LISTSERV 16.0 - HUNGERSERMONSTARTERS Archives

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, August 17, 2008
14^th Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8

Psalm 67

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

Matthew 15(10-20)21-28

“Lord, help me.” Mt. 15:25

Since January, rice prices have soared 141 %; last year wheat price rose 77%. These were some of the sharpest rises in food prices ever. Food riots have erupted in countries all along the equator. In Haiti, protesters are chanting “We’re hungry;” people were killed in riots in Cameroon; Egypt’s president ordered the army to start baking bread; the Philippines made hording rice punishable by life imprisonment.[1]

A “silent tsunami” of hunger is sweeping the world’s most desperate nations. Usually, a food crisis is clear and localized. The harvest fails, often because of war or draft or flood, and the burden of the affected region falls heavily on the poor. This crisis is different. It occurs in many countries simultaneously and it is affecting people usually not hit by famines.

“Lord, help me.”

In our human world, abundance does not happen by itself. Abundance is created when we choose to come together to celebrate, remember, and share all that have been given to us. Our weekly gathering in the ministry of word and sacrament is a sign of that abundance.

We need to be humble and respectful of nature, and be aware not to take everything for granted or overstep our limits. We need to ask for a blessing. But we are not used to ask God. When we ask, even in prayer, it is often much more like a request.

We seem to easily forget that God not only created the earth and all that is upon it, but that Creation belongs to God - the land, the water, the animals, the air, the "riches" -- all God's. God is the creator and that creation belongs to God. It begins by saying to the Lord . your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature. It doesn't limit the statement to creatures that provide us with food or those that are commercially valuable.

I wonder what God thinks of our modern attitudes toward the diversity of life, where value is measured not in terms of the secrets the creatures may hold, but in dollars and cents. We are usually so buffered from the natural world with our cozy, modern homes, air conditioning, ability to fly through the air and other wonders, that we can easily sentimentalize nature and taking nature for granted. It is rare that nature breaches the walls of civilization and technology we've set up around us.

Floods, droughts, hurricanes, earthquake, fire. We need to be aware that we are not in control of the elements. We need to be aware that we can throw the seeds into the ground, we can water them, and fertilize them, but we can not make them grow. We can not influence the outcome.

With Christmas only being four month away the words; “Lord, help me.” might get a different meaning; might be directed towards us. The overwhelming majority of Christmas gifts in the U.S. go to friends and relatives who, like their givers, are affluent. For many of us the problem is figuring out what to buy for people who already have everything they need. Those truly in need – poor and hungry people, for example – are lucky to get the crumbs from our table.

God’s Global Barnyard is an opportunity to honor Christ this Christmas season. It is a way to give gifts to family and friends AND to help others. Monetary donations to World Hunger Appeal are mad in honor of those we love – to better the lives of those in need.

Children's Sermon Suggestion

(Preparation: get a big stuffed animal, e.g. a fish and wrapping paper)

Who of you likes to fish? Who of you knows someone who likes to fish? Now I got this big fish on a sale last week and thought I give it as a Christmas gift for a friend who loves to fish. I need a volunteer. “Could you please help me to wrap this fish?” Well it turns out that this fish isn’t easy to wrap, and did you notice, it already start smelling. So, maybe this fish isn’t such good of an idea for my friend for Christmas.

A much better idea would have been to give the money to World Hunger Appeal. (Explain about the work of World Hunger Appeal). I could have given money to get a community fish farm started. For $ 10.00 you could get ten chickens, $30.00 would get you a pig, $50.00 a goat. Now that sounds like a lot of money, but if you decide as a family to just give everyone a nice little present and give as well money away you might even buy a cow for $ 500.00. A cow would help people to feed their children and give them education. It would show that we care for our neighbors, and I think that is what Christmas is all about.

The Rev. Carla Volland

Pastor of the Clarkstown/Lairdsville Parish

[1] The Economist April 19^th -25^th 2008, The silent tsunami, the new face of hunger, p. 32

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Who was Peter? We could describe Peter as a good Lutheran: he sinned boldly – but he believed even more boldly. To understand who Peter was, we have to see on one side the Person, which is described in the Bible and on the other side the leader who is portrayed in the church, portrayed especially as the leader who plays a significant role in the Roman Catholic Church.

For Rome Peter is the authority, chosen to inherit Jesus leadership, the one who is called, and these statements are based on our Gospel text for today. In these verses Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter became a leader and a preacher of tremendous courage and authority. His sermon on the Day of Pentecost led to the conversion of 3,000 people.

We Lutherans picture Peter not as the foundation of the church but being a rock, a stone, or you can even picture him as a brick. And one stone put together with many other stones build the church. Peter was a sinner and became a saint. People like Peter, like us, who are sinners and saints at the same time, who are believers, and also doubters, who have strong faith, but also little faith, loyal, but weak in the same moment, we all are called by Jesus to be the stones of the church. Jesus has the confidence that we can build up the church, on the foundation laid by Jesus.

Matthew describes a lovely fellow, but also impulsive, an uneducated fisherman, but faithful who is dearly loved by Jesus. Jesus demonstrated his respect and his friendship for Peter. We see that throughout the Gospel. Peter, James and John formed the inner circle of disciples who were present with Jesus on such significant occasions as the raising of Jairus’ daughter to life, Jesus transfiguration and his prayers before the arrest in Gethsemane.

It is Peter who is mentioned more frequently in the gospels than any of the other apostles. He accompanied Jesus on his retreats and was with Christ during many of his miracles.

On one occasion Peter saw Jesus walking over water and started to walk out towards him, but then he became frightened and began to sink. Peter, the disciple of little faith illustrates how quickly a huge rock would sink in water. Peter kept on trying, as we all do, and sometimes we swim, and sometimes we sink.

One example that all stones of Christ’s church are shaped differently is the story of

here you might like to choose from Stories of Faith in Action 2008[1]

There are not two stones that are identical. Peter was unique. This fully human Peter having failed but also having had big success has become a big leader for the church. And what God was able to do through him that is God able to do with us. It takes us all to work together, being faithful and breaking down our percussive notions who are good leaders.

Let us be unique stones who stay together, bounded with the love of God, to build a big, strong and beautiful church.

Suggestion for the time with Children:

The Story of Stone Soup[2]

Once upon a time, somewhere in post-war Eastern Europe, there was a great famine in which people jealously hoarded whatever food they could find, hiding it even from their friends and neighbors. One day a wandering soldier came into a village and began asking questions as if he planned to stay for the night.

"There's not a bite to eat in the whole province," he was told. "Better keep moving on."

"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled an iron cauldron from his wagon, filled it with water, and built a fire under it. Then, with great ceremony, he drew an ordinary-looking stone from a velvet bag and dropped it into the water.

By now, hearing the rumor of food, most of the villagers had come to the square or watched from their windows. As the soldier sniffed the "broth" and licked his lips in anticipation, hunger began to overcome their skepticism.

"Ahh," the soldier said to himself rather loudly, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage -- that's hard to beat."

Soon a villager approached hesitantly, holding a cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot. "Capital!" cried the soldier. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of salt beef as well, and it was fit for a king."

The village butcher managed to find some salt beef . . . and so it went, through potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and so on, until there was indeed a delicious meal for all. The villagers offered the soldier a great deal of money for the magic stone, but he refused to sell and traveled on the next day. The moral is that by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved.

The Rev. Carla Volland

Pastor of the Clarkstown/Lairdsville Parish

[1] Stories of faith in Action 2008, ELCA (Augsburg Fortress ISBN 978-6-0002-2077-8 Phone # 800/328-4648)

[2]www.extremelinux.info/stonesoup/stonesoup.html - 3k, accessed July 1, 2008