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Sermon Illustrations for Proper 14 | OT 19 (2021)

Illustration
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
There’s much to take from this passage that you might want to focus on. First, you can tell the whole sordid story, and talk about the way King David avoided involvement, making things worse. There is the stark verse that speaks about the cairn of stones Absalom had erected in his own memory, as if realizing that, in the words of the musical “Wicked,” “No one mourns the wicked.” There is the horrifying irony that Absalom’s hair, in which he took great pride, proved his downfall. But I choose to direct our attention to the final verse of this lectionary passage – David’s lament over his fallen son. Robert Alter, who has translated the entire of the Hebrew Scriptures, with annotations, notes that while David, the accomplished songwriter of Psalm 23, is articulate in describing his grief following the death of Johnathan and Saul, and starkly somber in describing the brevity of life, after the death of the infant he fathered with Bathsheba, simply repeats over and over again “Absalom, my son,” lamenting, “Would to God I had died in your place.”

On the one hand we can understand Joab’s impatience with David for lamenting the rebel who caused so much wreak and ruin, but imperfect David grieves over the one who got away. In this way he foreshadows his descendant, Jesus, the son of David, who told parables about lost sheep, lost coins, and lost sons, who wept over Jerusalem, killer of the prophets, asks his Heavenly Father to forgive those who knew not what they were doing when they knew exactly what they were doing and how to do it, and told us to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and turn the other cheek.

More to the point, you will have parishioners who grieve over the child who strayed, even while others remained dutiful and faithful. And some in your congregation will be those faithful and dutiful children who have grown old knowing that the lost sheep was more loved. There is no easy resolution to this tension. God can be annoyingly forgiving, and those who worked in the fields all day can’t help but resent those who worked an hour and got a full day’s wages.
Frank R.

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2 Samuel 19:5-9, 15, 31-33
It’s hard when a child rebels against a parent, even when the child is an adult. I ran across this story in a booklet called “Bits and Pieces,” the July 16, 1998, edition.

The rebellion of a teenage daughter was breaking her mother’s heart. Their struggle reached its zenith when the young girl was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. After posting bail for her daughter, the two did not speak until the next afternoon. When they came together, the woman handed her daughter a small, wrapped gift. The girl flippantly opened it and was exasperated by what she saw. The box contained a small rock. She rolled her eyes and asked, “What’s this for?” Her mother simply replied, “Read the card.” She did and was overcome by the words inside. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she reached out to embrace her mom. The card said, “This rock is more than 6,000 years old. That’s how long it will take before I give up on you.”

That’s what I sense from David when I read this passage. Absalom, his son, had risen in rebellion against his father and was even going to battle to take the kingdom. Despite Absalom’s rebellion, David ordered Joab and Abishai, ““Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom” (vs. 5). Later, on hearing of Absalom’s death, David wept and mourned.  Like so many parents, David’s heart ached for his rebellious child.
Bill T.  

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Ephesians 4:25--5:2
Americans are likely to still bear a lot of anger for what happened in 2020 and this year.  Anger about the pandemic, about the demonstrations and riots, as well as anger at people we know or don’t know in the opposing political party.

Have you ever noticed that when you are with a group of happy people who laugh a lot you do too?  That when you are with people who are physically loving, there’s lot more kisses and hugs?

Christians hang around this God who invests a lot in forgiveness.  That’s why forgiveness comes a lot easier for Christians, as C. S. Lewis once wrote:     

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

Martin Luther put it well in one of his sermons, how hanging around Jesus manifests itself in how we live:

When you hear, see, or suffer something that you do not like to hear, see, or suffer, learn to say: Patientia, patience!  It is insignificant sin compared to my sins; God sees for more defects in me than I can see in other people; therefore, I shall be glad to be quiet and forgive....

But his lesson is never learned.  In this world one brother is forever rebuking another because of a mote, while he himself has a large beam in the eye.  For where you have one charge against your neighbor, God has thousands upon thousands against you...

Therefore, a Christian should follow a different practice.  When he sees this mote in his brother’s eye, he should go look at himself in a mirror before passing judgment. (What Luther Says, pp.523-524)
Mark E.         

* * *

Ephesians 4:25--5:2
“Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” We have all watched as the divisions, animosities, and hatred has been spewed in our nation and in much of the world. Even us Christians who profess to follow Jesus, can be found to express bitterness and wrath, anger, malice and even slander. Some of us have forgotten to rely on kindness, on understanding, and on tenderheartedness. Paul reminded the people of Ephesus, and in that way reminds us, that we should seek kindness in all things, with all people and in all situations. It is a message that bears repeating.
Bonnie B.

* * *

John 6:35, 41-51
Martin Manser writes in The Facts on File, “The French have a proverb, which states, “A good meal ought to begin with hunger.” It is hard to enjoy a meal when you are not yet hungry. But, when you are hungry, anything tastes good.” Philip Wijaya wrote for Christianity.com, “The word “hunger,” by definition, means, “having a strong desire, craving, displaying the need for food.” However, hunger is not just for food, but humans also crave physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual nourishment.”

In our text, Jesus is explaining to hungry people how they can never hunger again.  The hunger he is referring to is not physical hunger. He’s talking about spiritual hunger.  He is the Bread of Life.  Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (vs. 51)
Bill T. 

* * *

John 6:35, 41-51
As the dialogue between Jesus and those who were present at the feeding of the multitudes continues to deteriorate, Jesus reminds them that the manna did not give eternal life. The people all died in the wilderness. If they can see past their desire for free bread, they may understand what Jesus means by the Bread of Life and never dying. But the parallel between the people in the desert and the people by the lake is cemented in John 6:43, when Jesus says, “Do not complain among yourselves.” The verb is derived from a wonderful Greek word, gonguzmos, which means grumbling. The word itself is deep and rumbling and sounds like complaining, that low hum of inarticulate articulation that comes from a hunger that cannot be satisfied. The people in the desert grumbled about how life was better when they were slaves, and they could eat all kinds of good things, and how there was nothing to eat, and when there was something to eat it was the same old thing, and Moses was doing a terrible job, and so on.

Check Septuagint for psalms, grumbling, to see what word is used.
Frank R.
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John Jamison
Object: This is a role play activity.

Note: You will need to select six children to play roles in this activity. If you have a smaller group, you might ask some older youth or even adults to play the parts of the two attackers and the man being attacked. I will give suggestions for how they can play their roles, but feel free to help your children make the story as fun and memorable as you can. I have used boys and girls in the various roles, but you can change those however you want to change them.

* * *

The Immediate Word

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Nazish Naseem
For July 13, 2025:
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StoryShare

Frank Ramirez
I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals
    and fall like any prince….”
(vv. 6-7)

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Emphasis Preaching Journal

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An ancient legend tells of a remote mountain village where people used to send their senior citizens out into the woods to die. The villagers had an eye to the future; they felt that those beyond a certain age would only slow down progress or use up valuable resources to no economically profitable end. Those who reached a certain age weren’t “put out to pasture” or “put out of their misery”; they were simply put out of other people’s way.
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Frank Ramirez
Amos 7:7-17 and Psalm 82
The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It is more than 2,700 feet high—over half a mile tall. It has 160 floors and is twice as tall as the Empire State Building in New York City. It is home to the world’s fastest elevator which reaches speeds of forty miles an hour. The Burj Khalifa also hosts the world’s highest outdoor observation deck (on the 124th floor) and the world’s highest swimming pool (on the 76th floor).

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Janice B. Scott
Mabel hummed a familiar hymn tune as she made her way to church. She always enjoyed her Sunday morning walk. It was one of the few times she felt safe to walk alone through the inner city, for she knew nobody would be up at 7.45 in the morning. Today was a particularly beautiful morning, with blue sky, warm sunshine, and the song of a few intrepid blackbirds who still inhabited the city.

SermonStudio

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Often, a distinction is made between the pastoral or priestly work of the church and the prophetic work. Pastoral care has to do with the care of souls, the offering of comfort in times of loss. The priestly character of pastoral work seeks to mediate the presence of God to those who are hurting.

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John Jamison
It was back in the days when the railroad was the most common mode of transportation. There were automobiles, and some airplanes, but the steam locomotive was the way most folks traveled and the way that most of the goods were distributed around the country. After dinner, people sat in the drawing room and listened to the radio programs, fading in and out from some faraway location, over the magical broadcasting signal.
Robert Leslie Holmes
Not many tourists to Washington, D.C., look for the Federal Bureau of Standards offices. It's the Capitol and the White House, the Supreme Court Building or the Smithsonian most of us want to see when we go there. Yet, at the Bureau of Standards offices something very important is stored, something that impacts your life and mine every single day. Have you ever bought the materials for a new project? When you did, most likely you purchased so many inches or feet or yards. Or, you stopped to buy gasoline for your car and purchased it at a certain price per gallon.
David O. Bales
I have the two best jobs in the world. I teach social studies at Leon Griffith Junior High School (a fairly small junior high) and I am Sunday School Superintendent at Calvary Presbyterian Church (an enormous church school). Each job is my vocation. I tell people that at school they'll find my room where the halls cross. At church they can look but probably won't find me. I'll be in someone's classroom. At each job I practice what I most deeply believe: it's how you see the world that determines how you respond to it. I'll give you an example, actually, two examples.
Erskine White
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
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Thy power throughout the universe displayed,
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
(Stuart K. Hine)

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