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 death and resurrection of Jesus is a cosmic event. The world is changed. Christ—who is elsewhere described as the creator (e.g., Colossians 1:15-20)—is the one upon whom all creation awaits for salvation (Romans 8:19-22). God in Christ is redeeming the world. The Christian hope of redemption is not some otherworldly reality, but a renewal of this earth, this home. And the earth is in need of redemption. It is groaning. We see hints of our fragile planet suffering. Weather patterns are less predictable, ecosystems are disrupted, species are disappearing, mounds of trash continue to grow, and on and on. All of these shifts also take a toll on those who are poorest and most vulnerable. To this day, God is redeeming and healing of all creation. God calls us to be about that work as well. On this day give thanks for God’s restoring work in Christ and pray for the healing of God’s earth. Commit to following Jesus’ way of life and redemption.

The collection of parables in this week’s Gospel underscores the incredible value of the Kingdom of God. The first parable, of the mustard seed, reminds us of the Kingdom’s humble beginnings (the smallest of seeds) and its humble fruition (mustard bushes are not exactly the cedars of Lebanon). Throughout history God has worked through the least and the smallest, and on behalf of those who are most vulnerable. In this collection of parables Jesus is telling us that this way of being and doing is more valuable that a pearl of great price and a treasure in a field. The question (and challenge!) for us is do we believe it.