Sermon Illustrations for Epiphany of Our Lord (2015)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 60:1-6
We need light in the midst of our darkness our lesson proclaims. This point can be related to the Epiphany star that led the wise men to Christ in the midst of all the darkness.
Darkness is how we experience life. Seventeenth-century French scientist and Christian intellectual Blaise Pascal well describes this reality: "I look around in every direction and all I see is darkness. Nature has nothing to offer me that does not give rise to doubt and anxiety" (Pensees, p. 162).
Darkness even clouds the things of God. It is as Martin Luther once said: "This is our plague and wretchedness, that we are unable to recognize the exceeding greatness of the treasure because of its lowly appearance. Even though it hears this treasure, our foolish reason judges it on the basis of its lowly appearance and can be perceived only through the Holy Spirit" (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 311).
John Calvin believes that the brightness referred to in the text (v. 1) refers to salvation (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VIII/2, p. 275). And John Wesley claims that the lesson promises that the gospel and its light attract all nations, bringing them to Christ (Commentary on the Bible, p. 337).
What is said about light by famed Jewish rabbi Michael Strassfield can be attributed to salvation: "Light gives itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives itself and is not thereby diminished."
Mark E.
Isaiah 60:1-6
When Dr. Kent Brantly was released from Emory University hospital in Atlanta on August 21, 2014, having been treated for the Ebola virus he contracted in Liberia, he said, "Today is a miraculous day." He then went on to say at the news conference, "Above all, I am thankful to God for sparing my life and I'm glad for any attention my sickness has attracted to the plight of West Africa in the midst of this epidemic."
Application: It would have been best if Dr. Brantly never got sick, but since he did he was able to use his illness as a light to help others.
Ron L.
Ephesians 3:1-12
This is Paul writing to the church at Ephesus that Christ brings freedom and confidence to all who will accept him.
Charles Simpson, in Pastoral Renewal, wrote that he had met a young man who dives for exotic fish for aquariums. The most popular fish for aquariums is the shark. The man stated that if a small shark is caught and confined it will stay the size proportionate to the aquarium's size. According to him a six-inch-long shark can be fully mature. But if you turn them loose in the ocean, they grow to their average size of eight feet in length and hundreds of pounds.
As a pastor I have observed that also happens to Christians. Many Christians seem to never grow because they have not allowed God to free them from their little puddles. God wants to challenge each of us to get into a larger arena so that we can be free to grow to the size he envisions for us.
Derl K.
Ephesians 3:1-12
How many I knew in Nepal who were prisoners because of Jesus. Some died for their faith like Paul did. Even though they suffered, those new Christians felt it was worthwhile to suffer anything for the privilege of knowing Jesus and being God's child. They knew it was a real blessing to pay the price for their faith. What are we willing to sacrifice for the privilege of knowing Jesus as our savior?
This message was not made known to those of previous generations in Paul's day. I think that might apply to those today in this world's mission fields who have not yet received the message that is known to us. It is our job to spread the good news. Most of the Jews had rejected it and still do. That is one reason Gentiles got to receive it. Should we be thankful that they failed so that it was opened to us?
Paul is telling us that Gentiles are also heirs of Christ. All believers are now one body. Not a Lutheran body and a Baptist body and a Methodist body, but one body in Christ. By his grace we have been made one. It is that the Spirit has revealed it.
Paul treats his call as a gift of God's grace, even though he was killed for it. He became a servant and not a king. He even called himself the least of God's people. Are we that humble? Am I proud to be a pastor and missionary? Yes, not because I am great but because the grace of God made us what we are. Only through faith in him can we accomplish anything. The only ground for our confidence is through faith in him.
Bob O.
Matthew 2:1-12
James Foley was the American journalist from Rochester, New Hampshire, who was kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day in 2012 in Syria and was beheaded two years later. The gruesome scene was recorded on video and made public by the Muslims of the new Islamic State. Foley began as a schoolteacher but then became a journalist in his words to document "the most important things in the world."
Application: The wise men wanted to witness the birth of the Savior; the most important event in history. They also knew their trip was a dangerous one, so they returned home by an alternate route to avoid King Herod.
Ron L.
Matthew 2:1-12
Epiphany continues the celebration of Christmas. Note that today is Christmas for many Christians of Eastern Europe, Asia, and North Africa. January 6 is the original date for all of us to celebrate Christ's birth. The story of the wise men teaches us lessons on celebrating Christmas year round. John Calvin gives us insights on this matter while commenting on the story of the wise men:
In a word, so long as wicked men think that it is taking nothing from themselves, they will yield to God and to scripture some degree of relevance. But when Christ comes into conflict with ambition, covetousness, pride, misplaced confidence, hypocrisy, and deceit they immediately forget all modesty, and break out in rage.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 133)
Self-conceit and self-centeredness are big problems in human life. As Martin Luther once put it: We "stink of pure self-esteem and self-conceit" (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, p. 213). Or as nineteenth-century English author William Hazlitt put it: "We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit."
As we deny ourselves it is because Christmas and Epiphany are all about using ordinary means. In doing our pride thing, we end up doing things that are beneath God and ourselves. The father of existentialism, Soren Kierkegaard, nicely describes how in the incarnation God uses lowly, ordinary things:
In order that the union may be brought about, the God must therefore become the equal of such a one and so he will appear in the likeness of the humblest. But the humblest is one who must serve others. And the God will appear in the form of a servant... Behold where he stands -- the God! Where? There; so you cannot see him? He is the God; and yet he has not a resting-place for his head, and he does not lean on any man lest he cause him to be offended... he is the God; and yet his eye rests upon humankind with deep concern.
(Philosophical Fragments, pp. 39-40)
A humble God makes humble followers, people open to confessing their ignorance and seeking God in all kinds of ordinary things and events.
Mark E.
We need light in the midst of our darkness our lesson proclaims. This point can be related to the Epiphany star that led the wise men to Christ in the midst of all the darkness.
Darkness is how we experience life. Seventeenth-century French scientist and Christian intellectual Blaise Pascal well describes this reality: "I look around in every direction and all I see is darkness. Nature has nothing to offer me that does not give rise to doubt and anxiety" (Pensees, p. 162).
Darkness even clouds the things of God. It is as Martin Luther once said: "This is our plague and wretchedness, that we are unable to recognize the exceeding greatness of the treasure because of its lowly appearance. Even though it hears this treasure, our foolish reason judges it on the basis of its lowly appearance and can be perceived only through the Holy Spirit" (Luther's Works, Vol. 17, p. 311).
John Calvin believes that the brightness referred to in the text (v. 1) refers to salvation (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. VIII/2, p. 275). And John Wesley claims that the lesson promises that the gospel and its light attract all nations, bringing them to Christ (Commentary on the Bible, p. 337).
What is said about light by famed Jewish rabbi Michael Strassfield can be attributed to salvation: "Light gives itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives itself and is not thereby diminished."
Mark E.
Isaiah 60:1-6
When Dr. Kent Brantly was released from Emory University hospital in Atlanta on August 21, 2014, having been treated for the Ebola virus he contracted in Liberia, he said, "Today is a miraculous day." He then went on to say at the news conference, "Above all, I am thankful to God for sparing my life and I'm glad for any attention my sickness has attracted to the plight of West Africa in the midst of this epidemic."
Application: It would have been best if Dr. Brantly never got sick, but since he did he was able to use his illness as a light to help others.
Ron L.
Ephesians 3:1-12
This is Paul writing to the church at Ephesus that Christ brings freedom and confidence to all who will accept him.
Charles Simpson, in Pastoral Renewal, wrote that he had met a young man who dives for exotic fish for aquariums. The most popular fish for aquariums is the shark. The man stated that if a small shark is caught and confined it will stay the size proportionate to the aquarium's size. According to him a six-inch-long shark can be fully mature. But if you turn them loose in the ocean, they grow to their average size of eight feet in length and hundreds of pounds.
As a pastor I have observed that also happens to Christians. Many Christians seem to never grow because they have not allowed God to free them from their little puddles. God wants to challenge each of us to get into a larger arena so that we can be free to grow to the size he envisions for us.
Derl K.
Ephesians 3:1-12
How many I knew in Nepal who were prisoners because of Jesus. Some died for their faith like Paul did. Even though they suffered, those new Christians felt it was worthwhile to suffer anything for the privilege of knowing Jesus and being God's child. They knew it was a real blessing to pay the price for their faith. What are we willing to sacrifice for the privilege of knowing Jesus as our savior?
This message was not made known to those of previous generations in Paul's day. I think that might apply to those today in this world's mission fields who have not yet received the message that is known to us. It is our job to spread the good news. Most of the Jews had rejected it and still do. That is one reason Gentiles got to receive it. Should we be thankful that they failed so that it was opened to us?
Paul is telling us that Gentiles are also heirs of Christ. All believers are now one body. Not a Lutheran body and a Baptist body and a Methodist body, but one body in Christ. By his grace we have been made one. It is that the Spirit has revealed it.
Paul treats his call as a gift of God's grace, even though he was killed for it. He became a servant and not a king. He even called himself the least of God's people. Are we that humble? Am I proud to be a pastor and missionary? Yes, not because I am great but because the grace of God made us what we are. Only through faith in him can we accomplish anything. The only ground for our confidence is through faith in him.
Bob O.
Matthew 2:1-12
James Foley was the American journalist from Rochester, New Hampshire, who was kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day in 2012 in Syria and was beheaded two years later. The gruesome scene was recorded on video and made public by the Muslims of the new Islamic State. Foley began as a schoolteacher but then became a journalist in his words to document "the most important things in the world."
Application: The wise men wanted to witness the birth of the Savior; the most important event in history. They also knew their trip was a dangerous one, so they returned home by an alternate route to avoid King Herod.
Ron L.
Matthew 2:1-12
Epiphany continues the celebration of Christmas. Note that today is Christmas for many Christians of Eastern Europe, Asia, and North Africa. January 6 is the original date for all of us to celebrate Christ's birth. The story of the wise men teaches us lessons on celebrating Christmas year round. John Calvin gives us insights on this matter while commenting on the story of the wise men:
In a word, so long as wicked men think that it is taking nothing from themselves, they will yield to God and to scripture some degree of relevance. But when Christ comes into conflict with ambition, covetousness, pride, misplaced confidence, hypocrisy, and deceit they immediately forget all modesty, and break out in rage.
(Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. XVI/1, p. 133)
Self-conceit and self-centeredness are big problems in human life. As Martin Luther once put it: We "stink of pure self-esteem and self-conceit" (Luther's Works, Vol. 52, p. 213). Or as nineteenth-century English author William Hazlitt put it: "We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit."
As we deny ourselves it is because Christmas and Epiphany are all about using ordinary means. In doing our pride thing, we end up doing things that are beneath God and ourselves. The father of existentialism, Soren Kierkegaard, nicely describes how in the incarnation God uses lowly, ordinary things:
In order that the union may be brought about, the God must therefore become the equal of such a one and so he will appear in the likeness of the humblest. But the humblest is one who must serve others. And the God will appear in the form of a servant... Behold where he stands -- the God! Where? There; so you cannot see him? He is the God; and yet he has not a resting-place for his head, and he does not lean on any man lest he cause him to be offended... he is the God; and yet his eye rests upon humankind with deep concern.
(Philosophical Fragments, pp. 39-40)
A humble God makes humble followers, people open to confessing their ignorance and seeking God in all kinds of ordinary things and events.
Mark E.
