Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany 3 (2014)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 9:1-4
We are still a nation plagued by slavery. One thinks of the statistics on racial profiling in America. Los Angeles Police Department 2008 statistics indicate that blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked by cops than whites. According to the 2005 U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Justice, black drivers are twice as likely to be arrested as whites when stopped by police. And 2011 U.S. Census Bureau statistics reveal that black household income is only 55% that of whites. The world is also plagued by slavery, as the U.S. Department of State reports that in 2007 there are at least 4 million enslaved worldwide, and perhaps as many as 27 million. These slavery statistics are the children of the enslavement we all endure, a slavery well described by Martin Luther:
The reason is our nature has been so deeply curved in upon itself because of the viciousness of Original Sin that it not only turns the finest gifts of God in upon itself and enjoys them... but it also seems to be ignorant of the very fact that in acting so iniquitously, so pervasively, and in such a depraved way, it is even seeking God for its own sake.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 291)
This "curved in on ourselves" selfishness is the root of our oppression of others. But God sets us free from all this slavery, breaking the oppressor's rod (v. 4). Martin Luther refers to Jesus setting us free from all works, so that we can "empty ourselves" [of all the selfishness that has bound us] (Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 366). James Cone, the father of modern black theology explains what this entails in our context regarding the vestiges of slavery endured by African Americans:
Economically it may mean boycotting, or building stores for black people. Religiously or philosophically it means an inner sense of freedom from the structures of white society which builds its economy on the labor of poor blacks and whites. It means that the slave now knows that he is a man, and thus resolves to make the enslaver recognize him. I contend that such a spirit is not merely compatible with Christianity... it is Christianity.
(Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 62-63)
Famed medieval nun St. Bernard of Clairvaux notes that we are lured into this freedom, that it is not something we accomplish with our faith or free will:
The mind is drawn along by the ineffable sweetness of the word and, as it were stolen from itself or, better, it is rapt and remains out of itself there to enjoy the word.
(Elmer O'Brien, ed., The Varieties of Mystic Experience, p. 106)
The word's sweetness lures us into freedom and away from our insidious, oppressive selfishness.
Mark E.
Isaiah 9:1-4
My old Renault sputtered and died on my third attempt to get to college for my sophomore year. My father picked me up and hauled my car away to the junkyard. Dad put me on an airplane from Kansas City to Oklahoma City. It was a night flight, and I loved it! Seeing the world from thousands of feet in the air gives one a whole new perspective.
Something that I realized for the first time was the importance of lights. As the pilot began his descent, the runway lights showed him exactly where he should land that huge plane. Landing without those lights would have put us in extreme danger.
Isaiah understood that people needed a great light so they won't crash spiritually. Christ is the great light for the world to follow.
Derl K.
Isaiah 9:1-4
The Crimean War (1845-1856) was the first war that was brought into the living rooms of individuals distant from the battlefield. It was the first war in which photographs were taken of the conflict and its aftermath. It was the first war that used the telegraph to instantly transmit information on the ongoing conflict. It was the first time that journalists were extensively used, embedded among the troops. It was the first time that those who were distinct from the carnage could not deny the horror of battle.
Application: When we walk in darkness and suddenly see a great light, what may be revealed to us is social injustice and brutality that we must witness against and assist in preventing.
Ron L.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
That passage can't help but make me think: I follow Luther! I follow Peter! I follow Calvin! And on and on! If God wants us to be of one mind and agree with one another to prevent divisions, then why does he send us to seminary where they concentrate on all the "differences"? It took me a few years in the parish to discover that even the people in my pews had different opinions! Some were more strict about drinking, like my mother! Some were more strict about smoking or playing cards. Our pastor's wife lowered the curtains in her home when she had some women over to play cards! One church council argued that the church doors could not be painted red because that was too Episcopalian, or the pastor could not lift his hands in prayer because that was too Pentecostal! There isn't room to mention all the miniscule differences -- just among Lutherans!
In seminary we had those who followed Barth and those who followed Brunner or those who followed a number of other theologians, some of whom were more liberal and others more conservative! We even had a difference over which of our seminary profs we endorsed.
Doesn't it seem as though humans like arguments? We sort of expect them in our legislature, but should Christians dwell in unity? As I often say, on the mission field, if there is a denominational name over the door it probably means that they get most of their financial support from that group. When I got back home and asked for support for one of the churches over there, someone asked me, "but is it really Lutheran?"
It sounds from this passage that Christ didn't come to create arguments. Let there be arguments between different religions, but not within the church of Christ. Now pastors have a real job! How can we preach this message without giving the impression that we are not supporting our church body?
We all baptize our children in the name of the Trinity. Christ is not divided! We did not name a denomination when we baptized children in Nepal! Yes, there are differences in our communion rites, but I was invited to participate with Baptists, Presbyterians, and even into a Roman Catholic monastery where I participated in the service. I was even invited to assist in the communion in a Missouri Synod church in Hawaii!
Atheists may think that our message is foolishness, but they are perishing and we need to wake them up -- especially if they are members of our family! Our faith is the power of God, and it is his power that will win others to him!
Now what do we do when we go out into the real world? I hope we follow Christ and not just our own wisdom!
Bob O.
Matthew 4:12-23
When the typewriter was first developed and used in business, its use was restricted to men. Since it was a mechanical device, women were deemed incapable of operating it. Of course, a century since there has been almost a complete reversal of this attitude. But we should never forget the original narrow-mindedness that was associated with this new mechanical device.
Application: When we say "follow me" are we being inclusive in our calling?
Ron L.
Matthew 4:12-23
Christ came calling people of his day to repentance for their sins. People misunderstood what Jesus meant by the word "repentance," as they still do today.
One day in the junior high class, the Sunday school teacher asked what the word "repentance" meant. One of the boys responded, "Being sorry for your sins." A girl expanded his definition when she said, "It is being sorry enough to quit."
Several years ago one man said, "I kept chopping off one sin at a time for weeks, until I made up my mind that if I was ever to be true follower of Christ I must let him wash me inside and out. When I made this decision the Lord made a thorough job of it, and it has never had to be done over" (George Hallock, 5,000 Best Illustrations, p. 612).
Derl K.
Matthew 4:12-23
Many Americans think that responding to the call of God is what makes the Christian a Christian, that faith is what saves. According to a 2001 Barna Research Group poll, 7 in 10 Americans think we must do something in order to be saved. In fact, responding to the call of God is not very labor-intensive. It is nothing more laudatory, no harder work, than when we answer a call when the phone rings. Mother Teresa says that "we are all [nothing but] pencils in the hand of God." Our response to his call is written by him. Teresa's medieval equivalent in holiness and care for the poor, Catherine of Siena, lends a similarly clarifying point about how little we do in responding to God's call:
Open the door of your immeasurable charity, which you have given us in the door of the word. Yes, I know that you open before we know, because your servants knock and call out to you with the very love and affection you gave them.
(Amy Oden, ed., In Her Words, p. 203)
When it comes to responding to God's call, he not only makes the call. He even opens the door for us.
Mark E.
We are still a nation plagued by slavery. One thinks of the statistics on racial profiling in America. Los Angeles Police Department 2008 statistics indicate that blacks are 127% more likely to be frisked by cops than whites. According to the 2005 U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Justice, black drivers are twice as likely to be arrested as whites when stopped by police. And 2011 U.S. Census Bureau statistics reveal that black household income is only 55% that of whites. The world is also plagued by slavery, as the U.S. Department of State reports that in 2007 there are at least 4 million enslaved worldwide, and perhaps as many as 27 million. These slavery statistics are the children of the enslavement we all endure, a slavery well described by Martin Luther:
The reason is our nature has been so deeply curved in upon itself because of the viciousness of Original Sin that it not only turns the finest gifts of God in upon itself and enjoys them... but it also seems to be ignorant of the very fact that in acting so iniquitously, so pervasively, and in such a depraved way, it is even seeking God for its own sake.
(Luther's Works, Vol. 25, p. 291)
This "curved in on ourselves" selfishness is the root of our oppression of others. But God sets us free from all this slavery, breaking the oppressor's rod (v. 4). Martin Luther refers to Jesus setting us free from all works, so that we can "empty ourselves" [of all the selfishness that has bound us] (Luther's Works, Vol. 31, p. 366). James Cone, the father of modern black theology explains what this entails in our context regarding the vestiges of slavery endured by African Americans:
Economically it may mean boycotting, or building stores for black people. Religiously or philosophically it means an inner sense of freedom from the structures of white society which builds its economy on the labor of poor blacks and whites. It means that the slave now knows that he is a man, and thus resolves to make the enslaver recognize him. I contend that such a spirit is not merely compatible with Christianity... it is Christianity.
(Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 62-63)
Famed medieval nun St. Bernard of Clairvaux notes that we are lured into this freedom, that it is not something we accomplish with our faith or free will:
The mind is drawn along by the ineffable sweetness of the word and, as it were stolen from itself or, better, it is rapt and remains out of itself there to enjoy the word.
(Elmer O'Brien, ed., The Varieties of Mystic Experience, p. 106)
The word's sweetness lures us into freedom and away from our insidious, oppressive selfishness.
Mark E.
Isaiah 9:1-4
My old Renault sputtered and died on my third attempt to get to college for my sophomore year. My father picked me up and hauled my car away to the junkyard. Dad put me on an airplane from Kansas City to Oklahoma City. It was a night flight, and I loved it! Seeing the world from thousands of feet in the air gives one a whole new perspective.
Something that I realized for the first time was the importance of lights. As the pilot began his descent, the runway lights showed him exactly where he should land that huge plane. Landing without those lights would have put us in extreme danger.
Isaiah understood that people needed a great light so they won't crash spiritually. Christ is the great light for the world to follow.
Derl K.
Isaiah 9:1-4
The Crimean War (1845-1856) was the first war that was brought into the living rooms of individuals distant from the battlefield. It was the first war in which photographs were taken of the conflict and its aftermath. It was the first war that used the telegraph to instantly transmit information on the ongoing conflict. It was the first time that journalists were extensively used, embedded among the troops. It was the first time that those who were distinct from the carnage could not deny the horror of battle.
Application: When we walk in darkness and suddenly see a great light, what may be revealed to us is social injustice and brutality that we must witness against and assist in preventing.
Ron L.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
That passage can't help but make me think: I follow Luther! I follow Peter! I follow Calvin! And on and on! If God wants us to be of one mind and agree with one another to prevent divisions, then why does he send us to seminary where they concentrate on all the "differences"? It took me a few years in the parish to discover that even the people in my pews had different opinions! Some were more strict about drinking, like my mother! Some were more strict about smoking or playing cards. Our pastor's wife lowered the curtains in her home when she had some women over to play cards! One church council argued that the church doors could not be painted red because that was too Episcopalian, or the pastor could not lift his hands in prayer because that was too Pentecostal! There isn't room to mention all the miniscule differences -- just among Lutherans!
In seminary we had those who followed Barth and those who followed Brunner or those who followed a number of other theologians, some of whom were more liberal and others more conservative! We even had a difference over which of our seminary profs we endorsed.
Doesn't it seem as though humans like arguments? We sort of expect them in our legislature, but should Christians dwell in unity? As I often say, on the mission field, if there is a denominational name over the door it probably means that they get most of their financial support from that group. When I got back home and asked for support for one of the churches over there, someone asked me, "but is it really Lutheran?"
It sounds from this passage that Christ didn't come to create arguments. Let there be arguments between different religions, but not within the church of Christ. Now pastors have a real job! How can we preach this message without giving the impression that we are not supporting our church body?
We all baptize our children in the name of the Trinity. Christ is not divided! We did not name a denomination when we baptized children in Nepal! Yes, there are differences in our communion rites, but I was invited to participate with Baptists, Presbyterians, and even into a Roman Catholic monastery where I participated in the service. I was even invited to assist in the communion in a Missouri Synod church in Hawaii!
Atheists may think that our message is foolishness, but they are perishing and we need to wake them up -- especially if they are members of our family! Our faith is the power of God, and it is his power that will win others to him!
Now what do we do when we go out into the real world? I hope we follow Christ and not just our own wisdom!
Bob O.
Matthew 4:12-23
When the typewriter was first developed and used in business, its use was restricted to men. Since it was a mechanical device, women were deemed incapable of operating it. Of course, a century since there has been almost a complete reversal of this attitude. But we should never forget the original narrow-mindedness that was associated with this new mechanical device.
Application: When we say "follow me" are we being inclusive in our calling?
Ron L.
Matthew 4:12-23
Christ came calling people of his day to repentance for their sins. People misunderstood what Jesus meant by the word "repentance," as they still do today.
One day in the junior high class, the Sunday school teacher asked what the word "repentance" meant. One of the boys responded, "Being sorry for your sins." A girl expanded his definition when she said, "It is being sorry enough to quit."
Several years ago one man said, "I kept chopping off one sin at a time for weeks, until I made up my mind that if I was ever to be true follower of Christ I must let him wash me inside and out. When I made this decision the Lord made a thorough job of it, and it has never had to be done over" (George Hallock, 5,000 Best Illustrations, p. 612).
Derl K.
Matthew 4:12-23
Many Americans think that responding to the call of God is what makes the Christian a Christian, that faith is what saves. According to a 2001 Barna Research Group poll, 7 in 10 Americans think we must do something in order to be saved. In fact, responding to the call of God is not very labor-intensive. It is nothing more laudatory, no harder work, than when we answer a call when the phone rings. Mother Teresa says that "we are all [nothing but] pencils in the hand of God." Our response to his call is written by him. Teresa's medieval equivalent in holiness and care for the poor, Catherine of Siena, lends a similarly clarifying point about how little we do in responding to God's call:
Open the door of your immeasurable charity, which you have given us in the door of the word. Yes, I know that you open before we know, because your servants knock and call out to you with the very love and affection you gave them.
(Amy Oden, ed., In Her Words, p. 203)
When it comes to responding to God's call, he not only makes the call. He even opens the door for us.
Mark E.
