Sermon Illustrations for Proper 5 | Ordinary Time 10 (2012)
Illustration
1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20
The people put pressure on Samuel to anoint a king, and Samuel prays to God for guidance.
Lewis Smedes depicts God as the divine artist who is very patient with people. Smedes explains: "... from the control center of our worried lives, God's patience often looks like cold indifference. He takes so awfully long that he does not seem to care. But he has a lot of time and like an artist who loves his work, he will not be rushed. Nor should we be rushed, especially when it comes to closing down, terminating, giving up on the nasty problems we want solved now. We should not give up too quickly on our troubled marriages. We should not give up too quickly on our troubled children. We should not give up too quickly on our troubled selves. Don't demand that everything be all right today. Give God time, as he gives us time."
Richard H.
2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
Scolded and criticized, Abraham Lincoln still insisted on signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Defiant, the president answered his adversaries, "I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."
Paul instructed that "we do not lose heart." As difficult as the journey is, we do not turn back because "our inner nature is renewed day by day."
Ron L.
2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
God's ways are not our ways. Faith takes us away from the "what is" to the "what can be." Famed New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann captures the meaning of this text so well:
Faith is the abandonment of man's own security and the readiness to find security only in the unseen beyond, in God. This means that faith is security, where no security can be seen; it is, as [Martin] Luther said, the readiness to enter confidently into the darkness of the future (Jesus Christ and Mythology, pp. 40-41).
Faith is a willingness to give up the tent in which you have been residing for that big mansion God has promised.
Mark E.
Mark 3:20-35
Jesus in his debate with the scribes showed how absurd their claim was that he is associated with Satan. Jesus responds that he is the one who is casting out demons in God's name. Jesus goes on to say: "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand" (Mark 3:24-25).
Abraham Lincoln who knew his Bible well, applied Jesus' words to the searing issue of slavery that was dividing the nation as he began his campaign to become a United States Senator from Illinois in opposition to Stephen A. Douglas. In his Springfield, June 16, 1858, address he stated among other things: "... A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."
Richard H.
The people put pressure on Samuel to anoint a king, and Samuel prays to God for guidance.
Lewis Smedes depicts God as the divine artist who is very patient with people. Smedes explains: "... from the control center of our worried lives, God's patience often looks like cold indifference. He takes so awfully long that he does not seem to care. But he has a lot of time and like an artist who loves his work, he will not be rushed. Nor should we be rushed, especially when it comes to closing down, terminating, giving up on the nasty problems we want solved now. We should not give up too quickly on our troubled marriages. We should not give up too quickly on our troubled children. We should not give up too quickly on our troubled selves. Don't demand that everything be all right today. Give God time, as he gives us time."
Richard H.
2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
Scolded and criticized, Abraham Lincoln still insisted on signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Defiant, the president answered his adversaries, "I am a slow walker, but I never walk back."
Paul instructed that "we do not lose heart." As difficult as the journey is, we do not turn back because "our inner nature is renewed day by day."
Ron L.
2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
God's ways are not our ways. Faith takes us away from the "what is" to the "what can be." Famed New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann captures the meaning of this text so well:
Faith is the abandonment of man's own security and the readiness to find security only in the unseen beyond, in God. This means that faith is security, where no security can be seen; it is, as [Martin] Luther said, the readiness to enter confidently into the darkness of the future (Jesus Christ and Mythology, pp. 40-41).
Faith is a willingness to give up the tent in which you have been residing for that big mansion God has promised.
Mark E.
Mark 3:20-35
Jesus in his debate with the scribes showed how absurd their claim was that he is associated with Satan. Jesus responds that he is the one who is casting out demons in God's name. Jesus goes on to say: "If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand" (Mark 3:24-25).
Abraham Lincoln who knew his Bible well, applied Jesus' words to the searing issue of slavery that was dividing the nation as he began his campaign to become a United States Senator from Illinois in opposition to Stephen A. Douglas. In his Springfield, June 16, 1858, address he stated among other things: "... A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other."
Richard H.
