Sermon Illustrations for Lent 3 (2021)
Illustration
Exodus 20:1-17
None of us are thieves. And so the commandment forbidding stealing does not condemn us! Oh, but it does if you have ever tried to cut a smart business deal, suckered someone to get them to buy your product, or failed to help those in need. Jonathan Edwards explained it this way in his exposition of dishonesty and theft:
So a man fraudulently takes away that which is his neighbour’s when he gets his money from him by falsely commending what he hath to sell, above what he knows to be the true qualities... When the necessity of poor indigent people is the very thing whence others take occasion to raise the price of provisions, even above the market: this is such an oppression... let us remember, that it is owing only to the distinguishing goodness of God to us, that we are not in their circumstances. (Works, Vol.2, p.222)
As long as there are poor people, we are stealing from them. Thomas Jefferson said as much:
Whenever there are in any country uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right. (Writings, pp.841-842)
The Hartford Institute of Religious Research estimated in 2010 that there are 350,000 congregations in America. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2018, before the pandemic (and so the numbers today are higher) that there are at least 38.1 million Americans in poverty. If every congregation in America assumed responsibility for just 101 poor people, poverty could be overcome! We’re not. So we Christians must be a bunch of thieves!
Of course this awareness is not the last word. Martin Luther speaks of “being convinced you have no sin although you have sinned...” (What Luther Says, p. 514) Once you have that, then you are ready to try to practice all the commandments, he adds (The Book of Concord [2000 ed.], p.431). The practice of “thou shall not steal,” has radical implications according to Jonathan Edwards, especially in light of segment of the African-American community for reparations. In response America’s first great theologian wrote:
Therefore I counsel you who are conscious that you have heretofore wronged your neighbor, either by fraud or oppression, or unfaithfulness, or stealing, whether lately or formerly, though it may have been a great while ago, speedily to go and make restitution for the wrong your neighbour has suffered at your hands. That it was done long ago, doth not quit you from obligation to restore. (Works, Vol.2, p.226)
What are we going to do about all our violations of the commandments and the forgiveness God’s given us?
Mark E.
* * *
Exodus 20:1-17
How do you view the commandments? In this morning’s reading from Exodus, the newly forming nation of Israel receives their commands from God. I can remember memorizing the commandments as a child, in language of the King James Bible which seemed foreign to me, and maybe made the commandments less accessible. Yet, these commands anchored my belief in how to be in relationship with God. I have to admit the coveting commands were harder for me to understand as a child – but I get them now. When I want what is not mine, envy my neighbors, seek to discredit those who have more than I do, I covet. As I have aged, I have recognized that which I should be coveting — the presence of God, a relationship with Jesus, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gifts provided to me, the peace that comes from resting in the arms of a loving God. Maybe the “thou shalts” are more important to remember than the “thou shalt not’s” in our life. Still, I move into relationships with God and my neighbor by paying attention to all the commands of God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The late Billy Graham shares this powerful and convicting message in a March 23, 2007 editorial on his ministry’s webpage. He writes, “It was my privilege to be the guest of a secretary general at the United Nations in New York. He took me to the little room that has been designated a ‘prayer room’ at the United Nations building. I went into the semidarkness. There was something missing. Immediately I recognized that there was no cross in that room. Here was religion without a cross … a testimony that the nations of the world are deeply religious but have not yet come to the point where they are willing to accept Christ and Him crucified. Thus, the people of the world stumble on blindly toward eventual judgment and destruction, not realizing that they are rejecting Christ and Him crucified, which is the only hope for salvation.”
To those who, in their wisdom, refuse to believe, the cross stands as a symbol of futility and failure. It’s a mocking reminder of the absurdity of faith. God, though, has made foolish the wisdom of this world. To those who believe, the cross is something far different. It is the power of God and the means of salvation. The cross stands for hope. The cross stands for liberty. The cross stands for love. Without the cross, our Christian faith cannot stand.
Bill T.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
I think in this passage Paul is addressing those who are wavering on the edge of accepting the Christian faith. What they are struggling with seems to be either a failure of imagination, or a failure of nerve, or both.
Paul is using a touch of hyperbole when he talks about Greeks desiring wisdom and Jews desiring signs. First of all, there was no such thing as a homogenous group of people known either as Greeks or Jews.
The Greek speaking world included Romans, Greeks, Celts, the Northern African peoples, Goths, the Egyptians, and the Syria Province, which of course we identify as the holy land today.
It’s now clear that people who self-identified as Jews included many different groups, far more than people used to think. In addition to Jews who lived in Judah and Jerusalem, there were Galilean Jews, Diaspora Jews spread throughout the Empire, and Jews not only in the major population areas of Egypt but also in the hinterlands. Each of these groups had a different ethnic as well as theological outlook. Don’t forget that at this period pretty much everyone thought of Christians as Jews. Including most Christians.
Greek speaking Gentiles weren’t above examining entrails for signs. As far as wisdom goes, it’d be hard to beat the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, as well as the books of Wisdom and Sirach, which are found in the Deuterocanonical books. So we can say Greeks looked for signs and Jews to wisdom also.
Regardless of these failures of type, those who wanted a sign failed to see the signs fulfilled in Jesus. Those who clung to wisdom did not see the wise actions of God in Jesus. When Paul said “…we proclaim Christ crucified…” he was speaking a truth that shocked both Jews and Gentiles, and ought to make us uneasy as well, even though it is the central truth of the universe.
Frank R.
* * *
John 2:13-21
Jesus actually lost his temper. I remember being surprised by this as a child and young Christian. It was amazing to me. As I was growing up the divinity of Jesus was accented, rather than his humanity. God didn’t lose God’s temper or was that an assumption I had? Jesus moves the money changers off the temple mount, away from the place of worship, reminding the people that the temple was for worship – not commerce. Jesus is clear about expectations for the people – but the anger is about more than the commerce. It is also about the abuse of power, the cheating of the poorest of the poor, the requirement to “pay” for forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Jesus reminds us, in this angry outburst, that there is a cause for righteous anger whenever one of God’s children is taken advantage of or abused. Do we need reminding of this in the 21st century? Absolutely.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 2:13-22
The Church has pretty well bought into business models. Just visit practical theology courses in our seminaries or visit denominational offices and you’ll hear again and again how the church needs to be run like a business (see Douglas Sosnick et al, Applebee’s America, esp. pp. 93-126). The idea of raising funds by selling goods and services (commercialism) has long been widespread in America, but now most critics of the practice have been silenced. We need sermons on the implications of Jesus’ cleansing the temple of moneychangers to be applied to these practices. Engagement in practices of buying and selling gets the church away from its real business, giving away love and grace.
Modern Baptist pastor James Hassell writes against the abuses associated with the church doing business (selling goods and services). He wrote:
The heart of the matter extends beyond the typical buyer-seller relationship. Trouble arises when church leaders abuse their position of leadership to peddle goods to church members. The “us versus them” mentality results in a divisive power structure and may lead to intimidation. For instance, when church leaders use their position to sell products, they emphasize consumerism over worship.
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth notes how when the Church engages in these commercial ventures it compromises the mission of Jesus Christ, which is giving away grace and love, not selling them.
Again the community would be guilty of too close conformity to the world if it were to exist within it for its own sake, refusing the active assistance it ought to give. The world indeed thinks that it can and should nourish and sustain itself... What it needs is not to be confirmed and strengthened by another variation of its own way, but to be pointed beyond it in unambiguous practice. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/3/2, pp.778-779)
The church looks just like the world when it is in the business of buying and selling. If we want to be an alternative to the world, then we can’t just talk about grace and love being free. If grace is free, then everything else the church does needs to be free too.
Mark E.
None of us are thieves. And so the commandment forbidding stealing does not condemn us! Oh, but it does if you have ever tried to cut a smart business deal, suckered someone to get them to buy your product, or failed to help those in need. Jonathan Edwards explained it this way in his exposition of dishonesty and theft:
So a man fraudulently takes away that which is his neighbour’s when he gets his money from him by falsely commending what he hath to sell, above what he knows to be the true qualities... When the necessity of poor indigent people is the very thing whence others take occasion to raise the price of provisions, even above the market: this is such an oppression... let us remember, that it is owing only to the distinguishing goodness of God to us, that we are not in their circumstances. (Works, Vol.2, p.222)
As long as there are poor people, we are stealing from them. Thomas Jefferson said as much:
Whenever there are in any country uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right. (Writings, pp.841-842)
The Hartford Institute of Religious Research estimated in 2010 that there are 350,000 congregations in America. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2018, before the pandemic (and so the numbers today are higher) that there are at least 38.1 million Americans in poverty. If every congregation in America assumed responsibility for just 101 poor people, poverty could be overcome! We’re not. So we Christians must be a bunch of thieves!
Of course this awareness is not the last word. Martin Luther speaks of “being convinced you have no sin although you have sinned...” (What Luther Says, p. 514) Once you have that, then you are ready to try to practice all the commandments, he adds (The Book of Concord [2000 ed.], p.431). The practice of “thou shall not steal,” has radical implications according to Jonathan Edwards, especially in light of segment of the African-American community for reparations. In response America’s first great theologian wrote:
Therefore I counsel you who are conscious that you have heretofore wronged your neighbor, either by fraud or oppression, or unfaithfulness, or stealing, whether lately or formerly, though it may have been a great while ago, speedily to go and make restitution for the wrong your neighbour has suffered at your hands. That it was done long ago, doth not quit you from obligation to restore. (Works, Vol.2, p.226)
What are we going to do about all our violations of the commandments and the forgiveness God’s given us?
Mark E.
* * *
Exodus 20:1-17
How do you view the commandments? In this morning’s reading from Exodus, the newly forming nation of Israel receives their commands from God. I can remember memorizing the commandments as a child, in language of the King James Bible which seemed foreign to me, and maybe made the commandments less accessible. Yet, these commands anchored my belief in how to be in relationship with God. I have to admit the coveting commands were harder for me to understand as a child – but I get them now. When I want what is not mine, envy my neighbors, seek to discredit those who have more than I do, I covet. As I have aged, I have recognized that which I should be coveting — the presence of God, a relationship with Jesus, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gifts provided to me, the peace that comes from resting in the arms of a loving God. Maybe the “thou shalts” are more important to remember than the “thou shalt not’s” in our life. Still, I move into relationships with God and my neighbor by paying attention to all the commands of God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The late Billy Graham shares this powerful and convicting message in a March 23, 2007 editorial on his ministry’s webpage. He writes, “It was my privilege to be the guest of a secretary general at the United Nations in New York. He took me to the little room that has been designated a ‘prayer room’ at the United Nations building. I went into the semidarkness. There was something missing. Immediately I recognized that there was no cross in that room. Here was religion without a cross … a testimony that the nations of the world are deeply religious but have not yet come to the point where they are willing to accept Christ and Him crucified. Thus, the people of the world stumble on blindly toward eventual judgment and destruction, not realizing that they are rejecting Christ and Him crucified, which is the only hope for salvation.”
To those who, in their wisdom, refuse to believe, the cross stands as a symbol of futility and failure. It’s a mocking reminder of the absurdity of faith. God, though, has made foolish the wisdom of this world. To those who believe, the cross is something far different. It is the power of God and the means of salvation. The cross stands for hope. The cross stands for liberty. The cross stands for love. Without the cross, our Christian faith cannot stand.
Bill T.
* * *
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
I think in this passage Paul is addressing those who are wavering on the edge of accepting the Christian faith. What they are struggling with seems to be either a failure of imagination, or a failure of nerve, or both.
Paul is using a touch of hyperbole when he talks about Greeks desiring wisdom and Jews desiring signs. First of all, there was no such thing as a homogenous group of people known either as Greeks or Jews.
The Greek speaking world included Romans, Greeks, Celts, the Northern African peoples, Goths, the Egyptians, and the Syria Province, which of course we identify as the holy land today.
It’s now clear that people who self-identified as Jews included many different groups, far more than people used to think. In addition to Jews who lived in Judah and Jerusalem, there were Galilean Jews, Diaspora Jews spread throughout the Empire, and Jews not only in the major population areas of Egypt but also in the hinterlands. Each of these groups had a different ethnic as well as theological outlook. Don’t forget that at this period pretty much everyone thought of Christians as Jews. Including most Christians.
Greek speaking Gentiles weren’t above examining entrails for signs. As far as wisdom goes, it’d be hard to beat the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, as well as the books of Wisdom and Sirach, which are found in the Deuterocanonical books. So we can say Greeks looked for signs and Jews to wisdom also.
Regardless of these failures of type, those who wanted a sign failed to see the signs fulfilled in Jesus. Those who clung to wisdom did not see the wise actions of God in Jesus. When Paul said “…we proclaim Christ crucified…” he was speaking a truth that shocked both Jews and Gentiles, and ought to make us uneasy as well, even though it is the central truth of the universe.
Frank R.
* * *
John 2:13-21
Jesus actually lost his temper. I remember being surprised by this as a child and young Christian. It was amazing to me. As I was growing up the divinity of Jesus was accented, rather than his humanity. God didn’t lose God’s temper or was that an assumption I had? Jesus moves the money changers off the temple mount, away from the place of worship, reminding the people that the temple was for worship – not commerce. Jesus is clear about expectations for the people – but the anger is about more than the commerce. It is also about the abuse of power, the cheating of the poorest of the poor, the requirement to “pay” for forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Jesus reminds us, in this angry outburst, that there is a cause for righteous anger whenever one of God’s children is taken advantage of or abused. Do we need reminding of this in the 21st century? Absolutely.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 2:13-22
The Church has pretty well bought into business models. Just visit practical theology courses in our seminaries or visit denominational offices and you’ll hear again and again how the church needs to be run like a business (see Douglas Sosnick et al, Applebee’s America, esp. pp. 93-126). The idea of raising funds by selling goods and services (commercialism) has long been widespread in America, but now most critics of the practice have been silenced. We need sermons on the implications of Jesus’ cleansing the temple of moneychangers to be applied to these practices. Engagement in practices of buying and selling gets the church away from its real business, giving away love and grace.
Modern Baptist pastor James Hassell writes against the abuses associated with the church doing business (selling goods and services). He wrote:
The heart of the matter extends beyond the typical buyer-seller relationship. Trouble arises when church leaders abuse their position of leadership to peddle goods to church members. The “us versus them” mentality results in a divisive power structure and may lead to intimidation. For instance, when church leaders use their position to sell products, they emphasize consumerism over worship.
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth notes how when the Church engages in these commercial ventures it compromises the mission of Jesus Christ, which is giving away grace and love, not selling them.
Again the community would be guilty of too close conformity to the world if it were to exist within it for its own sake, refusing the active assistance it ought to give. The world indeed thinks that it can and should nourish and sustain itself... What it needs is not to be confirmed and strengthened by another variation of its own way, but to be pointed beyond it in unambiguous practice. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/3/2, pp.778-779)
The church looks just like the world when it is in the business of buying and selling. If we want to be an alternative to the world, then we can’t just talk about grace and love being free. If grace is free, then everything else the church does needs to be free too.
Mark E.
