Category: SSCSJ
Paragraphs from SSCSJ
Paragraphs from Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal for August 19, 2012. Subscribers receive commentary, exegesis, and ideas for crafting the children’s sermon based on the Lectionary texts each week via email. Some subscribers use this resource with Sunday school classes of all ages and some preaching ministers use it as part of their sermon preparation.
Psalm 111
The psalmist celebrates God’s saving acts in the story of Israel: the Exodus from Egypt (v 9a), the giving of manna and quail in the wilderness (v 4a), the covenant at Sinai (v 9b), and the giving of the Promise Land (v 6b). In addition, Ps 111 describes key characteristics of both God and what God does: honor and majesty (v 3a), righteousness (v 3b), wonderful (v 4a), gracious and merciful (4b), faithful and just (v 7a), trustworthy (v 7b), and holy and awesome (v 9c). All of these things are reasons to praise the LORD. Clearly, Ps 111 is to be sung by a community that has experienced blessings from God and is in a secure place. It would not be appropriate for those who are suffering and have experienced God as anything but “gracious and merciful”. Thankfully, the Psalter contains both praise and lament, along with every other emotion in between. Are you in a place where you can sing Ps 111? Is your congregation? What list of Divine actions and attributes would you/your congregation create?
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
A visit from God is exactly what Solomon receives, and the content of this vision is one question: “Ask, what shall I grant you” (I Kgs 3:5b)? This seems to be an unprecedented opportunity; the king can ask God for anything he wants, and God will give him whatever he asks. One might imagine a request for wealth, though as a king, Solomon probably already has all that he needs or wants. Will he ask for power? Again, does a king need more power? Does Solomon want to live a long life? Well, as a wealthy man, he will probably outlive his peers (unless there is a coup). Instead, Solomon thanks God for the divine grace extended to both his father and him. Then, he confesses that he might be a bit too young and inexperienced to rule over a nation at this point. Solomon’s comment in v 8 (“I am a young lad, with no experience in leadership”) is more literally rendered as “I am a lad, [and I] do not know to go out or come in.” This Hebrew idiom reminds me of a couple of sayings we have in English for those we deem either foolish or inexperienced. “She/he does not whether she/he are coming or going.” “He/she does not have sense enough to come in out of the rain.” Whatever translation we use, the implication is clear; Solomon feels unprepared to take his father’s place on the throne. What Solomon really needs, and what he requests, is wisdom. “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people” (v 9)? Again, the Hebrew of this verse is more revealing. The “understanding mind” is literally translated as a “listening heart”; Israel saw the heart as the seat of decision-making. The verb, “judge”, can also have the sense of “leading, guiding, or administering justice” (e.g., the way Deborah “judged” Israel). Solomon wants God to give him what it will take to make good decisions and to govern justly.
Ephesians 5:15-20
As I’ve read the biblical texts this year, a line from the old TV series, “Mission Impossible,” has rattled around in my brain, “Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is . . .” This epistle reading offers the opportunity, if you choose to accept it, to ponder the mystery of wisdom and reflect on one’s own living as a “wise” or “foolish” person. How balanced is your life, overall, between being wise and being foolish? It is easy to name the wise and foolish sitting in the pews next to you, at work, or in your neighborhood. CSPAN, the news divisions of the TV Networks, and 24hr cable news demonstrate the wise and foolish in culture, government, and around the world every day. It is the foolish that attract the most attention and coverage. What does that say about our culture? There is no lack of “foolish” and “wise” within Christianity around the world or in your community. There are as many “hucksters” and believers selling foolish wisdom as there are Christian consumers and consuming seekers trying to fill a void in their lives. What does that say about Christianity? The question underneath the text is about that void and how believers and seekers try to fill it. It is also about with what believers and seekers choose to fill it.
John 6:51-58
Communion, Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper, no matter what you call this part of your worship experience, this gospel text highlights imagery, words, and common arguments that continue in the life of Christendom. Is Jesus speaking in metaphor, is he cannibalizing his tradition, or transubstantiating common elements from daily life into a divine buffet of forgiveness for generations after? The answer depends on your expression of Christian faith and its traditions. But, notice in John that there are no words that consecrate, institute, or mysteriously alter bread and wine into body and blood. Jesus is making comparisons about his being, his presence, and his understanding of God. It is the gospel writers way of incarnating divinity in Christ.
Jesus abides. That idea, “abides”, appears again, as Jesus describes the kind of presence he will have with followers and believers. That presence is like the one Jesus experiences with God, whom he calls, “Father.” Bread and wine were sustaining staples, everyday items, in his context. What are pantry staples for you? In our technological context, it is like Jesus claiming to be “the Cloud,” “Google Drive,” or “Dropbox” — always accessible from any device that is connected just as God is always accessible. That could be the good news of God of which Jesus speaks through the gospel writers that Jesus offers us meaning-filled eternal life for those how have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Paragraphs from SSCSJ
For the August 12 Lectionary Readings
Psalm 130
There are at least two words/phrases, used in Ps 130, that deserve some further explanation. The first is the word used in vv 5 & 6, “soul”, which is how the NRSV translates the Hebrew word, “nephesh”. This Hebrew word is frequently translated as “soul” in Christian-based versions of the Bible, whereas the TaNak, a Jewish translation, most often uses “life” to render nephesh. The latter is a more accurate rendering of nephesh; “soul” reflects a more Greek understanding of a human being, in which the person is made up of a body and a soul. Within the Hebrew Bible, this dichotomy within humans does not occur. In Gen 2:7, when the LORD breathes the breath of life into the first human, the texts says that “[‘adam] became a living being [nephesh]”. In this lament, the psalmist is expressing a deep longing for the LORD, one that is experienced in one’s very “being”. Just as those who are experiencing the depths of despair, which are like a never-ending night, wait for the hope brought by the dawn.2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
While the focus in the story is on the specific brokenness between David and his son, the Wise Woman of Tekoa takes this opportunity to address a broader concern for justice and mercy in the human family and to offer a prophetic word to those who might have ears to hear. In pointing out David’s sin, she also makes important claims about community and about God. She declares that what the king has done has implications for the rest of the people in Israel, “Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God?” The turmoil in his own family prevents the king from assuring the safety and well-being of those under his care. When there is brokenness anywhere within the human family, no one can know wholeness. The Wise Woman also offers an alternative view to that of the human desire for vengeance and violence, which create alienation among God’s children and strains humanity’s relationship with God. Hear the wisdom in her prophetic words: “God will not take away a life; God will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from God’s presence.”Ephesians 4:25-5:2
In the preceding chapters, the author of this epistle offered theological grounding for “Christian” behavior within a community and, now, begins to speaking plainly, “truthfully” to the Ephesian congregation. Though the words of the author are good advice about living in secular culture, his/her words are about life within Christian community and not about living and interacting within Roman culture. It brings to mind the lyric, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”6 And that’s the point, I think, that the author wants to impress upon the Ephesian community of faith. If you cannot alter your life and your behavior with people for whom you share a “seal for the day of redemption,” then you are grieving God. Like many things in life, this is much easier said than done. Creating lists of what is “grieving God”7 is an easy thing to do because it is often closely associated with what is grieving the list creator. It is a serious question to ponder about your participation within secular and religious community. What do think is grieving God about humanity and creation in the 21st century? Often it is said that Christian “disunity” grieves God most.8 I don’t think that is so. Rather, it might be those things carried out in God’s name, or in Jesus‘ name, to cause division and are violent, that are unjust or oppress, which grieve God, if God can be grieved.John 6:35, 41-51
The Gospel of John continues to knead Jesus into the “bread of life.” Having set the major ingredients together in the preceding chapters, the author continues this week to work his ideas, his argument for Jesus, into bread fit to serve both Gentile and Jewish culture. It is helpful to remember that the authentic writings of Paul predate the gospels. Could the gospel writers have had copies of Paul’s letters, or were they working from other texts yet to be discovered? Yes. No. Maybe. An interesting aspect of the Gospel of John is that, where the synoptic gospels have a “last supper” scene, John has a story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. For this gospel writer, this servant image is the preferred way of remembering Jesus and model for doing the things that Jesus does. Have you ever heard this servant message as the heart of an elder’s prayer or as the invitation to communion? For example: “Come, to the table and pick up your towel and basin. That’s the example that Jesus set for you.” But, this does not mean that John’s gospel lacks the language of the last supper because it can be found in this portion of chapter 6. Though not explicitly part of a last supper “liturgy”, as in the other gospels, this “bread of life” finds its way into many communion meditations, liturgies, and prayers. E.g.: “This is the bread of life. Eat and be satisfied.” This chapter seems like a theological transliteration as much as it does a metaphor or a credo about who Jesus is.One approach to this text is to ponder your bread of choices? When the restaurant server comes with the bread tray, and there are choices, what do you choose?15 If there is only one choice do you take the bread or pass it? Whole wheat or whole grain bread is said to be better for the body, but how often do you partake of this healthy option, particularly if you have a choice? If believers ingest Jesus when sharing bread, how are they affected or altered by that nutrition? Is Jesus a memory or an active ingredient, portrayed in your living between servings of bread in sacred community?