To all who are working with the lectionary texts this week . . . sorry. The texts this week are particularly difficult. So far I have not figured out how to tie Psalm 137:9 with World Communion Sunday, which this week is! Good thing my friend and colleague Jim Somerville is blogging all week on the texts. Stop over at the Lectionary Homiletics blog to check out how a masterful pulpiteer handles these hard ones.
Amy, what I keep hearing in the Luke text is the idea of “practicising faith”….v 5 and beyond seems to be a response to the verses immediately before, not to mention Lazarus and Dives, all of which have to do with WHAT are we supposed to be doing….So, I come to WWC Sunday, think about what a picture of “practiced faith” is before us, ( the life given up) and sit with that…..When I get to the sermon in light of the Table then, I am aware of places where the church acorss the world DOES practice…and where it FAILS to practice…..and those verses near the end of this text…the ones about the servants needing to set the table, etc, etc….seems to me that those might well be instructions for us…while it might not seem like they are being treated “fair”, we are, are we not, called to go ahead and live into the obedience that is given to us?
Anyway, what do you think…
See . . . I knew if I threw it out there other great minds would chime in! Thanks, Roger. At Calvary, I confess, we are mostly ignoring the Gospel text and focusing on the Psalm and the Lamentations passage, where themes of longing for home really resonate. Since we have many immigrants in our congregation, I am working with the Burmese and Latino pastors to do a three-part homily on what it means for each of our communities to long for home . . . and what it means to find our collective home in Christ Jesus. As usual, you never know how it will fly!
Thanks for the good words. Everybody else–chime in!
I just spent a couple hours study on this text. I had forgotten it is world communion sunday. Does this make me a terrible ecumenical pastor? I was planning on preaching about the essential nature of memory. This could be connected to “Do this in rememberence of me.”
Peace
Hi Amy
I know what ever you bring to the Lord table. You will briung joy to your father heart. I miss last Sunday at Calvery but what I heared online it was alsome. What you for us on Sunday I got a good fealing it going to be good. P.S I’m doing this blog by sidekick 3 it so cool.
Your friend
Will