Paragraphs from SSCSJ
A few paragraphs from Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal for Jan 20, 2013.
Psalm 36:5-10
How would you describe the “steadfast love” of God to a stranger or someone in your Sunday school class? Imagine this as your assignment before you come to the sacred steps this week to talk with the children about this text. The writer of Psalm 36 provided several descriptions of God’s steadfast love (e.g., “precious”, “extends to the heavens”), but the psalmist never actually defines what is meant by God’s steadfast love. Is it beyond expression or understanding, perhaps? The “Kairos CoMotion Lectionary Dialogue” suggests that, in Ps 36, “love is a given background”1 for understanding God. I can affirm that image for God and God’s love for creation. But, “steadfast love” is something very different. In Hebrew, the word translated here as “steadfast love” (hesed) is primarily used only to describe God’s relationship to God’s people. It is a passionate and fierce love; it is a protective love like that of a mother bear robbed of her cubs (Hosea 13:8). God’s “steadfast love” endures forever and refuses to give up on God’s creation (or us).
Isaiah 62:1-5
Out of the laments of mourning and despair, a prophet stepped out from among the people and proclaimed words of encouragement. Without denying their pain and disillusionment, this messenger of God was called to preach hope. These promises of God, spoken by the prophet, were indeed good news. This week’s reading from Isaiah (62:1-5) specifically describes the future restoration of Zion/Jerusalem. In the midst of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the prophet spoke of the day when Jerusalem would once again be a city that shone with Divine presence. Its builders would be well-pleased with the result of their hard work. Until that day when Zion received its vindication and was given back its dignity (v 2), the voice behind Isaiah 62:1-5 encouraged the people not to give-up, holding before them a vision of what could be (v 3).
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Many Christians, primarily evangelical and pentecostal, focus on the last five gifts listed: healing, working miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, and various kinds of tongues. Why do some Christians assign more value to these, rather than the first two, which explicitly mention speaking “wisdom and knowledge”? Is it easier to discern gifts of the Spirit that include a “leap of faith,” rather than wisdom or knowledge, because the latter can be assessed or measured?
John 2:1-11
I read the Gospel of John as if it is a theological handbook for believers, specifically new believers, rather than an account about the life, times, and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The author of John is writing from an overt “Christ of faith” perspective.10 As such, the author is making a case for the divinity of the pre-existent Jesus (metaphor of the “Word with God” in chapter 1). This first act of Jesus’ public ministry, performing a miracle, begins the case for “incarnate God” in Jesus. Chapters 1 and 2 set-up a foreshadowing of “days” that culminates in 2:1 with, “On the third day.” At this wedding party, on the third day, which if you look closely is either the fourth day in John’s story or a continuance of the previous day [or the third day of the wedding feast], a metamorphosis happens that involves Jesus. This scene is John’s hint that, when you hang around with Jesus, things change. What has changed in your life, since you became a follower of Jesus?