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!

This curious story invites many hunger related reflections. The first and most obvious connection lies in the use of the slave girl for money making. Today, slavery continues to be an issue. According to the U.S. State Department, between 12 and 27 million people are trafficked each year for slave labor (the numbers are hard to pin down as it is an illegal, and therefore largely undocumented, practice). Most of those trafficked are women (according to the U.S. Justice Department approximately 70-80% of those trafficked are women and girls who are sold into sexual slavery) and children. Trafficking is often the result of poverty. For more on modern human trafficking and slavery (including worship and educational resources), visit www.elca.org/justiceforwomen. Click on the Human Trafficking Awareness Day link.

The second piece worth noting is the impetus for Paul’s response. He is not compassionate nor does he care about the plight of the girl. Rather, he is “greatly annoyed (diaponeô).” It is encouraging to see that we don’t always have to have our motivations right, or even our attitudes, to do good in the world (one may think of Jesus’ response to the leper in Mark 1:40-45 as a comparable scene—even Jesus was not always entirely compassionate!). Granted, we may wish that Paul would have responded out of better motives, but the good still came out of his very human response.

A third piece worth noting is the financial loss that occurs to the owners of the girl. In our own struggle against hunger and poverty—in our giving, advocacy, and lifestyle choices—it may be that some systems are upset. Those in power may be uncomfortable with our positions. We ourselves may feel a sense of insecurity or loss. In spite of this, we are called to work with and on behalf of those who are poorest and most vulnerable. What are willing to work towards today?

Throughout the final chapters of Revelation we have seen how God will bring redemption to this earth in very concrete ways, e.g., in trees that bear fruit year round. In verse 17 of this passage, Jesus invites all who are thirsty to drink of the water of life (which can just as easily be understood to be a physical as well as a spiritual drink). This reference can be used to discuss the value of water to life and the fact that nearly 1 billion people in the world still do not have access to clean drinking water. What might water of life look like to those billion?

A second hunger reflection can be in what is actually not said (this may be a bit dicier—it is derived out of an implicit criticism of the lectionary). As we have read Revelation, we have seen many of the beautiful calls to repentance, the promises of redemption, and the care for human needs. The lectionary has kept from us many of the less promising passages—those that might make the modern reader uncomfortable—passages full of judgment, violence, death, and so on. This week is a perfect example. These omissions invite a reflection on those things that are not spoken because they make us uncomfortable. Talking about poverty and hunger can make us very uncomfortable. The statistics are daunting. The solutions are difficult. The whole problem in some or another may implicate you and I somehow. It takes courage to speak about these issues. It can even be dangerous (like it was for Paul when he healed the slave girl in this week’s lesson from Acts). Can we find the courage to stand with those who are poor and vulnerable?

In this high priestly prayer, Jesus prays that his followers may all be one. This of course has a particular value to the current context of the ELCA. A question worth asking is towards what we will be unified. The aim in Jesus’ prayer is that our unity will direct others to God. How often do we unify in ways that do not point others to God? What would it look like for God’s people to be unified in their voice with and on behalf of those who are hungry? Would not that witness be a clear pointer to God?

On the Day of Pentecost we commemorate the sending of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit breaks down divisions and empowers us to live out our gospel calling. Where do we want to see the Spirit’s power in our present day? What task do we feel called to but perhaps not equipped for? How might God’s Spirit empower us to work with and on behalf of those who are poorest and most vulnerable?

As is often noted, the first manifestation of the Spirit in the book of Acts broke through barriers of language and culture. (You may choose to read Gen 11 as the first lesson and Acts 2 as the second lesson to make this point quite clear.) Today, many “isms” keep us divided—racism, sexism, classism, and so on. These divisions exacerbate hunger and poverty around the world. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit breaks through the language barrier allowing everyone to hear the gospel in the own language. What would it look like today for the Spirit to break through divisions we encounter? How might the Spirit work in and through us to address the various “isms” that plague us today?

A second hunger related theme from this passage is the absurdity of living a Spirit-filled life. In Acts, some onlookers wonder if the Apostles are drunk (I imagine this was not the most orderly scene). Addressing hunger and poverty in our world (by the power of the Holy Spirit, of course!) may look odd to onlookers. It may mean seeking out another’s benefit before your own or making a lifestyle change that could be difficult. The book, The Power of Half, tells the story of a family that gave up half of all they had to work to end poverty. They reflect on how odd they seemed to their neighbors and the discomfort their act caused in some of their relationships. Do we want the Holy Spirit to empower us in that way?

As we have seen so often in the Easter readings in the Gospel of John, the charge is for us to love one another. This love will be shown in concrete acts. We are promised that if we believe we will do even greater works than Jesus did. What might that look like in the context of hunger and poverty? Again, we are promised the power of the Holy Spirit. Will we let God work through us?