Sermon Illustrations For Epiphany 6 | Ordinary Time 6 (2017)
Illustration
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Choose life. That is the key message in this reading. You have a choice: life or death. Please choose life. We often talk about life being living into the righteousness and presence of God, as following Jesus. Death is seen as sin. I love the way in which Ignatius of Loyola defines this. He speaks of consolation and desolation. Consolation is a moving toward, a turning toward, a following and a connection with God. Desolation is a moving away, a turning away from, a leaving the connection with God. Imagine living a life of desolation, feeling separate from everyone and everything you love. This disconnection, this loneliness, this separation is psychically, emotionally, and maybe even physically painful. Imagine now a reconnection. How joyous it is to be connected with those whom we love. How great is our joy when we are intimately connected with God. We can choose. That truly is grace.
Bonnie B.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 or Sirach 15:15-20
There are certain memes familiar in cartoons: the man stuck on the desert island, for instance. One of the most persistent is the little angel and the little devil sitting on someone’s shoulders. The angel is encouraging the person to do good. The devil is tempting them to do evil. The punchline is built around this situation.
This meme is as old as the hills. In Christopher Marlowe’s play Dr. Faustus, about a man who has sold his soul to the devil, the good and bad angels are with him to the end, encouraging him to choose one way or the other. Here there is no joke, however. The choice is serious and eternal. More to the point, even at the end the assumption is that we are able to make a choice, and that there is a worthwhile choice to make.
In his first inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln, speaking to a nation that had already split and seemed to be heading for war, asked everyone to take a deep breath and listen “to the better angels of our nature.” As it turned out, there were those who listened to that other angel on the other shoulder.
There are two options for this week’s lectionary, and both texts are very similar. The passage from Deuteronomy comes in the context of Moses’ farewell speech to the people before he dies and they go on to the Promised Land. The passage from Sirach, a second-century collection of wisdom, is not set in any particular time, but the message in both passages is the same. The choice before us is as serious as a heart attack. We are capable of making that choice between good and evil. There’s no question that genetics plays a part in our ability to choose. We are born with certain predilections. And there’s no question that environment has played a part in our ability to choose as well. But these authors assume that regardless of our DNA and the baggage of our past, we are still endowed with the ability to make this most serious of choices. Aye or nay, which shoulder are you listening to?
Frank R.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Why don’t you just grow up! That exclamation has been made hundreds, if not thousands, of times across this country. What does it mean to “grow up”? When it’s said, I don’t think the speaker is using it to say “Why don’t you just age and get taller, stronger, or grayer.” Usually when this phrase is used it is about maturity. The speaker is wanting his/her hearer to stop acting in an immature way and to have a better attitude, disposition, or pattern of behavior.
The older sister exclaimed it to her little brother who incessantly teased her about a boyfriend.
The older brother said it to his younger sister who whined and cried over the slightest of things.
The exasperated young woman cried it out to her boyfriend who’d disappointed her for the umpteenth time.
While the phrase is not used word for word in this text, this is the sentiment that the apostle Paul has as he addresses the Christians in Corinth: “And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh.” He tells them that because there is jealousy and quarreling among them, they have a lot of growing up to do. He chides them on the substance of their disputes. Neither Paul himself nor Apollos is anything. God is the one who causes growth.
I wonder today if we sometimes display infantile behavior... not so much of the physical kind, but of the spiritual. Do we show jealousy? Are we willing to fight for things that don’t make a bit of difference? Is it time for us to grow up too?
Bill T.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
The “100 deadliest days” last from Memorial Day to Labor Day. School is out and teenagers are driving more. Vacationers are taking long road trips. And more people die in traffic accidents during this period than any other time of the year. There are many reasons for this, but the overriding cause is driver distraction. Driver distractions, such as texting and using a cellphone, contribute to 58.5% of fatal accidents. In a cautionary statement, Jennifer Ryan, a AAA director of state realties, said in June 2016: “It’s no secret that teens are extremely connected to their cellphones.”
Application: Being in unity and having a common purpose is not confined to just the church; it must be our behavior in the community as well.
Ron L.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Americans are infatuated with celebrity. It is why Donald Trump was elected president, it explains Arnold Schwarzenegger’s election as governor of California, and prior to that it was Ronald Reagan’s initial platform. That sort of infatuation with celebrity seems to have plagued the Corinthian church in the first century. In fact, Martin Luther and Paul in our lesson make clear that the leader is a mere mask for God, just God’s servant, that the persona of the leader is pretty irrelevant, for God is the One who gets good things to happen: “We are servants; but neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the growth” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 14, p. 56).
Christian life, human life, is at its best when we collaborate, when even our leaders are not on a pedestal. No less a great leader than Martin Luther King. Jr. agreed: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.” Another great American, Benjamin Franklin, said much the same: “If we do not hang together, we will all hang separately.”
The gospel and Christ put us all together. Two timeless quotes of unknown origin say it well: “We are not put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.” “If you want to be incrementally better, be competitive. If you want to be exponentially better, be cooperative.”
Mark E.
Matthew 5:21-37
Church people are supposed to be nice. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that phrase. Sometimes it is offered when an individual has felt shunned or unwelcomed in a church setting, worship or meeting. Folks are surprised that everyone isn’t warm or hospitable like “they are supposed to be.” Sometimes I have heard the phrase when someone is afraid to speak the truth, afraid to confront or afraid to address an issue: “I can’t do that. Church people are supposed to be nice.” Jesus clearly lays out the process for addressing the truth with love. The method for engagement is simple -- talk to the person and reconcile, or find someone to go with you to talk with the person and be reconciled. What aren’t good solutions are blowing up in anger, gossiping, pre-judging, or walking away. We are all connected together in one world. Our connections are made stronger by truth expressed in love and remembering that words can murder a person’s spirit. That too is a sin.
Bonnie B.
Matthew 5:21-37
The process of getting a loan for a car or similar purchase can be difficult or easy, but for some people it is impossible without a co-signer. If someone’s credit rating is tepid, or they don’t have a credit history at all, they may be told over at the auto dealership that they need a co-signer. That co-signer has better credit, making it easier for the buyer to get the loan they need.
The other thing worth noting is that the co-signer is just as responsible for the loan as the person who wants to buy that car or appliance. If the person who gets the loan fails to make the payments, the co-signer is responsible for paying off the loan, even though she or he never sat behind the wheel of the car!
At the very least, one should not take on a co-signer without that person’s permission. For the same reason we should not “swear to God,” as some people so unthinkingly put it, because we’re committing God to our oath without God’s permission.
Part of what Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount is to establish that our relationship with God is that of the child of a heavenly parent. It is a close relationship. And that means to swear an oath, taking God as one’s witness, is to make God a co-signer on what is said. To swear by God, or by heaven, that such and such will be done, whether it is good or evil, is to make God a co-signer in that oath, obligated to carry out whatever doom or weal we may have promised, regardless of God’s will. At the very least, that seems a little presumptuous.
Frank R.
Choose life. That is the key message in this reading. You have a choice: life or death. Please choose life. We often talk about life being living into the righteousness and presence of God, as following Jesus. Death is seen as sin. I love the way in which Ignatius of Loyola defines this. He speaks of consolation and desolation. Consolation is a moving toward, a turning toward, a following and a connection with God. Desolation is a moving away, a turning away from, a leaving the connection with God. Imagine living a life of desolation, feeling separate from everyone and everything you love. This disconnection, this loneliness, this separation is psychically, emotionally, and maybe even physically painful. Imagine now a reconnection. How joyous it is to be connected with those whom we love. How great is our joy when we are intimately connected with God. We can choose. That truly is grace.
Bonnie B.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 or Sirach 15:15-20
There are certain memes familiar in cartoons: the man stuck on the desert island, for instance. One of the most persistent is the little angel and the little devil sitting on someone’s shoulders. The angel is encouraging the person to do good. The devil is tempting them to do evil. The punchline is built around this situation.
This meme is as old as the hills. In Christopher Marlowe’s play Dr. Faustus, about a man who has sold his soul to the devil, the good and bad angels are with him to the end, encouraging him to choose one way or the other. Here there is no joke, however. The choice is serious and eternal. More to the point, even at the end the assumption is that we are able to make a choice, and that there is a worthwhile choice to make.
In his first inaugural address, President Abraham Lincoln, speaking to a nation that had already split and seemed to be heading for war, asked everyone to take a deep breath and listen “to the better angels of our nature.” As it turned out, there were those who listened to that other angel on the other shoulder.
There are two options for this week’s lectionary, and both texts are very similar. The passage from Deuteronomy comes in the context of Moses’ farewell speech to the people before he dies and they go on to the Promised Land. The passage from Sirach, a second-century collection of wisdom, is not set in any particular time, but the message in both passages is the same. The choice before us is as serious as a heart attack. We are capable of making that choice between good and evil. There’s no question that genetics plays a part in our ability to choose. We are born with certain predilections. And there’s no question that environment has played a part in our ability to choose as well. But these authors assume that regardless of our DNA and the baggage of our past, we are still endowed with the ability to make this most serious of choices. Aye or nay, which shoulder are you listening to?
Frank R.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Why don’t you just grow up! That exclamation has been made hundreds, if not thousands, of times across this country. What does it mean to “grow up”? When it’s said, I don’t think the speaker is using it to say “Why don’t you just age and get taller, stronger, or grayer.” Usually when this phrase is used it is about maturity. The speaker is wanting his/her hearer to stop acting in an immature way and to have a better attitude, disposition, or pattern of behavior.
The older sister exclaimed it to her little brother who incessantly teased her about a boyfriend.
The older brother said it to his younger sister who whined and cried over the slightest of things.
The exasperated young woman cried it out to her boyfriend who’d disappointed her for the umpteenth time.
While the phrase is not used word for word in this text, this is the sentiment that the apostle Paul has as he addresses the Christians in Corinth: “And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh.” He tells them that because there is jealousy and quarreling among them, they have a lot of growing up to do. He chides them on the substance of their disputes. Neither Paul himself nor Apollos is anything. God is the one who causes growth.
I wonder today if we sometimes display infantile behavior... not so much of the physical kind, but of the spiritual. Do we show jealousy? Are we willing to fight for things that don’t make a bit of difference? Is it time for us to grow up too?
Bill T.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
The “100 deadliest days” last from Memorial Day to Labor Day. School is out and teenagers are driving more. Vacationers are taking long road trips. And more people die in traffic accidents during this period than any other time of the year. There are many reasons for this, but the overriding cause is driver distraction. Driver distractions, such as texting and using a cellphone, contribute to 58.5% of fatal accidents. In a cautionary statement, Jennifer Ryan, a AAA director of state realties, said in June 2016: “It’s no secret that teens are extremely connected to their cellphones.”
Application: Being in unity and having a common purpose is not confined to just the church; it must be our behavior in the community as well.
Ron L.
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Americans are infatuated with celebrity. It is why Donald Trump was elected president, it explains Arnold Schwarzenegger’s election as governor of California, and prior to that it was Ronald Reagan’s initial platform. That sort of infatuation with celebrity seems to have plagued the Corinthian church in the first century. In fact, Martin Luther and Paul in our lesson make clear that the leader is a mere mask for God, just God’s servant, that the persona of the leader is pretty irrelevant, for God is the One who gets good things to happen: “We are servants; but neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the growth” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 14, p. 56).
Christian life, human life, is at its best when we collaborate, when even our leaders are not on a pedestal. No less a great leader than Martin Luther King. Jr. agreed: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.” Another great American, Benjamin Franklin, said much the same: “If we do not hang together, we will all hang separately.”
The gospel and Christ put us all together. Two timeless quotes of unknown origin say it well: “We are not put on this earth to see through one another, but to see one another through.” “If you want to be incrementally better, be competitive. If you want to be exponentially better, be cooperative.”
Mark E.
Matthew 5:21-37
Church people are supposed to be nice. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that phrase. Sometimes it is offered when an individual has felt shunned or unwelcomed in a church setting, worship or meeting. Folks are surprised that everyone isn’t warm or hospitable like “they are supposed to be.” Sometimes I have heard the phrase when someone is afraid to speak the truth, afraid to confront or afraid to address an issue: “I can’t do that. Church people are supposed to be nice.” Jesus clearly lays out the process for addressing the truth with love. The method for engagement is simple -- talk to the person and reconcile, or find someone to go with you to talk with the person and be reconciled. What aren’t good solutions are blowing up in anger, gossiping, pre-judging, or walking away. We are all connected together in one world. Our connections are made stronger by truth expressed in love and remembering that words can murder a person’s spirit. That too is a sin.
Bonnie B.
Matthew 5:21-37
The process of getting a loan for a car or similar purchase can be difficult or easy, but for some people it is impossible without a co-signer. If someone’s credit rating is tepid, or they don’t have a credit history at all, they may be told over at the auto dealership that they need a co-signer. That co-signer has better credit, making it easier for the buyer to get the loan they need.
The other thing worth noting is that the co-signer is just as responsible for the loan as the person who wants to buy that car or appliance. If the person who gets the loan fails to make the payments, the co-signer is responsible for paying off the loan, even though she or he never sat behind the wheel of the car!
At the very least, one should not take on a co-signer without that person’s permission. For the same reason we should not “swear to God,” as some people so unthinkingly put it, because we’re committing God to our oath without God’s permission.
Part of what Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount is to establish that our relationship with God is that of the child of a heavenly parent. It is a close relationship. And that means to swear an oath, taking God as one’s witness, is to make God a co-signer on what is said. To swear by God, or by heaven, that such and such will be done, whether it is good or evil, is to make God a co-signer in that oath, obligated to carry out whatever doom or weal we may have promised, regardless of God’s will. At the very least, that seems a little presumptuous.
Frank R.
