Sermon Illustrations for Proper 16 | Ordinary Time 21 (2012)
Illustration
Object:
1 Kings 8 (1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43
The text leads us to the old question -- whether God is imminent (here in and among us) or transcendent (beyond us). If God is in the Jerusalem Temple, how can he still be God who is not confined to the temple? There is a cutting-edge theological position today called Process Theology, which speaks of Panentheism -- that God is both imminent and transcendent at the same time. The universe is said to be identical with God, but that God is more than the universe (Alfred N. Whitehead, Process and Reality, pp. 36-37, 39). Thus what happens to us happens to God, and yet God is so much more than we are.
To illustrate this point we could return to Augustine's idea used on August 5 of God as the infinitely huge ocean into which is found a grain of sand that is the universe. Another image is that of the fetus in the mother's womb. As the fetus is virtually identical with the mother in the pregnancy, yet the mother is more than the fetus, so we children of God relate to the heavenly mother.
Mark E.
1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43
The Great Sphinx of Giza is the oldest monumental sculpture on earth. Built in 2500 BC, it is also the largest monumental sculpture, as it is 241 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 66 feet high.
The purpose of the Great Sphinx is for solar worship. The body, which is that of a lion, is associated with the sun. The head, which is of a man, represents Pharaoh who will keep the citizens of Giza safe.
The Great Sphinx still stands as a tribute to architecture, a representation of idol worship, but after 4,500 years is still void of spiritual power.
King Solomon did not call the people of Israel to worship the ark and its newly built temple; he called them to worship the Lord who resides there. This is the same Lord who equally resides in the temple of the human body, in our own souls.
Ron L.
Ephesians 6:10-20
"Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist..." (Ephesians 6:14a).
Paul writes to the Ephesians using the symbolism of the Christian soldier. As the believer gets ready for action he tightens the belt of truth around him implying that he is whole-heartedly committed to the cause in which he is engaged. The truth of Christ emboldens him.
In John Bunyan's memorable The Pilgrim's Progress he has a dialogue near the end of their journey between Great-heart and Valiant-for-Truth. The latter tells the former of all the trials he has gone through to get to this, the last part of the journey.
Great: And did none of these things discourage you?
Valiant: No; they seemed but as so many nothings to me.
Great: How came that about?
Valiant: Why, I still believed what Mr. Tell-truth had said; And that carried me beyond them all.
Great: Then this was your victory, even your faith.
Valiant: It was so. I believed, and therefore came out, got into the way, fought all that set themselves against me, and, by believing, am come to this place.
Richard H.
John 6:56-69
March 25, 1965. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a procession of 25,000 demonstrators into Montgomery, Alabama. Solemnly, the cortege passed the Jefferson Davis Hotel, which had a huge Rebel flag draped across its front. Quietly they stood at Confederate Square, where Negroes had been auctioned off in the days of servitude. Spontaneously, the multitude sand "Deep in my heart, I do believe; We have overcome -- today." The cavalcade lurched forward, proceeding up Dexter Avenue, following the same path as Jefferson Davis' inaugural parade. These descendants of slaves freely strode to the portico of the capital; the place where Davis had taken his oath of office as President of the Confederate States. Governor George Corley Wallace refused to meet with the Freedom Marchers, nor would he receive their petition demanding the right to vote. The crowd milled in front of the statehouse, as the governor peered anxiously from behind his cracked office blinds.
Positioned below the governor's window, King stood on the flatbed of a trailer, readying himself to address the gathering. With television cameras focused on his round, intense face, and his body silhouetted against the setting sun, King intoned: "We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. We are on the move now. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. We are on the move now. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. The arrest and release of known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom."
"We are on the move now!" ought to be the battle cry of everyone. Though John tells us that "many of Jesus' disciples turned back and no longer went about with him," we shall remain faithful and always on the move.
Ron L.
John 6:56-69
A 2006 Pew Foundation survey and a Baylor Religion Survey of the same year found that 4 in 10 Americans believed God was distant from our everyday lives. But Jesus says in our gospel that the faithful abide in him and he in them (v. 56)! We need this message in view of our tendency to disbelieve that God is active in our lives. But what sense does it make? Illustrations suggested for the First Kings text above can be employed. But likewise, it is not hard to appreciate Jesus' presence in our lives when we consider how the bread we ate today is dwelling in us, nourishing us. Martin Luther suggested once that this union about which Christ speaks is just another way of thinking about him as an intimate friend. And friends penetrate our lives, walk by our side, share our lives, while still remaining distinct (Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 150). The dwelling with and in us that Jesus promises is the creation of the most intimate friendship we have ever had.
Mark E.
The text leads us to the old question -- whether God is imminent (here in and among us) or transcendent (beyond us). If God is in the Jerusalem Temple, how can he still be God who is not confined to the temple? There is a cutting-edge theological position today called Process Theology, which speaks of Panentheism -- that God is both imminent and transcendent at the same time. The universe is said to be identical with God, but that God is more than the universe (Alfred N. Whitehead, Process and Reality, pp. 36-37, 39). Thus what happens to us happens to God, and yet God is so much more than we are.
To illustrate this point we could return to Augustine's idea used on August 5 of God as the infinitely huge ocean into which is found a grain of sand that is the universe. Another image is that of the fetus in the mother's womb. As the fetus is virtually identical with the mother in the pregnancy, yet the mother is more than the fetus, so we children of God relate to the heavenly mother.
Mark E.
1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43
The Great Sphinx of Giza is the oldest monumental sculpture on earth. Built in 2500 BC, it is also the largest monumental sculpture, as it is 241 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 66 feet high.
The purpose of the Great Sphinx is for solar worship. The body, which is that of a lion, is associated with the sun. The head, which is of a man, represents Pharaoh who will keep the citizens of Giza safe.
The Great Sphinx still stands as a tribute to architecture, a representation of idol worship, but after 4,500 years is still void of spiritual power.
King Solomon did not call the people of Israel to worship the ark and its newly built temple; he called them to worship the Lord who resides there. This is the same Lord who equally resides in the temple of the human body, in our own souls.
Ron L.
Ephesians 6:10-20
"Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist..." (Ephesians 6:14a).
Paul writes to the Ephesians using the symbolism of the Christian soldier. As the believer gets ready for action he tightens the belt of truth around him implying that he is whole-heartedly committed to the cause in which he is engaged. The truth of Christ emboldens him.
In John Bunyan's memorable The Pilgrim's Progress he has a dialogue near the end of their journey between Great-heart and Valiant-for-Truth. The latter tells the former of all the trials he has gone through to get to this, the last part of the journey.
Great: And did none of these things discourage you?
Valiant: No; they seemed but as so many nothings to me.
Great: How came that about?
Valiant: Why, I still believed what Mr. Tell-truth had said; And that carried me beyond them all.
Great: Then this was your victory, even your faith.
Valiant: It was so. I believed, and therefore came out, got into the way, fought all that set themselves against me, and, by believing, am come to this place.
Richard H.
John 6:56-69
March 25, 1965. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a procession of 25,000 demonstrators into Montgomery, Alabama. Solemnly, the cortege passed the Jefferson Davis Hotel, which had a huge Rebel flag draped across its front. Quietly they stood at Confederate Square, where Negroes had been auctioned off in the days of servitude. Spontaneously, the multitude sand "Deep in my heart, I do believe; We have overcome -- today." The cavalcade lurched forward, proceeding up Dexter Avenue, following the same path as Jefferson Davis' inaugural parade. These descendants of slaves freely strode to the portico of the capital; the place where Davis had taken his oath of office as President of the Confederate States. Governor George Corley Wallace refused to meet with the Freedom Marchers, nor would he receive their petition demanding the right to vote. The crowd milled in front of the statehouse, as the governor peered anxiously from behind his cracked office blinds.
Positioned below the governor's window, King stood on the flatbed of a trailer, readying himself to address the gathering. With television cameras focused on his round, intense face, and his body silhouetted against the setting sun, King intoned: "We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. We are on the move now. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. We are on the move now. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now. The arrest and release of known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom."
"We are on the move now!" ought to be the battle cry of everyone. Though John tells us that "many of Jesus' disciples turned back and no longer went about with him," we shall remain faithful and always on the move.
Ron L.
John 6:56-69
A 2006 Pew Foundation survey and a Baylor Religion Survey of the same year found that 4 in 10 Americans believed God was distant from our everyday lives. But Jesus says in our gospel that the faithful abide in him and he in them (v. 56)! We need this message in view of our tendency to disbelieve that God is active in our lives. But what sense does it make? Illustrations suggested for the First Kings text above can be employed. But likewise, it is not hard to appreciate Jesus' presence in our lives when we consider how the bread we ate today is dwelling in us, nourishing us. Martin Luther suggested once that this union about which Christ speaks is just another way of thinking about him as an intimate friend. And friends penetrate our lives, walk by our side, share our lives, while still remaining distinct (Luther's Works, Vol. 23, p. 150). The dwelling with and in us that Jesus promises is the creation of the most intimate friendship we have ever had.
Mark E.
