Sermon Illustrations for Proper 16 | Ordinary Time 21 (2014)
Illustration
Object:
Exodus 1:8--2:10
Avvakum was the founder of what became known as Russia's Old Believers. They openly and vehemently opposed the changes to the theology and liturgy of the Russian Orthodox church that was being instituted by the patriarchs. They considered such changes to be the corruption of the church, moving the church toward the beliefs and practices of the Easer Orthodox church. Considered a heretic, Avvakum was sentenced to live in a pit above the Arctic Circle. After fourteen years of this ordeal, he was burned at the stake.
Application: As seen by the Moses and the papyrus basket, persecution has always been a part of the church.
Ron L.
Exodus 1:8--2:10
John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're making all your plans." Who would have thought that Moses, son of a slave girl, would become a king's chief assistant and liberator of Israel! Why does life turn out like it does? Not because of all our plans. Life is in God's hands, the lesson teaches.
There seems to be a disposition toward love in this God of ours who makes things happen. John Calvin wrote: "... I answer, that his loving kindness shines most conspicuously and occupies a very prominent place in all that he does; for he is naturally prone to loving kindness, by which also he draws us to himself" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VI/1, p. 267).
Christians are people who believe that the things happening to us while we make our plans all ultimately express the loving kindness of a caring God who can do things in our lives we never even dreamed were possible. It really is like Oprah Winfrey once said: "God can dream a bigger dream for you than you could ever dream for yourself."
Mark E.
Romans 12:1-8
Anatomy is the study of what the parts are. Babies just learning their first words are usually avid students of anatomy. "Where's your nose?" "Show me your eyes."
Physiology is the study of what the parts are for. Why do we have kneecaps? What is your pancreas for? This has not always been obvious. The ancient Greeks thought that the spleen produced anger. The Egyptians believed the brain to serve no purpose whatsoever.
It's one thing to know that you are part of the body of Christ. It is another thing entirely to know what purpose you serve in the body.
Scott B.
Romans 12:1-8
The greatest gift you can give God is yourself. Give yourself to him even if you become a sacrifice. Don't let anything stand in the way of our service for our God. We don't succeed in this once and for all. That is why we come to church every Sunday to offer ourselves over to our God. That is the kind of worship that pleases him. Don't hold back anything that might stand in the way of giving yourself. Jesus even told us that he should come before the love of our family.
To be transformed is something that should be visible to our family and friends. It does not mean that we have to act like a fundamentalist nut, but the love of our God should show through us. It goes against everything in our being to think of God more highly than we think of ourselves. Let the faith God has given us change us for his benefit. That can take a lifetime, so don't give up! Do it not to earn your salvation, but because God has sacrificed himself for your salvation and all we have to do is receive it and by what we do, show how thankful we are for his gift.
I like that illustration of all of us being part of a body. Think of an orchestra with all its instruments. Each plays a different part but all are essential. Maybe the conductor is your pastor. Maybe some of you will be "solo" instruments who may receive more praise. Each one of you has a talent to give, so think what it can mean if we are not part of a body. Some are legs that lead us around to do God's will and some are eyes that see where God is leading and some are mouths that speak his message to be a blessing to his people. The list goes on. We need to ask the pastor or others what part we are.
If your main talent is making money, then God gave you that talent so you could give to those in need, not just so you can live in luxury! What is your talent? Use it for the "body"!
Bob O.
Romans 12:1-8
I have a friend named Jim. During our college days we became great friends to the extent that when he got married, he asked me to be his best man. We traveled together in college... I preached and he sang and we loved the Lord. That was almost fifty years ago. Both of us married girls from the same college, served our denomination as a pastor, District Sunday School Chairpersons, and District Superintendents. Our lives have taken different geographical turns. He served mostly in Kansas and Missouri, while I went another direction. But every time we get together, it is as if no time or distance has passed between us. There is this inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with him and that I can share my thoughts, hopes, concerns, and dreams with him. I don't have to weigh my thoughts or measure my words, but they pour out. He is there as an encourager to me, as a faithful brother in Christ.
I believe that each person needs this kind of a friend... an encourager. This is what Paul is stating in Romans 15:5 when he talks about encouragement and having that same attitude toward one another.
Derl K.
Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus conferred on Peter and the church the power of the keys, the authority to forgive sins in God's name (v. 19). But we are not very good at forgiving. Martin Luther made that clear: "It never fails: at times you do and say something that disgust me, and I do and say something that does not please you at all, just as one member of the body injures another..." (What Luther Says, p. 525).
Part of the problem is that we are not as tough on ourselves as we are with our neighbors. Again Luther offers significant wisdom:
But it so happens that you will not discover the beam in your own eye, if you behold continually the sins of others.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/2, p. 107)
But this lesson is never learned. In this world one brother is forever rebuking another because of a speck in his brother's eye, he should go look at himself in a mirror before passing judgment. He will find beams in his eye big enough to make hog troughs.
(What Luther Says, p. 524)
The first Reformer also has some advice for implementing the power of the keys. We need to realize that:
My sins are nothing but large oaks thirty feet tall; and I allow the paltry specks, in my brother's eye to irritate me more than my large beams.
(Ibid.)
Luther's namesake Martin Luther King Jr. implies that forgiveness is like a door leading to the future.
(Strength to Love, pp. 48-49)
It wipes the slate clean, so we can all forget the crap in the past and really start to live. Forgiveness is also good for you. Neurobiologists have found that in a forgiving mode you think more clearly and rationally about your options since the fontal lobe circuits of the brain are activated. Because the brain's limbic system is de-activated, stress is reduced (Andrew Newberg, Why Do You Believe the Things That You Believe?, pp. 138, 188-189).
Mark E.
Matthew 16:13-20
In 1869 at the London Metaphysical Society, Thomas Huxley first used the word "agnostic." Huxley referred to agnostics as intellectuals, like himself, who are unable to come to certain conclusions on the big issues confronting religion, such as the existence of God.
Application: When Jesus asked, "But who do you say that I am?" not everyone is able to answer as Peter did.
Ron L.
Avvakum was the founder of what became known as Russia's Old Believers. They openly and vehemently opposed the changes to the theology and liturgy of the Russian Orthodox church that was being instituted by the patriarchs. They considered such changes to be the corruption of the church, moving the church toward the beliefs and practices of the Easer Orthodox church. Considered a heretic, Avvakum was sentenced to live in a pit above the Arctic Circle. After fourteen years of this ordeal, he was burned at the stake.
Application: As seen by the Moses and the papyrus basket, persecution has always been a part of the church.
Ron L.
Exodus 1:8--2:10
John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're making all your plans." Who would have thought that Moses, son of a slave girl, would become a king's chief assistant and liberator of Israel! Why does life turn out like it does? Not because of all our plans. Life is in God's hands, the lesson teaches.
There seems to be a disposition toward love in this God of ours who makes things happen. John Calvin wrote: "... I answer, that his loving kindness shines most conspicuously and occupies a very prominent place in all that he does; for he is naturally prone to loving kindness, by which also he draws us to himself" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VI/1, p. 267).
Christians are people who believe that the things happening to us while we make our plans all ultimately express the loving kindness of a caring God who can do things in our lives we never even dreamed were possible. It really is like Oprah Winfrey once said: "God can dream a bigger dream for you than you could ever dream for yourself."
Mark E.
Romans 12:1-8
Anatomy is the study of what the parts are. Babies just learning their first words are usually avid students of anatomy. "Where's your nose?" "Show me your eyes."
Physiology is the study of what the parts are for. Why do we have kneecaps? What is your pancreas for? This has not always been obvious. The ancient Greeks thought that the spleen produced anger. The Egyptians believed the brain to serve no purpose whatsoever.
It's one thing to know that you are part of the body of Christ. It is another thing entirely to know what purpose you serve in the body.
Scott B.
Romans 12:1-8
The greatest gift you can give God is yourself. Give yourself to him even if you become a sacrifice. Don't let anything stand in the way of our service for our God. We don't succeed in this once and for all. That is why we come to church every Sunday to offer ourselves over to our God. That is the kind of worship that pleases him. Don't hold back anything that might stand in the way of giving yourself. Jesus even told us that he should come before the love of our family.
To be transformed is something that should be visible to our family and friends. It does not mean that we have to act like a fundamentalist nut, but the love of our God should show through us. It goes against everything in our being to think of God more highly than we think of ourselves. Let the faith God has given us change us for his benefit. That can take a lifetime, so don't give up! Do it not to earn your salvation, but because God has sacrificed himself for your salvation and all we have to do is receive it and by what we do, show how thankful we are for his gift.
I like that illustration of all of us being part of a body. Think of an orchestra with all its instruments. Each plays a different part but all are essential. Maybe the conductor is your pastor. Maybe some of you will be "solo" instruments who may receive more praise. Each one of you has a talent to give, so think what it can mean if we are not part of a body. Some are legs that lead us around to do God's will and some are eyes that see where God is leading and some are mouths that speak his message to be a blessing to his people. The list goes on. We need to ask the pastor or others what part we are.
If your main talent is making money, then God gave you that talent so you could give to those in need, not just so you can live in luxury! What is your talent? Use it for the "body"!
Bob O.
Romans 12:1-8
I have a friend named Jim. During our college days we became great friends to the extent that when he got married, he asked me to be his best man. We traveled together in college... I preached and he sang and we loved the Lord. That was almost fifty years ago. Both of us married girls from the same college, served our denomination as a pastor, District Sunday School Chairpersons, and District Superintendents. Our lives have taken different geographical turns. He served mostly in Kansas and Missouri, while I went another direction. But every time we get together, it is as if no time or distance has passed between us. There is this inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with him and that I can share my thoughts, hopes, concerns, and dreams with him. I don't have to weigh my thoughts or measure my words, but they pour out. He is there as an encourager to me, as a faithful brother in Christ.
I believe that each person needs this kind of a friend... an encourager. This is what Paul is stating in Romans 15:5 when he talks about encouragement and having that same attitude toward one another.
Derl K.
Matthew 16:13-20
Jesus conferred on Peter and the church the power of the keys, the authority to forgive sins in God's name (v. 19). But we are not very good at forgiving. Martin Luther made that clear: "It never fails: at times you do and say something that disgust me, and I do and say something that does not please you at all, just as one member of the body injures another..." (What Luther Says, p. 525).
Part of the problem is that we are not as tough on ourselves as we are with our neighbors. Again Luther offers significant wisdom:
But it so happens that you will not discover the beam in your own eye, if you behold continually the sins of others.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/2, p. 107)
But this lesson is never learned. In this world one brother is forever rebuking another because of a speck in his brother's eye, he should go look at himself in a mirror before passing judgment. He will find beams in his eye big enough to make hog troughs.
(What Luther Says, p. 524)
The first Reformer also has some advice for implementing the power of the keys. We need to realize that:
My sins are nothing but large oaks thirty feet tall; and I allow the paltry specks, in my brother's eye to irritate me more than my large beams.
(Ibid.)
Luther's namesake Martin Luther King Jr. implies that forgiveness is like a door leading to the future.
(Strength to Love, pp. 48-49)
It wipes the slate clean, so we can all forget the crap in the past and really start to live. Forgiveness is also good for you. Neurobiologists have found that in a forgiving mode you think more clearly and rationally about your options since the fontal lobe circuits of the brain are activated. Because the brain's limbic system is de-activated, stress is reduced (Andrew Newberg, Why Do You Believe the Things That You Believe?, pp. 138, 188-189).
Mark E.
Matthew 16:13-20
In 1869 at the London Metaphysical Society, Thomas Huxley first used the word "agnostic." Huxley referred to agnostics as intellectuals, like himself, who are unable to come to certain conclusions on the big issues confronting religion, such as the existence of God.
Application: When Jesus asked, "But who do you say that I am?" not everyone is able to answer as Peter did.
Ron L.
