Sermon Illustrations for First Sunday after Christmas Day (2021)
Illustration
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
How appropriate on the day after Christmas that this lesson tells the story of a parent dedicating her child to God. John Wesley advised that we need bring children to God, because not unlike today, the environment would make natural atheists out of them:
Will not the things of the present world, which surround these children on every side, naturally take up their thoughts and set God at a greater distance from them (if that be possible) than he was before?... What can be done to cure it? From the first dawn of reason continually inculcate, God is in this and every place... He gives us all the goodness we have; every thought and word, and work, are from him... Thus, it is we are to inculcate upon them, that God is all in all. (Works, Vol.7, pp.91-92)
Wesley also offered some comments on a life totally dedicated to God. He wrote:
True Christian zeal is no other than the flame of love... In a Christian believer, love sits upon the throne that is erected in the inmost soul; namely, love of God and man, which fills the whole heart and reigns without rival. (Works, Vol.7/1, pp.59-60)
Regarding how we are to raise our children or dedicate them, there is an old Norwegian proverb which directs us to God’s role. It goes like this: “Good parents can still have bad children, and bad parents can raise a good child. If a child turns out good, it is a miracle.” Martin Luther wrote something similar:
It still happens to many parents that their children turn out to be bad – even when they have had good training... If our efforts are successful, we should thank God; if not, we have at least done our part. For that children turn out to be good does not lie in our power and might, but it is God’s. If he is not in the ship with us, we shall never sail smoothly. (Weimar Ausgabe, Vol.24, pp.591ff. [translation mine])
Mark E.
* * *
Colossians 3:12-17
Baseball player Ervin Santana recently tweeted, “When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth.” Santana is an older pitcher whose career has spanned sixteen years and five different teams. His twitter feed reflects a veteran player, who, nearing the end of his career, enjoys the moment he’s in and takes very little for granted. He writes with great pride and joy about being able to wear the uniform of a major league player.
I’ve never worn an MLB uniform. Like a lot of boys, I suppose, I dreamed of that. It never happened. I do think Paul, in this passage, addresses a uniform far more important than that of a baseball player. He writes, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (vs. 12) As I thought about this passage, it occurred to me, this is the uniform of the believer. As a follower of Jesus, this is what we wear. When others see and encounter us, this is what it ought to be like. May each of us find as much joy wearing our uniform of faith as Ervin Santana does in wearing a Royals uniform.
Bill T.
* * *
Colossians 3:12-17
It’s purely coincidence, because our system of chapters and verses to cite biblical references was not imposed on the books of the New Testament until centuries after they were written. Nevertheless, in more than one book of the Bible the reference to 3:16 turns out to be significant. We’re all aware of John 3:16, of course. Later on, I invite you to thumb through your New Testament and look up the number in other books. Right now, I want you to think about Colossians 3:16, where Paul invites believers to “with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”
Is there a difference between the three categories of songs that Paul mentions? This seemed like a good excuse to crack open, for the very first time, my new copy of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon.
Most dictionaries of ancient Greek are updated editions of the Liddell and Scott Greek lexicon first published in 1843. It’s been revised several times, most recently in 1940. Fun fact -- Henry George Liddell, one of the original editors of that first edition, was the father of Alice Pleasance Liddell, the young woman for whom Charles Lutwidge Dodson, who wrote under the name Lewis Carroll, based Alice in Wonderland.
Originally it was the intention of the editors of the new lexicon to update Liddell & Scott, but they realized that the original volume was published during the era of Queen Victoria and was therefore prudishly Victorian. Instead, they started from scratch.
A humnos, or hymn, is defined as a “song (usu. Of praise or commemoration)”. Hymns are often “about deities, heroes, warriors, athletes, nobles”, they can be chants or spells or victory songs.
A psalmos, or psalm comes from the verb “to pluck,” as in a lyre or harp. A psalmos therefore involves twanging or plucking out a melody on an instrument, or singing along with a lyre, or plucking a bow. It is used to translation the Hebrew word “tehillim” into Greek, where it specifically refers to songs from the book of Psalms.
An oda, from which we get the word “ode”, (smiley face) and is here translated “song,” is derived from an even more ancient word, aoide, involves the act of singing any old thing. In the Colossians 3:16 the word pneumatikos is added, taken from the world from which we derive breath, wind, and spirit, all of them unseen and powerfully felt. And songs, given birth by our feeble breath can surely be powerfully felt through the action of the Holy Spirit.
The reason this comes to mind is that we sometimes hear people discuss the difference between Christmas carols, Christmas hymns, and Christmas songs. While I can think Gene Autry singing “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer” falls in a different category than “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” I’m otherwise color blind when it comes to anything in between.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 2:41-52
In our story, Jesus seems to have disobeyed his parents. John Calvin explained this, with a reminder that God must be first in our lives, contending that “whatever we owe to men must yield to the first table of the law, that God’s authority over us may remain untouched.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XCI/1, p.171) Nothing can come before God, Martin Luther claimed:
Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart... it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol. (The Book of Concord [2000 ed.], p.386)
Luther also has comments about why, if God is the most important thing in life, we may have to break the commandments, even deceive those who would compromise our primary commitment to God (like Jesus’ parents seemed to be doing in taking him away from divine instruction). The reformer wrote later in his life:
Thus, in their wars the saints frequently deceived their enemies, but those are lies one is permitted to us in the service of God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.5, p.150)
Mark E.
How appropriate on the day after Christmas that this lesson tells the story of a parent dedicating her child to God. John Wesley advised that we need bring children to God, because not unlike today, the environment would make natural atheists out of them:
Will not the things of the present world, which surround these children on every side, naturally take up their thoughts and set God at a greater distance from them (if that be possible) than he was before?... What can be done to cure it? From the first dawn of reason continually inculcate, God is in this and every place... He gives us all the goodness we have; every thought and word, and work, are from him... Thus, it is we are to inculcate upon them, that God is all in all. (Works, Vol.7, pp.91-92)
Wesley also offered some comments on a life totally dedicated to God. He wrote:
True Christian zeal is no other than the flame of love... In a Christian believer, love sits upon the throne that is erected in the inmost soul; namely, love of God and man, which fills the whole heart and reigns without rival. (Works, Vol.7/1, pp.59-60)
Regarding how we are to raise our children or dedicate them, there is an old Norwegian proverb which directs us to God’s role. It goes like this: “Good parents can still have bad children, and bad parents can raise a good child. If a child turns out good, it is a miracle.” Martin Luther wrote something similar:
It still happens to many parents that their children turn out to be bad – even when they have had good training... If our efforts are successful, we should thank God; if not, we have at least done our part. For that children turn out to be good does not lie in our power and might, but it is God’s. If he is not in the ship with us, we shall never sail smoothly. (Weimar Ausgabe, Vol.24, pp.591ff. [translation mine])
Mark E.
* * *
Colossians 3:12-17
Baseball player Ervin Santana recently tweeted, “When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth.” Santana is an older pitcher whose career has spanned sixteen years and five different teams. His twitter feed reflects a veteran player, who, nearing the end of his career, enjoys the moment he’s in and takes very little for granted. He writes with great pride and joy about being able to wear the uniform of a major league player.
I’ve never worn an MLB uniform. Like a lot of boys, I suppose, I dreamed of that. It never happened. I do think Paul, in this passage, addresses a uniform far more important than that of a baseball player. He writes, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (vs. 12) As I thought about this passage, it occurred to me, this is the uniform of the believer. As a follower of Jesus, this is what we wear. When others see and encounter us, this is what it ought to be like. May each of us find as much joy wearing our uniform of faith as Ervin Santana does in wearing a Royals uniform.
Bill T.
* * *
Colossians 3:12-17
It’s purely coincidence, because our system of chapters and verses to cite biblical references was not imposed on the books of the New Testament until centuries after they were written. Nevertheless, in more than one book of the Bible the reference to 3:16 turns out to be significant. We’re all aware of John 3:16, of course. Later on, I invite you to thumb through your New Testament and look up the number in other books. Right now, I want you to think about Colossians 3:16, where Paul invites believers to “with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”
Is there a difference between the three categories of songs that Paul mentions? This seemed like a good excuse to crack open, for the very first time, my new copy of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon.
Most dictionaries of ancient Greek are updated editions of the Liddell and Scott Greek lexicon first published in 1843. It’s been revised several times, most recently in 1940. Fun fact -- Henry George Liddell, one of the original editors of that first edition, was the father of Alice Pleasance Liddell, the young woman for whom Charles Lutwidge Dodson, who wrote under the name Lewis Carroll, based Alice in Wonderland.
Originally it was the intention of the editors of the new lexicon to update Liddell & Scott, but they realized that the original volume was published during the era of Queen Victoria and was therefore prudishly Victorian. Instead, they started from scratch.
A humnos, or hymn, is defined as a “song (usu. Of praise or commemoration)”. Hymns are often “about deities, heroes, warriors, athletes, nobles”, they can be chants or spells or victory songs.
A psalmos, or psalm comes from the verb “to pluck,” as in a lyre or harp. A psalmos therefore involves twanging or plucking out a melody on an instrument, or singing along with a lyre, or plucking a bow. It is used to translation the Hebrew word “tehillim” into Greek, where it specifically refers to songs from the book of Psalms.
An oda, from which we get the word “ode”, (smiley face) and is here translated “song,” is derived from an even more ancient word, aoide, involves the act of singing any old thing. In the Colossians 3:16 the word pneumatikos is added, taken from the world from which we derive breath, wind, and spirit, all of them unseen and powerfully felt. And songs, given birth by our feeble breath can surely be powerfully felt through the action of the Holy Spirit.
The reason this comes to mind is that we sometimes hear people discuss the difference between Christmas carols, Christmas hymns, and Christmas songs. While I can think Gene Autry singing “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer” falls in a different category than “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” I’m otherwise color blind when it comes to anything in between.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 2:41-52
In our story, Jesus seems to have disobeyed his parents. John Calvin explained this, with a reminder that God must be first in our lives, contending that “whatever we owe to men must yield to the first table of the law, that God’s authority over us may remain untouched.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XCI/1, p.171) Nothing can come before God, Martin Luther claimed:
Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart... it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol. (The Book of Concord [2000 ed.], p.386)
Luther also has comments about why, if God is the most important thing in life, we may have to break the commandments, even deceive those who would compromise our primary commitment to God (like Jesus’ parents seemed to be doing in taking him away from divine instruction). The reformer wrote later in his life:
Thus, in their wars the saints frequently deceived their enemies, but those are lies one is permitted to us in the service of God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.5, p.150)
Mark E.
