Sermon Illustrations for Christmas 1 (2013)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 63:7-9
When the United States occupied the Philippines in the 1890s, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem that promoted our obligation to lift up the socially inferior inhabitants of that land. Though the poem was intended to be specifically about the Filipinos, it was applied to our colonization of every Third World nation. The title of the 1899 poem is very descriptive of its message: White Man's Burden. The poem reads in part:
Take up the White Man's burden --
Send forth the best ye breed --
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild --
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Application: Isaiah understood that "Surely, they are my people." It is a message that most of us fail to comprehend when we allow prejudices to dominate our thinking.
Ron L.
Isaiah 63:7-9
Recently my wife came home from a ladies Bible study and related this story of mistaken compassion.
One of the ladies related that she had been at a restaurant and saw two army soldiers eating dinner. She felt a sense of patriotic pride and wanted to do something for them. Calling the waitress over to the table, she told her she wanted to pay their bill. When the soldiers were finished they started to pay, and the waitress informed them that the lady had paid for their dinner. Going over to the table, they told the woman that she didn't have to do that. She told them how much she appreciated their efforts to keep our country safe and that this was the least she could do. After she had finished, one of the men thanked her and said, "Lady, this is camouflage gear and we are hunters ready to go out into the field to hunt. We aren't soldiers." The lady was a bit embarrassed!
Reading the passage from Isaiah reminds me that our God's compassion and kindness is never misguided. He knows his children and loves them no matter who they are or what they have done.
Derl K.
Isaiah 63:7-9
The Sunday after Christmas is calculated to be a bit of a "downer" compared to the Christmas festival itself. Post-holiday blues, back-to-work, and smaller crowds in church will do that to you. Martin Luther has good advice for such a day like this one: "We must not think as we feel" (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 357).
Hanging around Jesus changes those feelings. John Calvin speaks of God's "incomparable love," that his "is not wearied in doing good…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VII/2, pp. 343, 346). This insight has important implications when dealing with the post-Christmas blues and other hard times. The Reformer writes: "… in adversity we ought instantly to remember those benefits which the Lord bestowed on his people, as if they were placed before our eyes" (Ibid., p. 344).
Keeping in mind Christ's blessings as present realities is another way of sensing Christ's presence in the present, to appreciate that the babe in the manger celebrated earlier in the week has not gone away. The celebration of Christmas continues! The founder of existentialist philosophy Soren Kierkegaard makes this point well:
And so it will always prove when becoming a Christian in truth comes to mean to become contemporary with Christ. And if becoming a Christian does not mean this, then all talk of becoming a Christian is nonsense… For in relation to the absolute there is only one tense: the present.
(Training in Christianity, p. 67)
Mark E.
Hebrews 2:10-18
If we are suffering in any way, it can help to know that God's only son was sent to suffer for us. The people in that day were looking for a mighty leader who would get rid of the Romans and make things easier for the children of Abraham. That might have solved the problem for a little while in that day for those people, but instead God chose to suffer so that ALL the people from that day on might find a different kind of freedom: A freedom from worry and concern about the brief sufferings that all are going through. Turn to Him and He will understand! We see the extreme suffering He volunteered for when He said in the Garden, "Let this cup pass from me." He could have refused the suffering, but then it would have been left for us to endure. The fact that He endured it for our sakes makes Him our Savior! One schismatic group said that His Spirit left His body at the crucifixion so He didn't have to suffer, but then why did He say that prayer?
It is hard to realize that God allowed Himself to become like one of us -- starting as a baby. Growing up in a humble working family, traveling about with no place to lay His head!
Some may complain that, after all, Jesus had a home and a job helping his dad, BUT then he went off to accomplish his mission, which involved rejection and insults and eventually a cross!
As a missionary, a soldier in the Lord's army, I remember the tension of knowing that not just me but my whole family shared the dangers in Nepal. There was not a whole army of missionaries armed with guns ready to help us. There was no government to go to bat for us if we were suffering injustice. There were some Christians being killed for their faith while we were in Nepal. Some were arrested and sent to jail and suffered torture. If you had a few dollars to bribe the authorities, they might let you go FOR A WHILE!
Yes, we are made perfect through suffering, but we have to look forward to the reward for those who endure. We can't see heaven down here, we can only trust the one who opened the door to that reward. If He suffered for it, it must be worthwhile!
If we are tempted, we can have peace because we know that He also was tempted and will help us endure. He was made human, so He knows what we are going through! He has made us His brothers (and sisters). Trust in Him!
Bob O.
Matthew 2:13-23
The war between Austria and Piedmont, which erupted in April 1859, was one of the bloodiest ever recorded. The battle of Magenta and Solferino was brutal beyond description. So bloody were these battles that the color magenta was named after the deep red blood-soaked soil of the battlefield. It was also after this conflict that the Red Cross was established.
Application: Magenta was the color of Bethlehem in the murderous act of Herod.
Ron L.
Matthew 2:13-23
Finding something spiritually meaningful in the Holy Family's fleeing to Egypt is a tall order. Given the rumors of Herod's evil plans, it seemed like common sense to flee. And that is precisely the point of the dilemma.
Common sense has fallen on hard times in our context, a casualty of the relativism of our day. A 2009 Barna poll confirms that 2 out of 3 Americans do not believe in absolute truth (see Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind). And if we cannot agree on what is truth, common sense is impossible. But some of the great forebears in the faith believed in common sense, saw it as God's good gift to us. Martin Luther expressly cited this story as an example of using ordinary means at our disposal, calling his hearers to do the same (Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, pp. 263-264). John Wesley invited his followers to use reason, common sense, when dealing with the ways of the world:
What is it that reason can do? And who can deny that it can do much, very much, in the affairs of common life?... No thinking man can doubt by reason is of considerable service in things relating to the present world.
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 354)
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth uttered similar sentiments:
The wisdom of the world or of men is not, therefore, something which we must rate too low. In many cases it may have a very high value.
(Church Dogmatics, Vol. III/4, p. 529)
If we remember that common sense is God's good gift, one of His ways of caring for us, then we can begin to respond to the realities unearthed in a 2006 survey conducted by Baylor University which revealed that nearly 2 in 5 Americans do not believe God is engaged with us in our daily lives. Use your God-given common sense!
Mark E.
Matthew 2:13-23
William McCumber says that the men in this section of the scripture are "unwise men." These religious men knew the scriptures in their minds, but not in their hearts. They were "custodians of the Bible and hope of Israel," but never got excited about the possibility of the true messiah. The sighting of the star and the report about the journey of the magi did not propel them to explore the hope. Instead they rolled up their scrolls and went back to their religious routines of reading without understanding the truth.
God wants us to be wise people and to explore the possibilities of spirituality with a deep understanding of his Word in our hearts. (William McCumber, Beacon Bible Exposition, p. 22).
Derl K.
When the United States occupied the Philippines in the 1890s, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem that promoted our obligation to lift up the socially inferior inhabitants of that land. Though the poem was intended to be specifically about the Filipinos, it was applied to our colonization of every Third World nation. The title of the 1899 poem is very descriptive of its message: White Man's Burden. The poem reads in part:
Take up the White Man's burden --
Send forth the best ye breed --
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild --
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Application: Isaiah understood that "Surely, they are my people." It is a message that most of us fail to comprehend when we allow prejudices to dominate our thinking.
Ron L.
Isaiah 63:7-9
Recently my wife came home from a ladies Bible study and related this story of mistaken compassion.
One of the ladies related that she had been at a restaurant and saw two army soldiers eating dinner. She felt a sense of patriotic pride and wanted to do something for them. Calling the waitress over to the table, she told her she wanted to pay their bill. When the soldiers were finished they started to pay, and the waitress informed them that the lady had paid for their dinner. Going over to the table, they told the woman that she didn't have to do that. She told them how much she appreciated their efforts to keep our country safe and that this was the least she could do. After she had finished, one of the men thanked her and said, "Lady, this is camouflage gear and we are hunters ready to go out into the field to hunt. We aren't soldiers." The lady was a bit embarrassed!
Reading the passage from Isaiah reminds me that our God's compassion and kindness is never misguided. He knows his children and loves them no matter who they are or what they have done.
Derl K.
Isaiah 63:7-9
The Sunday after Christmas is calculated to be a bit of a "downer" compared to the Christmas festival itself. Post-holiday blues, back-to-work, and smaller crowds in church will do that to you. Martin Luther has good advice for such a day like this one: "We must not think as we feel" (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 357).
Hanging around Jesus changes those feelings. John Calvin speaks of God's "incomparable love," that his "is not wearied in doing good…" (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VII/2, pp. 343, 346). This insight has important implications when dealing with the post-Christmas blues and other hard times. The Reformer writes: "… in adversity we ought instantly to remember those benefits which the Lord bestowed on his people, as if they were placed before our eyes" (Ibid., p. 344).
Keeping in mind Christ's blessings as present realities is another way of sensing Christ's presence in the present, to appreciate that the babe in the manger celebrated earlier in the week has not gone away. The celebration of Christmas continues! The founder of existentialist philosophy Soren Kierkegaard makes this point well:
And so it will always prove when becoming a Christian in truth comes to mean to become contemporary with Christ. And if becoming a Christian does not mean this, then all talk of becoming a Christian is nonsense… For in relation to the absolute there is only one tense: the present.
(Training in Christianity, p. 67)
Mark E.
Hebrews 2:10-18
If we are suffering in any way, it can help to know that God's only son was sent to suffer for us. The people in that day were looking for a mighty leader who would get rid of the Romans and make things easier for the children of Abraham. That might have solved the problem for a little while in that day for those people, but instead God chose to suffer so that ALL the people from that day on might find a different kind of freedom: A freedom from worry and concern about the brief sufferings that all are going through. Turn to Him and He will understand! We see the extreme suffering He volunteered for when He said in the Garden, "Let this cup pass from me." He could have refused the suffering, but then it would have been left for us to endure. The fact that He endured it for our sakes makes Him our Savior! One schismatic group said that His Spirit left His body at the crucifixion so He didn't have to suffer, but then why did He say that prayer?
It is hard to realize that God allowed Himself to become like one of us -- starting as a baby. Growing up in a humble working family, traveling about with no place to lay His head!
Some may complain that, after all, Jesus had a home and a job helping his dad, BUT then he went off to accomplish his mission, which involved rejection and insults and eventually a cross!
As a missionary, a soldier in the Lord's army, I remember the tension of knowing that not just me but my whole family shared the dangers in Nepal. There was not a whole army of missionaries armed with guns ready to help us. There was no government to go to bat for us if we were suffering injustice. There were some Christians being killed for their faith while we were in Nepal. Some were arrested and sent to jail and suffered torture. If you had a few dollars to bribe the authorities, they might let you go FOR A WHILE!
Yes, we are made perfect through suffering, but we have to look forward to the reward for those who endure. We can't see heaven down here, we can only trust the one who opened the door to that reward. If He suffered for it, it must be worthwhile!
If we are tempted, we can have peace because we know that He also was tempted and will help us endure. He was made human, so He knows what we are going through! He has made us His brothers (and sisters). Trust in Him!
Bob O.
Matthew 2:13-23
The war between Austria and Piedmont, which erupted in April 1859, was one of the bloodiest ever recorded. The battle of Magenta and Solferino was brutal beyond description. So bloody were these battles that the color magenta was named after the deep red blood-soaked soil of the battlefield. It was also after this conflict that the Red Cross was established.
Application: Magenta was the color of Bethlehem in the murderous act of Herod.
Ron L.
Matthew 2:13-23
Finding something spiritually meaningful in the Holy Family's fleeing to Egypt is a tall order. Given the rumors of Herod's evil plans, it seemed like common sense to flee. And that is precisely the point of the dilemma.
Common sense has fallen on hard times in our context, a casualty of the relativism of our day. A 2009 Barna poll confirms that 2 out of 3 Americans do not believe in absolute truth (see Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind). And if we cannot agree on what is truth, common sense is impossible. But some of the great forebears in the faith believed in common sense, saw it as God's good gift to us. Martin Luther expressly cited this story as an example of using ordinary means at our disposal, calling his hearers to do the same (Complete Sermons, Vol. 7, pp. 263-264). John Wesley invited his followers to use reason, common sense, when dealing with the ways of the world:
What is it that reason can do? And who can deny that it can do much, very much, in the affairs of common life?... No thinking man can doubt by reason is of considerable service in things relating to the present world.
(The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 6, p. 354)
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth uttered similar sentiments:
The wisdom of the world or of men is not, therefore, something which we must rate too low. In many cases it may have a very high value.
(Church Dogmatics, Vol. III/4, p. 529)
If we remember that common sense is God's good gift, one of His ways of caring for us, then we can begin to respond to the realities unearthed in a 2006 survey conducted by Baylor University which revealed that nearly 2 in 5 Americans do not believe God is engaged with us in our daily lives. Use your God-given common sense!
Mark E.
Matthew 2:13-23
William McCumber says that the men in this section of the scripture are "unwise men." These religious men knew the scriptures in their minds, but not in their hearts. They were "custodians of the Bible and hope of Israel," but never got excited about the possibility of the true messiah. The sighting of the star and the report about the journey of the magi did not propel them to explore the hope. Instead they rolled up their scrolls and went back to their religious routines of reading without understanding the truth.
God wants us to be wise people and to explore the possibilities of spirituality with a deep understanding of his Word in our hearts. (William McCumber, Beacon Bible Exposition, p. 22).
Derl K.
