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SCROLL DOWN FOR MAY 11 AND MAY 18
Welcome to Hunger Sermon Starters!
The lessons for each Sunday in the church year proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Also derived from a Sunday’s texts are lessons for the Christ-inspired and Christ-like life of God’s people. The comments here will help you find hunger-related threads—sermon starters—among the themes of this day’s texts. (We’re presuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts.) God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true!
May 11, 2008
The Day of Pentecost
(Mother’s Day)
First
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Second
Gospel: John 20:19-23
· The Spirit is poured out on all gathered, and the good news can now be heard in many languages; the Spirit gives us language, energy, enthusiasm for feeding the hungry and freeing the captive, even if the language might seem/be foreign at first
· Psalm 104 is loaded with great images for hunger relief work:
§ God’s wisdom abounds in all of nature
§ All creatures are made by God and belong to God
§ Verse 27 is the crux of the matter: “These all look to you to give them their food in due season.”
§ Notion implied here that when people are not fed, God is somehow absent—or seems to be absent. Do we want to be party to such a situation?
· I Corinthians 12 emphasizes the “variety of gifts” that exist among God’s people. How can each gift be used in the work of feeding the hungry? This Pentecost Day and the gift of the Spirit compel the Church to be bold and varied in its message and methods.
· “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” It is good for hungry people to be fed. It is good for well-fed people to share and be fed in their sharing. It’s not just about what we can do for ‘them’.”
· The Gospel according to John offers us:
§ The peace of the Risen Lord that is ours
§ The gift of the Holy Spirit breathed (blown, spirited) on the disciples
§ We are sent in Jesus’s place with God’s gifting and gracing
For most people in this culture, the mother is the primary “feeder” of the group. Might this Mother’s Day be a time to honor our mothers with a gift to the World Hunger Appeal?
Summertime, which is just around the corner, is often a difficult time for food pantries to keep up with the demand. Soon children will be out of school for the summer, and school-related feeding programs stop. Now parents or caretakers will need to supply three meals a day, and food pantries will be used even more. Consider cash gifts that have greater purchasing power in the hands of a pantry, Second Harvest outlet, or ELCA domestic hunger grant recipient.
Pastor Ellen Arthur
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The Holy Trinity
First Sunday after Pentecost
First
Psalm 8
Second
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
· the first creation account offers us:
§ the “breath” of God that we heard about last week, present at the beginning of all creation
§ the provision of God’s good creation of plenty of food
§ the human, made in God’s image, having “dominion”
· What does being “made in the image of God” mean?
· What does “having dominion” mean?
· Psalm 8 examines the role of the human agent in God’s creation and uses the word “dominion” (Responsibility for? Care of? Choices on using resources?)
· II Corinthians 13 and Matthew 28 give us the Trinitarian formula with which we are so familiar, but Matthew adds the directive to “teach them to obey everything I have commanded you:” i.e, Love the Lord your God with all your heart AND love your neighbor as yourself.
If last week was just too full and busy for a food drive and/or a World Hunger Appeal Sunday, please consider this Sunday. Some communities schedule their annual CROP Walk for the spring of the year. Even if you’ve missed yours, this might still be a good Sunday to celebrate the work of all the agencies and organizations that are in partnership with the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.
This Holy Trinity celebration Sunday sets before us a mystery of our faith that is often best treated as such—a mystery that we accept, live in, and celebrate. At the same time, we can confidently proclaim that God is among us, with us, in us, and for us in all things and ways.
From Share your Bread: A Lectionary-based Planning Guide: “O God of love, given, returned, and shared, we praise you for the creation and for the food you gave to Adam and Eve, a garden of delights. And now, our Abba, feed all your little children from wherever they cry in fear and slavery. Turn this bleak world into your garden again; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pastor Ellen Arthur