Sermon Illustrations for Christmas 1 (2020)
Illustration
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
There is something special, wonderful really, about restoration. Erasmus once said, “By a carpenter mankind was made, and only by that carpenter can mankind be remade.”
Dr. Howard Hendricks, noted teacher and speaker, understood the power of restoration. He once told the story of a young man who strayed from the Lord but was finally brought back by the help of a friend who really loved him. Upon meeting the young man, Hendricks asked him how it felt away from the Lord. The young man replied it seemed like he was out at sea, in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were on the shore hurling biblical accusations at him about justice, penalty, and wrong.
The young man continued, “But there was one Christian brother who actually swam out to get me and would not let me go. I fought him, but he pushed aside my fighting, grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and took me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the reason I was restored. He would not let me go.”
“He would not let me go.” That’s a powerful statement and one that might apply to God and his people. God intends for the world to know of the restoration of his people. “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch” (62:1).
Bill T.
* * *
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
Part of the theme of this scripture has to do with renaming Israel. Whereas in our era, names are often chosen because of their sound, or to honor someone who previously had that name, in ancient times a name described what that person was. Part of the history of the prophets had been to call a failing nation to account. Now the prophet states that God will rename the nation as a way of changing the future of what had become a failed nation! This scripture speaks of the nation as God’s bride, and of being adorned with the bride’s clothes, and finally taking on a new name.
In our own time, a person may choose to change their name or the spelling of that name to signify a new start. But with or without an actual name change, we may wish to change our identity as individuals or as a congregation to seek new life, new ministries, and a new path. This may mean making resolutions (it is nearly a new y ear after all). As a congregation, instead of a name change, a new vision statement or motto may help direct the congregation towards a new self-identity, one of hope and triumph.
Frank R.
* * *
Galatians 4:4-7
This is a text all about freedom. Some say we have too much freedom in 21st century America, that we’ve lost our sense of duty and obligation. American social worker and philosopher Eric Hoffer has a done a nice job explaining why we need more freedom as he wrote: “The individual who has to justify his existence by his efforts is in eternal bondage to himself. One seeking to prove himself or herself by her performance is an addict.” In the tough job market in which we find ourselves, where we’re always having to prove ourselves, always measuring ourselves by the latest media messages or internet posts, most of us are in bondage.
Christian freedom does not entail a life of “do whatever feels good.” Martin Luther made that clear at a number of points:
A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.
(Luther’s Works, Vol.31, p.344)
The believer in Christ he calls a child... This distinction is based upon the fact that self-righteous one does not serve in the same spirit that actuates the child and heir conscious of his own inheritance. He renders his service in the spirit of a day-laborer upon another’s property... The child confidently expects to remain heir to the estate. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, pp.232-233)
When you are free, like a child, the work you do is a joy, an expression of love. The child also has a lot more freedom in what he or she does for the family than the laborer. Children are not only more confident of their acceptance, but free really to be themselves. Christian freedom is a lot like the ancient African theologian Augustine said: “Love, and do what thou wilt.” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.7, p.504) When you’re filled with the love of God, everything you do is the right thing to do in God’s eyes. That’s the way loving parents are with their children. And that’s real freedom!
Mark E.
* * *
Galatians 4:4-7
Long before my mother died, she began distributing her favorite possessions to us. Her favorite dishes, books, pictures, poems. All these were shared with her children, given to them as gifts for us to enjoy while she was still with us. I remember when she first started doing this, I wondered why. She was clear. She wanted to watch us enjoy her gifts and she wanted to assure we each had things of hers that evoked memories. It was a brilliant strategy. I cannot look at the dishes, books, pictures, without feeling her presence, almost in a physical sense. Paul reminds the church that we are children, heirs of God and we do not need to wait to celebrate. We can, in this very moment, recognize the love of God in our lives, offered freely for us to enjoy. What a blessing!
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 2:22-40
Leviticus 12:6-8 mandates the sacrifice of a sheep on the occasion of the presentation of a child. That could be an expensive proposition, so the passage also provides a less expensive alternative. Joseph and Mary take advantage of this second option. When it comes to Sunday school class parties, youth conventions, going out as a group, or working together to improve the church building, there needs to be sensitivity that people are not excluded, and this needs tact as well as the willingness on the part of some to give discretely, without recognition or acknowledgement. There needs to be ways in which people can give in kind rather than in quantity. There is nothing second rate or second class about the offering of these young parents in the temple.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 2:22-40
I am a fan of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. In the mid-1970’s and throughout the 1980’s the Royals were a good team. After winning the World Series in 1985, though, the Royals went on a 29-year drought where they failed to make the playoffs. That’s a long time to wait for a good team if you are a baseball fan. Twenty-nine “wait ‘til next year” statements. You can understand, then, the joy that Royals fans had in 2014 and 2015. The Royals went to back-to-back World Series and won the 2015 one. The joy Kansas City felt was shown in the nearly 800,000 people that attended the World Series parade.
Joy, especially long-awaited joy, is powerful. Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart. This blessed joy is very contagious. One dolorous spirit brings a kind of plague into the house; one person who is wretched seems to stop all the birds from singing wherever he goes . . . [But] the grace of joy is contagious. Holy joy will oil the wheels of your life’s machinery. Holy joy will strengthen you for your daily labor. Holy joy will beautify you and give you an influence over the lives of others.”
This is the kind of joy that must’ve filled the hearts of Simeon and Anna as they saw the infant Jesus. They trusted that God would send his Messiah. They knew he would keep his word, but they’d waited a long time. Can you imagine the looks on their faces as they held the infant Jesus? “Joy, unspeakable joy!”
Bill T.
There is something special, wonderful really, about restoration. Erasmus once said, “By a carpenter mankind was made, and only by that carpenter can mankind be remade.”
Dr. Howard Hendricks, noted teacher and speaker, understood the power of restoration. He once told the story of a young man who strayed from the Lord but was finally brought back by the help of a friend who really loved him. Upon meeting the young man, Hendricks asked him how it felt away from the Lord. The young man replied it seemed like he was out at sea, in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were on the shore hurling biblical accusations at him about justice, penalty, and wrong.
The young man continued, “But there was one Christian brother who actually swam out to get me and would not let me go. I fought him, but he pushed aside my fighting, grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and took me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the reason I was restored. He would not let me go.”
“He would not let me go.” That’s a powerful statement and one that might apply to God and his people. God intends for the world to know of the restoration of his people. “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch” (62:1).
Bill T.
* * *
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
Part of the theme of this scripture has to do with renaming Israel. Whereas in our era, names are often chosen because of their sound, or to honor someone who previously had that name, in ancient times a name described what that person was. Part of the history of the prophets had been to call a failing nation to account. Now the prophet states that God will rename the nation as a way of changing the future of what had become a failed nation! This scripture speaks of the nation as God’s bride, and of being adorned with the bride’s clothes, and finally taking on a new name.
In our own time, a person may choose to change their name or the spelling of that name to signify a new start. But with or without an actual name change, we may wish to change our identity as individuals or as a congregation to seek new life, new ministries, and a new path. This may mean making resolutions (it is nearly a new y ear after all). As a congregation, instead of a name change, a new vision statement or motto may help direct the congregation towards a new self-identity, one of hope and triumph.
Frank R.
* * *
Galatians 4:4-7
This is a text all about freedom. Some say we have too much freedom in 21st century America, that we’ve lost our sense of duty and obligation. American social worker and philosopher Eric Hoffer has a done a nice job explaining why we need more freedom as he wrote: “The individual who has to justify his existence by his efforts is in eternal bondage to himself. One seeking to prove himself or herself by her performance is an addict.” In the tough job market in which we find ourselves, where we’re always having to prove ourselves, always measuring ourselves by the latest media messages or internet posts, most of us are in bondage.
Christian freedom does not entail a life of “do whatever feels good.” Martin Luther made that clear at a number of points:
A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.
(Luther’s Works, Vol.31, p.344)
The believer in Christ he calls a child... This distinction is based upon the fact that self-righteous one does not serve in the same spirit that actuates the child and heir conscious of his own inheritance. He renders his service in the spirit of a day-laborer upon another’s property... The child confidently expects to remain heir to the estate. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, pp.232-233)
When you are free, like a child, the work you do is a joy, an expression of love. The child also has a lot more freedom in what he or she does for the family than the laborer. Children are not only more confident of their acceptance, but free really to be themselves. Christian freedom is a lot like the ancient African theologian Augustine said: “Love, and do what thou wilt.” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.7, p.504) When you’re filled with the love of God, everything you do is the right thing to do in God’s eyes. That’s the way loving parents are with their children. And that’s real freedom!
Mark E.
* * *
Galatians 4:4-7
Long before my mother died, she began distributing her favorite possessions to us. Her favorite dishes, books, pictures, poems. All these were shared with her children, given to them as gifts for us to enjoy while she was still with us. I remember when she first started doing this, I wondered why. She was clear. She wanted to watch us enjoy her gifts and she wanted to assure we each had things of hers that evoked memories. It was a brilliant strategy. I cannot look at the dishes, books, pictures, without feeling her presence, almost in a physical sense. Paul reminds the church that we are children, heirs of God and we do not need to wait to celebrate. We can, in this very moment, recognize the love of God in our lives, offered freely for us to enjoy. What a blessing!
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 2:22-40
Leviticus 12:6-8 mandates the sacrifice of a sheep on the occasion of the presentation of a child. That could be an expensive proposition, so the passage also provides a less expensive alternative. Joseph and Mary take advantage of this second option. When it comes to Sunday school class parties, youth conventions, going out as a group, or working together to improve the church building, there needs to be sensitivity that people are not excluded, and this needs tact as well as the willingness on the part of some to give discretely, without recognition or acknowledgement. There needs to be ways in which people can give in kind rather than in quantity. There is nothing second rate or second class about the offering of these young parents in the temple.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 2:22-40
I am a fan of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. In the mid-1970’s and throughout the 1980’s the Royals were a good team. After winning the World Series in 1985, though, the Royals went on a 29-year drought where they failed to make the playoffs. That’s a long time to wait for a good team if you are a baseball fan. Twenty-nine “wait ‘til next year” statements. You can understand, then, the joy that Royals fans had in 2014 and 2015. The Royals went to back-to-back World Series and won the 2015 one. The joy Kansas City felt was shown in the nearly 800,000 people that attended the World Series parade.
Joy, especially long-awaited joy, is powerful. Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “There is a marvelous medicinal power in joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart. This blessed joy is very contagious. One dolorous spirit brings a kind of plague into the house; one person who is wretched seems to stop all the birds from singing wherever he goes . . . [But] the grace of joy is contagious. Holy joy will oil the wheels of your life’s machinery. Holy joy will strengthen you for your daily labor. Holy joy will beautify you and give you an influence over the lives of others.”
This is the kind of joy that must’ve filled the hearts of Simeon and Anna as they saw the infant Jesus. They trusted that God would send his Messiah. They knew he would keep his word, but they’d waited a long time. Can you imagine the looks on their faces as they held the infant Jesus? “Joy, unspeakable joy!”
Bill T.
