Light on the Lessons s1

Light on the Lessons

Isaiah 55:10-13; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 15, Proper 10); Cycle A; July 16, 2017

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed

+ Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful)

+ Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship)

+ Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts

+ Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary

I Getting Started

Discuss experiences with “Through the Week.” Ask participants to share prayer concerns. Then turn to the questions in “Getting Started.”

1. Responses will vary. The lessons offer some insight and this issue will be explored later in lll What Does it Mean?, 2.

2. Responses will vary. Faith and our psychology are closely inter-related. They affect each other in many ways. But with individuals, one or the other may dominate at a given time.

3. Responses will vary. This initial conversation will be revisited in III, What Does It All Mean?, 4.

II Check the Texts

1. Isaiah 55:10-13

A. In human terms, words mean less than actions; we view them as separate entities. But God works differently. God’s word is power; it is action. God speaks and things change. So, God’s word IS action!

B. Water and snow nurture and make growth possible; this is what God’s word does so well.

C. The imagery here and the reference to “sowers” make it a good match for the Gospel lesson. Also, the “seed” in the Gospel lesson can be identified with God’s word in verse 11.

D. Responses may vary, but verses 10-11 could be titled “I said you will return, and you most certainly will”; verses 12-13 could be titled “When you return, it will be even better for you!” It is the exiles who will go out in verse 12, for the restoration was viewed as a Second Exodus.

E. The imagery is of Eden, the perfect creation of which “God saw that it was good”; see Genesis 1:26-31. Images of God’s Restoration in a messianic age – whether restoring Israel after its exile or bringing about a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1) – were often expressed in terms of the pre-Fall Eden where the lion lies down with the lamb.

F. The Good News here is in God’s actions to deliver the people and to create conditions for joy. The passage affirms God’s care for his people and the power of his word.

2. Romans 8:1-11

A. The break, in the NRSV, after 7:25 is an editorial addition to indicate that a new section begins with 8:1. The section ending with 7:25 begins with 6:1, indicated by another break in the NRSV text. Thus, the “therefore” in 8:1 likely introduces a summary or concluding thought based on the previous section, 6:1 – 7:25. However, one can make a case that the “therefore” applies to Paul’s inner confusion in 7:25b, making the point that even though his flesh is still enslaved he is not condemned because of Jesus.

B. In verses 1-4, God is doing the action. By sending his Son in our flesh, he fulfills the law for us and condemns sin and its power. Thus, we are liberated in the Spirit. The law of the Spirit contrasts with the law of sin and of death. 2 Corinthians 3 contrasts the glory of Moses’ law with the great glory of the Spirit, which makes the same point as our lesson. For those who are struggling to overcome sin, as in 6:12-14, verses 1-4 offer assurance that they are not condemned but rather set free in a wonderful way. Living in the Spirit is living in the freedom of God’s grace.

C. Verses 8-11 deal with the ethical life of one who lives in the Spirit. We have a new focus to life and a new freedom as well. Verses 1-4 describe what God has done; verses 8-11 deal with our response to God’s action. Living in the Spirit can have several meanings; encourage participants to express a variety of views. Basically, it means living in grace, with our life focused on God’s gift of freedom and peace in Jesus Christ.

D. John 5:21 casts light on the meaning of verses 3-4. Easter is ours because we share Christ’s resurrection. We are daily lifted from death into life, reborn as God’s people, cleansed and forgiven for Jesus’ sake. Flesh/sin/death represent the tomb; life/peace/Spirit/freedom represent the light of Easter morn, the empty tomb. Thus for good reason the church treats each Sunday as a “little Easter” and revolves its calendar around Easter, the chief festival.

3. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

A. The intervening section deals with why Jesus spoke in parables. The disciples are to know the secrets of the kingdom, but others are not. Verse 13 may mean that though the people heard the parables as straight stories, hearing with their ears and seeing the characters in their mind’s eye, they did not get the inner meaning, the significance of the parable. The quotation from Isaiah 6 told Isaiah, just after his call, that his would be a difficult mission because the people were deaf to God’s word. The passage is used in the New Testament to explain why so many Jews, Jesus’ most likely followers, rejected him. (On a somber note, this same passage was used in the Middle Ages to persecute Jews and to punish them for the “obstinacy.”)

B. In the explanation the focus falls on the seed (the Gospel) and the ground (the hearers of the Gospel). But the parable itself places more emphasis on the sower. Generally, the key actor in a parable represents God in some way, so the sower here is more likely God.

C. Opinions will vary, but it seems likely that such categories could inspire unwelcome pride and “holier- than-thou” attitudes on the part of some who felt they were especially fertile soil. If so, then the next parable would be a corrective: don’t judge each other now; God will do that later.

D. The sower does not plow nor clear his land before spreading the seed. This does not reflect the farming practices in Jesus’ day, where plowing prepared the soil. However, it does make the point that God’s kingdom truth (seeds) falls everywhere and not just on prepared soil (for his own people, the best prepared soil, mostly rejected him). The path is land made firm by walking on it; thorns are the weeds on the edges that the plow did not turn under; the seed would be scattered broadly by hand and some would fall on rocky patches. Verses 1-9 focus on God and affirm that despite obstacles, God’s kingdom, now being planted, will come to full fruition. In the explanation, the application seems to be to a missionary situation, to encourage disciples to continue their witness in the face of disappointment.

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Responses will vary.

2. This will lead, perhaps, to a discussion of various spiritual disciplines.

3, Responses will vary. Faithfulness involves continuing in God’s way, trusting in God to bring the results.

4. Responses will vary. Be sure to share good soil stories (what makes us receptive to the Spirit) as well as thorn and rock stories of things that get in the way of our spiritual life.

5. Responses will vary. Many suggestions will come out, so try to distill them to one or two really powerful obstacles. Then ask, “How can the Gospel get through here?” Christians constantly need to exercise their God-given imagination to seek new ways to communicate the Gospel of life.

6. Responses will vary. Most congregations could do much more to encourage spiritual growth among their people.

IV Into the Week

Encourage participants to follow the suggestions in #2 and #3.