[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Sep. 13 (Proper 19B) Mark 8:27-38

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Sep. 13 (Proper 19B). They 
focus on Mark 8:27-38, where Jesus began to teach his disciples that he must 
die and rise again.

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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  That is not the best sermon which makes the hearers 
go away talking to one another and praising the speaker, but which makes 
them go away thoughtful and serious, and hastening to be alone.  (William 
Shakespeare)


TITLE:  A King Like No Other


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  Unlike other kings, Jesus is not wealthy or distant, 
but like other kings he calls us to obedience -- to work, pray, and give for 
the spread of his kingdom.


SCRIPTURE:  Mark 8:27-38


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FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:

http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT02_Mark.htm

Scroll down to Mark 8:27.  There are several sermons on this text posted 
there.


TRUE STORY:

In his sermon above, Charles Hoffacker tells of the king visiting a man 
whose house in London was bombed during World War II. That reminded me of 
the following true story:

During World War II, the Germans managed to bomb Buckingham Palace.  You 
would have expected to hear a news report saying, "The royal family has left 
London for an undisclosed location."  But that isn't what happened. The 
Queen -- Elizabeth's mother -- the woman we knew for so many years as Queen 
Mum -- responded quite differently.  She had been photographed visiting the 
bombed ruins of the West End.  Now she was photographed examining the ruins 
of her own home.  She didn't say, "Oh me, oh my!"  She said, "Now I can look 
the West End in the eye!"   She was telling the world that it was her 
privilege to share at least some small measure of the suffering of her 
people.  Is it any wonder that people loved her!


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

Certain it is that we are saved not by one cross but by two --
Christ's and our own.
We must be crucified with Christ,
must die with him, and rise with him
into a new way of life and being.

Arthur John Gossip

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

In our day heaven and earth are on tiptoe
waiting for the emerging of a spirit-led, spirit-intoxicated,
spirit-empowered people.
All of creation watches expectantly
for the springing up of a disciplined, freely gathered, martyr people
who know in this life the life and power of the kingdom of God.
It has happened before.  It can happen again.
Individuals can be found here and there
whose hearts burn with divine fire.
But they are like flaming torches scattered in the night.
As yet there has been no gathering of a people of the spirit.

Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

If we answer this call to discipleship, where will it lead us?
What decisions and partings will it demand?
To answer this question we shall have to go to him,
for he only knows the answer.
Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow him,
knows the journey's end.
But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy.
Discipleship means joy.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Faith is obedience, nothing else;
literally nothing else at all.

Emil Brunner

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

To accept the will of God
never leads to the miserable feeling that it is useless to strive any more.
God does not ask for the dull, weak, sleepy acquiescence of indolence.
He asks for something vivid and strong.
He asks us to cooperate with him,
actively willing what he wills,
our only aim his glory.

Amy Carmichael

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


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HYMN STORY:  Nearer My God to Thee

This hymn was written by two sisters.  Sarah Flower Adams wrote the words 
and her sister, Eliza Flower, wrote the music.  Together they wrote a number 
of hymns, but this is the only one still in common use today.

Sarah (the author of the words) enjoyed a successful career on the stage 
playing Lady MacBeth in Shakespearean drama, but retired from the stage due 
to health problems.  Not long thereafter, her sister, Eliza, came down with 
tuberculosis.  Sarah, determined to nurse her, came down with the disease as 
well, and both died at a relatively young age.

However, their hymn acknowledges the possibility of suffering but refuses to 
allow suffering to have the last word.  It says:

"E'en though it be a cross
that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
nearer my God to Thee."

The message of the hymn is that every experience, good or bad, can draw us 
nearer to God, who gives us comfort and strength.

- Bearing a cross brings us nearer to God.
- Darkness brings us nearer to God.
- Angels bring us nearer to God.
- And grief brings us nearer to God.

The things that the hymn mentions (a cross, darkness, grief) tend to be 
difficulties.  Sometimes when life is good we tend to forget that we need 
God.  It is the difficult times that reinforce our deep need for God's 
grace -- that do, indeed, bring us nearer to God.

NOTE:  See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Boring, M. Eugene, The New Testament Library, Mark, A Commentary 
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006)

Brooks, James A, The New American Commentary: Mark (Nashville: Broadman 
Press, 1991)

Cousar, Charles B., in Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, 
Beverly R.; and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary 
Commentary Based on the NRSV -- Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox 
Press, 1993)

Craddock, Fred B.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; Tucker, Gene M., 
Preaching Through the Christian Year, B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press 
International, 1993)

Edwards, James R., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According 
to Mark (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002)

Evans, Craig A., Word Biblical Commentary: Mark 8:27 -- 16:20 (Nashville: 
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001)

France, R.T., The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel 
of Mark (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002)

Geddert, Timothy J., Believers Church Bible Commentary: Mark (Scottdale, PA: 
Herald Press, 2001)

Grant, Frederick C. and Luccock, Halford E., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 7 
(Nashville: Abingdon, 1951)

Hare, Douglas R. A., Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Louisville: 
Westminster John Knox Press, 1996)

Hooker, Morna D., Black's New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to 
Saint Mark (Hendrickson Publishers, 1991)

Hurtado, Larry W., New International Biblical Commentary:  Mark (Peabody, 
Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1983, 1989)

Lane, William L., The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The 
Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974)

Moule, C.F.D., The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible: The 
Gospel of Mark (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965)

Myers, Allen C. (ed.), The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: William 
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987)

Perkins, Pheme, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. VIII (Nashville: Abingdon, 
1995)

Williamson, Lamar Jr., Interpretation: Mark (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1983)

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