Proper 7 • 2 Corinthians 6:1–13 • June 21, 2015 Servants of God as a Study in Contrasts
The one who was himself a study in contrasts, contradictions, and paradoxes asks no less of his servants and gives no less than his Spirit to make it happen
The one who was himself a study in contrasts, contradictions, and paradoxes asks no less of his servants and gives no less than his Spirit to make it happen
Our text follows the account of the prophet smashing a clay jar (19:1–12) symbolizing the way God will smash the nation of Israel for their apostasy: for their turning the land God gave them into “a place of foreign gods” and pagan sacrifice (19:4)
By Jeff Kloha “Why Do You Not Leave Me Alone?” Narrative Focus This pericope falls within a series of four of Jesus’s miracles (8:22–56): calming a storm, casting out demons, healing a woman, and raising a girl from the dead. These together show Jesus’s power and reign over every sphere of danger and calamity: nature, ..
By Joel Elowsky Servants of God as a Study in Contrasts This text follows on the heels of the well-known “glorious exchange” passage at the end of chapter 5, “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Our text begins by telling us that ..
By Victor Raj Conflicting Messages On this day the church in worship ponders God’s “unfailing love” (gradual) and “never-failing providence” (collect). The church prays to God to put away from her all hurtful things and provide for her all things profitable. As in the prophetic words of Jeremiah, in Matthew 10 our Lord’s words ring true that the ..
By David Peter Textual Considerations There are many details of this passage which could be developed in the sermon, some of which are quite significant, such as the wonderful implications of putting on Christ in baptism (3:27) and the dissolving of distinctions coram Deo among those who are baptized (3:28). But what this study focuses ..
Editor’s Note: This homiletical help is adapted from Concordia Journal, November 1983. By H. Armin Moellering Introduction: “A human being needs comfort. The nursing child crying in its crib, the old man clinging to a beloved hand as he dies; the one coming into the world, the one departing from the world, both need comfort. ..
By Travis J. Scholl Let’s be honest. Given the wondrous epistle reading from Galatians 3 (“But now that faith has come … There is no longer Jew or Greek … But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son … So you are no longer a slave but a child … ”) ..