Sermon Illustrations For Easter 5 (2023)
Illustration
Acts 7:55-60
Steven had the crowd listening as long as he stuck to a familiar script they liked – the story about God’s activity creating a chosen people, which the listeners assumed was them. His listeners knew this story, and they were ready to cheer for the good guys and hiss at the bad guys because they knew it didn’t condemn them. They would emerge as the winners of history.
Then, like what happens when we press the selfie button on our phone’s camera, the view switched, and the people realized Steven was telling them we are the bad guys, we are the ones who are guilty, the biblical stories are really about us and not them, and we are the ones who have to change. No thank you! The Greek before this second makes it clear that the people were so angry, they scraped their teeth together, doing damage to themselves in their fury.
And then, to make things worse – or give us the opportunity to become better people – in this reading Steven looks up and uses language from the Book of Daniel in which the throne of heaven becomes visible, and we see the Son of Man standing next to that throne where the Ancient of Days reigns. The people knew that language. It was their apocalyptic language, and they always interpreted the apocalypse to be something special where they would be shielded from the Day of the Lord’s ravages. Other people would suffer. But from Joel onwards the prophets have warned us that we should not yearn for the Day of the Lord to come too soon until we ourselves repent. The people who kill Steven don’t like the implications of what he is saying. The key thing here is to flip the phone’s settings so we don’t satisfy ourselves by condemning others so much as we challenge each other.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 7:55-60
There was a king who dealt with a rebellion from a group of his subjects. It was a bitter and brutal time. The king suffered because of it. One day, however, the rebels surrendered. They gave up their arms, threw themselves at the king’s feet, and begged for mercy. After just a few minutes of silence, the king pardoned them all. Watching this unfold, one of the king’s advisors asked him, “Did you not say that every rebel should die?”
“Yes,” replied the king, “but I see no rebels here.”
Forgiveness, especially to those who have done harm, is an amazing thing. In this fictional story, the king demonstrates that. In the text for today, Stephen demonstrates it, too. For those who had abused him, reviled him, and were now stoning him to death, Stephen prayed, as his Lord before him, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.” May we demonstrate the spirit of forgiveness shown to us by Stephen and by Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
1 Peter 2:2-10
We are God’s people. Do we believe that? Do we live like that? Do we accept that Jesus is the cornerstone, the resting place of the foundation, that which holds us up? It’s hard sometimes when we kook into our hearts and find fear, anger, pain, and even hate, to believe that we rest in Jesus, that we are God’s people. Yet, we have a choice. We can choose the way of sin or we can rest in God’s favor, forgiven and loved, blessed with grace and mercy. When we allow the gifts of God to enter us, we become even more and more the people of God. Others begin to see God in us, see the light of Christ shine forth from us. And we can rest in the knowledge that God is with us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Peter 2:2-10
Famed Puritan revivalist Jonathan Edwards did a nice job explaining the sacrifices Christian priests perform: Christian priests offer their hearts, sacrifices of praise, obedience, and give love away freely, all with a flaming heart (Works, Vol.2, pp.942-943) Of course, we are all priests in making these sacrifices. But the lesson also designates a sense in which the faithful are now a spiritual house (v.5). On that matter John Calvin writes:
For though every one of us is said to be the temple of God, yet all are united together in one, and must be joined together by mutual love, so that one temple may be made by all. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXII/2, p.64)
Calvin also comments on the joyful insights that fact that Christians are designated as a chosen generation offers the faithful (v.9):
The doctrine ought to be the subject of daily meditation, and it ought to be continually remembered by us, that all God’s blessings with which He favours us are intended for this end, that His glory may be proclaimed by us. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXII/2, p.76)
Mark E.
* * *
John 14:1-14
This is a constant, comforting passage used in funerals – In my Father’s house are many rooms – with all the talk about Jesus preparing a place for us and coming for us. But it is also about having a spiritual place to stay now. When there’s a disaster, people are stripped of their basic securities – food, clothing, and an abiding place. These can all be wiped out in a moment. Part of creating a sense of recovery comes in knowing we have some real stuff – like the hygiene kids and cleanup kits made available through Church World Service disasters services. When we have enough for our “daily bread” we can take a deep breath and begin to recover hope.
And it’s not just in physical loss, as in a disaster, that we need security. After a death, during a crisis, when there’s emotional and/or spiritual insecurity, people need us to be the advocate, and the way. Knowing there is a way out, and that Jesus is walking with us on that way suggests we may not be there just yet, nor may we get there in a day, but there’s a path through grief, and through crisis, and it involves us, and it involves Jesus.
Frank R.
* * *
John 14:1-14
Bruce Shelley, in his book Christian Theology in Plain Language shares this story. A dying man asked his doctor who was a Christian to tell him something about the place to which he was going.
The doctor fumbled a bit for a reply. Then he heard scratching at the door. He knew this was his answer. “Do you hear that?” he asked his patient. “It’s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he’s become impatient. He’s come up here because hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Isn’t it the same with you? You don’t know what is beyond death’s door, but you know your Savior is there.”
There is a lot about heaven we don’t understand. From this passage, though, we are reminded of one important truth. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (vs. 3). The Father’s house is described in amazing ways. I can only imagine how it will be. There is one thing certain. We will be there with Jesus. There’s nothing more important than that.
Bill T.
* * *
John 14:1-14
What sociologist Robert Bellah noted nearly four decades ago is still true in America. What is left of religion is largely an individualistic activity. We think we can find God best on our own (Habits of the Heart, pp.226,232-233). A 2021 Probe Ministries poll found that more than 60% of born-again Christians between 18 and 39 believe that there are other paths to salvation besides Jesus. This lesson offers a rebuttal to these trends. Commenting on this text, John Calvin emphasizes this helpful corrective. He wrote:
Wherefore all theology, when separated from Christ, is not only vain and confused, but is also made, deceitful, and spurious; for, though the philosophers sometimes utter excellent sayings, yet they have nothing but what is short-lived and even mixed up with wicked and erroneous sentiments. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVXIII/1, pp.85-86)
Martin Luther makes the case for why you need Jesus to have access to God and what the payoff of coming to God that way is:
Whoever sees Christ with the eyes of faith also sees the Father with those eyes; for he meets the very person in whom the Father also dwells bodily... And he reveals his whole heart and will. (Luther’s Works, Vol.24, p.59)
As soon as we hear the mention of God’s name, or of his will, his works, his grace, or his displeasure, we must not judge these as the voice of heart or man’s wisdom discourse on them... but we must nest and cuddle on the lap of Christ, like dear children on their mother’s lap or in her arms, and close our eyes and ears to everything but him and his works. (Ibid., p.64)
Mark E.
Steven had the crowd listening as long as he stuck to a familiar script they liked – the story about God’s activity creating a chosen people, which the listeners assumed was them. His listeners knew this story, and they were ready to cheer for the good guys and hiss at the bad guys because they knew it didn’t condemn them. They would emerge as the winners of history.
Then, like what happens when we press the selfie button on our phone’s camera, the view switched, and the people realized Steven was telling them we are the bad guys, we are the ones who are guilty, the biblical stories are really about us and not them, and we are the ones who have to change. No thank you! The Greek before this second makes it clear that the people were so angry, they scraped their teeth together, doing damage to themselves in their fury.
And then, to make things worse – or give us the opportunity to become better people – in this reading Steven looks up and uses language from the Book of Daniel in which the throne of heaven becomes visible, and we see the Son of Man standing next to that throne where the Ancient of Days reigns. The people knew that language. It was their apocalyptic language, and they always interpreted the apocalypse to be something special where they would be shielded from the Day of the Lord’s ravages. Other people would suffer. But from Joel onwards the prophets have warned us that we should not yearn for the Day of the Lord to come too soon until we ourselves repent. The people who kill Steven don’t like the implications of what he is saying. The key thing here is to flip the phone’s settings so we don’t satisfy ourselves by condemning others so much as we challenge each other.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 7:55-60
There was a king who dealt with a rebellion from a group of his subjects. It was a bitter and brutal time. The king suffered because of it. One day, however, the rebels surrendered. They gave up their arms, threw themselves at the king’s feet, and begged for mercy. After just a few minutes of silence, the king pardoned them all. Watching this unfold, one of the king’s advisors asked him, “Did you not say that every rebel should die?”
“Yes,” replied the king, “but I see no rebels here.”
Forgiveness, especially to those who have done harm, is an amazing thing. In this fictional story, the king demonstrates that. In the text for today, Stephen demonstrates it, too. For those who had abused him, reviled him, and were now stoning him to death, Stephen prayed, as his Lord before him, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.” May we demonstrate the spirit of forgiveness shown to us by Stephen and by Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
1 Peter 2:2-10
We are God’s people. Do we believe that? Do we live like that? Do we accept that Jesus is the cornerstone, the resting place of the foundation, that which holds us up? It’s hard sometimes when we kook into our hearts and find fear, anger, pain, and even hate, to believe that we rest in Jesus, that we are God’s people. Yet, we have a choice. We can choose the way of sin or we can rest in God’s favor, forgiven and loved, blessed with grace and mercy. When we allow the gifts of God to enter us, we become even more and more the people of God. Others begin to see God in us, see the light of Christ shine forth from us. And we can rest in the knowledge that God is with us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Peter 2:2-10
Famed Puritan revivalist Jonathan Edwards did a nice job explaining the sacrifices Christian priests perform: Christian priests offer their hearts, sacrifices of praise, obedience, and give love away freely, all with a flaming heart (Works, Vol.2, pp.942-943) Of course, we are all priests in making these sacrifices. But the lesson also designates a sense in which the faithful are now a spiritual house (v.5). On that matter John Calvin writes:
For though every one of us is said to be the temple of God, yet all are united together in one, and must be joined together by mutual love, so that one temple may be made by all. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXII/2, p.64)
Calvin also comments on the joyful insights that fact that Christians are designated as a chosen generation offers the faithful (v.9):
The doctrine ought to be the subject of daily meditation, and it ought to be continually remembered by us, that all God’s blessings with which He favours us are intended for this end, that His glory may be proclaimed by us. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXII/2, p.76)
Mark E.
* * *
John 14:1-14
This is a constant, comforting passage used in funerals – In my Father’s house are many rooms – with all the talk about Jesus preparing a place for us and coming for us. But it is also about having a spiritual place to stay now. When there’s a disaster, people are stripped of their basic securities – food, clothing, and an abiding place. These can all be wiped out in a moment. Part of creating a sense of recovery comes in knowing we have some real stuff – like the hygiene kids and cleanup kits made available through Church World Service disasters services. When we have enough for our “daily bread” we can take a deep breath and begin to recover hope.
And it’s not just in physical loss, as in a disaster, that we need security. After a death, during a crisis, when there’s emotional and/or spiritual insecurity, people need us to be the advocate, and the way. Knowing there is a way out, and that Jesus is walking with us on that way suggests we may not be there just yet, nor may we get there in a day, but there’s a path through grief, and through crisis, and it involves us, and it involves Jesus.
Frank R.
* * *
John 14:1-14
Bruce Shelley, in his book Christian Theology in Plain Language shares this story. A dying man asked his doctor who was a Christian to tell him something about the place to which he was going.
The doctor fumbled a bit for a reply. Then he heard scratching at the door. He knew this was his answer. “Do you hear that?” he asked his patient. “It’s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he’s become impatient. He’s come up here because hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Isn’t it the same with you? You don’t know what is beyond death’s door, but you know your Savior is there.”
There is a lot about heaven we don’t understand. From this passage, though, we are reminded of one important truth. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also” (vs. 3). The Father’s house is described in amazing ways. I can only imagine how it will be. There is one thing certain. We will be there with Jesus. There’s nothing more important than that.
Bill T.
* * *
John 14:1-14
What sociologist Robert Bellah noted nearly four decades ago is still true in America. What is left of religion is largely an individualistic activity. We think we can find God best on our own (Habits of the Heart, pp.226,232-233). A 2021 Probe Ministries poll found that more than 60% of born-again Christians between 18 and 39 believe that there are other paths to salvation besides Jesus. This lesson offers a rebuttal to these trends. Commenting on this text, John Calvin emphasizes this helpful corrective. He wrote:
Wherefore all theology, when separated from Christ, is not only vain and confused, but is also made, deceitful, and spurious; for, though the philosophers sometimes utter excellent sayings, yet they have nothing but what is short-lived and even mixed up with wicked and erroneous sentiments. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVXIII/1, pp.85-86)
Martin Luther makes the case for why you need Jesus to have access to God and what the payoff of coming to God that way is:
Whoever sees Christ with the eyes of faith also sees the Father with those eyes; for he meets the very person in whom the Father also dwells bodily... And he reveals his whole heart and will. (Luther’s Works, Vol.24, p.59)
As soon as we hear the mention of God’s name, or of his will, his works, his grace, or his displeasure, we must not judge these as the voice of heart or man’s wisdom discourse on them... but we must nest and cuddle on the lap of Christ, like dear children on their mother’s lap or in her arms, and close our eyes and ears to everything but him and his works. (Ibid., p.64)
Mark E.
