SCROLL DOWN FOR JUNE 3 AND JUNE 10
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 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 assuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts). God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true!
June 3, 2012 (Trinity Sunday, First Sunday after Pentecost)
Isaiah 6:1-8
The last line of the final verse of this lection (verse 8) is quite familiar to us: “Here am I; send me!” The preceding and following verses are considerably more obscure. Indeed, when it becomes known that the rest of sixth chapter of Isaiah asks the prophet to speak in ways that people will not understand, the God’s call becomes quite sobering and confusing. No wonder Isaiah asks, “How long, O Lord?” How long indeed? How long will it be before people realize that following the way of God will not necessarily be easy. In fact, true discipleship takes God’s people directly into the broken, dark places of the world.
Some ideas to consider:
- What does it mean to answer “Here am I; send me!” This is easy to say and very hard to do. How do we discern what it is that God calls us to do? How do we persevere?
- If we have heard the call to attend to the poor and the hungry, how do we know how best to give aid? What is the difference between emergency relief and long term development aid? How are these two kinds of aid related?
- How can the answer “Here am I; send me!” extend to the way we understand and engage the world? How do economic, political, and social realities come together to perpetuate hunger? How can economic, political and social realities bring and end to hunger?
- Scripture tells us all kinds of ideas that we do not understand. What does it mean that the last are first and the first are last? What does it mean that the greatest of all must be a servant? What difference does it make to hear that the poorest among us are to be held up and blessed?
Psalm 29 (2)
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1- 17
The story of Nicodemus is sophisticated, just as John’s theology is sophisticated. Imbedded in this story are central themes in Johannine theology: the son of man is sent as evidence of God’s love; the son of man will be “lifted up”; and the implications of those actions for the human family.
Some ideas to ponder:
- John 3:16, part of this lection, is quite well-known and quite well-used. It is doubtful whether the majority of those who know and use it are able to articulate why it is an important text. That task could be an important job for a preacher. What does it mean to say that “God loves the world…”? What does that suggest about how we are to interact with and function within the world?
- Verse 16 is an all-encompassing statement. It does not say that “God loves part of the world…” or that “God loves the prosperous in the world…” or that “God loves the vibrant, life-giving part of the world.” God loves the world. If God loves the places where childhood disease claim the lives of too many; and the places where the environment is parched, stripped of its vitality; and the places where the people close their eyes to the plight of the poor, what does that mean for us and how we live?
- What does “eternal life” mean? John’s gospel makes it clear that eternal life is not a statement of quantity but of character. What is the character of eternal life? How does the promise of eternal life exist in the present and become a statement about the future? How can we proclaim eternal life without perpetuating the notion that the present is only temporary and outside the realm of God’s concern? Preachers need to be cautious not to suggest that we just need to wait for some time off in the future when God will make all things right. A notion such as this will define poverty and hunger as inevitable and acceptable since it is only temporary. It is difficult to imagine that God who loves the world would find any measure of hunger and poverty acceptable.
- This Gospel text makes a deliberate connection between salvation and judgment. Even though the human family lives within the promise of salvation, that does not exclude the reality of judgment. The promise of eternal life and the reality of judgment coexist. The reality is that there are choices to make regarding how we will live within God’s beloved world.
Stacy Johnson
Author of ELCA World Hunger’s curriculum, Taking Root: Hunger Causes, Hunger Hopes
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June 10, 2012 (Second Sunday after Pentecost)
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 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 assuming you have already done your exegetical work on the texts). God bless your proclamation (and teaching) of what is most certainly true!
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Scholarly consensus seems to be that Ezekiel lived during Israel’s exile in Babylon, in the early decades of the sixth century BCE. This was a time of great despair and hopelessness for the children of Israel. The prophet responded to the end of life as Israel knew it and a completely unknown future. Ezekiel makes a powerful claim. He reminds Israel that everything that happens, happens under the rule of God. The experience of exile is not all there is because God continues to be active in the world.
Some ideas to keep in mind:
- Consider the connection between verse 24 and the reality and hopelessness of hunger: “I bring low the high tree, and I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.” What does verse 24 say to those who hunger? What does this verse say to those who are not hungry?
- How do we participate in what God is doing and “will accomplish”?
- Hopelessness and despair are great obstacles in combating hunger and poverty. What does hope for the future mean for a community struck by poverty? What form does hope take for a family living out of its car? How can hope be realized?
- An interesting question to ponder is this: What do starving people need more—a meal or a sermon about hope? Why?
Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15 (12)
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17
Mark 4:26-34
Jesus was both direct and imaginative in his speech. Jesus did not hesitate to give pointed directions, such as in his clear command to “Go and do likewise,” to be like the Good Samaritan. Jesus also did not shy away from creative, imaginative speech when necessary. The Mark 4:26-34 lection is a case in point. Jesus did not give a lecture about the nature of the Dominion of God. Rather Jesus presents us with an image of the Dominion of God. We can then interact with the image, consider it from every angle, and hopefully craft a faithful response.
Some ideas to keep in mind:
- The Dominion of God (or Reign of God, or Kingdom of God, or Way of God) is not a plot of geography. Rather, it is a vision of what things are like when they are as God intends. A very logical question to ask is how hunger and poverty relate to God’s intentions. What are God’s people to do when they are confronted with realities contrary to God’s way?
- The parable suggests that like a small mustard seed, the Dominion of God grows into significance from seemingly small beginnings. A sermon-worthy topic would be to explore how small things are able to make great impact in addressing hunger and poverty. For example, consider the far-reaching implications of one well. Safe drinking water reduces the risk of water-born illness, a great contributor to hunger. A well provides irrigation for crops that can diversify a family’s diet. A nearby well can erase the need for people, often children, walking long distances to secure water, and have time to go to school. Literacy brings with it the potential to escape hunger and poverty. Out of a small well comes great possibility.
- Contained within the philosophy of micro-credit is the notion that great opportunity arises for individuals, families, and communities when they have access to small loans. Micro-credit has an amazing track record of contributing to economic and financial stability. For a succinct discussion of micro-credit see the “Background for Leaders” in Session 4 in Taking Root (ELCA World Hunger’s curriculum).
- Pay particular attention to the connection between the Ezekiel 17 text and the Gospel text. It may well be that Jesus helps us to see that greatness is not always defined in predictable ways. A mustard bush is great, but not in the way that tall trees are great. Perhaps we need to define greatness according to God’s way and not according to the world’s way. Often today we find attribute greatness to those with economic power and many possessions. Those with little economic power and opportunity are disregarded. Today’s parable asks us to rethink our ideas of greatness and importance. When we do, we just might hear the relief of those left in hunger and poverty…those typically considered unimportant.
Stacy Johnson
Author of ELCA World Hunger’s curriculum, Taking Root: Hunger Causes, Hunger Hopes