Sermon Illustrations for Easter 4 (2021)
Illustration
Acts 4:5-12
I ran across, what sounds to me, like an old legend. It’s a good story, though, and I think it is worth looking at.
Back in the days when the Old West was being settled, a lot of people made their way over the Oregon Trail. When they got to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, they found a stream that was too wide to cross by just stepping over it. To get across, they "two-stepped" across by using an ugly lump sticking up out of the water in the middle of the stream as a step.
Years went by and other pioneers settled in that area, built cabins, strung fences, and plowed fields. It was said that one man built his cabin near that same stream. He did have a problem, though. The door of his house flapped in the wind. He found the heavy lump in the stream, though, and the former step became a stop.
As time moved on, railroads were built across the nation, and cities developed. A nephew of the old pioneer went east to study geology at a university. He returned home during vacation and was shocked when he saw the door stop on the front porch of his uncle's cabin by the stream. It wasn’t a step or a stop. It was a lump of pure gold, the largest gold nugget ever discovered on the eastern slopes of the Rockies. The same thing is true of Jesus. The same Jesus whom others have seen as a stumbling block is a very precious stone — the chief cornerstone.
Many people, in the past and in the present, have not recognized Jesus for who he is. Do you?
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 4:5-12
Many of the leaders of the Sanhedrin seem to have resented the leadership shown by the apostles and disciples of Jesus as they preached in public. I must believe part of what really annoyed them was that these were Galileans, so of course they were agrammatoi and idiotai – “uneducated and ordinary men” (4:13). Plus, there was this annoyingly healed paraplegic standing conspicuously alongside them.
But I think the real sin was quoting scripture correctly. Peter quoted Psalm 118:22, one of the psalms sung at the Passover, to name Jesus as someone these so-called experts had overlooked. “This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’” (4:11) There’s nothing self-righteous legends in their own minds dislike more than when someone does a better job of quoting the Bible.
Frank R.
* * *
1 John 3:16-24
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth offers some helpful comments about love and the love of God to which this text testifies. He writes:
He [a human being] is freed by the love of God to love “in deed and in truth” (v.18). Where there is love there takes place something from God, but in space and time “with hearts and hands and voices.” (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/2, p.786)
Writing to son John about life, Susana Wesley answered her own question about what love is:
How shall we define its [love’s] strange, mysterious essence? It is – I don’t know what: a powerful something; source of our joy and grief! Felt by everyone, yet unknown to all! Nor shall we ever comprehend what it is till we are united to our First Principle and there read its wondrous nature in the clear mirror of Uncreated Love! (The Complete Writings, p.136)
Love makes no sense without God’s love.
The lesson also refers to prayer, and how God answers it (v.22). Augustine made clear that we should not conclude that when we don’t get what we want it is because we have not been obedient enough. God always answers our prayers, the African Father contends (just not our way):
We have to distinguish God’s different ways of hearing. We find some people who aren’t granted what they want, but what is good for them. (Love One Another, My Friends, p.59)
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 3:16-24
Loving our neighbors can sometimes be tough, especially when we see them as proclaiming the antithesis of what we would proclaim. However, it is important to remember that love is a commandment, not just a feeling. We are called, as faithful followers of Jesus, to love our neighbors, ALL our neighbors. Expressing that love verbally is not enough. We must love in action. Verse 18 of this passage reads, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” Acting in love takes many forms. Yes, it is about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, educating all, visiting the sick and the imprisoned. We must also act to address the systemic causes foe the pain and stresses of our neighbors’ existence. Then, we will have lived out our love for our neighbor.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 10:11-18
Shepherds are responsible for their sheep. When they don’t pay attention or care, things can get ugly pretty quickly.
USA Today carried this story from Istanbul, Turkey in 2005. The story reported, “First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported. In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned. After one of the sheep tried to jump a ravine, the rest of the flock followed.”
Shepherds who are not concerned with their sheep can do great damage to the flocks left in their care. Jesus is not that kind of shepherd. He makes the bold declaration, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Jesus backed up that claim, demonstrating his love for us. He knows his sheep and his sheep know him.
As Max Lucado wrote in Traveling Light, “Jesus announces, ‘The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep.’ Didn’t Jesus spread the oil of prevention on his disciples? He prayed for them. He equipped them. He revealed to them the secrets of the parables. He calmed their fears. Because he was a good shepherd, he protected them.” He’ll do that for you and me, too.
Bill T.
* * *
John 10:11-18
One of the hallmarks (as mentioned a previous week) of the Gospel of John is the series of I AM statements which Jesus uses to define himself. The Hebrew name for God also means I AM. There is the sense that we cannot define God through the thunder, through lightning, through storm, through natural phenomena, or through visual images. We know God because of what God does. And this is evident in who Jesus is. Jesus says, “I AM the Good Shepherd.” What is one quality of the Good Shepherd? That this person will lay down their life for the sheep. One cannot blame hired hands for not doing the same. These aren’t their sheep. We are sheep that are part of his flock. We are worth dying for. Which is precisely what Jesus will do.
Frank R.
I ran across, what sounds to me, like an old legend. It’s a good story, though, and I think it is worth looking at.
Back in the days when the Old West was being settled, a lot of people made their way over the Oregon Trail. When they got to the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, they found a stream that was too wide to cross by just stepping over it. To get across, they "two-stepped" across by using an ugly lump sticking up out of the water in the middle of the stream as a step.
Years went by and other pioneers settled in that area, built cabins, strung fences, and plowed fields. It was said that one man built his cabin near that same stream. He did have a problem, though. The door of his house flapped in the wind. He found the heavy lump in the stream, though, and the former step became a stop.
As time moved on, railroads were built across the nation, and cities developed. A nephew of the old pioneer went east to study geology at a university. He returned home during vacation and was shocked when he saw the door stop on the front porch of his uncle's cabin by the stream. It wasn’t a step or a stop. It was a lump of pure gold, the largest gold nugget ever discovered on the eastern slopes of the Rockies. The same thing is true of Jesus. The same Jesus whom others have seen as a stumbling block is a very precious stone — the chief cornerstone.
Many people, in the past and in the present, have not recognized Jesus for who he is. Do you?
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 4:5-12
Many of the leaders of the Sanhedrin seem to have resented the leadership shown by the apostles and disciples of Jesus as they preached in public. I must believe part of what really annoyed them was that these were Galileans, so of course they were agrammatoi and idiotai – “uneducated and ordinary men” (4:13). Plus, there was this annoyingly healed paraplegic standing conspicuously alongside them.
But I think the real sin was quoting scripture correctly. Peter quoted Psalm 118:22, one of the psalms sung at the Passover, to name Jesus as someone these so-called experts had overlooked. “This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’” (4:11) There’s nothing self-righteous legends in their own minds dislike more than when someone does a better job of quoting the Bible.
Frank R.
* * *
1 John 3:16-24
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth offers some helpful comments about love and the love of God to which this text testifies. He writes:
He [a human being] is freed by the love of God to love “in deed and in truth” (v.18). Where there is love there takes place something from God, but in space and time “with hearts and hands and voices.” (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/2, p.786)
Writing to son John about life, Susana Wesley answered her own question about what love is:
How shall we define its [love’s] strange, mysterious essence? It is – I don’t know what: a powerful something; source of our joy and grief! Felt by everyone, yet unknown to all! Nor shall we ever comprehend what it is till we are united to our First Principle and there read its wondrous nature in the clear mirror of Uncreated Love! (The Complete Writings, p.136)
Love makes no sense without God’s love.
The lesson also refers to prayer, and how God answers it (v.22). Augustine made clear that we should not conclude that when we don’t get what we want it is because we have not been obedient enough. God always answers our prayers, the African Father contends (just not our way):
We have to distinguish God’s different ways of hearing. We find some people who aren’t granted what they want, but what is good for them. (Love One Another, My Friends, p.59)
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 3:16-24
Loving our neighbors can sometimes be tough, especially when we see them as proclaiming the antithesis of what we would proclaim. However, it is important to remember that love is a commandment, not just a feeling. We are called, as faithful followers of Jesus, to love our neighbors, ALL our neighbors. Expressing that love verbally is not enough. We must love in action. Verse 18 of this passage reads, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” Acting in love takes many forms. Yes, it is about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, educating all, visiting the sick and the imprisoned. We must also act to address the systemic causes foe the pain and stresses of our neighbors’ existence. Then, we will have lived out our love for our neighbor.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 10:11-18
Shepherds are responsible for their sheep. When they don’t pay attention or care, things can get ugly pretty quickly.
USA Today carried this story from Istanbul, Turkey in 2005. The story reported, “First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported. In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned. After one of the sheep tried to jump a ravine, the rest of the flock followed.”
Shepherds who are not concerned with their sheep can do great damage to the flocks left in their care. Jesus is not that kind of shepherd. He makes the bold declaration, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Jesus backed up that claim, demonstrating his love for us. He knows his sheep and his sheep know him.
As Max Lucado wrote in Traveling Light, “Jesus announces, ‘The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep.’ Didn’t Jesus spread the oil of prevention on his disciples? He prayed for them. He equipped them. He revealed to them the secrets of the parables. He calmed their fears. Because he was a good shepherd, he protected them.” He’ll do that for you and me, too.
Bill T.
* * *
John 10:11-18
One of the hallmarks (as mentioned a previous week) of the Gospel of John is the series of I AM statements which Jesus uses to define himself. The Hebrew name for God also means I AM. There is the sense that we cannot define God through the thunder, through lightning, through storm, through natural phenomena, or through visual images. We know God because of what God does. And this is evident in who Jesus is. Jesus says, “I AM the Good Shepherd.” What is one quality of the Good Shepherd? That this person will lay down their life for the sheep. One cannot blame hired hands for not doing the same. These aren’t their sheep. We are sheep that are part of his flock. We are worth dying for. Which is precisely what Jesus will do.
Frank R.
