Sermon Illustrations for Advent 1 (2021)
Illustration
Jeremiah 33:14-16
The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast. Man never is, but always to be blest.” But where does man turn when hope dries up?”
Halford E. Luccock shares this story in his book Unfinished Business. “One night at dinner a man, who had spent many summers in Maine, fascinated his companions by telling of his experiences in a little town named Flagstaff. The town was to be flooded, as part of a large lake for which a dam was being built. In the months before it was to be flooded, all improvements and repairs in the whole town were stopped. The people figured what was the use of painting a house if it were to be covered with water in six months? Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped out? So, week by week, the whole town became more shabby and unkempt. Then he added these words, ‘Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.’”
Without hope and faith in the future, the present can be pretty grim. That’s the essence of what’s going on in this passage from Jeremiah. Things are bad for God’s people and are going to get even worse. However, a word of hope is given. A ray of light and faith shines in a dark time. “A righteous branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (vs. 15)
Theologian A. W. Tozer had a way of making some of the most profound truths simple and understandable. He once said, “God is love, and just as God is love, God is justice.” It’s a brilliant observation. God’s love and justice come together in the work and person of Jesus Christ. They’re inextricably connected.
Bill T.
* * *
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Something very interesting is happening in the last phrase of this short passage. Jeremiah has been predicting the end of Jerusalem, the city of peace. In those days people believed that if one nation defeated another on earth, its god defeated the other god in the divine realm. In these verses the prophet predicts its restoration and says that its new name shall be “Yahweh is our righteousness.” Far from renouncing God, the Great I AM, Jeremiah insists that our God is not defeated, and that we will plaster God’s name on our city because that’s the source of our justification! As we anticipate the celebration of the king descended from David, who was thought to have been defeated by the cross, we proudly take upon ourselves the name of Jesus, who is our righteousness, our justification.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Love for others and hope for the future go together. Part of the mystery and wonder of falling in love is the planning you do for your future. The future is not so scary for the couple falling in love, because they have each other. All the more for a Christian wrapped up in God’s love. Martin Luther put it nicely:
He [the Christian] takes comfort in the fact that through baptism he is engrafted into Christ... Why should such a one fear death? Though it come at any time, in the form of pestilence or accident, it will always find the Christian ready and well prepared, be he awake or asleep; for he is in Christ Jesus (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/2, p.299)
Neurobiological research also demonstrates the links between a future outlook and love. It seems that lives lived with openness to the future, to change, and new challenges incline the brain to forge new brain-cell connections. When that happens, the front part of the brain is bathed in natural dope (esp. dopamine) which gives feeling of pleasure, happiness, and also inclines us to become more loving (Sherwin Nuland, The Art of Aging; Anthony Walsh, The Science of Love).
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 21:25-36
Roy B. Zuck, in his book The Speaker’s Quote Book, tells the story of Winston Churchill’s funeral. After Churchill had a stroke in 1953, the queen and others wanted to make sure he’d have a proper funeral when he died. “Operation Hope Not” became the name of the plan. The funeral plan was over twelve years in the making and, while Churchill left most of the planning to the committee assigned to do it, he did wish for a particular musical arrangement. A bugler was to be positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul’s. He would play the taps after the benediction. The taps were meant to represent that his physical life was over. What came next was dramatic. As soon as the taps was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of reveille — It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up in the morning. Churchill wanted to note that at the end of life of this earth, the last note is not taps, but reveille.
Jesus, in this passage, is talking about his return and the end. His point it clear. Verse 34 notes, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly.” Churchill seemed to understand that. Do we?
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 21:25-36
Sarah Ruden, a scholar of the classics, who has translated the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Virgil, as well as the Confessions of Augustine, recently turned her attention to the gospels. Her translation, called simply “The Gospels: A New Translation,” is filled with insights, not only in the translation itself, but in the notes she sprinkles on every page.
Take Luke 21:34-35. Her translation reads: “Look out for yourselves, so that your hearts aren’t weighed down by wild, drunken parties and the cares of ordinary life that the day won’t spring on you suddenly, without warning, like a snare.”
Comparing “wild, drunken parties,” to “the cares of ordinary life,” she makes this interesting observation in her footnote: “These two sets of distractions sound incongruous, but fairly exuberant nightly socializing was considered normal and respectable for Greek and Roman men.” (p. 244).
Frank R.
The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast. Man never is, but always to be blest.” But where does man turn when hope dries up?”
Halford E. Luccock shares this story in his book Unfinished Business. “One night at dinner a man, who had spent many summers in Maine, fascinated his companions by telling of his experiences in a little town named Flagstaff. The town was to be flooded, as part of a large lake for which a dam was being built. In the months before it was to be flooded, all improvements and repairs in the whole town were stopped. The people figured what was the use of painting a house if it were to be covered with water in six months? Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped out? So, week by week, the whole town became more shabby and unkempt. Then he added these words, ‘Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.’”
Without hope and faith in the future, the present can be pretty grim. That’s the essence of what’s going on in this passage from Jeremiah. Things are bad for God’s people and are going to get even worse. However, a word of hope is given. A ray of light and faith shines in a dark time. “A righteous branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (vs. 15)
Theologian A. W. Tozer had a way of making some of the most profound truths simple and understandable. He once said, “God is love, and just as God is love, God is justice.” It’s a brilliant observation. God’s love and justice come together in the work and person of Jesus Christ. They’re inextricably connected.
Bill T.
* * *
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Something very interesting is happening in the last phrase of this short passage. Jeremiah has been predicting the end of Jerusalem, the city of peace. In those days people believed that if one nation defeated another on earth, its god defeated the other god in the divine realm. In these verses the prophet predicts its restoration and says that its new name shall be “Yahweh is our righteousness.” Far from renouncing God, the Great I AM, Jeremiah insists that our God is not defeated, and that we will plaster God’s name on our city because that’s the source of our justification! As we anticipate the celebration of the king descended from David, who was thought to have been defeated by the cross, we proudly take upon ourselves the name of Jesus, who is our righteousness, our justification.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Love for others and hope for the future go together. Part of the mystery and wonder of falling in love is the planning you do for your future. The future is not so scary for the couple falling in love, because they have each other. All the more for a Christian wrapped up in God’s love. Martin Luther put it nicely:
He [the Christian] takes comfort in the fact that through baptism he is engrafted into Christ... Why should such a one fear death? Though it come at any time, in the form of pestilence or accident, it will always find the Christian ready and well prepared, be he awake or asleep; for he is in Christ Jesus (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/2, p.299)
Neurobiological research also demonstrates the links between a future outlook and love. It seems that lives lived with openness to the future, to change, and new challenges incline the brain to forge new brain-cell connections. When that happens, the front part of the brain is bathed in natural dope (esp. dopamine) which gives feeling of pleasure, happiness, and also inclines us to become more loving (Sherwin Nuland, The Art of Aging; Anthony Walsh, The Science of Love).
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 21:25-36
Roy B. Zuck, in his book The Speaker’s Quote Book, tells the story of Winston Churchill’s funeral. After Churchill had a stroke in 1953, the queen and others wanted to make sure he’d have a proper funeral when he died. “Operation Hope Not” became the name of the plan. The funeral plan was over twelve years in the making and, while Churchill left most of the planning to the committee assigned to do it, he did wish for a particular musical arrangement. A bugler was to be positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul’s. He would play the taps after the benediction. The taps were meant to represent that his physical life was over. What came next was dramatic. As soon as the taps was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of reveille — It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up in the morning. Churchill wanted to note that at the end of life of this earth, the last note is not taps, but reveille.
Jesus, in this passage, is talking about his return and the end. His point it clear. Verse 34 notes, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly.” Churchill seemed to understand that. Do we?
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 21:25-36
Sarah Ruden, a scholar of the classics, who has translated the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Virgil, as well as the Confessions of Augustine, recently turned her attention to the gospels. Her translation, called simply “The Gospels: A New Translation,” is filled with insights, not only in the translation itself, but in the notes she sprinkles on every page.
Take Luke 21:34-35. Her translation reads: “Look out for yourselves, so that your hearts aren’t weighed down by wild, drunken parties and the cares of ordinary life that the day won’t spring on you suddenly, without warning, like a snare.”
Comparing “wild, drunken parties,” to “the cares of ordinary life,” she makes this interesting observation in her footnote: “These two sets of distractions sound incongruous, but fairly exuberant nightly socializing was considered normal and respectable for Greek and Roman men.” (p. 244).
Frank R.
