Sermon Illustrations For Lent 5 (2023)
Illustration
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The prophet Ezekiel is addressed as “Son of Man” by God in this passage. Indeed, the term is used over ninety times in the book. We can’t help but be interested in this title, specifically because in a few centuries Jesus is going to use it to describe himself.
The Hebrew is ben-Adam. “Ben” is son, so of course “son of.” You don’t need to know Hebrew to know that Adam looks like Adam. It’s the word for “dirt,” “ground,” “earth.” In Genesis 2:7 it says “…the Lord God formed the human (Adam) out of the dust of the ground (ha-adamah)” and after God breathed into him “…the human (Adam) became the breath/being that is.” (my translation). One good way to translate ben-Adam is “ son of earth.”
The NRSV translates it as “mortal.” The Common English Bible translates it as “human one.” The NIV sticks to “Son of Man.”
Maybe what this phrase really means is “you’re nobody special.”
On the other hand, I think of how Aslan the lion, who stands in for God in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, addresses the first man and woman transported from the streets of London to Narnia, where animals think and talk. When the humans suggest they are not up to the task of ruling over this world of talking animals, Aslan replies that they are descended from Adam and Eve, which is both shame enough and glory enough for anyone. Including us.
Frank R.
* * *
Ezekiel 37:1-14
James DeLoach writes in When God Was Taken Captive about a painting he’d seen that resonated with him long after he’d stopped looking. He noted:
Some time ago I saw a picture of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney...the charred debris of what had been that family's sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man was speaking to the boy. They were simple words, yet they presented a profound theology and philosophy of life. Those words were, "Hush child, God ain't dead!
No matter how difficult things might seem, God is not dead. He can make that which is dead alive again. Ezekiel needed to be reminded of that, and so do we. “I, the Lord, have spoken and will act” (vs. 14).
Bill T.
* * *
Romans 8:6-11
“The spirit of life is righteousness,” Paul writes. You notice that Paul doesn’t mention self-righteousness. Sometimes I have experienced those whose righteousness has become self-righteousness as they judge those who do not believe as they do, who do not act as they do.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Romans 8:6-11
One evening over dinner Martin Luther compared the Holy Spirit to the pilot of the ship of faith (What Luther Says, p.662). This links with the idea that the faithful are in the Spirit (v.9), that Christ is in us (v.10). This sort of union with Christ (faith as like a marriage to Jesus) was taught by St. Bernard and other mystics (including Luther). He described the sweetness of this faith in compelling words:
The mind is drawn along by the ineffable sweetness of the word, and as it were, it is stolen from itself or, better, it is rapt and remains out of itself there to enjoy the word... (Varieties of Mystic Experience, pp.105-106)
Caught up in love and living together over the years leads you to take on a lot of your mate’s ways of living and thinking. Hang around Jesus and his love enough, and you begin to do Jesus’ thing – start reflecting His love and the sweetness of the word. Famed English Christian Journalist G. K. Chesterton along with Paul in our lesson suggests that when encountered by the Spirit of Christ in this way we have a choice (and we cannot put it off):
All Christianity concentrates on the man at the cross roads. The vast and shallow philosophies, the huge synthesis of humbug... The true philosophy is concerned with the instant. Will a man take this road or that? – that is the only thing to think about, if you enjoy thinking.
This is all part of “The romance of [Christian] orthodoxy,” Chesterton contends. (Orthodoxy, p.143)
Mark E.
* * *
John 11:1-45
Regarding Lazarus’ death reported in our lesson, Augustine once wrote: “But every man is afraid of the death of the flesh...” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.7, p.270) Expositing this text in a sermon Martin Luther once proclaimed:
The whole human race was worthy of hatred, and yet Christ loved us... then it will be impossible that we should have a miserable, frightened, dejected conscience; in Christ it will be heartened and refreshed. (Luther’s Works, Vol.51, p.46)
John Calvin made similar comments about how the story in this lesson and Jesus’ actions comfortus:
When, therefore, the godly are distressed by various afflictions, when they are pressed hard by the difficulties of their situation, when they suffer hunger, or nakedness, and disease, when they are assailed by reproaches, when it appears as if they would every hour be almost overwhelmed by death, let them unceasingly consider that this is a sowing which in due time will yield fruit. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XCIII/1, p.28)
Mark E.
* * *
John 11:1-45
I came across this story. I can’t vouch for its veracity, but I think it has a great point and will bring a smile.
A young business owner was opening a new branch office, and a friend decided to send a floral arrangement for the grand opening. When the friend showed up at the opening, he was surprised to find that his wreath bore the inscription: “Rest in peace.” Angry, he complained to the florist. After apologizing, the florist said, “Look at it this way-somewhere some guy was buried under a wreath today that said, ‘Good luck in your new location.’”
I can’t help but chuckle at that one. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, and I suppose it does poke fun at death and funerals, but this text does, too. Jesus came to where Lazarus was buried. He’d been dead for four days. Jesus upset the normal order and decency when he told them, “Take away the stone.” Martha jumped in right away. “That might not be a good idea, Jesus. He’s been dead four days…” Jesus’ message is clear. Believe and you will see. Take away the stone. Then, in words that had to echo throughout Hades, he called out “Lazarus, come out!” The rest of the story? The dead man walked out alive. Death was beaten and the grave humiliated. This was only a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do later. It is no joke. Death has no power compared to the awesomeness of Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
John 11:1-45
Mary and Martha send a message to Jesus – “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” (John 11:3) They were referring to their brother Lazarus. Despite the urgency of the message, Jesus delayed two days before embarking on the trip to Bethany in Judea, and in so doing ensured that Lazarus would be in his grave four days before the Lord’s arrival.
Does it matter that Lazarus was in the grave four days rather than, say, two or three days? Well, there was a non-biblical belief that the spirit of a dead person hovered in the area for three days before departing for its eternal destination, and one senses in Martha’s comment when Jesus asks that the stone in front of the tomb to be removed, “Lord,” already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” — that the length of time following death is important because it intensified the impossibility of this miracle, or sign.
But I want to focus on the initial reference to Lazarus as the one whom Jesus loves. Following this scene the beloved disciple – who reclines in the bosom of Jesus during the Last Supper, who is present at the cross, receives Mary as his own mother, who arrived at the tomb ahead of Peter, walked in after him, saw the burial cloths and believed, and later lived so long that some thought he would not die before Jesus returned (though this turned out not to be true) has to be Lazarus, not one of the apostles. This witness to the resurrection was himself resurrected – but if he is, as many believe, the source for this gospel, it’s worth noting he does not dwell at all upon his own resurrection or tell us stories from beyond the grave. That’s because his resurrection saved only him. The beloved disciple focuses on the resurrection of Jesus, because that saves all of us. As he stated at the end of chapter 20 that “…these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (20:31)
Frank R.
The prophet Ezekiel is addressed as “Son of Man” by God in this passage. Indeed, the term is used over ninety times in the book. We can’t help but be interested in this title, specifically because in a few centuries Jesus is going to use it to describe himself.
The Hebrew is ben-Adam. “Ben” is son, so of course “son of.” You don’t need to know Hebrew to know that Adam looks like Adam. It’s the word for “dirt,” “ground,” “earth.” In Genesis 2:7 it says “…the Lord God formed the human (Adam) out of the dust of the ground (ha-adamah)” and after God breathed into him “…the human (Adam) became the breath/being that is.” (my translation). One good way to translate ben-Adam is “ son of earth.”
The NRSV translates it as “mortal.” The Common English Bible translates it as “human one.” The NIV sticks to “Son of Man.”
Maybe what this phrase really means is “you’re nobody special.”
On the other hand, I think of how Aslan the lion, who stands in for God in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, addresses the first man and woman transported from the streets of London to Narnia, where animals think and talk. When the humans suggest they are not up to the task of ruling over this world of talking animals, Aslan replies that they are descended from Adam and Eve, which is both shame enough and glory enough for anyone. Including us.
Frank R.
* * *
Ezekiel 37:1-14
James DeLoach writes in When God Was Taken Captive about a painting he’d seen that resonated with him long after he’d stopped looking. He noted:
Some time ago I saw a picture of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney...the charred debris of what had been that family's sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfather-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man was speaking to the boy. They were simple words, yet they presented a profound theology and philosophy of life. Those words were, "Hush child, God ain't dead!
No matter how difficult things might seem, God is not dead. He can make that which is dead alive again. Ezekiel needed to be reminded of that, and so do we. “I, the Lord, have spoken and will act” (vs. 14).
Bill T.
* * *
Romans 8:6-11
“The spirit of life is righteousness,” Paul writes. You notice that Paul doesn’t mention self-righteousness. Sometimes I have experienced those whose righteousness has become self-righteousness as they judge those who do not believe as they do, who do not act as they do.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Romans 8:6-11
One evening over dinner Martin Luther compared the Holy Spirit to the pilot of the ship of faith (What Luther Says, p.662). This links with the idea that the faithful are in the Spirit (v.9), that Christ is in us (v.10). This sort of union with Christ (faith as like a marriage to Jesus) was taught by St. Bernard and other mystics (including Luther). He described the sweetness of this faith in compelling words:
The mind is drawn along by the ineffable sweetness of the word, and as it were, it is stolen from itself or, better, it is rapt and remains out of itself there to enjoy the word... (Varieties of Mystic Experience, pp.105-106)
Caught up in love and living together over the years leads you to take on a lot of your mate’s ways of living and thinking. Hang around Jesus and his love enough, and you begin to do Jesus’ thing – start reflecting His love and the sweetness of the word. Famed English Christian Journalist G. K. Chesterton along with Paul in our lesson suggests that when encountered by the Spirit of Christ in this way we have a choice (and we cannot put it off):
All Christianity concentrates on the man at the cross roads. The vast and shallow philosophies, the huge synthesis of humbug... The true philosophy is concerned with the instant. Will a man take this road or that? – that is the only thing to think about, if you enjoy thinking.
This is all part of “The romance of [Christian] orthodoxy,” Chesterton contends. (Orthodoxy, p.143)
Mark E.
* * *
John 11:1-45
Regarding Lazarus’ death reported in our lesson, Augustine once wrote: “But every man is afraid of the death of the flesh...” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.7, p.270) Expositing this text in a sermon Martin Luther once proclaimed:
The whole human race was worthy of hatred, and yet Christ loved us... then it will be impossible that we should have a miserable, frightened, dejected conscience; in Christ it will be heartened and refreshed. (Luther’s Works, Vol.51, p.46)
John Calvin made similar comments about how the story in this lesson and Jesus’ actions comfortus:
When, therefore, the godly are distressed by various afflictions, when they are pressed hard by the difficulties of their situation, when they suffer hunger, or nakedness, and disease, when they are assailed by reproaches, when it appears as if they would every hour be almost overwhelmed by death, let them unceasingly consider that this is a sowing which in due time will yield fruit. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XCIII/1, p.28)
Mark E.
* * *
John 11:1-45
I came across this story. I can’t vouch for its veracity, but I think it has a great point and will bring a smile.
A young business owner was opening a new branch office, and a friend decided to send a floral arrangement for the grand opening. When the friend showed up at the opening, he was surprised to find that his wreath bore the inscription: “Rest in peace.” Angry, he complained to the florist. After apologizing, the florist said, “Look at it this way-somewhere some guy was buried under a wreath today that said, ‘Good luck in your new location.’”
I can’t help but chuckle at that one. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, and I suppose it does poke fun at death and funerals, but this text does, too. Jesus came to where Lazarus was buried. He’d been dead for four days. Jesus upset the normal order and decency when he told them, “Take away the stone.” Martha jumped in right away. “That might not be a good idea, Jesus. He’s been dead four days…” Jesus’ message is clear. Believe and you will see. Take away the stone. Then, in words that had to echo throughout Hades, he called out “Lazarus, come out!” The rest of the story? The dead man walked out alive. Death was beaten and the grave humiliated. This was only a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do later. It is no joke. Death has no power compared to the awesomeness of Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
John 11:1-45
Mary and Martha send a message to Jesus – “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” (John 11:3) They were referring to their brother Lazarus. Despite the urgency of the message, Jesus delayed two days before embarking on the trip to Bethany in Judea, and in so doing ensured that Lazarus would be in his grave four days before the Lord’s arrival.
Does it matter that Lazarus was in the grave four days rather than, say, two or three days? Well, there was a non-biblical belief that the spirit of a dead person hovered in the area for three days before departing for its eternal destination, and one senses in Martha’s comment when Jesus asks that the stone in front of the tomb to be removed, “Lord,” already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” — that the length of time following death is important because it intensified the impossibility of this miracle, or sign.
But I want to focus on the initial reference to Lazarus as the one whom Jesus loves. Following this scene the beloved disciple – who reclines in the bosom of Jesus during the Last Supper, who is present at the cross, receives Mary as his own mother, who arrived at the tomb ahead of Peter, walked in after him, saw the burial cloths and believed, and later lived so long that some thought he would not die before Jesus returned (though this turned out not to be true) has to be Lazarus, not one of the apostles. This witness to the resurrection was himself resurrected – but if he is, as many believe, the source for this gospel, it’s worth noting he does not dwell at all upon his own resurrection or tell us stories from beyond the grave. That’s because his resurrection saved only him. The beloved disciple focuses on the resurrection of Jesus, because that saves all of us. As he stated at the end of chapter 20 that “…these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (20:31)
Frank R.
