Lectionary for July 27, 2008
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - view calendar
5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." 6 And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
It would certainly be easy to preach this week's lectionary text as offering contemporary believers a model of faithful prayer.
Indeed King Solomon, who when God offers him the opportunity to have any wish fulfilled asks not for glory and worldly success but for wisdom, is often held up as an example of a faithful believer who recognizes the importance of putting God's kingdom first (cf. Matt 6:33).
Contributor Profile
Juliana Claassens
Associate Professor of Old Testament
Baptist Theological Seminary
Richmond, VA
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?" 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah's eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel." 19 Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me."
Our text for this week is a continuation of the story of Jacob.
Last week, we heard about Jacob at Bethel and the promise God made to him there, the same promise God made to his grandfather, Abraham, (Gen 12:1-3, 7) and to his father, Isaac, (Gen 26:1-5): land, offspring, and blessing. God also said, "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Gen 28:15). It is a very gracious promise indeed for a man who is running for his life, a man who is going into exile from his homeland and from everyone he knows and loves.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Paul brings the first eight chapters of Romans to a resounding conclusion in these verses before going on in 9:1-11:36 to that which weighs so heavily on his heart, rejection of Christ by his own people, the Jews.
We will focus on three texts (9:1-5; 10:5-15; 11:1-2a, 29-36) from this section in the following three Sundays, but for now we focus on the breadth and depth of the conclusion of Romans 8.
Contributor Profile
Paul S. Berge
Emeritus Professor of New Testament
Luther Seminary
St. Paul, MN
31 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."
The parables of the mustard seed (13:31-32) and the leaven (13:33) are twins. Both recount the story of something small and hidden that, through an organic process, becomes great.
The similarities coincide with an identity of theme. The two parables illustrate, by reference to the growth of a mustard seed and the expansion of leaven, a vital truth about God's kingdom: a humble beginning and an almost secret presence are not inconsistent with a great and glorious conclusion.
Contributor Profile
Dale Allison
Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA