Sermon Illustrations for Lent 3 (2019)
Illustration
Isaiah 55:1-9
In 1947, while speaking in a church in Munich, Corrie Ten Boom noticed a balding man in a gray overcoat near the rear of the basement room. She had been speaking about God’s forgiveness, but her heart froze within her when she recognized the man. He was the cruelest of the guards at the Ravensbruck Camp where Corrie had suffered the most horrible indignities, and where her own sister had died. Here he was, at the end of her talk, coming up the aisle toward her with his hand thrust out. “Thank you for your fine message,” he said. “How wonderful it is to know that all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”
Corrie had spoken of God’s forgiveness, but here was a man whom she despised and condemned with every fiber of her being. How could she extend forgiveness to this Nazi oppressor! She realized that this man didn’t remember her — how could he remember one prisoner among thousands?
“You mentioned Ravensbruck,” the man continued, his hand still extended. “I was a guard there. I’m ashamed to admit it, but it’s true. But since then, I’ve come to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has been hard for me to forgive myself for all the cruel things I did but I know that God has forgiven me. And please, if you would, I would like to hear from your lips too that God has forgiven me.” And Corrie recorded her response in The Hiding Place. She wrote:
I stood there — I whose sins had again and again been forgiven — and could not forgive. I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, and sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother,” I cried. “With all my heart!”
For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.
Corrie forgave as God forgives. “Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
Bill T.
* * *
Isaiah 55:1-9
On July 18, 1965, a jet plane, piloted by Jeremiah Denton, that was engulfed in flames, came crashing to the ground. This began the ordeal for seven and a half years of captivity in Hoa Lo Prision in Hanoi, better known as the Hanoi Hilton. In that flaming wreckage, one horrifying chapter of the Vietnam War closed for Denton, only to have an equally horrifying chapter begin.
In the Hanoi Hilton, along with seven hundred other Navy and Air Force airmen, he suffered isolation, malnutrition, disease, and torture. He, like the others, endured the trauma by shouldering some very basic principles — patriotism, fellowship, memories of family and a faith in God. It would be hard to say which was most important, for each sustained the dignity of a man’s humanity and self-worth.
Denton recounted his ordeal confined in the Hanoi Hilton in a book titled When Hell Was in Session. Denton wrote, “Those not subjected to the prisoner-of-war experience may have trouble understanding how real the presence of God was to most of us.”
Of the many stories he recounts, one is how the soldiers maintained a sense of community. While all the prisoners were kept in solitary confinement, they were able to maintain a sense of community by tapping a coded message on the wall of their cell. One solider would receive the message from his neighbor, and then on the opposite wall he would pass that message along to another neighbor. Each tapped message would end with the letters “GBU,” which means “God bless you.” The final message of the evening always ended with the letters “GNGBU,” which means “Good night, God bless you.” Denton went on to write, “Christians of all denominations lost old prejudices and found brotherhood; Christians and Jews were reconciled; and most of us lived in awareness of God’s love.”
Ron L.
* * *
Isaiah 55:1-9
Long ago — okay, maybe in the mid-nineties — in the early days of email, it was very common for people, at least people I knew, to pass along a fake message that the billionaire Bill Gates wanted to test his new operating system and was giving away a thousand bucks to anyone who would send this email to all their friends. After all, we were told, Bill Gates had more money than anybody and a thousand bucks was chump change to him. And you’d often read, “You never know. It just might be true.”
It wasn’t of course. True, that is. It was probably just a way for someone to collect our email addresses for their own purpose. But you can understand why many of us are suspicious of anything that sounds too good to be true. It usually is. Nobody gives away free stuff.
Except the creator of the universe. Grace is not just a New Testament concept. In this passage from Isaiah we’re asked why we’d pay good money for food and drink when there’s a vendor in the marketplace whose giving it away for free. So many of us think we have to earn God’s favor, which at times seems like an impossible task, and yet we’re told that God’s goodness is ours for the asking.
As long as we get over our natural skepticism and discover for ourselves God’s mercy and grace is true.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
A 2017 LifeWay Research project indicates that 1 in 4 Americans prefers not to consider themselves sinners. No need for repentance. Martin Luther takes Paul’s advice in this lesson that if we think we are standing we must watch out lest we fall (v.12). We need repentance:
For a person cannot praise God unless he understands that there is nothing in himself worthy of praise but that all that is worthy of praise is of God and from God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.11, p.144)
Yes, we need to repent. But repentance is not really something we can do. Famed 19th-century English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon powerfully reminds us that it is God’s grace that makes repentance happen:
Repentance was never yet produced in any man's heart apart from the grace of God. As soon may you expect the leopard to regret the blood with which its fangs are moistened — as soon might you expect the lion of the wood to abjure his cruel tyranny over the feeble beasts of the plain, as expect the sinner to make any confession, or offer any repentance that shall be accepted of God, unless grace shall first renew the heart.
Pope Benedict XVI makes a similar point. He notes how any change in our lives like changes which emerge from repentance is the result of God, that it is he who makes our all-too-flawed lives blossom:
He [God] has loved us first, and He continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love... He loves us, He makes us see and experience His love and since He has “loved us first,” love can also blossom as a response within us. (God Is Love, pp.42-43)
Mark E.
* * *
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
As a pastor I often speak with people who are overwhelmed by their circumstances. Some of them have so many challenges that I cannot imagine living through what they are encountering. Yet, many of these people act in hope and courage. They lift their heads, square their shoulders and move ahead. I admire them greatly and am reminded of the times when I, too, have felt overwhelmed and needed to step ahead, simply on faith, without strength of my own. Those moments, those times, remind me that God is present with me, just as God was present with all the faithful that came before. Challenges will befall us all, but we are not alone, never alone. That is the grace and love of God manifest for us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
How many of us are still in that cloud. Our ancestors passed through that same cloud. Everyone passes through a cloud before we find the truth
It took me about 30 years to pass through that cloud. It seems that God is always testing us until we see the light.
Were we baptized into Moses? Do we all eat from a spiritual rock and drink form the spiritual rock that is Christ?
We need God’s Holy Spirit to see us through that cloud.
If we are baptized into Moses, that implies that we are under the ten commandments only. That implies that if we violate any of the commandments we are doomed. But if we turn to our Lord, he will not let us be tempted beyond what we can endure. Our rock is Christ. That is our most important baptism.
Our church can help us separate law from grace.
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 13:1-9
Touched by an Angel was loved by many during its prime time run. One episode, “Jonas vs. God,” stands out to me. Clarion, South Dakota is enduring a farm killing drought when Tess and Monica arrive to help them with, not only the lack of rain, but also the lack of faith. Justinian Jones, a struggling farmer, decides to sue God. Jones begins the trial by saying that droughts are considered "acts of God" and as such, he should be held responsible for the problems in Clarion. Tess appears for God and reminds them how God brought them through so much over the years and how faithful he’s been. Sometimes bad things just happen. As the episode ends, Justinian realizes how blessed he is and leads the town picnic in prayer. Their faith is rewarded as rain begins to pour.
There are times in our lives when we are in the dry, desert regions of doubt, heartache, and struggle. Though God remains constant, sometimes our actions move us to barren lands. Bad things just happen as they did to those Galileans; as they did to those on whom the tower of Siloam fell. The key is to repent and turn to God.
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 13:1-9
In the parable of the Gardener and the fig tree, the Gardener asks for an extra year to tend the tree after the master orders it destroyed for failing to bring forth fruit. In the NRSV he says, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.” (13:8) Well, he doesn’t “put” manure around the tree. The Greek says “I will fling poop.” It’s earthy language, and the sense is that his hands are involved. He’s going to throw it smartly and it’s going to splatter all around the base. How willing are we to get our hands filthy dirty in the name of Jesus?
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 13:1-9
Most people consider the Normandy invasion, better known as D-Day, on June 6, 1944, as the turning point of the World War II. It was with that invasion everyone knew Nazi Germany was destroyed; but, no one knew how long it would take for Germany’s ultimate destruction. Nobody knew how many Allied soldiers must fall on the field of battle until the swastika is lowered and the stars and stripes are raised. We consider D-Day to be the turning point of World War II because we look at the war from a Western perspective.
But the final judgement of Germany came at the Battle of Stalingrad in Russia, which lasted from August 1942 to February 1943. After this harsh winter battle the defeated Nazis had lost the war. The invasion of France in June 1944 only hastened the destruction of the evil Satanic empire of the Third Reich.
Ron L.
In 1947, while speaking in a church in Munich, Corrie Ten Boom noticed a balding man in a gray overcoat near the rear of the basement room. She had been speaking about God’s forgiveness, but her heart froze within her when she recognized the man. He was the cruelest of the guards at the Ravensbruck Camp where Corrie had suffered the most horrible indignities, and where her own sister had died. Here he was, at the end of her talk, coming up the aisle toward her with his hand thrust out. “Thank you for your fine message,” he said. “How wonderful it is to know that all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”
Corrie had spoken of God’s forgiveness, but here was a man whom she despised and condemned with every fiber of her being. How could she extend forgiveness to this Nazi oppressor! She realized that this man didn’t remember her — how could he remember one prisoner among thousands?
“You mentioned Ravensbruck,” the man continued, his hand still extended. “I was a guard there. I’m ashamed to admit it, but it’s true. But since then, I’ve come to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has been hard for me to forgive myself for all the cruel things I did but I know that God has forgiven me. And please, if you would, I would like to hear from your lips too that God has forgiven me.” And Corrie recorded her response in The Hiding Place. She wrote:
I stood there — I whose sins had again and again been forgiven — and could not forgive. I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, and sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. “I forgive you, brother,” I cried. “With all my heart!”
For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.
Corrie forgave as God forgives. “Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
Bill T.
* * *
Isaiah 55:1-9
On July 18, 1965, a jet plane, piloted by Jeremiah Denton, that was engulfed in flames, came crashing to the ground. This began the ordeal for seven and a half years of captivity in Hoa Lo Prision in Hanoi, better known as the Hanoi Hilton. In that flaming wreckage, one horrifying chapter of the Vietnam War closed for Denton, only to have an equally horrifying chapter begin.
In the Hanoi Hilton, along with seven hundred other Navy and Air Force airmen, he suffered isolation, malnutrition, disease, and torture. He, like the others, endured the trauma by shouldering some very basic principles — patriotism, fellowship, memories of family and a faith in God. It would be hard to say which was most important, for each sustained the dignity of a man’s humanity and self-worth.
Denton recounted his ordeal confined in the Hanoi Hilton in a book titled When Hell Was in Session. Denton wrote, “Those not subjected to the prisoner-of-war experience may have trouble understanding how real the presence of God was to most of us.”
Of the many stories he recounts, one is how the soldiers maintained a sense of community. While all the prisoners were kept in solitary confinement, they were able to maintain a sense of community by tapping a coded message on the wall of their cell. One solider would receive the message from his neighbor, and then on the opposite wall he would pass that message along to another neighbor. Each tapped message would end with the letters “GBU,” which means “God bless you.” The final message of the evening always ended with the letters “GNGBU,” which means “Good night, God bless you.” Denton went on to write, “Christians of all denominations lost old prejudices and found brotherhood; Christians and Jews were reconciled; and most of us lived in awareness of God’s love.”
Ron L.
* * *
Isaiah 55:1-9
Long ago — okay, maybe in the mid-nineties — in the early days of email, it was very common for people, at least people I knew, to pass along a fake message that the billionaire Bill Gates wanted to test his new operating system and was giving away a thousand bucks to anyone who would send this email to all their friends. After all, we were told, Bill Gates had more money than anybody and a thousand bucks was chump change to him. And you’d often read, “You never know. It just might be true.”
It wasn’t of course. True, that is. It was probably just a way for someone to collect our email addresses for their own purpose. But you can understand why many of us are suspicious of anything that sounds too good to be true. It usually is. Nobody gives away free stuff.
Except the creator of the universe. Grace is not just a New Testament concept. In this passage from Isaiah we’re asked why we’d pay good money for food and drink when there’s a vendor in the marketplace whose giving it away for free. So many of us think we have to earn God’s favor, which at times seems like an impossible task, and yet we’re told that God’s goodness is ours for the asking.
As long as we get over our natural skepticism and discover for ourselves God’s mercy and grace is true.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
A 2017 LifeWay Research project indicates that 1 in 4 Americans prefers not to consider themselves sinners. No need for repentance. Martin Luther takes Paul’s advice in this lesson that if we think we are standing we must watch out lest we fall (v.12). We need repentance:
For a person cannot praise God unless he understands that there is nothing in himself worthy of praise but that all that is worthy of praise is of God and from God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.11, p.144)
Yes, we need to repent. But repentance is not really something we can do. Famed 19th-century English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon powerfully reminds us that it is God’s grace that makes repentance happen:
Repentance was never yet produced in any man's heart apart from the grace of God. As soon may you expect the leopard to regret the blood with which its fangs are moistened — as soon might you expect the lion of the wood to abjure his cruel tyranny over the feeble beasts of the plain, as expect the sinner to make any confession, or offer any repentance that shall be accepted of God, unless grace shall first renew the heart.
Pope Benedict XVI makes a similar point. He notes how any change in our lives like changes which emerge from repentance is the result of God, that it is he who makes our all-too-flawed lives blossom:
He [God] has loved us first, and He continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love... He loves us, He makes us see and experience His love and since He has “loved us first,” love can also blossom as a response within us. (God Is Love, pp.42-43)
Mark E.
* * *
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
As a pastor I often speak with people who are overwhelmed by their circumstances. Some of them have so many challenges that I cannot imagine living through what they are encountering. Yet, many of these people act in hope and courage. They lift their heads, square their shoulders and move ahead. I admire them greatly and am reminded of the times when I, too, have felt overwhelmed and needed to step ahead, simply on faith, without strength of my own. Those moments, those times, remind me that God is present with me, just as God was present with all the faithful that came before. Challenges will befall us all, but we are not alone, never alone. That is the grace and love of God manifest for us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
How many of us are still in that cloud. Our ancestors passed through that same cloud. Everyone passes through a cloud before we find the truth
It took me about 30 years to pass through that cloud. It seems that God is always testing us until we see the light.
Were we baptized into Moses? Do we all eat from a spiritual rock and drink form the spiritual rock that is Christ?
We need God’s Holy Spirit to see us through that cloud.
If we are baptized into Moses, that implies that we are under the ten commandments only. That implies that if we violate any of the commandments we are doomed. But if we turn to our Lord, he will not let us be tempted beyond what we can endure. Our rock is Christ. That is our most important baptism.
Our church can help us separate law from grace.
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 13:1-9
Touched by an Angel was loved by many during its prime time run. One episode, “Jonas vs. God,” stands out to me. Clarion, South Dakota is enduring a farm killing drought when Tess and Monica arrive to help them with, not only the lack of rain, but also the lack of faith. Justinian Jones, a struggling farmer, decides to sue God. Jones begins the trial by saying that droughts are considered "acts of God" and as such, he should be held responsible for the problems in Clarion. Tess appears for God and reminds them how God brought them through so much over the years and how faithful he’s been. Sometimes bad things just happen. As the episode ends, Justinian realizes how blessed he is and leads the town picnic in prayer. Their faith is rewarded as rain begins to pour.
There are times in our lives when we are in the dry, desert regions of doubt, heartache, and struggle. Though God remains constant, sometimes our actions move us to barren lands. Bad things just happen as they did to those Galileans; as they did to those on whom the tower of Siloam fell. The key is to repent and turn to God.
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 13:1-9
In the parable of the Gardener and the fig tree, the Gardener asks for an extra year to tend the tree after the master orders it destroyed for failing to bring forth fruit. In the NRSV he says, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.” (13:8) Well, he doesn’t “put” manure around the tree. The Greek says “I will fling poop.” It’s earthy language, and the sense is that his hands are involved. He’s going to throw it smartly and it’s going to splatter all around the base. How willing are we to get our hands filthy dirty in the name of Jesus?
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 13:1-9
Most people consider the Normandy invasion, better known as D-Day, on June 6, 1944, as the turning point of the World War II. It was with that invasion everyone knew Nazi Germany was destroyed; but, no one knew how long it would take for Germany’s ultimate destruction. Nobody knew how many Allied soldiers must fall on the field of battle until the swastika is lowered and the stars and stripes are raised. We consider D-Day to be the turning point of World War II because we look at the war from a Western perspective.
But the final judgement of Germany came at the Battle of Stalingrad in Russia, which lasted from August 1942 to February 1943. After this harsh winter battle the defeated Nazis had lost the war. The invasion of France in June 1944 only hastened the destruction of the evil Satanic empire of the Third Reich.
Ron L.
