Lectionary for July 20th, 2008

July 20, 2008 Ordinary Time/Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 28:10-19a On the lam on the road to Haran, Jacob had this famous dream of a ladder stretching from earth to heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending on it. The LORD stood beside him and reminded Jacob of the covenant with his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham. 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!" 17 And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." We can all sing the song, “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder…” When was the last time we met God in a dream? When have we been on the lam and God’s grace intervened? And when that happened did we stop to worship God?

Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 (UMH 854)

Romans 8:12-25 Paul reminds Christians at Rome of the Spirit's witness that we are the adopted children of God and heirs with Christ. Marion Soards says; The language of sonship that is lost in many contemporary translations is not in itself a totem to be revered; yet, its use here is important for particular theological reasons. When Paul tells the Romans—men and women alike—that they will become "sons of God," he is making a statement about status as it was constructed and understood in the ancient world. In the patriarchal culture of antiquity, normally a son or sons were the heirs to the goods of the father of the family. The oldest son received a double share of the goods, while other sons received lesser portions. Women were "married off" and not normally the focus of inheritance. Thus, when Paul declares that "all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (literal translation of v. 14 mine), he is talking about becoming related to God in such a manner that "we" have an inheritance from God, which is itself an inheritance with Christ. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. How will you preach this to your congregation? How does your members need to hear the message of adoption? And what about the eager longing of creation what does your church need to know about this?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 This is another Kingdom Parable. "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. The question became then what are we to do about the weeds. And Jesus says to them, don’t do anything right now. I’ll have the workers take care of it at the time of harvest. What was Jesus saying in the original context? How are we to live with “evil around us”? What does it mean to us today, the eschatological interpretation that Jesus gives his parable?
If it were my choice I might choose to preach on Jacob and his dream. But we are preaching the Gospel and I’ll be preaching the Matthew passage. I might also choose the Romans passage because I know a little about adoption. This Parable of the wheat and weeds is going to be difficult for Sunday. Which passage are you preaching and how will you preach it.

photo from fresh expressions