Sermon Illustrations for The Nativity of Our Lord (2021)
Illustration
Isaiah 62:6-12
Jesus is born! “See,” Isaiah says, “your salvation comes.” That’s what the name Jesus means: “He saves,” “He rescues,” “He delivers!”
In this passage, the prophet assures the people that sentinels are posted. Keep an eye out. Because though we are living through a time of tumult and disarray, this is turning into a time of procession, of entering gates and celebrating the coming of the Lord’s salvation.
It is not enough for God’s people to be vindicated -- we are to be vindicated in the full sight of the world. It’s not a secret. Everyone will know about it. The ugly duckling becomes the beautiful swan. The stone that the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone. Use whatever image you want. Bethlehem, the least of all the cities, as Micah put it, is revealed as the greatest of all. As Mary sang in the Magnificat, the Lord has looked with favor on the lowliest of servants. Shepherds hear the angel choir. Build up the highway, clear it of stones, it’s happening!
Frank R.
* * *
Isaiah 62:6-12
Our Daily Bread contained this story in the December 23, 1991, edition. “It was in December of 1903, that after many attempts, Orville and Wilbur Wright were successful in getting their flying machine off the ground and into the air at Kitty Hawk. Thrilled over the accomplishment, they telegraphed a message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He missed the big news. For the first time in human history, man had flown.
There is a temptation to miss the big news at this time of year, too. Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah a long time ago. He said, “See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him.” Salvation did come with Jesus. As noted in Revelation 22:12, his “reward is with him.” With all that’s going on, let’s not make the same mistake the editor made a long time ago. Let’s understand the big news: Jesus has come.
Bill T.
* * *
Titus 3:4-7
This is a text about what hanging around the Christ child can do to you, how it can change your life. Martin Luther noted that without Christ we can do no good. Our holiness is filth and dung, he once claimed in a sermon (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.119). Consequently, he claimed:
We must then shelter ourselves under His [Christ’s] wings and not fly afar in the security of our own faith, else we will soon be devoured by the hawk. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.163)
The reformer also reflected on whether we can enjoy the Christmas gifts. He claimed that the things of the world are God’s good gifts, that it is only lusting after them that must be denied (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.119). And then he extrapolated on this point adding:
To live right in this present work, mark you, is like living soberly in a saloon, chastely in a brothel, godly in a gaiety ball, uprightly in a den of murderers. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.129)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
In his 1942 devotional Abundant Living, E. Stanley Jones, Methodist doctor and missionary to India, writes, “The early Christians did not say in dismay: “Look what the world has come to,” but in delight, “Look what has come to the world.” They saw not merely the ruin, but the resource for the reconstruction of that ruin. They saw not merely that sin did abound, but that grace did much more abound. On that assurance the pivot of history swung from blank despair, loss of moral nerve, and fatalism to faith and confidence that at last sin had met its match.”
I love this quote. Roman oppression was heavy in Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth and the people longed for freedom. It was a hard for the Jews. E. Stanley Jones was right. I can’t help but think of how the world was in 1942 when Jones wrote these words. It was the height of World War II. It was a scary time in the world. Yet, his message of hope and light shined in the darkness of that day. The world we live in now is also dark. There are difficulties, conflicts and despair on nearly every side. It is easy to say, “Look at what the world has come to.” However, on this day, may we say, as did Jones and countless other followers of Jesus, “Look at what has come to the world.”
“For unto you is born, this day, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20
Luke opens his account of the birth of Jesus, like any good historian of the period, by dating the event according to the reign of the emperor and the governor. Most of us know almost nothing about one of those individuals, the governor Quirinius. But in 20 AD, long after the birth of Jesus, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was the subject of much gossip when, as “a childless old millionaire” he divorced his wife Aemilia Lepedia, who was a member of one of the great noble houses. Though he had served Rome as a procurator, governor, and protector, he became refiled as “a dirty, low-class, childless, old man” and not only that, a commoner!
However, public opinion turned on a dime when it was proved that Aemilia had tried to poison her husband. She lost in the courts, but Quirinius died not long afterwards at the ripe old age of 72.
Frank R.
Jesus is born! “See,” Isaiah says, “your salvation comes.” That’s what the name Jesus means: “He saves,” “He rescues,” “He delivers!”
In this passage, the prophet assures the people that sentinels are posted. Keep an eye out. Because though we are living through a time of tumult and disarray, this is turning into a time of procession, of entering gates and celebrating the coming of the Lord’s salvation.
It is not enough for God’s people to be vindicated -- we are to be vindicated in the full sight of the world. It’s not a secret. Everyone will know about it. The ugly duckling becomes the beautiful swan. The stone that the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone. Use whatever image you want. Bethlehem, the least of all the cities, as Micah put it, is revealed as the greatest of all. As Mary sang in the Magnificat, the Lord has looked with favor on the lowliest of servants. Shepherds hear the angel choir. Build up the highway, clear it of stones, it’s happening!
Frank R.
* * *
Isaiah 62:6-12
Our Daily Bread contained this story in the December 23, 1991, edition. “It was in December of 1903, that after many attempts, Orville and Wilbur Wright were successful in getting their flying machine off the ground and into the air at Kitty Hawk. Thrilled over the accomplishment, they telegraphed a message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He missed the big news. For the first time in human history, man had flown.
There is a temptation to miss the big news at this time of year, too. Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah a long time ago. He said, “See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him.” Salvation did come with Jesus. As noted in Revelation 22:12, his “reward is with him.” With all that’s going on, let’s not make the same mistake the editor made a long time ago. Let’s understand the big news: Jesus has come.
Bill T.
* * *
Titus 3:4-7
This is a text about what hanging around the Christ child can do to you, how it can change your life. Martin Luther noted that without Christ we can do no good. Our holiness is filth and dung, he once claimed in a sermon (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.119). Consequently, he claimed:
We must then shelter ourselves under His [Christ’s] wings and not fly afar in the security of our own faith, else we will soon be devoured by the hawk. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.163)
The reformer also reflected on whether we can enjoy the Christmas gifts. He claimed that the things of the world are God’s good gifts, that it is only lusting after them that must be denied (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.119). And then he extrapolated on this point adding:
To live right in this present work, mark you, is like living soberly in a saloon, chastely in a brothel, godly in a gaiety ball, uprightly in a den of murderers. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.129)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
In his 1942 devotional Abundant Living, E. Stanley Jones, Methodist doctor and missionary to India, writes, “The early Christians did not say in dismay: “Look what the world has come to,” but in delight, “Look what has come to the world.” They saw not merely the ruin, but the resource for the reconstruction of that ruin. They saw not merely that sin did abound, but that grace did much more abound. On that assurance the pivot of history swung from blank despair, loss of moral nerve, and fatalism to faith and confidence that at last sin had met its match.”
I love this quote. Roman oppression was heavy in Israel at the time of Jesus’ birth and the people longed for freedom. It was a hard for the Jews. E. Stanley Jones was right. I can’t help but think of how the world was in 1942 when Jones wrote these words. It was the height of World War II. It was a scary time in the world. Yet, his message of hope and light shined in the darkness of that day. The world we live in now is also dark. There are difficulties, conflicts and despair on nearly every side. It is easy to say, “Look at what the world has come to.” However, on this day, may we say, as did Jones and countless other followers of Jesus, “Look at what has come to the world.”
“For unto you is born, this day, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20
Luke opens his account of the birth of Jesus, like any good historian of the period, by dating the event according to the reign of the emperor and the governor. Most of us know almost nothing about one of those individuals, the governor Quirinius. But in 20 AD, long after the birth of Jesus, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was the subject of much gossip when, as “a childless old millionaire” he divorced his wife Aemilia Lepedia, who was a member of one of the great noble houses. Though he had served Rome as a procurator, governor, and protector, he became refiled as “a dirty, low-class, childless, old man” and not only that, a commoner!
However, public opinion turned on a dime when it was proved that Aemilia had tried to poison her husband. She lost in the courts, but Quirinius died not long afterwards at the ripe old age of 72.
Frank R.
