Sermon Illustrations for Advent 3 (2018)
Illustration
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Wow, how can things get any better. God has not only taken our punishment, he has turned back our enemy. What more can we ask. We shouldn’t have to fear anything. God says this to Jerusalem. Can this apply to America also?
Isn’t it love that takes away our worry? When we were little kids we didn’t worry about anything as long as our parents were near us. God is bigger and more powerful.
Some of our immigrants are Christian. What do they think of this passage? What if their children have been taken from them. Would we not worry about any harm that was threatened to us or our family?
Yes we are glad that our sins have been taken from us. We can remember when our country was given honor and praise wherever we went. What seems to be changing that a bit? Are we loving our country more than our Lord? Is it “America first”?
Bob O.
* * *
Zephaniah 3:14-21
Christmas at its best is a time for getting us charged up, as time of renewal. This is a Lesson offering such hope of renewal. About this hope, and with words that can powerfully minister to those of us for whom the Christmas Season can lead to depression, Martin Luther once wrote: “He [God] does not want you to hate yourself anymore. Rather he loves you like a beloved daughter.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.18, p.359) Not that we are so special in ourselves. We dare not take credit for being special. As Luther once put it:
Therefore all human righteousness is nothing but sacrilege, which robs God of honor and glory. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.339)
Then he adds:
It follows therefore that a Christian does not just come into being, but he is planted by the work of God. Christ is the Gardener. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.336)
Mark E.
* * *
Zephaniah 3:14-20
The Lord is with you, in your midst, the prophet proclaims. You are redeemed. The Lord will rejoice over you with gladness. How often do you think about God rejoicing over you? I know I don’t think about it. I often am so hard on myself, so aware of my flaws and failings that I can’t figure out why God loves me, let alone that God might rejoice over me with gladness. Perhaps it has much to do with the value judgments I place on myself, which are often about what I do, not who I am.
God rejoices over us because of who we are -- God’s beloved children, brothers and sisters in the family of God. Parents have been known to rejoice over their children even when their behavior is not all it should be or all the parents would wish for. Parents simply rejoice that their children are. How much more does God, our eternal creator and parent, rejoice over us? Let’s dwell on that this advent season.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Philippians 4:4-7
Do not worry about anything. (Philippians 4:6)
There was a time when preachers would complain that Paul seemed to know nothing about the Jesus of the gospels -- what he said, what he did, what he taught. Yet there are a surprising number of echoes of the savior’s words in Paul’s writings.
This is one of them. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus asked his disciples to consider the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, and the natural world in general, and to recognize that there’s so much out of our control, yet God is taking care of it all. We are advised there -- and here -- not to worry.
Sometimes, though, we preachers act like this is easy. It’s actually very difficult to live this way. You don’t give advice like “Do not worry about anything….” if it’s easy. You say it because it is hard.
When you think about it, don't you just hate it when someone tells you not to worry? If there was nothing to worry about, you wouldn’t. But you're worried because there really is something to worry about. Perhaps, with the Christmas holidays looming, this is a good time to admit it’s almost impossible not to get caught up in all the things we have to worry about during this season. That makes it even more worth attempting, and with God’s grace, succeeding.
Frank R.
* * *
Philippians 4:4-7
As a baseball fan, I enjoyed reading about an old-time manager named Connie Mack. He managed major league baseball teams for over fifty years. He was one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. One of the secrets of his success was that he knew how to lead and inspire men. He knew that people were individuals. He treated his players individually in a manner that was fair and right. He learned to wait 24 hours before discussing mistakes with players. Otherwise, he said, he dealt with goofs too emotionally.
In the first three years as a major league baseball manager, Connie Mack's teams finished sixth, seventh, and eighth. He took the blame and demoted himself to the minor leagues to give himself time to learn how to handle men. When he came back to the major leagues again, he handled his players so successfully that he developed the best teams the world had ever known up to that time. Mack had another secret of good management: he didn't worry. “I discovered,” he explained, “that worry was threatening to wreck my career as a baseball manager. I saw how foolish it was and I forced myself to get so busy preparing to win games that I had no time left to worry over the ones that were already lost. You can't grind grain with water that has already gone down the creek.”
Connie Mack understood what the apostle Paul wrote of in the passage for today. “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Bill T.
* * *
Philippians 4:4-7
The early church father Marius Victorinus provides a timeless explanation on why Christians need not worry about the present, for hope lies in the eternal. Marius Victorinus, was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician and philosopher, who was a teacher of rhetoric in Rome until the Roman authorities prohibited him from teaching after he converted to Christianity. In his late years of life, in 355, he converted from being a pagan to being a Christian. It was his position that experiencing the peace of God allows us to understand God. The peace of God still “surpasses our intellect,” but we will know and understand God as peace. In his commentary on Philippians 4:7 Victorinus wrote:
When the peace of God has come upon us we shall understand God. There will be no discord, no disagreement, no quarrelsome arguments, nothing subject to question. This is hardly the case in worldly life. But it shall be so when we have the peace of God, wherein all understanding shall be ours. For peace is the state of being at rest. Already secure.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 3:7-18
Our baptism is what frees us from God’s wrath because we have become his child. No we don’t earn our salvation by doing good. If and when we do good it is through the power and spirit of God. He is the only way our tree can bear fruit. We may allow our tree to bear fruit, but it comes from God. The only thing we can do to stop our tree from bearing fruit is by not watering it! God does the pruning. That could frighten us.
We just need to hear God talking to our heart when we see our neighbor in need. My wife just took three pairs of shoes that I stopped wearing and gave them to our church. Sometimes when I have been walking in the downtown area, I have seen a man sitting on the sidewalk without shoes or maybe no coat. I either take him to a store, give him some money or go home and bring back shoes or coat for him. Yes, I usually do something, but the easiest thing is to just give some money.
We should also not complain when our taxes go up so that someone can have enough credit for medical needs or maybe even just an increase in their salary. That could apply to those who are very blessed by God with more money than they really need when they are given opportunities to help those in need at home or in the mission field.
Notice that John is not passing around an offering plate. He is inviting them to a free baptism to make up for all their sins. God’s gift cost his son a terrible death on a cross. How can we ever do anything to say “thank you” enough?
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 3:7-18
The story of John the Baptist reminds us that Christmas is about Christ, not to get side-tracked about the things of the world. John is the sort of witness that Pope Francis has called all of us to be. About such witnessing he has asserted:
We need credible witnesses. And when we have no witness, perhaps life goes well, we earn well, we have a profession, a good job, a family … but we are men and women who are 'parked' in life; that is, we do not go ahead, we do not move on. Like conformists: everything is a question of habit, a habit that keeps us tranquil, we have what we need, nothing is lacking, thank God... Those who do not take risks, do not move on. Take a risk on noble ideas, risk dirtying your hands, risk just like the Samaritan in the parable took a risk. When we are more or less calm in life, there is always the temptation of paralysis. … Go toward problems, come out of yourself and take risks. ”
Witnesses like John take risks to point people to Jesus. They make sure people know it’s all about God, not about enhancing their own reputation and prestige. They don’t get hung up on what Martin Luther King, Jr. once called The Drum-Major Instinct (A Testimony of Hope, pp.260,265).
Martin Luther once warned against the opposite of this kind of witnessing: It has always been the world’s misfortune to be infested with wiseacres and smart alecks, self-styled lights who explore their own way to heaven and presume to be lights of the world, to teach it and lead it to God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.22, pp.56-57)
When we are witnessed to Christ in the way Luther and Pope Francis would have it, then we will not get so weighed down with Christmas shopping as to forget to “receive Him [Christ], kiss and embrace Him, cling to Him, never allow ourselves to be torn from Him nor Him from us.” (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.82) Famed American preacher of the last century Norman Vincent Peale beautifully summarized what a Christmas season focused on Christ can mean: “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 3:7-18
Oh, God, what should I do? Have you ever asked that question? Do you ask it in times of stress and loss, or in times of joy and resourcing, or in both or all instances? Do you ask the question when you are making plans, or when your plans go awry? Do you ask the question when you are healthy or when you are ill?
All too often we ask God what we should do when we have tried everything we know to try. Then we turn to God and ask for help and guidance. How might our lives change if we reversed that? How might our lives be different if before we made a choice or a decision we sought the wisdom of God? Three times in this passage people ask John the Baptist what they should do? In each case, John reminds them to act with love and mercy, generosity and justice. This Advent I am going to try asking God what I should do before I make a choice, not after. I think it will make difference.
Bonnie B.
Wow, how can things get any better. God has not only taken our punishment, he has turned back our enemy. What more can we ask. We shouldn’t have to fear anything. God says this to Jerusalem. Can this apply to America also?
Isn’t it love that takes away our worry? When we were little kids we didn’t worry about anything as long as our parents were near us. God is bigger and more powerful.
Some of our immigrants are Christian. What do they think of this passage? What if their children have been taken from them. Would we not worry about any harm that was threatened to us or our family?
Yes we are glad that our sins have been taken from us. We can remember when our country was given honor and praise wherever we went. What seems to be changing that a bit? Are we loving our country more than our Lord? Is it “America first”?
Bob O.
* * *
Zephaniah 3:14-21
Christmas at its best is a time for getting us charged up, as time of renewal. This is a Lesson offering such hope of renewal. About this hope, and with words that can powerfully minister to those of us for whom the Christmas Season can lead to depression, Martin Luther once wrote: “He [God] does not want you to hate yourself anymore. Rather he loves you like a beloved daughter.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.18, p.359) Not that we are so special in ourselves. We dare not take credit for being special. As Luther once put it:
Therefore all human righteousness is nothing but sacrilege, which robs God of honor and glory. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.339)
Then he adds:
It follows therefore that a Christian does not just come into being, but he is planted by the work of God. Christ is the Gardener. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.336)
Mark E.
* * *
Zephaniah 3:14-20
The Lord is with you, in your midst, the prophet proclaims. You are redeemed. The Lord will rejoice over you with gladness. How often do you think about God rejoicing over you? I know I don’t think about it. I often am so hard on myself, so aware of my flaws and failings that I can’t figure out why God loves me, let alone that God might rejoice over me with gladness. Perhaps it has much to do with the value judgments I place on myself, which are often about what I do, not who I am.
God rejoices over us because of who we are -- God’s beloved children, brothers and sisters in the family of God. Parents have been known to rejoice over their children even when their behavior is not all it should be or all the parents would wish for. Parents simply rejoice that their children are. How much more does God, our eternal creator and parent, rejoice over us? Let’s dwell on that this advent season.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Philippians 4:4-7
Do not worry about anything. (Philippians 4:6)
There was a time when preachers would complain that Paul seemed to know nothing about the Jesus of the gospels -- what he said, what he did, what he taught. Yet there are a surprising number of echoes of the savior’s words in Paul’s writings.
This is one of them. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus asked his disciples to consider the lilies of the field, the birds of the air, and the natural world in general, and to recognize that there’s so much out of our control, yet God is taking care of it all. We are advised there -- and here -- not to worry.
Sometimes, though, we preachers act like this is easy. It’s actually very difficult to live this way. You don’t give advice like “Do not worry about anything….” if it’s easy. You say it because it is hard.
When you think about it, don't you just hate it when someone tells you not to worry? If there was nothing to worry about, you wouldn’t. But you're worried because there really is something to worry about. Perhaps, with the Christmas holidays looming, this is a good time to admit it’s almost impossible not to get caught up in all the things we have to worry about during this season. That makes it even more worth attempting, and with God’s grace, succeeding.
Frank R.
* * *
Philippians 4:4-7
As a baseball fan, I enjoyed reading about an old-time manager named Connie Mack. He managed major league baseball teams for over fifty years. He was one of the greatest managers in the history of the game. One of the secrets of his success was that he knew how to lead and inspire men. He knew that people were individuals. He treated his players individually in a manner that was fair and right. He learned to wait 24 hours before discussing mistakes with players. Otherwise, he said, he dealt with goofs too emotionally.
In the first three years as a major league baseball manager, Connie Mack's teams finished sixth, seventh, and eighth. He took the blame and demoted himself to the minor leagues to give himself time to learn how to handle men. When he came back to the major leagues again, he handled his players so successfully that he developed the best teams the world had ever known up to that time. Mack had another secret of good management: he didn't worry. “I discovered,” he explained, “that worry was threatening to wreck my career as a baseball manager. I saw how foolish it was and I forced myself to get so busy preparing to win games that I had no time left to worry over the ones that were already lost. You can't grind grain with water that has already gone down the creek.”
Connie Mack understood what the apostle Paul wrote of in the passage for today. “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Bill T.
* * *
Philippians 4:4-7
The early church father Marius Victorinus provides a timeless explanation on why Christians need not worry about the present, for hope lies in the eternal. Marius Victorinus, was a Roman grammarian, rhetorician and philosopher, who was a teacher of rhetoric in Rome until the Roman authorities prohibited him from teaching after he converted to Christianity. In his late years of life, in 355, he converted from being a pagan to being a Christian. It was his position that experiencing the peace of God allows us to understand God. The peace of God still “surpasses our intellect,” but we will know and understand God as peace. In his commentary on Philippians 4:7 Victorinus wrote:
When the peace of God has come upon us we shall understand God. There will be no discord, no disagreement, no quarrelsome arguments, nothing subject to question. This is hardly the case in worldly life. But it shall be so when we have the peace of God, wherein all understanding shall be ours. For peace is the state of being at rest. Already secure.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 3:7-18
Our baptism is what frees us from God’s wrath because we have become his child. No we don’t earn our salvation by doing good. If and when we do good it is through the power and spirit of God. He is the only way our tree can bear fruit. We may allow our tree to bear fruit, but it comes from God. The only thing we can do to stop our tree from bearing fruit is by not watering it! God does the pruning. That could frighten us.
We just need to hear God talking to our heart when we see our neighbor in need. My wife just took three pairs of shoes that I stopped wearing and gave them to our church. Sometimes when I have been walking in the downtown area, I have seen a man sitting on the sidewalk without shoes or maybe no coat. I either take him to a store, give him some money or go home and bring back shoes or coat for him. Yes, I usually do something, but the easiest thing is to just give some money.
We should also not complain when our taxes go up so that someone can have enough credit for medical needs or maybe even just an increase in their salary. That could apply to those who are very blessed by God with more money than they really need when they are given opportunities to help those in need at home or in the mission field.
Notice that John is not passing around an offering plate. He is inviting them to a free baptism to make up for all their sins. God’s gift cost his son a terrible death on a cross. How can we ever do anything to say “thank you” enough?
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 3:7-18
The story of John the Baptist reminds us that Christmas is about Christ, not to get side-tracked about the things of the world. John is the sort of witness that Pope Francis has called all of us to be. About such witnessing he has asserted:
We need credible witnesses. And when we have no witness, perhaps life goes well, we earn well, we have a profession, a good job, a family … but we are men and women who are 'parked' in life; that is, we do not go ahead, we do not move on. Like conformists: everything is a question of habit, a habit that keeps us tranquil, we have what we need, nothing is lacking, thank God... Those who do not take risks, do not move on. Take a risk on noble ideas, risk dirtying your hands, risk just like the Samaritan in the parable took a risk. When we are more or less calm in life, there is always the temptation of paralysis. … Go toward problems, come out of yourself and take risks. ”
Witnesses like John take risks to point people to Jesus. They make sure people know it’s all about God, not about enhancing their own reputation and prestige. They don’t get hung up on what Martin Luther King, Jr. once called The Drum-Major Instinct (A Testimony of Hope, pp.260,265).
Martin Luther once warned against the opposite of this kind of witnessing: It has always been the world’s misfortune to be infested with wiseacres and smart alecks, self-styled lights who explore their own way to heaven and presume to be lights of the world, to teach it and lead it to God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.22, pp.56-57)
When we are witnessed to Christ in the way Luther and Pope Francis would have it, then we will not get so weighed down with Christmas shopping as to forget to “receive Him [Christ], kiss and embrace Him, cling to Him, never allow ourselves to be torn from Him nor Him from us.” (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.82) Famed American preacher of the last century Norman Vincent Peale beautifully summarized what a Christmas season focused on Christ can mean: “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 3:7-18
Oh, God, what should I do? Have you ever asked that question? Do you ask it in times of stress and loss, or in times of joy and resourcing, or in both or all instances? Do you ask the question when you are making plans, or when your plans go awry? Do you ask the question when you are healthy or when you are ill?
All too often we ask God what we should do when we have tried everything we know to try. Then we turn to God and ask for help and guidance. How might our lives change if we reversed that? How might our lives be different if before we made a choice or a decision we sought the wisdom of God? Three times in this passage people ask John the Baptist what they should do? In each case, John reminds them to act with love and mercy, generosity and justice. This Advent I am going to try asking God what I should do before I make a choice, not after. I think it will make difference.
Bonnie B.
