Exodus 19:2-8a
19:2 They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in
the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
19:3 Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying,
"Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites:
19:4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and
brought you to myself.
19:5 Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my
treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine,
19:6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words
that you shall speak to the Israelites."
19:7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these
words that the LORD had commanded him.
19:8 The people all answered as one: "Everything that the LORD has spoken we will
do."
I plan to focus on the last verse "The people all answered as one: 'Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.'" I will talk about God's free gift of love, and the people's response to that love both at Sinai and now, and talk about what we are committing ourselves to when we name ourselves Christian...recognizing that we too will have many false starts and will need ongoing forgiveness and guidance from God. We can't be and do without God! I will close by having the congregation make the same vow as verse 8, adding the postscript "with the help of Christ."
I was thinking of using the same verse. At our text study, all the pastors kind of chuckled when we read that verse (as if we've ever done all that the Lord has spoken). I wonder if God chuckled when the people said it? What amazing love, that God would continue with us even knowing how unlikely we are to keep our promise! KB in WA
I intend to challenge the congregation with two questions, "What is the truth we are called to proclaim?" and "What is the justice we are asked to make real with compassion?". My homily will then develop in response to these questions. Both the Epistle and the Gospel I will us to illuminate my responses. In closing, I will challenge the congregation to take a look into their lives and of that in their community for places in which the theirs and the church might to seek the incarnation of God's truth and compassion.
This is a kind of mix-and-match Sunday for me as far as texts are concerned.
It's church school and children's choir recognition Sunday, when among other
things we give Bibles to fourth graders. I'm planning to hand out the Bibles
just prior to the sermon, and then devote the sermon to a demonstration of how I
work at reading, understanding, and interpreting scripture--"in the preacher's
workshop," perhaps.
Anyway, my texts are Exodus 19:1-8a (this week's) and Matthew 9:9-13 (last
week's). I'm hoping to show a common thread in the two texts: freedom from, and
freedom for. The Israelites were set free from the oppression of slavery, and
set free for covenant with God. Matthew was set free from the unpopular
profession of tax collector, and set free for discipleship with Jesus.
Re the phrase "on eagles' wings" in the Exodus text:
Mark Link, S.J., has this illustration of “the image of a mother eagle
teaching her young ones to fly, as vividly described recently by a modern
observer”:
“I shall never forget the day that I stood on the barren plain of Petra with
its walls of blood-red rock. Glancing up, I saw a large bird soar out from a
mountain crag. Something dropped from its back like a pellet of lead. In a
moment the pellet unfolded, and I saw a little bird stretching its wings to fly.
“Before long, however, the uprush of wind proved too strong and the little
bird, once more a stone in the sky, began to drop. In an instant the mother bird
swooped down and caught it on her back to bear it aloft for a second trial.
“This time the young bird sustained itself longer in flight, but once more
it crumpled before the wind and began to drop. But the ever-present mother saved
it again for a third testing. As before, the pellet dropped, the wings opened,
but this time the young bird flew off” on its own and conquered the wind.
Barnabas Ahern, cited in Mark Link, S.J., “These Stones Will Shout - A New
Voice for the Old Testament,” p. 88.
