[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for Proper 9, July 4 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Proper 9: 
     Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 – “How to Get the Job Done”  
     Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 – “In Prayer’s Way” by Leonard Sweet

Luke 10 - the sermon titled "How to Get the Job Done" 

It's a startling fact but true -- Jesus and politicians have a lot in common. This no doubt comes as a surprise to those who regard politics as a dirty business, or who think of politicians essentially as liars, and who believe steadfastly that politics and religion don't mix. Nonetheless, Jesus and the politicians have a lot in common.

When you think of it, politicians get elected by promising us something better. A few years ago President Reagan was elected and then re-elected by asking the public, "Are you better off now than four years ago?" The first time, the people answered, "no," and elected Reagan for the promise of something better. Four years later they responded "yes" to the question and elected Reagan for another term in hope for an even better four years. 

Jesus and politicians do have a lot in common. Not always, however. A little girl asked her mother whether all fairy tales began with, "Once upon a time." "No," replied the mother. "Today most of them begin with 'If I'm elected.' "Jesus made promises, but not like that.

Was Jesus, 2,000 years ago, promising something better? Indeed he was. He said he had come to bring in the kingdom of God, the rules of God's righteousness in the world. For 900 years, Jews had been hoping for a restoration of the glorious kingdom of David and Solomon. For 500 years they had been longing for an end to foreign tyranny and a return to prosperity and freedom. And in Jesus' time the longings and expectations were at an all-time high.

For Jews of that time, the hopes of a better life were often focused on a Messiah, a new King David who would come and restore their good fortune. Others spoke of a messianic age about to arrive, the coming of the kingdom of God, a time when God would reign supreme over his people, and freedom and prosperity and the good life would be enjoyed. It would also be a time when righteousness and justice and peace would prevail.

Had there been people who claimed to be the promised Messiah? Indeed there had been, 3. And the Romans, then occupying Judea and Palestine, promptly disposed of them. But now Jesus appears on the scene, announcing far and wide that the kingdom of God is at hand, and that he is God's agent to bring in his kingdom, the new and better life.

Not only is Jesus like politicians in promising a new and better way, he is like them in his struggle to get the word out to all the people, to announce the kingdom is coming, to raise expectations and to prepare them to receive Jesus' message. Without newspapers, radios and television, how do you get the job done? You do it in person and you delegate emissaries, advance men, to prepare the way and to excite anticipation for Jesus' arrival and for his message of hope.

Politicians could learn from Jesus, and so could businesses and churches. For would we not all agree, he got the job done! After all, one-fourth of today's world population, a billion plus people, claim to be Jesus' people. And that doesn't even count the millions who have preceded us in the previous 20 centuries.

How do we get the job done in our time? Our text gives us clues. Here they are. The first thing we learn from Jesus is...

1. We Must Delegate.
2. We Must Discover New Opportunities.
3. We Must Dedicate Ourselves to the Task.

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.
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Luke 10 - the sermon titled “In Prayer’s Way” by Leonard Sweet]

Who is our newest parent here this morning? . . . How old is your baby? May I hold him/her? Let’s bow our heads and offer a prayer of blessing for this child . . .

This little baby is embarking on a journey. And it’s an awesome journey to be a part of. All new parents here - is there anything as exciting as watching your baby go from a snuggly little lump you cradle in your arms to a roller, then a crawler, then a “cruiser,” and finally a walker?

Babies seem absolutely driven to get on their feet. No matter how many times they tumble and topple, crash and burn, bump and bruise, babies in the “cruiser” stage keep letting go with their hands and start moving their feet. Standing upright, walking and running with a straight back and straight legs — those are the marks of the human being. It is this posture that sets us apart from all other living creatures on earth.

Or is it?

There is another position that reveals even more about the uniqueness of being human. Standing up defines our most remarkable physical gift. Kneeling down reveals our most miraculous spiritual gift.

If you’re a disciple of Jesus, to move up, move down. The future is on our knees. The future is knee-deep. The future is bottoms up. We don’t know when we’re stretching on our tip-toes. We know on our knees. The depths are knee-deep. And we’re weak in the knees.

Repeat after me: insects crawl [response: insects crawl]; fish swim [response: fish swim]; birds fly [response: birds fly]; humans pray [response: humans pray]. Let’s do that again: Praying, with body, heart, mind, and soul, is the hallmark of humanity. So why is it that although we spend just one year learning how to stand on our own two feet, it can take us a lifetime to learn how to get back down on our knees?

Almost all churches used to hold weekly “prayer meetings” — a time set aside, not for a sermon, not for singing, not for announcements, but a time just for prayer. A time to be down on our knees, head bowed, heart open, listening for the “still, small voice” and sometimes hearing the thunder roll.

What kind of “meetings” do we hold now? We’ve given up our “prayer meetings” for planning meetings and committee meetings: strategic planning meetings, long-range-planning meetings, curriculum meetings, worship planning meetings, budget meetings, mission and outreach meetings.

In the traditional Quaker “meeting,” prayer time was silent — each soul a quietly opened door, each spirit tuned to a frequency that didn’t register in the human ear.

In other traditions prayer time is when “the thunder rolls.” During prayer time in Korean churches, called tongsong kido, the thousands of gathered worshipers pray simultaneously out loud — but not the same prayer. The sound of all those voices, all those prayers, flowing out into the sanctuary seem to physically fill the air with prayer. In those congregations the prayer you breathe out will not be the same prayer you breathe back in. Respiration brings transformation.

Maybe the church today needs a conversion…

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining www.Sermons.com
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The Kingdom of God Is Here

The main message of these 72 workers is the simple declaration “The kingdom of God is near.” Dallas Willard once said that when he was a young boy, rural electrification was taking place throughout the United States. For the first time ever, tall poles popped up across the landscape of the countryside with huge electric wires strung from pole to pole to pole. But initially at least, not everyone trusted electricity and so not a few rural families opted (for a time) to not hook up. They heard the messages of the electric company of how much easier life would be with electric washing machines replacing hand-cranked wringers and electric vacuum cleaners bringing to an end the old practice of hauling heavy carpets outside to have the dirt beaten out of them. They heard these promises but did not trust or believe them.
 
So in a sense, Willard wrote, you could have said to those folks, “My friends, electricity is at hand!” But if they opted to not tap into that power that was running right over their heads, then the nearness of the power would do them no good. Maybe the message of the kingdom’s nearness was like that. With Jesus in the world, the kingdom of God was near, at hand. All the goodness and glory and power of that kingdom was right there, but if they kept it at arm’s length, it would do them no good. Their lack of participation did not weaken the power of the kingdom. But it did land them in an unhappy (and unnecessary) spiritual situation of staying in the dark when the light of the world was right there.
 
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations
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Gifts of Time… Sabbatical or Study Grants for Pastoral Leaders at www.louisville-institute.org  

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Jesus and Moses Both Delegated

Delegation is more difficult than it sounds. Delegation is especially difficult for talented and extraordinary leaders, and even more difficult for leaders who seem to have a special calling from God.

That was the case with Moses some 13 centuries before Christ. After successfully leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt toward freedom in the Promised Land, Moses had problems with a somewhat rebellious and cantankerous group.

So he complained to God, "I am not able to carry all these people alone, the burden is too heavy for me" (Numbers 11:14). In fact, Moses was so discouraged he asked God to kill him unless he helped him.

So God asked Moses to gather 70 men whom he knew to be natural leaders and officers and to bring them to the tent of meeting, where God manifested his presence. God said, "I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit which is upon you and put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone" (Numbers 11:17). So God's spirit did come upon the 70 and Moses had people to whom he could delegate responsibility and leadership.

Thirteen centuries later, Jesus uses the same number -- 70 -- to recruit men to help him spread the word about the new kingdom of God. If Moses and the 70 elders were developing the Old Israel, Jesus and the 70 were about to develop the New Israel.

Maurice A. Fetty, The Divine Advocacy, CSS Publishing Company

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Seeing the Kingdom

One of the worst things that can be said of people is that greatness passed by, and they did not recognize it. Yet in the words of Henry David Thoreau:

The morning wind forever blows;
The poem of creation is uninterrupted;
But few are the ears that hear it.

Every one of us here this morning has at one time felt that morning wind blowing by; every one of us has been privy to that uninterrupted poem of creation. Yet how many of our ears have really heard it; how many of our eyes have truly seen it? What is preventing us from seeing the kingdom of God and letting it into our lives?

Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

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