Proper 9, Pentecost 7, Ordinary Time 14
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle B
Seasonal Theme
We learn of the Christian faith and how we are to follow Jesus as his disciples.
Theme For The Day
God often speaks to us in the everyday familiar and we must travel light in our mission as disciples of Christ.
Old Testament Lesson
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
David Anointed King
David is installed king over the entire nation. He agreed to follow the requirement set down for kingship found in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. Now King David moved the capital to Jerusalem as it was on the border between Judah and the Northern tribes. Mount Zion and Mount Ophel became the city of David (vv. 5:7, 9; 6:12). The "Millo" in verse 9 is interesting. It may mean that which was filled in between the hills to level the city. 1 Kings 9:15 and 24 may indicate that it was mounds erected to protect the city from the North.
The capture of Jerusalem was a sign to all Israel that God was with him. He was no fly-by-night tribal chief but a major political power. So now we have a consolidated kingdom with a recognized powerful king.
New Testament Lesson
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Paul's Thorn In His Flesh
In this passage, Paul opens himself up to us in a heartfelt honesty. Both his suffering and his glory are here. As if he is outside himself he says, "I know a man ..." Of course, this is Paul describing a spiritual experience of ecstasy and nearness to God. Paradise comes from a Persian word for a walled garden where a king would invite someone to be honored, to be his companion in the garden. So, for a time, Paul had been a companion of God. But the thorn in his flesh is even more interesting (v. 7).
William Barclay says of the word it more likely meant a stake upon which criminals were impaled (skolops). Many have speculated on what this thorn was:
1. Luther thought it was opposition and persecution.
2. Spiritual temptations.
3. Carnal temptations is the common Roman Catholic view.
4. Paul's physical appearance (2 Corinthians 10:10).
5. Epilepsy has been a common explanation.
6. The oldest theory is severe headaches.
7. I have always thought of it as eye trouble. Perhaps he never recovered from the Damascus Road light (Acts 9:9). Also see Galatians 4:15 and 6:11.
8. William Barclay goes for "chronically recurrent attacks of a certain malarial fever." We who have served in Africa and seen this disease can go for that theory, also.
9. I have one more theory for which there is no room to develop in this manuscript. I wonder if it might have been Paul's failed marriage that tormented him all his life?
Whatever the torment, Paul tells the Corinthians that God's grace was sufficient for him (v. 9) and that's the powerful homiletic here. Even though Paul was weakened from this problem -- in his weakness God's grace made him strong. It will really preach.
The Gospel
Mark 6:1-13
Jesus Rejected In His Hometown
In the synagogue it was the custom to have great teachers. In this account Jesus was asked to teach in his hometown synagogue. The people were amazed and astonished. They just couldn't believe this hometown boy whose family they knew could be what he claimed to be. Verse 4 is one of the often-quoted verses of scripture.
Any pastor who has returned to the congregation where she or he grew up knows the situation well. The "amazed" in verse 6 may have been the author Mark's more than Jesus'.
In verses 7--13 we see the mission of the disciples. They were to travel light. From these verses we can see Jesus would have us disciples live simply, put our trust in him and not things, and be generous in giving of ourselves rather than demanding privileges due us. It's a message we clergy and preachers can take to heart.
Hospitality was an important virtue in the Palestinian village. Jesus told his disciples to move on if it were refused to them. It may be that the mission was so urgent that Jesus was telling them to move on if the people were not receptive. Time was short.
Preaching Possibilities
I see little connection between the three readings. And I don't think the Old Testament Lesson is very productive for preaching. One could use it to address the right and wrong idea of God being on a nation's side. Or one might talk about the divine right of the Jew to have Jerusalem. I cannot get my head around either!
Paul's writing about his religious experience and his life-long suffering is very productive for preaching to our contemporary congregations. It deals with religious experience, suffering, and somehow with God's help getting through.
A brief outline might go like this:
A. Tell about your own or another person's particular struggle.
B. Tell about Saint Paul's thorn in the flesh and what it might have been (read v. 7b).
C. Give your own idea of what the thorn was like: Malaria?
D. Now move to the fact that God doesn't remove our thorns but gives us the stuff to endure them (v. 9), which becomes your text.
E. List out how that "sufficient grace" might look now: a comforting prayer and worship life; a real presence in the sacrament; a supporting fellowship encouraging us; a knowledge that Jesus knows what it is to suffer ... etc.
F. Return to your own or another person's thorn you began with. See below a couple of illustrations for the above homiletical plot.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Retell the story of Jesus returning and trying to teach in his own hometown.
B. Tell what we learn from this story:
1. God is often in the very familiar around us and we can easily overlook God's wisdom and presence.
2. Sometimes it is the most difficult to witness to your own family.
3. Rarely can we accomplish much on God's behalf unless it is with those who expect us to do so.
C. Move to the mission of the twelve. Tell the story in your own words. You might even put it in present language: authority to confront today's evil; don't take travelers' checks or credit cards; no large suitcases full of extra clothing, one set is enough; don't move to a more expensive motel.
D. Then move to what this teaches us:
1. As disciples we must travel light in this world.
2. Our mission is urgent -- move on to the most promising.
3. We are sent out just like those early disciples.
E. Consider what these teachings mean for you as the preacher and for your congregation as God's disciples now.
F. Invite your hearers to join you in one small step to carry out what you have learned today.
Prayer For The Day
Help us to see your true presence all around us in the familiar, O God, and to hear the nearby voices that speak for you. And equip us to be faithful disciples going out this week to witness to our faith and not to be discouraged by rejection. Give to us the ability to travel light as we carry out your urgent message. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
In an ad for a large insurance company, The Hartford, these words are used, "Bring it on." It is to communicate the idea that whatever life deals out to us, if we have Hartford Insurance we can say, "Bring it on!" Paul could say it, too; not because of Hartford, but because of God's "sufficient grace" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
When flying into Stapleton Airport one morning, we took a very bad jolt. The pilot explained this as being caused by "jet wash," which came from a plane which crossed our path a while back and we could not now see two miles to the left of us. We get "bumped" by the jet wash of others, their good or poor actions before us -- former pastor, lover, employee, family member. When it jolts us, it is a surprise. Being able to understand this can help us adjust to the rough flying conditions.
In a D-Day special on CBS, Dan Rather was talking with Norman Schwarzkopf. He told how the paratroopers were dropped at night and given little metal crickets to use in identifying each other in the dark to find out if a troop were friend or enemy. What can we offer to identify our discipleship and allegiance?
It is told of the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind, that she always spent a few minutes alone in her dressing room before giving a concert. She would strike a clear vibrant note and then pray, "Master, let me sing true tonight." Might our prayer be similar. Let our witness sing clear and true.
We learn of the Christian faith and how we are to follow Jesus as his disciples.
Theme For The Day
God often speaks to us in the everyday familiar and we must travel light in our mission as disciples of Christ.
Old Testament Lesson
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
David Anointed King
David is installed king over the entire nation. He agreed to follow the requirement set down for kingship found in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. Now King David moved the capital to Jerusalem as it was on the border between Judah and the Northern tribes. Mount Zion and Mount Ophel became the city of David (vv. 5:7, 9; 6:12). The "Millo" in verse 9 is interesting. It may mean that which was filled in between the hills to level the city. 1 Kings 9:15 and 24 may indicate that it was mounds erected to protect the city from the North.
The capture of Jerusalem was a sign to all Israel that God was with him. He was no fly-by-night tribal chief but a major political power. So now we have a consolidated kingdom with a recognized powerful king.
New Testament Lesson
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Paul's Thorn In His Flesh
In this passage, Paul opens himself up to us in a heartfelt honesty. Both his suffering and his glory are here. As if he is outside himself he says, "I know a man ..." Of course, this is Paul describing a spiritual experience of ecstasy and nearness to God. Paradise comes from a Persian word for a walled garden where a king would invite someone to be honored, to be his companion in the garden. So, for a time, Paul had been a companion of God. But the thorn in his flesh is even more interesting (v. 7).
William Barclay says of the word it more likely meant a stake upon which criminals were impaled (skolops). Many have speculated on what this thorn was:
1. Luther thought it was opposition and persecution.
2. Spiritual temptations.
3. Carnal temptations is the common Roman Catholic view.
4. Paul's physical appearance (2 Corinthians 10:10).
5. Epilepsy has been a common explanation.
6. The oldest theory is severe headaches.
7. I have always thought of it as eye trouble. Perhaps he never recovered from the Damascus Road light (Acts 9:9). Also see Galatians 4:15 and 6:11.
8. William Barclay goes for "chronically recurrent attacks of a certain malarial fever." We who have served in Africa and seen this disease can go for that theory, also.
9. I have one more theory for which there is no room to develop in this manuscript. I wonder if it might have been Paul's failed marriage that tormented him all his life?
Whatever the torment, Paul tells the Corinthians that God's grace was sufficient for him (v. 9) and that's the powerful homiletic here. Even though Paul was weakened from this problem -- in his weakness God's grace made him strong. It will really preach.
The Gospel
Mark 6:1-13
Jesus Rejected In His Hometown
In the synagogue it was the custom to have great teachers. In this account Jesus was asked to teach in his hometown synagogue. The people were amazed and astonished. They just couldn't believe this hometown boy whose family they knew could be what he claimed to be. Verse 4 is one of the often-quoted verses of scripture.
Any pastor who has returned to the congregation where she or he grew up knows the situation well. The "amazed" in verse 6 may have been the author Mark's more than Jesus'.
In verses 7--13 we see the mission of the disciples. They were to travel light. From these verses we can see Jesus would have us disciples live simply, put our trust in him and not things, and be generous in giving of ourselves rather than demanding privileges due us. It's a message we clergy and preachers can take to heart.
Hospitality was an important virtue in the Palestinian village. Jesus told his disciples to move on if it were refused to them. It may be that the mission was so urgent that Jesus was telling them to move on if the people were not receptive. Time was short.
Preaching Possibilities
I see little connection between the three readings. And I don't think the Old Testament Lesson is very productive for preaching. One could use it to address the right and wrong idea of God being on a nation's side. Or one might talk about the divine right of the Jew to have Jerusalem. I cannot get my head around either!
Paul's writing about his religious experience and his life-long suffering is very productive for preaching to our contemporary congregations. It deals with religious experience, suffering, and somehow with God's help getting through.
A brief outline might go like this:
A. Tell about your own or another person's particular struggle.
B. Tell about Saint Paul's thorn in the flesh and what it might have been (read v. 7b).
C. Give your own idea of what the thorn was like: Malaria?
D. Now move to the fact that God doesn't remove our thorns but gives us the stuff to endure them (v. 9), which becomes your text.
E. List out how that "sufficient grace" might look now: a comforting prayer and worship life; a real presence in the sacrament; a supporting fellowship encouraging us; a knowledge that Jesus knows what it is to suffer ... etc.
F. Return to your own or another person's thorn you began with. See below a couple of illustrations for the above homiletical plot.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Retell the story of Jesus returning and trying to teach in his own hometown.
B. Tell what we learn from this story:
1. God is often in the very familiar around us and we can easily overlook God's wisdom and presence.
2. Sometimes it is the most difficult to witness to your own family.
3. Rarely can we accomplish much on God's behalf unless it is with those who expect us to do so.
C. Move to the mission of the twelve. Tell the story in your own words. You might even put it in present language: authority to confront today's evil; don't take travelers' checks or credit cards; no large suitcases full of extra clothing, one set is enough; don't move to a more expensive motel.
D. Then move to what this teaches us:
1. As disciples we must travel light in this world.
2. Our mission is urgent -- move on to the most promising.
3. We are sent out just like those early disciples.
E. Consider what these teachings mean for you as the preacher and for your congregation as God's disciples now.
F. Invite your hearers to join you in one small step to carry out what you have learned today.
Prayer For The Day
Help us to see your true presence all around us in the familiar, O God, and to hear the nearby voices that speak for you. And equip us to be faithful disciples going out this week to witness to our faith and not to be discouraged by rejection. Give to us the ability to travel light as we carry out your urgent message. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
In an ad for a large insurance company, The Hartford, these words are used, "Bring it on." It is to communicate the idea that whatever life deals out to us, if we have Hartford Insurance we can say, "Bring it on!" Paul could say it, too; not because of Hartford, but because of God's "sufficient grace" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
When flying into Stapleton Airport one morning, we took a very bad jolt. The pilot explained this as being caused by "jet wash," which came from a plane which crossed our path a while back and we could not now see two miles to the left of us. We get "bumped" by the jet wash of others, their good or poor actions before us -- former pastor, lover, employee, family member. When it jolts us, it is a surprise. Being able to understand this can help us adjust to the rough flying conditions.
In a D-Day special on CBS, Dan Rather was talking with Norman Schwarzkopf. He told how the paratroopers were dropped at night and given little metal crickets to use in identifying each other in the dark to find out if a troop were friend or enemy. What can we offer to identify our discipleship and allegiance?
It is told of the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind, that she always spent a few minutes alone in her dressing room before giving a concert. She would strike a clear vibrant note and then pray, "Master, let me sing true tonight." Might our prayer be similar. Let our witness sing clear and true.
