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!

The chapter begins with a hopeful transition. The announcement heralds a coming time where the remnant that had been in anguish because of Assyria’s conquering will experience no gloom. The lifted darkness brings restored hope for those who were in anguish, but it is important to note that the hope doesn’t exist only in the spiritual realm. The hope is realized in the broken yoke and rod of the oppressor.

The certainty of God’s saving action is cause for rejoicing, as illustrated by the two images of joy at the harvest and people dividing plunder. In his commentary on Isaiah, Luther observes that these images represent a time free from danger. Though complete freedom from danger is not something we can experience in this life, our confidence in God’s redemption from the oppressor can guide our mission.

Division is probably not what Paul has in mind when he hopes the Corinthians are not lacking in any spiritual gift (verse 7). He expresses earnest concern for the creation of factions within the community. The divisions named here seem pretty specific, but divisions in our congregations and wider church body may not always be so apparent. Factions within the worshiping body impede both fellowship, and our ability to put our theology to work. In his rhetorical question, “Has Christ been divided?” Paul asserts that such divisions scandalize even our theology. Divisions betray the message of self-emptying that Paul sees in the cross, a message that is essential for shaping Christ-confessing communities.

Matthew picks directly from the Isaiah reading, highlighting the new reality for the people who had been in deep darkness. Matthew portrays Jesus as the new light dawning. As if to make a stronger connection to the prophecy, Jesus also travels the sea road and calls the first followers. With comfort and livelihoods behind them, the first four disciples follow Christ.

Admittedly the phrase “fish for people” sounds a bit confusing and it seems unclear how that would be a compelling reason for the fishermen to leave. But it is likely Matthew is applying the “light” motif to Jesus’ presence, so it’s no surprise that next movement of the light shining in the darkness includes curing the afflicted and diseased. In the next chapter we see Jesus instructing his followers to let their light shine before others, indicating not just an apparent faith, but also light-bringing activity. This activity is impossible without the invested presence of the community of faith (cue accompaniment pitch).

Many would probably consider verses 1-7, if they thought of them at all, as an introduction to verse 8; verse 8 of course one of the oft-quoted scripture verses about justice. But there is a bit of dialogue here that has traces of different literary genres: from the legal, “Rise, plead your case…” to a petition as though from a psalm “with what shall I come before the Lord…” The author uses these elements to call the people of Israel to account and to provide some context for the following command. Of the three commands in verse 8, “walk humbly” seems to best summarize the content of verses 1-7. The three probably aren’t meant to be mutually exclusive. Too often being humble has non-assertive connotations. But the humility suggested here comes as a response to God’s action, something that we are to be quite confident about. What sort of humility can we practice in justice work?

Paul puts the divisions of the Corinthian community in context with this reflection on foolishness and wisdom. The short of it is that if Christ is identified as the source of communal life, uniting Jew and Gentile, partisanship becomes a stumbling block for all in this new family. Seeing what God chooses in the world (the foolish, the weak, what is low and despised), should impact how we recognize status. Forsaking power is not just a theological lesson, but a practice for communal life as well.

If we needed the reminder, a lifetime of living with the fear of death is a type of slavery. To relegate the language used here to questions of existence runs the risk of minimizing current conditions that leave people with the fear of death. The author uses the family language, flesh and blood, brother and sister, to describe Christ’s relationship with us. Similarly, we are called to consider those trapped in the fear of death, whether from poverty, hunger, malaria or other disease, as brothers and sisters.

The blessings that Jesus articulates could almost pass for sound bites from a sermon. But this isn’t just information or a news release. There is a creative quality to these words as well. These blessings reveal the work of God in the world that continues even today among us. But how do we usually envision a blessed life? How does this list compare or contrast by those we typically consider “blessed”?