SCROLL DOWN FOR JULY 13 AND JULY 20
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!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Lectionary 15 / Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 55:10-13
Psalm 65:(1-8) 9-13 (Ps. 65:12)
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
The parable of the sower is a push to self-critique and find ourselves in each of the four soils. A number of questions arise:
Are we one or all of those soils?
What is the easiest to identify with? I vote for “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.”
Is this a curving inward?
What cares of the world most pull me away from a life of faith?
o Energy crisis
o Global warming
o Natural Disasters
o Mortgage debacle
o Food shortage
o Unemployment (consider the unemployment in developing countries)
What does it mean to “understand” the Word as well as hear it?
Can we understand it on our own? Would Luther’s explanation to the 3rd article help? (ELW page 1162)
What is the “good fruit”?
o The works of the Father?
o All that Jesus commanded?
o Belief?
o Feeding the poor and seeking justice?
o Obedience to all Jesus commanded?
o Loving God and the neighbor?
o Giving to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal today and/or including the Appeal in our estate planning?
Can we serve God and the world and bear good fruit?
Are those who have wealth doomed, or those who allow their wealth to harden the soil of hearts?
The Rev. Rodger Prois
Associate Director for Mission Advancement, ELCA World Hunger Appeal
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Sunday, July 20, 2008
Lectionary 16 / Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 44:6-8 or Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19
Psalm 86:11-17 (Ps. 86:11)
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
The Romans text gives us a great comment on hope. Liberia, Africa was embroiled in a savage civil war for 16 years. Nearly 10 percent of the population was killed by various combatant groups. Today, the unemployment rate is over 80%, and the average annual income is one of the lowest in Africa. 15,000 United Nations peace-keeping troops, the largest deployment anywhere in the world, remain in this small democracy. When asked what Liberia and his church needs most, Bishop Sumoward Harris replied, “They need to believe, so that they may have hope.”
Some thoughts on Matthew 13:24ff: The parable of weeds amidst the wheat
· Jesus talks about starvation and food insecurity as a military tactic. How common was/is it to withhold food to get what the rulers desire? Is this the end result of embargos and blockades? A dangerous question to ask is, “Has the U.S. ever used this tactic?”
· Those who work the fields are referred to as slaves; they are manual laborers—an interesting thought as to who are included in the Kingdom of God.
· Field workers are in good company; the angels reap the harvest in the parable.
· Is one righteous due to their good works? Silly question…of course not. However, do the righteous do good works? Would the life of the righteous simply be doing Jesus’ commands? Feed, tend, visit, heal, teach, protect, support, comfort, and give to the World Hunger Appeal.
My understanding of a parable is story with the intent of transforming the listener. Jesus used parables (vss. 34 & 35) to lift up what has been hidden. Is the World Hunger ministry too hidden? Do we need a parable to help the members of the ELCA, and others as well, to understand the work we do as a church?
The Rev. Rodger Prois
Associate Director for Mission Advancement, ELCA World Hunger Appeal
