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 week’s sermon starter is written by Jennifer Barger and reflects on one of her recent experiences in Africa. Jennifer’s story shows how the widow’s response to Elijah in this week’s lesson from 1 Kings can still be true in our day and time. In the lesson, when the widow’s son is miraculously healed, she professes, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.” May we continue to proclaim the truth of the Gospel through our support of vital healthcare initiatives!

When we arrived at Dr. Friberg’s home in northern Tanzania, Baracka (whose name means “blessing”) and his grandma were there waiting for us. As the tiny boy gobbled up the bean stew our ELCA medical missionary had prepared for him, we learned Baracka’s story.

Last year drought struck in East Africa and villages across the region faced tough struggles. Many families lost at least half of their livestock due to lack of food and disease. Without livestock, people struggled to find food since crops do not grow well in the dry and rocky land.

Baracka’s mother died in the drought. Without his mother’s milk, baby Baracka became severely malnourished. Baracka’s grandmother did her best to care for the little boy, but there was little she could do. In his weakened state, Baracka developed tuberculosis. This two-year old boy weighed just ten pounds. Praying for a miracle, Baracka’s grandmother decided to set off for a long journey on foot to the Lutheran health clinic where Dr. Friberg works.

Yet God’s healing miracles are still signs of hope. God is working in the world through many ministries of hope and healing. ELCA World Hunger supports health clinics, medical missionaries, water projects, agriculture programs, HIV and AIDS treatment centers, community health promoters, shelters, feeding programs, the ONE campaign, foreign aid reform, and many other efforts and activities to save lives and end hunger.

At the Lutheran health clinic Baracka received medicine to treat the tuberculosis. With access to medical care and supplemental nutrition, he is gaining weight. Dr. Friberg expects him to make a full recovery.

Complementary Series
2 Samuel 11:26–12:10, 13-15
Nathan’s parable presents a challenge to us today. Though the theme this week throughout the lessons and the Gospel is God’s grace, Nathan’s parable carries an unmistakable tone of judgment. David’s deeds were truly wrong—he committed adultery with another man’s wife, tried to cover up the sin, and when he failed, killed the man. (I still am astonished every time that I read 1 Kings 15:5—“David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” The bar appears to be set pretty low!) The gist of Nathan’s parable is that a rich man took from a poor man, what then should happen to the greedy rich man? In our context, what privileges do we enjoy at the expense of others? How do we profit off of those who are poor and vulnerable? Does Nathan’s parable have something to say to us today?

In this passage, Paul reminds us that it is by faith alone that we are justified. Although the Christian life is not about fulfilling various “works of the Law,” Paul maintains that certain characteristics will be found in Spirit filled people (see Gal 5:22-23). What does it mean to say that “Christ lives in me” (2:20)? In what way can the story about the woman who washed Jesus’ feet in this week’s Gospel inform how we answer this question?