Sermon Illustrations for First Sunday after Christmas Day (2018)
Illustration
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
In 2 Samuel 2:1-10 we hear Hannah's profound prayer of thanksgiving to God. She gave thanks because she was going to give birth to a son after many years of waiting. But what made this possible is that someone who could have dismissed her as a problem treated her as a person.
Sneak a look into the first chapter of the book. Every year Elkanah would take his two wives with him to the camp at Shiloh, up in the hills, where sacrifices and gatherings took place. Hannah was grieved she had no children, so at one point she went to the church tent and prayed silently and fervently.
The priest Eli saw her sitting in the sanctuary tent and must have thought he had a problem. Here is this woman, drunk even though it’s only morning, mumbling to herself. In those days people prayed out loud. What was he to think about some crazy old lady with no children who moved her lips silently? Eli has important sacrifices and services to lead. So at first he scolded her for coming into the church tent drunk.
Hannah needs help. Her heart is broken. She looks wounded. She looks out of the ordinary. It takes extra time that we don't want to give to individuals who, like Hannah, need help.
And this is where Eli makes a difference. Once he knows her story he gives her extra help and encouragement. He tells her she will give birth to that baby she's always wanted, that God is with her. He tells Hannah she matters to God and to him.
That's what church leaders do. Instead of labeling someone as a problem, they learn their backstory and realize here is a person loved by God. That's what Christians do. We cross comfort boundaries, to reach out. We cross comfort zones to make a difference in someone's life.
There are long term consequences to the kindness. Eli's concern for Hannah led to the heritage of the prophet Samuel, who would be the moral conscience of the people, before there were kings, and during the reigns of Kings Saul and David.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
A terrible fire broke out in a tall apartment building in New York. Firefighters surrounded the building and refused to let anyone go in. A beautiful young mother, however, dashed through the line and ran into the building. Her infant daughter was asleep on the second floor. Though they tried, the firemen could not restrain her. She made her way through the flames and rescued her child. The baby was fine, but the mom was severely burned. After surgery, her face was still badly disfigured. She was comforted, though, by the thought that when her little girl grew up she would be whole and healthy. Perhaps she’d appreciate the sacrifice that her mother had made.
Moms often make sacrifices for their children. One of the best examples of that is Hannah. She pleaded with God for a son and promised that if God gave her one, she’d give him back to the Lord. It was an extraordinary promise, and one that Hannah kept. She visited him each year as she and Elkanah came to the house of the Lord. She brought him gifts and was a woman of such character that Eli blessed her saying to Elkanah, “May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord.” Hannah is an incredible example of a mom. Charles Stanley sums it up well. He said, “Motherhood is a great honor and privilege, yet it is also synonymous with servanthood. Everyday women are called upon to selflessly meet the needs of their families.”
Bill T.
* * *
1 Samuel 2:18-20
Spiritual Growth / Learning
For two decades Elizabeth Vargas hosted ABC World News Tonight and 20/20. In May 2018 she left ABC to host the new documentary program called A&E Investigates. Vargas’ first project for the new television series was Cults and Extreme Beliefs. The invitation by A&E to report on a topic after having had the opportunity to devote a significant amount of time to an in-depth study of the subject was the primary reason that she accepted her new position. Vargas said, “I love doing breaking news, but I’ve been doing that for 25 years.” She went on to say, regarding her new program, “The storytelling we’re doing now involves that in-depth, long-term digging.”
Ron L.
***
Colossians 3:12-17
Sounds like a church body. It tells how we’re to treat each other. Scripture encourages mutual forgiveness especially in the Lord’s prayer. Love is at the center of Christian life.
My one son and one daughter are having trouble forgiving each other partly because their mother has taken sides and blames the son for his actions. Mother is now in a rest home which makes it easier for them.
It can be hard for a church to take sides even if there seem to be clearly two sides. You don’t want to lose members.
This passage encourages forgiveness even if the guilt seems to be clearly on one side.
In today’s politics it seems like neither side wants to ask for forgiveness. Neither side wants to admit guilt either. This political battel is hurting out country. We need to let the peace of God fill their hearts. Maybe this passage should be posted in every voting station. That’s probably not legal.
How many wars are caused because nether side will accept even part of the blame?
This passage should help bind families and Christians together. It can be a foundation for every counseling session the pastor has. Take it home and read it to each other every day.
Bob O.
***
Colossians 3:12-17
“Clothes make the man,” Mark Twain once said. That’s the point. We are nervous about what we wear (what we’ll be wearing when we bring in the New Year), because of the insecurities with which we live all the time. Social commentator Alain De Botton contends that clothes are a sign that we have made it in society, that we are respectable (Status Anxiety, p.183). We are so worried, because if we suffer in the esteem of others, then we suffer in our own self-esteem, too. We are such insecure animals! Our lesson refers to living with Christ and being clothed with love (vv.16,14). This led Martin Luther to comment on the clothes Christians wear:
The Christian apparel is of two kinds -- faith and love... by faith we put on Christ and he us... (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/1, p.77)
Wearing Christ (the Christ child) gives us the confidence in ourselves to live well and live right. As Luther puts it elsewhere, “The Christian should entertain no fear -- he should not doubt -- that he is righteous and a child of God through grace.” (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.229) We have the certainty, he says, that whatever we think or do is pleasing to God (Luther’s Works, Vol.26, p.378).
Paul and Luther also said that we are clothed with love (v.14). As the reformer puts it:
Love for our neighbor is a garment well befitting us -- that love which leads us to concern ourselves about the neighbor and his misfortunes. (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/1, p.77)
Jesus is all the clothes you and I will ever need.
Mark E.
***
Luke 2:41-50
The young mother took her two-year-old daughter to shop in one of the local clothing stores. It wasn’t a big store and there weren’t a lot of customers, so she felt all right about letting the little girl down while she examined the rack of dresses. She watched her carefully as she thumbed through the selection. One dress caught her eye. She pulled it off the rack and held it up to herself, just to get a feel for how it looked. “How does this look, Sara,” she called out to her toddler. She heard nothing. Her focus on the dress was probably less than thirty seconds, but that was all it took. Her little girl, who’d been bounding around by the rack, wasn’t there anymore. She threw the dress down and, panicked, began calling “Sara! Sara! Where are you?” A lady who worked at the store noticed her and joined her in the hunt. This story has a happy ending. In just a few minutes, which had to seem like a lifetime to the young mom, the little girl was found in the middle of a rack of clothes.
Almost every parent knows the anxiety and fear that comes with losing a child, even if it is just for a few minutes. Mary and Joseph experienced that, too. Because Jewish families traveled to Jerusalem, they assume he is with friends or relatives. In any case, on the first evening of their homeward journey they notice that he is missing. Can you imagine their trip back to Jerusalem? No doubt when they found him, they expressed relief and a bit of their anxiety. “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Jesus, though, gives a simple and profound answer that resonates today. “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” His parents didn’t understand what he meant at that time. Perhaps later, outside of Jerusalem on a barren hill called Golgotha, Mary understood. A lost child is scary. A lost soul is even worse.
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 2:41-52
TOO MUCH STUFF. SHORTEN.
A little sixties nostalgia. In the song ‘California Dreamin,’ the Mamas and the Papas tell us that they went into a church at one point in their pilgrimage. The singers walked into a church, and prayed on their knees. Some of us remember a time decades ago when churches were left open as a matter of course and people could go in to pray or reflect or just rest.
Even if there wasn’t fear and paranoia from an epidemic of shootings that are occurring at schools, businesses, and yes, churches, security concerns mean that most churches are not open most of the week.
Luke tells us that the prophet Anna never left the Temple, but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. Anna is ancient by everyone’s standards, and especially in a time when the average life span was twenty-five to thirty years.
The Greek can be interpreted two ways. It may mean Anna was eighty-four years old when she found Jesus in the temple. However, Luke may be inviting us to add Anna’s age when she married -- perhaps fourteen, say -- to the seven years of her marriage and her eighty-four years of widowhood. The total is 105. She is ancient indeed. Though she is labeled a prophetess, a title given to Miriam sister of Moses, Deborah, Huldah, and the wife of Isaiah, she is silent at first. Why? We don’t always need a running commentary on what is going on. Sometimes we can see for ourselves. There doesn’t have to be an Instagram report. It’s not always necessary to tweet. We don’t need a text or an email. In the face of true glory, and our salvation, and the babe who will be king, Anna says nothing. We can do worse.
In our own time there are those who will not keep silent either, but if you don’t listen, you won’t hear. God is showing us something marvelous in Jesus. The prophet, Paul, and the witnesses in the Temple who have patiently waited for its revealing are rewarded. Patiently wait. Your reward is coming. Be sure you’re looking when it comes.
We live in a different world, and it’s quite possible that you don’t leave your church unlocked during most of the week. If this is the case, think about an illustration in which you explain how your church is open to the community in other ways. Are you a presence in the community? Are there specific events, like community meals, youth programs, recreation programs, space provided for community meetings, AA meetings, or other events, in which community members have access to the building, at least at set times. These are opportunities for God moments, when a modern day Anna or Simeon can prophesy and proclaim.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 2:41-52
Learning / Wisdom
Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of our nation. He is often called “The First American” for his constant campaign for colonial unity. He was the first United States Ambassador to France. While in that country, Franklin was attending a dinner party when someone posed this question to the guests, “What condition of a man most deserves pity?” Franklin waited for all the other guests to answer before he offered this observation, “A lonesome man on a rainy day who does not know how to read.”
Ron L.
In 2 Samuel 2:1-10 we hear Hannah's profound prayer of thanksgiving to God. She gave thanks because she was going to give birth to a son after many years of waiting. But what made this possible is that someone who could have dismissed her as a problem treated her as a person.
Sneak a look into the first chapter of the book. Every year Elkanah would take his two wives with him to the camp at Shiloh, up in the hills, where sacrifices and gatherings took place. Hannah was grieved she had no children, so at one point she went to the church tent and prayed silently and fervently.
The priest Eli saw her sitting in the sanctuary tent and must have thought he had a problem. Here is this woman, drunk even though it’s only morning, mumbling to herself. In those days people prayed out loud. What was he to think about some crazy old lady with no children who moved her lips silently? Eli has important sacrifices and services to lead. So at first he scolded her for coming into the church tent drunk.
Hannah needs help. Her heart is broken. She looks wounded. She looks out of the ordinary. It takes extra time that we don't want to give to individuals who, like Hannah, need help.
And this is where Eli makes a difference. Once he knows her story he gives her extra help and encouragement. He tells her she will give birth to that baby she's always wanted, that God is with her. He tells Hannah she matters to God and to him.
That's what church leaders do. Instead of labeling someone as a problem, they learn their backstory and realize here is a person loved by God. That's what Christians do. We cross comfort boundaries, to reach out. We cross comfort zones to make a difference in someone's life.
There are long term consequences to the kindness. Eli's concern for Hannah led to the heritage of the prophet Samuel, who would be the moral conscience of the people, before there were kings, and during the reigns of Kings Saul and David.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
A terrible fire broke out in a tall apartment building in New York. Firefighters surrounded the building and refused to let anyone go in. A beautiful young mother, however, dashed through the line and ran into the building. Her infant daughter was asleep on the second floor. Though they tried, the firemen could not restrain her. She made her way through the flames and rescued her child. The baby was fine, but the mom was severely burned. After surgery, her face was still badly disfigured. She was comforted, though, by the thought that when her little girl grew up she would be whole and healthy. Perhaps she’d appreciate the sacrifice that her mother had made.
Moms often make sacrifices for their children. One of the best examples of that is Hannah. She pleaded with God for a son and promised that if God gave her one, she’d give him back to the Lord. It was an extraordinary promise, and one that Hannah kept. She visited him each year as she and Elkanah came to the house of the Lord. She brought him gifts and was a woman of such character that Eli blessed her saying to Elkanah, “May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord.” Hannah is an incredible example of a mom. Charles Stanley sums it up well. He said, “Motherhood is a great honor and privilege, yet it is also synonymous with servanthood. Everyday women are called upon to selflessly meet the needs of their families.”
Bill T.
* * *
1 Samuel 2:18-20
Spiritual Growth / Learning
For two decades Elizabeth Vargas hosted ABC World News Tonight and 20/20. In May 2018 she left ABC to host the new documentary program called A&E Investigates. Vargas’ first project for the new television series was Cults and Extreme Beliefs. The invitation by A&E to report on a topic after having had the opportunity to devote a significant amount of time to an in-depth study of the subject was the primary reason that she accepted her new position. Vargas said, “I love doing breaking news, but I’ve been doing that for 25 years.” She went on to say, regarding her new program, “The storytelling we’re doing now involves that in-depth, long-term digging.”
Ron L.
***
Colossians 3:12-17
Sounds like a church body. It tells how we’re to treat each other. Scripture encourages mutual forgiveness especially in the Lord’s prayer. Love is at the center of Christian life.
My one son and one daughter are having trouble forgiving each other partly because their mother has taken sides and blames the son for his actions. Mother is now in a rest home which makes it easier for them.
It can be hard for a church to take sides even if there seem to be clearly two sides. You don’t want to lose members.
This passage encourages forgiveness even if the guilt seems to be clearly on one side.
In today’s politics it seems like neither side wants to ask for forgiveness. Neither side wants to admit guilt either. This political battel is hurting out country. We need to let the peace of God fill their hearts. Maybe this passage should be posted in every voting station. That’s probably not legal.
How many wars are caused because nether side will accept even part of the blame?
This passage should help bind families and Christians together. It can be a foundation for every counseling session the pastor has. Take it home and read it to each other every day.
Bob O.
***
Colossians 3:12-17
“Clothes make the man,” Mark Twain once said. That’s the point. We are nervous about what we wear (what we’ll be wearing when we bring in the New Year), because of the insecurities with which we live all the time. Social commentator Alain De Botton contends that clothes are a sign that we have made it in society, that we are respectable (Status Anxiety, p.183). We are so worried, because if we suffer in the esteem of others, then we suffer in our own self-esteem, too. We are such insecure animals! Our lesson refers to living with Christ and being clothed with love (vv.16,14). This led Martin Luther to comment on the clothes Christians wear:
The Christian apparel is of two kinds -- faith and love... by faith we put on Christ and he us... (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/1, p.77)
Wearing Christ (the Christ child) gives us the confidence in ourselves to live well and live right. As Luther puts it elsewhere, “The Christian should entertain no fear -- he should not doubt -- that he is righteous and a child of God through grace.” (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/2, p.229) We have the certainty, he says, that whatever we think or do is pleasing to God (Luther’s Works, Vol.26, p.378).
Paul and Luther also said that we are clothed with love (v.14). As the reformer puts it:
Love for our neighbor is a garment well befitting us -- that love which leads us to concern ourselves about the neighbor and his misfortunes. (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/1, p.77)
Jesus is all the clothes you and I will ever need.
Mark E.
***
Luke 2:41-50
The young mother took her two-year-old daughter to shop in one of the local clothing stores. It wasn’t a big store and there weren’t a lot of customers, so she felt all right about letting the little girl down while she examined the rack of dresses. She watched her carefully as she thumbed through the selection. One dress caught her eye. She pulled it off the rack and held it up to herself, just to get a feel for how it looked. “How does this look, Sara,” she called out to her toddler. She heard nothing. Her focus on the dress was probably less than thirty seconds, but that was all it took. Her little girl, who’d been bounding around by the rack, wasn’t there anymore. She threw the dress down and, panicked, began calling “Sara! Sara! Where are you?” A lady who worked at the store noticed her and joined her in the hunt. This story has a happy ending. In just a few minutes, which had to seem like a lifetime to the young mom, the little girl was found in the middle of a rack of clothes.
Almost every parent knows the anxiety and fear that comes with losing a child, even if it is just for a few minutes. Mary and Joseph experienced that, too. Because Jewish families traveled to Jerusalem, they assume he is with friends or relatives. In any case, on the first evening of their homeward journey they notice that he is missing. Can you imagine their trip back to Jerusalem? No doubt when they found him, they expressed relief and a bit of their anxiety. “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Jesus, though, gives a simple and profound answer that resonates today. “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” His parents didn’t understand what he meant at that time. Perhaps later, outside of Jerusalem on a barren hill called Golgotha, Mary understood. A lost child is scary. A lost soul is even worse.
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 2:41-52
TOO MUCH STUFF. SHORTEN.
A little sixties nostalgia. In the song ‘California Dreamin,’ the Mamas and the Papas tell us that they went into a church at one point in their pilgrimage. The singers walked into a church, and prayed on their knees. Some of us remember a time decades ago when churches were left open as a matter of course and people could go in to pray or reflect or just rest.
Even if there wasn’t fear and paranoia from an epidemic of shootings that are occurring at schools, businesses, and yes, churches, security concerns mean that most churches are not open most of the week.
Luke tells us that the prophet Anna never left the Temple, but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. Anna is ancient by everyone’s standards, and especially in a time when the average life span was twenty-five to thirty years.
The Greek can be interpreted two ways. It may mean Anna was eighty-four years old when she found Jesus in the temple. However, Luke may be inviting us to add Anna’s age when she married -- perhaps fourteen, say -- to the seven years of her marriage and her eighty-four years of widowhood. The total is 105. She is ancient indeed. Though she is labeled a prophetess, a title given to Miriam sister of Moses, Deborah, Huldah, and the wife of Isaiah, she is silent at first. Why? We don’t always need a running commentary on what is going on. Sometimes we can see for ourselves. There doesn’t have to be an Instagram report. It’s not always necessary to tweet. We don’t need a text or an email. In the face of true glory, and our salvation, and the babe who will be king, Anna says nothing. We can do worse.
In our own time there are those who will not keep silent either, but if you don’t listen, you won’t hear. God is showing us something marvelous in Jesus. The prophet, Paul, and the witnesses in the Temple who have patiently waited for its revealing are rewarded. Patiently wait. Your reward is coming. Be sure you’re looking when it comes.
We live in a different world, and it’s quite possible that you don’t leave your church unlocked during most of the week. If this is the case, think about an illustration in which you explain how your church is open to the community in other ways. Are you a presence in the community? Are there specific events, like community meals, youth programs, recreation programs, space provided for community meetings, AA meetings, or other events, in which community members have access to the building, at least at set times. These are opportunities for God moments, when a modern day Anna or Simeon can prophesy and proclaim.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 2:41-52
Learning / Wisdom
Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of our nation. He is often called “The First American” for his constant campaign for colonial unity. He was the first United States Ambassador to France. While in that country, Franklin was attending a dinner party when someone posed this question to the guests, “What condition of a man most deserves pity?” Franklin waited for all the other guests to answer before he offered this observation, “A lonesome man on a rainy day who does not know how to read.”
Ron L.
