Sermon Illustrations for Lent 1 (2021)
Illustration
Genesis 9:8-17
The last four years of the Trump administration have not been good for creation with all the environmental protection rollbacks (though the pandemic did stop some of the pollution). The Black Lives Matter movement has taught us about the racial character of our environmental pollution techniques. The Environmental Protection Agency found that air pollution in much worse in the typical black neighborhood than in a nearby predominantly white neighborhood. In 2019 The New York Daily News did a report on how more trash is dumped in black sections than white sections of the city. Christianity does indeed have something to say about this matter, and our story reminds us that caring for creation is God’s business. He’s made a promise.
The Catholic Church in its catechism (2415) reminds us of our responsibilities as Christians. It reads:
The Seventh Commandment [pertaining to theft] enjoins respect for the integrity of creation... Man’s dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the creation is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth offers a beautiful image for mandating concern about creation. He writes:
And if we inquire into the goal of creation, the object of the whole, the object of heaven and earth and all creation, I can only say that it is to be the theatre of His glory. (Dogmatics in Outline, p.58)
The star actor (God) deserves the very best work from the stagehands in getting the stage ready and keeping it in good shape.
Mark E.
* * *
Genesis 9:8-17
Covenant can be a difficult concept in our transactional culture. Covenant is not contract; it is so much more than that. Covenant is promise, commitment, vow, and as such so much more transformational than transactional. In the United Church of Christ, we have a covenantal polity. Our structure is not hierarchical but covenantal. We promise to listen to, respect, and attempt to understand all the various settings of the church – the national setting, the regional conference, the smaller groups of association and the local congregation. There are no edicts. Rather there are commitments, promise to be in conversation, in relationship. This is the promise God makes to Noah. “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” What is your sign of covenant with God?
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Peter 3:18-22
Sometimes we can get caught up in doing things and thinking about things in a worldly way. We know we ought to live transformed lives, as a follower of Jesus, but it isn’t easy. Consider this story.
A wealthy businessman was shocked to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child.
“Why aren’t you out fishing?” asked the businessman.
“Because I caught enough fish for one day,” the fisherman answered.
“Why don’t you catch some more?”
“What would I do with them?”
“You could earn more money,” said the businessman. “Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me.”
“Then what would I do?” asked the fisherman.
“Then,” said the businessman, “you could really enjoy life.”
The fisherman looked at the businessman a bit puzzled and asked,
“What do you think I am doing now?”
When a person is baptized into Jesus Christ, s/he is a new person, and s/he has a new outlook on life. Baptism pictures dying to self to live for Jesus. It is the answer of a good conscience toward God; the expressed desire to live as Jesus would. The things of this world “grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”
Bill T.
* * *
1 Peter 3:18-22
Unfinished business. There’s a strange and brief story in Genesis 6:1-4, about the sons of God lusting after human daughters. This illicit union results in the birth of the giants. There’s something fairly primeval and mythological about the story. It seems to be about crossing the boundary between the divine and human, and it’s kind of the last straw before the flood wipes the world clean.
The story had a lot of traction outside our scriptures. In both the Book of Enoch and Jubilees, two Jewish apocalypses, we learn more about how these beings taught humanity evil arts and practices. In these non-biblical books, it was Enoch who pronounced sentence upon them, consigning them to the underworld. God rejected their appeals.
Some think this passage in 1 Peter addresses the fate of these beings. By suggesting that Jesus preached to them in prison, and possibly even forgiving and elevating them, the apostle was demonstrating just how complete his victory over death truly was!
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 1:9-15
Lots of problems in America. We’re still plagued by systemic racism, the wars everybody but our GIs forget continue, lots of Americans continue to suffer the economic downturns caused by the pandemic, and most of us aren’t ready for retirement or ready to pay our kids’ college costs. Jesus calls us to repentance, says it’s urgent. With Jesus, Martin Luther taught us that we need to be repenting (changing our minds) every day (Ninety-Five Theses, 1). He also explained repentance this way:
To probe and ponder how bad you have been is not enough if you do not ponder and probe much more how good you desire to become. (What Luther Says, p.1214).
With repentance comes forgiveness, which like repentance is itself future-oriented. Dutch botanist Paul Boese nicely makes this point, as he writes:
Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. I would go so far as to contend that forgiveness can even change the past.
Consider how embracing the forgiveness Jesus provides might help heal our lives, heal this nation.
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 1:9-15
Where does God’s spirit drive you? For Jesus, after baptism, the Spirit of God called Jesus into the desert, the wilderness to experience temptation. I believe that living in the contemporary world we can sometimes feel as if we are in a wilderness of temptation: temptation to hate, temptation to judge, temptation to pre-judge, temptation to make idols of wealth and power. We live in the wilderness of temptation. Jesus goes to the scripture, to the word of God to defeat the tempter. We can do the same – relying on the word of God, the faith our communities share, the mission and vision of being followers of Jesus. This Lent in our wilderness of temptation let us cling to the word – and the one who brings it to life for us, Jesus.
Bonnie B.
The last four years of the Trump administration have not been good for creation with all the environmental protection rollbacks (though the pandemic did stop some of the pollution). The Black Lives Matter movement has taught us about the racial character of our environmental pollution techniques. The Environmental Protection Agency found that air pollution in much worse in the typical black neighborhood than in a nearby predominantly white neighborhood. In 2019 The New York Daily News did a report on how more trash is dumped in black sections than white sections of the city. Christianity does indeed have something to say about this matter, and our story reminds us that caring for creation is God’s business. He’s made a promise.
The Catholic Church in its catechism (2415) reminds us of our responsibilities as Christians. It reads:
The Seventh Commandment [pertaining to theft] enjoins respect for the integrity of creation... Man’s dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the creation is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth offers a beautiful image for mandating concern about creation. He writes:
And if we inquire into the goal of creation, the object of the whole, the object of heaven and earth and all creation, I can only say that it is to be the theatre of His glory. (Dogmatics in Outline, p.58)
The star actor (God) deserves the very best work from the stagehands in getting the stage ready and keeping it in good shape.
Mark E.
* * *
Genesis 9:8-17
Covenant can be a difficult concept in our transactional culture. Covenant is not contract; it is so much more than that. Covenant is promise, commitment, vow, and as such so much more transformational than transactional. In the United Church of Christ, we have a covenantal polity. Our structure is not hierarchical but covenantal. We promise to listen to, respect, and attempt to understand all the various settings of the church – the national setting, the regional conference, the smaller groups of association and the local congregation. There are no edicts. Rather there are commitments, promise to be in conversation, in relationship. This is the promise God makes to Noah. “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” What is your sign of covenant with God?
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Peter 3:18-22
Sometimes we can get caught up in doing things and thinking about things in a worldly way. We know we ought to live transformed lives, as a follower of Jesus, but it isn’t easy. Consider this story.
A wealthy businessman was shocked to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child.
“Why aren’t you out fishing?” asked the businessman.
“Because I caught enough fish for one day,” the fisherman answered.
“Why don’t you catch some more?”
“What would I do with them?”
“You could earn more money,” said the businessman. “Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me.”
“Then what would I do?” asked the fisherman.
“Then,” said the businessman, “you could really enjoy life.”
The fisherman looked at the businessman a bit puzzled and asked,
“What do you think I am doing now?”
When a person is baptized into Jesus Christ, s/he is a new person, and s/he has a new outlook on life. Baptism pictures dying to self to live for Jesus. It is the answer of a good conscience toward God; the expressed desire to live as Jesus would. The things of this world “grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”
Bill T.
* * *
1 Peter 3:18-22
Unfinished business. There’s a strange and brief story in Genesis 6:1-4, about the sons of God lusting after human daughters. This illicit union results in the birth of the giants. There’s something fairly primeval and mythological about the story. It seems to be about crossing the boundary between the divine and human, and it’s kind of the last straw before the flood wipes the world clean.
The story had a lot of traction outside our scriptures. In both the Book of Enoch and Jubilees, two Jewish apocalypses, we learn more about how these beings taught humanity evil arts and practices. In these non-biblical books, it was Enoch who pronounced sentence upon them, consigning them to the underworld. God rejected their appeals.
Some think this passage in 1 Peter addresses the fate of these beings. By suggesting that Jesus preached to them in prison, and possibly even forgiving and elevating them, the apostle was demonstrating just how complete his victory over death truly was!
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 1:9-15
Lots of problems in America. We’re still plagued by systemic racism, the wars everybody but our GIs forget continue, lots of Americans continue to suffer the economic downturns caused by the pandemic, and most of us aren’t ready for retirement or ready to pay our kids’ college costs. Jesus calls us to repentance, says it’s urgent. With Jesus, Martin Luther taught us that we need to be repenting (changing our minds) every day (Ninety-Five Theses, 1). He also explained repentance this way:
To probe and ponder how bad you have been is not enough if you do not ponder and probe much more how good you desire to become. (What Luther Says, p.1214).
With repentance comes forgiveness, which like repentance is itself future-oriented. Dutch botanist Paul Boese nicely makes this point, as he writes:
Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. I would go so far as to contend that forgiveness can even change the past.
Consider how embracing the forgiveness Jesus provides might help heal our lives, heal this nation.
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 1:9-15
Where does God’s spirit drive you? For Jesus, after baptism, the Spirit of God called Jesus into the desert, the wilderness to experience temptation. I believe that living in the contemporary world we can sometimes feel as if we are in a wilderness of temptation: temptation to hate, temptation to judge, temptation to pre-judge, temptation to make idols of wealth and power. We live in the wilderness of temptation. Jesus goes to the scripture, to the word of God to defeat the tempter. We can do the same – relying on the word of God, the faith our communities share, the mission and vision of being followers of Jesus. This Lent in our wilderness of temptation let us cling to the word – and the one who brings it to life for us, Jesus.
Bonnie B.
