Sermon Illustrations for Proper 9 | OT 14 (2016)
Illustration
Object:
2 Kings 5:1-14
The man was wealthy and used to having people respond immediately to his every request. He had everything going for him: money, servants, power, respect. That’s possibly why the disease hit him harder than some others. The treatments for this disease were still being discussed and discovered. Most were not working. However, he did hear of one place and one doctor that was having success treating this awful malady. The doctor’s clinic was located in a rundown part of a major city. No one who valued safety, much less status, would go there. When he was informed of the possible treatment, he was excited. When he found out where he had to go, he was deflated. He expected the doctor to come to him -- and when the doctor didn’t, he responded in anger. “Well, I certainly won’t go to him.”
That little story is fictional. It is a ridiculous, made-up account. No one would really act that way, would they? Pride can do a lot of damage. It can ruin relationships, prevent growth, and be the cause of devastating defeats. C.S. Lewis once wrote: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” John Ruskin summed it up well when he wrote, “In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.” That was the case for the foolish wealthy man in the fictional story. That was nearly the case for an important commander in the army of the king of Aram. Don’t let it be for you.
Bill T.
2 Kings 5:1-14
There’s a tendency to overthink this faith thing. Maybe some of us feel we’re having to jump through too many hoops to become a part of the church, or maybe we’re on the other side of the problem and we’re the ones insisting that newcomers have to jump through the hoops. Maybe believing on the Lord is enough to be saved. Certainly there are several fascinating facets to this passage -- the prophetic slave girl (she speaks the truth to power), the fear of Israel’s king that a foreign ruler is making impossible demands (the result of seeing everything through a political lens), an unfazed prophet. But to my mind the key is the annoyed response of Namaan that the machinery of the cure is so simple. Some things are hard. Some things are easy. Don’t try to make the hard things easy, and certainly don’t overthink to the point that easy things become hard.
Frank R.
2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman must have had a milder form of leprosy, or he wouldn’t have had the job he had in an army -- but he must have been a great warrior or he wouldn’t have been held in such high honor by his boss, Aram. He was not bad enough to keep him from having a wife!
By luck, or God’s plan, his wife’s maid told Aram about the healings in Israel. It was worth the money to Aram, so he drained his bank account and sent Naaman down to Israel to be healed. She did not tell him who to see in Israel -- so he went to the king, assuming you could go no higher! He was the wrong one, and the king tore his clothes because he could not help. He wanted to help for pride and political reasons, of course.
It just so happened that Elijah heard about it, and he was surprised the king didn’t know where to send Naaman. “Send him to me,” Elijah said. The next part is a test.
Elijah told Naaman to dunk in the Jordan River seven times. Now we are getting into prejudice, because Naaman and his people thought they had better rivers in their country -- so he went off angry.
It might be like telling a KKK member in the south to go to a black prophet to be healed, or like telling a Muslim that if he went to a Lutheran church and sat in a pew on Sunday he would be healed, or like telling one of our members to go to a witch doctor when he or she has a perfectly good physician. We each have our prejudices, and sometimes God will test us to see if we believe him and how badly we want to be healed.
In Nepal we saw some Hindus healed when they came to our church or one of us went to their home. Some wondered why a Hindu priest could not heal them or why they couldn’t pray for them at their temple so they wouldn’t have to visit us Christians.
Naaman’s servant talked him into obeying and he grudgingly did as he was told -- and he was healed! The Lord often tests our faith in many ways. He won’t send us to a mosque. But listen to him. That cleansing of Naaman probably converted him, but that was up to him. It is up to us if we believe in miracles or not. Just obey and you will find out why.
Bob O.
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Neal is both a key lay leader of the congregation and the community at large. He owns a small business that employs over 100 people. Because his company pays good wages and treats employees fairly, people stand in line to apply when his company has job openings. A few years ago a financial irregularity in local government was reported in the newspaper, and Neal, motivated by moral outrage, led the group that demanded the issue be rectified. Several years ago Neal received an award for statewide community leadership.
Today, Neal sits in the minister’s office with tears running down his cheeks. His world is collapsing around him. It seems he has had a secret parallel life of expensive illicit relationships outside his marriage and enormous gambling losses. To fund this behavior, he has been embezzling from the company by “cooking the books,” delaying the tax payments withheld from employee wages and keeping the money for personal use. The IRS has discovered his deceit and has completed a forensic audit on his company. His family is devastated. He awaits a decision whether or not he will be criminally charged.
“Pastor, I never thought I could get in this much trouble. It started with ‘temporary’ borrowing from company funds. At first I repaid everything in a couple days. Eventually I got behind in repayments and thought gambling might make up the difference. Tension built in my marriage. I made matters worse by seeking the company of other women. One thing led to another, and here I am. I have ruined my family and my business. I have failed the employees that relied on me. I have embarrassed my church and ruined my reputation.”
Neal illustrates what multitudes before him have learned. In writing the Galatians, Paul was right. We reap what we sow.
R. Robert C.
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Our lesson has a lot to say about love. But Paul defines love differently from the way most Americans think of love -- as passion and something that is immediately gratifying. Martin Luther once thoughtfully explained what kind of love is portrayed here: “To love does not mean, as a the sophists imagine, to wish someone well, but to bear someone else’s burdens, that is, to bear what is burdensome to you and what you would rather not bear” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 27, p. 113).
This sort of love does not seem to come easy. Both Luther and Paul say that we cannot do it alone, that it is a work of God, the Spirit (Luther’s Works, Vol. 27, p. 114). An ancient north African theologian, Dionysius of Alexandria, claims that God is energy (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6, pp. 92-93). God gives us that energy it takes to love in the way Paul describes, and so loving this way is not so hard after all! Neurobiologists are discovering that loving this way is rewarding, that it feels good, for in such activities for others our brains are rewarded by being doused in an amphetamine-like brain chemical, dopamine, that both stimulates energy and feels good (Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, Why We Believe What We Believe, p. 267).
Mark E.
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Rapper Chris Brown heard God speak and decided he was tired of Satan ruining his life. He posted on Instagram: “When u tired of the [expletive] devil ruining your life and u hear God speak for the first time.” He went on to write, “What’s on the surface always look like one big party, but inside there is a little boy looking for help and guidance.” Brown did not say what he heard God say, but he was pleased that because of his post others have begun to embrace God.
Application: As we are told in Galatians, if we allow it the devil will ruin our lives.
Ron L.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Places in the Heart is a 1984 movie that starred Sally Field, Danny Glover, and John Malkovich, among others. It met with good reviews when it came out and is still shown occasionally today. There are some powerful images in that movie, but one that stands out is the scene in which Moses, the itinerant farmhand, leads the family and a few hired workers in trying to be the first to get the cotton picked and in to sell. As that scene unfolds there seems to be so much field and so much cotton, but so few workers and so little time.
I thought about that scene again as I read this passage. There is so much that needs to be harvested now too. You don’t have to look far to see the pained faces of those who are hurting and struggling in these dire economic times. You don’t have to do much research to find the longing eyes of a hungry child in places here and around the world. You don’t have to go far to find broken hearts and broken homes. You don’t have to have a degree in missions or evangelism to see the throngs of people who are wandering in darkness, mired in misery, and held captive in the clutches of sin. Jesus is sending out the 70, and he notes that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. What was true then is true today. Will you help? Will you take part in bringing in the harvest?
Bill T.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
When the 70 disciples return to Jesus, filled with wonder at their ability to cast out demons in his name, he replies: “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning” (v. 18). I recall as a child hearing about Satan being cast out of heaven, and I assumed it was before the creation of human beings. Yet the first time I opened Genesis as a kid I was startled to read nothing about Satan’s fall! As an adult I’ve had more time to think about it, but the question remains -- just when did Satan fall from heaven?
In today’s text Jesus says he saw this when it happened. Is this looking back beyond the beginning of time? What is he talking about?
Is this what Isaiah was talking about when he says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!” (14:12)? There is a meaning that can be applied to contemporary events of that day, but some interpret this as a reference to Satan’s fall. Is Isaiah talking about the past, present, or future?
What about the story in Revelation 12, where Michael and his angels cast down Satan? A few verses before the Revelator was talking about the woman clothed with the sun, who might be Mary, the church, or something else entirely, and whose situation parallels the first-century church.
Is Satan cast out of heaven at the beginning, middle, or end of time? Maybe the answer is none of the above and all of the above! Eternity is not caught up in linear time. We have to live moment to moment, and we can’t get to the future faster than 60 minutes an hour. Eternity is all times and no times.
Frank R.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
This passage can be confusing to some, because we have all had a knock on our door to find someone from a strange sect telling us that they have come from the Lord. Maybe just the name is enough for us to send them away, or maybe just listening to their story and feeling that it is very different from the story we hear in our church. One thing I have done is to invite them in and pull out my Bible to check the passages they give me. Sometimes it is obvious that they are not from a Christian group, but it may be our opportunity to convert them. (Don’t try that unless you know the scriptures well and are strong in your faith.)
In Nepal there were many sent out to preach. One of them was one of my seminary students, who opened a school to train his converts to go and witness for the Lord. In just one year he had enough to open 100 churches! Several of my other students were just as successful. One came to visit us in Denver, and when he told his story in our church he made $3,000 in one Sunday.
Our Lord sent 70! He had only 12 disciples, so he must have hired a few more. Would a pastor get 70 members in his church to volunteer to go out on a mission for the Lord? You’d be lucky to get 12 -- unless the 12 were just called to be members of the church council.
In about 80 years, the church in Nepal had grown to over a million and a half and was spreading to neighboring countries with great success. They go wherever the Lord calls them to go. I should also mention that in Nepal and in some other mission fields, the callers are invited in to eat with a family and sometimes even stay with them for a while.
Yes, some were rejected -- but they went right on. It didn’t seem to bother them, because sometimes even their own family in Nepal rejected them.
Some of my students were rejected by their families because they had become Christian, but in every case the family was later converted!
Yes, there are always some who rejoice more in their success for their church than in the fact that their names are written in heaven. This is often true of the most successful ones. We should look for the praise of God and not of men.
Bob O.
The man was wealthy and used to having people respond immediately to his every request. He had everything going for him: money, servants, power, respect. That’s possibly why the disease hit him harder than some others. The treatments for this disease were still being discussed and discovered. Most were not working. However, he did hear of one place and one doctor that was having success treating this awful malady. The doctor’s clinic was located in a rundown part of a major city. No one who valued safety, much less status, would go there. When he was informed of the possible treatment, he was excited. When he found out where he had to go, he was deflated. He expected the doctor to come to him -- and when the doctor didn’t, he responded in anger. “Well, I certainly won’t go to him.”
That little story is fictional. It is a ridiculous, made-up account. No one would really act that way, would they? Pride can do a lot of damage. It can ruin relationships, prevent growth, and be the cause of devastating defeats. C.S. Lewis once wrote: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” John Ruskin summed it up well when he wrote, “In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.” That was the case for the foolish wealthy man in the fictional story. That was nearly the case for an important commander in the army of the king of Aram. Don’t let it be for you.
Bill T.
2 Kings 5:1-14
There’s a tendency to overthink this faith thing. Maybe some of us feel we’re having to jump through too many hoops to become a part of the church, or maybe we’re on the other side of the problem and we’re the ones insisting that newcomers have to jump through the hoops. Maybe believing on the Lord is enough to be saved. Certainly there are several fascinating facets to this passage -- the prophetic slave girl (she speaks the truth to power), the fear of Israel’s king that a foreign ruler is making impossible demands (the result of seeing everything through a political lens), an unfazed prophet. But to my mind the key is the annoyed response of Namaan that the machinery of the cure is so simple. Some things are hard. Some things are easy. Don’t try to make the hard things easy, and certainly don’t overthink to the point that easy things become hard.
Frank R.
2 Kings 5:1-14
Naaman must have had a milder form of leprosy, or he wouldn’t have had the job he had in an army -- but he must have been a great warrior or he wouldn’t have been held in such high honor by his boss, Aram. He was not bad enough to keep him from having a wife!
By luck, or God’s plan, his wife’s maid told Aram about the healings in Israel. It was worth the money to Aram, so he drained his bank account and sent Naaman down to Israel to be healed. She did not tell him who to see in Israel -- so he went to the king, assuming you could go no higher! He was the wrong one, and the king tore his clothes because he could not help. He wanted to help for pride and political reasons, of course.
It just so happened that Elijah heard about it, and he was surprised the king didn’t know where to send Naaman. “Send him to me,” Elijah said. The next part is a test.
Elijah told Naaman to dunk in the Jordan River seven times. Now we are getting into prejudice, because Naaman and his people thought they had better rivers in their country -- so he went off angry.
It might be like telling a KKK member in the south to go to a black prophet to be healed, or like telling a Muslim that if he went to a Lutheran church and sat in a pew on Sunday he would be healed, or like telling one of our members to go to a witch doctor when he or she has a perfectly good physician. We each have our prejudices, and sometimes God will test us to see if we believe him and how badly we want to be healed.
In Nepal we saw some Hindus healed when they came to our church or one of us went to their home. Some wondered why a Hindu priest could not heal them or why they couldn’t pray for them at their temple so they wouldn’t have to visit us Christians.
Naaman’s servant talked him into obeying and he grudgingly did as he was told -- and he was healed! The Lord often tests our faith in many ways. He won’t send us to a mosque. But listen to him. That cleansing of Naaman probably converted him, but that was up to him. It is up to us if we believe in miracles or not. Just obey and you will find out why.
Bob O.
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Neal is both a key lay leader of the congregation and the community at large. He owns a small business that employs over 100 people. Because his company pays good wages and treats employees fairly, people stand in line to apply when his company has job openings. A few years ago a financial irregularity in local government was reported in the newspaper, and Neal, motivated by moral outrage, led the group that demanded the issue be rectified. Several years ago Neal received an award for statewide community leadership.
Today, Neal sits in the minister’s office with tears running down his cheeks. His world is collapsing around him. It seems he has had a secret parallel life of expensive illicit relationships outside his marriage and enormous gambling losses. To fund this behavior, he has been embezzling from the company by “cooking the books,” delaying the tax payments withheld from employee wages and keeping the money for personal use. The IRS has discovered his deceit and has completed a forensic audit on his company. His family is devastated. He awaits a decision whether or not he will be criminally charged.
“Pastor, I never thought I could get in this much trouble. It started with ‘temporary’ borrowing from company funds. At first I repaid everything in a couple days. Eventually I got behind in repayments and thought gambling might make up the difference. Tension built in my marriage. I made matters worse by seeking the company of other women. One thing led to another, and here I am. I have ruined my family and my business. I have failed the employees that relied on me. I have embarrassed my church and ruined my reputation.”
Neal illustrates what multitudes before him have learned. In writing the Galatians, Paul was right. We reap what we sow.
R. Robert C.
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Our lesson has a lot to say about love. But Paul defines love differently from the way most Americans think of love -- as passion and something that is immediately gratifying. Martin Luther once thoughtfully explained what kind of love is portrayed here: “To love does not mean, as a the sophists imagine, to wish someone well, but to bear someone else’s burdens, that is, to bear what is burdensome to you and what you would rather not bear” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 27, p. 113).
This sort of love does not seem to come easy. Both Luther and Paul say that we cannot do it alone, that it is a work of God, the Spirit (Luther’s Works, Vol. 27, p. 114). An ancient north African theologian, Dionysius of Alexandria, claims that God is energy (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 6, pp. 92-93). God gives us that energy it takes to love in the way Paul describes, and so loving this way is not so hard after all! Neurobiologists are discovering that loving this way is rewarding, that it feels good, for in such activities for others our brains are rewarded by being doused in an amphetamine-like brain chemical, dopamine, that both stimulates energy and feels good (Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, Why We Believe What We Believe, p. 267).
Mark E.
Galatians 6:(1-6) 7-16
Rapper Chris Brown heard God speak and decided he was tired of Satan ruining his life. He posted on Instagram: “When u tired of the [expletive] devil ruining your life and u hear God speak for the first time.” He went on to write, “What’s on the surface always look like one big party, but inside there is a little boy looking for help and guidance.” Brown did not say what he heard God say, but he was pleased that because of his post others have begun to embrace God.
Application: As we are told in Galatians, if we allow it the devil will ruin our lives.
Ron L.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
Places in the Heart is a 1984 movie that starred Sally Field, Danny Glover, and John Malkovich, among others. It met with good reviews when it came out and is still shown occasionally today. There are some powerful images in that movie, but one that stands out is the scene in which Moses, the itinerant farmhand, leads the family and a few hired workers in trying to be the first to get the cotton picked and in to sell. As that scene unfolds there seems to be so much field and so much cotton, but so few workers and so little time.
I thought about that scene again as I read this passage. There is so much that needs to be harvested now too. You don’t have to look far to see the pained faces of those who are hurting and struggling in these dire economic times. You don’t have to do much research to find the longing eyes of a hungry child in places here and around the world. You don’t have to go far to find broken hearts and broken homes. You don’t have to have a degree in missions or evangelism to see the throngs of people who are wandering in darkness, mired in misery, and held captive in the clutches of sin. Jesus is sending out the 70, and he notes that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. What was true then is true today. Will you help? Will you take part in bringing in the harvest?
Bill T.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
When the 70 disciples return to Jesus, filled with wonder at their ability to cast out demons in his name, he replies: “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning” (v. 18). I recall as a child hearing about Satan being cast out of heaven, and I assumed it was before the creation of human beings. Yet the first time I opened Genesis as a kid I was startled to read nothing about Satan’s fall! As an adult I’ve had more time to think about it, but the question remains -- just when did Satan fall from heaven?
In today’s text Jesus says he saw this when it happened. Is this looking back beyond the beginning of time? What is he talking about?
Is this what Isaiah was talking about when he says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!” (14:12)? There is a meaning that can be applied to contemporary events of that day, but some interpret this as a reference to Satan’s fall. Is Isaiah talking about the past, present, or future?
What about the story in Revelation 12, where Michael and his angels cast down Satan? A few verses before the Revelator was talking about the woman clothed with the sun, who might be Mary, the church, or something else entirely, and whose situation parallels the first-century church.
Is Satan cast out of heaven at the beginning, middle, or end of time? Maybe the answer is none of the above and all of the above! Eternity is not caught up in linear time. We have to live moment to moment, and we can’t get to the future faster than 60 minutes an hour. Eternity is all times and no times.
Frank R.
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
This passage can be confusing to some, because we have all had a knock on our door to find someone from a strange sect telling us that they have come from the Lord. Maybe just the name is enough for us to send them away, or maybe just listening to their story and feeling that it is very different from the story we hear in our church. One thing I have done is to invite them in and pull out my Bible to check the passages they give me. Sometimes it is obvious that they are not from a Christian group, but it may be our opportunity to convert them. (Don’t try that unless you know the scriptures well and are strong in your faith.)
In Nepal there were many sent out to preach. One of them was one of my seminary students, who opened a school to train his converts to go and witness for the Lord. In just one year he had enough to open 100 churches! Several of my other students were just as successful. One came to visit us in Denver, and when he told his story in our church he made $3,000 in one Sunday.
Our Lord sent 70! He had only 12 disciples, so he must have hired a few more. Would a pastor get 70 members in his church to volunteer to go out on a mission for the Lord? You’d be lucky to get 12 -- unless the 12 were just called to be members of the church council.
In about 80 years, the church in Nepal had grown to over a million and a half and was spreading to neighboring countries with great success. They go wherever the Lord calls them to go. I should also mention that in Nepal and in some other mission fields, the callers are invited in to eat with a family and sometimes even stay with them for a while.
Yes, some were rejected -- but they went right on. It didn’t seem to bother them, because sometimes even their own family in Nepal rejected them.
Some of my students were rejected by their families because they had become Christian, but in every case the family was later converted!
Yes, there are always some who rejoice more in their success for their church than in the fact that their names are written in heaven. This is often true of the most successful ones. We should look for the praise of God and not of men.
Bob O.
