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!

In this short passage, Moses reminds Israel to remember God’s way and keep God’s commandments. In so doing, they will be a witness to those around them (Deut 4:6). The passage is clear that all of God’s commands are to be observed. This presents a good opportunity to preach on those commands we often struggle to keep, namely care for those who are poor and marginalized. Such commands actually are given in the Sinai theophany (Exod 22:21-27) and reiterated throughout the Pentateuch (see, e.g., Lev. 19:9-15; Deut 10:17-19; 15:11; 26:12-13).

The early Christians were notorious for their care for orphans and widows, numerous ancient authors commented on their care for those who were poor and marginalized. In this way they lived out the vision of Deuteronomy—their care for vulnerable people was a witness to their God. How might we reclaim that identity today?

Psalm 15 in many ways reiterates some of the “minor” commands noted above—it encourages us to do what is right, to be on the side of those who are marginalized and vulnerable. People who live life this way “may abide in [God’s] tent” and “dwell on [God’s] holy hill.” Most striking to me is the charge to uphold an oath, even to the point of one’s own “hurt” (v. 4). In our covenant with God, made at baptism and affirmed in confirmation, we commit by the grace of God “to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth” (ELW, p. 236).

James 1:17-27
In this passage, the so-called “epistle of straw” offers for us a challenging vision of “true religion”. The passage is grounded in God’s gracious activity—“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above…” (v. 17). In light of this gracious empowerment, James challenges us to live out the faith, not to just hear the proclamation, but to do it (vv. 22-25). But true religion, religion that is “pure and undefiled” (v. 27), is especially marked by care for orphans and widows, i.e., those who are most vulnerable. What might this look like in our context?

In this odd passage, Jesus and the Pharisees debate purity laws. Verses 14-15 reveal a bit of Jesus’ (or at least Mark’s) wit with a clever double entendre—food comes out a lot dirtier than it goes in! But the gist of Jesus’ message, much akin to the passage in James, is that religion can get in the way of God’s call. Jesus challenges his followers to be pure in their relationships (vv.21-22), not to get caught up in traditions that do not bring life. Is our religion getting in the way of living in right relationships? Have we gotten caught up in debates about purity that have led us to neglect other pressing issues? What would Jesus say about our religious priorities?

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!

The texts this week underscore how God wills and works for the well-being of those who are poor and oppressed. The church is called to be God’s hands and feet in the world, doing this work.

The violence of this passage is striking—“with vengeance, with terrible recompense” God comes to save (v. 4). God’s saving activity brings healing, wholeness, and life. God is adamantly opposed to those things that oppress. Do we have similar disdain and anger towards injustice? Desmond Tutu has a great quote about apathy or neutrality in situations of injustice. He writes, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” Are there any mice with sore tails that challenge our neutrality?

This psalm, while showing God’s care for those who are poor and oppressed, needs to be held in tension with the other texts of the week (and indeed the rest of the Bible). The assertion that there is no help in princes (i.e., people in power) or mortals is a tad pessimistic. It is true that the self-interests of the powerful (including you and me) make progress in hunger and poverty issues difficult and tenuous (witness how the current economic crisis has wiped out ½ the gains we made in poverty reduction over the last ten years). That said, we need to use all the tools available to us—prayer, money, time, and, yes, political activism—to address injustice in the world. Princes and powers have worked hard to make a mess of it, they are necessary to fix it.

This passage in James, much like today’s psalm, reveals a certain cynicism about people with power. This is of course uncomfortable to many of us who, when compared with much of the rest of the world, are people with power. What would James or the psalmist say to us today? Would we be the object of their criticism?

Another way to bring the psalm and James into dialogue about justice issues is to compare their perspective on the need for human action. Psalm 146 is rather pessimistic about trust in princes and mortals—in them “there is no hope” (146:3). James on the other hand, while not shying away from a sharp critique of the wealthy (vv.1-7), seems to assume that human activity is necessary to care for those who are poor and vulnerable—hope in God is not enough, we must act on our faith (vv. 14-17).

The story of the Syrophonecian woman is in some ways problematic. Jesus seems to show a bit of disregard for a poor, marginalized, and needy person when he compares the woman to a dog stealing the children’s food. The woman, undeterred, responds with wit and charm that Jesus could not resist. How often do we turn a blind eye to those in need assuming they are not worth our efforts? How often do we allow our assumptions about others limit our willingness to respond to their needs?

Another lesson from the woman is her bravery and willingness to transcend social barriers (such as gender and ethnicity) on behalf of her daughter. Might she be a model for us in our advocacy with and on behalf of others? Can we find the courage to speak out and act, even if such action means stepping across social and cultural barriers?

The story of the deaf man with a speech impediment offers another way into a discussion on poverty and justice issues. Again, like all of the texts today, this story demonstrates that the work of God is to heal and to make whole. In this passage Jesus challenges the prevailing attitude that touching something or someone dirty makes you dirty. Jesus risks being polluted to make the deaf and mute man whole. What risks do we need to take in the interests of those who are vulnerable? Are we willing to take those risks, trusting that God will do God’s work with our hands?