Sermon illustrations for Easter 5 (2016)
Illustration
Object:
Acts 11:1-18
In the vision described in Acts 10, God instructs Peter to get out of his comfort zone and to eat foods that were traditionally forbidden. At first Peter is aghast. He is a conscientious Jew. “By no means, Lord; I have never eaten anything impure or unclean” (Acts 10:14).
God’s command stretches Peter’s understanding of the faith in such a way that he not only changes his personal menu choices, he also takes the next step and obeys God’s call to meet and eat with the Gentile soldier Cornelius. Apparently, in doing this, Peter observes God’s grace among the Gentiles. He begins to advocate for including Gentiles, folks who were traditionally excluded. Not only was Peter changed by the experience, the course of Christian history was changed.
Initially, of course, not everyone was pleased by Peter’s embrace of Gentiles. Upon his return to Jerusalem faithful Jews jumped all over Peter: “Why did you go into the house of uncircumcised men and eat with them?” (11:3). Peter responds by demonstrating the best of what we have learned about effective leadership. He maintained a non-anxious presence and laid out the entire story of how this had happened and why it was a positive development.
There must be some gene buried deep in human DNA that causes our species to resist accepting those who differ from us in the slightest way. Running contrary to that tendency is the gospel insistence that we are all the children of God and that we are to love one another.
From all that one reads, hears, and overhears, we still need effective, faithful leaders who will maintain a non-anxious presence and tell us why we need to include those who are different in one way or another.
R. Robert C.
Acts 11:1-18
John Calvin thought that this lesson was a story about the wonderful goodness of God, that we miss this if we focus too much on people like ourselves and not on everyone (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVIII/2, pp. 460,456). What does it mean to say that God is good? Founding father James Hamilton said that “Goodness is love in action.” Medieval mystic Meister Eckhart said that “Goodness is another name for compassion.” Have they not described our God? Martin Luther had a beautiful way of describing how God is good: “It is God alone (as has been sufficiently said) from whom we receive all good and by whom we are delivered. I suppose this is the reason why we Germans from times of old also call God... derived from the word ‘good,’ because he is an eternal Fountain which gushes nothing but the good and which flows all that is good and is so called” (What Luther Says, p. 541).
Mark E.
Acts 11:1-18
Several years ago Anna Hill published a book of photographs titled Beauty Is Only Pixel Deep. She said she learned to use Photoshop when she was 14, and “ever since, my eye is trained to see exactly where models have been altered.” From her work, Hill said, “I think people like to be reminded that the beautiful models we’re surrounded by daily aren’t actually as real as they seem.” She continued her study to conclude that the advertisements of the 1950s emphasized beauty was important for maintaining a perfect marriage, and that the pictures were altered to display that.
Application: Peter had a vision, but his vision was not distorted by Photoshop. Peter saw clearly the message of the Lord.
Ron L.
Revelation 21:1-6
God is the beginning and the end. Do you believe that? Do you believe that all that is, all that will be, all that was, is from God? Where does life come from? Where does life start and end? How? These questions plague us. Our human minds want proof of how matter came to be, how life came to be.
In March 2008, National Geographic carried an article which I quote here: “A particle accelerator -- an atomic peashooter more powerful than any ever built, called the Large Hadron Collider, has been developed for one purpose to crack the code of the physical world; to figure out what the universe is made of; in other words, to get to the very bottom of things.” They are searching for the Higgs boson particle, aptly nicknamed the “God particle.” If all matter comes from this particle, in theoretical particle physics, then the nickname makes sense.
For me, God is the creator -- and whatever physical or theoretical or scientific rationale we want to develop, God is the creator of all things, and all things strive to be connected and in unity with God. That God chooses to interact with us, God’s creation, amazes me, thrills me, and humbles me. God with us. Wonderful!
Bonnie B.
Revelation 21:1-6
It was a 2nd-grade coloring assignment at Christmastime. It was a pretty simple thing, really. There was a reindeer that you were supposed to color. That’s it. At the time, though, I was not really into reindeer. I liked drawing tanks and army men. So I quickly made a few marks on the reindeer and then started on drawing and coloring some of the best military pictures you’d ever see, at least from a second grader. Most of the time when we were given a coloring page, it was just something for us to do. We weren’t going to hand it in. I was somewhere along the third tank when I heard that the teacher was collecting them and hanging them on the bulletin board. Now, I thought I drew pretty good tanks, but there was no way that was going to fit the Christmas motif. I was embarrassed and was desperately thinking about what I should do. I decided to throw caution to the wind and ask my teacher for another sheet. Maybe she wouldn’t ask why I needed one and I could do it over. That’s what I needed; a new sheet.
Sometimes we all want to have things made new. Life on this planet can be messed up sometimes. All kinds of things can mar and stain what God created to be very good. This text reminds us that a day is coming when all will be as it is supposed to be. “See, I am making all things new.” What a glorious promise that is! What an incredible hope! There will come a day when sin, ugliness, hate, war, and evil will be wiped away. All things will be made new. Won’t that be great?
My teacher handed me a new coloring sheet without asking a question. I quickly took it back to my desk and worked on coloring the neatest and sharpest reindeer you’ve ever seen. I stuffed my tank picture away. I was relieved for a new sheet. “Behold, I make all things new” -- to a second grader and to all of us, that’s pretty cool.
Bill T.
Revelation 21:1-6
Here comes the Bride! All brides are beautiful! That goes without saying. We are beautiful in the eyes of those who love us. Jesus, whose bride we as the church are, makes us beautiful.
Nowadays we’re used to downloading music and creating our own playlists, but a long time ago in the era of vinyl records, it was not possible to do this. Instead, we purchased albums that were compilations of the big hits. That’s what this passage is: a greatest hits album.
Let’s connect the dots -- and remember, if things don’t quite match it’s because your Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew, whereas early Christians read the already centuries-old Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures known as the Septuagint.
Verse 1: see Isaiah 65:17; 66:22.
Verse 2: see Isaiah 52:1; 54:5; 61:10.
Verse 3: see Leviticus 26:11-12; Ezekiel 43:7.
Verse 4: see Isaiah 25:7; 35:10; 61:2; 65:19.
Verse 5: see Isaiah 43:19.
Verse 6: see Isaiah 12:3; 55:1.
Although this is an original song (Revelation: The Musical!, remember?), the author has woven themes from the Old Testament to connect past and present in the future.
The references to God dwelling with the people are reminiscent of John 1:14: “And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us....” The word for dwelling is taken from the root for tent -- skene, a Greek word that means “skin,” “tent,” and in the dramatic sense, “scene.” The drama of God’s presence in Jesus requires him to rough it!
Frank R.
Revelation 21:1-6
When we watch the news, it can be hard to think that we live in God’s new earth. Only those who have met the Lord can see that the world has changed because of the coming of Jesus. There is still terror and tragedy, but we know that our Lord is always in charge. It can be like a chess game where we know how it will end and that we will win!
You can see it more in the eyes of those who have just been converted and come to know the Lord. It is something that gives us joy in being missionaries. I could also see the joy in the pastors I taught there, who could not stop rejoicing over the ones who had come to know God because of them. It made their whole lives worthwhile.
When a loved one dies, only God can wipe away our tears. Only God’s Spirit can give us his insight so that we no longer fear death. One of my church members had a “near death” experience, and after that when his wife died he could not mourn! He knew where she had gone and that he would see her again.
I wandered away from the Lord for several years until he came to me as an answer to prayer ? no, not a healing! It was an experience after reading some scripture. The Lord must have put the questions in my head that he answered for me in his word. All I can say is that it was an experience that changed my life. Search and you will find! The turning point in many lives comes the moment God answers a prayer. Sometimes it can be someone else’s prayer.
The last thing I wanted to be when I was growing up was a pastor, and I was not ordained until I was 30 years old -- but I heard from a friend who was sitting next to my mom at my ordination that she said, “I have been praying for this day for 30 years! His great-grandfather was a pastor from Denmark, and I prayed that my son would also hear the call.” I did!
You may be faithful in your church attendance just like your family -- but when you can say that you know your Lord and not just know about him, then you will notice the new world and the new YOU! Everything will become new to you. If you are thirsty for him, then you will be filled.
Bob O.
John 13:31-35
When someone asks: “How does anyone know that you are a Christian?” I list my qualifications for being numbered among the faithful.
I know and believe everything Christians should know and believe. I not only attend worship services, I go to Sunday school. I actually taught the high school Sunday school class for several years. My annual pledge to the church’s budget is generous and promptly paid. When asked, I accept leadership positions. In fact, until I thought my head was going to explode, I held one of the most unappreciated jobs in the church -- chair of the property committee. Until the church governing board asked me to refrain from doing it, I loved to sing the hymns as loud as I could. You know that I am a Christian because I know and believe what Christians know and believe.
In addition, when it comes to standard Christian behaviors, all the bases are covered. Every car I have owned has had a Christian bumper sticker. On my left forearm, closest to my heart, I have the tattoo of a stylized fish. Strangers are often made uncomfortable in my presence when I ask them: “Do you know where you would go if you died tonight?” In conversations with other Christians, I interject religious expressions like “Praise the Lord,” “Amen to that, sister,” “Bless you, brother,” and even “Jesus is coming.” I have memorized more than 100 carefully selected Bible verses for inserting into discussions on controversial issues. I never vote for a political candidate who fails to claim a kinship with my Christian faith.
Obviously, Emphasis reader, this listing could go on and on. It is both challenging and liberating that this lectionary reading from John 13 reminds us that we are identified as followers of Christ by having love for one another.
R. Robert C.
John 13:31-35
Several years ago, the Daily Mail reported on a survey designed to create the face of the perfect woman. They did this by taking the best facial features of celebrities and combining them into a single image. To create the picture, they took Angelina Jolie’s lips and Megan Fox’s chin, along with Kate Middleton’s eyebrows. These are just a few of the features used in the composition. The website Jezebel opined that the face is “simply a testimony to the unsettling hilarity and chaos that ensues when you create the ideal woman.”
Application: When he instructed us to love one another, Jesus did not tell us to love the ideal face or even the ideal person, but to love each and every person.
Ron L.
John 13:31-35
This story of the giving of the new commandment by Jesus seems a word we especially need today. What social analyst Christopher Lasch wrote over 30 years ago is still true today. The “glad hand” (outward chumminess, aiming to sell oneself and one’s personality to one’s superiors as a commodity that is desirable and economically advantageous) has become the key to economic and social success (The Culture of Narcissism, pp. 122-123). But such self-serving chumminess should not be confused with love. The love Jesus refers to is agape; you don’t do it for yourself. It is for the benefit of others -- to help them. Martin Luther explained this well: “God is satisfied with my faith.... Therefore he wants me to do my works to benefit my neighbor.... He doesn’t need my work at all.... God is rich enough himself without me and my works. He lets me live on earth, however, so that I may show the same kind of friendship to my neighbor that God has graciously shown to me” (quoted in Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther, p. 133).
This love is not a burden. As famed business coach Darren L. Johnson once put it, “If we need to be reminded to love one another, then we have already lost sight of the essence of our existence.” Nineteenth-century Indian leader Sai Baba echoed a similar point, claiming that love for one another is “infectious and the greatest leaking of energy.” The love Jesus wants, Luther says, “breaks out into good works” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 35, p. 361).
Mark E.
In the vision described in Acts 10, God instructs Peter to get out of his comfort zone and to eat foods that were traditionally forbidden. At first Peter is aghast. He is a conscientious Jew. “By no means, Lord; I have never eaten anything impure or unclean” (Acts 10:14).
God’s command stretches Peter’s understanding of the faith in such a way that he not only changes his personal menu choices, he also takes the next step and obeys God’s call to meet and eat with the Gentile soldier Cornelius. Apparently, in doing this, Peter observes God’s grace among the Gentiles. He begins to advocate for including Gentiles, folks who were traditionally excluded. Not only was Peter changed by the experience, the course of Christian history was changed.
Initially, of course, not everyone was pleased by Peter’s embrace of Gentiles. Upon his return to Jerusalem faithful Jews jumped all over Peter: “Why did you go into the house of uncircumcised men and eat with them?” (11:3). Peter responds by demonstrating the best of what we have learned about effective leadership. He maintained a non-anxious presence and laid out the entire story of how this had happened and why it was a positive development.
There must be some gene buried deep in human DNA that causes our species to resist accepting those who differ from us in the slightest way. Running contrary to that tendency is the gospel insistence that we are all the children of God and that we are to love one another.
From all that one reads, hears, and overhears, we still need effective, faithful leaders who will maintain a non-anxious presence and tell us why we need to include those who are different in one way or another.
R. Robert C.
Acts 11:1-18
John Calvin thought that this lesson was a story about the wonderful goodness of God, that we miss this if we focus too much on people like ourselves and not on everyone (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVIII/2, pp. 460,456). What does it mean to say that God is good? Founding father James Hamilton said that “Goodness is love in action.” Medieval mystic Meister Eckhart said that “Goodness is another name for compassion.” Have they not described our God? Martin Luther had a beautiful way of describing how God is good: “It is God alone (as has been sufficiently said) from whom we receive all good and by whom we are delivered. I suppose this is the reason why we Germans from times of old also call God... derived from the word ‘good,’ because he is an eternal Fountain which gushes nothing but the good and which flows all that is good and is so called” (What Luther Says, p. 541).
Mark E.
Acts 11:1-18
Several years ago Anna Hill published a book of photographs titled Beauty Is Only Pixel Deep. She said she learned to use Photoshop when she was 14, and “ever since, my eye is trained to see exactly where models have been altered.” From her work, Hill said, “I think people like to be reminded that the beautiful models we’re surrounded by daily aren’t actually as real as they seem.” She continued her study to conclude that the advertisements of the 1950s emphasized beauty was important for maintaining a perfect marriage, and that the pictures were altered to display that.
Application: Peter had a vision, but his vision was not distorted by Photoshop. Peter saw clearly the message of the Lord.
Ron L.
Revelation 21:1-6
God is the beginning and the end. Do you believe that? Do you believe that all that is, all that will be, all that was, is from God? Where does life come from? Where does life start and end? How? These questions plague us. Our human minds want proof of how matter came to be, how life came to be.
In March 2008, National Geographic carried an article which I quote here: “A particle accelerator -- an atomic peashooter more powerful than any ever built, called the Large Hadron Collider, has been developed for one purpose to crack the code of the physical world; to figure out what the universe is made of; in other words, to get to the very bottom of things.” They are searching for the Higgs boson particle, aptly nicknamed the “God particle.” If all matter comes from this particle, in theoretical particle physics, then the nickname makes sense.
For me, God is the creator -- and whatever physical or theoretical or scientific rationale we want to develop, God is the creator of all things, and all things strive to be connected and in unity with God. That God chooses to interact with us, God’s creation, amazes me, thrills me, and humbles me. God with us. Wonderful!
Bonnie B.
Revelation 21:1-6
It was a 2nd-grade coloring assignment at Christmastime. It was a pretty simple thing, really. There was a reindeer that you were supposed to color. That’s it. At the time, though, I was not really into reindeer. I liked drawing tanks and army men. So I quickly made a few marks on the reindeer and then started on drawing and coloring some of the best military pictures you’d ever see, at least from a second grader. Most of the time when we were given a coloring page, it was just something for us to do. We weren’t going to hand it in. I was somewhere along the third tank when I heard that the teacher was collecting them and hanging them on the bulletin board. Now, I thought I drew pretty good tanks, but there was no way that was going to fit the Christmas motif. I was embarrassed and was desperately thinking about what I should do. I decided to throw caution to the wind and ask my teacher for another sheet. Maybe she wouldn’t ask why I needed one and I could do it over. That’s what I needed; a new sheet.
Sometimes we all want to have things made new. Life on this planet can be messed up sometimes. All kinds of things can mar and stain what God created to be very good. This text reminds us that a day is coming when all will be as it is supposed to be. “See, I am making all things new.” What a glorious promise that is! What an incredible hope! There will come a day when sin, ugliness, hate, war, and evil will be wiped away. All things will be made new. Won’t that be great?
My teacher handed me a new coloring sheet without asking a question. I quickly took it back to my desk and worked on coloring the neatest and sharpest reindeer you’ve ever seen. I stuffed my tank picture away. I was relieved for a new sheet. “Behold, I make all things new” -- to a second grader and to all of us, that’s pretty cool.
Bill T.
Revelation 21:1-6
Here comes the Bride! All brides are beautiful! That goes without saying. We are beautiful in the eyes of those who love us. Jesus, whose bride we as the church are, makes us beautiful.
Nowadays we’re used to downloading music and creating our own playlists, but a long time ago in the era of vinyl records, it was not possible to do this. Instead, we purchased albums that were compilations of the big hits. That’s what this passage is: a greatest hits album.
Let’s connect the dots -- and remember, if things don’t quite match it’s because your Old Testament is translated from the Hebrew, whereas early Christians read the already centuries-old Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures known as the Septuagint.
Verse 1: see Isaiah 65:17; 66:22.
Verse 2: see Isaiah 52:1; 54:5; 61:10.
Verse 3: see Leviticus 26:11-12; Ezekiel 43:7.
Verse 4: see Isaiah 25:7; 35:10; 61:2; 65:19.
Verse 5: see Isaiah 43:19.
Verse 6: see Isaiah 12:3; 55:1.
Although this is an original song (Revelation: The Musical!, remember?), the author has woven themes from the Old Testament to connect past and present in the future.
The references to God dwelling with the people are reminiscent of John 1:14: “And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us....” The word for dwelling is taken from the root for tent -- skene, a Greek word that means “skin,” “tent,” and in the dramatic sense, “scene.” The drama of God’s presence in Jesus requires him to rough it!
Frank R.
Revelation 21:1-6
When we watch the news, it can be hard to think that we live in God’s new earth. Only those who have met the Lord can see that the world has changed because of the coming of Jesus. There is still terror and tragedy, but we know that our Lord is always in charge. It can be like a chess game where we know how it will end and that we will win!
You can see it more in the eyes of those who have just been converted and come to know the Lord. It is something that gives us joy in being missionaries. I could also see the joy in the pastors I taught there, who could not stop rejoicing over the ones who had come to know God because of them. It made their whole lives worthwhile.
When a loved one dies, only God can wipe away our tears. Only God’s Spirit can give us his insight so that we no longer fear death. One of my church members had a “near death” experience, and after that when his wife died he could not mourn! He knew where she had gone and that he would see her again.
I wandered away from the Lord for several years until he came to me as an answer to prayer ? no, not a healing! It was an experience after reading some scripture. The Lord must have put the questions in my head that he answered for me in his word. All I can say is that it was an experience that changed my life. Search and you will find! The turning point in many lives comes the moment God answers a prayer. Sometimes it can be someone else’s prayer.
The last thing I wanted to be when I was growing up was a pastor, and I was not ordained until I was 30 years old -- but I heard from a friend who was sitting next to my mom at my ordination that she said, “I have been praying for this day for 30 years! His great-grandfather was a pastor from Denmark, and I prayed that my son would also hear the call.” I did!
You may be faithful in your church attendance just like your family -- but when you can say that you know your Lord and not just know about him, then you will notice the new world and the new YOU! Everything will become new to you. If you are thirsty for him, then you will be filled.
Bob O.
John 13:31-35
When someone asks: “How does anyone know that you are a Christian?” I list my qualifications for being numbered among the faithful.
I know and believe everything Christians should know and believe. I not only attend worship services, I go to Sunday school. I actually taught the high school Sunday school class for several years. My annual pledge to the church’s budget is generous and promptly paid. When asked, I accept leadership positions. In fact, until I thought my head was going to explode, I held one of the most unappreciated jobs in the church -- chair of the property committee. Until the church governing board asked me to refrain from doing it, I loved to sing the hymns as loud as I could. You know that I am a Christian because I know and believe what Christians know and believe.
In addition, when it comes to standard Christian behaviors, all the bases are covered. Every car I have owned has had a Christian bumper sticker. On my left forearm, closest to my heart, I have the tattoo of a stylized fish. Strangers are often made uncomfortable in my presence when I ask them: “Do you know where you would go if you died tonight?” In conversations with other Christians, I interject religious expressions like “Praise the Lord,” “Amen to that, sister,” “Bless you, brother,” and even “Jesus is coming.” I have memorized more than 100 carefully selected Bible verses for inserting into discussions on controversial issues. I never vote for a political candidate who fails to claim a kinship with my Christian faith.
Obviously, Emphasis reader, this listing could go on and on. It is both challenging and liberating that this lectionary reading from John 13 reminds us that we are identified as followers of Christ by having love for one another.
R. Robert C.
John 13:31-35
Several years ago, the Daily Mail reported on a survey designed to create the face of the perfect woman. They did this by taking the best facial features of celebrities and combining them into a single image. To create the picture, they took Angelina Jolie’s lips and Megan Fox’s chin, along with Kate Middleton’s eyebrows. These are just a few of the features used in the composition. The website Jezebel opined that the face is “simply a testimony to the unsettling hilarity and chaos that ensues when you create the ideal woman.”
Application: When he instructed us to love one another, Jesus did not tell us to love the ideal face or even the ideal person, but to love each and every person.
Ron L.
John 13:31-35
This story of the giving of the new commandment by Jesus seems a word we especially need today. What social analyst Christopher Lasch wrote over 30 years ago is still true today. The “glad hand” (outward chumminess, aiming to sell oneself and one’s personality to one’s superiors as a commodity that is desirable and economically advantageous) has become the key to economic and social success (The Culture of Narcissism, pp. 122-123). But such self-serving chumminess should not be confused with love. The love Jesus refers to is agape; you don’t do it for yourself. It is for the benefit of others -- to help them. Martin Luther explained this well: “God is satisfied with my faith.... Therefore he wants me to do my works to benefit my neighbor.... He doesn’t need my work at all.... God is rich enough himself without me and my works. He lets me live on earth, however, so that I may show the same kind of friendship to my neighbor that God has graciously shown to me” (quoted in Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther, p. 133).
This love is not a burden. As famed business coach Darren L. Johnson once put it, “If we need to be reminded to love one another, then we have already lost sight of the essence of our existence.” Nineteenth-century Indian leader Sai Baba echoed a similar point, claiming that love for one another is “infectious and the greatest leaking of energy.” The love Jesus wants, Luther says, “breaks out into good works” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 35, p. 361).
Mark E.
