Proper 4, Pentecost 2, Ordinary Time 9
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle A
Object:
Seasonal Theme
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
Jesus' teachings about building strong lives which can withstand the floods of life.
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 6:11-22, 7:24, 8:14-9
The Great Flood
We now turn in Genesis to the account of the great flood. Perhaps a brief outline of the flood story will help:
1. The earth was corrupt and violent -- 6:11
2. God decides to start over with human kind -- 6:13
3. Noah is told to build a boat -- 6:14
4. God established a covenant with Noah -- 6:18
5. The flood came -- 7:24
6. Noah, with his family and animals, came out -- 8:18 and 19
7. Noah becomes the new father of human kind, replacing Adam -- 6:18 and 8:16
There is a mixture of the J and P sources, so one has to put in some kind of sequential outline to get a logical flow to the story.
Note: We begin a sequential reading of Romans for the Second Lessons today. The Second Reading will be from Romans for the next sixteen Sundays! In Paul's letter to the Romans we have him setting out his strong theology to people and a church he did not know. He wanted to go to Rome, and while in Corinth, around 58 A.D., he wrote this letter of introduction to let them know his theology. Perhaps this little introduction could be provided today through an announcement or printed in the worship bulletin.
New Testament Lesson
Romans 1:16-17, 3:22b-28
Proud Of Gospel
In 1:16 and 17, we have Paul, after his preliminaries, now giving the focus of his message. Paul announces he is proud of the gospel; this in spite of the terrible rejection he had received in Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens. Three words are used in these verses which are the hallmark of his theology.
1. Salvation (soteria). Without this, we stand condemned. We have a safety here and right on into eternity.
2. Faith. In Paul's way of thinking about faith, it is absolute trust and acceptance. When we agree that the gospel is true, we then bet our life and death on it.
3. Justification (dikaioun). So we are treated by God as if we have not sinned at all.
We then enter into a new undeserved relationship with God which may be characterized by friendship, love, and confidence. And all because of what God has done not because of anything we have done.
Verses 3:22b to 28 amplify the earlier announced theme. Justified here (v. 24) does not so much mean made perfect but rather pronounced righteous (perfect). So, we are acquitted and do not need go to jail to pay the price for our sins. Redemption in the same verse signifies a slave being purchased and set free. Liberation best describes it as Paul thought of it.
So put all together this passage says that the way of the law emphasized what we could do for ourselves, whereas this way of the gospel is centered on what God has done for us and God did it for everyone! No one is left out or excluded.
The Gospel
Matthew 7:21-27
A Solid Foundation
We have an expert carpenter here describing how to lay a foundation for a house and how (and where) not to. Such a dry stream bed is called a wadi. In Palestine these are sandy indentations in summer but can become raging torrents of water. It would have been a lot easier to dig a foundation in the soft sand and one would not have to carry the rocks for the walls very far up the bank.
The connection with Romans may be in 2:13. James 1:22 also deals with hearers and doers. In Matthew 7:21-22, Jesus addresses those who hear but do not act. Because of verses 21 and 22, at least the author of Matthew must have felt the parable has to do with the difference between hearers and doers. You have to live in the house you build. So we must not only advocate for strong foundations but also build ours that way.
Preaching Possibilities
The Old Testament story of the flood and the parable of building against times of flooding were selected to go together today. And they both speak of water, flooding, and so on, but they are very different lessons. I prefer using any of the three readings by themselves rather than any artificial linking together.
A. The First Reading could use the following moves if you preach on it:
1. Retell the story of the flood and of Noah and his boat. The story demonstrates this for us:
a. God wants humankind to be better than we are.
b. God always provides a way out (a rescue).
c. Sometimes we must act even though we are ridiculed for it.
d. We have a savior for the times of flood in our lives.
f. Noah's covenant with God is ours as well. Celebrate the rainbow.
2. Tell your own story of rain, flood, high water, and rescue.
Preaching alert: The next three Sundays' Second Lesson from Saint Paul to the Romans will make a great series of teaching sermons. Each week you can explain the meaning of three or four terms used by Paul. We could call them "add-on" sermons. Look ahead under Preaching Possibilities to consider it.
B. If we use the Second Reading, it also can stand alone. Here are some possible moves:
1. Introduce Paul's reason for writing and the fact we will be reading this letter for the next fifteen Sundays. Then tell your people that in today's portion of this letter, there are three life-changing words we need to examine:
a. What we do: faith = a big item for the Jew coming to Christ
b. What God does: justification = the only way Paul had a chance
c. What's the result: salvation = important to one soon martyred
2. So in each move we include three sections:
a. the word which is so important to Paul's message,
b. how that idea affected Paul in his life,
c. why it is important to us.
C. A topical sermon could work here where you simply talk about high water and floods and when you feel you are about to go under for the third time.
1. In the First Lesson, Noah's answer was obedience to God and boat building.
2. In the Second Lesson, Paul's answer is to have faith, accept our justification, and celebrate the salvation which comes high water or not!
3. In Jesus' parable in the Gospel, the answer is to build a stronger foundation so as not to be swept away by the flood's of life.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. Begin with a story about lots of rain, high water, flooding, and so on. Tell of Palestine's wadis in summer and wintertime.
2. Now move to re-tell Jesus' parable of the wise and foolish builder. Not only where but also how one builds the foundation. List out some "floods" which come to life like loss of loved one, or loss of job or a divorce, or children disappointing us, and so on.
3. Name the elements of life which make for strong foundations. You might want to liken the Old Testament flood as a final judgment and ask if we are ready with firm foundations here.
4. Now explore the flip side1 of this parable. We are all foolish builders. Our own building is never strong enough nor can we build where the floods of life can't reach us. So the message is how to rebuild after the inevitable floods nearly destroy us.
a. We have Paul's faith, Jesus' justification, and God's salvation (from Romans reading).
b. We have the church, sacraments, and the Holy Spirit to show us the way to rebuild and recover.
5. One more thing on the flip side. How can we who have been through the flood warn and advise others about how and where to build?
6. Return to the parable and this time tell it in contemporary terms. Once a builder went out to build near a swamp and cut corners in every way he could...
Prayer Of The Day
When the floods of life nearly inundate us, O God, give us your saving help. And let your Holy Spirit show us how to rebuild and live after the floods have swept us away. Also, make us good teachers of others about how and where to build their lives as well. We pray in the name of the carpenter of Nazareth, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Possible Stories
In the South China Morning Post, September 27, 1999, a story of disaster, survival, and rescue was told after the Taiwan earthquake. Two brothers were pulled alive from the wreckage of a Taipei building more than five days after they were buried by a Taiwan earthquake. They were 20 and 26 years old and lived on rotting apples and by drinking their own urine. They were dehydrated and had a few bruises, but they were protected from tons of concrete by a refrigerator and a desk and could talk to each other. Their parents are devout Buddhists and claimed, "It's a miracle." Mrs. Liu said, "I did not believe heaven would take my sons. When I heard someone had been rescued, I knew it was them." I wonder how their lives have been changed because of the experience and I wonder how differently the building will be rebuilt.
I saw today a very heavy trailer of a tractor-trailer combination without the tractor parked on an asphalt parking lot. The front support wheels were sinking deeper and deeper into the asphalt and may have already gone all the way through. The driver of the trailer probably thought it a solid foundation on which to park the trailer -- but not so. Check your foundation. "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."
While in Amsterdam, I noticed how crooked many of the houses (especially around canals) are. They are braced with large logs up the front of the building. God's presence can support us and we ought to support each other.
Staples, the office supply store, has a television ad which always ends with the slogan, "Yeah, we got that."
What are people shopping so desperately for in their lives? Grace, forgiveness, peace, friendship, salvation... "Yeah, we got that."
Yeah, we got that: "Faith, Justification, and Salvation."
__________
1. For a further explanation of the flip side of parables, see the author's 2001 CSS publication, The Parables Of Jesus And Their Flip Side. Also included is a sermon on this Matthew's text titled, "Rebuilding On Sure Foundations."
The teaching and ministry of Jesus the Christ.
Theme For The Day
Jesus' teachings about building strong lives which can withstand the floods of life.
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 6:11-22, 7:24, 8:14-9
The Great Flood
We now turn in Genesis to the account of the great flood. Perhaps a brief outline of the flood story will help:
1. The earth was corrupt and violent -- 6:11
2. God decides to start over with human kind -- 6:13
3. Noah is told to build a boat -- 6:14
4. God established a covenant with Noah -- 6:18
5. The flood came -- 7:24
6. Noah, with his family and animals, came out -- 8:18 and 19
7. Noah becomes the new father of human kind, replacing Adam -- 6:18 and 8:16
There is a mixture of the J and P sources, so one has to put in some kind of sequential outline to get a logical flow to the story.
Note: We begin a sequential reading of Romans for the Second Lessons today. The Second Reading will be from Romans for the next sixteen Sundays! In Paul's letter to the Romans we have him setting out his strong theology to people and a church he did not know. He wanted to go to Rome, and while in Corinth, around 58 A.D., he wrote this letter of introduction to let them know his theology. Perhaps this little introduction could be provided today through an announcement or printed in the worship bulletin.
New Testament Lesson
Romans 1:16-17, 3:22b-28
Proud Of Gospel
In 1:16 and 17, we have Paul, after his preliminaries, now giving the focus of his message. Paul announces he is proud of the gospel; this in spite of the terrible rejection he had received in Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens. Three words are used in these verses which are the hallmark of his theology.
1. Salvation (soteria). Without this, we stand condemned. We have a safety here and right on into eternity.
2. Faith. In Paul's way of thinking about faith, it is absolute trust and acceptance. When we agree that the gospel is true, we then bet our life and death on it.
3. Justification (dikaioun). So we are treated by God as if we have not sinned at all.
We then enter into a new undeserved relationship with God which may be characterized by friendship, love, and confidence. And all because of what God has done not because of anything we have done.
Verses 3:22b to 28 amplify the earlier announced theme. Justified here (v. 24) does not so much mean made perfect but rather pronounced righteous (perfect). So, we are acquitted and do not need go to jail to pay the price for our sins. Redemption in the same verse signifies a slave being purchased and set free. Liberation best describes it as Paul thought of it.
So put all together this passage says that the way of the law emphasized what we could do for ourselves, whereas this way of the gospel is centered on what God has done for us and God did it for everyone! No one is left out or excluded.
The Gospel
Matthew 7:21-27
A Solid Foundation
We have an expert carpenter here describing how to lay a foundation for a house and how (and where) not to. Such a dry stream bed is called a wadi. In Palestine these are sandy indentations in summer but can become raging torrents of water. It would have been a lot easier to dig a foundation in the soft sand and one would not have to carry the rocks for the walls very far up the bank.
The connection with Romans may be in 2:13. James 1:22 also deals with hearers and doers. In Matthew 7:21-22, Jesus addresses those who hear but do not act. Because of verses 21 and 22, at least the author of Matthew must have felt the parable has to do with the difference between hearers and doers. You have to live in the house you build. So we must not only advocate for strong foundations but also build ours that way.
Preaching Possibilities
The Old Testament story of the flood and the parable of building against times of flooding were selected to go together today. And they both speak of water, flooding, and so on, but they are very different lessons. I prefer using any of the three readings by themselves rather than any artificial linking together.
A. The First Reading could use the following moves if you preach on it:
1. Retell the story of the flood and of Noah and his boat. The story demonstrates this for us:
a. God wants humankind to be better than we are.
b. God always provides a way out (a rescue).
c. Sometimes we must act even though we are ridiculed for it.
d. We have a savior for the times of flood in our lives.
f. Noah's covenant with God is ours as well. Celebrate the rainbow.
2. Tell your own story of rain, flood, high water, and rescue.
Preaching alert: The next three Sundays' Second Lesson from Saint Paul to the Romans will make a great series of teaching sermons. Each week you can explain the meaning of three or four terms used by Paul. We could call them "add-on" sermons. Look ahead under Preaching Possibilities to consider it.
B. If we use the Second Reading, it also can stand alone. Here are some possible moves:
1. Introduce Paul's reason for writing and the fact we will be reading this letter for the next fifteen Sundays. Then tell your people that in today's portion of this letter, there are three life-changing words we need to examine:
a. What we do: faith = a big item for the Jew coming to Christ
b. What God does: justification = the only way Paul had a chance
c. What's the result: salvation = important to one soon martyred
2. So in each move we include three sections:
a. the word which is so important to Paul's message,
b. how that idea affected Paul in his life,
c. why it is important to us.
C. A topical sermon could work here where you simply talk about high water and floods and when you feel you are about to go under for the third time.
1. In the First Lesson, Noah's answer was obedience to God and boat building.
2. In the Second Lesson, Paul's answer is to have faith, accept our justification, and celebrate the salvation which comes high water or not!
3. In Jesus' parable in the Gospel, the answer is to build a stronger foundation so as not to be swept away by the flood's of life.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. Begin with a story about lots of rain, high water, flooding, and so on. Tell of Palestine's wadis in summer and wintertime.
2. Now move to re-tell Jesus' parable of the wise and foolish builder. Not only where but also how one builds the foundation. List out some "floods" which come to life like loss of loved one, or loss of job or a divorce, or children disappointing us, and so on.
3. Name the elements of life which make for strong foundations. You might want to liken the Old Testament flood as a final judgment and ask if we are ready with firm foundations here.
4. Now explore the flip side1 of this parable. We are all foolish builders. Our own building is never strong enough nor can we build where the floods of life can't reach us. So the message is how to rebuild after the inevitable floods nearly destroy us.
a. We have Paul's faith, Jesus' justification, and God's salvation (from Romans reading).
b. We have the church, sacraments, and the Holy Spirit to show us the way to rebuild and recover.
5. One more thing on the flip side. How can we who have been through the flood warn and advise others about how and where to build?
6. Return to the parable and this time tell it in contemporary terms. Once a builder went out to build near a swamp and cut corners in every way he could...
Prayer Of The Day
When the floods of life nearly inundate us, O God, give us your saving help. And let your Holy Spirit show us how to rebuild and live after the floods have swept us away. Also, make us good teachers of others about how and where to build their lives as well. We pray in the name of the carpenter of Nazareth, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Possible Stories
In the South China Morning Post, September 27, 1999, a story of disaster, survival, and rescue was told after the Taiwan earthquake. Two brothers were pulled alive from the wreckage of a Taipei building more than five days after they were buried by a Taiwan earthquake. They were 20 and 26 years old and lived on rotting apples and by drinking their own urine. They were dehydrated and had a few bruises, but they were protected from tons of concrete by a refrigerator and a desk and could talk to each other. Their parents are devout Buddhists and claimed, "It's a miracle." Mrs. Liu said, "I did not believe heaven would take my sons. When I heard someone had been rescued, I knew it was them." I wonder how their lives have been changed because of the experience and I wonder how differently the building will be rebuilt.
I saw today a very heavy trailer of a tractor-trailer combination without the tractor parked on an asphalt parking lot. The front support wheels were sinking deeper and deeper into the asphalt and may have already gone all the way through. The driver of the trailer probably thought it a solid foundation on which to park the trailer -- but not so. Check your foundation. "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."
While in Amsterdam, I noticed how crooked many of the houses (especially around canals) are. They are braced with large logs up the front of the building. God's presence can support us and we ought to support each other.
Staples, the office supply store, has a television ad which always ends with the slogan, "Yeah, we got that."
What are people shopping so desperately for in their lives? Grace, forgiveness, peace, friendship, salvation... "Yeah, we got that."
Yeah, we got that: "Faith, Justification, and Salvation."
__________
1. For a further explanation of the flip side of parables, see the author's 2001 CSS publication, The Parables Of Jesus And Their Flip Side. Also included is a sermon on this Matthew's text titled, "Rebuilding On Sure Foundations."
