Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany 2 (2024)
Illustration
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
Often, we misunderstand the calls of God on our lives. Like Samuel, we get confused between the divine and the worldly. Which requires more of our time and attention? I have to admit that even as a pastor, I can get distracted by the worldly activities, no matter how they are anchored in my profession: planning worship services, planning for pastoral calls, committee work, all these are vitally important to my work and yet, if they are not anchored in my quiet prayer and meditation with God, am I really fulfilling my call?
In this new year, I have been focusing on lightening my life – purging stuff, letting go of the clutter in my home, but I may need to purge the clutter in my life as well. Spending the quiet time with God is an essential. What clutters my time and redirects my attention away from God? Maybe I need to refocus and proclaim to God, “Here I am.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
A September 2023 poll of 18-to-29-year-olds conducted by Harvard Institute of Politics found that nearly 2/3s of young Americans (64%) have more fear than hope about the future of democracy in America. Modern Canadian Anglican theologian J. I. Packer offers a comforting word of hope for our time:
The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity — hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory.
Nineteenth-century English Baptist Charles Spurgeon offered similar reflections on the hope to combat our despair. He wrote:
Don’t you know that day dawns after night, showers displace drought, and spring and summer follow winter? Then, have hope! Hope forever, for God will not fail you!
Modern Christian author Chip Ingram, put it well regarding where to find such hope: “God uses the most unlikely, ordinary people to do extraordinary things.”
Mark E.
* * *
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
This passage revolves around a deliberate misinterpretation of something Paul has said.
It’s not easy when various cultures come together in Christ. It ought to be, but we often have different cues and customs when it comes to social interaction. In some cultures, shaking hands is automatic. In others the offer of a hand to shake would seem intrusive, even alarming. There are other ways in which people may greet each other in warmth and friendship. This is true even within the United States, and much more so when people from around the world get together.
One of the great differences among people around the world has to do with food – what is acceptable to eat, what is avoided, and what is prohibited. In much of the world, for instance, people lack the gene to digest cow’s milk and are therefore lactose-intolerant. The offering of cheese, or ice cream, may not just be seen as disgusting, but also dangerous.
When Christians from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds came together in faith in the first century, it could be difficult to eat around the common table if some considered certain foods not just unappetizing, but prohibited by God, whereas others had eaten such foods since childhood. The display of disdain or disgust could drive people off. Others would wonder what all the fuss was about. Paul’s advice was to take the other person’s feelings into account and act accordingly.
To complicate things further, the food offered to idols was anathema to certain believers, but in Roman culture all butchering was done in the temples. A small amount of the meat would be given to the god and after the priest of that god inspected the meat and pronounced it healthy, it would be offered for sale in the marketplace. All meat available in some cities had been technically offered to an idol. Some said, those gods didn’t exist, so no harm had been done. Others probably choked at the thought of eating this meat.
At some point the apostle must have said, “All things are permitted for me.” He felt he could eat anything if he chose to, and that he could also choose not to eat if someone else had scruples. He was advising believers to put the feelings of others first and use that as a guide for behavior. Even if an action was permitted it did not have to be taken.
And this is where Paul was misquoted. Someone deliberately twisted what he said in order to make it appear that Paul justified prostitution, and probably other behaviors that this sentence was not meant to justify. In a way, Paul was experiencing what happens today on social media and 24-hour news, when someone’s statement is mischaracterized or misused to discredit them.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Elisabeth Elliot once said, “I am convinced that the human heart hungers for constancy. In forfeiting the sanctity of sex by casual, nondiscriminatory “making out” and “sleeping around,” we forfeit something we cannot well do without. There is dullness, monotony, sheer boredom in all of life when virginity and purity are no longer protected and prized.”
Purity matters. Most people are aware of Proctor & Gamble’s Ivory soap and detergent’s claim that is 99 and 44/100% pure. When Procter & Gamble was looking for an image of fresh-faced young lady to use on boxes of Ivory Snow laundry detergent in the early 1970s, they selected what is now an iconic photograph of Marilyn Chambers posing as a loving young mother holding a bright-eyed, adorable baby. That photo became synonymous with the much-touted purity of the product. However, that proved embarrassing for Procter & Gamble when they learned that the New York model whose picture now represented their product had since moved to San Francisco and became a star in adult films. Soon after discovering the current work of their chosen face of Ivory Snow, P & G executives removed her picture from the box.
Paul is adamant in his first letter to the church at Corinth that they shun sexual immorality (vs. 18). Purity matters because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (vs. 19). In a culture in which purity is casually discarded, may we remember “you were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body” (vs. 20).
Bill T.
* * *
John 1:43-51
New Zealand psychologist Thomas Swan described five reasons why people believe in God, and each of those reasons had to do with benefits for the believer. We are looking for God on our own terms. Thus, it is hardly surprising that people are not looking for God in Jesus or in the Bible. An October 2023 poll conducted by the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago found that since 2016, confidence in organized religion in the U.S. has dropped by half. Thus just 10% of the respondents in the survey said they still possess a "great deal of confidence" in organized religion. This text reminds us that God comes to us in ways we do not expect. We do not expect this, because in Christ himself such great things are hidden, that his revelation contradicts what we expect or are looking for. Saint Augustine profoundly makes this point in one of his sermons (194). He reminds us:
What human being could know all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ and concealed under the poverty of his humanity? For, 'being rich, he became poor for our sake that by his poverty we might become rich.' When he assumed our mortality and overcame death, he manifested himself in poverty, but he promised riches though they might be deferred; he did not lose them as if they were taken from him. How great is the multitude of his sweetness which he hides from those who fear him but which he reveals to those that hope in him!”
In Christ there is more to be seen than we ever imagined.
Mark E.
* * *
John 1:43-51
Following Jesus is not easy. There are myriad distractions and challenges in our lives and in our world which may pull us away. Like Nathaniel, we might wonder what good can come from following Jesus, why is it necessary to our existence? My response always is, what else is more necessary to our existence? Following Jesus isn’t easy. Ask any preacher accused of being political when using the gospels and the life of Jesus to redirect our attention to those who have little, those challenges with poverty, illness, imprisonment, and facing injustices. Often, I am accused of being political when I quote the gospels, when I quote Jesus. So many people have a cultural Christianity, rather than Christianity anchored in the word. As for me, I will continue to follow Jesus. Will you?
Bonnie B.
Often, we misunderstand the calls of God on our lives. Like Samuel, we get confused between the divine and the worldly. Which requires more of our time and attention? I have to admit that even as a pastor, I can get distracted by the worldly activities, no matter how they are anchored in my profession: planning worship services, planning for pastoral calls, committee work, all these are vitally important to my work and yet, if they are not anchored in my quiet prayer and meditation with God, am I really fulfilling my call?
In this new year, I have been focusing on lightening my life – purging stuff, letting go of the clutter in my home, but I may need to purge the clutter in my life as well. Spending the quiet time with God is an essential. What clutters my time and redirects my attention away from God? Maybe I need to refocus and proclaim to God, “Here I am.”
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
A September 2023 poll of 18-to-29-year-olds conducted by Harvard Institute of Politics found that nearly 2/3s of young Americans (64%) have more fear than hope about the future of democracy in America. Modern Canadian Anglican theologian J. I. Packer offers a comforting word of hope for our time:
The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity — hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory.
Nineteenth-century English Baptist Charles Spurgeon offered similar reflections on the hope to combat our despair. He wrote:
Don’t you know that day dawns after night, showers displace drought, and spring and summer follow winter? Then, have hope! Hope forever, for God will not fail you!
Modern Christian author Chip Ingram, put it well regarding where to find such hope: “God uses the most unlikely, ordinary people to do extraordinary things.”
Mark E.
* * *
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
This passage revolves around a deliberate misinterpretation of something Paul has said.
It’s not easy when various cultures come together in Christ. It ought to be, but we often have different cues and customs when it comes to social interaction. In some cultures, shaking hands is automatic. In others the offer of a hand to shake would seem intrusive, even alarming. There are other ways in which people may greet each other in warmth and friendship. This is true even within the United States, and much more so when people from around the world get together.
One of the great differences among people around the world has to do with food – what is acceptable to eat, what is avoided, and what is prohibited. In much of the world, for instance, people lack the gene to digest cow’s milk and are therefore lactose-intolerant. The offering of cheese, or ice cream, may not just be seen as disgusting, but also dangerous.
When Christians from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds came together in faith in the first century, it could be difficult to eat around the common table if some considered certain foods not just unappetizing, but prohibited by God, whereas others had eaten such foods since childhood. The display of disdain or disgust could drive people off. Others would wonder what all the fuss was about. Paul’s advice was to take the other person’s feelings into account and act accordingly.
To complicate things further, the food offered to idols was anathema to certain believers, but in Roman culture all butchering was done in the temples. A small amount of the meat would be given to the god and after the priest of that god inspected the meat and pronounced it healthy, it would be offered for sale in the marketplace. All meat available in some cities had been technically offered to an idol. Some said, those gods didn’t exist, so no harm had been done. Others probably choked at the thought of eating this meat.
At some point the apostle must have said, “All things are permitted for me.” He felt he could eat anything if he chose to, and that he could also choose not to eat if someone else had scruples. He was advising believers to put the feelings of others first and use that as a guide for behavior. Even if an action was permitted it did not have to be taken.
And this is where Paul was misquoted. Someone deliberately twisted what he said in order to make it appear that Paul justified prostitution, and probably other behaviors that this sentence was not meant to justify. In a way, Paul was experiencing what happens today on social media and 24-hour news, when someone’s statement is mischaracterized or misused to discredit them.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Elisabeth Elliot once said, “I am convinced that the human heart hungers for constancy. In forfeiting the sanctity of sex by casual, nondiscriminatory “making out” and “sleeping around,” we forfeit something we cannot well do without. There is dullness, monotony, sheer boredom in all of life when virginity and purity are no longer protected and prized.”
Purity matters. Most people are aware of Proctor & Gamble’s Ivory soap and detergent’s claim that is 99 and 44/100% pure. When Procter & Gamble was looking for an image of fresh-faced young lady to use on boxes of Ivory Snow laundry detergent in the early 1970s, they selected what is now an iconic photograph of Marilyn Chambers posing as a loving young mother holding a bright-eyed, adorable baby. That photo became synonymous with the much-touted purity of the product. However, that proved embarrassing for Procter & Gamble when they learned that the New York model whose picture now represented their product had since moved to San Francisco and became a star in adult films. Soon after discovering the current work of their chosen face of Ivory Snow, P & G executives removed her picture from the box.
Paul is adamant in his first letter to the church at Corinth that they shun sexual immorality (vs. 18). Purity matters because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (vs. 19). In a culture in which purity is casually discarded, may we remember “you were bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body” (vs. 20).
Bill T.
* * *
John 1:43-51
New Zealand psychologist Thomas Swan described five reasons why people believe in God, and each of those reasons had to do with benefits for the believer. We are looking for God on our own terms. Thus, it is hardly surprising that people are not looking for God in Jesus or in the Bible. An October 2023 poll conducted by the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago found that since 2016, confidence in organized religion in the U.S. has dropped by half. Thus just 10% of the respondents in the survey said they still possess a "great deal of confidence" in organized religion. This text reminds us that God comes to us in ways we do not expect. We do not expect this, because in Christ himself such great things are hidden, that his revelation contradicts what we expect or are looking for. Saint Augustine profoundly makes this point in one of his sermons (194). He reminds us:
What human being could know all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ and concealed under the poverty of his humanity? For, 'being rich, he became poor for our sake that by his poverty we might become rich.' When he assumed our mortality and overcame death, he manifested himself in poverty, but he promised riches though they might be deferred; he did not lose them as if they were taken from him. How great is the multitude of his sweetness which he hides from those who fear him but which he reveals to those that hope in him!”
In Christ there is more to be seen than we ever imagined.
Mark E.
* * *
John 1:43-51
Following Jesus is not easy. There are myriad distractions and challenges in our lives and in our world which may pull us away. Like Nathaniel, we might wonder what good can come from following Jesus, why is it necessary to our existence? My response always is, what else is more necessary to our existence? Following Jesus isn’t easy. Ask any preacher accused of being political when using the gospels and the life of Jesus to redirect our attention to those who have little, those challenges with poverty, illness, imprisonment, and facing injustices. Often, I am accused of being political when I quote the gospels, when I quote Jesus. So many people have a cultural Christianity, rather than Christianity anchored in the word. As for me, I will continue to follow Jesus. Will you?
Bonnie B.
