Sermon Illustrations for Advent 2 (2019)
Illustration
Isaiah 11:1-10
Of the Advent readings, this is one of my favorites. The prophet proclaims that one from the root of Jesse will come and the Spirit of the Lord will be upon him. Righteousness will come into the world. People, nations, even animals that war with one another will be at peace. All will be blessed, from the smallest child to the oldest adult. Mercy and justice will reign. That is the hope, the promise.
We know that as Jesus came into the world, and to this day, that vision of the prophet has not yet come to be. But that doesn’t mean that Isaiah’s message was for naught. Each time someone chooses peace building over anger and hostility, each time love is shared rather than hate, each time God’s presence is felt we move a little closer to that vision of the peaceable kingdom of God that Isaiah prophesied about. Let us focus on peace, love and a vision of righteousness this Advent.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 11:1-10
Consider the money you are spending are Christmas gifts this year, how much you have already spent. A 2012 Think-Progress study showed that the amount Americans spend on Christmas (about $25 billion) is roughly equal to the cost of permanently ending homelessness in the United States ($20 billion). We could end homelessness with our Christmas spending! This lesson makes clear that the heir of David, the coming messiah will put an end to that, will give justice to the poor (v.4).
John Calvin nicely explains how the coming Christ accomplishes all this and makes us, his people, those who want to share:
Christ will come to drive away everything hurtful out of the world and to restore to its former beauty the world which lay under the curse... It is, therefore, a distinguishing mark of the genuine members of the Church, that they are from from all desire of doing injury to others. (Calvin’s Commentaries, VII/1, pp.34,386)
An African theologian of the Church’s first centuries, Clement of Alexandria, made a related point. Because God shares everything in Christ, he claimed, “All things therefore are common, and not for the rich to appropriate and undue share.” (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.2, p.268) The coming Christ is indeed about justice (and getting his followers to act that way).
Mark E.
* * *
Romans 15:4-13
All can find hope in Jesus. Gary Thomas shares this account in Christianity Today, October 3, 1994. As Vice President, George Bush represented the United States at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that may rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed. She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. In the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
Leonid Brezhnev’s destiny was between him and God, but I’m struck by the act of his widow. She seemed to recognize where genuine hope is found. Paul notes in this passage that Jesus represents hope to the Jew and Gentile. Because of Jesus Christ, all can have hope. That’s the message of the text and this season. As Paul concludes in this section, may you “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Bill T.
* * *
Romans 15:4-13
Democrat Danica Roem, a 33-year-old former journalist, became the first openly transgender person in the United States to be elected to a state legislature. She will represent Virginia’s 13th District, which encompasses Prince William County. She was elected on November 5, 2019. She defeated Republican Robert Marshall, a 13-term incumbent. Marshall boasted during the campaign that he was Virginia’s “chief homophobe,” and he would only address Roem in the masculine gender. He also refused to debate her. Roem began her physical gender transition in 2012, and legally changed her name from “Dan” to “Danica” in 2015. After her election Roem said, “Discrimination is a disqualifier. This is about the people of the 13th District disregarding fear tactics, disregarding phobias . . . where we celebrate you because of who you are, not despite it.” Roem dedicated her win “to every person who's ever been singled out, who's ever been stigmatized, who's ever been the misfit, who's ever been the kid in the corner, who's ever needed someone to stand up for them when they didn't have a voice of their own. This one is for you.”
Ron L.
* * *
Romans 15:4-13
The word translated as “steadfastness,” which appears twice in this passage, upomene, is sometimes translated as “endurance” in other parts of the New Testament. One sees this especially in Revelation, “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints (Revelation 14:12).” Some Christians suggest that one should get what one wants immediately — provided one prays correctly — that puts the onus on the supplicant, whereas scripture suggests that persistence (remember Jesus and the parable about knocking persistently on the next-door neighbor’s door in order to get food to feed unexpected guests) is an essential virtue for believers, while endurance, which requires nurture and intentional training, is the vehicle that supports persistence.
This is an important prelude for the rest of the passage. Paul, writing to a multicultural church in Rome whose members come from a wide variety of religious, ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds, is encouraging the house churches to stay the course, despite the difficulties these conditions entail. And he runs them through a gauntlet of four passages from the Hebrew scriptures (Psalm 18:49, Deuteronomy 32:43, Psalm 117:1, and Isaiah 11:10) that cumulatively demonstrate it has always been God’s will that all people will come together. This is a crucial Advent message since Jesus is born as the light of the world (“The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.”), not just the light of our own smug little group in our own congregation barricaded from the world outside.
Frank R.
* * *
Matthew 3:1-12
John the Baptist’s call to repent has fallen on hard times. Good as we think we are (a 2015 LifeWay poll found 65% of Americans believe this), it’s not surprising that politicians and business leaders since Bill Clinton now cover their mistakes with the phrase of “regretting” what they did, how they’ve “learned a lot.” (If you are looking to find things to repent about, see the data on Christmas shopping in my First Lesson illustrations above.) What Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle said in the 19th century is still true today: “The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.”
Ancient African theologian Tertullian makes clear what repentance is all about:
Repentance [is understood]... to be an emotion of the mind arising from disgust at some previously cherished worse sentiment... (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.3, p.657)
You are not repenting if you are not disgusted about what you’ve done or thought. In the same spirit, Martin Luther wrote:
Repentance is begun when we acknowledge our sins and are sincerely sorry for them; it is completed when trust in the mercy of God comes to this sorrow and hearts are converted to God and long for the forgiveness of sins. (What Luther Says, p.1210)
Sounds like a pretty tall order. But if you agree with the Presbyterian understanding of repentance, repentance is not so heave a burden:
Now we expressly say that this repentance is a sheer gift of God and not a work of our strength. (The Book of Confessions, 5.094)
Repentance is a great theme for Advent, because it gets you looking ahead, not backwards. Like Martin Luther said:
To probe and ponder how bad you have been is not enough if you do not ponder and probe how much more how good you desire to become. (What Luther Says, p.1214)
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 3:1-12
John the Baptist was quite a character. He dressed weirdly, proclaimed repentance, and spoke of one who would winnow the chaff from the wheat. One other thing about John, he spoke the truth. However uncomfortable it was, no matter the status of the people to whom he was speaking, John spoke the truth. John reminded us that our ancestry was not what saved us. Rather it was our move toward God, toward forgiveness, toward living as God called us to live. John wanted us to be in relationship with God and although his words were harsh, he called us, calls us, to turn around and move toward, rather than away from God. This Advent season lets focus on that turning back. In the midst of the hurrying and scurrying of the season, let’s pause and turn into the embrace of a loving and forgiving God and know mercy, peace, and forgiveness.
Bonnie B.
Of the Advent readings, this is one of my favorites. The prophet proclaims that one from the root of Jesse will come and the Spirit of the Lord will be upon him. Righteousness will come into the world. People, nations, even animals that war with one another will be at peace. All will be blessed, from the smallest child to the oldest adult. Mercy and justice will reign. That is the hope, the promise.
We know that as Jesus came into the world, and to this day, that vision of the prophet has not yet come to be. But that doesn’t mean that Isaiah’s message was for naught. Each time someone chooses peace building over anger and hostility, each time love is shared rather than hate, each time God’s presence is felt we move a little closer to that vision of the peaceable kingdom of God that Isaiah prophesied about. Let us focus on peace, love and a vision of righteousness this Advent.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 11:1-10
Consider the money you are spending are Christmas gifts this year, how much you have already spent. A 2012 Think-Progress study showed that the amount Americans spend on Christmas (about $25 billion) is roughly equal to the cost of permanently ending homelessness in the United States ($20 billion). We could end homelessness with our Christmas spending! This lesson makes clear that the heir of David, the coming messiah will put an end to that, will give justice to the poor (v.4).
John Calvin nicely explains how the coming Christ accomplishes all this and makes us, his people, those who want to share:
Christ will come to drive away everything hurtful out of the world and to restore to its former beauty the world which lay under the curse... It is, therefore, a distinguishing mark of the genuine members of the Church, that they are from from all desire of doing injury to others. (Calvin’s Commentaries, VII/1, pp.34,386)
An African theologian of the Church’s first centuries, Clement of Alexandria, made a related point. Because God shares everything in Christ, he claimed, “All things therefore are common, and not for the rich to appropriate and undue share.” (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.2, p.268) The coming Christ is indeed about justice (and getting his followers to act that way).
Mark E.
* * *
Romans 15:4-13
All can find hope in Jesus. Gary Thomas shares this account in Christianity Today, October 3, 1994. As Vice President, George Bush represented the United States at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that may rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed. She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. In the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
Leonid Brezhnev’s destiny was between him and God, but I’m struck by the act of his widow. She seemed to recognize where genuine hope is found. Paul notes in this passage that Jesus represents hope to the Jew and Gentile. Because of Jesus Christ, all can have hope. That’s the message of the text and this season. As Paul concludes in this section, may you “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Bill T.
* * *
Romans 15:4-13
Democrat Danica Roem, a 33-year-old former journalist, became the first openly transgender person in the United States to be elected to a state legislature. She will represent Virginia’s 13th District, which encompasses Prince William County. She was elected on November 5, 2019. She defeated Republican Robert Marshall, a 13-term incumbent. Marshall boasted during the campaign that he was Virginia’s “chief homophobe,” and he would only address Roem in the masculine gender. He also refused to debate her. Roem began her physical gender transition in 2012, and legally changed her name from “Dan” to “Danica” in 2015. After her election Roem said, “Discrimination is a disqualifier. This is about the people of the 13th District disregarding fear tactics, disregarding phobias . . . where we celebrate you because of who you are, not despite it.” Roem dedicated her win “to every person who's ever been singled out, who's ever been stigmatized, who's ever been the misfit, who's ever been the kid in the corner, who's ever needed someone to stand up for them when they didn't have a voice of their own. This one is for you.”
Ron L.
* * *
Romans 15:4-13
The word translated as “steadfastness,” which appears twice in this passage, upomene, is sometimes translated as “endurance” in other parts of the New Testament. One sees this especially in Revelation, “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints (Revelation 14:12).” Some Christians suggest that one should get what one wants immediately — provided one prays correctly — that puts the onus on the supplicant, whereas scripture suggests that persistence (remember Jesus and the parable about knocking persistently on the next-door neighbor’s door in order to get food to feed unexpected guests) is an essential virtue for believers, while endurance, which requires nurture and intentional training, is the vehicle that supports persistence.
This is an important prelude for the rest of the passage. Paul, writing to a multicultural church in Rome whose members come from a wide variety of religious, ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds, is encouraging the house churches to stay the course, despite the difficulties these conditions entail. And he runs them through a gauntlet of four passages from the Hebrew scriptures (Psalm 18:49, Deuteronomy 32:43, Psalm 117:1, and Isaiah 11:10) that cumulatively demonstrate it has always been God’s will that all people will come together. This is a crucial Advent message since Jesus is born as the light of the world (“The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.”), not just the light of our own smug little group in our own congregation barricaded from the world outside.
Frank R.
* * *
Matthew 3:1-12
John the Baptist’s call to repent has fallen on hard times. Good as we think we are (a 2015 LifeWay poll found 65% of Americans believe this), it’s not surprising that politicians and business leaders since Bill Clinton now cover their mistakes with the phrase of “regretting” what they did, how they’ve “learned a lot.” (If you are looking to find things to repent about, see the data on Christmas shopping in my First Lesson illustrations above.) What Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle said in the 19th century is still true today: “The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.”
Ancient African theologian Tertullian makes clear what repentance is all about:
Repentance [is understood]... to be an emotion of the mind arising from disgust at some previously cherished worse sentiment... (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.3, p.657)
You are not repenting if you are not disgusted about what you’ve done or thought. In the same spirit, Martin Luther wrote:
Repentance is begun when we acknowledge our sins and are sincerely sorry for them; it is completed when trust in the mercy of God comes to this sorrow and hearts are converted to God and long for the forgiveness of sins. (What Luther Says, p.1210)
Sounds like a pretty tall order. But if you agree with the Presbyterian understanding of repentance, repentance is not so heave a burden:
Now we expressly say that this repentance is a sheer gift of God and not a work of our strength. (The Book of Confessions, 5.094)
Repentance is a great theme for Advent, because it gets you looking ahead, not backwards. Like Martin Luther said:
To probe and ponder how bad you have been is not enough if you do not ponder and probe how much more how good you desire to become. (What Luther Says, p.1214)
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 3:1-12
John the Baptist was quite a character. He dressed weirdly, proclaimed repentance, and spoke of one who would winnow the chaff from the wheat. One other thing about John, he spoke the truth. However uncomfortable it was, no matter the status of the people to whom he was speaking, John spoke the truth. John reminded us that our ancestry was not what saved us. Rather it was our move toward God, toward forgiveness, toward living as God called us to live. John wanted us to be in relationship with God and although his words were harsh, he called us, calls us, to turn around and move toward, rather than away from God. This Advent season lets focus on that turning back. In the midst of the hurrying and scurrying of the season, let’s pause and turn into the embrace of a loving and forgiving God and know mercy, peace, and forgiveness.
Bonnie B.
