Sermon Illustrations for Reformation Day (2011)
Illustration
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and dignified woman, as in "straight-laced," wore a tightly tied lace.
Jeremiah said that the Lord declared, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." If we have the Word of the Lord in our thoughts and guiding our hearts, then we will truly act in a straightforward and righteous manner. We will be "straight-laced" in the sense of standing tall and proper for the Lord, both in word and deed.
Ron L.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
We can think of two types of laws: external and internal. Usually when we hear "law" we think of an external law, like a law against lying down in a public park. An authority says we shouldn't do it, so we try not to, but it is still up to us to obey. The law of gravity is different, however. No one says we ought to fall down; we just do because that's the law of our nature as objects with mass.
When God speaks through Jeremiah about an earlier covenant, he's speaking of the Law given through Moses, which was a plethora of rules to help Israel follow and know God. The new covenant, though, is not like the old one. By putting his laws on our minds and our hearts rather than stone tablets, it becomes to us like gravity. Following and knowing God becomes a natural force.
Brian H.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
If you live in Ohio, you don't walk around saying, "Hey! Do you know about Ohio? It's a pretty great place to be. Perfect for farmers. Got all four seasons. Good highway systems." If you live in California, you don't brag to your neighbors about California raisins or California cheeses or California wine. And if you're from Palm Beach, you don't go knocking on your neighbors' doors and informing them that Palm Beach has excellent weather all year round. Bottom line: We don't tell people things that they obviously already know.
Jeremiah looks forward to a time when that is true for the world about God: when we won't have to spread the news... because it's already a given.
Leah T.
Romans 3:19-28
I recently found a website that I found amusing (http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm). It lists the odds of various events. For instance, the odds of bowling a 300 game is 11,500 to 1. The odds of a meteor landing on your house is 182,138,880,000,000 to 1. With those odds, I probably won't be looking up at the sky with dreadful anticipation or try to take out meteor insurance on my home.
There are very few guarantees in this world but one is sin. As much as we try not to admit it, or try to call it something else, we all sin (v. 23). It is not something to be hidden but brought out into the light. Only through confession and the freely given grace of the Holy Spirit can we hope to be set free of the sins in our lives. This revelation is the legacy of the Reformation.
Craig K.
Romans 3:19-28
In his days as an Augustinian monk Martin Luther had a great fear of the Law as set forth in the scriptures. He simply could not live up to the demands of the Law as he understood it. Johann von Staupitz, his compassionate father-confessor, suggested he become a teacher of the scriptures and in the process he might find the solution to his problem. Luther proceeded to lecture on the Psalms: Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Romans. Especially this latter book, Romans, began to speak to him. In the fall of 1515 Luther lectured on Paul's Letter to the Romans. He explains what happened: "Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that 'the just shall live his faith!' Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise."
Richard H.
John 8:31-36
It's warm and bright. You're basking contentedly when someone walks up to you. "Here," they say. "I brought this umbrella for you." They put an umbrella in your hand and then wait around, expecting you to thank them. "Um… I don't need this umbrella," you say. "Today is beautiful." The umbrella person smiles wryly. "Sure, it's nice in here," they say. "But once you leave the sauna, it's pouring rain outside. Trust me. You'll need that."
We are rarely grateful for things that we think we don't need. In fact, we get a little bit offended when someone gives us a gift that we think is superfluous. Whether it's a promise of freedom or an umbrella, it doesn't mean anything if we don't see the point.
Leah T.
John 8:31-36
Five weeks before his death, Benjamin Franklin received an inquiry about his beliefs from a Congregationalist minister who was also the President of Yale University. Franklin replied with this confession: "Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe: That he governs the World by Provenience. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service one can render to him is doing good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal and will be treated with Justice in another life, respecting its Conduct in this. These I take as fundamental Principles of all sound Religion."
We all need a creed, for Jesus said, "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."
Ron L.
John 8:31-36
Like many other nations, America places an enormous emphasis on freedom. We talk about its fundamentality, its enjoyment, the importance of its preservation. Special days are devoted to celebrating American freedom and language like "the land of the free" and "inalienable rights" is core to our national identity. Americans today, much more than the oppressed Jewish Palestinians of Jesus' time, can say, "We have never been slaves of anyone."
Yet the freedom Jesus has in mind is quite a different idea. True freedom is not complete independence from external determining forces or wills that no one can tell us what to do. Rather, we can make ourselves a slave to our own desires. Being a slave to sin is having to follow a nature in us that is destructive to ourselves and our relationships. Christ offers true freedom by breaking these patterns with the truth found in following him.
Brian H.
Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and dignified woman, as in "straight-laced," wore a tightly tied lace.
Jeremiah said that the Lord declared, "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." If we have the Word of the Lord in our thoughts and guiding our hearts, then we will truly act in a straightforward and righteous manner. We will be "straight-laced" in the sense of standing tall and proper for the Lord, both in word and deed.
Ron L.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
We can think of two types of laws: external and internal. Usually when we hear "law" we think of an external law, like a law against lying down in a public park. An authority says we shouldn't do it, so we try not to, but it is still up to us to obey. The law of gravity is different, however. No one says we ought to fall down; we just do because that's the law of our nature as objects with mass.
When God speaks through Jeremiah about an earlier covenant, he's speaking of the Law given through Moses, which was a plethora of rules to help Israel follow and know God. The new covenant, though, is not like the old one. By putting his laws on our minds and our hearts rather than stone tablets, it becomes to us like gravity. Following and knowing God becomes a natural force.
Brian H.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
If you live in Ohio, you don't walk around saying, "Hey! Do you know about Ohio? It's a pretty great place to be. Perfect for farmers. Got all four seasons. Good highway systems." If you live in California, you don't brag to your neighbors about California raisins or California cheeses or California wine. And if you're from Palm Beach, you don't go knocking on your neighbors' doors and informing them that Palm Beach has excellent weather all year round. Bottom line: We don't tell people things that they obviously already know.
Jeremiah looks forward to a time when that is true for the world about God: when we won't have to spread the news... because it's already a given.
Leah T.
Romans 3:19-28
I recently found a website that I found amusing (http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm). It lists the odds of various events. For instance, the odds of bowling a 300 game is 11,500 to 1. The odds of a meteor landing on your house is 182,138,880,000,000 to 1. With those odds, I probably won't be looking up at the sky with dreadful anticipation or try to take out meteor insurance on my home.
There are very few guarantees in this world but one is sin. As much as we try not to admit it, or try to call it something else, we all sin (v. 23). It is not something to be hidden but brought out into the light. Only through confession and the freely given grace of the Holy Spirit can we hope to be set free of the sins in our lives. This revelation is the legacy of the Reformation.
Craig K.
Romans 3:19-28
In his days as an Augustinian monk Martin Luther had a great fear of the Law as set forth in the scriptures. He simply could not live up to the demands of the Law as he understood it. Johann von Staupitz, his compassionate father-confessor, suggested he become a teacher of the scriptures and in the process he might find the solution to his problem. Luther proceeded to lecture on the Psalms: Paul's letters to the Galatians and the Romans. Especially this latter book, Romans, began to speak to him. In the fall of 1515 Luther lectured on Paul's Letter to the Romans. He explains what happened: "Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that 'the just shall live his faith!' Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise."
Richard H.
John 8:31-36
It's warm and bright. You're basking contentedly when someone walks up to you. "Here," they say. "I brought this umbrella for you." They put an umbrella in your hand and then wait around, expecting you to thank them. "Um… I don't need this umbrella," you say. "Today is beautiful." The umbrella person smiles wryly. "Sure, it's nice in here," they say. "But once you leave the sauna, it's pouring rain outside. Trust me. You'll need that."
We are rarely grateful for things that we think we don't need. In fact, we get a little bit offended when someone gives us a gift that we think is superfluous. Whether it's a promise of freedom or an umbrella, it doesn't mean anything if we don't see the point.
Leah T.
John 8:31-36
Five weeks before his death, Benjamin Franklin received an inquiry about his beliefs from a Congregationalist minister who was also the President of Yale University. Franklin replied with this confession: "Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe: That he governs the World by Provenience. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service one can render to him is doing good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal and will be treated with Justice in another life, respecting its Conduct in this. These I take as fundamental Principles of all sound Religion."
We all need a creed, for Jesus said, "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."
Ron L.
John 8:31-36
Like many other nations, America places an enormous emphasis on freedom. We talk about its fundamentality, its enjoyment, the importance of its preservation. Special days are devoted to celebrating American freedom and language like "the land of the free" and "inalienable rights" is core to our national identity. Americans today, much more than the oppressed Jewish Palestinians of Jesus' time, can say, "We have never been slaves of anyone."
Yet the freedom Jesus has in mind is quite a different idea. True freedom is not complete independence from external determining forces or wills that no one can tell us what to do. Rather, we can make ourselves a slave to our own desires. Being a slave to sin is having to follow a nature in us that is destructive to ourselves and our relationships. Christ offers true freedom by breaking these patterns with the truth found in following him.
Brian H.
