Sermon Illustrations For Easter 2 (2017)
Illustration
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Prove it! Those words have been used on school playgrounds since practically the beginning of time. A kid will make a fantastic claim, and his dubious friends will snap back: “Oh yeah, prove it!” You’ve seen it before, maybe even experienced it.
* A fifth-grader, seeking to impress his classmates, brags: “My dad knows Tom Brady!” He is likely to be showered with a chorus of “prove it.”
* A middle-school student who claims to have met Jennifer Lawrence will be challenged by her friends to “prove it.”
* A third-grader who claims he can jump over the creek will be met with cries of “prove it.”
Anyone who makes a claim of something significant will be asked to prove it, especially in this time of skepticism and mistrust.
In Acts 2, Peter is making the case to a primarily Jewish audience that Jesus was crucified and then raised back to life by God. It is a remarkable and powerful claim for the Jews to hear on the Day of Pentecost -- Peter boldly proclaiming “Jesus is the Messiah.” To prove it, he cites one of the most powerful and influential Jewish ancestors, a person of great status. He refers to the words of David as seen in Psalm 16: “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption.” Is there a better way to prove it to a Jewish audience? Is there any better way to prove it to you and me?
Bill T.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Mark Scandrette is the executive director of ReIMAGINE, a center for spiritual formation in San Francisco. He also developed a program called “Jesus Dojo,” which is a yearlong intensive process of spiritual formation inspired by the life of Jesus. He discusses this practice in his book Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love. In Japanese, the word dojo means “place of the way.” We may be most familiar with the word as the arena in which the martial arts are practiced; but it can also refer to a sewing group or any other meaningful gathering where people come together to learn. The Christian dojo, according to Scandrette, is a community that practices living by the teachings of Jesus. The group consists of people who are willing to commit the time and energy to transform their lives into image of Jesus.
Application: Peter, in his sermon, wanted everyone to become a part of the Christian dojo.
Ron L.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
At one point in his Pentecost interpreation of Psalm 16, Peter states, with regards to King David, that “his tomb is with us to this day” (v. 29). In the first Christian century people knew where that ancient tomb was located. Today tourists are often taken to a location on Mount Zion, but this identification only goes back to the 12th century. A little over a century ago Raymond Weill found an array of eight tombs south of the old city, and many experts suggest that this is a more logical place for the tomb of King David. A lot of ink has been expended in the argument over these and other sites as the final resting place of the author of Psalm 23. One thing this suggests is that churches can do a better job of keeping records, because when “everyone” knows something, ultimately no one knows anything.
Frank R.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
This lesson affords another opportunity to reflect on the implications of Easter for daily life. On that matter the famed 17th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote: “Then Jesus Christ comes to tell men that they have no enemies but themselves, that it is their passions that cut them off from God, that he has come to destroy these passions, and to give men his grace” (Pensees, p. 164).
John Calvin said that the sum of Christianity is addiction to God (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVIII/2, p. 117). This image is most appropriate in view of our relationship to God, according to eminent neurobiologists who study what happens to the brain in spiritual experience. They have observed that just as the pleasurable brain chemical dopamine is secreted in spiritual exercises, it also is stimulated by cocaine, accounting for the high one experiences using cocaine. Both spirituality and drugs share common pathways in the brain (Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, How God Changes Your Brain, pp. 55-56). Overwhelmed by the reality of the risen Lord, we cannot but be changed, come to experience the highs and sociality associated with dopamine flooding our brains.
Mark E.
1 Peter 1:3-9
We are called to rejoice in our faith -- not just when everything is going well, but also when things are not going well, when there seems little hope, or when you seem overcome with fear. We are still called to rejoice in our faith, to rejoice in the hope that comes from the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, from the memory of Christ’s ministry and of the call on our hearts to follow. Our inheritance as a child of God cannot be stolen, cannot be overcome. Our inheritance -- forgiveness, grace, and hope -- cannot be taken from us.
My friends, in this Easter season let us remember that we are redeemed, children of God. We have been given grace and mercy, forgiveness and compassion. Most of all we have been called to live into hope -- for this life, this challenge, this problem is not the end. Being in the embrace of God is the end, and because we believe that to be so, nothing else can overtake us.
Bonnie B.
1 Peter 1:3-9
When the author speaks of “the genuineness of your faith” (v. 7) he is utilizing, like so many words in the New Testament, a marketplace term for a seal of approval that follows examination of a product. The phrase might also be translated accurately but awkwardly “the approvedness of your faith.”
In ordinary documents from the ancient world, the Greek word appears in matters requiring judicial approval, or as part of the result of a medical examination. The term is also used in a very interesting case of a wedding contract from the third century BC in which, if there is disagreement on crucial matters, disputes between the spouses are to be settled by a panel of three men “whom both shall approve.”
A seal of approval is standard issue on so many products, food and non-food. Has the appropriate authority inspected and approved a particular product as meeting marketplace standards? The Christians addressed in this letter are approved as being “good as gold!” because they’ve had their faith tested. We mustn’t see persecution as God’s disapproval, nor as failure, but as one way we can discover if we’re really as faithful as we’d like to think.
Frank R.
1 Peter 1:3-9
We don’t get an inheritance from our folks until they have died, but our inheritance from Jesus starts now since he already died and came back to life. His resurrection is our assurance that we already have it; but we may not see everything until we also have died. It is saved for us in heaven, waiting for us to come “home.”
The assurance that we already have that inheritance waiting for us should help us endure whatever grief or trials we may have now. Our faith in God’s promise is worth more than gold.
The thing we don’t have that is a problem for all of us is that we have not “seen” our Lord with our eyes. We can only trust and believe him, and love that which we have not seen. We have only heard about him in church, but we are gathered in a group that also believes in him whom they have not seen!
Love is the most important feeling or emotion we have. It is a gift from God. God IS love. He has put love in our hearts. I don’t care what heaven will look like as long as I feel God’s love.
When we were children, the most important thing was knowing that our parents loved us. We could endure many things as long as we knew that they were there to protect and care for us if we believed in their love. Our inheritance from our folks may be a long way off (we hope!), but our Lord’s inheritance is ours now.
This is why Easter can be more joyful than Christmas!
Bob O.
John 20:19-31
Some things are nearly impossible to believe. They are too good to be true. Consider the following...
A home security company boasts that a broad spectrum of independent researchers calls their security system the most reliable on the market. It sounds good, until you find out that the researchers are all on the security company’s payroll.
Vitamin water sounds like a healthy drink, until you check out the ingredients and nutritional value label.
Snapchat, when it came out in May of 2014, made the claim that photos would disappear forever when that simply wasn’t the case.
Advertisers tend to overreach when it comes to making claims about their products. It is not a surprise, then, that we tend to doubt and have a “I have to see it for myself” mentality. Some stuff is just too incredible to accept unless it can be verified.
If you’ve felt like that, you’re not the first. The “I have to see it to believe it” mentality was present in the Bible, and with no one more notably than with Thomas. The resurrected Jesus has appeared and stood among the disciples. They were amazed and excited that he had risen. Thomas, though, was not with them when Jesus appeared, so they told him about it. He scoffed. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later Thomas was with the disciples, and Jesus appeared again. Thomas was stunned. Jesus told him to put his hand into the nail prints and into his side. Upon doing so, Thomas proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus told him that he’d believed because he’d seen, but blessed were those who would believe without seeing.
Some things seem too good to be true. Jesus is alive, and because he lives you can too. Will you believe it?
Bill T.
John 20:19-31
Thomas embodies the doubts we feel about the resurrection and our faith. And doubt is not an efficient way of living, neurobiologists have found. Doubt also interferes with healing processes, for it seems that when we have doubts that short-circuits the chemical signals our brain sends to the rest of our bodies, signals which stimulate the immune system (see Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, Why We Believe What We Believe, pp. 11-12).
The problem with doubts is that we allow our feelings or reason to run wild. We forget Martin Luther’s comments on the subject, points so helpful in our faith struggles: “To this I reply: I have often said before that feeling and faith are two different things. It is the nature of faith not to feel, to lay aside reason and close the eyes, to submit absolutely to the Word, and follow it in life and death. Feeling, however, does not extend beyond that which may be apprehended by reason and the senses, which may be heard, seen, felt, and known by outward senses. For this cause feeling is opposed to faith and faith is opposed to feeling” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 1/2, p. 244).
When such doubts come we need not despair, for even a weak faith is good enough, the first reformer claimed: “He who has fallen into a river probably grasps the branch of a tree by which he barely keeps himself from perishing. So we, too, apprehend Christ in the midst of sins, in death and distress, with a faith that is weak. And yet faith, however small it may be, saves us, rules over death, and treads the devil under foot” (What Luther Says, p. 848).
Mark E.
John 20:19-31
Adele Ahlberg Calhoun is co-pastor with her husband Doug of the Redeemer Community Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Calhoun is also a trained spiritual director and the founder of the Transforming Center. In her book Invitations from God: Accepting God’s Offer to Rest, Weep, Forgive, Wait, Remember, and More, Calhoun writes that these invitations often seem less compelling than our to-do lists, but they are of greater importance. By answering these invitations, we can shape the direction in which we are going and shape ourselves in the manner we wish to become as Christians. Calhoun writes: “Saying yes to God lands you smack in the middle of Jesus’ own life.”
Application: In the story of the Upper Room, we read of disciples who were willing and able to say “yes” to God.
Ron L.
Prove it! Those words have been used on school playgrounds since practically the beginning of time. A kid will make a fantastic claim, and his dubious friends will snap back: “Oh yeah, prove it!” You’ve seen it before, maybe even experienced it.
* A fifth-grader, seeking to impress his classmates, brags: “My dad knows Tom Brady!” He is likely to be showered with a chorus of “prove it.”
* A middle-school student who claims to have met Jennifer Lawrence will be challenged by her friends to “prove it.”
* A third-grader who claims he can jump over the creek will be met with cries of “prove it.”
Anyone who makes a claim of something significant will be asked to prove it, especially in this time of skepticism and mistrust.
In Acts 2, Peter is making the case to a primarily Jewish audience that Jesus was crucified and then raised back to life by God. It is a remarkable and powerful claim for the Jews to hear on the Day of Pentecost -- Peter boldly proclaiming “Jesus is the Messiah.” To prove it, he cites one of the most powerful and influential Jewish ancestors, a person of great status. He refers to the words of David as seen in Psalm 16: “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption.” Is there a better way to prove it to a Jewish audience? Is there any better way to prove it to you and me?
Bill T.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Mark Scandrette is the executive director of ReIMAGINE, a center for spiritual formation in San Francisco. He also developed a program called “Jesus Dojo,” which is a yearlong intensive process of spiritual formation inspired by the life of Jesus. He discusses this practice in his book Practicing the Way of Jesus: Life Together in the Kingdom of Love. In Japanese, the word dojo means “place of the way.” We may be most familiar with the word as the arena in which the martial arts are practiced; but it can also refer to a sewing group or any other meaningful gathering where people come together to learn. The Christian dojo, according to Scandrette, is a community that practices living by the teachings of Jesus. The group consists of people who are willing to commit the time and energy to transform their lives into image of Jesus.
Application: Peter, in his sermon, wanted everyone to become a part of the Christian dojo.
Ron L.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
At one point in his Pentecost interpreation of Psalm 16, Peter states, with regards to King David, that “his tomb is with us to this day” (v. 29). In the first Christian century people knew where that ancient tomb was located. Today tourists are often taken to a location on Mount Zion, but this identification only goes back to the 12th century. A little over a century ago Raymond Weill found an array of eight tombs south of the old city, and many experts suggest that this is a more logical place for the tomb of King David. A lot of ink has been expended in the argument over these and other sites as the final resting place of the author of Psalm 23. One thing this suggests is that churches can do a better job of keeping records, because when “everyone” knows something, ultimately no one knows anything.
Frank R.
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
This lesson affords another opportunity to reflect on the implications of Easter for daily life. On that matter the famed 17th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote: “Then Jesus Christ comes to tell men that they have no enemies but themselves, that it is their passions that cut them off from God, that he has come to destroy these passions, and to give men his grace” (Pensees, p. 164).
John Calvin said that the sum of Christianity is addiction to God (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVIII/2, p. 117). This image is most appropriate in view of our relationship to God, according to eminent neurobiologists who study what happens to the brain in spiritual experience. They have observed that just as the pleasurable brain chemical dopamine is secreted in spiritual exercises, it also is stimulated by cocaine, accounting for the high one experiences using cocaine. Both spirituality and drugs share common pathways in the brain (Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, How God Changes Your Brain, pp. 55-56). Overwhelmed by the reality of the risen Lord, we cannot but be changed, come to experience the highs and sociality associated with dopamine flooding our brains.
Mark E.
1 Peter 1:3-9
We are called to rejoice in our faith -- not just when everything is going well, but also when things are not going well, when there seems little hope, or when you seem overcome with fear. We are still called to rejoice in our faith, to rejoice in the hope that comes from the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, from the memory of Christ’s ministry and of the call on our hearts to follow. Our inheritance as a child of God cannot be stolen, cannot be overcome. Our inheritance -- forgiveness, grace, and hope -- cannot be taken from us.
My friends, in this Easter season let us remember that we are redeemed, children of God. We have been given grace and mercy, forgiveness and compassion. Most of all we have been called to live into hope -- for this life, this challenge, this problem is not the end. Being in the embrace of God is the end, and because we believe that to be so, nothing else can overtake us.
Bonnie B.
1 Peter 1:3-9
When the author speaks of “the genuineness of your faith” (v. 7) he is utilizing, like so many words in the New Testament, a marketplace term for a seal of approval that follows examination of a product. The phrase might also be translated accurately but awkwardly “the approvedness of your faith.”
In ordinary documents from the ancient world, the Greek word appears in matters requiring judicial approval, or as part of the result of a medical examination. The term is also used in a very interesting case of a wedding contract from the third century BC in which, if there is disagreement on crucial matters, disputes between the spouses are to be settled by a panel of three men “whom both shall approve.”
A seal of approval is standard issue on so many products, food and non-food. Has the appropriate authority inspected and approved a particular product as meeting marketplace standards? The Christians addressed in this letter are approved as being “good as gold!” because they’ve had their faith tested. We mustn’t see persecution as God’s disapproval, nor as failure, but as one way we can discover if we’re really as faithful as we’d like to think.
Frank R.
1 Peter 1:3-9
We don’t get an inheritance from our folks until they have died, but our inheritance from Jesus starts now since he already died and came back to life. His resurrection is our assurance that we already have it; but we may not see everything until we also have died. It is saved for us in heaven, waiting for us to come “home.”
The assurance that we already have that inheritance waiting for us should help us endure whatever grief or trials we may have now. Our faith in God’s promise is worth more than gold.
The thing we don’t have that is a problem for all of us is that we have not “seen” our Lord with our eyes. We can only trust and believe him, and love that which we have not seen. We have only heard about him in church, but we are gathered in a group that also believes in him whom they have not seen!
Love is the most important feeling or emotion we have. It is a gift from God. God IS love. He has put love in our hearts. I don’t care what heaven will look like as long as I feel God’s love.
When we were children, the most important thing was knowing that our parents loved us. We could endure many things as long as we knew that they were there to protect and care for us if we believed in their love. Our inheritance from our folks may be a long way off (we hope!), but our Lord’s inheritance is ours now.
This is why Easter can be more joyful than Christmas!
Bob O.
John 20:19-31
Some things are nearly impossible to believe. They are too good to be true. Consider the following...
A home security company boasts that a broad spectrum of independent researchers calls their security system the most reliable on the market. It sounds good, until you find out that the researchers are all on the security company’s payroll.
Vitamin water sounds like a healthy drink, until you check out the ingredients and nutritional value label.
Snapchat, when it came out in May of 2014, made the claim that photos would disappear forever when that simply wasn’t the case.
Advertisers tend to overreach when it comes to making claims about their products. It is not a surprise, then, that we tend to doubt and have a “I have to see it for myself” mentality. Some stuff is just too incredible to accept unless it can be verified.
If you’ve felt like that, you’re not the first. The “I have to see it to believe it” mentality was present in the Bible, and with no one more notably than with Thomas. The resurrected Jesus has appeared and stood among the disciples. They were amazed and excited that he had risen. Thomas, though, was not with them when Jesus appeared, so they told him about it. He scoffed. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later Thomas was with the disciples, and Jesus appeared again. Thomas was stunned. Jesus told him to put his hand into the nail prints and into his side. Upon doing so, Thomas proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus told him that he’d believed because he’d seen, but blessed were those who would believe without seeing.
Some things seem too good to be true. Jesus is alive, and because he lives you can too. Will you believe it?
Bill T.
John 20:19-31
Thomas embodies the doubts we feel about the resurrection and our faith. And doubt is not an efficient way of living, neurobiologists have found. Doubt also interferes with healing processes, for it seems that when we have doubts that short-circuits the chemical signals our brain sends to the rest of our bodies, signals which stimulate the immune system (see Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman, Why We Believe What We Believe, pp. 11-12).
The problem with doubts is that we allow our feelings or reason to run wild. We forget Martin Luther’s comments on the subject, points so helpful in our faith struggles: “To this I reply: I have often said before that feeling and faith are two different things. It is the nature of faith not to feel, to lay aside reason and close the eyes, to submit absolutely to the Word, and follow it in life and death. Feeling, however, does not extend beyond that which may be apprehended by reason and the senses, which may be heard, seen, felt, and known by outward senses. For this cause feeling is opposed to faith and faith is opposed to feeling” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 1/2, p. 244).
When such doubts come we need not despair, for even a weak faith is good enough, the first reformer claimed: “He who has fallen into a river probably grasps the branch of a tree by which he barely keeps himself from perishing. So we, too, apprehend Christ in the midst of sins, in death and distress, with a faith that is weak. And yet faith, however small it may be, saves us, rules over death, and treads the devil under foot” (What Luther Says, p. 848).
Mark E.
John 20:19-31
Adele Ahlberg Calhoun is co-pastor with her husband Doug of the Redeemer Community Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Calhoun is also a trained spiritual director and the founder of the Transforming Center. In her book Invitations from God: Accepting God’s Offer to Rest, Weep, Forgive, Wait, Remember, and More, Calhoun writes that these invitations often seem less compelling than our to-do lists, but they are of greater importance. By answering these invitations, we can shape the direction in which we are going and shape ourselves in the manner we wish to become as Christians. Calhoun writes: “Saying yes to God lands you smack in the middle of Jesus’ own life.”
Application: In the story of the Upper Room, we read of disciples who were willing and able to say “yes” to God.
Ron L.
