Home » Ministers' resources » Worship Resources » Preaching Kits » Year B Mark » Kit 5 » Pentecost 5

13 July Pentecost 5

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 It is difficult for us to understand the special mystique attached to the Ark of the Covenant. It was a rectangular chest about 1200mm x 750mm x750mm, with two poles for carrying it, two cherubim with outstretched wings, a lid called "the mercy seat", and a protective curtain. Inside were the two tables of the law. It was understood to be the appointed place where the God of the covenant was present; it was the instrument by which God displayed his power. At some undetermined time (not later than the reign of Josiah) and in unknown circumstances, the ark disappeared. In this passage in 2 Sam, the ark "is there to show the establishment of the throne
of David, and the fact that he is really, by the grace of God, the King of Israel." The lectionary has us omit the difficult and disturbing account of Uzzah's fate (verses 6-9), and the prosperity that came to Obed-Edom when the ark was sequestered on him for three months (verse 10-11), but both reflect the awe with which the ark was regarded.

Psalm 24 A Psalm that has been associated with David bringing the ark to Jerusalem in the 2 Sam passage above, but it is unlikely that it was written for this occasion. The psalm is in three parts: verses 1-2 (a hymn of creation celebrating God's dominion over the earth), 3 - 6 (a liturgy of instruction used at the entry of those who visit the Temple) and 7-10 ( a song in the form of question and answer, accompanying the opening of the Temple to the pilgrims, the place where God's glory dwells.)

Ephesians 1:3-14 For the most part, Ephesians is not easy reading. There is "a heaping up of abstractions, exalted and difficult words, heaped up expression and complicated sentences, which, after all, are only meant to describe the simplest Christianity." (Dibelius) In the Greek, verses 3-14 are one sentence! Yet there are important truths about the faith embedded in this letter: eg about grace (ch 2 vs 6-10) and about Christian unity. (ch 2 vs 13-22); and treasures of devotion (ch 3 verses 14-21) Writing of today's reading, Principal John Allan (of blessed memory!) wrote: "verse after verse in this section drives home the basic truth that all Christianity has to offer depends on God's actions. Christianity is a Gospel because it tells of what God has done, is doing, and is going to do . . . Notice the number of words in this section that point to God's loving action: has blessed us, has chosen us, having predestined us, . . . [and others] . . . indicate the action of God." (Ephesians, Torch Bible Commentaries.)

Mark 6:14-29 A sad and sordid story. Mark tells the story of John the Baptist's death here as a flashback. A literary device which fills the interval between the sending out of the disciples (6:6b-13) and their return (6:30). Perhaps Mark gives this grisly story as a vignette of the ghastly evil of the world to which Jesus came, and to which he sends his followers. "The story is told with a curious objectivity. It has no religious character, and gives no judgement, favourable or otherwise, on any of the actors. It is such a tale as might have been current in the bazaars of Palestine. . . Josephus [the historian] gives a divergent account of the Baptist's death. He says nothing about the denunciation of Herod for his marriage; Herod feared, according to Josephus, that John's great influence over the people might lead him to raise a rebellion." (Sherman E Johnson)

Preaching The Surrounding chaos

"The thing is, I'm afraid," says a 1980s young woman to her father in Morris West's The Clowns of God. "Afraid of getting married and having children and trying to make a home, while the whole world could tumble round our ears in a day." She tries to explain her fears to him: "You older ones don't understand. You've survived a war. You've left us! All along the borders there are rocket launchers and missile silos. . . You've given us everything except tomorrow! I don't want my baby to be born in a bomb shelter and die of radiation sickness. All we've got is today . . ."

We may already have half forgotten those days when the doomsday clock was said to be ticking away at only a few minutes before midnight, and we shivered at the thought of the fingers poised over the red buttons that would unleash nuclear destruction. Chaos, it seemed was closing in on us.

A bloodless revolution in the early nineties relieved the immediate pressure. But there is little to comfort us as we survey the world around us. Powerful destructive forces bode ill for human civilisation. Lloyd Geering's millennium book the World to Come: From Christian Past to Global Future gives a bleak, cheerless and indeed a chilling prognosis for the future of humanity.

A sermon for this Sunday might begin with something like the above. Our civilisation, the whole structure of human life on earth is precarious. This is pictured graphically for us in the first section of Psalm 24 - a poem that echoes the creation story in Genesis 1. To the Lord belong the earth and everything in it . . . for it was he who founded it on the seas and planted it firm on the waters beneath. The Psalm celebrates God's creating power, but it does not forget the dark swirling waters of chaos which, according to the cosmology of the time, lay not far beneath them as they lived on the solid ground of the earth. Neither the world they lived in, nor they themselves could exist without the power of God that prevented the dark waters of chaos from rising and engulfing them.

In section two the psalm, as the pilgrims approach the Temple gates, the question is asked as to who is worthy to go in those gates. The answer is a brief sketch of the character of a godly person, fit to be a part of the psalm-singing procession going up to enter the temple, the holy place. Pure in heart and action, honest in desire and in word, the person pictured here seems to us civilised, polished and mature. (See also Psalm 15: 2-5)

Yet time and again it has been shown that the shell of civilisation, culture and maturity is brittle. How could the German race, with its long history of learning, the race the produced Beethoven and Brahms and Boethe, also generate the third Reich, the Gestapo, concentration camps, and the holocaust? Preachers will know of other examples from recent history where the structures of civilisation, even "Christian" civilisation have crumbled under the pressure of the forces of chaos. And in this favoured country, how deep do the roots of our civilisation go, and how far away are the swirling dark waters of chaos?

Our passage from Mark 6 gives us a glimpse of evil at work in the man whom our Lord referred to as that fox (Luke 13:32). Herod was a master at the sly intrigues needed to keep favour with Rome and with his subjects. To keep a promise made at a party, perhaps when more than a little drunk (what king promises to give away half his kingdom except in his cups?), and to please a young woman whose dancing had delighted him, and to fulfill the vengeful desires and demands of Herodias, this man - in the presence of his dinner guests - orders a revolting act to be carried out. As part of the background of the ministry of Jesus with his compassion and grace and self-denial, we see this ghastly glimpse of how nasty human nature can be.

But the focus of the Psalm is not on the chaos. Nor should the focus of this sermon! The final section is the climax of the procession. The questions and ringing responses affirm that it is the Lord of hosts, the King of glory, whose authority and power extend over the whole creation. This is where God's people can stand firm even when the waters of chaos threaten to engulf them - as often happened to Israel.

Today's reading from chapter one of Ephesians takes us further than the Psalmist could go. In Christ our release is secured and our sins are forgiven through the shedding of his blood. In the richness of his grace God has lavished on us all wisdom and insight. (vs 7-8). Verse 10 affirms that everything is under God's control - past, present future; and God's purpose is that the whole universe, however shattered and chaotic it may be, is to be brought into unity in Christ. On some such triumphant note of hope and confidence the sermon should end.

Intercessions

We pray to you, eternal God,
For the people of your church around the world
Keep them from fear of the unknown,
From anxious concern about the future,
And from being afraid to go where you beckon them.
By your Holy Spirit alert your people to hear you,
And strengthen them to obey you resolutely.
For you are the Lord of creation, and the God of all
In your presence here we contemplate
Our world - divided, chaotic, fearful:
Lack of understanding, suspicion, enmity
Between races and nations, between religions,
Between people who are part of your one church.
The barriers of ignorance, greed, and envy
That divide rich from poor, privileged from deprived.
Well-fed from hungry, learned from illiterate . . .
Especially today we remember . . .
(here specify current world trouble-spots)
Eternal God, put into the lives of people everywhere
A spirit of reverence for you,
Respect for other people, and for your creation,
And make us willing to be led into your ways
Of understanding, unselfishness and peace
Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We ask for help, eternal God.
For those who cannot meet life's demands -
Over-worked, tired . . . struggling to make ends meet;
Beset by illness or disability,
Drained by the advancing years.
Of their powers of body and mind.
May they find friends to support them,
Your strength to sustain them, your love close to them
In the deep places, bringing hope and tranquillity

A Dedication Prayer

God of blue skies and storm clouds
present with us in our despair and in our delights,
moving in our laughter as well as our tears,
we thank you for every gift of yours
That makes this world a good place:
beauty in the world of nature and in humanity,
Beauty we see in grace and truth
that comes to us in Jesus the Christ
We stand before you now with these offerings
We declare before you that we have brought
alike belong to you
use us, and use these offerings
according to your good purposes,
and in the light of your perfect wisdom.

An Opening Prayer of Adoration

Holy God, Eternal Creator, loving father,
in you we live, in you we move, in you we exist:
together we honour you.
Holy God, you come among us in human flesh in Jesus Christ,
living, loving, teaching, suffering, dying, risen, alive forever.
we bless you for Jesus the Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
Holy God, Holy Spirit, God with us forever,
We depend on you at every step of our life.
Holy living god, Lord of all, your glory fills the universe,
we honour you, our one eternal God,
and we offer you our worship.

The lines in italic print are intended to be spoken by the people.

 

Pentecost  | Pentecost 1 | Pentecost 2 | Pentecost 3  | Pentecost 4 | Pentecost 5  | Pentecost 6