This Sunday, Matthew Parker Wrzeszcz will be preaching from I John 3: 16-24. It is the same book of the Bible from which last week’s sermon, “Touching Holiness,” was taken.
As with the introduction to I John, this passage touches upon the physicality of our spirituality. In this case, the writer says, “Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” Later, “All who obey his commandments abide in him (Jesus).”
As noted in the last sermon, this letters comes from the same community that gave birth to the Gospel of John. Therefore its strong theology of the Incarnation is to be taken into consideration. The implication that can be drawn here is that because God “took action” in the form of Jesus Christ, we, too, take action. Just as Jesus was love incarnate, the community in its loving actions is love embodied.
The challenge for Reformed Christians and for those of us in 21st Century America is to avoid equating our work and action with earning anything from God. They are responses to what God has done, not a precursor to currying the favor of God. As with any good Presbyterian sermon, preaching this text- even with its emphasis on action- needs some qualification at the beginning about who God is, for it is only in light of God is that we ever understand who we are and therefore what we are to do.
I look forward to hearing what the Preacher’s Workshop Bible study has to say about this passage.
Sept. 12th starts a new “program year” at GPMC. As with the past two Septembers, I will mark that beginning with a renewed attempt to use the Sermon Workbench as a means to (1) share developing insights during sermon preparation, including tidbits that won’t make it into the sermon and (2) cite relevant cultural artifacts that are mentioned in the sermon itself. Stay tuned; we start soon.
Our text for October 11, Matthew 4: 12-22,finds Jesus fresh from the temptations in the wilderness and heading to his home territory to teach, preach, and heal. Matthew, who seems to write for a Jewish audience, directly ties the location of Jesus’ initial activity to a passage in Isaiah. It is a passage, surprisingly, that posits the work of God in non-Jewish territory.
At this point it is hard not to be drawn to the fact that Isaiah and Matthew are pointing to the ability of God to work in unexpected places and therefore through unexpected people. This seems underscored when there, by the lake, Jesus calls fishermen to follow him. I will be thinking this week about unexpected places where God is present.
As we start the journey toward the sermon, I hear the resonance between our GPMC tagline “A light by the lakeshore” and the proclamation of Matthew that on the people sitting in great darkness light has shined. Metro-Detroit, as much as anywhere in the country, resides in the shadow of gloom. A light in this darkness is needed and prayed for by many.
I will share more following my Preachers’ Workshop Bible study (Mondays, 10 a.m.).