LISTSERV 16.0 - HUNGERSERMONSTARTERS Archives

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 first verse in this passage is striking, given the hope we often place on the nearness of God. But God’s distance is used here to emphasize perspective rather than preference. From this vantage point God observes who is honest and who is fabricating. The false prophets are attacked here for peddling lies disguised as truth and misleading the people of God. We should not think that false messages are absent from our day, and if anything this passage invites us to evaluate the messages that guide our decisions.

Just before this passage the prophet chastises false prophets who say “it shall be well with you” to those who “stubbornly follow their own stubborn hearts.” (23:17). Comfort is given where redirection is needed. When it comes to how we address hunger and poverty, do we recognize where we have settled in comfort and where we seek redirection?

This psalm is a plea for God’s justice to be made known, especially in the lives of the weak, orphaned, and destitute. It may be obvious that when the psalmist appeals to God, the appeal is made to the highest authority. Though prayer is crucial, it is helpful to keep in mind that it may not be the only means of appeal. Similarly, recognizing injustice moves us to recognize various levels of authority (local, state, national) and to direct our appeals appropriately.

The author of Hebrews recounts the deeds of those “of whom the world was not worthy,” but comes to the conclusion that they, though great in faith, still “did not receive what was promised.” Hope is not held in these individual acts, though they may be a million points of light in a dark sky. Instead we are reminded of the great cloud of witnesses, a blessed community that looks to Jesus as pioneer, author, and perfecter.

Our ministries and outreaches, however innovative, effective or inspiring, stand to be shaped by God in Christ, who blesses the church. How does reminding ourselves of this greater community, this cloud of witnesses, inspire or inform our work?

Here we see Jesus furthest from peace and reconciliation than we would like. These middle chapters of Luke suggest Jesus sees both urgency and a weightier conclusion to his mission than the crowds have anticipated. It is as if following him is no longer safe for spectators. In what tone do we usually hear this passage, and how does that affect how we respond to it? What do we see in our community that calls for an urgent response?