Sermon Illustrations for Lent 4 (2013)
Illustration
Object:
Joshua 5:9-12
This is a text about freedom, the first experience celebrating the Passover feast of freedom for the former slaves (Israel) in the Promised Land. It is an important word today, for 12.3 million human beings are trapped in some form of slavery (many as sex slaves on our shore) and the poverty that plagues millions of us [google the latest poverty stats] cuts off options and enslaves.
Martin Luther King Jr. taught us about the value of freedom: "... the essence of man is found in freedom. That is what Paul Tillich means when he declares 'Man is man because his is free,' or what Tolstoy implies when he says 'I cannot conceive of a man not being free unless he is dead'... There is nothing in the world greater than freedom. It is worth paying for; it is worth losing a job; it is worth going to jail for" (A Testament of Hope, pp. 120, 144).
King's namesake gives insight into how we can use our freedom to set others who are enslaved free: "A Christian is perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all" (Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 344).
Mark E.
Joshua 5:9-12
George and Martha Washington had a very endearing relationship. Though as the commander of the Continental Army and as the first President of the United States George Washington could be very stern and firm, as a husband he was benevolent and gracious. In private and public Martha was called by George as Patsy. Of the few remaining letters we have to his wife, George always began his letters to Patsy with "My Dearest."
To remove the disgrace of Egypt, the Lord gave the Israelites a new place that was to be called Gilgal. We all need to hear "My Dearest," my Gilgal.
Ron L.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
It is important to have the right perspective when viewing something. Depending upon your perspective, you can see things differently. M.C. Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who lived in the 20th century. He drew configurations of forms in a style called tessellation that dazzled one's perspective. In one drawing, if you looked at it one way you saw geese flying; look at it another way and fish were swimming. Or another: dark-colored geese are flying one way; but look at it again and light-colored geese are flying the other way. As one scholar explains it: "What's fascinating about visual illusions is they show us we don't just perceive the world as it is; our brains actually interpret what they perceive and make assumptions about what they are seeing." So it is with Paul, who teases our perceptions in how to look at ourselves and one another in light of our experience with Jesus.
Mark M.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
A man was going to court over bankruptcy. He had no means of covering the huge debt he owed. He stood before the judge with head bowed waiting for the verdict, but the judge took off his robes and came down to pay off the man's debt for him. All he had to do was accept the judge's payment. He would be a fool not to. We would be fools not to accept what our Lord has done for us. He did indeed take off his royal robes and came to this world as a man. Now all he asks us to do in return is to tell others what he has done and assure them that they will have the same freedom from the debt of sin if they turn to him. How can we show our gratitude? By telling our Lord that we are busy at the moment or have other important things to do? What is more important than being appointed ambassadors for Christ?
A friend of mine in seminary who was over 40 left a prosperous construction business to serve the Lord when one of the Lord's ambassadors showed him what Christ had done for him. I left a motion picture business in California to serve my Lord when I realized what he had done for me. I have never regretted it! Don't miss this opportunity! You will never regret it!
Bob O.
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
We are all prodigal sons in a way. Mark Twain called this parable the greatest story of love ever told. It is great in its insights about our ingratitude, but also as a testimony to forgiving love. We subject it to misinterpretation, though, when we make it seem that the father's forgiveness of wayward offspring like us is a function of our confession of sin. Methodist founder John Wesley makes that clear with an incisive remark: "So does God frequently cut an earnest confession short by a display of pardoning love" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 446).
Martin Luther makes a similar point about this remarkable forgiving love of God. It is like the sun, he claims, which "will not refuse to shine because I am lazy and would gladly sleep an hour or two longer" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, p. 347).
Mark E.
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
George Washington, the father of our country, did not appear to be a joyous father with his stern look always absent of a smile. This was because Washington was always plagued with dental problems. The year he became president he had his favorite dentist, John Greenwood, make him a new set of dentures. Greenwood used human teeth set in hippopotamus ivory, and attached the dentures to Washington's last remaining tooth, a lower left premolar. Because of the ill-fitting dentures it always looked like Washington was scorning. Because Washington was embarrassed at the sight of his dentures, he never smiled.
The father in the parable of the prodigal son may have stood at the gate absent of a smile in the years of waiting and hoping for his youngest son's return. Upon seeing his son approach, his face displayed joy and happiness. Just because one is without a smile does not mean that within there is an absence of hope and love.
Ron L.
This is a text about freedom, the first experience celebrating the Passover feast of freedom for the former slaves (Israel) in the Promised Land. It is an important word today, for 12.3 million human beings are trapped in some form of slavery (many as sex slaves on our shore) and the poverty that plagues millions of us [google the latest poverty stats] cuts off options and enslaves.
Martin Luther King Jr. taught us about the value of freedom: "... the essence of man is found in freedom. That is what Paul Tillich means when he declares 'Man is man because his is free,' or what Tolstoy implies when he says 'I cannot conceive of a man not being free unless he is dead'... There is nothing in the world greater than freedom. It is worth paying for; it is worth losing a job; it is worth going to jail for" (A Testament of Hope, pp. 120, 144).
King's namesake gives insight into how we can use our freedom to set others who are enslaved free: "A Christian is perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all" (Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 344).
Mark E.
Joshua 5:9-12
George and Martha Washington had a very endearing relationship. Though as the commander of the Continental Army and as the first President of the United States George Washington could be very stern and firm, as a husband he was benevolent and gracious. In private and public Martha was called by George as Patsy. Of the few remaining letters we have to his wife, George always began his letters to Patsy with "My Dearest."
To remove the disgrace of Egypt, the Lord gave the Israelites a new place that was to be called Gilgal. We all need to hear "My Dearest," my Gilgal.
Ron L.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
It is important to have the right perspective when viewing something. Depending upon your perspective, you can see things differently. M.C. Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who lived in the 20th century. He drew configurations of forms in a style called tessellation that dazzled one's perspective. In one drawing, if you looked at it one way you saw geese flying; look at it another way and fish were swimming. Or another: dark-colored geese are flying one way; but look at it again and light-colored geese are flying the other way. As one scholar explains it: "What's fascinating about visual illusions is they show us we don't just perceive the world as it is; our brains actually interpret what they perceive and make assumptions about what they are seeing." So it is with Paul, who teases our perceptions in how to look at ourselves and one another in light of our experience with Jesus.
Mark M.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
A man was going to court over bankruptcy. He had no means of covering the huge debt he owed. He stood before the judge with head bowed waiting for the verdict, but the judge took off his robes and came down to pay off the man's debt for him. All he had to do was accept the judge's payment. He would be a fool not to. We would be fools not to accept what our Lord has done for us. He did indeed take off his royal robes and came to this world as a man. Now all he asks us to do in return is to tell others what he has done and assure them that they will have the same freedom from the debt of sin if they turn to him. How can we show our gratitude? By telling our Lord that we are busy at the moment or have other important things to do? What is more important than being appointed ambassadors for Christ?
A friend of mine in seminary who was over 40 left a prosperous construction business to serve the Lord when one of the Lord's ambassadors showed him what Christ had done for him. I left a motion picture business in California to serve my Lord when I realized what he had done for me. I have never regretted it! Don't miss this opportunity! You will never regret it!
Bob O.
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
We are all prodigal sons in a way. Mark Twain called this parable the greatest story of love ever told. It is great in its insights about our ingratitude, but also as a testimony to forgiving love. We subject it to misinterpretation, though, when we make it seem that the father's forgiveness of wayward offspring like us is a function of our confession of sin. Methodist founder John Wesley makes that clear with an incisive remark: "So does God frequently cut an earnest confession short by a display of pardoning love" (Commentary on the Bible, p. 446).
Martin Luther makes a similar point about this remarkable forgiving love of God. It is like the sun, he claims, which "will not refuse to shine because I am lazy and would gladly sleep an hour or two longer" (Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, p. 347).
Mark E.
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
George Washington, the father of our country, did not appear to be a joyous father with his stern look always absent of a smile. This was because Washington was always plagued with dental problems. The year he became president he had his favorite dentist, John Greenwood, make him a new set of dentures. Greenwood used human teeth set in hippopotamus ivory, and attached the dentures to Washington's last remaining tooth, a lower left premolar. Because of the ill-fitting dentures it always looked like Washington was scorning. Because Washington was embarrassed at the sight of his dentures, he never smiled.
The father in the parable of the prodigal son may have stood at the gate absent of a smile in the years of waiting and hoping for his youngest son's return. Upon seeing his son approach, his face displayed joy and happiness. Just because one is without a smile does not mean that within there is an absence of hope and love.
Ron L.
