Planning - The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

• Revised Common Lectionary Readings


• Worship Notes


• Resources in The United Methodist Book of Worship

2 Samuel 11:1-15.

A king like all the nations, even one "after God's own heart," may be thoroughly corrupt. Today we read the saga of King David's failure to lead his troops into battle, his adultery with Bathsheba, his failure to compensate Uriah for adulterating his wife, and his order to have Uriah placed on the frontlines and abandoned to slaughter.

Psalm 14 (UMH 746).

A cry for deliverance from corruption all around and a recognition that only God, and no mere mortal, can provide what is needed. If you plan for the congregation or cantor to sing the psalm, use Tone 4 in G minor with the sung response. See UMH pp. 736-737 for more details.

Ephesians 3:14-21.

The lectionary leaves out the preceding verses that make sense of this passage (verses 1-13). The reason that the writer bends the knee before the Father is the revelation of the mystery that God will use the church as the means to make one new humanity out of the two (Gentile and Jew). That is why he prays that they may be "filled with all the fullness of God" -- that they may live out the fullness of the calling to which they have been called.

John 6:1-21.

John's version of the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on the water to meet the disciples as they row in vain against wind and waves.

For Leccionario Comn Revisado: Consulta Sobre Textos Comunes (in pdf), click here.

Back to top.

Worship Notes

Calendar

Ordinary Time continues with what is now the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. The lectionary texts do not relate to each other (except the Psalm as response to the Old Testament), so don't try to make them do so! Instead, today you can continue a series (2 Samuel or Ephesians) or start a new one (John, on the feeding of the 5000 and the meaning of Holy Communion).

How are you beginning to plan now for after "vacation season" comes to a close? See "Seasons and Series for Fall 2012" on the United Methodist Worship Blog or "Planning Worship for the Season after Pentecost, Year B" on the Discipleship Ministries website for prompts and suggestions.

Continue in prayer for your current bishop, your new bishop (if you are receiving one), and all persons, congregations, districts, conferences and episcopal areas experiencing leadership transitions in the weeks from now through September 1, when the new quadrennial terms for our US bishops begin.

Labor Day (US) is Monday, September 3.

The Season of Creation is commemorated during September.

Hispanic Heritage Month (US) is September 15-October 15.

World Communion Sunday is October 7.

A Season of Saints is commemorated throughout October, starting with World Communion Sunday and culminating in All Saints Day/Sunday. Resources for 2012 will be posted in June. A basic calendar of saints for each Sunday from 2011 is available for those who did not use it last year. You would simply need to leave one week out, as October has only four Sundays this year.

Back to top.

Atmospherics -- Old Testament: From Judges to a King like All the Nations

If in last week's reading it appeared that "a king like all the nations" may have been God's goal all along, this week's reading should thoroughly dispel that. Why? Because a king like all the nations, even one described as "a person after God's own heart," is particularly susceptible to the worst of the temptations, corruption, and sin that anyone can commit. In this week's reading, the Bible offers no apologies or spin. It simply discloses how King David was a coward (or lazy, or both!), an adulterer, a thief, and a murderer.

Psalm 14 in response to this story asks for deliverance from the grip of such corruption and its consequences.

Together, these texts turn the spotlight not on the sins of others, but on our own need to acknowledge where we are also mired in corruption and, no less than David, need not only God's forgiveness, but God's delivering power to set us free.

Consider developing an imagescape created through projected video or still pictures, possibly even a fog machine, that communicates being surrounded by sinfulness on all sides with no apparent way out unless and until God answers the cry of the psalmist, "O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!"

Epistle: Networked Unity

Today's selected reading from Ephesians really does need to be expanded, to include verses 1-13, if the selected text is to be understood in its context. Verse 14 begins "For this reason" It is the previous verses that supply the reason!

So looking back at verses 1-13, what is Paul's point that leads him to pray for this circuit of congregations in Southwest Asia Minor?

Verse 1 opens with another "For this reason" statement. Those words point back to the previous chapter (last week's reading). Paul says he is frequently imprisoned, and gladly so, because he gladly proclaims that God is making one new humanity in Jesus Christ (2: 15), and that the church is precisely the place where this new humanity is coming into being. For this "mystery" to be made known among the Gentiles, that God is offering and making them fellow heirs with Jewish people in the church through Christ, Paul has been sent to proclaim it in places where Gentiles abound. Proclaiming such a message of the boundless riches of Christ offered to all, Jewish and Gentile alike, and then seeing signs of that grace actually happen, often had meant that Paul would end up beaten, jailed, or tortured.

That's why Paul is praying for the "Ephesian circuit," a group of related congregations where Jewish and Gentile were functioning as one body in Christ both within and among their communities. First, in verse 12, he says he doesn't want them to lose heart because Paul suffers for this implying they might as well, as they continue to live this way. Then, in verses 13 ff (the selected text for today), he goes on to pray even more for them. He prays they may be strengthened inwardly, given all wisdom in the Holy Spirit, to understand "with all the saints the breadth and length and height and depth" of God's love, that they may all, across the entire circuit, become "rooted and grounded in love," and that knowing this love that goes beyond all else, they may be "filled with all the fullness of God."

It was the awareness of the abundance of God's grace, God's lovingkindness toward all, that motivated Paul to live out his mission, despite the consequences. It is exactly that same awareness, in even greater intensity, that he here prays the Christian communities in the Ephesian circuit may experience as they do the same.

Paul was not merely wishing them something vague like abundant spiritual blessings and wisdom. He's not trying to flatter them with well-wishing. He is instead praying for them to be as deeply or more deeply grounded in the love of God among one another that they will be able, even more than he has been, to see the Holy Spirit do infinitely above what they could ever ask or imagine, all to Christ's glory, come what may.

How broad, wide, high, and deep are people in your congregation and across the congregations you partner with living and experiencing the love of God right now?

Don't presume it's hardly at all!

Start by asking folks on your worship planning team to describe the "field of vision" or "field of living" they each have, personally. Some may be broader, others deeper, others wider. Begin to imagine together how the gifts of those with "deeper, broader, wider or higher" ways of experiencing God's love might encourage others to share such love with others, come what may.

As you design worship today, if congregations in your "circuit" are not actually worshiping together, considering inviting a "worshiper exchange" between your congregations, with some from each congregation visiting another one today. But consider these visitors not to be passive consumers, but persons who will be ready to offer a testimony about the ways they've experienced the breadth, depth, width or height of the love of God in their own congregation or community that might offer blessing and encouragement to the people of the other congregations or communities. In other words, send them as missionaries of encouragement in the Spirit to spur on every other partner congregation toward more boldly sharing the abundant love and grace of God with all they encounter.

Back to top.

Gospel: The Holy Meal, Part 1-- Sharing with All

The story-line in Mark's gospel is "interrupted" to help us focus on John's telling of the "Feeding of the 5000." The purpose of this extended stay in one long chapter in John's gospel is to help Christian congregations experience and reflect deeply in these weeks on "this holy mystery" of Christ with us in the sacrament of his body and blood.

Are you ready for a deep dive into Holy Communion in these weeks? Maybe even to experiment with celebrating weekly during this extended time in John's gospel?

While there are many ways you might approach the "kickoff" of these coming weeks, perhaps the richest embodiment today would be a bountiful experience of Holy Communion, using large loaves and generous portions with plenty to spare, and a plan to send many of your members out two by two to share the blessed elements with those who were unwillingly absent this day. A simple act of commissioning (see below) for those who will share the blessed bread and wine could be offered just before the post-Communion prayer.

For an outstanding resource and small-group study on practices of extending the table, see Mark Stamm's book, Extending the Table: A Guide for a Ministry of Home Communion Serving.

Here is a brief order of commissioning for those you may send out today:

Pastor: Receive these gifts, shared in this body, that all who were unable to join us here, may know and feel they are joined with us in Christ's body and blood.

Communion Ministers: We go as ambassadors of Christ.

Pastor: Let us pray.

All: O God, you have made us one body, one blood in Christ. Go with these who carry these gifts, that your love and our thanksgiving may abound. Amen.

"This Holy Mystery," our denomination's foundational teaching document on Holy Communion -- reaffirmed by the 2012 General Conference -- is available for download from the Discipleship Ministries website. Additional support articles, a free study guide, as well as "This Holy Mystery" in Spanish, Portuguese and French, are available on the Discipleship Ministries website.

You might also use these weeks to engage a small group in a study that enriches your practice of Holy Communion, such as Living into the Mystery: A United Methodist Guide for Celebrating Holy Communion.

Or perhaps you would prefer (or also like!) study guides for adults and children in book form. If so, you may wish to order Gayle Carlton Felton's study guide for older youth and adults (one per participant) or Carolyn Tanner's leader's guide for children and younger youth (one per leader; book contains legally reproducible content for class members).

Back to top.

Resources in The United Methodist Book of Worship

• Greeting: BOW 449 (2 Samuel)


• Opening Prayer: BOW 460 (2 Samuel, Psalm, Ephesians)


• Prayer of Confession and Assurance: BOW 478 (2 Samuel, John)


• Prayer: BOW 399, Week 2 (John)


• Prayer: BOW 431 by Barbara Dunlap-Berg (John, Communion)


• Prayer: BOW 510, For Discernment (2 Samuel, Ephesians)


• Prayer: BOW 522, For Purity (Psalm)


• Prayer: BOW 525, For Wisdom (Psalm)


• Response: BOW 193, "Prayer for Wisdom" (Psalm)


• The Ecumenical Cycle of Prayer: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago


• Offertory Hymn: BOW 179, "For the Gift of Creation" (John)


• Prayer of Great Thanksgiving: BOW 70-71 or 76-77


• Prayer of Thanksgiving: BOW 551 (John)


• Blessing: BOW 529, A Prayer of Saint Patrick (Ephesians)

Back to top.

Preaching

• Online texts are available at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.


• Notes for 2 Samuel 11:1-15


• Notes for Ephesians 3:14-21


• Notes for John 6:1-21


• Putting the Sermon Together


• Online Resources


• Print Resources

Notes for 2 Samuel 11:1-15

Very little needs to be said about the epic story of the adulterous affair between David and Bathsheba or the subsequent murder of her husband, Uriah.

• Joab was David's general.
  
  
  
  


• Hittites were descendants of Canaan, one of the sons of Ham.
  
  


• Bathsheba's bath was a ritual bath prescribed by the Law (Leviticus 15:19, 28).
  
  


• Commentaries are divided on the reason that Bathsheba chose to bathe on the roof in clear view of the king's palace. To intimate that Bathsheba was flirting suspends the sermon over the fine line between personal responsibility and blaming the victim.
  
  


• A number of scholars think of this passage as a case of rape instead of a love affair gone awry. An important question to ask is if Bathsheba had the power to say no to the king in her cultural context -- raising issues about the abuse of power by the most powerful person in the kingdom
  
  ??


• Visit www.textweek.com for a wealth of additional online resources. These are offered free of charge.
  
  


• Visit Chris Haslam's (Anglican Church of Canada) weekly exegetical commentary on both Testaments.
  
  


• Estudios Exegtico: Homilticos -- Spanish-language Revised Common Lectionary resources from Instituto Universitario ISEDET in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina
  
  


• The Painted Prayerbook -- Offering a unique combination of her original artwork and writing, Jan Richardson's blog includes reflections on the lectionary readings.

Back to top.

Notes for Ephesians 3:14-21

Ephesians 3:14-21 is a prayer.

• "For this reason" (verse 14) -- Refers to the previous discourse about God's plan for a unified people (see 3:1-13).
  
  
  
  


• "I bow my knees" (verse 14) -- Although Jewish prayers were often offered standing, Paul chose to kneel for this prayer.
  
  
  
  


• The prayer closes with the familiar doxological statement found in verses 20-21. It was common for Jewish prayers to close with statements about the glory of God and an amen.
  
  
  
  


• Visit www.textweek.com for a wealth of additional online resources. These are offered free of charge.
  
  


• Visit Chris Haslam's (Anglican Church of Canada) weekly exegetical commentary on both Testaments.
  
  


• Estudios Exegtico: Homilticos -- Spanish-language Revised Common Lectionary resources from Instituto Universitario ISEDET in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina
  
  

Back to top.

Notes for John 6:1-21

The feeding of the 5,000, reported in all four gospels, is another familiar passage needing little or no commentary. Over the years, many have struggled with whether to interpret this passage literally or symbolically. The event took place near the time that Passover would be observed.

?

• In the synoptic accounts, the disciples raise the question of food for the crowds (Matthew 15:33, Mark 8:2-4, and Luke 9:13); in John's account, Jesus asks the question.
  
  


• The five loaves and two fish are mentioned in all other accounts of this story.
  
  


• Luke's account says that there were 5,000 men (Luke 9:14-16), suggesting that many more women and children may also have been present.
  
  


• Over the years, many have struggled with whether to interpret this passage literally or symbolically. The Gospel of John alternates between miraculous occurrences and teachings that explain their symbolic significance. For John, the excitement and wonder of the miracles were the perfect springboard into Jesus' teachings about the spirituality and higher ethic of the Reign of God. Recent trends to demythologize the text and to substitute twenty-first-century explanations of Jesus' miracles may prove to be an exercise in turning wine into water. It is quite possible that Jesus' first-century audience was as jolted by the miraculous as we would be and perhaps that was and is the point!
  
  ?


• Visit www.textweek.com for a wealth of additional online resources for this text. These are offered free of charge.
  
  ?


• Visit www.lectionary.org for Richard Donovan's weekly exegesis of the New Testament lections in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
  
  


• GoTell.org -- Biblical Storytelling for the Global Village
  
  What better way to enliven your preaching than to begin by storytelling the text! The site offers several online workshops in storytelling and has a section organized by lectionary year with both audio examples and commentary on the lectionary texts. See this week's texts at www.gotell.org/pages/stories/John/Jn06_01-21.html.
  
  


• Visit Chris Haslam's (Anglican Church of Canada) weekly exegetical commentary on both Testaments..
  
  


• Estudios Exegtico: Homilticos -- Spanish-language Revised Common Lectionary resources from Instituto Universitario ISEDET in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina
  
  


• The Painted Prayerbook -- Offering a unique combination of her original artwork and writing, Jan Richardson's blog includes reflections on the lectionary readings.
  
  

Back to top.

Putting the Sermon Together

2 Samuel 11:1-15

The Stop Sign on the Corner of Temptation and Sin. Must temptation always lead to sin? What could David have done differently? If he had gone to war with his troops, in accordance with the customs of the day, this would never have happened. If he had, out of respect for the woman bathing, either turned his head or gone inside his home, history would read much differently. He ran an obvious stop sign when he sent for her; another, when he lay with her; still another, when he sent for her husband in order to stage a cover-up. The list of places where David could have stopped is long. The David and Bathsheba story provides a convenient way to discuss ways to avoid temptation.

And what of those who were complicit with David in covering up his sin? They are not guiltless. Sin and cover-ups are a complicated issue. Those who stand by and watch sin, or ignore the cries for help of those who are being abused bear some the burden of guilt along with the sinner (James 4:17).

A Royal Abuse of Power. Your congregation should be familiar with the concept of power abuse, especially in light of the church scandals that have dominated the media in recent years. Abuse of power, however, is not limited to kings and presidents, or even to pastors, schoolteachers, and therapists. Power is an integral part of every relationship -- even those in the family. The lives and stories of people in the pews remind us that the abuse of power takes myriad forms that should be addressed from the pulpit.

Ephesians 3:14-21

My prayer for you. Do members of your congregation know that you pray for them? Do they have any idea what you pray when you pray for them? Paul's prayer consisted of four major petitions:

• That the Spirit of God would strengthen them;


• That Christ would dwell in their hearts;


• That they would have the power to comprehend the wideness and vastness of God;


• That they would know the love of Christ.

??

An explanation of Paul's prayer for this church is appropriately followed by an explanation of your prayer for your beloved congregation.

John 6:1-21

God has more than enough for all of us. Look at the orderliness of the passage. There was no stampede for food, no disgruntled hungry person yelling at the cook! There was more than enough for all present. If we look at the feeding of the 5,000 in symbolic terms, we might see many of our world's problems or our local problems in a different light.

What motivates people to greed, jealousy, or even xenophobia? Often, it is the perception that there are limited goods and services and that others may somehow get their hands on "my share." Something about the passage suggests that the problem may lie more in the inequity of distribution than in that of supply. ?

The Power to resist temptation. Verse 15 tells us that Jesus resisted being forcibly made king by the crowd he had just miraculously fed. He withdrew and went to the mountain alone to pray. Contrast this with the bored king in this week's Old Testament lection who could have benefited from a season of prayer. Perhaps time alone with God or a lifestyle of turning to God in confusing times is one way that we are strengthened to overcome temptation. ?

Back to top.

Online Resources

Preacher's Portal on Patheos with Alyce McKenzie and John Holbert (Perkins/SMU)

Center for Excellence in Preaching Commentary (2 Samuel)

Center for Excellence in Preaching Commentary (John)

Sermon Helps from WorkingPreacher.org (Luther Seminary)

2 Samuel 11:1-15

• The Uriah Factor Dr. Ronald Peters of ITC offers a careful look at Uriah and his integrity
  
  


• Abuse of Command: A Bible Study by Walter Brueggemann Walter Bruggemann compares power issues in the military to those found in the story of David and Bathsheba
  
  


• Key Events in David's Life -- Chart from the American Bible Society
  
  


• David -- from the Jewish Virtual Library
  
  


• King David -- from the New Advent Encyclopedia

Ephesians 3:14-21

• Ephesians 1:15-23 in Preaching Through the Christian Year by Fred Craddock and others
  
  


• Ephesus -- Ephesus is located in Western Turkey
  
  


• "In the Footsteps of Paul: The Wider World " -- PBS special examines aspects of Paul's second missionary journey.
  
  


• "Paul's Second Missionary Journey" from the Unbound Bible at Biola University (Make selection "Second Journey," then "Corinth," on the left side of page)
  
  


• John Wesley's Notes on Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians
  
  

John 6:1-21

• More Unexpected Jesus Sermon by the Rev. Sharon Hiers (Episcopal)
  
  
  
  


• Come and Get It Sermon by the Rev. Dr. James Lemler (Episcopal)
  
  
  
  


• "A Picnic on the Mountainside" -- A sermon by the Rev. Grace Imathiu (UMC)
  
  
  
  


• "More than Enough" -- A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Ozzie Smith, Jr. (UCC)
  
  
  
  


• "Miracles, Magic and Medicine" -- A survey of the subject from the American Bible Society.
  
  
  
  


• "The Gospel of John" From Frontline's From Jesus to Christ series.

Back to top.

Print Resources

Is Nothing Sacred? - The Marie M. Fortune book that helped open national conversation about sexual abuse issues in the church

Safe Sanctuaries - Making the church a safe place for children and youth

A Church for All God's Children (pdf) from the Bishop's initiative on children and poverty

Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons, Cycle B The Storyteller's Companion to the Bible, Volume 3, Judges-Kings

Preaching the Old Testament by John Holbert

A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament 2nd edition

The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul, 2nd ed.

Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching John (Westminster Press, 1988)

The Anchor Bible: Volume 29 -- The Gospel According to John 1-12

The Miracles of Jesus

The Storyteller's Companion to the Bible, Volume 10: John

The God of the Gospel of John by Marianne Meye Thompson

The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of John, Part 2 -- An update of William Barclay's classic!

Back to top.

Offertory Prayer

Generous God, forgive us for the fear and lack of trust that allow us to see scarcity where you have provided abundance. We don't want to be like the disciples by the Sea of Galilee who saw only problems and not possibilities. We would choose instead to be like the boy who, in faith, took all he had and made it available to Jesus to do something miraculous. We offer these gifts to you with confidence that you will work to multiply what we offer into overflowing baskets of blessings in abundance. We pray this in gratitude for the greatest gift of all, your Son, our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen. (John 6:1-21)