Sermon Illustrations for Proper 25 | Ordinary Time 30 (2015)
Illustration
Object:
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Look what happens when we praise and compliment our God. The Lord even doubled Job’s profits and made him richer than he had been! But there is one important addition. Job despised himself and repented in dust and ashes. That is the second thing we need to do, and it is most important. When our eyes are opened and we see our God as all powerful and loving, the worse we will appear by comparison!
Job admits that God can do whatever he wants, and nothing can stop him. Job is not quite sure what God wants to do, but he puts himself humbly in God’s hands. He has come a way since questioning everything that God was putting him through. Job finally acknowledges that God is in charge and can do anything he wants. Before, Job was like a little child but finally he is growing up. God is getting through to him. He is no longer just quoting scripture; he has met the living God. When we see God, we see ourselves and our sins and are humbled and penitent. What will it take to help God get through to us?
It took Job the most profound knowledge of his sinfulness. That’s what seeing God can do.
Notice one other item -- Job’s prayers for the friends who were giving him such a hard time. When he sees how bad he is, how can he condemn his friends who think they are helping him, who think they are speaking for God? He is no better than they are. Job invited them and his whole family to join him for a feast. He got a whole new family and a new farm.
What a happy ending to a very long and sad story. That could be our story too. See you next Sunday, and see what God will do to you this coming week!
Bob O.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
I am a fan of The Andy Griffith Show, and one of my favorite episodes is one in which Opie gets a new slingshot. He is excited about having it and enjoys shooting rocks at trees and cans. Without thinking, he sees a bird in a tree and shoots a rock at it. To his surprise and horror, he hits the bird and kills it. To make matters even worse, it is a mama bird with babies in the nest. Opie is in tears as Andy makes him listen to the baby birds cry for their mother. At this point he is remorseful and wants to do something. Opie decides to raise the babies himself. He carefully removes the nest, brings it in the house, and puts the baby birds in a cage. He works hard feeding them and caring for them. In practically no time the birds grow up. Opie is sad to let them go, but knows he must. He remarks about the empty cage, “It’s awfully quiet.” Andy replies, “But don’t the trees seem noisy?”
It’s a heart-warming episode. Opie goes through the same process about the birds that Job does (granted, in a much larger sense) throughout the book of Job. It is the process of remorse, repentance, and restoration. Opie’s baby birds filled the trees with singing after he’d carelessly killed a songbird. Job received much more than he could imagine after his realization that God is God and he was repentant. I suppose a lot can be learned by looking at Job’s life and listening to the birds.
Bill T.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
It is a Hindu custom that when a family member dies he or she is cremated on the banks of the Ganges River. The ashes are then deposited in the river as part of the sacred ritual affirming the afterlife. The problem is that many of these bodies are not entirely consumed by the flames, and thus human body parts are being thrown into the river. And Hindus who cannot afford cremation simply place the entire corpse in the river. Turtles used to eat these remnants, which controlled the pollution. But poachers have taken so many turtles that the pollution caused by corpses has become a serious health issue. A $32 million government project released 25,000 flesh-eating turtles into the Ganges. These turtles were raised on eating only dead fish, so that they would not develop a taste for the living. But all 25,000 turtles died because they were domesticated; no preparation had been made for them to survive in the wild.
Application: From our lesson with Job we know that God has a plan. We must also have a plan for all of our humanitarian endeavors.
Ron L.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
[F]rom the speech from the whirlwind, Job has an expanded view of God’s creative power.... Job has already been on a heap of dust and ashes. So, does this response simply mean more groveling on Job’s part? The answer is no.... Job has formulated a case against God, based on inadequate understanding, and therefore he drops his case. More importantly, Job has discovered God’s creative presence, which brings an end to his complaint and remorse.
(Robert W. Neff, Voices in the Book of Job, p. 67)
Frank R.
Hebrews 7:23-28
What oath did you make when you became a member of a church or a congregation? Did you promise to follow Jesus? Did you promise to resist evil, show love and justice, and witness to the life and words of Jesus? Did you promise to participate and support the church and its work, to worship regularly? How are you doing with those promises?
It is much easier, I think, to complain about what is wrong instead of making it right. It is much easier to criticize than to take on leadership, much easier to gossip than to reconcile ourselves with the imperfect in people and do our part to love and encourage. Jesus was the only living human person who was completely without sin. Even in his humanness he was perfect. But we Christians are not, not one of us. Take a look at the promises you made when you joined the church. Are you living into them? Are you a living witness to the love and grace, the reconciliation Jesus offers to the world? Now, there’s a goal we can all aspire to!
Bonnie B.
Hebrews 7:23-28
In the year 258, Emperor Valerian ordered the death of all Christian leaders in Rome. The emperor knew that Lawrence was in charge of all the church’s money. So when he was brought before the throne, Valerian ordered Lawrence to turn over all the money to him. Lawrence agreed, but told the emperor that the church was very wealthy and that he would need three days to gather the money. Valerian agreed. During those three days, Lawrence distributed all of the church’s money to the poor and invalids. On the third day Lawrence appeared before the prefect and said, “Come out and see the wondrous riches of God.” Valerian expected to see wagons of gold, but instead he saw a large gathering of the city’s poor and destitute. On August 10 torturers dislocated Lawrence’s arms and then fastened him to a grill where he was slowly roasted to death. During this he suggested to his tormentors that he should be flipped since he was “done” on this side.
Application: We have a high priest in Jesus, and by his example we can be pastors to others. As the high priest died on the cross, we must be willing to sacrifice our lives in his service.
Ron L.
Hebrews 7:23-28
A 2008 Pew Forum poll revealed that 65% of the American public believes that many religions (not just through the sacrifice of Christ) can lead to eternal life. We need a more powerful witness to the wonders of Christ’s atoning work. The great 20th-century Reformed theologian Karl Barth offers such testimony. He claims that on Good Friday “Man is no longer seriously regarded by God as sinner” (Dogmatics in Outline, p. 121). And on Easter “The game is won even though the player can still play a few further moves.” Actually he is already [check-]mated. “The war is at an end -- even though here and there troops are still shooting, because they have not heard anything yet about the capitulation” (Dogmatics in Outline, p. 123). These images entail for Barth that Christ’s saving work on the cross, not our faithfulness or spirituality, has changed us all: “We died [on Christ’s cross]: the totality of all sinful men, those long dead and those still to be born.... His death was the death of all: quite independently of their attitude or response to this event” (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p. 295).
Faith and spirituality (just believing in something) does not save you, like most Americans seem to think. It is as Martin Luther once wrote: “It takes much more to be a Christian than to be pious [to have faith]. A person can easily be pious but not Christian. A Christian knows nothing to say about his piety [faith], for he finds in himself nothing good and pious” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 329).
Mark E.
Mark 10:46-52
Kansas City is famous for its barbecue. There are all kinds of national chain restaurants in the area, but what might be even better are the local joints. The ones that are “Kansas City’s own” often have a unique taste and experience. I remember one of those downtown Kansas City restaurants very well. They had exquisite ribs, but there was something else that really stood out about it. As soon as a customer walked in, the employees at the counter seemed to be in a race to wait on him/her. The door would not have even closed yet, and you would hear “Hi, may I help you?”
I thought about that restaurant again when I read this familiar passage. Bartimaeus is in trouble. He’s blind. He’s reduced to begging. He is desperate as he sits on the roadside. He hears about Jesus of Nazareth coming, and throws caution to the wind. He yells as loud as he can for help. Others try to shush him, but he keeps on. Then Jesus does something remarkable. He stops and he asks him “What do you want me to do for you?” Can’t you just see that? Jesus is leaving Jericho, but he has time to stop and ask a blind beggar “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus is never too busy to help a person in need. In a greater way than the barbecue servers in Kansas City, Jesus wants more than anything to help you. Will you let him?
Bill T.
Mark 10:46-52
Do we have times when we cry out to the Lord? When you or your spouse or child have been diagnosed with incurable cancer, don’t you cry out to our Lord for healing? Do we beat the door down when our need is great? Our family may even tell us to “shut up!”
Didn’t Jesus give us that parable of the judge finally answering a woman’s request because she was becoming such a nuisance? Just keep beating on the door and the Lord will answer. He may be testing us.
Even though all the others were rebuking him, Jesus calls Bartimaeus over. The only surprising thing is Jesus asking him what he wants. Jesus could read people’s minds, but he asks that man to tell him what he wanted!
Jesus will open our eyes -- but he will only open our eyes if we cry out to him earnestly. Sometimes it takes more to open our spiritual eyes than our physical eyes. This is partly because we are sure what we want -- so God asks us: “What do you really want?” In most cases it is physical healing.
In our church we should become aware that there are more important things to ask of the Lord. Sometimes a sermon can open our eyes; sometimes a scripture; sometimes the Lord will give us an experience that gives us a burning desire to find out why he is doing something to us that we don’t understand.
Why not ask now that your spiritual eyes may be opened so you can see the wonderful things God has in store for you! Then we have to pray that we will recognize them when they come. That takes God’s Spirit!
When we know that Jesus has answered our prayer, will we follow him?
Bob O.
Mark 10:46-52
During the early 1800s, Hawaii suffered terrible diseases from merchant ships which travelled to the islands from Asia -- venereal disease, smallpox, and typhoid killed tens of thousands. And as time passed, new diseases were always arriving. One was leprosy. The state mandated that those who had leprosy were to be quarantined -- falsely believing the ailment was highly contagious. In 1865 King Kamehameha V issued a decree, titled “Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy,” which established a leper colony on the small island of Molokai. Over the decades more than 8,000 leprosy patients were banished to the 8,725-acre area. It was not until 1969 that the decree was abolished. Today, Hawaii still has a leper colony with six patients (aged 73 to 92). There are 16 total individuals who have leprosy, and six of them have chosen to remain in the colony rather than joining the outside world. In 2009, President Obama signed legislation authorizing the building of a memorial to honor the 8,000 patients in the Molokai leper colony, listing all of their names.
Application: Jesus talked about having compassion for those who are ill, but often our ignorance and prejudices prevent us from being compassionate.
Ron L.
Mark 10:46-52
The commandment of the Lord shines clearly, enlightening the eyes. Receive Christ, receive power to see, receive your light, that you may plainly recognize both God and man. More delightful than gold and precious stones, more desirable than honey and the honeycomb is the Word that has enlightened us. How could he not be desirable, who illumined minds buried in darkness, and endowed with clear vision “the light-bearing eyes” of the soul?... Sing his praises, then, Lord, and make known to me your Father, who is God. Your Word will save me, your song instruct me.
(Clement of Alexandria, “Exhortation to the Greeks II,” in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. II: Mark, p. 153)
Frank R.
Look what happens when we praise and compliment our God. The Lord even doubled Job’s profits and made him richer than he had been! But there is one important addition. Job despised himself and repented in dust and ashes. That is the second thing we need to do, and it is most important. When our eyes are opened and we see our God as all powerful and loving, the worse we will appear by comparison!
Job admits that God can do whatever he wants, and nothing can stop him. Job is not quite sure what God wants to do, but he puts himself humbly in God’s hands. He has come a way since questioning everything that God was putting him through. Job finally acknowledges that God is in charge and can do anything he wants. Before, Job was like a little child but finally he is growing up. God is getting through to him. He is no longer just quoting scripture; he has met the living God. When we see God, we see ourselves and our sins and are humbled and penitent. What will it take to help God get through to us?
It took Job the most profound knowledge of his sinfulness. That’s what seeing God can do.
Notice one other item -- Job’s prayers for the friends who were giving him such a hard time. When he sees how bad he is, how can he condemn his friends who think they are helping him, who think they are speaking for God? He is no better than they are. Job invited them and his whole family to join him for a feast. He got a whole new family and a new farm.
What a happy ending to a very long and sad story. That could be our story too. See you next Sunday, and see what God will do to you this coming week!
Bob O.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
I am a fan of The Andy Griffith Show, and one of my favorite episodes is one in which Opie gets a new slingshot. He is excited about having it and enjoys shooting rocks at trees and cans. Without thinking, he sees a bird in a tree and shoots a rock at it. To his surprise and horror, he hits the bird and kills it. To make matters even worse, it is a mama bird with babies in the nest. Opie is in tears as Andy makes him listen to the baby birds cry for their mother. At this point he is remorseful and wants to do something. Opie decides to raise the babies himself. He carefully removes the nest, brings it in the house, and puts the baby birds in a cage. He works hard feeding them and caring for them. In practically no time the birds grow up. Opie is sad to let them go, but knows he must. He remarks about the empty cage, “It’s awfully quiet.” Andy replies, “But don’t the trees seem noisy?”
It’s a heart-warming episode. Opie goes through the same process about the birds that Job does (granted, in a much larger sense) throughout the book of Job. It is the process of remorse, repentance, and restoration. Opie’s baby birds filled the trees with singing after he’d carelessly killed a songbird. Job received much more than he could imagine after his realization that God is God and he was repentant. I suppose a lot can be learned by looking at Job’s life and listening to the birds.
Bill T.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
It is a Hindu custom that when a family member dies he or she is cremated on the banks of the Ganges River. The ashes are then deposited in the river as part of the sacred ritual affirming the afterlife. The problem is that many of these bodies are not entirely consumed by the flames, and thus human body parts are being thrown into the river. And Hindus who cannot afford cremation simply place the entire corpse in the river. Turtles used to eat these remnants, which controlled the pollution. But poachers have taken so many turtles that the pollution caused by corpses has become a serious health issue. A $32 million government project released 25,000 flesh-eating turtles into the Ganges. These turtles were raised on eating only dead fish, so that they would not develop a taste for the living. But all 25,000 turtles died because they were domesticated; no preparation had been made for them to survive in the wild.
Application: From our lesson with Job we know that God has a plan. We must also have a plan for all of our humanitarian endeavors.
Ron L.
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
[F]rom the speech from the whirlwind, Job has an expanded view of God’s creative power.... Job has already been on a heap of dust and ashes. So, does this response simply mean more groveling on Job’s part? The answer is no.... Job has formulated a case against God, based on inadequate understanding, and therefore he drops his case. More importantly, Job has discovered God’s creative presence, which brings an end to his complaint and remorse.
(Robert W. Neff, Voices in the Book of Job, p. 67)
Frank R.
Hebrews 7:23-28
What oath did you make when you became a member of a church or a congregation? Did you promise to follow Jesus? Did you promise to resist evil, show love and justice, and witness to the life and words of Jesus? Did you promise to participate and support the church and its work, to worship regularly? How are you doing with those promises?
It is much easier, I think, to complain about what is wrong instead of making it right. It is much easier to criticize than to take on leadership, much easier to gossip than to reconcile ourselves with the imperfect in people and do our part to love and encourage. Jesus was the only living human person who was completely without sin. Even in his humanness he was perfect. But we Christians are not, not one of us. Take a look at the promises you made when you joined the church. Are you living into them? Are you a living witness to the love and grace, the reconciliation Jesus offers to the world? Now, there’s a goal we can all aspire to!
Bonnie B.
Hebrews 7:23-28
In the year 258, Emperor Valerian ordered the death of all Christian leaders in Rome. The emperor knew that Lawrence was in charge of all the church’s money. So when he was brought before the throne, Valerian ordered Lawrence to turn over all the money to him. Lawrence agreed, but told the emperor that the church was very wealthy and that he would need three days to gather the money. Valerian agreed. During those three days, Lawrence distributed all of the church’s money to the poor and invalids. On the third day Lawrence appeared before the prefect and said, “Come out and see the wondrous riches of God.” Valerian expected to see wagons of gold, but instead he saw a large gathering of the city’s poor and destitute. On August 10 torturers dislocated Lawrence’s arms and then fastened him to a grill where he was slowly roasted to death. During this he suggested to his tormentors that he should be flipped since he was “done” on this side.
Application: We have a high priest in Jesus, and by his example we can be pastors to others. As the high priest died on the cross, we must be willing to sacrifice our lives in his service.
Ron L.
Hebrews 7:23-28
A 2008 Pew Forum poll revealed that 65% of the American public believes that many religions (not just through the sacrifice of Christ) can lead to eternal life. We need a more powerful witness to the wonders of Christ’s atoning work. The great 20th-century Reformed theologian Karl Barth offers such testimony. He claims that on Good Friday “Man is no longer seriously regarded by God as sinner” (Dogmatics in Outline, p. 121). And on Easter “The game is won even though the player can still play a few further moves.” Actually he is already [check-]mated. “The war is at an end -- even though here and there troops are still shooting, because they have not heard anything yet about the capitulation” (Dogmatics in Outline, p. 123). These images entail for Barth that Christ’s saving work on the cross, not our faithfulness or spirituality, has changed us all: “We died [on Christ’s cross]: the totality of all sinful men, those long dead and those still to be born.... His death was the death of all: quite independently of their attitude or response to this event” (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/1, p. 295).
Faith and spirituality (just believing in something) does not save you, like most Americans seem to think. It is as Martin Luther once wrote: “It takes much more to be a Christian than to be pious [to have faith]. A person can easily be pious but not Christian. A Christian knows nothing to say about his piety [faith], for he finds in himself nothing good and pious” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 329).
Mark E.
Mark 10:46-52
Kansas City is famous for its barbecue. There are all kinds of national chain restaurants in the area, but what might be even better are the local joints. The ones that are “Kansas City’s own” often have a unique taste and experience. I remember one of those downtown Kansas City restaurants very well. They had exquisite ribs, but there was something else that really stood out about it. As soon as a customer walked in, the employees at the counter seemed to be in a race to wait on him/her. The door would not have even closed yet, and you would hear “Hi, may I help you?”
I thought about that restaurant again when I read this familiar passage. Bartimaeus is in trouble. He’s blind. He’s reduced to begging. He is desperate as he sits on the roadside. He hears about Jesus of Nazareth coming, and throws caution to the wind. He yells as loud as he can for help. Others try to shush him, but he keeps on. Then Jesus does something remarkable. He stops and he asks him “What do you want me to do for you?” Can’t you just see that? Jesus is leaving Jericho, but he has time to stop and ask a blind beggar “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus is never too busy to help a person in need. In a greater way than the barbecue servers in Kansas City, Jesus wants more than anything to help you. Will you let him?
Bill T.
Mark 10:46-52
Do we have times when we cry out to the Lord? When you or your spouse or child have been diagnosed with incurable cancer, don’t you cry out to our Lord for healing? Do we beat the door down when our need is great? Our family may even tell us to “shut up!”
Didn’t Jesus give us that parable of the judge finally answering a woman’s request because she was becoming such a nuisance? Just keep beating on the door and the Lord will answer. He may be testing us.
Even though all the others were rebuking him, Jesus calls Bartimaeus over. The only surprising thing is Jesus asking him what he wants. Jesus could read people’s minds, but he asks that man to tell him what he wanted!
Jesus will open our eyes -- but he will only open our eyes if we cry out to him earnestly. Sometimes it takes more to open our spiritual eyes than our physical eyes. This is partly because we are sure what we want -- so God asks us: “What do you really want?” In most cases it is physical healing.
In our church we should become aware that there are more important things to ask of the Lord. Sometimes a sermon can open our eyes; sometimes a scripture; sometimes the Lord will give us an experience that gives us a burning desire to find out why he is doing something to us that we don’t understand.
Why not ask now that your spiritual eyes may be opened so you can see the wonderful things God has in store for you! Then we have to pray that we will recognize them when they come. That takes God’s Spirit!
When we know that Jesus has answered our prayer, will we follow him?
Bob O.
Mark 10:46-52
During the early 1800s, Hawaii suffered terrible diseases from merchant ships which travelled to the islands from Asia -- venereal disease, smallpox, and typhoid killed tens of thousands. And as time passed, new diseases were always arriving. One was leprosy. The state mandated that those who had leprosy were to be quarantined -- falsely believing the ailment was highly contagious. In 1865 King Kamehameha V issued a decree, titled “Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy,” which established a leper colony on the small island of Molokai. Over the decades more than 8,000 leprosy patients were banished to the 8,725-acre area. It was not until 1969 that the decree was abolished. Today, Hawaii still has a leper colony with six patients (aged 73 to 92). There are 16 total individuals who have leprosy, and six of them have chosen to remain in the colony rather than joining the outside world. In 2009, President Obama signed legislation authorizing the building of a memorial to honor the 8,000 patients in the Molokai leper colony, listing all of their names.
Application: Jesus talked about having compassion for those who are ill, but often our ignorance and prejudices prevent us from being compassionate.
Ron L.
Mark 10:46-52
The commandment of the Lord shines clearly, enlightening the eyes. Receive Christ, receive power to see, receive your light, that you may plainly recognize both God and man. More delightful than gold and precious stones, more desirable than honey and the honeycomb is the Word that has enlightened us. How could he not be desirable, who illumined minds buried in darkness, and endowed with clear vision “the light-bearing eyes” of the soul?... Sing his praises, then, Lord, and make known to me your Father, who is God. Your Word will save me, your song instruct me.
(Clement of Alexandria, “Exhortation to the Greeks II,” in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. II: Mark, p. 153)
Frank R.
