Narrative Lectionary Program Year – “God’s Promise to Abraham”
Genesis 15:1-6
Free Additional Resources for Study & Sermon Preparation
Furthering the Power of God’s Story – Narrative Lectionary Commentary
by Daniel D. Maurer
When I was still in the parish in western North Dakota, I remember delighting over the discovery that the lectionary readings gave me multiple directions from which to craft a sermon. Today’s text is one such text. Like the stars filling a clear night’s sky over the prairie, I can think of at least five or six messages right off the bat.
Promises believed? You got it. The night sky’s stars as a wonder of God’s creation? That works, too. As with any exegesis though, I believe the most important place to start is with the historiographical placement of the text within the canon of scripture. It’s the most important starting point, because somewhere along the way, people decided a certain writing was worth keeping, that it would speak to the human spirit not just in their day, but for their offspring far down the line.
Recently I’ve been doing lots and lots of reading about the late bronze age, and the Bronze Age Collapse. I only mention it, because the leading theory in the first half of the 20th century from scholars for the dating of Genesis was right around or shortly after the Bronze Age Collapse, from the court of Solomon in the 10th century BCE. However, this assumption has been challenged and several opposing theories have gained significant traction.
Probably the most intriguing (yet still controversial) theory comes from Jean Louis Ska. A well-written summary of this proposition actually comes from Wikipedia:
A theory which has gained considerable interest, although still controversial is "Persian imperial authorization". This proposes that the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire, after their conquest of Babylon in 539 BC, agreed to grant Jerusalem a large measure of local autonomy within the empire, but required the local authorities to produce a single law code accepted by the entire community. The two powerful groups making up the community—the priestly families who controlled the Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the "elders" and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had "given" them the land—were in conflict over many issues, and each had its own "history of origins", but the Persian promise of greatly increased local autonomy for all provided a powerful incentive to cooperate in producing a single text.
Why should the authorship and date even matter for your sermon today? The answer is more relevant than you might think.
If the Genesis story and the account of Abram’s conversation with the Almighty was written at or around the Bronze Age Collapse, it shows that the motivation behind an origin story like the one we’re reading today was to address a world thrown into turmoil and considerable duress. However, if Ska’s theory is correct (and I think it is), it shows instead the story was a cooperative effort between opposing priestly factions in the late 6th century, over 400 years later. What’s more, the daily stress I’m sure was just as nasty in that time as in the Bronze Age Collapse, albeit more optimistic.
Well . . . where exactly do we find ourselves today? We’ve got lots and lots of duress. The pandemic is foremost, but political divisiveness and polarization certainly takes a front-row seat too.
To understand that Moses himself was not the author of the Pentateuch (an amazing feat since he would have had to write about his own death!), is more than just a trivial factoid nerdy sem students are interested in. No. Instead, the origin story as a cooperative effort shows that today’s story of promises made and promises believed first began as a yearning for a better future.
If nothing else, the night sky’s stars must have been an unbelievable promise to Abram and Sarai, that their offspring would inherit the deep faith of their parents.
That’s a story worth telling today, don’t you think?
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The following links and resources are not produced or maintained by Clergy Stuff. However, at the time of this posting, the links were active and considered to be good source material for proclamation for the text for this week. Please scroll down or click on the quick jump menu you find below. For more free worship resources & planning materials, please visit our links for RCL Worship Resources.
Historical Exegetical Resources
Calvin's Commentary on Genesis.
From Wesley's Notes.
Chapter VI, On Patience, Tertullian.
Contemporary Resources
Exegetical Links
Commentary, Terence E. Fretheim, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2016.
Commentary, Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 (Lent 2C), Williaam Yarchin, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2016.
The Truett Pulpit, Dr. Stephen B. Reid, 2016.
The Center for Excellence in Preaching, resources from Calvin Theological Seminary: Comments & Observations, Textual Points, Illustration Ideas, 2016.
A Plain Account, Wesleyan Lectionary Commentary, Shawna Songer Gaines, 2016.
Pulpit Fiction, podcast. Reflections of lectionary text, pop culture, current events, etc. Robb Mc Coy and Eric Fistler, 2016.
Other Relevant Links
COVID-19: A Modern Tower of Babel?
Abraham's Children in the Genome Era: Major Jewish Diaspora Populations Comprise Distinct Genetic Clusters with Shared Middle Eastern Ancestry
Great Quotes
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you’ll ever know.”
“Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s more like a cha-cha.”
“Who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to Allah, does good, and follows the way of Abraham the true in Faith? For Allah did take Abraham for a friend.”
A Good Read
Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch
by Jean-Louis Ska
When Jean Louis Ska's Introduzione alla lettura del Pentateuco was first published in Italy, it was quickly hailed as the most attractive and usable introduction to the Pentateuch to appear in modern times. Because of its strengths, it was soon translated into French. The English translation published by Eisenbrauns has been completely reviewed and updated (including the bibliography) by Ska. Among the book's many strengths are its close attention to the ways in which modern cultural history has affected Pentateuchal interpretation, attention to providing the kinds of examples that are helpful to students, presentation of a good balance between the history of interpretation and the data of the text, and the clarity of Ska's writing. For both students and scholars, many consider this book the best contemporary introduction to the Pentateuch.
Video Resources
Linda Hill, Ted Talk (Connection with today’s text is how story can be a collective effort)
Daily Devotional Feed
Free Dramatic Reading For This Text (NRSV)
Readers: Narrator, Lord, Abram
Narrator: After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision,
Lord: Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.
Narrator: But Abram said,
Abram: O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?
Narrator: And Abram said,
Abram: You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.
Narrator: But the word of the Lord came to him,
Lord: This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.
Narrator: He brought him outside and said,
Lord: Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.
Narrator: Then he said to him,
Lord: So shall your descendants be.
Narrator: And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.