Proper 8 / Pentecost 5 / Ordinary Time 13
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
God delivers: there are lots of reasons to be grateful!
Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered that the almighty might hear the prayers of His people, defending them from all harm and danger that they may live and grow in faith and hope. Providence is again emphasized, along with Justification and Sanctification (as Growth in Grace).
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 130
See Pentecost 3.
or Psalm 30
See Epiphany 6.
or Lamentations 3:23-33
* The book is a small Psalter of communal laments over Jerusalem composed after its destruction by the Babylonians in 587 BC.
* Traditionally Lamentations has been ascribed to Jeremiah, because of references in 2 Chronicles 35:25. But in that text he reportedly offers a lament on the death of Josiah, not for Jerusalem as a whole. But see the prophet's laments in Jeremiah 7:20; 8:18--9:1. The book was written for those remaining in Israel for public recitation on days of fasting and mourning. (See Joel 2:15-17 and Zechariah 7:2-3.)
* Main Sections: (1) Dirges over the city (chs. 1-2, 4); (2) Personal psalms of distress and trust in God (ch. 3); and (3) A liturgy for use in time of personal trouble (ch. 5). The first four chapters are alphabetic acrostics with a stanza for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 5 has the same number of verses as the alphabet.
* Central Themes: (1) Laments (the Hebrew title of the book, ekah [meaning "How"] conveys the sense of bewilderment over what has happened); (2) The destruction of Jerusalem construed as God's judgment for sin; and (3) Cries for God's mercy.
* The lesson is part of a psalm using the acrostic style of sage counseling to one in distress, exhorting penitence in acknowledgment of God's righteousness and mercy.
* God's mercies are said to be new every morning, for the Lord's faithfulness is great (vv. 22-23).
* The Lord will be good for those who wait and seek Him (vv. 25-26).
* It is good to bear yokes of youth and sit in silence when the Lord imposes it (vv. 27-28) or to take insults (v. 30).
* For the Lord will not reject forever; though causing grief He will have compassion as a loving God (vv. 31-32). For He does not willingly afflict anyone (v. 33). God's wrath is limited; He may work evil, but willingly as He is a God of love. On this basis John Wesley calls the judgments of God His "strange work" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 351). John Calvin says that God is constrained to punish us like parents who are not willingly angry at their children when disciplining (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XI/1, p. 422).
* Later references in the chapter to the experience of individual (vv. 48-51) may indicate that the Hebrews' historical experience of devastation is a metaphor for human life.
Sermon Text and Title
"Appreciate Where You've Been: God's Got a Plan"
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim God's gracious Providence in leading us to the good things we have in life, in order that we may come to gratitude toward Him and to those we have encountered along the way.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* David's lament over Saul and Jonathan.
* The scene is set after Saul's death while David's army had just defeated the Amalekites.
* Informed by a messenger (vv. 2-4), David offers laments ordering the Song of the Bow from a lost book of Jashar (a collection of poetry praising Israel's military victories) be taught in Judah (vv. 17-18).
* The song begins with a lament concerning how the mighty have fallen (vv. 19, 27). The news is not to be shared with the Philistines (v. 20).
* Saul and Jonathan are praised (vv. 22-23). The daughters of Israel are urged to weep, for Saul had clothed them with luxury and expensive jewelry (v. 24).
* David expresses his deep love for Jonathan, a love more wonderful than the love of women (v. 27).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text testifies to God's graceful Providence (His use of even the bad things in life to work good) and implies lessons for Sanctification (regarding our response to and assessment of the things in our lives that got us to where we are).
* Karl Barth contended that Saul's reign was in accord with God's will. He was the representative and regent for the true king to come (Church Dogmatics, Vol. II/2, pp. 369, 378):
The holiness of God requires that the revelation of His grace, victorious over all human sin, should not take place without the revelation of His judgment upon human sin… The instrument of this aspect of God's revelation of His grace is the person of Saul the Benjaminite.
(Ibid., p. 369)
* The Heidelberg Catechism (a sixteenth-century Reformed and Lutheran confessional statement) claims we are given the Holy Spirit "so that with our whole life we may show ourselves grateful to God for His goodness…" (The [Presbyterian] Book of Confessions, 4.086).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Studies by psychologist Robert Emmons have indicated that adults keeping gratitude journals polled as happier and healthier than the general public (Robert Emmons, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier). Showing such gratitude creates a narrative in one's life, which makes a sense of coherence to life, constancy, and character possible (Richard Sennett, The Corrosion of Character, esp. pp. 30, 145-146).
* The reference to David's great love for Jonathan (v. 27) has been taken in some circles as his admission of a homosexual relation (Susan Ackerman, When Heroes Love).
5. Gimmick
Most of us have come pretty far in life, tasted some good things, and maybe gotten more than we ever thought we would in childhood. David, the youngest son of his father, certainly could not have imagined he'd ever be king! But the news he was about to receive was a first step toward the throne.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* David had been in a kind of exile, having fled Saul who had turned against the conqueror of Goliath over jealousy (1 Samuel 18-22). He had assembled his own army who was loyal to him while Saul continued to conduct affairs of state and military actions. But because of David's great popularity, the people of Israel were effectively divided by this rift. David did nothing to improve things by even making alliances with one of Israel's enemies, the Philistines (1 Samuel 27, 29). Sometimes to get somewhere in life you have to cut smart deals and form coalitions with folks who you do not like.
* Then today the news came: Saul and his heir Jonathan, a dear friend of David's, were dead! They were killed in a conflict with the Philistines (vv. 2-3). Celebration of this news by David would have made a lot of sense in view of the history between these men, in view of Saul's efforts to kill David (1 Samuel 19). On top of that, with Jonathan apparently the first in line to the throne gone, David was a likely heir. (Soon after the news got out he was selected the king of the tribe of Judah [ch. 2].)
* But instead of celebrating the news (we could hardly blame him if he had), David led his supporters in mourning (vv. 11-17). Our lesson reports the mourning that transpired, using a hymn, the Song of the Bow, found in an ancient collection praising Israel's military victories (vv. 17-27).
* We learn how deeply grieved David was from a reference prior to the beginning of today's reading; the Bible says that David and his closest colleagues tore their clothes (v. 11) (a sign of deep grief in ancient Near Eastern cultures). And then they cried and fasted until evening (v. 12). David even had the messenger of the bad news killed after learning that the messenger had killed Saul, who had asked him to do so after being mortally wounded (vv. 7-10, 14-15).
* This was a real grief. But why? Why harbor feelings of sorrow toward a man (Saul) who tried to kill you? Maybe it was for Jonathan, David's dear friend (v. 26). But the Bible says David grieved for Saul too. Maybe that was because of his veneration of the king's office.
* But something else was going on. Before things had gone sour in their relationship, David had had close ties with Saul. He had served as one of Saul's servants, soothing the king's bad moods with his music (1 Samuel 6:18-23), and when David took on Goliath, Saul had tried to give the lad some fatherly advice (1 Samuel 7:31-39). No, Saul had been a part of David's life, and now as he was ready to take on new responsibilities, to ascend to a stature he never dreamed possible, David didn't forget his roots, where he had been.
* American essayist H.L. Mencken made a profound point about life, and David seems to act on it: "You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been."
* Social scientists like Richard Sennett have lamented how present business dynamics have robbed Americans of coherent life-narratives, without which we lose a sense of self and meaning in life (see reference in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). If you are always re-inventing yourself, not seeing how all the pieces of your life fit together, you lose coherence in your life history. By appreciating his own roots, how the relationship with Saul, troubled as it was, had contributed to making him who he was, David did not allow what came next to fragment him from his past. David, then, gives us a model for living in this and a number of other ways.
* English author Aldous Huxley had it right: "Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted."
* Nineteenth-century American Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher beautifully extolled the virtues of gratitude: "Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."
* In essence, this is what David was doing this with his grief -- saying thanks to Saul and Jonathan. What a nice way to live.
* There is every reason for David to build on what went before and to venerate what has transpired, for (as it is said in the black community) "we stand on shoulders." It is as seventeenth-century English poet John Dryden put it: "If you have lived, take thankfully the past."
* When Christians or Jews like David say thanks in this way they are also thanking God, since God is the One whose plan included those who were there with us along the way. And that kind of life is the essence of faith. Medieval mystic Meister Eckhart states beautifully the importance of gratitude: "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice." Add the comment from the Heidelberg Catechism in Theological Insights.
* A life of thanks like David led is good for you in other ways. English author G.K. Chesterton offered an observation about gratitude that squares with the findings of research on the brain indicating that grateful people are happier (see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). He wrote: "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."
7. Wrap-Up
David is the father of our faith in a lot of ways, it seems, not just insofar as Jesus is of his line. He also teaches us how to believe and how to see our lives: focusing on God, on a God who leads and delivers His people, gets you seeing your life as having meaning and direction. And when you appreciate where you've been, it makes you grateful for everywhere you've been. David directs us to a way of life that is filled with gratitude, grateful for everything. Invite the congregation to see the events of their lives (even the bad things) as integral parts of their life stories, as making them who they are. Take some time to give thanks for all those episodes, and (even scientists tell us [see the reference in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights]) life will be a little sweeter, a little happier, healthier, and closer to God.
Sermon Text and Title
"A Prosperity Gospel That Comes Through the Cross"
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To offer an alternative to the prosperity gospel of Joel Osteen, Eddie Long, and their colleagues, offering a word of how the Word makes us rich (Justification and Sanctification), not through receiving material blessings we deserve (condemning our sin), but by gaining an appreciation of what we have been given in Christ and by giving it away in gratitude. A theology of the cross (see the quote by Luther below for an explanation) is implied in this strategy.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* An exhortation to support the collection Paul was organizing for relief of the Jerusalem church.
* Praising the Corinthians' faith in view of love for them, he urges their involvement in this collection as a test of the genuineness of their love (vv. 7-8).
* Speaks of Christ's generosity, that though rich He became poor, so that by His poverty we become rich (v. 9).
* Paul notes the offering begun in the previous year (presumably interrupted due to strained relations) should be completed (vv. 10-11).
* Paul refers to eagerness to give, regarding a gift as acceptable, not according to the amount. He proceeds to speak of the Corinthians' abundance compared to other churches (vv. 12-14).
* Cites Exodus 16:18 that one who had much did not have too much and one with little did not have too little (v. 15).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text addresses stewardship (Sanctification) and how the Christian life relates to the work of Christ (Atonement and Justification by Grace through Faith). Attention is also given to how the suffering of Christ condemns sin.
* Something like Martin Luther's theology of the cross is suggested in verse 9:
Because men misused the knowledge of God through works, God wished again to be recognized in suffering, and to condemn wisdom concerning invisible things by means of wisdom concerning visible things, so that those who did not honor God as manifested in His works should honor Him as He is hidden in His suffering.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 52)
The great preacher of the early church John Chrysostom explains the reference in this verse to our becoming rich as "the knowledge of godliness, the cleansing away of our sin… the countless good things which He bestowed upon us…" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 12, p. 360).
* A very different approach to giving and to faith is evident in the prosperity gospel of Joel Osteen. Exegeting this text, he claims that "God has promised that your generous gifts will come back to you… that because of your generosity, God will move heaven and earth to make sure you are taken care of" (Your Best Life Now, pp. 260, 262).
* Luther well explains that in our generosity we are really giving to Christ:
Christ says: "If I suffer hunger or thirst in the person of my apostle or of any Christian, yes, of a Christian child or of any person poor and in want, and you are aware of this situation, you are truly an archmiser if you close your eyes to this. I want you to know that I am the One who is suffering hunger and thirst. If you feed this person, you are feeding Me…."
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 520)
* John Wesley's philosophy of money is clearly in the spirit of this text: "Earn all you can; save all you can; give all you can" (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 133).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A survey of over 1,000 churches by Christianity Today indicates that American Christian generosity has taken a hit since the recession, with a 38% decline in giving in 2009 after a 29% drop in 2008. The decline in giving is also apparent in the slashing of denominational budgets of many of the historic Protestant mainline denominations in recent years.
* See the first bullet point in this section for the First Lesson.
* A 2006 Time magazine poll found that 61% of American Christians believe God wants people to be prosperous. One in three believe that if you give money to God, He will bless you with more money.
5. Gimmick
The prosperity gospel is all the rage these days. Surely you've heard of Joel Osteen, pastor of Houston's Lakewood Church, the largest and fastest-growing congregation in America (with 45,000 worshipers a Sunday in attendance). In view of its impact, we should be taking lessons from this movement on church growth, shouldn't we? But Saint Paul and I say, "No way."
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Explain the prosperity gospel -- the belief that God wants us to prosper, often with stipulation that it is God's will that if we "name it [what we desire], we can claim it [receive what we desire]." (See the quotation by Joel Osteen in Theological Insights.)
* What could be wrong with a such thing? God wants to bless us, right? The majority of Americans in a 2006 poll seemed to concur (see the second lead in the last bullet point in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Second Lesson). And Paul said in today's lesson that Christ wanted His people to become rich (v. 9).
* But Paul has a lot more to say than what most Americans have heard. Paul says that it is through Christ's poverty that the Corinthians became rich (v. 9). Poverty is an ingredient in the treasures Christians have in at least two ways.
* Use the first quote by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. We need to come to the riches God has for us through Christ's poverty and suffering in order to remove all our pride. (It might be useful to point out the pride reflected in the prosperity gospel's belief that we receive God's gifts because we give something [see the Osteen quote in Theological Insights]). When we see Christ in His suffering and yet we receive His gifts, it is apparent how undeserved they are. Focus on how the suffering of Christ makes the riches you get a little less important, things you can part with more easily.
* Proceed to consider the quote by John Chrysostom (in Theological Insights) regarding the sense in which Christians have been made rich. We are rich in our focus on God along with the countless good things we have received.
* This focus on God and Jesus that results from encountering others like Christ who suffer loosens us up from the gifts we have received. Use the second Luther quote in Theological Insights. Christ's suffering and poverty make us realize that He is present in the suffering and poverty of others, and loosens us up to give away the riches we have been given. But if we received what we had asked for and deserved (like the prosperity gospel teaches) we would not be so inclined to give away our riches, because we would not be so thankful to God for them. When riches come through the Cross you are a lot more thankful, and thankfulness makes you more generous.
* Thanking God at least in some way is the essence of generosity. It is as the old Estonian proverb put it: "Who does not thank for little will not thank for much."
* In thanking God, the little we have becomes a whole lot more in our own eyes (the little becomes a lot). That's another sense in which all you have you have from God makes you rich.
7. Wrap-Up
How is it that God makes you rich through Jesus' sufferings? Why is prosperity better when it comes through the Cross? Thankfulness makes you content with what you have, makes you feel rich. And the more grateful you are, the more likely you are to be content. Twentieth-century American journalist and humorist Robert Quillen had it right: "If you count all your assets, you always show a profit." Tell the congregation that when they see all that they have as coming undeservedly from the sufferings of Jesus, they will be a lot more grateful, a lot more content, and a lot more generous. It is good our wealth comes through the cross.
Sermon Text and Title
"Nothing to Fear"
Mark 5:21-43
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the comfort of the gospel in facing the trials of life and death (Justification by Grace through Faith) and the hope of life eternal (Future Eschatology), helping the flock to appreciate that if we are confident that death is conquered the other trials of life are not so threatening.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* The story of the raising of Jairus' daughter. More details are provided in Mark's account than in other Synoptic equivalents.
* Jesus and the disciples land their boat on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. He meets Jairus, a leader of a local synagogue, who pleads with Jesus to heal his daughter (vv. 21-23). The request that Jesus heal by laying on hands was not characteristic of Jewish healing in this era, but was typical of Jesus' style (6:5; 7:32; 8:22, 25).
* On the way to Jairus' house, a healing of a woman suffering from hemorrhages transpires when she touches Jesus' clothes (vv. 24b-29). When confronted by Him she concedes that she was the one and shows Him homage. He praises her for her faith (vv. 30-34). The Semitic farewell "go in peace" suggests a wholeness involved in Jesus' healings.
* Jairus is next informed that his daughter has died. Jesus hears this report and assures Jairus (vv. 35-36). Only Peter, James, and John the brother of James proceed to accompany Him (v. 37).
* Mourning has already begun for the daughter when Jesus and His followers arrive. When Jesus claims she is merely sleeping, He is mocked (vv. 37-40a).
* Jesus proceeds to raise the girl "immediately" (vv. 40b-42a). Only in the Markan version are Jesus' actual Semitic words reported.
* All are amazed (v. 42b). But Jesus orders them to keep the healing secret (v. 43). (Matthew's version [13:58] does not include this reference to the messianic secret.)
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Comfort and so Justification by Grace is at the heart of the text's theme. Future Eschatology is also implied in the assurance of the resurrection, but its realized dimensions are also implied insofar as confidence in facing death helps us face other things that bring fear.
* Eminent eighteenth-century French scholar Blaise Pascal powerfully describes why we fear death and how we try to dodge that fear by filling our lives with frivolous things: "When I consider the brief span of my life absorbed unto eternity which comes before and after… I take fright…" (Pensees, p. 48). "If our condition were truly happy we should not need to divert ourselves from thinking about it" (Ibid.).
* Martin Luther notes that the text teaches that Christ is a helper and rescuer from death (Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, p. 177):
So from today's gospel let us learn that all adversity, no matter how great it appears in your eyes is in the eyes of God nothing. For if death has no part of a Christian, then even less so blindness, deafness, leprosy, and pestilence; they are of no significance.
(Ibid., p. 190)
* The gospel is also said to show what sort of man Christ is (Ibid., p. 178).
* About this matter he wrote: "In the raising of the little girl to life, we have the evidence and the proof that He can and will resurrect us" (Ibid., p. 180).
* There is great comfort in this insight, Luther contends: "When the hour comes for us to die, we proceed assured of our salvation and that, once placed in the grave, we will be awakened in eternity" (Ibid., p. 183).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Although only 3% of seniors say they fear death according to a 2007 EAR Foundation poll, 1 in 5 young adults have this fear according to an earlier 2000 Los Angeles Times poll.
* See this section for the First Lesson, Pentecost 3.
5. Gimmick
We've all experienced tough times in life -- times of fear; times of grief. In today's gospel, Jesus shows us the way out of such fear.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Rehearse the story in dramatic fashion. Portray the fear and eventual grief that Jairus must have felt due to anxiety over his daughter's condition and news of her death.
* Death is horrible, affords us with much to fear and worry about. True enough, polls report the elderly say they don't worry much about it. But 1 in 5 young adults do (see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). Ask the congregation how they deal with fears about their own death.
* If Americans can really cope with death without fear like the polls suggest, why was death such a fearsome thing to Jairus and to many others facing death in the Bible (Genesis 37:35; 2 Samuel 1:17ff; Mark 16:10; John 11:21ff)? Part of the problem is that we do not want to face the fragility of life, the fact that we are so tiny and insignificant compared to eternity, that we are all headed to the grave. We need to be brutally honest with ourselves. None of us wants to die. It is a fearsome prospect. Ask the congregation if they are looking forward to it. If so, how come we do everything in our power to care for our health?
* Eminent eighteenth-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal powerfully described these dynamics: "When I consider the brief span of my life absorbed into the eternity which comes before and after... I take fright..." (Pensees, p. 48).
* We do not like the situation we face, but we do our best to dodge it, filling our lives with even more frivolous things: "If our condition were truly happy, we should not need to divert ourselves from thinking about it" (Pensees, p. 48).
* The good news in our gospel is that Jesus performed the miracle and resurrected Jairus' daughter (vv. 40b-42a). But so what? How does this miracle help us?
* Use the last two quotations by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. Death is not as scary when we concentrate on what Christ has done. What He did for Jairus' daughter, what happened on that first Easter, can happen to us!
* An utterance whose source is unknown is clearly in line with Luther's thinking: "Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death."
* When the fear of death is addressed, life as a whole is not so scary. There is not as much riding on what happens in life if there is more to come after the end. Use the Luther quote in the second bullet point of Theological Insights.
* The wisdom of the Roman emperor and great philosopher Marcus Aurelius is relevant at this point: "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."
* Consider the data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the First Lesson, Pentecost 3. Yes, America has fallen on hard times, and we have our fears and doubts about the future. Marcus Aurelius asks us if we will let the fear of death paralyze us in dealing with these problems, leading us not to live. The gospel story today proclaims that since we no longer need to fear death (our resurrections are a sure thing), we can really start to live.
7. Wrap-Up
The God who delivers, who delivers from death has set us free from fear of death. And in so doing He has set us free to live with courage and confidence. For if God has overcome death, He can certainly through us overcome anxieties about our economy, our jobs, and our personal lives.There is nothing to fear any longer!
God delivers: there are lots of reasons to be grateful!
Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered that the almighty might hear the prayers of His people, defending them from all harm and danger that they may live and grow in faith and hope. Providence is again emphasized, along with Justification and Sanctification (as Growth in Grace).
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 130
See Pentecost 3.
or Psalm 30
See Epiphany 6.
or Lamentations 3:23-33
* The book is a small Psalter of communal laments over Jerusalem composed after its destruction by the Babylonians in 587 BC.
* Traditionally Lamentations has been ascribed to Jeremiah, because of references in 2 Chronicles 35:25. But in that text he reportedly offers a lament on the death of Josiah, not for Jerusalem as a whole. But see the prophet's laments in Jeremiah 7:20; 8:18--9:1. The book was written for those remaining in Israel for public recitation on days of fasting and mourning. (See Joel 2:15-17 and Zechariah 7:2-3.)
* Main Sections: (1) Dirges over the city (chs. 1-2, 4); (2) Personal psalms of distress and trust in God (ch. 3); and (3) A liturgy for use in time of personal trouble (ch. 5). The first four chapters are alphabetic acrostics with a stanza for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 5 has the same number of verses as the alphabet.
* Central Themes: (1) Laments (the Hebrew title of the book, ekah [meaning "How"] conveys the sense of bewilderment over what has happened); (2) The destruction of Jerusalem construed as God's judgment for sin; and (3) Cries for God's mercy.
* The lesson is part of a psalm using the acrostic style of sage counseling to one in distress, exhorting penitence in acknowledgment of God's righteousness and mercy.
* God's mercies are said to be new every morning, for the Lord's faithfulness is great (vv. 22-23).
* The Lord will be good for those who wait and seek Him (vv. 25-26).
* It is good to bear yokes of youth and sit in silence when the Lord imposes it (vv. 27-28) or to take insults (v. 30).
* For the Lord will not reject forever; though causing grief He will have compassion as a loving God (vv. 31-32). For He does not willingly afflict anyone (v. 33). God's wrath is limited; He may work evil, but willingly as He is a God of love. On this basis John Wesley calls the judgments of God His "strange work" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 351). John Calvin says that God is constrained to punish us like parents who are not willingly angry at their children when disciplining (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XI/1, p. 422).
* Later references in the chapter to the experience of individual (vv. 48-51) may indicate that the Hebrews' historical experience of devastation is a metaphor for human life.
Sermon Text and Title
"Appreciate Where You've Been: God's Got a Plan"
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim God's gracious Providence in leading us to the good things we have in life, in order that we may come to gratitude toward Him and to those we have encountered along the way.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* David's lament over Saul and Jonathan.
* The scene is set after Saul's death while David's army had just defeated the Amalekites.
* Informed by a messenger (vv. 2-4), David offers laments ordering the Song of the Bow from a lost book of Jashar (a collection of poetry praising Israel's military victories) be taught in Judah (vv. 17-18).
* The song begins with a lament concerning how the mighty have fallen (vv. 19, 27). The news is not to be shared with the Philistines (v. 20).
* Saul and Jonathan are praised (vv. 22-23). The daughters of Israel are urged to weep, for Saul had clothed them with luxury and expensive jewelry (v. 24).
* David expresses his deep love for Jonathan, a love more wonderful than the love of women (v. 27).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text testifies to God's graceful Providence (His use of even the bad things in life to work good) and implies lessons for Sanctification (regarding our response to and assessment of the things in our lives that got us to where we are).
* Karl Barth contended that Saul's reign was in accord with God's will. He was the representative and regent for the true king to come (Church Dogmatics, Vol. II/2, pp. 369, 378):
The holiness of God requires that the revelation of His grace, victorious over all human sin, should not take place without the revelation of His judgment upon human sin… The instrument of this aspect of God's revelation of His grace is the person of Saul the Benjaminite.
(Ibid., p. 369)
* The Heidelberg Catechism (a sixteenth-century Reformed and Lutheran confessional statement) claims we are given the Holy Spirit "so that with our whole life we may show ourselves grateful to God for His goodness…" (The [Presbyterian] Book of Confessions, 4.086).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Studies by psychologist Robert Emmons have indicated that adults keeping gratitude journals polled as happier and healthier than the general public (Robert Emmons, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier). Showing such gratitude creates a narrative in one's life, which makes a sense of coherence to life, constancy, and character possible (Richard Sennett, The Corrosion of Character, esp. pp. 30, 145-146).
* The reference to David's great love for Jonathan (v. 27) has been taken in some circles as his admission of a homosexual relation (Susan Ackerman, When Heroes Love).
5. Gimmick
Most of us have come pretty far in life, tasted some good things, and maybe gotten more than we ever thought we would in childhood. David, the youngest son of his father, certainly could not have imagined he'd ever be king! But the news he was about to receive was a first step toward the throne.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* David had been in a kind of exile, having fled Saul who had turned against the conqueror of Goliath over jealousy (1 Samuel 18-22). He had assembled his own army who was loyal to him while Saul continued to conduct affairs of state and military actions. But because of David's great popularity, the people of Israel were effectively divided by this rift. David did nothing to improve things by even making alliances with one of Israel's enemies, the Philistines (1 Samuel 27, 29). Sometimes to get somewhere in life you have to cut smart deals and form coalitions with folks who you do not like.
* Then today the news came: Saul and his heir Jonathan, a dear friend of David's, were dead! They were killed in a conflict with the Philistines (vv. 2-3). Celebration of this news by David would have made a lot of sense in view of the history between these men, in view of Saul's efforts to kill David (1 Samuel 19). On top of that, with Jonathan apparently the first in line to the throne gone, David was a likely heir. (Soon after the news got out he was selected the king of the tribe of Judah [ch. 2].)
* But instead of celebrating the news (we could hardly blame him if he had), David led his supporters in mourning (vv. 11-17). Our lesson reports the mourning that transpired, using a hymn, the Song of the Bow, found in an ancient collection praising Israel's military victories (vv. 17-27).
* We learn how deeply grieved David was from a reference prior to the beginning of today's reading; the Bible says that David and his closest colleagues tore their clothes (v. 11) (a sign of deep grief in ancient Near Eastern cultures). And then they cried and fasted until evening (v. 12). David even had the messenger of the bad news killed after learning that the messenger had killed Saul, who had asked him to do so after being mortally wounded (vv. 7-10, 14-15).
* This was a real grief. But why? Why harbor feelings of sorrow toward a man (Saul) who tried to kill you? Maybe it was for Jonathan, David's dear friend (v. 26). But the Bible says David grieved for Saul too. Maybe that was because of his veneration of the king's office.
* But something else was going on. Before things had gone sour in their relationship, David had had close ties with Saul. He had served as one of Saul's servants, soothing the king's bad moods with his music (1 Samuel 6:18-23), and when David took on Goliath, Saul had tried to give the lad some fatherly advice (1 Samuel 7:31-39). No, Saul had been a part of David's life, and now as he was ready to take on new responsibilities, to ascend to a stature he never dreamed possible, David didn't forget his roots, where he had been.
* American essayist H.L. Mencken made a profound point about life, and David seems to act on it: "You don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been."
* Social scientists like Richard Sennett have lamented how present business dynamics have robbed Americans of coherent life-narratives, without which we lose a sense of self and meaning in life (see reference in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). If you are always re-inventing yourself, not seeing how all the pieces of your life fit together, you lose coherence in your life history. By appreciating his own roots, how the relationship with Saul, troubled as it was, had contributed to making him who he was, David did not allow what came next to fragment him from his past. David, then, gives us a model for living in this and a number of other ways.
* English author Aldous Huxley had it right: "Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted."
* Nineteenth-century American Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher beautifully extolled the virtues of gratitude: "Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."
* In essence, this is what David was doing this with his grief -- saying thanks to Saul and Jonathan. What a nice way to live.
* There is every reason for David to build on what went before and to venerate what has transpired, for (as it is said in the black community) "we stand on shoulders." It is as seventeenth-century English poet John Dryden put it: "If you have lived, take thankfully the past."
* When Christians or Jews like David say thanks in this way they are also thanking God, since God is the One whose plan included those who were there with us along the way. And that kind of life is the essence of faith. Medieval mystic Meister Eckhart states beautifully the importance of gratitude: "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice." Add the comment from the Heidelberg Catechism in Theological Insights.
* A life of thanks like David led is good for you in other ways. English author G.K. Chesterton offered an observation about gratitude that squares with the findings of research on the brain indicating that grateful people are happier (see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). He wrote: "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."
7. Wrap-Up
David is the father of our faith in a lot of ways, it seems, not just insofar as Jesus is of his line. He also teaches us how to believe and how to see our lives: focusing on God, on a God who leads and delivers His people, gets you seeing your life as having meaning and direction. And when you appreciate where you've been, it makes you grateful for everywhere you've been. David directs us to a way of life that is filled with gratitude, grateful for everything. Invite the congregation to see the events of their lives (even the bad things) as integral parts of their life stories, as making them who they are. Take some time to give thanks for all those episodes, and (even scientists tell us [see the reference in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights]) life will be a little sweeter, a little happier, healthier, and closer to God.
Sermon Text and Title
"A Prosperity Gospel That Comes Through the Cross"
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To offer an alternative to the prosperity gospel of Joel Osteen, Eddie Long, and their colleagues, offering a word of how the Word makes us rich (Justification and Sanctification), not through receiving material blessings we deserve (condemning our sin), but by gaining an appreciation of what we have been given in Christ and by giving it away in gratitude. A theology of the cross (see the quote by Luther below for an explanation) is implied in this strategy.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* An exhortation to support the collection Paul was organizing for relief of the Jerusalem church.
* Praising the Corinthians' faith in view of love for them, he urges their involvement in this collection as a test of the genuineness of their love (vv. 7-8).
* Speaks of Christ's generosity, that though rich He became poor, so that by His poverty we become rich (v. 9).
* Paul notes the offering begun in the previous year (presumably interrupted due to strained relations) should be completed (vv. 10-11).
* Paul refers to eagerness to give, regarding a gift as acceptable, not according to the amount. He proceeds to speak of the Corinthians' abundance compared to other churches (vv. 12-14).
* Cites Exodus 16:18 that one who had much did not have too much and one with little did not have too little (v. 15).
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* The text addresses stewardship (Sanctification) and how the Christian life relates to the work of Christ (Atonement and Justification by Grace through Faith). Attention is also given to how the suffering of Christ condemns sin.
* Something like Martin Luther's theology of the cross is suggested in verse 9:
Because men misused the knowledge of God through works, God wished again to be recognized in suffering, and to condemn wisdom concerning invisible things by means of wisdom concerning visible things, so that those who did not honor God as manifested in His works should honor Him as He is hidden in His suffering.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 52)
The great preacher of the early church John Chrysostom explains the reference in this verse to our becoming rich as "the knowledge of godliness, the cleansing away of our sin… the countless good things which He bestowed upon us…" (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 12, p. 360).
* A very different approach to giving and to faith is evident in the prosperity gospel of Joel Osteen. Exegeting this text, he claims that "God has promised that your generous gifts will come back to you… that because of your generosity, God will move heaven and earth to make sure you are taken care of" (Your Best Life Now, pp. 260, 262).
* Luther well explains that in our generosity we are really giving to Christ:
Christ says: "If I suffer hunger or thirst in the person of my apostle or of any Christian, yes, of a Christian child or of any person poor and in want, and you are aware of this situation, you are truly an archmiser if you close your eyes to this. I want you to know that I am the One who is suffering hunger and thirst. If you feed this person, you are feeding Me…."
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 520)
* John Wesley's philosophy of money is clearly in the spirit of this text: "Earn all you can; save all you can; give all you can" (The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 133).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A survey of over 1,000 churches by Christianity Today indicates that American Christian generosity has taken a hit since the recession, with a 38% decline in giving in 2009 after a 29% drop in 2008. The decline in giving is also apparent in the slashing of denominational budgets of many of the historic Protestant mainline denominations in recent years.
* See the first bullet point in this section for the First Lesson.
* A 2006 Time magazine poll found that 61% of American Christians believe God wants people to be prosperous. One in three believe that if you give money to God, He will bless you with more money.
5. Gimmick
The prosperity gospel is all the rage these days. Surely you've heard of Joel Osteen, pastor of Houston's Lakewood Church, the largest and fastest-growing congregation in America (with 45,000 worshipers a Sunday in attendance). In view of its impact, we should be taking lessons from this movement on church growth, shouldn't we? But Saint Paul and I say, "No way."
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Explain the prosperity gospel -- the belief that God wants us to prosper, often with stipulation that it is God's will that if we "name it [what we desire], we can claim it [receive what we desire]." (See the quotation by Joel Osteen in Theological Insights.)
* What could be wrong with a such thing? God wants to bless us, right? The majority of Americans in a 2006 poll seemed to concur (see the second lead in the last bullet point in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the Second Lesson). And Paul said in today's lesson that Christ wanted His people to become rich (v. 9).
* But Paul has a lot more to say than what most Americans have heard. Paul says that it is through Christ's poverty that the Corinthians became rich (v. 9). Poverty is an ingredient in the treasures Christians have in at least two ways.
* Use the first quote by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. We need to come to the riches God has for us through Christ's poverty and suffering in order to remove all our pride. (It might be useful to point out the pride reflected in the prosperity gospel's belief that we receive God's gifts because we give something [see the Osteen quote in Theological Insights]). When we see Christ in His suffering and yet we receive His gifts, it is apparent how undeserved they are. Focus on how the suffering of Christ makes the riches you get a little less important, things you can part with more easily.
* Proceed to consider the quote by John Chrysostom (in Theological Insights) regarding the sense in which Christians have been made rich. We are rich in our focus on God along with the countless good things we have received.
* This focus on God and Jesus that results from encountering others like Christ who suffer loosens us up from the gifts we have received. Use the second Luther quote in Theological Insights. Christ's suffering and poverty make us realize that He is present in the suffering and poverty of others, and loosens us up to give away the riches we have been given. But if we received what we had asked for and deserved (like the prosperity gospel teaches) we would not be so inclined to give away our riches, because we would not be so thankful to God for them. When riches come through the Cross you are a lot more thankful, and thankfulness makes you more generous.
* Thanking God at least in some way is the essence of generosity. It is as the old Estonian proverb put it: "Who does not thank for little will not thank for much."
* In thanking God, the little we have becomes a whole lot more in our own eyes (the little becomes a lot). That's another sense in which all you have you have from God makes you rich.
7. Wrap-Up
How is it that God makes you rich through Jesus' sufferings? Why is prosperity better when it comes through the Cross? Thankfulness makes you content with what you have, makes you feel rich. And the more grateful you are, the more likely you are to be content. Twentieth-century American journalist and humorist Robert Quillen had it right: "If you count all your assets, you always show a profit." Tell the congregation that when they see all that they have as coming undeservedly from the sufferings of Jesus, they will be a lot more grateful, a lot more content, and a lot more generous. It is good our wealth comes through the cross.
Sermon Text and Title
"Nothing to Fear"
Mark 5:21-43
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim the comfort of the gospel in facing the trials of life and death (Justification by Grace through Faith) and the hope of life eternal (Future Eschatology), helping the flock to appreciate that if we are confident that death is conquered the other trials of life are not so threatening.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* The story of the raising of Jairus' daughter. More details are provided in Mark's account than in other Synoptic equivalents.
* Jesus and the disciples land their boat on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. He meets Jairus, a leader of a local synagogue, who pleads with Jesus to heal his daughter (vv. 21-23). The request that Jesus heal by laying on hands was not characteristic of Jewish healing in this era, but was typical of Jesus' style (6:5; 7:32; 8:22, 25).
* On the way to Jairus' house, a healing of a woman suffering from hemorrhages transpires when she touches Jesus' clothes (vv. 24b-29). When confronted by Him she concedes that she was the one and shows Him homage. He praises her for her faith (vv. 30-34). The Semitic farewell "go in peace" suggests a wholeness involved in Jesus' healings.
* Jairus is next informed that his daughter has died. Jesus hears this report and assures Jairus (vv. 35-36). Only Peter, James, and John the brother of James proceed to accompany Him (v. 37).
* Mourning has already begun for the daughter when Jesus and His followers arrive. When Jesus claims she is merely sleeping, He is mocked (vv. 37-40a).
* Jesus proceeds to raise the girl "immediately" (vv. 40b-42a). Only in the Markan version are Jesus' actual Semitic words reported.
* All are amazed (v. 42b). But Jesus orders them to keep the healing secret (v. 43). (Matthew's version [13:58] does not include this reference to the messianic secret.)
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Comfort and so Justification by Grace is at the heart of the text's theme. Future Eschatology is also implied in the assurance of the resurrection, but its realized dimensions are also implied insofar as confidence in facing death helps us face other things that bring fear.
* Eminent eighteenth-century French scholar Blaise Pascal powerfully describes why we fear death and how we try to dodge that fear by filling our lives with frivolous things: "When I consider the brief span of my life absorbed unto eternity which comes before and after… I take fright…" (Pensees, p. 48). "If our condition were truly happy we should not need to divert ourselves from thinking about it" (Ibid.).
* Martin Luther notes that the text teaches that Christ is a helper and rescuer from death (Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, p. 177):
So from today's gospel let us learn that all adversity, no matter how great it appears in your eyes is in the eyes of God nothing. For if death has no part of a Christian, then even less so blindness, deafness, leprosy, and pestilence; they are of no significance.
(Ibid., p. 190)
* The gospel is also said to show what sort of man Christ is (Ibid., p. 178).
* About this matter he wrote: "In the raising of the little girl to life, we have the evidence and the proof that He can and will resurrect us" (Ibid., p. 180).
* There is great comfort in this insight, Luther contends: "When the hour comes for us to die, we proceed assured of our salvation and that, once placed in the grave, we will be awakened in eternity" (Ibid., p. 183).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Although only 3% of seniors say they fear death according to a 2007 EAR Foundation poll, 1 in 5 young adults have this fear according to an earlier 2000 Los Angeles Times poll.
* See this section for the First Lesson, Pentecost 3.
5. Gimmick
We've all experienced tough times in life -- times of fear; times of grief. In today's gospel, Jesus shows us the way out of such fear.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Rehearse the story in dramatic fashion. Portray the fear and eventual grief that Jairus must have felt due to anxiety over his daughter's condition and news of her death.
* Death is horrible, affords us with much to fear and worry about. True enough, polls report the elderly say they don't worry much about it. But 1 in 5 young adults do (see Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). Ask the congregation how they deal with fears about their own death.
* If Americans can really cope with death without fear like the polls suggest, why was death such a fearsome thing to Jairus and to many others facing death in the Bible (Genesis 37:35; 2 Samuel 1:17ff; Mark 16:10; John 11:21ff)? Part of the problem is that we do not want to face the fragility of life, the fact that we are so tiny and insignificant compared to eternity, that we are all headed to the grave. We need to be brutally honest with ourselves. None of us wants to die. It is a fearsome prospect. Ask the congregation if they are looking forward to it. If so, how come we do everything in our power to care for our health?
* Eminent eighteenth-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal powerfully described these dynamics: "When I consider the brief span of my life absorbed into the eternity which comes before and after... I take fright..." (Pensees, p. 48).
* We do not like the situation we face, but we do our best to dodge it, filling our lives with even more frivolous things: "If our condition were truly happy, we should not need to divert ourselves from thinking about it" (Pensees, p. 48).
* The good news in our gospel is that Jesus performed the miracle and resurrected Jairus' daughter (vv. 40b-42a). But so what? How does this miracle help us?
* Use the last two quotations by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. Death is not as scary when we concentrate on what Christ has done. What He did for Jairus' daughter, what happened on that first Easter, can happen to us!
* An utterance whose source is unknown is clearly in line with Luther's thinking: "Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death."
* When the fear of death is addressed, life as a whole is not so scary. There is not as much riding on what happens in life if there is more to come after the end. Use the Luther quote in the second bullet point of Theological Insights.
* The wisdom of the Roman emperor and great philosopher Marcus Aurelius is relevant at this point: "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."
* Consider the data in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights for the First Lesson, Pentecost 3. Yes, America has fallen on hard times, and we have our fears and doubts about the future. Marcus Aurelius asks us if we will let the fear of death paralyze us in dealing with these problems, leading us not to live. The gospel story today proclaims that since we no longer need to fear death (our resurrections are a sure thing), we can really start to live.
7. Wrap-Up
The God who delivers, who delivers from death has set us free from fear of death. And in so doing He has set us free to live with courage and confidence. For if God has overcome death, He can certainly through us overcome anxieties about our economy, our jobs, and our personal lives.There is nothing to fear any longer!
