Wednesday’s Thoughts on the sermon
“How Abundant Livers Live”
The two Biblical texts that are driving this sermon come from two very different places. The first one comes from the Book of Job 42. The text is taken from the legend of Job that formed the book in the first place. Job was written by two different authors. The original legend is represented in the first part and the very end, and it includes the wager between God and Satan and the statement from God that Job would never revolt. The response is clear. job would never rebell because God has built a hedge around him. God had protected Job. God allows Satan to do terrible things to Job and Job exercises absolute patience.
The middle section is a very differnt picture. In the dialogues in the middle of Job we find Job rebelling and revolting significantly. There is nothing of the patience of Job in the most of the middle section; only at the beginning and the end.
Job final response is a statement of faith that affirms the goodness of life no matter what happens and the conclusion the “Job lived a hundred and fouty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.”
The other texts comes from the Gospel of John the 10th chapter. It is about the “good shepherd” who is Jesus and how Jesus has come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
The question I will pursue with the sermon is the nature of abundant life. What is this abundant life Jesus sought to bring to us? Where do we find it? How do we live it? Does this represent the Gospel of affluence? Are we to be rich in things or is this a higher calling to abundance?
How do you define abundant life and where to you find it?
If you have thougths to share publically, please leave a comment with this post. For personal thoughts write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net
I look forward to your ideas.
Charles
