SCROLL DOWN FOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

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!

Numbers 11:4-6,10-16,24-29

This passage starts with a complaint about lack of food and ends with a complaint about two prophesying figures. The complaint about the food is a parallel to the Exodus 16 passage that came up in the lectionary last month. It features here in more detail, both in specificity regarding the food itself (vv.4-9) and in Moses’ complaint to God. In verses 10-16 Moses makes the case that he is bearing most of the burden, and that God has not been fulfilling what seems to be a more motherly role. The connection to the reality of hunger in the world today is illustrated well here. Often the burden for providing for a family in need lies on individuals who have limited resources. It is notable that God responds by giving some of the spirit to others so that the burden may be lifted, once again demonstrating God’s responsiveness and our consistent desires.

The response shows that God does not desire one person to share the burden, but the message isn’t simply “power in numbers” either. The rhetorical question in verse 23 redirects us, “Is the LORD’s power limited?” The challenge in our congregations and communities, should we find ourselves in the wilderness of frustration or overwhelmed by the needs around us, is to search for where God’s power has been distributed and put our trust in God as the source of abundance.

Esther 7:1-6,9-10; 9:20-22

The event chronicled in Esther inaugurates a holiday “for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.” Christian tradition has the Lord’s Supper as an event that leads us from our worship communities into the world, as we witness to Jesus’ body and blood given for all. The connection between the sacrament and responding to hunger and poverty in the world should not be missed or taken for granted. It is an invitation and to us to see how God’s power is active in the world.

James 5:13-20

The instruction that James offers his audience at the end of this letter concerns the prayer of faith. Earlier in the book James argues about the inadequacy of faith without works. With the “prayer of faith,” perhaps here the connection is only implicit; the argument being that the prayer of faith is efficacious. In what ways can our prayers help the hungry and poor? It may be assumed that prayer is an easy (or safe) response to hunger, poverty, or pain. How might this passage help us think about prayer as an active response?  

Mark 9:38-50

The disciples’ response to the man casting out demons shows they have not understood what Jesus meant in the previous section when he tells them that whoever wants to be first must be last. This point is important for understanding discipleship. But the conversation shifts slightly from characteristics of discipleship to a series of warnings.

Sin gets in the way of God’s kingdom. As can be expected, Jesus has harsh words for those who would impede God’s mission in the world. Similarly, if God’s kingdom is bringing justice into the world, these warnings would be properly given to those who would impede the livelihood of the “little ones” who Jesus has in mind here. Along with seeking relief for those who face hunger and poverty in the world, as Christians we are to be on guard for the stumbling blocks as well. This frees us to speak against systems and behaviors that are stumbling blocks to those who seek a full life in Christ.