Second Sunday In Lent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle B
Seasonal Theme
Jesus makes his way toward Jerusalem and the cross that we might have undeserved forgiveness for our sins.
Theme For The Day
Resisting temptation, taking up the cross, following Jesus, and living the abundant life of living for others.
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Sign Of The Covenant
The change in name here is crucial. Abram means an exalted father. He was out of a royal lineage. The name Abraham in Hebrew sounds like the father of a multitude. This name anticipates descendants and the founder of a nation. Sarai to Sarah, which means princess, was correct, as her seed would produce kings. So here is a covenant with 99-year-old Abraham -- he will be the father of the Jewish nation. First Abraham laughed at such an impossible promise and prediction. Then along came Isaac.
New Testament Lesson
Romans 4:13-25
Abraham And Jesus
This passage begins by harkening back to the Old Testament Lesson of Abraham and Sarah's covenant with God. This is a tough passage to understand because the logic is so flexuous. On the human side we have trust in God. Abraham and Sarah exemplify this. Verses 14-15 are parenthetical. Verses 18-25 tell us the root of faith is the belief that God is able to put righteousness where there is none in us humans ... a righteousness which can overcome death. This was foreshadowed in the birth of Isaac to his near dead parents. Wouldn't it have worked better for Paul to have used the sacrifice of Isaac here to make his point? To sum up Paul's theology, we can state that God creates righteousness where our faith will receive it. The example of this is not only Abraham, but also the death and resurrection of Jesus (vv. 24-25).
The Gospel
Mark 8:31-38
Jesus Foretells His Death And Resurrection
To disciples who had always pictured the promised Messiah as a victor and conqueror, these words seemed incomprehensible! Jesus connected, instead, the Messiah with great suffering and even death. Then Peter had to tempt Jesus again just as satan had in the wilderness after Jesus' baptism. So often it is our close friends who can bring the most persuasive temptation. In verses 34 and 35 Jesus is very honest with the disciples. Discipleship will not be easy. But, of course, Jesus was not asking them to do what he was not willing to do.
To our American culture, there is an important message in verse 34. Disciples deny themselves. This means we do not "do it if it feels good." We must say no to many of our desires and wants and drives. Verse 35 says we give ourselves away as disciples. And in the doing, we discover real life. If we are always thinking of what is safe and practical, our lives will become less and less abundant. Verse 37 asks us to locate our life-values and 38 demonstrates Jesus' confidence in his rejoining God his father.
Preaching Possibilities
Under the theme that, indeed, God makes promises, we can join all three of these readings together.
From: Genesis 17: God keeps his promises to us.
Romans 4: Faith makes the difference. Abraham's faith and our faith in Jesus' resurrection.
Mark 8: Jesus promises suffering and sacrifice and a saved life.
The Gospel could easily be a three part sermon given over three weeks:
Verse 31: Jesus will go to the cross and come out of the grave.
Verse 34: There is a cross to carry for us also.
Verse 35: Abundant life is giving one's life away for others.
Now let's consider the easiest and most powerful approach for this week.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Begin by telling a story of bad advice or a tempting proposal given to you by a friend and why having the friend give it made it so tempting.
B. Continue by telling how Jesus had a similar experience given to him by one of his favorite disciples, Peter. Read verses 31-33.
C. Explain how often Jesus was tempted to not go to the cross but rather claim power and glory on earth.
D. Then tell how in the weeks ahead we will see him go to the cross as he predicted he would have to do. That was the first big shock to the disciples. The second one was denial and sacrifice.
E. Read verse 34. Discipleship involves denial of self and taking up a cross (sacrifice) and following Jesus.
F. Make two points:
1. Taking up a cross means a willingness to sacrifice for our faith. That may mean giving up certain things and doing extra things. We must be careful lest we trivialize this idea of "cross bearing."
2. Following Jesus means living out the priorities and truths he taught us, like: loving enemies, going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, praying for those who hate you and being God's instrument of love in this world.
G. Move to verse 35. We have a great teaching of Jesus here. The abundant life for us disciples of Jesus is in giving ourselves away and not in living to one's self. Jesus would still question a friend who advised us to get what's coming to us, stake out our turf, assert ourselves, demand our rights. Hoarding for ourselves is not joy-filled discipleship. Giving away for others is.
H. Give an example -- see the "Possible Metaphors And Stories" below.
I. Frame your sermon by returning to your opening story of a friend's advice or temptation and tell how it all came out. Tell how Jesus handled Peter's advice and how it came out, too.
Prayer For The Day
Holy God, sometimes it's really hard to accept any discomfort for our religion. Sometimes we are tempted by ourselves and our friends. Sometimes we want to keep everything for ourselves. In these times, give us the will to resist temptation, take up our cross, and live our lives for others. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
When we checked in at the Denver airport, I noticed the tag put on the luggage starts with the ultimate destination. It may get lost or even go a different route -- but ultimately it ends up at the final destination. And how about us? Are we marked for the ultimate destination? Perhaps the sign of the cross at our baptism tags us, too.
Because he was born so close to where we live and because there are many Dimaggios still living here, I took great interest in the book titled Joe Dimaggio, the Hero's Life by Richard Ben Cramer. It's a sad story. He was a man who died alone with all his money piled around him. In 1989 he was commanding forty to fifty thousand dollars a day for autograph and memorabilia sales. From the book this sad sentence: "... for the most part he'd stopped doing anything for free." He never spent a penny of his big pension he got from baseball. After the '89 earthquake he rushed home from Candlestick Stadium, went up into his partially destroyed San Francisco home, and brought out of his room, in a black garbage bag, $600,000 in cash! And he would not let his sister, who lived with him, make long distance calls because of the expense. He fought with his brother Dom and his only son, Joey, Jr., and died alone. Jesus told the disciples, "Those who want to save their life will lose it ..." (Mark 8:35a).
Marvin Kalb on NBC interviewed an old man who had the grazing rights for his cows on the land where the Pope would preside at a mass. Kalb asked, "Would the cows mind not having this grass to graze on tomorrow?" "No," was the answer, "and their milk will be all the sweeter because the Pope was here." Sacrifice makes life richer and more worthwhile.
The call came to the parsonage at 10 p.m. Holy Week. Bill Birch asked when was Lent over and Easter begun? He had counted forty days as up. Bill didn't know not to count the Sundays. I have a hunch he had given up something like beer or sex and was very anxious to resume.
Jesus makes his way toward Jerusalem and the cross that we might have undeserved forgiveness for our sins.
Theme For The Day
Resisting temptation, taking up the cross, following Jesus, and living the abundant life of living for others.
Old Testament Lesson
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Sign Of The Covenant
The change in name here is crucial. Abram means an exalted father. He was out of a royal lineage. The name Abraham in Hebrew sounds like the father of a multitude. This name anticipates descendants and the founder of a nation. Sarai to Sarah, which means princess, was correct, as her seed would produce kings. So here is a covenant with 99-year-old Abraham -- he will be the father of the Jewish nation. First Abraham laughed at such an impossible promise and prediction. Then along came Isaac.
New Testament Lesson
Romans 4:13-25
Abraham And Jesus
This passage begins by harkening back to the Old Testament Lesson of Abraham and Sarah's covenant with God. This is a tough passage to understand because the logic is so flexuous. On the human side we have trust in God. Abraham and Sarah exemplify this. Verses 14-15 are parenthetical. Verses 18-25 tell us the root of faith is the belief that God is able to put righteousness where there is none in us humans ... a righteousness which can overcome death. This was foreshadowed in the birth of Isaac to his near dead parents. Wouldn't it have worked better for Paul to have used the sacrifice of Isaac here to make his point? To sum up Paul's theology, we can state that God creates righteousness where our faith will receive it. The example of this is not only Abraham, but also the death and resurrection of Jesus (vv. 24-25).
The Gospel
Mark 8:31-38
Jesus Foretells His Death And Resurrection
To disciples who had always pictured the promised Messiah as a victor and conqueror, these words seemed incomprehensible! Jesus connected, instead, the Messiah with great suffering and even death. Then Peter had to tempt Jesus again just as satan had in the wilderness after Jesus' baptism. So often it is our close friends who can bring the most persuasive temptation. In verses 34 and 35 Jesus is very honest with the disciples. Discipleship will not be easy. But, of course, Jesus was not asking them to do what he was not willing to do.
To our American culture, there is an important message in verse 34. Disciples deny themselves. This means we do not "do it if it feels good." We must say no to many of our desires and wants and drives. Verse 35 says we give ourselves away as disciples. And in the doing, we discover real life. If we are always thinking of what is safe and practical, our lives will become less and less abundant. Verse 37 asks us to locate our life-values and 38 demonstrates Jesus' confidence in his rejoining God his father.
Preaching Possibilities
Under the theme that, indeed, God makes promises, we can join all three of these readings together.
From: Genesis 17: God keeps his promises to us.
Romans 4: Faith makes the difference. Abraham's faith and our faith in Jesus' resurrection.
Mark 8: Jesus promises suffering and sacrifice and a saved life.
The Gospel could easily be a three part sermon given over three weeks:
Verse 31: Jesus will go to the cross and come out of the grave.
Verse 34: There is a cross to carry for us also.
Verse 35: Abundant life is giving one's life away for others.
Now let's consider the easiest and most powerful approach for this week.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
A. Begin by telling a story of bad advice or a tempting proposal given to you by a friend and why having the friend give it made it so tempting.
B. Continue by telling how Jesus had a similar experience given to him by one of his favorite disciples, Peter. Read verses 31-33.
C. Explain how often Jesus was tempted to not go to the cross but rather claim power and glory on earth.
D. Then tell how in the weeks ahead we will see him go to the cross as he predicted he would have to do. That was the first big shock to the disciples. The second one was denial and sacrifice.
E. Read verse 34. Discipleship involves denial of self and taking up a cross (sacrifice) and following Jesus.
F. Make two points:
1. Taking up a cross means a willingness to sacrifice for our faith. That may mean giving up certain things and doing extra things. We must be careful lest we trivialize this idea of "cross bearing."
2. Following Jesus means living out the priorities and truths he taught us, like: loving enemies, going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, praying for those who hate you and being God's instrument of love in this world.
G. Move to verse 35. We have a great teaching of Jesus here. The abundant life for us disciples of Jesus is in giving ourselves away and not in living to one's self. Jesus would still question a friend who advised us to get what's coming to us, stake out our turf, assert ourselves, demand our rights. Hoarding for ourselves is not joy-filled discipleship. Giving away for others is.
H. Give an example -- see the "Possible Metaphors And Stories" below.
I. Frame your sermon by returning to your opening story of a friend's advice or temptation and tell how it all came out. Tell how Jesus handled Peter's advice and how it came out, too.
Prayer For The Day
Holy God, sometimes it's really hard to accept any discomfort for our religion. Sometimes we are tempted by ourselves and our friends. Sometimes we want to keep everything for ourselves. In these times, give us the will to resist temptation, take up our cross, and live our lives for others. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Possible Metaphors And Stories
When we checked in at the Denver airport, I noticed the tag put on the luggage starts with the ultimate destination. It may get lost or even go a different route -- but ultimately it ends up at the final destination. And how about us? Are we marked for the ultimate destination? Perhaps the sign of the cross at our baptism tags us, too.
Because he was born so close to where we live and because there are many Dimaggios still living here, I took great interest in the book titled Joe Dimaggio, the Hero's Life by Richard Ben Cramer. It's a sad story. He was a man who died alone with all his money piled around him. In 1989 he was commanding forty to fifty thousand dollars a day for autograph and memorabilia sales. From the book this sad sentence: "... for the most part he'd stopped doing anything for free." He never spent a penny of his big pension he got from baseball. After the '89 earthquake he rushed home from Candlestick Stadium, went up into his partially destroyed San Francisco home, and brought out of his room, in a black garbage bag, $600,000 in cash! And he would not let his sister, who lived with him, make long distance calls because of the expense. He fought with his brother Dom and his only son, Joey, Jr., and died alone. Jesus told the disciples, "Those who want to save their life will lose it ..." (Mark 8:35a).
Marvin Kalb on NBC interviewed an old man who had the grazing rights for his cows on the land where the Pope would preside at a mass. Kalb asked, "Would the cows mind not having this grass to graze on tomorrow?" "No," was the answer, "and their milk will be all the sweeter because the Pope was here." Sacrifice makes life richer and more worthwhile.
The call came to the parsonage at 10 p.m. Holy Week. Bill Birch asked when was Lent over and Easter begun? He had counted forty days as up. Bill didn't know not to count the Sundays. I have a hunch he had given up something like beer or sex and was very anxious to resume.
