Sermon Illustrations for Easter 7 (2014)
Illustration
Object:
Acts 1:6-14
This story of the ascension seems to be a text that teaches us of our distance from God, as Christ dwells with him in heaven. Martin Luther gives us another perspective on this event. He suggests that when Christ's human nature ascended to heaven it has also brought us human beings into the presence of God's kindly paternal love (Luther's Works, Vol. 42, p. 13). In the ascension, Jesus takes us along with him to the Father. The first Reformer found a lot of assurance that Christ is in heaven for us. In one of his sermons he claimed:
For while my enemies stand before my very door and plan to slay me, my faith reasons thus: Christ is ascended into heaven and become Lord over all creatures, hence my enemies, too, must be subject to him and thus it is not in their power to do me harm.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, p. 192)
Evil does not have a chance ultimately, now that our Savior is in charge of the universe! In fact, with Christ in heaven and in control, even the tragedies and disappointments of life fail to win, but instead become avenues for God's love to prevail. As famed Roman Catholic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once wrote: "Blessed then be the disappointments which snatch the cup from our lips; blessed be the chains which force us to go where we would not" (Hymn of the Universe, p. 117).
Even death, he notes, is blessed in turning us over to God (Ibid., p. 150). When we realize the full implications of Jesus' reign in heaven as a result of the ascension we will be able to say along with Helen Keller that "all the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming." The next time tragedy and suffering hit, we need only remember that Christ is in heaven for us.
Mark E.
Acts 1:6-14
Dwight Moody was working as a boot salesman in his uncle's store, Holton Shoe Store, in Boston in 1855. Edward Kimball, the proprietor's Sunday school teacher was determined to win Moody's soul for Christ. One afternoon Kimball found the eighteen-year-old working in the stockroom. Kimball took the opportunity to witness to his young friend about Jesus. Dwight L. Moody accepted the invitation to surrender his life to Christ and became one of the greatest evangelists of the nineteenth century.
Application: We seldom hear of the name Edward Kimball, but as Jesus said: "You will be my witnesses."
Ron L.
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
Sir Winston Churchill, the great British politician, is one of the most quoted men in history. Leading the people of Great Britain through World War II's terrifying times and giving them strength to overcome their fiery ordeal gave him a place in history that will not be ignored.
He is quoted as saying: "One ought never to turn ones back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger in half" (Patches of Godlight, Jan Karon, npn).
Peter, writing to God's elect, scattered exiles in various provinces, acknowledges that they are to stand firm and not run from danger because God's Spirit will rest upon them. The same holds true of God's people today!
Derl K.
1 Peter 4:12-14; 15:6-11
This is not a passage we want to happen to us. We are so comfortable in our padded pews on Sunday and we go home to nice cozy homes after service and throughout the week (most of us, that is)! Maybe our greatest worry is finding a new job if we have lost ours. Our finances may be a bit tight right now. But are we suffering for our faith? Probably very few are.
When I was on the mission field in Nepal and when I talked with other missionaries, we all had tales of suffering -- maybe not for us, but for those around us. In some countries new converts can be subject to rejection by friends and even family, and maybe even jail, torture and beatings -- and death.
Our experience in Nepal where the Maoist were causing violence was not panic. Just a smile from the people and a shrug, like "what can you do about it? That's the way life is!"
The greatest suffering for my faith that I can recall as a child was when I had a job as a caddy at the golf course. They told me that if I wanted my job I had to be available on Sunday. I would miss church. For some reason they excused Roman Catholics. They said, "Well! They have to go to church!"
Not too many of us -- even missionaries -- are anywhere near suffering what our Lord suffered.
If we are travelers we sometimes get warnings that some tourists have even been arrested. It may not have been for their faith, but for the country to which we belong. But in some Muslim countries we could be persecuted for some minor infraction of Islamic law of which we might not have been aware. It may give some a tiny bit of the feeling for our text. Very few of us have really known real suffering.
Some nurses, doctors, and schoolteachers in other countries have been persecuted, maybe for just being American, but some have suffered if they were caught explaining their faith. Even an act of kindness can sometimes be interpreted as a means of drawing someone to our faith and away from their own.
The average church member today can only pray for those who are suffering for their faith.
Yes, we may have problems with family members who differ in their faith or practice in some way. Maybe we can't get our mate to come to church with us. Maybe our grown children give us a hard time -- especially when we inquire if our grandchildren will be baptized soon. What about work on Sunday? Our problems may not be life threatening, but they are important to us.
The comforting words of our Lord tell us that after a while God will restore us in his grace and help us to stand firm in our faith. Be patient the time will come. He will overcome the devil for us if we stand firm. Don't give up!
Bob O.
John 17:1-11
We often think of Martin Luther sequestered in the Wartburg Castle in 1521, as the sole translator of the Bible from Greek into German, the language of the commoner. But Luther had assistance from a man we seldom hear of, Johannes Bugenhagen, who was a professor at the University of Wittenberg. Bugenhagen then went on to complete an alternative translation of the Bible into Low German, making the reading of the Bible available to even more individuals.
Application: Jesus shared the words God had given to him, just as we are to share the word of God with others.
Ron L.
John 17:1-11
There is much literature about the fraying of America into different social classes that never interact or have almost nothing in common. See Charles Murray, Coming Apart and Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods. The staggering inequality of wages is a no less blatant example of the fraying of our social fabric. The AFL-CIO found that based on 2012 salaries the average CEO makes 354 times the salary of the average employee. Jesus' comments about how he and the Father share all things (a consequence of the Trinity doctrine) have implications for addressing our social ills. Early Christian apologist Clement of Alexandria makes this point clear:
God brought our race into communion by first imparting what was his own, when he gave his own word, common to all, and made all things for all. All things therefore are common and not for the rich to appropriate an undue share.
(Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 268)
The common sharing of the Father means that there is no place for a lack of sharing, for isolation, among the people of the triune God. If Father and Son share all things, then Christians cannot be content with all the disparities that surround us.
Mark E.
This story of the ascension seems to be a text that teaches us of our distance from God, as Christ dwells with him in heaven. Martin Luther gives us another perspective on this event. He suggests that when Christ's human nature ascended to heaven it has also brought us human beings into the presence of God's kindly paternal love (Luther's Works, Vol. 42, p. 13). In the ascension, Jesus takes us along with him to the Father. The first Reformer found a lot of assurance that Christ is in heaven for us. In one of his sermons he claimed:
For while my enemies stand before my very door and plan to slay me, my faith reasons thus: Christ is ascended into heaven and become Lord over all creatures, hence my enemies, too, must be subject to him and thus it is not in their power to do me harm.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 2/1, p. 192)
Evil does not have a chance ultimately, now that our Savior is in charge of the universe! In fact, with Christ in heaven and in control, even the tragedies and disappointments of life fail to win, but instead become avenues for God's love to prevail. As famed Roman Catholic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once wrote: "Blessed then be the disappointments which snatch the cup from our lips; blessed be the chains which force us to go where we would not" (Hymn of the Universe, p. 117).
Even death, he notes, is blessed in turning us over to God (Ibid., p. 150). When we realize the full implications of Jesus' reign in heaven as a result of the ascension we will be able to say along with Helen Keller that "all the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming." The next time tragedy and suffering hit, we need only remember that Christ is in heaven for us.
Mark E.
Acts 1:6-14
Dwight Moody was working as a boot salesman in his uncle's store, Holton Shoe Store, in Boston in 1855. Edward Kimball, the proprietor's Sunday school teacher was determined to win Moody's soul for Christ. One afternoon Kimball found the eighteen-year-old working in the stockroom. Kimball took the opportunity to witness to his young friend about Jesus. Dwight L. Moody accepted the invitation to surrender his life to Christ and became one of the greatest evangelists of the nineteenth century.
Application: We seldom hear of the name Edward Kimball, but as Jesus said: "You will be my witnesses."
Ron L.
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
Sir Winston Churchill, the great British politician, is one of the most quoted men in history. Leading the people of Great Britain through World War II's terrifying times and giving them strength to overcome their fiery ordeal gave him a place in history that will not be ignored.
He is quoted as saying: "One ought never to turn ones back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger in half" (Patches of Godlight, Jan Karon, npn).
Peter, writing to God's elect, scattered exiles in various provinces, acknowledges that they are to stand firm and not run from danger because God's Spirit will rest upon them. The same holds true of God's people today!
Derl K.
1 Peter 4:12-14; 15:6-11
This is not a passage we want to happen to us. We are so comfortable in our padded pews on Sunday and we go home to nice cozy homes after service and throughout the week (most of us, that is)! Maybe our greatest worry is finding a new job if we have lost ours. Our finances may be a bit tight right now. But are we suffering for our faith? Probably very few are.
When I was on the mission field in Nepal and when I talked with other missionaries, we all had tales of suffering -- maybe not for us, but for those around us. In some countries new converts can be subject to rejection by friends and even family, and maybe even jail, torture and beatings -- and death.
Our experience in Nepal where the Maoist were causing violence was not panic. Just a smile from the people and a shrug, like "what can you do about it? That's the way life is!"
The greatest suffering for my faith that I can recall as a child was when I had a job as a caddy at the golf course. They told me that if I wanted my job I had to be available on Sunday. I would miss church. For some reason they excused Roman Catholics. They said, "Well! They have to go to church!"
Not too many of us -- even missionaries -- are anywhere near suffering what our Lord suffered.
If we are travelers we sometimes get warnings that some tourists have even been arrested. It may not have been for their faith, but for the country to which we belong. But in some Muslim countries we could be persecuted for some minor infraction of Islamic law of which we might not have been aware. It may give some a tiny bit of the feeling for our text. Very few of us have really known real suffering.
Some nurses, doctors, and schoolteachers in other countries have been persecuted, maybe for just being American, but some have suffered if they were caught explaining their faith. Even an act of kindness can sometimes be interpreted as a means of drawing someone to our faith and away from their own.
The average church member today can only pray for those who are suffering for their faith.
Yes, we may have problems with family members who differ in their faith or practice in some way. Maybe we can't get our mate to come to church with us. Maybe our grown children give us a hard time -- especially when we inquire if our grandchildren will be baptized soon. What about work on Sunday? Our problems may not be life threatening, but they are important to us.
The comforting words of our Lord tell us that after a while God will restore us in his grace and help us to stand firm in our faith. Be patient the time will come. He will overcome the devil for us if we stand firm. Don't give up!
Bob O.
John 17:1-11
We often think of Martin Luther sequestered in the Wartburg Castle in 1521, as the sole translator of the Bible from Greek into German, the language of the commoner. But Luther had assistance from a man we seldom hear of, Johannes Bugenhagen, who was a professor at the University of Wittenberg. Bugenhagen then went on to complete an alternative translation of the Bible into Low German, making the reading of the Bible available to even more individuals.
Application: Jesus shared the words God had given to him, just as we are to share the word of God with others.
Ron L.
John 17:1-11
There is much literature about the fraying of America into different social classes that never interact or have almost nothing in common. See Charles Murray, Coming Apart and Annette Lareau, Unequal Childhoods. The staggering inequality of wages is a no less blatant example of the fraying of our social fabric. The AFL-CIO found that based on 2012 salaries the average CEO makes 354 times the salary of the average employee. Jesus' comments about how he and the Father share all things (a consequence of the Trinity doctrine) have implications for addressing our social ills. Early Christian apologist Clement of Alexandria makes this point clear:
God brought our race into communion by first imparting what was his own, when he gave his own word, common to all, and made all things for all. All things therefore are common and not for the rich to appropriate an undue share.
(Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, p. 268)
The common sharing of the Father means that there is no place for a lack of sharing, for isolation, among the people of the triune God. If Father and Son share all things, then Christians cannot be content with all the disparities that surround us.
Mark E.
