Sermon Illustrations for Christ The King (Proper 29) (2020)
Illustration
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Rachel Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles. Though she was known for her work in television and in the movies, she became an international celebrity when she married Prince Harry on May 19, 2018, and became a member of the British Royal family. She received the title of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex. In January 2020, the couple announced that that they were stepping back from their official duties in the royal family. They then relocated to Los Angeles.
Markle gave the commencement address to the 2020 graduating class of her high school alma mater in Los Angles, the Immaculate Heart High School. After her address was prepared, social events caused her to rewrite her speech. The death of George Floyd, on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, as a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, causing him to suffocate caused an outrage across the nation. The incident caused society to examine and admit to the systematic racism that has prevailed in our country for centuries.
This incident caused her to remember the racism she experienced growing up as a biracial girl in Los Angeles, as her mother was African American and her father was of European ancestry. She also remembered the 1992 riots that followed the police beating of Rodney King. She said in her address, “And those memories don’t go away.”
In her closing remarks to the 2020 graduates Markle said, “I know sometimes people say, ‘How many times do we need to rebuild?’ Well, you know, we’re going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we.”
Ron L.
* * *
Ezekiel 34:11-16. 20-24
You may have seen the movie Hacksaw Ridge and if you have, you’ve heard of a World War II medic who singlehandedly saved the lives of seventy-five American soldiers on the Maeda Escarpment of Okinawa in 1945. His name was Desmond Doss, a corporal in the United States Army and a dedicated member of the Seventh Day Adventist church. Doss did not believe in killing but found himself in the awkward spot of being in the army. On one day in 1945, the fearless medic held his ground at the plateau in Okinawa or what the Americans called “Hacksaw Ridge.” Gunfire and mortar shells erupting around him, Doss treated the wounded American soldiers that others may have left for dead.
As the blasts continued, Doss kept working. For more than twelve hours, covered in blood not his own, he crawled and dragged each hurt member of his company to the edge of the ridge and carefully lowered them down. It was a day of incredible rescue.
Rescue is at the heart of what God promises to do for his people in this passage. Their leaders have failed them and they’re in exile. Verse twelve reveals God’s heart. “As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.”
God was in the rescue business for his people then and he still is for his people now.
Bill T.
* * *
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
We are approaching what we call, almost certainly with a touch of dread, “the holidays.” This Sunday, the reign of Christ, represents the end of the church year. Next week is the beginning of the church’s new year. During this time, we will celebrate Thanksgiving, the Christmas holidays, and the secular New Year as well. At these times, we honor God and share time with friends and family. These days are an obligation, but hopefully a joyful obligation. We see in this passage from Exodus that the people are commanded to celebrate certain holidays as well: a weekly Sabbath, along with “the festival of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the festival of gathering at the turn of the year.” (Exodus 34:22).
This week we celebrate Christ as king, and the king, like a Good Shepherd, knows what’s good for us — days off, whether we want them or not, and holidays, whether we dread them or not. So, don’t try to get out of “the holidays.” Receive them as a gift from the king in a good spirit of obedience.
Frank R.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Who are those for whom you give thanks, either for their faith in God or their faith in you? I can look back at those people who have been gifts in my life: my parents, my first grade teacher, a friend who was a priest, a somewhat cranky woman who taught me to love tea, professors who inspired me, pastors who encouraged me, friends who support me. I can picture most of them — see them in my mind’s eye. Can you do the same? Am I that person for someone else? I don’t know but I hope so. I hope I am an inspiration to some, a support to others, a teacher to many, and a friend, a faithful friend. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus and commends them for their faithfulness, their love. Will I be remembered for my love? Will you? That is my prayer and my hope this day.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
At the end of the [church] year it is natural to reflect on final things and how things stand. The polls say it is not very good for American religion. Polls report that the Nones (the religiously unaffiliated) are the fastest growing segment of the American population. But a 2018 Pew Research Center poll reveals that 92% of the American public believe in a higher power. Christ the King Sunday, focusing on Christ’s transcendence, can plug into these sentiments. The one Christians call Christ is the name of that higher power! Colonial America’s greatest preacher, Jonathan Edwards well expresses these commitments:
He [Christ] is everywhere present with His all-seeing eye. He is in heaven and hell, and in and through every part of the creation He is where every devil is... He is present by His knowledge and His essence... He seeth into the innermost recesses of the hearts of those miserable spirits, He seeth all the sorrow and anguish that are there; for He upholds them in being. (Works, Vol.2, p.69)
Christ the Lord rules and embodies all the hopes, dreams, and yearnings of all human beings. Martin Luther made this point in 1543, as he claimed:
For God has made everything depend on this Man, has given everything into His Hand. He who has Him is to have all; he who does not have Him is to have nothing. (What Luther Says, p.202)
Famed 20th-century Reformed theologian Karl Barth well expresses these commitments, claiming that Christ and the church are “the goal and end of all the ways of God.” (Church Dogmatics, Vol.III/2, p.301) These are comforting words for those who remember what happened on this day 57 years ago (the Kennedy assassination).
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
I’m not a rancher or anything close to resembling one. Like a lot of people, I suppose, I thought all sheep looked pretty much the same and goats did, too. It appears I was mistaken in that assumption. The most common breeds of sheep and goats in the United States look very different from each other. Sheep are woolly and fluffy. Goats are hairy and bearded.
In many other parts of the world, though, sheep and goats look much more similar to one another; they can even resemble the exact opposite of our American images. The Barbados Blackbelly sheep is a hairy, bearded creature that looks like what I expect a goat to look like. The Angora goat, however, resembles a white, furry fluffball, in other words, my ideal sheep.
You can’t always distinguish a sheep and a goat based on looks. You can differentiate sheep and goats more often by how they behave. Sheep decide where to go based on the voice of the shepherd. Goats, on the other hand, go where they please. You might describe it this way, sheep follow the shepherd, but the goatherd follows the goats.
That’s an important factor to note looking at this familiar text. It won’t be based on looks when Jesus divides the sheep and the goats. It will be based on who actually followed the shepherd.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 24:31-46
Apocalyptic scriptures are an essential part of scripture. God is in control of history. In God’s time all will be well. In the meantime, things can get pretty rough.
They are not, however, a call to calculation. They’re a warning to be ready always. Too many people are worried about figuring out exactly when Jesus will return instead of being about the business of the kingdom.
In his essay “The World’s Last Night,” C.S. Lewis emphasized that since Jesus made it clear that no one knows when the world might end it is far more important to be about the work of a disciple. “For what comes is Judgment: happy are those whom it finds labouring in their vocations. …Those pigs will never in fact be fed, the great campaign against White Slavery or Governmental Tyranny will never in fact proceed to victory. No matter; you were at our post when the Inspection came.”
Yes, one has to ask: Are you at your post?
Frank R.
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
After the death of George Floyd, on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, as a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, causing him to suffocate, there was outrage across the nation. The incident caused society to examine and admit to the systematic racism that has prevailed in our country for centuries. There was a new awakening.
The awakening just did not come from college protesters, as one would expect; but, businesses, sport franchises, city officials, state governors, college administrators all began to examine their racial heritage. And, what may have been for the first time in our history, they all banded together to make meaningful changes. One of their many pursuits was to remove the names of buildings of individuals who, even if they had contributed much to society, they also promoted racist views and agendas.
During this time of new awareness, Beyonce gave a commencement speech by way of YouTube to all the graduates of the class of 2020. The commencement address was titled “Run the World.” In her speech she said that their “collective voice” could change society, “letting the world know that black lives matter.” She then shared what it was like to be a woman of color trying to establish herself in the music business. The result was that she had to build her own music business. Beyonce said, “Not enough black women had a seat at the table, so I had to go and chop down that wood and build my own table. Then I had to invite the best there was to have a seat.”
Ron L.
Rachel Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981, in Los Angeles. Though she was known for her work in television and in the movies, she became an international celebrity when she married Prince Harry on May 19, 2018, and became a member of the British Royal family. She received the title of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex. In January 2020, the couple announced that that they were stepping back from their official duties in the royal family. They then relocated to Los Angeles.
Markle gave the commencement address to the 2020 graduating class of her high school alma mater in Los Angles, the Immaculate Heart High School. After her address was prepared, social events caused her to rewrite her speech. The death of George Floyd, on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, as a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, causing him to suffocate caused an outrage across the nation. The incident caused society to examine and admit to the systematic racism that has prevailed in our country for centuries.
This incident caused her to remember the racism she experienced growing up as a biracial girl in Los Angeles, as her mother was African American and her father was of European ancestry. She also remembered the 1992 riots that followed the police beating of Rodney King. She said in her address, “And those memories don’t go away.”
In her closing remarks to the 2020 graduates Markle said, “I know sometimes people say, ‘How many times do we need to rebuild?’ Well, you know, we’re going to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild until it is rebuilt. Because when the foundation is broken, so are we.”
Ron L.
* * *
Ezekiel 34:11-16. 20-24
You may have seen the movie Hacksaw Ridge and if you have, you’ve heard of a World War II medic who singlehandedly saved the lives of seventy-five American soldiers on the Maeda Escarpment of Okinawa in 1945. His name was Desmond Doss, a corporal in the United States Army and a dedicated member of the Seventh Day Adventist church. Doss did not believe in killing but found himself in the awkward spot of being in the army. On one day in 1945, the fearless medic held his ground at the plateau in Okinawa or what the Americans called “Hacksaw Ridge.” Gunfire and mortar shells erupting around him, Doss treated the wounded American soldiers that others may have left for dead.
As the blasts continued, Doss kept working. For more than twelve hours, covered in blood not his own, he crawled and dragged each hurt member of his company to the edge of the ridge and carefully lowered them down. It was a day of incredible rescue.
Rescue is at the heart of what God promises to do for his people in this passage. Their leaders have failed them and they’re in exile. Verse twelve reveals God’s heart. “As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.”
God was in the rescue business for his people then and he still is for his people now.
Bill T.
* * *
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
We are approaching what we call, almost certainly with a touch of dread, “the holidays.” This Sunday, the reign of Christ, represents the end of the church year. Next week is the beginning of the church’s new year. During this time, we will celebrate Thanksgiving, the Christmas holidays, and the secular New Year as well. At these times, we honor God and share time with friends and family. These days are an obligation, but hopefully a joyful obligation. We see in this passage from Exodus that the people are commanded to celebrate certain holidays as well: a weekly Sabbath, along with “the festival of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the festival of gathering at the turn of the year.” (Exodus 34:22).
This week we celebrate Christ as king, and the king, like a Good Shepherd, knows what’s good for us — days off, whether we want them or not, and holidays, whether we dread them or not. So, don’t try to get out of “the holidays.” Receive them as a gift from the king in a good spirit of obedience.
Frank R.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
Who are those for whom you give thanks, either for their faith in God or their faith in you? I can look back at those people who have been gifts in my life: my parents, my first grade teacher, a friend who was a priest, a somewhat cranky woman who taught me to love tea, professors who inspired me, pastors who encouraged me, friends who support me. I can picture most of them — see them in my mind’s eye. Can you do the same? Am I that person for someone else? I don’t know but I hope so. I hope I am an inspiration to some, a support to others, a teacher to many, and a friend, a faithful friend. Paul writes to the church in Ephesus and commends them for their faithfulness, their love. Will I be remembered for my love? Will you? That is my prayer and my hope this day.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Ephesians 1:15-23
At the end of the [church] year it is natural to reflect on final things and how things stand. The polls say it is not very good for American religion. Polls report that the Nones (the religiously unaffiliated) are the fastest growing segment of the American population. But a 2018 Pew Research Center poll reveals that 92% of the American public believe in a higher power. Christ the King Sunday, focusing on Christ’s transcendence, can plug into these sentiments. The one Christians call Christ is the name of that higher power! Colonial America’s greatest preacher, Jonathan Edwards well expresses these commitments:
He [Christ] is everywhere present with His all-seeing eye. He is in heaven and hell, and in and through every part of the creation He is where every devil is... He is present by His knowledge and His essence... He seeth into the innermost recesses of the hearts of those miserable spirits, He seeth all the sorrow and anguish that are there; for He upholds them in being. (Works, Vol.2, p.69)
Christ the Lord rules and embodies all the hopes, dreams, and yearnings of all human beings. Martin Luther made this point in 1543, as he claimed:
For God has made everything depend on this Man, has given everything into His Hand. He who has Him is to have all; he who does not have Him is to have nothing. (What Luther Says, p.202)
Famed 20th-century Reformed theologian Karl Barth well expresses these commitments, claiming that Christ and the church are “the goal and end of all the ways of God.” (Church Dogmatics, Vol.III/2, p.301) These are comforting words for those who remember what happened on this day 57 years ago (the Kennedy assassination).
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
I’m not a rancher or anything close to resembling one. Like a lot of people, I suppose, I thought all sheep looked pretty much the same and goats did, too. It appears I was mistaken in that assumption. The most common breeds of sheep and goats in the United States look very different from each other. Sheep are woolly and fluffy. Goats are hairy and bearded.
In many other parts of the world, though, sheep and goats look much more similar to one another; they can even resemble the exact opposite of our American images. The Barbados Blackbelly sheep is a hairy, bearded creature that looks like what I expect a goat to look like. The Angora goat, however, resembles a white, furry fluffball, in other words, my ideal sheep.
You can’t always distinguish a sheep and a goat based on looks. You can differentiate sheep and goats more often by how they behave. Sheep decide where to go based on the voice of the shepherd. Goats, on the other hand, go where they please. You might describe it this way, sheep follow the shepherd, but the goatherd follows the goats.
That’s an important factor to note looking at this familiar text. It won’t be based on looks when Jesus divides the sheep and the goats. It will be based on who actually followed the shepherd.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 24:31-46
Apocalyptic scriptures are an essential part of scripture. God is in control of history. In God’s time all will be well. In the meantime, things can get pretty rough.
They are not, however, a call to calculation. They’re a warning to be ready always. Too many people are worried about figuring out exactly when Jesus will return instead of being about the business of the kingdom.
In his essay “The World’s Last Night,” C.S. Lewis emphasized that since Jesus made it clear that no one knows when the world might end it is far more important to be about the work of a disciple. “For what comes is Judgment: happy are those whom it finds labouring in their vocations. …Those pigs will never in fact be fed, the great campaign against White Slavery or Governmental Tyranny will never in fact proceed to victory. No matter; you were at our post when the Inspection came.”
Yes, one has to ask: Are you at your post?
Frank R.
* * *
Matthew 25:31-46
After the death of George Floyd, on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, as a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, causing him to suffocate, there was outrage across the nation. The incident caused society to examine and admit to the systematic racism that has prevailed in our country for centuries. There was a new awakening.
The awakening just did not come from college protesters, as one would expect; but, businesses, sport franchises, city officials, state governors, college administrators all began to examine their racial heritage. And, what may have been for the first time in our history, they all banded together to make meaningful changes. One of their many pursuits was to remove the names of buildings of individuals who, even if they had contributed much to society, they also promoted racist views and agendas.
During this time of new awareness, Beyonce gave a commencement speech by way of YouTube to all the graduates of the class of 2020. The commencement address was titled “Run the World.” In her speech she said that their “collective voice” could change society, “letting the world know that black lives matter.” She then shared what it was like to be a woman of color trying to establish herself in the music business. The result was that she had to build her own music business. Beyonce said, “Not enough black women had a seat at the table, so I had to go and chop down that wood and build my own table. Then I had to invite the best there was to have a seat.”
Ron L.
