(The following questions were developed as a way of getting at some of the fundamental concerns of Law and Gospel preachers, particularly questions around the way the Word functions. For more on this unique genre of preaching, see my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon).
1. How does the Word function in the text? Because the Word here is almost exclusively commands, there can be little doubt that it functions here as a call to obedience. That is to say, it functions by inviting us to live in a certain way in response to God's work in Christ. The verses prior to these assure us that we are blessed - recipients of God's favor. Now, in these verses we are called to live in an extraordinary way, to live in the way of Christ. There is also a word of Law here as we are called out for thinking that loving those who love us, and doing good to those who do good to us, and lending to those from whom we wish to receive, is in any way extraordinary. Christ, by inference, condemns this thinking, saying, "Even sinners do the same."
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? There is no word of Gospel here, no word which proclaims what God has done in Christ. There is a hint of Gospel in the statement that "[The Most High] is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked," but that is hardly a proclamation. If we would preach a gospel word in this sermon, we will need to seek other texts to supplement this one.
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? We are those who are being addressed by Jesus. We are children of the heavenly Father whom Jesus refers to. We are the ones being called to extraordinary living.
4. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? Because there is little evidence of gospel in this text, we shall need to simply use some of the language present to create several couplets. Verse 37 offers some possibilities: judged/not judged; condemned/not condemned; guilty/forgiven.
5. Exegetical work: It is noteworthy that all the commands in this text are in the present tense. That means that they are meant to begin and continue. If we were to translate precisely but in a cumbersome way we might, for example, translate the opening lines in this way: "Begin and continue loving your enemies, begin and continue doing good to those who hate you. Begin and continue blessing those who curse you, begin and continue praying for those who abuse you." This present tense shows that Jesus intends for this to be a lifestyle, not a one-and-done event. We are, in short, to imitate Christ, or as Jesus will say elsewhere, "Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect." Another important detail is Jesus' use of the word 'sinners'. As Kittel points out in his extensive article on amartolos, Jesus "never contested nor avoided the distinction of the people into sinners and righteous...He did not even treat [the distinction] ironically." (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. I, p. 329). There were different meanings of the word for sinners, but good translations of these could be 'irreligious' or 'unobservant of the Law' or 'heathen'. In any case, Jesus "accepted as such those who were regarded as sinners by the community. It was just because they were sinners that He drew them to Himself." (Ibid., p.330)
6. How does the Crossings Community model work with this text? Bruce Modahl has an interesting analysis of this text in that his diagnosis centers in our tendency to only do the minimum in our walk with God. Modahl picks up very well on the law which condemns our actions which are anything but faithful, for "even sinners do the same." He finds the Gospel in his announcement that Jesus does on the Cross precisely what he calls us to: loving enemies, blessing those who curse you, praying for those who abuse you. See the entire analysis at crossings.org/text-study.
7. Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic? Charles Rice insisted that preachers always help listeners recognize their shared story in a text. This might be a good strategy here. We might ask, "How have we done only what 'sinners' do?" It might be fruitful for the preacher to identify ways in which she or he has done only this.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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