Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany 5 (OT 5) Cycle C (2019)
Illustration
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
We don’t like prophets in the 21st century any more than the people in biblical history did. And we certainly don’t want to be called as prophets. Perhaps that is because we don’t think we have the fortitude or faith, perhaps it is because we feel unworthy. Yet, if God is calling you to be a prophet, listen carefully to these words of Isaiah. Isaiah felt unworthy. Isaiah didn’t understand why God might be calling him. I am virtually certain that Isaiah worried whether or not he had the fortitude, stamina and faith to become a prophet. Yet, his response to the request of the Lord was “Here am I. Send me.”
What is God calling for you to do in your life right now? Are you listening for that message? Are you paying attention? Perhaps you feel unworthy. Perhaps you worry about your fortitude or your faith. Remember my friends, God is present with you, always, and I think especially when you are responding to God’s call. Listen. Pray. Seek wisdom. Then, say, “Here am I. Send me.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
John Calvin reflects on how this lesson gives confidence:
Besides, it is a powerful aid to our confidence, when we know that we are not destitute of the necessary gifts, but that God has bestowed them on us, in order that we may be better enabled to discharge our office. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.VII/1, p.213)
Martin Luther sees the text as describing the essence of true religion:
This points to the shape of true religion, which is confession, praise, the proclamation of God. When this is known, man is terrified and humbled, and he gives up everything in which he formerly trusted and of which he made his boast. The preaching of grace confounds all self-assurance. (Luther’s Works, Vol,16, p.71)
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
Why would God deliberately make people deaf and blind? Why would he torcher me with live coals to forgive my sin so that I can witness for him? It sounds like we have to suffer to have our sins forgiven. Does this mean that I am the one that suffers? Maybe it is Jesus who suffered for me.
As a prison chaplain, I met a few prisoners who felt that their punishment would not only take away their sin, but also prepare them to serve the Lord, who they met in prison.
Sometimes we have to feel the fantastic presence of God to realize our sinfulness. We may not feel our sin until we look at the cross. That really gives us the realization of our sin because he died a horrible death for us (worse than coals of fire on our lips). The more we feel God’s presence in our lives the more we are aware of sin in our lives.
There were many in Nepal who discovered the sin in their lives when they saw the great sacrifice my wife and I were making for them and realized their sinfulness and how little they were sacrificing..
For many who had television, America appeared fantastic beyond their wildest dreams. Jokingly we felt that some would rather go to America than go to heaven. But it did make them realize what my wife and I had given up to be there for them. We had seen few countries as filthy and poverty stricken as Nepal.
We have been gone for years, but I still get emails from our Christian friends in Nepal every week telling us how much they love us for having been there for them and still sending them support and keeping them in our prayers. The holy seed has been planted.
Bob O.
* * *
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
It is reported that Michelangelo, the great artist who completed many great works on Jesus, turned on his fellow artists indignantly. He said: “Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures on the one theme of Christ in weakness, Christ on the Cross, and most of all, Christ hanging dead? Why do you concentrate on the passing episode as if it were the last work, as if the curtain dropped on him with disaster and defeat? That dreadful scene lasted a few hours. But to the unending eternity, Christ is alive; the stone has been rolled away and he rules and reigns and triumphs!”
I don’t know for sure if this is a quote of the great artist. I wasn’t able to find historical verification for it. However, true or not, it does make us think. The crucifixion is not the end of the story. The best part of the story is what we find in our text today. It’s good for us to linger a bit at the cross. It helps us understand the depth of sin and the incredible love God has for us. However, the heart of the Gospel is that the tomb is empty. Jesus was raised on the third day!
Bill T.
* * *
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
We are living in a time when some deny facts. Flat Earthers, for instance, insist that uncounted multitudes are engaged for some reason in doctoring photographs and faking scientific results rather than accept the simplicity of reality. They prefer their own view of reality.
But if we are willing to accept facts it is important to listen as someone builds a case for the reality of the universe. In this instance Paul will insist that without the resurrection we have no hope, but that the resurrection of Jesus is real, and therefore we are blessed. In making his case he asserts that this basic creedal statement that Christ died for our sins is to predicted and prefigured in scripture — probably the Suffering Servant passages in the words revealed through the prophet Isaiah.
And then Paul lists the witnesses. They are our assurance that Jesus is raised from the dead. He lists people that his hearers should know, and caps it all with a group of over 500 witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. One presumes that in Paul’s day you could seek out some of these people and hear from their own lips what they experienced.
The only ones missing from this list are the women like Mary Magdalene, and here Paul’s legal prejudice shows. In the Graeco-Roman world the paternalistic legal system, run by men, insisted that women were not reliable witnesses so Paul, writing to that world, would not have included the women when making his case. It’s a flaw in his argument, but not one that we need to emulate.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Dr. Joseph Weber was my New Testament professor at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D. C. I was attending seminary in the mid-1970s when The Living Bible was becoming popular. But, Dr. Weber’s knowledge was so vast and insightful that I used to think that I had the living bible standing before me.
I suppose in some way this was Paul’s intention as he stood before the congregation in Corinth. Paul wanted to be a living bible – a living testimony – to the salvation message that he was sharing along with his own personal calling to become a Christian.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 5:1-11
In a sermon on this text Martin Luther pointed out how weak our faith is and the consequences:
Now this passage... shows clearly what follows our unbelief, namely, that he who strives after possessions and will become rich, must fall into the temptations and snares of the devil. (Complete Sermons, Vol.2/2, p.133)
He adds:
Therefore you must learn this part well, that you are to work and hope, even if God should delay a little and let you toil in your seat, so that you imagine your labor is now lost... Thus it strikes in the time of his good pleasure; therefore do not despair... (Ibid., pp.136-137)
Therefore you must not despair, although your conscience struggles and feels its sins; for the more disgraced you are, the quicker God imparts grace. (Ibid., p.138)
About fishing for others, John Calvin makes an interesting point:
Yet, as it was drawn from the present occurrence, the allusion which Christ made to fishing, when he spoke of the preaching of the Gospel, was appropriate; for men stray and wander in the world, as in a great and troubled sea, till they are gathered by the Gospel. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/1, p.244)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 5:1-11
It sounds like Jesus stole a boat and took over command. He used that boat as a pulpit for his lessons. It was Peter’s boat, but Peter didn’t complain. He even obeyed the command to go back out and try fishing again. Peter complained that he had gone fishing but caught nothing. Without complaints he obeyed this preacher who did not seem to be a fisherman, but WOW did he get a surprise!
Was it Jesus’ sermon that made him obey or did he just like this guy?
Has anyone in your church or some religious organization told you to give a large gift and you obeyed?
One church I know about gave every member an envelope with a lot of money in it and were told to give the money to someone in great need, though they could even use part it for medical expenses that were too high for them. They all obeyed and felt great — like Peter when he brought in a big catch just for his obedience.
Sometimes God asks us to do strange things for him, like sending my wife and I to Nepal. We obeyed and took in a great catch of converts.
The first Christian in Nepal, old pastor Tir, obeyed. He suffered for it, but brought in over a million converts in not too many years. He had to signal for help from “the other boat” to bring in his catch.
From then on the other “boats” brought in great catches. My seminary students send me email pictures of the huge congregations they area building. Most of them have started many churches.
How many members in our churches have brought in even one new family?
Should that be one message from our pulpits?
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 5:1-11
Years ago when I served as a local church pastor in the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, there was a revitalization program called, “Casting Your Nets.” The scriptural basis for the program was this passage from Luke. The fishermen are confused. They have caught nothing all night and now this man they do not know is instructing them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat in the daylight. It boggles their minds. It is not what they have been trained to do as a regular practice. Yet, they follow the instructions and the yield is more than they could have imagined.
That was the concept of the revitalization program. If you keep doing what you have always done, you might not even get the results you used to get, and most certainly not the results you want. Rather explore doing the new thing, or the old thing in a new way. The church of Jesus Christ is challenged in these days, but the church is in the hands of God, in the heart of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Try a new thing. Follow a new direction. God will lead you and be present with you.
Bonnie B.
We don’t like prophets in the 21st century any more than the people in biblical history did. And we certainly don’t want to be called as prophets. Perhaps that is because we don’t think we have the fortitude or faith, perhaps it is because we feel unworthy. Yet, if God is calling you to be a prophet, listen carefully to these words of Isaiah. Isaiah felt unworthy. Isaiah didn’t understand why God might be calling him. I am virtually certain that Isaiah worried whether or not he had the fortitude, stamina and faith to become a prophet. Yet, his response to the request of the Lord was “Here am I. Send me.”
What is God calling for you to do in your life right now? Are you listening for that message? Are you paying attention? Perhaps you feel unworthy. Perhaps you worry about your fortitude or your faith. Remember my friends, God is present with you, always, and I think especially when you are responding to God’s call. Listen. Pray. Seek wisdom. Then, say, “Here am I. Send me.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
John Calvin reflects on how this lesson gives confidence:
Besides, it is a powerful aid to our confidence, when we know that we are not destitute of the necessary gifts, but that God has bestowed them on us, in order that we may be better enabled to discharge our office. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.VII/1, p.213)
Martin Luther sees the text as describing the essence of true religion:
This points to the shape of true religion, which is confession, praise, the proclamation of God. When this is known, man is terrified and humbled, and he gives up everything in which he formerly trusted and of which he made his boast. The preaching of grace confounds all self-assurance. (Luther’s Works, Vol,16, p.71)
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
Why would God deliberately make people deaf and blind? Why would he torcher me with live coals to forgive my sin so that I can witness for him? It sounds like we have to suffer to have our sins forgiven. Does this mean that I am the one that suffers? Maybe it is Jesus who suffered for me.
As a prison chaplain, I met a few prisoners who felt that their punishment would not only take away their sin, but also prepare them to serve the Lord, who they met in prison.
Sometimes we have to feel the fantastic presence of God to realize our sinfulness. We may not feel our sin until we look at the cross. That really gives us the realization of our sin because he died a horrible death for us (worse than coals of fire on our lips). The more we feel God’s presence in our lives the more we are aware of sin in our lives.
There were many in Nepal who discovered the sin in their lives when they saw the great sacrifice my wife and I were making for them and realized their sinfulness and how little they were sacrificing..
For many who had television, America appeared fantastic beyond their wildest dreams. Jokingly we felt that some would rather go to America than go to heaven. But it did make them realize what my wife and I had given up to be there for them. We had seen few countries as filthy and poverty stricken as Nepal.
We have been gone for years, but I still get emails from our Christian friends in Nepal every week telling us how much they love us for having been there for them and still sending them support and keeping them in our prayers. The holy seed has been planted.
Bob O.
* * *
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
It is reported that Michelangelo, the great artist who completed many great works on Jesus, turned on his fellow artists indignantly. He said: “Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures on the one theme of Christ in weakness, Christ on the Cross, and most of all, Christ hanging dead? Why do you concentrate on the passing episode as if it were the last work, as if the curtain dropped on him with disaster and defeat? That dreadful scene lasted a few hours. But to the unending eternity, Christ is alive; the stone has been rolled away and he rules and reigns and triumphs!”
I don’t know for sure if this is a quote of the great artist. I wasn’t able to find historical verification for it. However, true or not, it does make us think. The crucifixion is not the end of the story. The best part of the story is what we find in our text today. It’s good for us to linger a bit at the cross. It helps us understand the depth of sin and the incredible love God has for us. However, the heart of the Gospel is that the tomb is empty. Jesus was raised on the third day!
Bill T.
* * *
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
We are living in a time when some deny facts. Flat Earthers, for instance, insist that uncounted multitudes are engaged for some reason in doctoring photographs and faking scientific results rather than accept the simplicity of reality. They prefer their own view of reality.
But if we are willing to accept facts it is important to listen as someone builds a case for the reality of the universe. In this instance Paul will insist that without the resurrection we have no hope, but that the resurrection of Jesus is real, and therefore we are blessed. In making his case he asserts that this basic creedal statement that Christ died for our sins is to predicted and prefigured in scripture — probably the Suffering Servant passages in the words revealed through the prophet Isaiah.
And then Paul lists the witnesses. They are our assurance that Jesus is raised from the dead. He lists people that his hearers should know, and caps it all with a group of over 500 witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. One presumes that in Paul’s day you could seek out some of these people and hear from their own lips what they experienced.
The only ones missing from this list are the women like Mary Magdalene, and here Paul’s legal prejudice shows. In the Graeco-Roman world the paternalistic legal system, run by men, insisted that women were not reliable witnesses so Paul, writing to that world, would not have included the women when making his case. It’s a flaw in his argument, but not one that we need to emulate.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Dr. Joseph Weber was my New Testament professor at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D. C. I was attending seminary in the mid-1970s when The Living Bible was becoming popular. But, Dr. Weber’s knowledge was so vast and insightful that I used to think that I had the living bible standing before me.
I suppose in some way this was Paul’s intention as he stood before the congregation in Corinth. Paul wanted to be a living bible – a living testimony – to the salvation message that he was sharing along with his own personal calling to become a Christian.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 5:1-11
In a sermon on this text Martin Luther pointed out how weak our faith is and the consequences:
Now this passage... shows clearly what follows our unbelief, namely, that he who strives after possessions and will become rich, must fall into the temptations and snares of the devil. (Complete Sermons, Vol.2/2, p.133)
He adds:
Therefore you must learn this part well, that you are to work and hope, even if God should delay a little and let you toil in your seat, so that you imagine your labor is now lost... Thus it strikes in the time of his good pleasure; therefore do not despair... (Ibid., pp.136-137)
Therefore you must not despair, although your conscience struggles and feels its sins; for the more disgraced you are, the quicker God imparts grace. (Ibid., p.138)
About fishing for others, John Calvin makes an interesting point:
Yet, as it was drawn from the present occurrence, the allusion which Christ made to fishing, when he spoke of the preaching of the Gospel, was appropriate; for men stray and wander in the world, as in a great and troubled sea, till they are gathered by the Gospel. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/1, p.244)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 5:1-11
It sounds like Jesus stole a boat and took over command. He used that boat as a pulpit for his lessons. It was Peter’s boat, but Peter didn’t complain. He even obeyed the command to go back out and try fishing again. Peter complained that he had gone fishing but caught nothing. Without complaints he obeyed this preacher who did not seem to be a fisherman, but WOW did he get a surprise!
Was it Jesus’ sermon that made him obey or did he just like this guy?
Has anyone in your church or some religious organization told you to give a large gift and you obeyed?
One church I know about gave every member an envelope with a lot of money in it and were told to give the money to someone in great need, though they could even use part it for medical expenses that were too high for them. They all obeyed and felt great — like Peter when he brought in a big catch just for his obedience.
Sometimes God asks us to do strange things for him, like sending my wife and I to Nepal. We obeyed and took in a great catch of converts.
The first Christian in Nepal, old pastor Tir, obeyed. He suffered for it, but brought in over a million converts in not too many years. He had to signal for help from “the other boat” to bring in his catch.
From then on the other “boats” brought in great catches. My seminary students send me email pictures of the huge congregations they area building. Most of them have started many churches.
How many members in our churches have brought in even one new family?
Should that be one message from our pulpits?
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 5:1-11
Years ago when I served as a local church pastor in the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, there was a revitalization program called, “Casting Your Nets.” The scriptural basis for the program was this passage from Luke. The fishermen are confused. They have caught nothing all night and now this man they do not know is instructing them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat in the daylight. It boggles their minds. It is not what they have been trained to do as a regular practice. Yet, they follow the instructions and the yield is more than they could have imagined.
That was the concept of the revitalization program. If you keep doing what you have always done, you might not even get the results you used to get, and most certainly not the results you want. Rather explore doing the new thing, or the old thing in a new way. The church of Jesus Christ is challenged in these days, but the church is in the hands of God, in the heart of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Try a new thing. Follow a new direction. God will lead you and be present with you.
Bonnie B.
