. Pentecost is thoroughly liturgical - leitourgia - calling for and encouraging the work of the people of God when they are gathered together or engaged in a mini-diaspora during the week. The thrust of this theology is on the grace of God in the church and the lives of the people of God, and on their obedient response to the commands of the Christ to serve and witness, as well as worship, in his name.
The Prayer Of The Day
The prayer in The Lutheran Book Of Worship picks up the obedience theme in response to the redeeming works that God has done in Jesus Christ: "Lord God of all nations, you have revealed your will to your people and promised your help to us all. Help us to hear and to do what you command, that the darkness may be overcome by the power of your light; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Indirectly and implicitly, this collection calls upon God to work in us through the Word and the Spirit that we might respond thankfully and obediently to God's love in Jesus Christ."
The Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 96:1-9 (E) - This psalm finds multiple use in the several lectionaries. It was last used by The Book Of Common Prayer on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C. Comments appear above.
Psalm 117 (L) - Here is a psalm that will be used twice in the Pentecost season/cycle; the second occasion is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. It is only two verses in length, but those two verses say it all! God is good and loving and kind and his mercy and faithfulness will endure forever. He is worthy to be praised by all people: "Praise the Lord, all you nations; laud him, all you peoples. For his loving kindness toward us is great, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Hallelujah!"
Psalm prayer (LBW) - The address to God in this psalm is so similar to the Prayer of the Day that they function as compatible collects in the liturgy. This psalm-prayer might well be read as a second Prayer of the (this) Day, or on Pentecost. The author must have had Pentecost in mind when it was prepared: "Lord God, you have revealed your kindness to all people. Gather the nations into your Church, that in all the various tongues of this world one hymn of praise may be offered to you; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Readings
1 Kings 9:22-23, 41-43 (C); 8:22-23, 27-30, 41-43 (E); 8:41-43 (L) - (Note: In 1992, The
Book Of Common Prayer would use the readings for Proper 7 on the Second Sunday after Pentecost. The propers for Proper 7 are included with the liturgical materials for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost.)
Verses 41 and 43 are "consensus" verses, which the several lectionaries agree upon; the other verses vary from one lectionary to another. They are also the reason that this reading was chosen for this day; they speak of hospitality for the stranger, who is to be welcomed into the house of the Lord as an evangelistic procedure. It "connects" with the Gospel for the Day, which tells the story of the Roman centurion, who helped to build the synagogue in Capernaum and whose servant was "sick unto death." Foreigners were to be welcomed to the temple, which Solomon had just completed and dedicated, by the Jews who worship there so that all people might know the name of the Lord and believe in him; Solomon asked God to respond positively to their prayers. Jesus fulfilled that precept of the temple when he received the emissaries of the centurion, who told about the dying slave and asked for healing; Jesus healed the man. And, the story declares, the centurion was a man of great faith, who even believed in Jesus Christ and the power of God that operated through him. The other verses of the text, which are Solomon's prayer to God on completion of the temple, lead to and support this part of the prayer.
Galatians 1:1-10 (E, L, C) - (Note: Readings from the letter to the Galatians comprise the second reading for the next six weeks. They offer a short course on this Pauline letter).
There was trouble in the congregation at Galatia, and Paul had to write a letter and send it to them to straighten out the situation. Some of the Christians were embracing a false gospel, "another" gospel, it is called, a kind of alternate view of Christianity. The true gospel relates how Jesus Christ "gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age." The true, and only, gospel, Paul affirms over and over again in his writings, embraces the story of Jesus' death and resurrection, as well as the promise of his coming again. Paul expects the risen and ascended Lord to return while he and the others are still alive. That "good news" is the gospel of Christ, which he commends to the Galatians in the hope that it will put an end to the controversy that raged there.
Luke 7:1-10 (E, L, C) - The Roman Catholic ORDO makes no use of this pericope during the year of St. Luke, but the other three lectionaries concur on its placement on the Second Sunday after Pentecost. The setting is the conclusion of Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" and his entrance into Capernaum. There he is met by some pious Jews, who have come on behalf of a Roman centurion, the benefactor of their local synagogue; his servant is desperately ill, apparently in danger of dying. They tell Jesus, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue." Jesus went with them and as they approached the house the centurion sent friends with a message that he is "unworthy to have you come under my roof.... But say the word, and let my servant be healed." Jesus was impressed: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." The messengers returned to the centurion's house and discovered that the servant was healed. Jesus and the centurion apparently never met, but this man could not possibly have been the centurion who was in charge of Jesus' execution on the cross.
Sermon Suggestions, Synopses, Sketches, Stories
Luke 7:1-10 (E, L, C) - "Only The Unworthy Can Be Saved."
1. This is the story of a Roman centurion, who either loved his servant/slave or had enough money invested in the man that he didn't want to lose him.
2. That he was a good man is self-evident; a delegation of Jews from Capernaum went to Jesus to plead with him to heal the centurion's servant. He loved their nation, they told him, and he even built their synagogue.
3. Jesus must have concluded that the man loved his servant rather than feared that he would lose money, if the man died.
4. Jesus went with the Jews, but another delegation stopped him before he reached the centurion's home, telling him that the centurion said, "I am not worthy to have you come under my roof."
5. Jesus was amazed at the man, at his humility, apparent repentance, and faith and he healed the servant, without ever seeing the man, apparently, and as he was requested to do.
6. Jesus made a shocking statement: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."
On New Year's Eve, a few years ago, a story appeared in a newspaper (Jim Klobuchar was the writer) about a 17-year-old boy who was dying. He has been a "vegetable" since he was four years of age. He lives in a care home and has to have everything done for him. In contrast to the hair care commercial - "I'm worth it" - he doesn't seem to be worth very much. Klobuchar says, "His mother finds herself groping for some message in his life, a quality to make him important or memorable to at least one person other than those who love him, in a world that does not seem to need him." He asks, "What would make Eric important?" And then, a few paragraphs later, he answers his own question: "But I think there is something ... memorable about Eric. He is someone who is treasured for who and what he is, not for what he might have been. Helpless now and unaware, he has aroused in those who comfort him the simplest and purest kind of love, without limit and without condition. In this way he has strengthened the humanity of those around him, and by doing that, made it a better world." Kiobuchar concludes, "I don't know anything a human being can do that is more important."
Could it be that there was something of that type of relationship between the slave and the centurion? Could it be that as he cared for the dying man, he recognized his own helplessness and unworthiness, and that his love and his knowledge of his very unworthiness made him worthy of Jesus' response and blessing?
This much we know: Jesus came to save all people, but he can only save those who know they are unworthy of his love and grace and believe that he is the Lord.
1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43 (C); 8:22-23, 27-30, 41-43 (E); 8:41-43 (L) - "A House Of Prayer For All People."
1. That's what Solomon and, more importantly, God wanted the temple in Jerusalem to be.
2. And so, in his dedicatory prayer, Solomon asked God to receive and bless all the foreigners who came to pray in the temple.
3. He opened the way for Jesus to receive and bless both the centurion and his servant (in the Gospel for the Day) and all people.
4. And he established an important principle of evangelism for the church: That is, to receive any strangers with genuine hospitality and invite them to pray with your congregation. They may very well become believers.
The first time I visited St. John's Abbey, which is located on the campus of St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, our guide, Father Colman Barry, took us through the Benedictine monastery (which is rarely done any more), including the quarters of the abbot. He said, something like this: "When the abbot has a visitor, he invites him into this little chapel for prayer. Then he takes the person into his private dining room for lunch or dinner. And after that they retire to his office/study to discuss the business that prompted the visit." Hospitality is the keynote of that community, and they might have learned it from Solomon, as well as from St. Benedict (it is a Benedictine abbey), or even from Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10 (E, L, C) - "Trouble City."
1. Galatia, from a Christian perspective, was "Trouble City." The congregation was being divided by a "false gospel" that was being preached there and which some people believed.
2. Paul had to straighten them out and he did it by reminding them that there is only one gospel, not two, and the gospel that had been preached to them originally was authentic. He declared that anyone preaching a false gospel should be accursed - even an angel from heaven.
3. And so, he reminded them that the good news in Jesus is that he died to deliver them - us - from sin and death and that this was the will of God for Jesus and humanity. Jesus came to save people by dying on the cross and by opening the "gate of heaven" through that death and his subsequent resurrection.
4. The true servant/preacher seeks only to please God and declare the word that brings faith and life, refusing to water down or alter the gospel so that it pleases people or is made to accommodate this age.
