Sermon Illustrations for Third Sunday of Advent (2014)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
The Ice Bucket Challenge was on social media for several weeks before it became associated as a way to raise money for ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease (which is always fatal). The video went viral when both commoners and celebrities participated in dumping a bucket of ice-cold water on their heads and then challenging someone else to do the same, all while writing a check for ALS research. Pete Ferris, who has ALS, posted a video on Facebook providing words for the disease when he said, "The story right now goes: You've got ALS, have it for a little while, a long while, but either way, the end is always the same, ALS always wins. So in order to rewrite the end of it, we need to raise awareness, money."
Application: The Spirit of caring for others can come upon people in many ways, even as a bucket of cold water.
Ron L.
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Racial and gender imbalances continue to plague our nation. Women reportedly only make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes in the same job. As recently as 2011, blacks only made 63% the salaries of whites. Since the Reagan era, life has not been good for the poor and middle class. Income for the top 20% has increased while income for the bottom 80% has declined. In the 1970s the top 1% owned 8% of the total income, while in 2012 they received 18%. Meanwhile the bottom 20% of Americans lost 30% of what they were making in the late 1970s.
Karl Barth and his colleagues standing up to Hitler in their Barmen Declaration, understood Jesus in the prophetic manner of this text as standing for justice while saving us: "As Jesus Christ is God's assurance of forgiveness of all our sins, so in the same way and with the same seriousness is he also God's mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of the world..." (The Book of Confessions, 8.14).
The God who makes a mighty claim on our lives plants in us a passion to seek justice. It is as Martin Luther wrote while commenting on this very text: "It follows therefore that a Christian does not just come into being, but he is planted by the work of God. Christ is the gardener" (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 336).
Mark E.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
How many of us are always happy? Aren't there times when we feel we have a right to be sad, as when we lose a dear one or when we learn of the suffering of our fellow Christians somewhere? Why should we be happy when we see in the news that Muslims have burned down a church somewhere and killed a number of Christians? I know we can be happy knowing that those who die are going to a far better place without pain and suffering, though it is hard to always be joyful. But even here it adds that we are to give thanks in all circumstances. That is God's will, which we can't accomplish without the fire of the Holy Spirit in our life.
I think that our joy should come from knowing that our present and our future are in the hands of a loving God who sacrificed his Son for us so that we might spend eternity with him and that he will be with us now in our life here on earth regardless what suffering we may face.
To accomplish that, I believe we must always be in prayer. If not, our minds will always fall back to the pain and suffering of this earthly life or on all the pleasures of earthly things that can draw us away from our fellowship with our Lord.
I can remember years ago when we left Sunday service, I thought "I'm glad that is over for another week!" This should tell us that we are not in constant prayer after service except for maybe a table grace or a quick thank you for some blessings he has given us.
Our minds are being led away from our fellowship with our maker when we face all the temptations of life. I don't think watching a TV show or playing golf will condemn us unless we use it to avoid that fellowship. The same goes for reading a book or playing a computer game. Some of the finest Christians can participate in such "blessings." Even here we are called on to "test" everything to make sure it is God's gift.
Only God can accomplish this in our life. Only he can make us blameless because of Christ's coming. Only he can keep us faithful.
We should spend the rest of our lives meditating on these few verses and check out all the prophecies that give us a look into the future where we may find some pain, but the most important thing will be to look into the future that God has for us.
Bob O.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Giving thanks in all situations certainly is not easy. Mary found herself surrounded by God's angel, God's presence, and God's circumstance at the beginning of her pregnancy. It would be a few months later when her situation became obvious to others that the joy and awe of it all would turn to difficulty. Whispers, finger pointing, and shunning would become the millstone around her neck she had to endure. Yet in her circumstances she remained strong and committed to God's will.
Circumstances in our lives today could be overwhelming, but honestly that is when God is with us and gives us the strength to endure the negative circumstances we face. First Peter 5:7 states that we can cast all of our burdens (negative circumstances) on God because he cares for us.
Derl K.
John 1:6-8, 19-28
U.S. Census Bureau statistics revealed that as recently as in 2012, 15% of Americans were in poverty and 14.5% of our households were food-deprived. We clearly need prophets who will condemn these unjust evil trends and point us to new options. John the Baptist was a prophet, and he provides us with a model for acting prophetically today. Martin Luther praised John for directing people away from himself to Christ (Complete Sermons, Vol. I/1, p. 122). He did not want people to imitate him and his lifestyle; he just pointed to Christ (Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 66). We are reminded of Martin Luther King's critique of the drum-major instinct. Everybody likes to be praised, King claimed, for leading the parade. But Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness -- greatness comes in service (A Testament of Hope, pp. 260, 265). This is what prophets do. Being a prophet, getting yourself out of the way, to highlight Jesus and stir up a passion for justice isn't glamorous. When you and all of us get focused on Jesus we see that he does the heavy lifting for us.
Mark E.
John 1:6-8, 19-28
In a The Family Circus comic strip by Bil Keane, Billy and Jeffy are walking on the sidewalk. Billy looks over his shoulder in disgust that Jeffy is always behind him. Jeffy, realizing his older brother's anger, says, "I'm not following you. You just keep walking in front of me."
Application: When the people heard the voice of John they had to make the decision to follow and not just have John stand in front of them.
Ron L.
The Ice Bucket Challenge was on social media for several weeks before it became associated as a way to raise money for ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease (which is always fatal). The video went viral when both commoners and celebrities participated in dumping a bucket of ice-cold water on their heads and then challenging someone else to do the same, all while writing a check for ALS research. Pete Ferris, who has ALS, posted a video on Facebook providing words for the disease when he said, "The story right now goes: You've got ALS, have it for a little while, a long while, but either way, the end is always the same, ALS always wins. So in order to rewrite the end of it, we need to raise awareness, money."
Application: The Spirit of caring for others can come upon people in many ways, even as a bucket of cold water.
Ron L.
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Racial and gender imbalances continue to plague our nation. Women reportedly only make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes in the same job. As recently as 2011, blacks only made 63% the salaries of whites. Since the Reagan era, life has not been good for the poor and middle class. Income for the top 20% has increased while income for the bottom 80% has declined. In the 1970s the top 1% owned 8% of the total income, while in 2012 they received 18%. Meanwhile the bottom 20% of Americans lost 30% of what they were making in the late 1970s.
Karl Barth and his colleagues standing up to Hitler in their Barmen Declaration, understood Jesus in the prophetic manner of this text as standing for justice while saving us: "As Jesus Christ is God's assurance of forgiveness of all our sins, so in the same way and with the same seriousness is he also God's mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of the world..." (The Book of Confessions, 8.14).
The God who makes a mighty claim on our lives plants in us a passion to seek justice. It is as Martin Luther wrote while commenting on this very text: "It follows therefore that a Christian does not just come into being, but he is planted by the work of God. Christ is the gardener" (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 336).
Mark E.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
How many of us are always happy? Aren't there times when we feel we have a right to be sad, as when we lose a dear one or when we learn of the suffering of our fellow Christians somewhere? Why should we be happy when we see in the news that Muslims have burned down a church somewhere and killed a number of Christians? I know we can be happy knowing that those who die are going to a far better place without pain and suffering, though it is hard to always be joyful. But even here it adds that we are to give thanks in all circumstances. That is God's will, which we can't accomplish without the fire of the Holy Spirit in our life.
I think that our joy should come from knowing that our present and our future are in the hands of a loving God who sacrificed his Son for us so that we might spend eternity with him and that he will be with us now in our life here on earth regardless what suffering we may face.
To accomplish that, I believe we must always be in prayer. If not, our minds will always fall back to the pain and suffering of this earthly life or on all the pleasures of earthly things that can draw us away from our fellowship with our Lord.
I can remember years ago when we left Sunday service, I thought "I'm glad that is over for another week!" This should tell us that we are not in constant prayer after service except for maybe a table grace or a quick thank you for some blessings he has given us.
Our minds are being led away from our fellowship with our maker when we face all the temptations of life. I don't think watching a TV show or playing golf will condemn us unless we use it to avoid that fellowship. The same goes for reading a book or playing a computer game. Some of the finest Christians can participate in such "blessings." Even here we are called on to "test" everything to make sure it is God's gift.
Only God can accomplish this in our life. Only he can make us blameless because of Christ's coming. Only he can keep us faithful.
We should spend the rest of our lives meditating on these few verses and check out all the prophecies that give us a look into the future where we may find some pain, but the most important thing will be to look into the future that God has for us.
Bob O.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Giving thanks in all situations certainly is not easy. Mary found herself surrounded by God's angel, God's presence, and God's circumstance at the beginning of her pregnancy. It would be a few months later when her situation became obvious to others that the joy and awe of it all would turn to difficulty. Whispers, finger pointing, and shunning would become the millstone around her neck she had to endure. Yet in her circumstances she remained strong and committed to God's will.
Circumstances in our lives today could be overwhelming, but honestly that is when God is with us and gives us the strength to endure the negative circumstances we face. First Peter 5:7 states that we can cast all of our burdens (negative circumstances) on God because he cares for us.
Derl K.
John 1:6-8, 19-28
U.S. Census Bureau statistics revealed that as recently as in 2012, 15% of Americans were in poverty and 14.5% of our households were food-deprived. We clearly need prophets who will condemn these unjust evil trends and point us to new options. John the Baptist was a prophet, and he provides us with a model for acting prophetically today. Martin Luther praised John for directing people away from himself to Christ (Complete Sermons, Vol. I/1, p. 122). He did not want people to imitate him and his lifestyle; he just pointed to Christ (Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 66). We are reminded of Martin Luther King's critique of the drum-major instinct. Everybody likes to be praised, King claimed, for leading the parade. But Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness -- greatness comes in service (A Testament of Hope, pp. 260, 265). This is what prophets do. Being a prophet, getting yourself out of the way, to highlight Jesus and stir up a passion for justice isn't glamorous. When you and all of us get focused on Jesus we see that he does the heavy lifting for us.
Mark E.
John 1:6-8, 19-28
In a The Family Circus comic strip by Bil Keane, Billy and Jeffy are walking on the sidewalk. Billy looks over his shoulder in disgust that Jeffy is always behind him. Jeffy, realizing his older brother's anger, says, "I'm not following you. You just keep walking in front of me."
Application: When the people heard the voice of John they had to make the decision to follow and not just have John stand in front of them.
Ron L.
