Preaching Notes for the Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost (October 11, 2015)
The Rev. Dr. Dawn Chesser
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
“Where the heck are you, God? Why haven’t you shown up for me?”Those are the questions Job poses. Haven’t we all been there? Haven’t we all had moments when, in spite of our faith, in spite of our trust, in spite of our deep and abiding love for God, we have found ourselves falling into the pit of darkness and doubt? I know I have.
Poor Job. He is really hanging on by a thread. As I wrote last week, his well-meaning friends have come along one by one to offer their two cents’ worth. The passage for today is taken from somewhere in the middle of his dialogue with his friends. In spite of his troubles, Job has been faithful. He has continued to be righteous. But his patience is waning. He wants his day in court. He wants to plead his case before God. He wants some answers.
It’s a tough place to be, but one we all -- even the most faithful among us -- at some point or another face. The temptation for people of faith is to become like Job’s well-meaning friends and try to come up with some kind of explanation. But this is a dangerous game, especially for those of us who are charged with the task of prophetic preaching. Too often, we are ready to give answers to questions that might need a little more time to ferment. Our intentions are honest. We don’t like to see people in pain. We want to help. And so we become well-meaning friends like Job’s.
In the book, What Not to Say: Avoidingthe Common Mistakes that can Sink your Sermon(Lexington: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), authors John Holbert and Alyce McKenzie advise staying away from simplistic platitudes that may be theologically problematic. I’ve provided a basic summary of their work here, but would highly recommend that you get a copy of their book and read chapter 1, “What Not to Say about God.”
Instead of saying:
The Bible is a book that provides answers,
Try:The Bible helps us ask the right questions.
Instead of saying:
Bad days and problems are teachable moments from God.
There are no accidents.
Suffering is our cross to bear as faithful disciples.
Try: God is with us in our suffering.
Instead of saying:
If you have faith in God, you will be healed/your problems will disappear.
God has it all worked out.
If we follow God’s will, it will all be good.
God helps those who help themselves!
Try:God is the source of our abundant life, not our abundance in life.
Everything we have is a gift from God.
Holbert and McKenzie have a checklist at the end of their chapter that we should all consider before we step into the pulpit.
- Have I told people that what happens to them is from the hand of God?
- Have I told them God is the source of their material abundance?
- Have I implied those who are materially comfortable are more favored by God than those who are not?
- Have I told them that God is the cause of their suffering?
- Have I told them God sends suffering to punish them? To teach them? So God’s power can be manifest in their misery and weakness?
- Have I implied that when they suffer, God is pleased?
- Have I implied that their pain is intrinsically a good thing?
- Have I said anything that would impel a person in an abusive relationship to stay in it to please God?
- Have I affirmed that God has a gracious purpose for the redemption of the world, of which our lives are a part?
- Have I affirmed that God is a steadfast and empowering presence in suffering?
- Have I affirmed that God is the source of all spiritual blessings in our lives?
(Holbert and McKenzie, What Not to Say, 19).
If only Job’s friends had a copy of this book!
The good news is that no matter how upset or angry we get, no matter what we say to God when we cry out in agony, no matter what we do, by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, our salvation is secure. Our God will never abandon us, any more than God would abandon Job. As Paul said in his letter to the Romans, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38, NRSV). Or, in thefinal words of John Wesley, “The best of all is, God is with us.”
Hebrews 4:12-16
Last week, I focused my notes on the passage from Hebrews on how, according the author, God became “for a little while lower than the angels” in the person of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, we humans received a glimpse of the vision that God intended for humanity. God gave us a flesh and blood person to follow as we seek to grow into perfection.
This week,the focus of the text turns to the living activity and ongoing witness of God’s Word made flesh in Jesus, the great high priest and Son of God who understands what it is to be human.
What does it mean to say that God’s word is living and active—slicing, piercing, penetrating—into our daily existence like a two-edged sword, giving guidance to the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, and laying bare before God the truth of our lives, the truth of our innermost thoughts and desires, the very substance of who we are?
If you read my notes on a regular basis, you know that I often write about current events. In fact, you might have even picked up on some of my own personal theological beliefs and biases. I know from my email inbox that from time to time there are those of you who strongly disagree with my interpretation of a certain story or passage, or what I think it reveals about some matter or another going on in the world. I also know that on occasion something I say resonates with some of you.
I find it impossible to read the Scriptures, God’s living and active word, as words that exist in a vacuum. For me, God’s word comes to life only when it intersects with the world in which it is proclaimed. I am aware that the words in our holy texts were written for a time and a place and a context that is completely different from the time and place and context in which I live. I am also aware that when I write, those words pierce into my own personal view of the world, which may be very different from the context in which you live and minister and preach.
Every one of us has to be a student not only of the Biblebut also of our own community. It is unavoidable that there will be times when the way God’s word has pierced into my context will be very different from the way God’s word pierces into your context. Maybe that’s why God made so many preachers! But it also means, my friends, that we must all boldly and prophetically read and interpret God’s piercing word for the specific time and place to which we have been called to proclaim it.
Does God’s word not pierce and penetrate our daily lives, laying us bare before the gaze of the one to whom we must give account? I remember well the texts for Sunday, September 16, 2001. That is, I remember ONE of the texts for that day. It was from Jeremiah 4. That Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I had scheduled my very first Tuesday Night Soup and Scriptures Bible Study at the church I’d been appointed to serve the previous July.
Only two months into a new appointment, and I was the one whom God had called to lead my congregation through a national crisis. I was a single mother with two small children. I felt very alone and very frightened. I was living in Chicago at the time, and the feeling of terror in the air was palpable. I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought about canceling the study, given the attacks and unfolding events of the day. But I decided to go ahead and make a pot of soup and hold the study for anyone who felt a need to come to the church.
That night,a fairly large group gathered. They felt strongly that we should go ahead with the Bible study I had planned. And so we did. Oh, but it was painful to read the Old Testament passage assigned for the coming Sunday:
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse—a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them . . .“For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.” I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled. I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger. For thus says the LORD: “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back” (Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28, NRSV)
Sometimes, the word of God is living and active. “Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12-13, NIV*).
What are we to do when God’s word pierces and penetrates right to the very heart of the events of our world? Are we to treat our Holy Scriptures as a book of history, relevant only to a people from the past? Or are we to allow it, indeed, INVITE IT, even when it pains us, to speak a bold and prophetic word into our present?
The word of God is a powerful thing, but if it is not brought into dialogue with what is happening in the events of the world, the events of our communities and congregations, the events of our personal lives, then it loses some of its power. We don’t have to be afraid to take a risk and let God’s word speak to current events. We don’t even have to worry about getting it wrong sometimes! God not only knows our human weaknesses intimately, but God understands and even sympathizes with our weaknesses. “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, NRSV).
Don’t be afraid, fellow preachers and prophets. Don’t ever let fear hold you back. Rather, be bold and risk-taking when you proclaim God’s word in your congregation, knowing that every word spoken in faith from your mouth is offered by the grace of God.
Mark 10:17-31
I don’t like to talk about money in church,but I may be in the minority; because it appears that there are many pastors out there who like to talk about money from the pulpit. In fact, a growing number of preachers adhere to an interpretation of the Bible known as the “prosperity gospel,” which has for a number of years been gaining popularity in today’s world. Prosperity theology teaches that the good news of Jesus Christ is a promise of not only salvation, but also of material and financial success.Prosperity preachers claim the Bible teaches that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians.That doctrine teaches that faith, a positive attitude, and donations to Christian ministries will increase one's material wealth.
Why is this message so popular? Well, rich people like this theology because it confirms that their financial success is God’s reward to them for being good Christians and having faith in Christ. They believe it is God’s will for their lives that they be wealthy. Poor people like this theology because it gives them hope that if they just practice the tenets of the doctrine—unwavering faith in the saving power of Jesus Christ, keeping up a positive and optimistic attitude, and tithing to the church—they, too, will eventually reap the financial rewards that are promised.
Unfortunately, it is hard to reconcile prosperity theology with passages like this one from Mark’s Gospel.Our response to this story may very well depend upon our personal economic status. The poor can find hope and justification in this story of what happens to the rich man after he encounters Jesus, while those with wealth and status must face the dilemma of how to justify their financial situation in light of Jesus’ call to “go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor.”
Having spent a great deal of time thinking about it this week, I’ve come to the conclusion that this passage really isn’t about money at all. I don’t think the man’s wealthis what gets him into trouble. I think it is something else.
In the story, as Jesus journeyed from across the Jordan, a man came and knelt at his feet. Even though my Bible has this story tagged as “The Rich Man,” Mark actually does not mention the man’s economic status until the end of the encounter. However, through either intuition or the man’s dress and demeanor, Jesus seems to have discerned that the man was well-off.
Apparently familiar with Jesus’ ministry, the rich man had only one agenda for the meeting: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus’ response is interesting. He says, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Jesus then reminds the man what all a person must do to be judged “good” in the eyes of Jewish law. Being called righteous comes as a result of following the Ten Commandments.
Well, for this man,there is no problem with that. We learn that not only does he enjoy great affluence, but he also knows and has observed all the commandments and tenets of the Jewish faith. In other words, he is rich andrighteous. Wow! Imagine that! And he tells Jesus this quite plainly. He says that he has, since his youth, followed the commandments: He did not commit murder, he wasn’t a thief, he didn’t lie or cheat, and he honored his parents. In short, his life seems to be in perfect order. He’s a good and righteous man. He has worked hard and kept the faith. Why, the fact that he is wealthy is confirmation that he is a good man! There should be no question about it. As a good and faithful Jew, he surely deserves to enjoy the eternal life Jesus promises.
When the man finishes his testimony about his own worthiness, Mark tells us that Jesus, looking at him, loved him. It was only after this that Jesus proceeded to tell him he needed to go and sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. After he does this, Jesus says, he will have treasures in heaven and can come and follow him.
I want to draw attention to two things about this encounter.
- First, what is this business about being good? Why did Jesus challenge the man for calling him “Good Teacher”? What is so wrong with being called good?
- Second, before Jesus gave the man his mission, Mark says that he looked at him and loved him. He didn’t reject the man outright, simply for being rich. He loved this man, Mark says.
I suggest that the thing that seems to be getting in the way of this man’s inheritance of eternal life is not so much his possessions or his refusal to sell all that he has, but his ideas about why he deserves eternal life. He doesn’t believe eternal life is his simply because Jesus, upon looking at him, loved him. He thinks he should inherit eternal life because he deserves it.
He thinks not only is Jesus good, but that he, too. is good. And by good, he means that he has followed the commandments. He has checked off all the right boxes and earned for himself this elusive inheritance known as eternal life. Eternal life should be his because he is a good and righteous man.
Now I think we can understand this, because we think the same way. We may say we believe we are saved by God’s grace; but then, in the next breath, we start making a list of what we believe will enable us to be called good in the eyes of God when we stand before the throne of judgment.
In the beginning, being judged as “good”might meanspeaking certain words. We have to confess Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior and put our whole trust in him. But then, we start adding to the list. We must be baptized. We must be confirmed. We must make a profession of faith. We must give a testimony. We must have a positive and optimistic attitude. We must tithe. In some traditions, we must give evidence of fruits of the Spirit by speaking in tongues.