Sermon illustrations for Easter 6 (2013)
Illustration
Object:
Acts 16:9-15
In 1776 when John Adams, who became the second president of the United States, was away from home because of the war, he wrote his wife Abigail a letter on how to educate their children in his absence. In that letter he wrote, "Cultivate their minds, inspire their little hearts."
Ron L.
Acts 16:9-15
Lydia was an outsider in Paul's world -- a Gentile woman. Americans do not cross racial and economic lines very well, and so most of our churches reflect a common ethnic and class composition (Beverly Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria; Charles Murray, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010). The Hartford Institute reports that only 7% of American congregations have a membership where 20% of the members were of a racial minority. And with the growing residential segregation (the Pew Research Center reports that in 2010 28% of low-income households were located in majority low-income neighborhoods, up from 23% in 1980, while 18% of the rich live in neighborhoods where they are the majority, up from 9% in 1980) our congregations increasingly reflect less diversity regarding incomes. There are lots of "outsiders" in our communities, people not like us in our congregations, who are yearning for the community and gifts we can offer. Our story indicates that it is God's way to break those racial and economic barriers down.
Mark E.
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
The Holy City, Jerusalem, can signify where all of God's people will live. It is the ultimate goal of all believers. The 144,000 who are saved will live there. We can see it descend only if we have not arrived there yet.
That tree of life is the one in the Garden of Eden, which was not available to man yet. Adam and Eve had missed the point. They were checking out the fruit for its properties and rewards. They were not listening to the words of God. When I came home from my work, my children always rushed to greet me and followed me into my bedroom where I changed into relaxing clothes. I told them they could touch anything on my dresser except my wallet. There was a mirror on my closet door so I could see them as they approached the dresser. They checked to see if I was looking. They didn't think I was looking at them, so they crept up to the dresser looking puzzled at the wallet lying there, wondering what mysteries it held. Finally the oldest one reached out and touched it and jerked his hand away, quickly checking to see if I was looking. His curiosity drove him to flip it open to see what wonderful contents might be in there. Then he pulled his hand away, disappointed at not finding anything. He had missed the point, just as Adam and Eve had. You obey because "I have said so!" It was only after Christ came and opened the way that we were allowed to check out the fruit on that tree of life.
As the great city was so huge, it took more than a little fountain to water the tree of life. The Rio Grande, where I live, no longer has enough.
The twelve crops of fruit are the twelve apostles, and the leaves are the gospel doctrines by which Gentiles are saved from our sin. We will all be his servants. The evidence will be written on our foreheads. The mark of Cain is forever removed and replaced with the mark of God! His light will be there forever, so we will never fear the dark again. He is our light, so we will never more be lost in the darkness of confusion and shame.
Revelation is never literal. It requires a gift of the Spirit for us to understand. Pray for it!
Bob O.
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
The writer of Revelation has a vision of Jerusalem that does not necessarily coincide with the reality of its brick and mortar. Mark Twain once visited Jerusalem and considered the roads "infernal" and described the city as a whole as "desolate and unlovely... a pauper's village." Yet, it is in such places as these that God promises to be, tempering our impression of anyplace with a glory that cannot be measured by visual appearance.
Mark M.
John 14:23-29
The Immaculate Conception is taken as fact in the gospels, and how the Virgin Mary could conceive a child is never explained. It is one of those truths we take on faith. Yet the early church fathers, in order to defend the faith against persecutors, understood the need to offer a theological explanation. They wrote that Mary conceived when she heard the word spoken to her from the archangel.
Since then, the ear slightly aglow in paintings, or with a light from heaven shinning down from heaven upon it, or with a dove flying to it, became a symbol of receiving the indwelling word of God. The ear, the light, and the dove are all symbols of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, speaking to us.
Ron L.
John 14:23-29
We need to be careful about the proper relationship between loving God and being loved by him (vv. 23-24). Martin Luther well explains the relationship among these loves: "Since love does these things from those from whom no love had been received and who had deserved no love... how much more should we love him because he so greatly loved us and loved us first" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, p. 311).
The love of God makes us love him and do loving things. The famed ancient African theologian Augustine nicely illustrates this idea of a life spent giving away our faith and love. He urged Christians to regard their possessions (including faith) as a traveler in an inn uses tables, cups, and couches in the inn. Guests do not own these items. Likewise, faith (and the love God has given us) is not our own (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7, p. 229).
Mark E.
In 1776 when John Adams, who became the second president of the United States, was away from home because of the war, he wrote his wife Abigail a letter on how to educate their children in his absence. In that letter he wrote, "Cultivate their minds, inspire their little hearts."
Ron L.
Acts 16:9-15
Lydia was an outsider in Paul's world -- a Gentile woman. Americans do not cross racial and economic lines very well, and so most of our churches reflect a common ethnic and class composition (Beverly Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria; Charles Murray, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010). The Hartford Institute reports that only 7% of American congregations have a membership where 20% of the members were of a racial minority. And with the growing residential segregation (the Pew Research Center reports that in 2010 28% of low-income households were located in majority low-income neighborhoods, up from 23% in 1980, while 18% of the rich live in neighborhoods where they are the majority, up from 9% in 1980) our congregations increasingly reflect less diversity regarding incomes. There are lots of "outsiders" in our communities, people not like us in our congregations, who are yearning for the community and gifts we can offer. Our story indicates that it is God's way to break those racial and economic barriers down.
Mark E.
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
The Holy City, Jerusalem, can signify where all of God's people will live. It is the ultimate goal of all believers. The 144,000 who are saved will live there. We can see it descend only if we have not arrived there yet.
That tree of life is the one in the Garden of Eden, which was not available to man yet. Adam and Eve had missed the point. They were checking out the fruit for its properties and rewards. They were not listening to the words of God. When I came home from my work, my children always rushed to greet me and followed me into my bedroom where I changed into relaxing clothes. I told them they could touch anything on my dresser except my wallet. There was a mirror on my closet door so I could see them as they approached the dresser. They checked to see if I was looking. They didn't think I was looking at them, so they crept up to the dresser looking puzzled at the wallet lying there, wondering what mysteries it held. Finally the oldest one reached out and touched it and jerked his hand away, quickly checking to see if I was looking. His curiosity drove him to flip it open to see what wonderful contents might be in there. Then he pulled his hand away, disappointed at not finding anything. He had missed the point, just as Adam and Eve had. You obey because "I have said so!" It was only after Christ came and opened the way that we were allowed to check out the fruit on that tree of life.
As the great city was so huge, it took more than a little fountain to water the tree of life. The Rio Grande, where I live, no longer has enough.
The twelve crops of fruit are the twelve apostles, and the leaves are the gospel doctrines by which Gentiles are saved from our sin. We will all be his servants. The evidence will be written on our foreheads. The mark of Cain is forever removed and replaced with the mark of God! His light will be there forever, so we will never fear the dark again. He is our light, so we will never more be lost in the darkness of confusion and shame.
Revelation is never literal. It requires a gift of the Spirit for us to understand. Pray for it!
Bob O.
Revelation 21:10, 22--22:5
The writer of Revelation has a vision of Jerusalem that does not necessarily coincide with the reality of its brick and mortar. Mark Twain once visited Jerusalem and considered the roads "infernal" and described the city as a whole as "desolate and unlovely... a pauper's village." Yet, it is in such places as these that God promises to be, tempering our impression of anyplace with a glory that cannot be measured by visual appearance.
Mark M.
John 14:23-29
The Immaculate Conception is taken as fact in the gospels, and how the Virgin Mary could conceive a child is never explained. It is one of those truths we take on faith. Yet the early church fathers, in order to defend the faith against persecutors, understood the need to offer a theological explanation. They wrote that Mary conceived when she heard the word spoken to her from the archangel.
Since then, the ear slightly aglow in paintings, or with a light from heaven shinning down from heaven upon it, or with a dove flying to it, became a symbol of receiving the indwelling word of God. The ear, the light, and the dove are all symbols of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, speaking to us.
Ron L.
John 14:23-29
We need to be careful about the proper relationship between loving God and being loved by him (vv. 23-24). Martin Luther well explains the relationship among these loves: "Since love does these things from those from whom no love had been received and who had deserved no love... how much more should we love him because he so greatly loved us and loved us first" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, p. 311).
The love of God makes us love him and do loving things. The famed ancient African theologian Augustine nicely illustrates this idea of a life spent giving away our faith and love. He urged Christians to regard their possessions (including faith) as a traveler in an inn uses tables, cups, and couches in the inn. Guests do not own these items. Likewise, faith (and the love God has given us) is not our own (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7, p. 229).
Mark E.
