Sunday, February 9, 2025

This week we will be doing a collection for the Souper Bowl of Caring. Money and shelf-stable foods will be accepted for our Little Pantry.

It is also Scout Sunday, so members of our local Scout BSA and Cub Scout troops will be joining us in worship, as well as assisting with worship leadership.

The youth (Grades 2-7) will also be doing a Youth Connection event after worship, continuing the Souper Bowl theme, and discussing food insecurity.

Theme

There is quite a gap between this reading and the one from last week. Jesus has selected twelve disciples (ones who follow) who he also calls apostles (ones who are sent out). We have also skipped over an extended teaching section, sometimes called the ‘Sermon on the Plain’ in 6:20-49 (somewhat in contrast to the ‘Sermon on the Munt’ found in Matthew’s gospel). A few things to note from that sermon:

v. 20-26 It begins with not only blessings: you who are (economically) poor, hungry now, weep now, and hated on account of the Son of Man; but also woes: you who are rich, full now, laughing now, spoken well of.

v. 27-36 There is then an major (for the length of this sermon) section on loving one’s enemies and blessing those who hate you. Examples like turning the cheek (Luke does not include which side), giving your shirt as well as your cloak, and giving to the poor. Jesus also emphasizes that to love the ones who love you is basically the bare minimum of ethical responses, everyone can manage that. Jesus holds his disciples to a higher standard, love those who have positioned themselves to be your enemy. Luke’s account here also raises the more practical and economic side of things (as opposed to Matthew’s over spiritualized focus) and applies this to those who you might lend to. Do not just lend to those who can pay you back (that is fiscally responsible, so unremarkable), also lend to those from whom you expect nothing in return. This seems to be a throwback to the economic system presented in Deuteronomy 15 in which market debt is erased every seven years, and property debt wiped out every 50 years (a system in which both generational debt/poverty and generational theft/wealth cannot accumulate).

v.37-42 Jesus also instructs his disciples not to judge or condemn, but instead to forgive generously. He uses the humorous image of trying to pick the speck out of a neighbor’s eye when you have a log sticking out of yours. If you are going to judge, judge yourself, work on your own stuff, then you can help others. Post-log help, we might presume, comes with the humility that comes from the recognition that I have experienced failure and grace, so I will extend it to others.

v. 43-45 Jesus then follows this image up with a familiar scriptural image of trees and fruit. The fruit of someone’s words and actions are the thing to judge (discern) rather than their appearances. Look at the fruit that you produce, look at the fruit that other people produce, and from that make decisions about who is a ‘good tree’ or a ‘bad tree.’

v. 46-49 and this teaching section ends with an admonition to not only hear the words that Jesus is saying, but put them into practice. He uses the image of a person building a house either on a strong foundation or not.

So, now that the gospel writer has laid out these sayings of Jesus in a sermon, we will see those lessons put into practice. In our lesson for this week, Jesus encounters a Roman Centurion. If anyone would be considered an enemy, it would be this man. He is a colonizer, an oppressor, a Stormtrooper of the Evil Empire. Yet we also learn about the fruit that his life has produced, and all is not as it may have appeared at the beginning.

Questions

– Who are those who you would be very weary of if they approached you?

– Have you ever been surprised by the ‘fruit’ you see from someone (good or bad)?

– How does Jesus give us life where we thought there was death?

Reflections:

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Introit: There’s not much in the hymnal with reference to our scripture, so the search for hymns focused on the sermon title and the notion that healing was not reserved just for certain people. Verse 3 of “When Hands Reach Out and Fingers Trace speaks of healing, but also closes with “he welcomes all the wounded in.”

Opening Hymn: As the only hymn with any reference to our scripture reading (v.13), “Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life” is the selection for opening hymn. An evocation of urban need, the text also connects to Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem.

Transition Hymn: For the month of February is “I Depend Upon Your Faithfulness”.

Special Music: Pastor AJ is singing for us this week; “Bring Me to Life” by Amy Lee and Ben Moody

Responsive Hymn: The keyword for the other hymns is ‘inclusiveness’. The setting of the inclusive 2oth text of “In Christ There Is No East or West” is enhanced by the use of a traditional spiritual to convey the words.

Sending Hymn: The text of “O God, We Bear the Imprint” focuses on the theological question of race, focusing on the idea that we all bear the image of God.

Benediction: Our benediction for the month of February is “May the Love of the Lord”.