Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany of Our Lord (2021)
Illustration
Isaiah 60:1-6
Arise, commands the scripture. Look around and see the presence of God. In these dark days of winter, in the season of a pandemic, in the hardship of isolation and separation, it can be hard sometimes to see the presence of God. Recently, having spent Christmas away from most of our family, my husband and I video-called our son and his family. It was hard being away from them, but it was good to chat with them and see them. (Technology is a godsend in these days.) I was feeling the bittersweet emotions of the holiday until our 18-month-old granddaughter started waving at the camera. She waved and waved as hard as her little arm could move with a bright smile of recognition on her face. At that moment, I felt joy and the presence of God in our midst. Surely, Epiphany will not be the same this year, but when we open our eyes to see, there is a bright light in the darkness. Arise, my friends and look around.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 60:1-6
The Epiphany theme of following the star and its light is suggested by this text. Martin Luther offered some insights in a sermon on the text about what it means by referring to the light:
We learn from our text here what the gospel is and what is its message. It is the coming of light, the rising of divine glory. It teaches the necessity of our receiving God’s work for us, his grace and goodness, even God himself, if we would secure salvation. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.316)
The reformer goes on to help us understand the impact of the gospel:
First, it rejects our natural reason, our human light... Had we within ourselves light instead of darkness, it would not be necessary for God to send the light to rise upon us... Second, the gospel casts down all the glory and pride in our own works, our efforts, our free will. (Ibid., pp. 316-317)
Elsewhere, he elaborates on how easy it is to overlook the rich gift of the gospel’s light, just like so many could not understand the star’s leading of The Wise Men which we commemorate today:
This is our plague and wretchedness, that we are unable to recognize the exceeding greatness of the treasure because of its lowly appearance... The gospel, however, is such a treasure that is lowly in appearance and can be perceived only through the Holy Spirit. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.311)
Famed 20th-century theologian Karl Barth had a different insight about this text, which in the strict literal sense refers to Israel. He sees it as a reminder of how essential Israel’s history is for Christians and for all people. He wrote:
... it is not in vain and not for its own sake that Israel was and is, that its divine election and calling and all the history which followed in its brighter or darker aspects was no mere episode but an epoch, was not accidental but necessary, that its purpose was not a particular one, but the universal purpose of its mission, that its existence was the existence of a light for all men... It will then be the case actually and visibly that “salvation is of the Jews” (Jn 4:22). (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p.31)
It is time for Christians to stop wondering about how the Jews could be so unfaithful, to fault them for not accepting Christ and not following the Wise Men’s way.
Mark E.
* * *
Ephesians 3:1-12
The apostle refers to the mystery religions, in which initiates were instructed in the mysteries of the universe, secret knowledge, often at great expense. All the little mysteries that people cling to, imagining they have cornered the market of what the universe is about, are being shared in Christ with everyone, for free. God means to save all nations, all people, and those of us who have discovered this first are not meant to cling to this knowledge but share it as openly as God has done through Jesus.
Frank R.
* * *
Ephesians 3:1-12
A reporter once asked the noted orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein what the most difficult instrument was to play. Given Bernstein’s experience, and expertise, the reporter was eager to hear the great conductor’s opinion. To the reporter’s surprise, Bernstein replied without any hesitation: "Second fiddle! I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm, or second French horn, or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”
Second fiddle; I think that’s what Paul learned to play, too. Paul was at one time the proud Pharisee Saul who’d sat at the feet of Gamaliel. He seemed to have a bright future as a leader. Now, though, he writes, in this passage, “Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (Ephesians 3:8-9).
Will we be willing to humble ourselves to become the servant of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 2:1-12
Christmas pageants are wonderful, and I love to see the children dressed as shepherds, angels and wise men. The trouble is we usually get confused about the story when our children perform their pageants. The wise men, Magi, arrive at the stable. Clearly this is not what scripture tells us. Scripture clearly reminds us that, “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.” A house is not a stable. The journey is estimated to have taken the wise ones almost two years. Christmas pageants don’t give us the time to wait, the patience to understand the perilous journey these wise ones took to come and pay homage to the Christ child. Sometimes our journey to Christ, to our faith, is perilous as well. Yet, we are reminded that whenever and wherever we come to worship Jesus, he will be there.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 2:1-12
Preaching on this text on Epiphany, Martin Luther once proclaimed the meaning of this festival in his view:
Since Christ does not want to be found apart from his word,... we ought to cleave to the word and dismiss all thoughts to the contrary... It is contradictory and shocking that a poor beggar, born in a lowly, poor place should be a ruler and Lord of the people of Israel. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, pp.199, 205)
We need this message because it chastens our egos, teaches us to not trust ourselves and our insights as much as we are prone to do. Luther once put it this way: “We stink of pure self-esteem and self-conceit.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.52, p.213) Nineteenth-century author William Hazlitt pretty much agrees, as he wrote, “We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.” We need to hear more about how confounding to reason the birth of Jesus is. And yet this contradiction of reason and the ways of the world (the message of both Epiphany and Christmas) is in Luther’s view a wonderful, joyful message. It is
... a gladsome text, which not only testifies that Christ has come, but also teaches us why we should esteem and cling to him, and what kind of a King and Lord he is. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.205)
One other interesting illustration about this text, so crucial in our Black Lives Matter era. Significant segments of the African American community feel that they have been disenfranchised from predominantly white churches which interpret the Bible as stories about a bunch of white Jews and Gentiles. The Black presence in the Bible has been overlooked in these churches, it is said. Martin Luther offers a good remedy in this text, as he noted in the 1500s that one of The Wise Men might have been Ethiopian (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, pp.412-413).
Mark E.
Arise, commands the scripture. Look around and see the presence of God. In these dark days of winter, in the season of a pandemic, in the hardship of isolation and separation, it can be hard sometimes to see the presence of God. Recently, having spent Christmas away from most of our family, my husband and I video-called our son and his family. It was hard being away from them, but it was good to chat with them and see them. (Technology is a godsend in these days.) I was feeling the bittersweet emotions of the holiday until our 18-month-old granddaughter started waving at the camera. She waved and waved as hard as her little arm could move with a bright smile of recognition on her face. At that moment, I felt joy and the presence of God in our midst. Surely, Epiphany will not be the same this year, but when we open our eyes to see, there is a bright light in the darkness. Arise, my friends and look around.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 60:1-6
The Epiphany theme of following the star and its light is suggested by this text. Martin Luther offered some insights in a sermon on the text about what it means by referring to the light:
We learn from our text here what the gospel is and what is its message. It is the coming of light, the rising of divine glory. It teaches the necessity of our receiving God’s work for us, his grace and goodness, even God himself, if we would secure salvation. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.316)
The reformer goes on to help us understand the impact of the gospel:
First, it rejects our natural reason, our human light... Had we within ourselves light instead of darkness, it would not be necessary for God to send the light to rise upon us... Second, the gospel casts down all the glory and pride in our own works, our efforts, our free will. (Ibid., pp. 316-317)
Elsewhere, he elaborates on how easy it is to overlook the rich gift of the gospel’s light, just like so many could not understand the star’s leading of The Wise Men which we commemorate today:
This is our plague and wretchedness, that we are unable to recognize the exceeding greatness of the treasure because of its lowly appearance... The gospel, however, is such a treasure that is lowly in appearance and can be perceived only through the Holy Spirit. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.311)
Famed 20th-century theologian Karl Barth had a different insight about this text, which in the strict literal sense refers to Israel. He sees it as a reminder of how essential Israel’s history is for Christians and for all people. He wrote:
... it is not in vain and not for its own sake that Israel was and is, that its divine election and calling and all the history which followed in its brighter or darker aspects was no mere episode but an epoch, was not accidental but necessary, that its purpose was not a particular one, but the universal purpose of its mission, that its existence was the existence of a light for all men... It will then be the case actually and visibly that “salvation is of the Jews” (Jn 4:22). (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p.31)
It is time for Christians to stop wondering about how the Jews could be so unfaithful, to fault them for not accepting Christ and not following the Wise Men’s way.
Mark E.
* * *
Ephesians 3:1-12
The apostle refers to the mystery religions, in which initiates were instructed in the mysteries of the universe, secret knowledge, often at great expense. All the little mysteries that people cling to, imagining they have cornered the market of what the universe is about, are being shared in Christ with everyone, for free. God means to save all nations, all people, and those of us who have discovered this first are not meant to cling to this knowledge but share it as openly as God has done through Jesus.
Frank R.
* * *
Ephesians 3:1-12
A reporter once asked the noted orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein what the most difficult instrument was to play. Given Bernstein’s experience, and expertise, the reporter was eager to hear the great conductor’s opinion. To the reporter’s surprise, Bernstein replied without any hesitation: "Second fiddle! I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm, or second French horn, or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”
Second fiddle; I think that’s what Paul learned to play, too. Paul was at one time the proud Pharisee Saul who’d sat at the feet of Gamaliel. He seemed to have a bright future as a leader. Now, though, he writes, in this passage, “Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (Ephesians 3:8-9).
Will we be willing to humble ourselves to become the servant of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 2:1-12
Christmas pageants are wonderful, and I love to see the children dressed as shepherds, angels and wise men. The trouble is we usually get confused about the story when our children perform their pageants. The wise men, Magi, arrive at the stable. Clearly this is not what scripture tells us. Scripture clearly reminds us that, “On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.” A house is not a stable. The journey is estimated to have taken the wise ones almost two years. Christmas pageants don’t give us the time to wait, the patience to understand the perilous journey these wise ones took to come and pay homage to the Christ child. Sometimes our journey to Christ, to our faith, is perilous as well. Yet, we are reminded that whenever and wherever we come to worship Jesus, he will be there.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 2:1-12
Preaching on this text on Epiphany, Martin Luther once proclaimed the meaning of this festival in his view:
Since Christ does not want to be found apart from his word,... we ought to cleave to the word and dismiss all thoughts to the contrary... It is contradictory and shocking that a poor beggar, born in a lowly, poor place should be a ruler and Lord of the people of Israel. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, pp.199, 205)
We need this message because it chastens our egos, teaches us to not trust ourselves and our insights as much as we are prone to do. Luther once put it this way: “We stink of pure self-esteem and self-conceit.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.52, p.213) Nineteenth-century author William Hazlitt pretty much agrees, as he wrote, “We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.” We need to hear more about how confounding to reason the birth of Jesus is. And yet this contradiction of reason and the ways of the world (the message of both Epiphany and Christmas) is in Luther’s view a wonderful, joyful message. It is
... a gladsome text, which not only testifies that Christ has come, but also teaches us why we should esteem and cling to him, and what kind of a King and Lord he is. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.205)
One other interesting illustration about this text, so crucial in our Black Lives Matter era. Significant segments of the African American community feel that they have been disenfranchised from predominantly white churches which interpret the Bible as stories about a bunch of white Jews and Gentiles. The Black presence in the Bible has been overlooked in these churches, it is said. Martin Luther offers a good remedy in this text, as he noted in the 1500s that one of The Wise Men might have been Ethiopian (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, pp.412-413).
Mark E.
