Subscribers,
I apologize for the mistake. The current starters are pasted into this email.
Regards,
David Creech
SCROLL DOWN FOR MAY 15 AND MAY 22
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!
May 15, 2011 (Fourth Sunday of Easter)
During the Easter season the lessons all revolve around the Resurrection and
new life! The texts celebrate the new and just things God is doing on behalf of
all that God cherishes, in the creative order as well as in human society.
Sometimes we place the highest emphasis on what Easter means in terms of
our own eternal destinies as believers. Yet it’s also important, since we’re still
living, to consider what Easter means for this earthly life and those with whom
we live it in the present age.
Acts 2:42-47
The following reflection is offered in Share Your Bread, © 2000 Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America:
In today’s reading from the book of Acts, we hear about people of
faith “eating with glad and generous hearts.” Even while taking care of their
own needs, they also cared for the needs of those who were the most
vulnerable. Widows, orphans, and all others who were in need received the
basic necessities. Today in many organizations, and in many systems of
government, the needs of the most vulnerable within that community are not
met. Children, as well as others are abused. Those who are physically
challenged or who are members of minority groups are not treated fairly.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about the need for the Christian community to
exercise social responsibility in his Letters and Papers from Prison:
The church is the church only when it exists for others. To make a start, it
should give away all its property to those in need. The church must share in
the secular problems of ordinary life, not dominating, but helping and serving.
It must tell people of every calling what it means to live in Christ, to exist for
others. It must not underestimate the importance of human example (which
has its origins in the humanity of Jesus and is so important in Paul’s teaching);
it is not abstract argument, but example, that gives its word emphasis and
power. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, edited by
Eberhard Bethge. New York: Simon and Shuster, 1972)
Since the book of Acts is assigned throughout the Easter season, you may
want to read Rita Halteman Finger, Of Widows and Meals: Communal Meals in
the Books of Acts (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007). She offers many helpful
insights into the early Christian practice of commensality. A review of the
book is available at http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-
Issues/Journal-of-Lutheran-Ethics/Issues/June-2010/Review-of-Of-Widows-
and-Meals.aspx.
Psalm 23 (1)
1 Peter 2:19-25
John 10:1-10
David Creech
Director of Hunger Education, ELCA World Hunger
__________________________________________________
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!
May 22, 2011 (Fifth Sunday of Easter)
During the Easter season the lessons all revolve around the Resurrection and
new life! The texts celebrate the new and just things God is doing on behalf of
all that God cherishes, in the creative order as well as in human society.
Sometimes we place the highest emphasis on what Easter means in terms of
our own eternal destinies as believers. Yet it’s also important, since we’re still
living, to consider what Easter means for this earthly life and those with whom
we live it in the present age.
Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 (5)
1 Peter 2:2-10
This passage from 1 Peter has long been significant to Lutherans. In Martin
Luther’s disagreement with the Catholic church he adamantly maintained that
all the people of God served a priestly function. Each of us has a role to play
in living into the reality of God’s kingdom. We, as a royal priesthood, are
drawn together and empowered by God’s grace. As such, we are a “chosen
race,” a “holy nation,” and “God’s own people.” This is all language of group
identity. As has been asked many times in these sermon starters, how will we
as a group be identified? What values will we be known for? If we were
known as a people who care for those who are poorest and most vulnerable
we would certainly reflect well upon the God who has called us to be
a “chosen race.”
John 14:1-14
In the Gospel of John, Jesus performed miraculous works in order that people
might believe in him and his message. (In contrast, in the Synoptic Gospels,
Jesus is able to act on account of people’s trust in him.) In today’s Gospel,
Jesus promises that his followers (empowered by the Holy Spirit) will also do
the works that he has done and “in fact, will do greater works” (14:12).
Jesus brought healing and life to people. As people who confess faith and are
accompanied by the Holy Spirit, may we find courage to live into this high
calling. In so doing, our light will shine for all to see the goodness of God.
David Creech
Director of Hunger Education, ELCA World Hunger
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