Sermon Illustrations For Lent 5 (2020)
Illustration
Psalm 130
In the week before Super Bowl LIV was to be played in Miami, on February 2, 2020, the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, Robert Saleh, explained the meaning behind the two bracelets that all the defensive players are wearing.
The bracelets — one black with yellow lettering, the other with a red and yellow combination — have arrived every offseason since 2017, Saleh’s first season with the team. Each year, the team orders a new shipment that is delivered to the facility right before the start of OTAs, which means “Organized Team Activity” during the off season.
The bracelets have on the letters A.G.N.B.; A.A.; E.V.
Saleh explained the meaning behind each letter:
A.G.N.B. – “These are our core principles. What we try to be. No. 1 is: ‘All gas, no brake.’ On the surface level, people think about effort, but it’s more than that. We always talk about how it’s our way of life — the way you train, the way you study, the way you treat your wife, your girlfriend, your children, your friends. The way you go about your everyday life. You wake up in the morning, step on the gas and don’t let go.”
A.A. – “’Always attacking’ the ball. We’re a ball-hawking defense, we’re trying to create as many takeaways and explosive plays as possible.”
E.V. – “Is ‘Extreme Violence.’ People think about violence and hitting people, but it’s more than that. It’s violence off the ball, it’s violence out of your break, it’s violence with your hand placement, it’s violence with your feet. As a corner, ‘Am I being violent enough with my read techniques?’ ”
Ron L.
***
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The late Elie Wiesel, the famous Holocaust survivor, once said that Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones is undated because it is timeless. As he wrote, “And we understand why: that vision, that promise, that hope is not linked to either space or time. That vision, that consolation, is offered to every generation, for every generation needs it—and ours more than any before us. (Memoirs p. 186)
Wiesel was right, and we need to hear this message of hope as well. We need to hear once more that these dry bones can live.
Frank R.
***
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The apathy of some Christians and the wickedness of society can be discouraging. It almost seems as if the spark of passion for Jesus has been vanquished. Our text for today, though, gives us hope. Dry bones can live again.
William Wilberforce was a great Christian philanthropist and vigorous opponent of the slave trade in England during the early 1800s. As he surveyed the terrible moral and spiritual climate of his day, he did not lose hope. He wrote, “My own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her navies or armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, nor on the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the gospel of Christ. I believe that their prayers may yet prevail.” Within a few years after making this statement, the country he loved experienced one of the greatest revivals in modern times, bringing salvation to thousands and producing some of the social changes he’d sought.
Dry bones can live again. That is absolutely true in the collective sense. The church’s power, though sometimes muted, is never vanquished. When the Holy Spirit comes in a fresh and powerful way, that which was dead can be brought back to life. It’s also true on a personal level. Though we may be stuck in the muck and mire of life, dry bones can live again. When that happens, we’re reminded, God is who he says he is.
Bill T.
***
Romans 8:6-11
Living in the spirit seems a strange concept to us. It is the spirit that those who pray contemplative prayer seek. It is not so much the silence, but the listening that is important to those who pray contemplatively. A setting aside of the worldly challenges and activities is never easy. I have struggled with quieting my mind to listen for the small, still voice of God all my life. My brain never seems to be quiet. One of the things I have learned is that fighting the quiet doesn’t help. A long time ago someone reminded me to visualize putting the things that come to my mind aside, to actually see myself laying them aside as if turning the page of a book. Quietness is still a struggle for me, but when I practice it gets a little easier and I actually do, sometimes, hear the voice of God in my mind, my heart and my soul. It’s worth the struggle to encounter the holy in those moments. With practice they have become more frequent, and I am blessed.
Bonnie B.
***
Romans 8:6-11
This passage is prone to misinterpretation when isolated from its context. Paul builds a complex anthropological argument from Romans 1 through Romans 8, wherein he then connects this anthropological argument about the nature of all humankind to the specific revelation of the Christ given to Israel. In order to understand why Paul makes this argument, one has to remember that Christianity is not yet a world religion. He is in the process of spreading Christianity through a world that was — if not hostile to his ideas — at least found them strange and alien.
To a Roman, the idea that the “anointed one” of some podunk little backwater place like “Judea” could possibly be the Savior of all humanity would have been laughable. Imagine, you, a Roman: you live in the city of cities, the crown jewel of the empire, a huge sprawling metropolis of commerce, and the center of military might! And along comes some Jewish tent-maker from where? Tarsus? Telling you that this so-called “Messiah” of some insignificant and frankly backward civilization in the east is the savior of the world? What a joke!
In order to explain to the people of Rome why they should care about some “savior” from Judea, Paul had to explain why people needed saving in the first place. This was his answer: sin. The evidence of sin’s existence was plain to see. As Paul explains in Romans 1, we look around and see a world full of “envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness,” where “gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless” people hurt each other in countless ways (Romans 1:29-31).
Sin affects everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Roman or a Jew, a free person or enslaved, a woman or a man. Sin surrounds us all, bringing suffering and death. But, Paul has good news: there is a solution! This man, Jesus, who was crucified on a cross — a man no one had ever heard of — had changed the nature of the universe. Through him, every single person could defeat sin once and for all — and usher in a world of “life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
But, how? (You can easily imagine Paul’s Roman audience at the edge of their seats.) What does it take to rid the world of sin and death?
Paul’s answer is at once simple and enigmatic: “set the mind on the Spirit…If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:6-11).
M T.
***
Romans 8:6-11
French Existentialist Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre well explained why death makes life so meaningless:
Man is a useless passion. It is meaningless that we live, and it is meaningless that we die.
Another Existentialist Martin Heidegger observed that the very nature of human existence is that we must die, and that entails that human life is filled with anxiety (Being and Time, esp.p.298).
Martin Luther makes a similar point:
If you look at the matter aright, death is the sphere in which the entire world moves. Till Judgment Day life is a constant and daily journey toward death. One after another dies, and the living must merely engage in the miserable business of carrying one another to the grave... (What Luther Says, p.364)
Paul gives us hope in this lesson that the Christ who lives gives us life, that our mortal bodies will live. One black spiritual profoundly captures this hope:
He delivered Daniel from de lion’s den,
Jonah from de belly of de whale,
And de Hebrew children from de fiery furnace,
And why not every man?
Mark E.
***
John 11:1-45
Ephrem the Syrian lived from the year 306 to the year 373. He was a leader in the early fourth-century church. Ephrem was esteemed for his hymns, poems, homilies and biblical commentaries that expressed a practical theology for a persecuted church. Reflecting on the scripture passage Luke 7:11-17, which is the story of raising the widows’ son, a message that tis similar to our lectionary reading for today, Ephrem wrote, “The Virgin’s son met the widow’s son. He became like a sponge for her tears and as life for the death of her son. Death turned about in its den and turned its back on the victorious one.”
Ron L.
***
John 11:1-45
Hank Hanegraaff once said, “What happened as a result of the resurrection is unprecedented in human history. In the span of a few hundred years, a small band of seemingly insignificant believers succeeded in turning an entire empire upside down. As has been well said, ‘They faced the tyrant’s brandished steel, the lion’s gory mane, and the fires of a thousand deaths,’ because they were utterly convinced that they, like their Master, would one day rise from the grave in glorified, resurrected bodies.”
The resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in human history. Though it is powerful on a grand scale, it also has personal ramifications. On a dusty road outside the village of Bethany, a woman whose brother lay in the grave discussed with Jesus the importance of the resurrection. I believe that scene has been replayed hundreds of times in cemeteries around the globe. The grave seems so final, so cold and yet…”Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” That’s the question. Do you?
Bill T.
In the week before Super Bowl LIV was to be played in Miami, on February 2, 2020, the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, Robert Saleh, explained the meaning behind the two bracelets that all the defensive players are wearing.
The bracelets — one black with yellow lettering, the other with a red and yellow combination — have arrived every offseason since 2017, Saleh’s first season with the team. Each year, the team orders a new shipment that is delivered to the facility right before the start of OTAs, which means “Organized Team Activity” during the off season.
The bracelets have on the letters A.G.N.B.; A.A.; E.V.
Saleh explained the meaning behind each letter:
A.G.N.B. – “These are our core principles. What we try to be. No. 1 is: ‘All gas, no brake.’ On the surface level, people think about effort, but it’s more than that. We always talk about how it’s our way of life — the way you train, the way you study, the way you treat your wife, your girlfriend, your children, your friends. The way you go about your everyday life. You wake up in the morning, step on the gas and don’t let go.”
A.A. – “’Always attacking’ the ball. We’re a ball-hawking defense, we’re trying to create as many takeaways and explosive plays as possible.”
E.V. – “Is ‘Extreme Violence.’ People think about violence and hitting people, but it’s more than that. It’s violence off the ball, it’s violence out of your break, it’s violence with your hand placement, it’s violence with your feet. As a corner, ‘Am I being violent enough with my read techniques?’ ”
Ron L.
***
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The late Elie Wiesel, the famous Holocaust survivor, once said that Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones is undated because it is timeless. As he wrote, “And we understand why: that vision, that promise, that hope is not linked to either space or time. That vision, that consolation, is offered to every generation, for every generation needs it—and ours more than any before us. (Memoirs p. 186)
Wiesel was right, and we need to hear this message of hope as well. We need to hear once more that these dry bones can live.
Frank R.
***
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The apathy of some Christians and the wickedness of society can be discouraging. It almost seems as if the spark of passion for Jesus has been vanquished. Our text for today, though, gives us hope. Dry bones can live again.
William Wilberforce was a great Christian philanthropist and vigorous opponent of the slave trade in England during the early 1800s. As he surveyed the terrible moral and spiritual climate of his day, he did not lose hope. He wrote, “My own solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend, not so much on her navies or armies, nor on the wisdom of her rulers, nor on the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still contains many who love and obey the gospel of Christ. I believe that their prayers may yet prevail.” Within a few years after making this statement, the country he loved experienced one of the greatest revivals in modern times, bringing salvation to thousands and producing some of the social changes he’d sought.
Dry bones can live again. That is absolutely true in the collective sense. The church’s power, though sometimes muted, is never vanquished. When the Holy Spirit comes in a fresh and powerful way, that which was dead can be brought back to life. It’s also true on a personal level. Though we may be stuck in the muck and mire of life, dry bones can live again. When that happens, we’re reminded, God is who he says he is.
Bill T.
***
Romans 8:6-11
Living in the spirit seems a strange concept to us. It is the spirit that those who pray contemplative prayer seek. It is not so much the silence, but the listening that is important to those who pray contemplatively. A setting aside of the worldly challenges and activities is never easy. I have struggled with quieting my mind to listen for the small, still voice of God all my life. My brain never seems to be quiet. One of the things I have learned is that fighting the quiet doesn’t help. A long time ago someone reminded me to visualize putting the things that come to my mind aside, to actually see myself laying them aside as if turning the page of a book. Quietness is still a struggle for me, but when I practice it gets a little easier and I actually do, sometimes, hear the voice of God in my mind, my heart and my soul. It’s worth the struggle to encounter the holy in those moments. With practice they have become more frequent, and I am blessed.
Bonnie B.
***
Romans 8:6-11
This passage is prone to misinterpretation when isolated from its context. Paul builds a complex anthropological argument from Romans 1 through Romans 8, wherein he then connects this anthropological argument about the nature of all humankind to the specific revelation of the Christ given to Israel. In order to understand why Paul makes this argument, one has to remember that Christianity is not yet a world religion. He is in the process of spreading Christianity through a world that was — if not hostile to his ideas — at least found them strange and alien.
To a Roman, the idea that the “anointed one” of some podunk little backwater place like “Judea” could possibly be the Savior of all humanity would have been laughable. Imagine, you, a Roman: you live in the city of cities, the crown jewel of the empire, a huge sprawling metropolis of commerce, and the center of military might! And along comes some Jewish tent-maker from where? Tarsus? Telling you that this so-called “Messiah” of some insignificant and frankly backward civilization in the east is the savior of the world? What a joke!
In order to explain to the people of Rome why they should care about some “savior” from Judea, Paul had to explain why people needed saving in the first place. This was his answer: sin. The evidence of sin’s existence was plain to see. As Paul explains in Romans 1, we look around and see a world full of “envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness,” where “gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless” people hurt each other in countless ways (Romans 1:29-31).
Sin affects everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Roman or a Jew, a free person or enslaved, a woman or a man. Sin surrounds us all, bringing suffering and death. But, Paul has good news: there is a solution! This man, Jesus, who was crucified on a cross — a man no one had ever heard of — had changed the nature of the universe. Through him, every single person could defeat sin once and for all — and usher in a world of “life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
But, how? (You can easily imagine Paul’s Roman audience at the edge of their seats.) What does it take to rid the world of sin and death?
Paul’s answer is at once simple and enigmatic: “set the mind on the Spirit…If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:6-11).
M T.
***
Romans 8:6-11
French Existentialist Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre well explained why death makes life so meaningless:
Man is a useless passion. It is meaningless that we live, and it is meaningless that we die.
Another Existentialist Martin Heidegger observed that the very nature of human existence is that we must die, and that entails that human life is filled with anxiety (Being and Time, esp.p.298).
Martin Luther makes a similar point:
If you look at the matter aright, death is the sphere in which the entire world moves. Till Judgment Day life is a constant and daily journey toward death. One after another dies, and the living must merely engage in the miserable business of carrying one another to the grave... (What Luther Says, p.364)
Paul gives us hope in this lesson that the Christ who lives gives us life, that our mortal bodies will live. One black spiritual profoundly captures this hope:
He delivered Daniel from de lion’s den,
Jonah from de belly of de whale,
And de Hebrew children from de fiery furnace,
And why not every man?
Mark E.
***
John 11:1-45
Ephrem the Syrian lived from the year 306 to the year 373. He was a leader in the early fourth-century church. Ephrem was esteemed for his hymns, poems, homilies and biblical commentaries that expressed a practical theology for a persecuted church. Reflecting on the scripture passage Luke 7:11-17, which is the story of raising the widows’ son, a message that tis similar to our lectionary reading for today, Ephrem wrote, “The Virgin’s son met the widow’s son. He became like a sponge for her tears and as life for the death of her son. Death turned about in its den and turned its back on the victorious one.”
Ron L.
***
John 11:1-45
Hank Hanegraaff once said, “What happened as a result of the resurrection is unprecedented in human history. In the span of a few hundred years, a small band of seemingly insignificant believers succeeded in turning an entire empire upside down. As has been well said, ‘They faced the tyrant’s brandished steel, the lion’s gory mane, and the fires of a thousand deaths,’ because they were utterly convinced that they, like their Master, would one day rise from the grave in glorified, resurrected bodies.”
The resurrection of Jesus is the most important event in human history. Though it is powerful on a grand scale, it also has personal ramifications. On a dusty road outside the village of Bethany, a woman whose brother lay in the grave discussed with Jesus the importance of the resurrection. I believe that scene has been replayed hundreds of times in cemeteries around the globe. The grave seems so final, so cold and yet…”Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” That’s the question. Do you?
Bill T.
