Dogs and Such



Gate Pa – 17 August 2013
Readings:
Psalm:                                                 Psalm: 133                                                     
First Reading:                                       Genesis 45:1-15     
Second Reading                        Romans 11:1-2, 29-32       
Gospel:                                       Matthew 15: (10-20) 21-28 

What I want to say:
I want to explore three different ways of reading this passage today. The first is that Jesus is just rude. The second that here we see both Jesus and the early Christian community struggling with the universal implications for what Jesus was teaching and living out. To read it in this way people need to keep in mind some information about how the New Testament came to be, Thirdly I want to place this story with the what Jesus is talking about before it, and to suggest this is used by Matthew as an example of what Jesus is saying, that it is not obedience to the law that makes one clean, but what comes from ones heart.

What I want to happen:
People to be more informed to read and understand scripture for themselves.
           

The Sermon

     1.      Introduction:

begin with a quiz
what language did Jesus speak?
what language was the Old Testament written in?
what language was the New Testament written in?
who wrote the oldest book in the New Testament?
How might we describe how the New Testament is organised?
What is the second volume of the Gospel according to Luke?
What are the Synoptic Gospels?
When did Paul write his letters?
When were the gospels thought to have been written?
What happened in 70CE?

     2.      A Tricky Gospel.

this morning’s gospel is tricky
one level, Jesus appears rude Jew, trapped by time and culture
            – part- truth to that
people often get around that by suggesting
            that really only testing disciples and woman
            –> given not treat anyone else like this,
            - most commentators read suggested unlikely
how then make sense of what happening here?
keep it in context
two contests need pay attention to
times written

     3.      times written

Here we see both Jesus and the early Christian community struggling with the universal implications for what Jesus was teaching and living out.
– use quiz to explore
           

     4.      Context With Text Itself

en-fleshed example of teaching vs 10-20
16 Jesus replied, "You too? Are you being willfully stupid? 17 Don't you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? 18 But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. 19 It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. 20 That's what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that's neither here nor there."
– explore

5.      Conclusion
which of these ring true for us?
how invite us into deeper understanding of who we are and our place in God’s ongoing work today?




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