Proper 13A
Ai Khawng
After Pentecost • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 15 viewsNotes
Transcript
LCMS Lectionary Summary:
OT: same
Epistle: same except L has the optional vss 6-13, which won’t be read (this week is the only Sunday of 156 that reads from Rom 9) and those verses are good so read on those Sundays when the epistle is the main message (no earlier than the third cycle).
Gospel (145) 146: same
Christ Jesus, the Living Bread from Heaven, Feeds the Children of God
By the Gospel of “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever” (Rom. 9:5), we are “the children of God” (Rom. 9:8), “not because of works but because of him who calls” (Rom. 9:11). Therefore, “listen diligently” and “hear, that your soul may live.” By His sacrificial death in His flesh and blood, He has made “an everlasting covenant” for us. Since He now calls us to Himself, we come to Him “and eat what is good, and delight … in rich food” (Is. 55:2–3). He has come with divine compassion to save us from sin and death and to feed us with Himself. As our Lord Jesus once took bread, “said a blessing,” broke the loaves “and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (Matt. 14:18–19), He also now takes bread, blesses it by His Word to be His very body, and distributes it to His Church by the hand of His called and ordained servants. Just as “they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces,” there is more than enough for His whole Church to eat and to be satisfied (Matt. 14:20).
Summary: A God Who Feeds People
Hymn of the Day: 642 O living Bread from heaven
Liturgy:
Summary: The Sunday readings are the easiest to find the connections between and the Psa OT and Gospel certainly is about God satisfying our hunger.
Isa 55.1-5
“Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
Not just about eating, we see that in v 3, come with your ears wide open (whoever remembers reading that?) Motyer in NBC is good here "The fourfold come is as wide as human need and as narrow as a single individual." Feasting calls Isa chapters 40-55 "The Book of Consolation."
Psa 145.8-9, 14-21
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to thee, and thou givest them their food in due season. Thou openest thy hand, thou satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. He fulfils the desire of all who fear him, he also hears their cry, and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him; but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
Although Psa 146-150 are a unit, all beginning with "Hallelujah" this one ends in praise
but it is barak shem qodesh hu l'olam. Although all psalms, all of God's word is cherished, this psalm acc. to feasting (theological) is beloved by Jews and people are suggested to recite it three times daily. The Lord supplies, that is so clear from 14-16 but in the final verses we see the care and concern of the Lord. In feasting pastoral the comment was that Luther suggested that 15-16 be recited at the table prayer.
Rom 9.1-5
I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, be blessed for ever. Amen.
VH notes that 9.1ff is a lament, so different in tone than the last section of the preceding chapter, "nothing shall separate us." Paul may have felt he had to write this section because by putting all under sin and the other things he wrote and taught, people could (wrongly) accuse him of being anti-Jewish.
Mat 14.13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
VH says that there were the tensions of 1) the crowds 2) it was late and they didn’t' have anything to eat 3) all we have is five loaves and two fish — and then there was the tension of the leftovers, not just what to do with them, but this is eschatological, it shows that God's Kingdom is breaking in now and will completely at the end of this age. So in our gain it hold it mentality, the abundance mentality and an abundance economy should be there in our lives and be there in a significant way, that affects the way we live and act and think in general. VH says that a lot can be said of "Jesus withdrew" since almost every time this is in the Scriptures it is withdrawing from danger, the Magi, Joseph first going to Egypt and then on return, relocating to Galilee.
FW Theological: the point is made that the mechanics of how the miracle happened, the multiplying of food to feed five thousand, there are very few details given. But the prayer is explicit. "Jesus looked to heaven" shows that he depended on the Father, something he did in the wilderness when tempted to make bread from stones. I thought FW would go on to other connections to temptations in the wilderness but the author (Iwan Russell-Jones) doesn't. But he does have a second point "Jesus blesses the loaves" and I'm surprised IR-J doesn't mention the Eucharist. But he does make the point that by trusting God for bread, he is saying that the material world is good and therefore is an argument against the Marcionites (quoting Chrysostom), and against the materialists and Marxists and practical atheists who are caught up in the consumer lifestyle.
Pastoral: only miracle found in all four Gospels. Three lessons, one, God is love. He uses his power for good, he is compassionate and sees our daily needs. Two, we as his disciples have an awesome responsibility to be the feet and hands of Christ. Three, when we need it most, God will give us the power to work for good in the world.
Exegetical: I think the author is waaay too much focused on the material. Not that there aren't points to make about rulers and ruled, patrons and clients but this is over the top imo. Jesus brings the people away to a deserted place, in the author's view, important because there they are far from Rome.
Homiletical: Jesus does feed the five thousand, but he blesses it. It is the disciples that do the work of going row by row and passing it out. They were (by God's choice) part of the project, so we too are Jesus' hands and feet. I'm surprised that none of these four FW articles teach the lesson that we learned at Bethany, how our two fish and five loaves can be multiplied. This underscores at least two things, one, what we offer God is not much, it is up to Him to make it be significant, and two, full commitment. It is only when you let go of something and turn it completely over to God that he can multiply it. Think of the Cambridge seven, and the very first CIM couples who "threw away" their futures. But the Homiletical author does challenge us to dream bigger.
