Often, when trying to get...
Illustration
Often, when trying to get lively and picturesque sermon ideas, I discuss the matter with my eight-year-old son -- a tough critic. I try to bring the story alive for him using contemporary illustrations. The one I utilized for this passage was "Paul and his gospel ambulance with the Holy Ghost at the helm."
I explained my metaphor. An ambulance is a vehicle equipped with lifesaving paraphernalia. Equipment for the emergency treatment of impaired breathing, heart irregularities or disorders, burns, and broken bones are standard fare. However, many of these are mobile emergency rooms that can be outfitted with many of the sophisticated instruments found in the best hospitals.
To be effective, the ambulance must respond immediately to a call for help and go wherever it is dispatched. In recent years, there was a case of a call coming from a housing project in New York City. The ambulance driver and attendants were uneasy about answering and took an inordinate amount of time to arrive. When they reached the site, they found that the patient was on an upstairs floor of the building that had no elevator. Again, they wasted time debating their ascent. Finally, they reached the apartment in question and when they saw an extremely overweight patient sprawled on the floor, they refused to take her down. The woman died. Oddly enough, her corpse that weighed the same amount, still had to be removed.
Paul's floating ambulance, received the call, was driven by the Holy Spirit, and saved Lydia.
I explained my metaphor. An ambulance is a vehicle equipped with lifesaving paraphernalia. Equipment for the emergency treatment of impaired breathing, heart irregularities or disorders, burns, and broken bones are standard fare. However, many of these are mobile emergency rooms that can be outfitted with many of the sophisticated instruments found in the best hospitals.
To be effective, the ambulance must respond immediately to a call for help and go wherever it is dispatched. In recent years, there was a case of a call coming from a housing project in New York City. The ambulance driver and attendants were uneasy about answering and took an inordinate amount of time to arrive. When they reached the site, they found that the patient was on an upstairs floor of the building that had no elevator. Again, they wasted time debating their ascent. Finally, they reached the apartment in question and when they saw an extremely overweight patient sprawled on the floor, they refused to take her down. The woman died. Oddly enough, her corpse that weighed the same amount, still had to be removed.
Paul's floating ambulance, received the call, was driven by the Holy Spirit, and saved Lydia.
