Seventh Sunday After The Epiphany
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle A
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 (C, E); Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 (RC)
The title of this book is taken from the Greek and Latin versions of the Hebrew Bible. It has to do with Levitical priests and their duties. The text is a part of the Holiness Code. Here the instruction is given on behalf of God that, inasmuch as God is holy, the priests and followers of God are to be holy also. In the later verses cited, this holiness is defined as the absence of hatred toward one's brother and a willingness to reason with others where there is disagreement. They are never to hold a grudge, much less seek vengeance against a member of their community. Rather, they are to love their neighbors as themselves.
A first reaction might be to disapprove the limiting of such lofty rules of conduct to one's own people. However, this was a major step in an important direction toward peace on earth. Jesus would later enlarge on this to include everyone as neighbors. But we may celebrate this exalted code of conduct, and those who acted in this way may very well have been examples to people of other nations.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 (C, E); 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 (RC)
Paul evidences his love/hate relationship with the Corinthians. It was a place which brings to mind many of our large cities in which we find both excellent people and a large lawless element. No doubt some of the Corinthians, perhaps essentially good people, were from time to time tempted into what Paul felt was immoral and unethical conduct. He set them straight. The foundation of the church which he organized is Jesus Christ. He reminds the people that, in microcosm, each of them represents that church. Each person is a temple to the Lord. God dwells in each person, and misuse of the body (there was probably a good deal of drinking and carousing going on) was an offense. Also, anyone who misled another person into such conduct, or who in any way contributed to the wrongful conduct of another, or who caused injury to another including injury of emotional or spiritual being, was in serious danger of divine retribution.
Paul concludes this portion of his letter with yet another reference to the importance of his people giving their primary loyalty to Christ, not to some human leader, even Paul himself.
Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48 (C, RC, E)
A Christian never seeks revenge. We are, in fact, to turn the other cheek. That, for most of us, is a tall order. I recently saw a bumper sticker which read: "I don't get mad, I get even." But we are not to do that. We are to love our neighbors, which means that as much as I can, I am to love whomever I meet, as well as my literal neighbors. I happen to have a neighbor who kept two barking dogs. On pleasant summer mornings, I like to sit on my screened-in porch and read the paper while sipping coffee. Those two dogs made that no longer pleasant. I absolutely did not love those neighbors, not the way I love my friends. My love took the form of realizing that they had two children who loved those dogs, so I refrained from asking them to do anything about the problem. Sometimes that's the best we can do. But we are to do our best.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "What Wondrous Love"
Text: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
Theme: If one were to preach on this, emphasis should include an understanding of the fact that the word of Jesus had not yet been heard. Alongside ancient, warlike customs, this was a marvelous departure. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could even obey such an injunction among our own community (though granted, we as followers of Jesus understand it must reach further)?
The streets of many of our cities almost literally run with blood. Hatred flares again and again in so many neighborhoods. Those of us who live a distance from such tragic realities are still called to practice this code. It's so easy to admire and respect the folks across the way who more or less embrace our own customs and values. But it's also easy to make swift, negative judgments about those whose ways are drastically different. The first step in overcoming such judgments is an inward battle, an effort to care, to look for solutions, to understand.
I once interviewed some welfare mothers on a television show. There were three of them. Contrary to my assumptions, they were beautiful people. They weren't lazy and irresponsible. These were caring people who were trapped in miserable circumstances, yet each with pride and courage was struggling against her fate. Of course there are the druggies, the hate-filled. Just last week our police arrested a 37-year-old woman who was selling her eleven-year-old daughter into prostitution on the streets. But I have begun to understand that those first three women are the majority. They need not judgment, but love. They are my neighbors every bit as much as is the businessman next door.
Title: "The Body As A Temple"
Text: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Theme: It might be timely to pick up on the idea of the body as a temple. These days, fitness and dieting are popular. That's all to the good. But alcohol excess, drug addiction, and overeating are a few of the destructive habits which are popular in our time. A recent report in Newsweek magazine reported: "In 1980, according to government surveys, about a quarter of all adults were too fat for their height; today it's a third." The report contends that 59 percent of all men and 49 percent of all women are overweight. The report continued that fitness is a better measure of future longevity than is weight.
My purpose is not to speak as a health specialist, and certainly, a subject such as this must be handled diplomatically. Yet, the fact is, our bodies are a precious gift and if God dwells therein, then a Christian has an obligation to work toward health. The good news is that God will help in this endeavor. It involves control of drinking, management of lifestyle, and includes some thinking about values: what is, finally, important? Is the sixteen-hour day of many people today as important as good family life, creative leisure pursuits, togetherness with spouses and good friends? A recent news article pointed out that business lunches are becoming a thing of the past as growing numbers of younger, struggling workers are grabbing a sandwich at their desks so they don't lose work time. Much of the breakdown in marriage and family life is traceable today to this obsessive effort to succeed. Is it worth it in the long run?
Title: "On Being Perfect"
Text: Matthew 5:38-48
Theme: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect? That requires some quick explanations. Of course the preacher realizes that Jesus didn't mean we are to be perfect as we ordinarily understand the word today. To be perfect meant to be right for a purpose or task. A hammer is perfect for driving nails. So, we are the "hammer," and the Spirit of love is, as it were, the "nails." Poor analogy, perhaps, but Jesus' point was that we are to do what we were created to do, we are to fulfill our primary purpose: we are to love other people, "our neighbors." Likewise, we are loved by God.
1. God loves us without conditions. "Just as I am, without one plea." That doesn't mean God isn't hoping I'll decide to become a better person. Still, I am totally loved with all my flaws. This word needs to be heard by some people especially, as they struggle with self-worth. The best way to cause a wayward child to do better is to compliment his or her achievements and good points, no matter how few there may be. Criticizing flaws does very little good. The same is true of us all.
2. Since I am not fully able to love unconditionally, how can I love others as this injunction requests? "Love" needs to be defined. We all know the definition of agape, which is not the same as feeling love. I can will the best for another person. I can't control whom I like and whom I don't like. There are a few people I prefer not to be around. They're not bad. Our personalities just don't mesh. But I can be kind to them. I can will the best for them: not criticize behind their backs, not undercut them with the boss or with mutual friends, not try to thwart their efforts to be happy.
3. I am to pass such love along as well as I can, given my personality and limitations. I'm very, very far from perfection in its usual sense. I'm perfect, according to Jesus, in the sense that I am here to be a lover of others. I recently heard a man whom I admire speak in glowing terms of a mutual professional person. He said only words of commendation. I happen to be privy to that man's private feelings and know he doesn't really like the person mentioned. But when asked, he spoke in love.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
During World War II, I was a teenager, drafted into the United States Army in time to take part in the invasion of Normandy with an Infantry Division, the 90th. On July 7, 1944, our Company was defeated by a battalion of German paratroopers. It so happened that one of the members of our unit was a Mexican, a man who hated army life and spent most of his time playing a tinny little guitar and singing wistful songs of home in Spanish. I didn't like him. Few of us did. We never socialized with him and used to wonder if maybe he shouldn't just be sent home.
On this day, as our unit moved through a small town, a heavy artillery barrage fell directly on us, inflicting about ninety percent casualties, including me. Fighting raged around us; I lay in the middle of the street, too badly wounded to get out of the barrage. Suddenly, I felt myself gathered up in strong arms, carried to comparative safety inside a building. As I looked into the face of the man who had risked his own safety to bring me to safety, I was stunned to see that it was that Mexican man. The lesson I learned that day remains with me to this minute. I had judged, and I was wrong.
____________
In 1995, a random survey of college students on spring break was done on the beaches of Florida. Nearly a thousand young people were interviewed. Some of the findings? 32 percent used marijuana. The young men averaged eighteen drinks per day. The women downed ten per day. 43 percent of the women admitted to being drunk every day of the break. About 75 percent of the men said they were drunk at least once each day.
Those of us who have been around for a while realize that many of those kids will break those habits as they finish school. But many will not. Among other considerations is the damage being done to their bodies.
____________
Lynn Bourbeau awoke to the realization her husband was trying to kill her. Her throat was slashed. Somehow she avoided death and her husband was imprisoned. Less than a month later, she learned that her "baby," her fourteen-year-old son, was conspiring with her husband to finish the job. Prosecutors said he had hidden his father's gun and had offered a man fifteen hundred dollars to kill his mother.
Associated Press journalist Lindsey Turner, writing from Chicago, then wrote this: "Yet she stood by her son through his trial last month in juvenile court, even through testimony that he had told a friend he had hoped to see her in her coffin. And this week, after he was sentenced to five years' probation, the most lenient possible, she opened her arms to welcome him home. 'That's where he belongs,' Bourbeau softly told DuPage County Judge Michael Burke ... 'I don't love him any less,' she said." Talk about unconditional love.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 119:33-40 (C) -- The Psalmist prays that God will lead him in a way that will bring him a reward.
Psalm 71 (E) -- I have seen God's hand through a lifetime.
Prayer Of The Day
Open our eyes to enable us in seeing those nearby who need our help. Enable us to overcome our selfishness, that we might begin to live by your call to true love. Give us strength to do what needs to be done for someone else this day. Amen.
Lesson 1: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 (C, E); Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 (RC)
The title of this book is taken from the Greek and Latin versions of the Hebrew Bible. It has to do with Levitical priests and their duties. The text is a part of the Holiness Code. Here the instruction is given on behalf of God that, inasmuch as God is holy, the priests and followers of God are to be holy also. In the later verses cited, this holiness is defined as the absence of hatred toward one's brother and a willingness to reason with others where there is disagreement. They are never to hold a grudge, much less seek vengeance against a member of their community. Rather, they are to love their neighbors as themselves.
A first reaction might be to disapprove the limiting of such lofty rules of conduct to one's own people. However, this was a major step in an important direction toward peace on earth. Jesus would later enlarge on this to include everyone as neighbors. But we may celebrate this exalted code of conduct, and those who acted in this way may very well have been examples to people of other nations.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 (C, E); 1 Corinthians 3:16-23 (RC)
Paul evidences his love/hate relationship with the Corinthians. It was a place which brings to mind many of our large cities in which we find both excellent people and a large lawless element. No doubt some of the Corinthians, perhaps essentially good people, were from time to time tempted into what Paul felt was immoral and unethical conduct. He set them straight. The foundation of the church which he organized is Jesus Christ. He reminds the people that, in microcosm, each of them represents that church. Each person is a temple to the Lord. God dwells in each person, and misuse of the body (there was probably a good deal of drinking and carousing going on) was an offense. Also, anyone who misled another person into such conduct, or who in any way contributed to the wrongful conduct of another, or who caused injury to another including injury of emotional or spiritual being, was in serious danger of divine retribution.
Paul concludes this portion of his letter with yet another reference to the importance of his people giving their primary loyalty to Christ, not to some human leader, even Paul himself.
Gospel: Matthew 5:38-48 (C, RC, E)
A Christian never seeks revenge. We are, in fact, to turn the other cheek. That, for most of us, is a tall order. I recently saw a bumper sticker which read: "I don't get mad, I get even." But we are not to do that. We are to love our neighbors, which means that as much as I can, I am to love whomever I meet, as well as my literal neighbors. I happen to have a neighbor who kept two barking dogs. On pleasant summer mornings, I like to sit on my screened-in porch and read the paper while sipping coffee. Those two dogs made that no longer pleasant. I absolutely did not love those neighbors, not the way I love my friends. My love took the form of realizing that they had two children who loved those dogs, so I refrained from asking them to do anything about the problem. Sometimes that's the best we can do. But we are to do our best.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "What Wondrous Love"
Text: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
Theme: If one were to preach on this, emphasis should include an understanding of the fact that the word of Jesus had not yet been heard. Alongside ancient, warlike customs, this was a marvelous departure. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could even obey such an injunction among our own community (though granted, we as followers of Jesus understand it must reach further)?
The streets of many of our cities almost literally run with blood. Hatred flares again and again in so many neighborhoods. Those of us who live a distance from such tragic realities are still called to practice this code. It's so easy to admire and respect the folks across the way who more or less embrace our own customs and values. But it's also easy to make swift, negative judgments about those whose ways are drastically different. The first step in overcoming such judgments is an inward battle, an effort to care, to look for solutions, to understand.
I once interviewed some welfare mothers on a television show. There were three of them. Contrary to my assumptions, they were beautiful people. They weren't lazy and irresponsible. These were caring people who were trapped in miserable circumstances, yet each with pride and courage was struggling against her fate. Of course there are the druggies, the hate-filled. Just last week our police arrested a 37-year-old woman who was selling her eleven-year-old daughter into prostitution on the streets. But I have begun to understand that those first three women are the majority. They need not judgment, but love. They are my neighbors every bit as much as is the businessman next door.
Title: "The Body As A Temple"
Text: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Theme: It might be timely to pick up on the idea of the body as a temple. These days, fitness and dieting are popular. That's all to the good. But alcohol excess, drug addiction, and overeating are a few of the destructive habits which are popular in our time. A recent report in Newsweek magazine reported: "In 1980, according to government surveys, about a quarter of all adults were too fat for their height; today it's a third." The report contends that 59 percent of all men and 49 percent of all women are overweight. The report continued that fitness is a better measure of future longevity than is weight.
My purpose is not to speak as a health specialist, and certainly, a subject such as this must be handled diplomatically. Yet, the fact is, our bodies are a precious gift and if God dwells therein, then a Christian has an obligation to work toward health. The good news is that God will help in this endeavor. It involves control of drinking, management of lifestyle, and includes some thinking about values: what is, finally, important? Is the sixteen-hour day of many people today as important as good family life, creative leisure pursuits, togetherness with spouses and good friends? A recent news article pointed out that business lunches are becoming a thing of the past as growing numbers of younger, struggling workers are grabbing a sandwich at their desks so they don't lose work time. Much of the breakdown in marriage and family life is traceable today to this obsessive effort to succeed. Is it worth it in the long run?
Title: "On Being Perfect"
Text: Matthew 5:38-48
Theme: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect? That requires some quick explanations. Of course the preacher realizes that Jesus didn't mean we are to be perfect as we ordinarily understand the word today. To be perfect meant to be right for a purpose or task. A hammer is perfect for driving nails. So, we are the "hammer," and the Spirit of love is, as it were, the "nails." Poor analogy, perhaps, but Jesus' point was that we are to do what we were created to do, we are to fulfill our primary purpose: we are to love other people, "our neighbors." Likewise, we are loved by God.
1. God loves us without conditions. "Just as I am, without one plea." That doesn't mean God isn't hoping I'll decide to become a better person. Still, I am totally loved with all my flaws. This word needs to be heard by some people especially, as they struggle with self-worth. The best way to cause a wayward child to do better is to compliment his or her achievements and good points, no matter how few there may be. Criticizing flaws does very little good. The same is true of us all.
2. Since I am not fully able to love unconditionally, how can I love others as this injunction requests? "Love" needs to be defined. We all know the definition of agape, which is not the same as feeling love. I can will the best for another person. I can't control whom I like and whom I don't like. There are a few people I prefer not to be around. They're not bad. Our personalities just don't mesh. But I can be kind to them. I can will the best for them: not criticize behind their backs, not undercut them with the boss or with mutual friends, not try to thwart their efforts to be happy.
3. I am to pass such love along as well as I can, given my personality and limitations. I'm very, very far from perfection in its usual sense. I'm perfect, according to Jesus, in the sense that I am here to be a lover of others. I recently heard a man whom I admire speak in glowing terms of a mutual professional person. He said only words of commendation. I happen to be privy to that man's private feelings and know he doesn't really like the person mentioned. But when asked, he spoke in love.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
During World War II, I was a teenager, drafted into the United States Army in time to take part in the invasion of Normandy with an Infantry Division, the 90th. On July 7, 1944, our Company was defeated by a battalion of German paratroopers. It so happened that one of the members of our unit was a Mexican, a man who hated army life and spent most of his time playing a tinny little guitar and singing wistful songs of home in Spanish. I didn't like him. Few of us did. We never socialized with him and used to wonder if maybe he shouldn't just be sent home.
On this day, as our unit moved through a small town, a heavy artillery barrage fell directly on us, inflicting about ninety percent casualties, including me. Fighting raged around us; I lay in the middle of the street, too badly wounded to get out of the barrage. Suddenly, I felt myself gathered up in strong arms, carried to comparative safety inside a building. As I looked into the face of the man who had risked his own safety to bring me to safety, I was stunned to see that it was that Mexican man. The lesson I learned that day remains with me to this minute. I had judged, and I was wrong.
____________
In 1995, a random survey of college students on spring break was done on the beaches of Florida. Nearly a thousand young people were interviewed. Some of the findings? 32 percent used marijuana. The young men averaged eighteen drinks per day. The women downed ten per day. 43 percent of the women admitted to being drunk every day of the break. About 75 percent of the men said they were drunk at least once each day.
Those of us who have been around for a while realize that many of those kids will break those habits as they finish school. But many will not. Among other considerations is the damage being done to their bodies.
____________
Lynn Bourbeau awoke to the realization her husband was trying to kill her. Her throat was slashed. Somehow she avoided death and her husband was imprisoned. Less than a month later, she learned that her "baby," her fourteen-year-old son, was conspiring with her husband to finish the job. Prosecutors said he had hidden his father's gun and had offered a man fifteen hundred dollars to kill his mother.
Associated Press journalist Lindsey Turner, writing from Chicago, then wrote this: "Yet she stood by her son through his trial last month in juvenile court, even through testimony that he had told a friend he had hoped to see her in her coffin. And this week, after he was sentenced to five years' probation, the most lenient possible, she opened her arms to welcome him home. 'That's where he belongs,' Bourbeau softly told DuPage County Judge Michael Burke ... 'I don't love him any less,' she said." Talk about unconditional love.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 119:33-40 (C) -- The Psalmist prays that God will lead him in a way that will bring him a reward.
Psalm 71 (E) -- I have seen God's hand through a lifetime.
Prayer Of The Day
Open our eyes to enable us in seeing those nearby who need our help. Enable us to overcome our selfishness, that we might begin to live by your call to true love. Give us strength to do what needs to be done for someone else this day. Amen.
