SCROLL DOWN FOR FEBRUARY 27 AND MARCH 6
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!
February 27, 2011 (Eighth Sunday after Epiphany)
Isaiah 49:8-16a
This week’s passage from Isaiah invites reflection on the biblical vision of redemption. Those who are prisoners will be free, hunger and thirst will be no more, those who suffer will receive God’s compassion.
Psalm 131 (2)
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34
In the wake of the worst economic slump that most of us have ever experienced we have found ourselves worrying—about our jobs, about our homes, about our future. In times like this we want to clinch our fists tightly around what we have out of fear of losing it. But Jesus encourages the opposite—to give generously (Matt 6:22-23) and to trust God to look out for your needs, just as God cares for the birds and the lilies.
David Creech
Director of Hunger Education, ELCA World Hunger
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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!
March 6, 2011 (Transfiguration of Our Lord)
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2 (7) or Psalm 99 (9)
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
This week’s Gospel marks a key point in the ministry of Jesus. Although structurally Mark 9 makes the point with more force, Matthew’s Gospel frames the transfiguration in much the same way. Immediately before the theophany, Peter proclaims that Jesus is God’s anointed one (16:13-20). Jesus then goes on to teach what exactly this means—to be God’s anointed is to lose one’s life for the sake of others (16:21-28). In the present passage, God affirms Jesus’ teaching, saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved… listen to him!” In a world where 925 million people are hungry, and 40 million more have become food insecure as a result of rising food costs, what might it look like to deny oneself and take up a cross? How might we better follow Jesus, especially with regards to addressing hunger and poverty in the world?
David Creech
Director of Hunger Education, ELCA World Hunger
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