Sermon Illustrations for The Nativity of Our Lord (2018)
Illustration
Isaiah 62:6-11
This seems to be a change he looks forward to in Old Testament times. Isaiah is looking forward to the Lord’s coming. He is telling the people in that day to look forward to Jerusalem being restored, Jesus is the only one who can restore it.
Several future books in the Old Testament have restored watchmen to wait on the Lord’s coming. It sounds like we must spend all our time waiting for the day the Lord has promised. It sounds like we must give him no rest until we get it.
When my kids were growing up they spent all there time waiting anxiously for the coming of Christmas.
It sounds like non-Christians may go hungry at Christmas. Only believers will enjoy the feast. It sounds like we should share nothing with non-believers.
We have to decide if those coming in at our borders are friends or enemies. We have to decide if we can separate individuals from their nation and their religion. Who can make that decision?
Is our church the watchman on our wall?I better not mention the wall Trump wants to build. Our church must help us decide if we can leave politics out.
Bob O.
* * *
Isaiah 62:6-12
The Prophecy begins with a reference to what God wants from his people. Martin Luther noted that is “a call to recall the Lord...” He adds:
As long as the promise is in force, nothing is proclaimed in the Church but that Jesus Christ is preached and taught. But if anything else is recalled such as works and endeavors, there it is not remembrance of the Lord but of man, and this is idolatry. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.347)
Luther offered a helpful understanding of what the holiness that God bestows on his people is:
It is nothing but a separation from misuse to divine use, as a church is consecrated and set apart for the sole purpose of divine service. So our entire life is to be hallowed that no activity be carried on within us except such as honors the Name of God, that is, kindness, truth, righteousness, and like. (What Luther Says, p.654)
And Mother Teresa offers another provocative insight about the holiness that the Christ child bestows on us, a nice insight about the Christmas spirit:
Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God.
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 62:6-12
Eat what you plant, drink what you have sown. Go through the gates and prepare the way for the people! God proclaims it. Let it be done. Jesus, our incarnate promised Messiah, comes through the bodily gates of a woman’s body into the world. The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. The city can be filled with joy. They are now the holy people, not forsaken or forgotten.
What a celebration to be the redeemed and holy people of God! What joy to be able to share in the fruits of our labors and not be forced to surrender to our enemies! What hope there is, what joy! What peace! God is with us! God is with us! Halleluiah!
Bonnie B.
* * *
Titus 3:4-7
This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:6-7)
One of the most effective scenes in a drama following the death of an important character can be the reading of the will. We wonder, will people get what they deserve -- and will those who deserve to get nothing get their comeuppance? Who will be surprised, in either a good or a bad way?
On March 25, 1616, William Shakespeare retired from the theater in London and back in his country home in Stratford, seems to have taken sick and understood his remaining days were few. He summoned a lawyer and dedicated the first draft of his will. Less than a month later he was dead, long before there could be a second draft.
The will begins, “In the name of God Amen. I William Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwickshire, Gentleman, in perfect health and memory God be praised, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner & form following. That is to say first, I commend my Soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour to be made partaker of life everlasting. And my body to the earth whereof it is made.”
He then precedes to divide his property between his daughters Judith and Susanna, with various gifts to his business associates and friends, and then one item that has puzzled people over the centuries. He bequeathed to Anne, his wife, “my second-best bed, with the furniture.”
What does this mean? Was he being unkind, leaving her the second-best bed? Or was the best bed the one set aside for guests? Anne, who was nearly sixty and several years older than her husband, may have been sickly and unable to take care of the houses and properties they had accumulated over the years, so it was better to give them to daughter Susanna and her husband and allow them to care for mother. Or he may have been criticizing his wife Anne.
When Paul writes Titus in Crete he’s got a surprise to reveal when it comes to the reading of the will. We are all heirs to eternal life through the death of Jesus Christ. That’s not as obvious as it sounds. The Egyptians embalmed their Pharoahs, their families, and other elite. Ordinary people did not share in the glorious eternal life set aside for royalty. The Romans taught that most people, good, bad, indifferent, descended into Hades, a grey, distressing place. Only the heroes, those favored by the gods, enjoyed the Elysian Fields. Paul’s message is different. No one gets stuck with the second best bed. We’re all going first class, regardless of our status here on earth.
Frank R.
* * *
Titus 3:4-7
It sounds like what might have happened on The Andy Griffith Show, but that’s not the case. A long time ago, in a small town an earnest Christian man became a magistrate. One morning a man was brought before him who’d been accused of a crime. The magistrate grew up with this man and they’d been friends for a long time. It was obvious to anyone in the courtroom that the man was guilty. That wasn’t the issue. The key question was what the judge would do with his friend. Those who knew the relationship between the two men expected the magistrate to deal with the man mercifully. They were surprised, though, when they heard that the sentence was a heavy fine. They were even more surprised when the magistrate went to the officer of the court and took from his own pocket the money to pay the fine. He did his duty as a magistrate, and upheld the law, but he also showed something of God’s mercy when he paid the penalty for his friend.
We are like the judge’s friend in the story. We are guilty. We deserve punishment to the full extent of the law. God, however, through Jesus Christ, gives us mercy. We are made right by his grace so that we can be a part of God’s family. Is there any more important gift we can receive this Christmas than the gift of God’s grace?
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 2: (1-7) 8-20
In a Christmas sermon Martin Luther nicely explained the implications of Christ’s Nativity for the way we live:
If Christ has now thus become your own, and you have by such faith been cleansed through him.... it follows that you will do good works by doing to your neighbor as Christ has done to you. (Complete Sermons, Vol.1/1, p.145)
Colonial American evangelist George Whitefield made a similar point:
Jesus was God and man in one person, that God and man might be happy together again.
Modern Roman Catholic writer Thomas Merton nicely explained how Christ comes, though unwelcome:
Into this world, this demented inn in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited.
Luther further elaborated on how unwelcoming we are to Christ when he comes today:
There are many who are enkindled with dreamy devotion, when they hear of such poverty of Christ, are almost angry with the citizens of Bethlehem... and think, if they had been there, they would have shown the Lord and His Mother a more becoming service... It is altogether false to think that you have done much for Christ if you do nothing for those needy ones. Had you been at Bethlehem you would have paid as little attention to Christ as they did; but since it is now made known Who Christ is, you profess to serve him, but you would not have done it before. (Complete Sermons, Vol.1/1, p.155)
Christmas is a season for welcoming this Christ, not just the new presents.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 1:39-45, 46-55
Baby born, check! Angels sing, check! Shepherds come, check! The whole shebang of the Christmas pageant, minus the Wise Men, found in these verses. But what difference does it make? We still live in a human and fallen world. There is still hate and violence and greed all around us. The least among us still go without. What difference does it birth, this song, this praising mean to us? Well, that’s a good question. What difference does it make to you?
Stop thinking globally for a moment and think individually, personally, relationally. God comes into the world as the most vulnerable of humans, an infant. God comes into the world in the poorest of circumstances and among the poorest of the outcasts get the news first. God comes into the world and the heavens reveal God’s joy! What difference does it make to you? Is Christ reborn in your life this day? Are you called, with the rest of the unworthy humans on the planet, to praise and sing, to welcome and celebrate the incarnation of God into your heart and life? That’s the difference and that has nothing to do with the Christmas pageant checklist.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 2:1-20
It looks like God did not make the birth of Jesus an easy thing. Joseph had to leave his home and business and head out for his ancestral town where he couldn’t even find a hotel room. It sounds like God does not always make things easy even for his son.
The fact that Mary and Joseph were not married yet made the beginning even more difficult. Since Mary was pregnant Joseph married her so it would seem like her pregnancy was legitimate. It was not uncommon for engaged couples to have a child. Joseph didn’t want to publicly blame the Lord.
The humble location of Jesus birth place is not surprising for the Lord. He often did things that did not seem to conform with tradition.
Another atypical thing the Lord did besides having the very son of God born in a manger was to have the first ones to come to him humble shepherds. What an honor for those humble shepherds, at least. But then the next visitors were royalty. Isn’t it amazing how the Lord ignores our traditions?
At least both Mary and the shepherds had something to treasure in their hearts, though the shepherds did more advertising when they left.
I had a member tell me of his experience when he saw a manger scene in our church yard. His wife had died about a week before, but when he saw the baby Jesus in the manger scene, he was sure he saw his wife in the group surrounding him. It was so real, he was crying.
The Lord does work in mysterious ways so keep our minds open.
Bob O.
This seems to be a change he looks forward to in Old Testament times. Isaiah is looking forward to the Lord’s coming. He is telling the people in that day to look forward to Jerusalem being restored, Jesus is the only one who can restore it.
Several future books in the Old Testament have restored watchmen to wait on the Lord’s coming. It sounds like we must spend all our time waiting for the day the Lord has promised. It sounds like we must give him no rest until we get it.
When my kids were growing up they spent all there time waiting anxiously for the coming of Christmas.
It sounds like non-Christians may go hungry at Christmas. Only believers will enjoy the feast. It sounds like we should share nothing with non-believers.
We have to decide if those coming in at our borders are friends or enemies. We have to decide if we can separate individuals from their nation and their religion. Who can make that decision?
Is our church the watchman on our wall?I better not mention the wall Trump wants to build. Our church must help us decide if we can leave politics out.
Bob O.
* * *
Isaiah 62:6-12
The Prophecy begins with a reference to what God wants from his people. Martin Luther noted that is “a call to recall the Lord...” He adds:
As long as the promise is in force, nothing is proclaimed in the Church but that Jesus Christ is preached and taught. But if anything else is recalled such as works and endeavors, there it is not remembrance of the Lord but of man, and this is idolatry. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.347)
Luther offered a helpful understanding of what the holiness that God bestows on his people is:
It is nothing but a separation from misuse to divine use, as a church is consecrated and set apart for the sole purpose of divine service. So our entire life is to be hallowed that no activity be carried on within us except such as honors the Name of God, that is, kindness, truth, righteousness, and like. (What Luther Says, p.654)
And Mother Teresa offers another provocative insight about the holiness that the Christ child bestows on us, a nice insight about the Christmas spirit:
Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God.
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 62:6-12
Eat what you plant, drink what you have sown. Go through the gates and prepare the way for the people! God proclaims it. Let it be done. Jesus, our incarnate promised Messiah, comes through the bodily gates of a woman’s body into the world. The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. The city can be filled with joy. They are now the holy people, not forsaken or forgotten.
What a celebration to be the redeemed and holy people of God! What joy to be able to share in the fruits of our labors and not be forced to surrender to our enemies! What hope there is, what joy! What peace! God is with us! God is with us! Halleluiah!
Bonnie B.
* * *
Titus 3:4-7
This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:6-7)
One of the most effective scenes in a drama following the death of an important character can be the reading of the will. We wonder, will people get what they deserve -- and will those who deserve to get nothing get their comeuppance? Who will be surprised, in either a good or a bad way?
On March 25, 1616, William Shakespeare retired from the theater in London and back in his country home in Stratford, seems to have taken sick and understood his remaining days were few. He summoned a lawyer and dedicated the first draft of his will. Less than a month later he was dead, long before there could be a second draft.
The will begins, “In the name of God Amen. I William Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwickshire, Gentleman, in perfect health and memory God be praised, do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner & form following. That is to say first, I commend my Soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour to be made partaker of life everlasting. And my body to the earth whereof it is made.”
He then precedes to divide his property between his daughters Judith and Susanna, with various gifts to his business associates and friends, and then one item that has puzzled people over the centuries. He bequeathed to Anne, his wife, “my second-best bed, with the furniture.”
What does this mean? Was he being unkind, leaving her the second-best bed? Or was the best bed the one set aside for guests? Anne, who was nearly sixty and several years older than her husband, may have been sickly and unable to take care of the houses and properties they had accumulated over the years, so it was better to give them to daughter Susanna and her husband and allow them to care for mother. Or he may have been criticizing his wife Anne.
When Paul writes Titus in Crete he’s got a surprise to reveal when it comes to the reading of the will. We are all heirs to eternal life through the death of Jesus Christ. That’s not as obvious as it sounds. The Egyptians embalmed their Pharoahs, their families, and other elite. Ordinary people did not share in the glorious eternal life set aside for royalty. The Romans taught that most people, good, bad, indifferent, descended into Hades, a grey, distressing place. Only the heroes, those favored by the gods, enjoyed the Elysian Fields. Paul’s message is different. No one gets stuck with the second best bed. We’re all going first class, regardless of our status here on earth.
Frank R.
* * *
Titus 3:4-7
It sounds like what might have happened on The Andy Griffith Show, but that’s not the case. A long time ago, in a small town an earnest Christian man became a magistrate. One morning a man was brought before him who’d been accused of a crime. The magistrate grew up with this man and they’d been friends for a long time. It was obvious to anyone in the courtroom that the man was guilty. That wasn’t the issue. The key question was what the judge would do with his friend. Those who knew the relationship between the two men expected the magistrate to deal with the man mercifully. They were surprised, though, when they heard that the sentence was a heavy fine. They were even more surprised when the magistrate went to the officer of the court and took from his own pocket the money to pay the fine. He did his duty as a magistrate, and upheld the law, but he also showed something of God’s mercy when he paid the penalty for his friend.
We are like the judge’s friend in the story. We are guilty. We deserve punishment to the full extent of the law. God, however, through Jesus Christ, gives us mercy. We are made right by his grace so that we can be a part of God’s family. Is there any more important gift we can receive this Christmas than the gift of God’s grace?
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 2: (1-7) 8-20
In a Christmas sermon Martin Luther nicely explained the implications of Christ’s Nativity for the way we live:
If Christ has now thus become your own, and you have by such faith been cleansed through him.... it follows that you will do good works by doing to your neighbor as Christ has done to you. (Complete Sermons, Vol.1/1, p.145)
Colonial American evangelist George Whitefield made a similar point:
Jesus was God and man in one person, that God and man might be happy together again.
Modern Roman Catholic writer Thomas Merton nicely explained how Christ comes, though unwelcome:
Into this world, this demented inn in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited.
Luther further elaborated on how unwelcoming we are to Christ when he comes today:
There are many who are enkindled with dreamy devotion, when they hear of such poverty of Christ, are almost angry with the citizens of Bethlehem... and think, if they had been there, they would have shown the Lord and His Mother a more becoming service... It is altogether false to think that you have done much for Christ if you do nothing for those needy ones. Had you been at Bethlehem you would have paid as little attention to Christ as they did; but since it is now made known Who Christ is, you profess to serve him, but you would not have done it before. (Complete Sermons, Vol.1/1, p.155)
Christmas is a season for welcoming this Christ, not just the new presents.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 1:39-45, 46-55
Baby born, check! Angels sing, check! Shepherds come, check! The whole shebang of the Christmas pageant, minus the Wise Men, found in these verses. But what difference does it make? We still live in a human and fallen world. There is still hate and violence and greed all around us. The least among us still go without. What difference does it birth, this song, this praising mean to us? Well, that’s a good question. What difference does it make to you?
Stop thinking globally for a moment and think individually, personally, relationally. God comes into the world as the most vulnerable of humans, an infant. God comes into the world in the poorest of circumstances and among the poorest of the outcasts get the news first. God comes into the world and the heavens reveal God’s joy! What difference does it make to you? Is Christ reborn in your life this day? Are you called, with the rest of the unworthy humans on the planet, to praise and sing, to welcome and celebrate the incarnation of God into your heart and life? That’s the difference and that has nothing to do with the Christmas pageant checklist.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 2:1-20
It looks like God did not make the birth of Jesus an easy thing. Joseph had to leave his home and business and head out for his ancestral town where he couldn’t even find a hotel room. It sounds like God does not always make things easy even for his son.
The fact that Mary and Joseph were not married yet made the beginning even more difficult. Since Mary was pregnant Joseph married her so it would seem like her pregnancy was legitimate. It was not uncommon for engaged couples to have a child. Joseph didn’t want to publicly blame the Lord.
The humble location of Jesus birth place is not surprising for the Lord. He often did things that did not seem to conform with tradition.
Another atypical thing the Lord did besides having the very son of God born in a manger was to have the first ones to come to him humble shepherds. What an honor for those humble shepherds, at least. But then the next visitors were royalty. Isn’t it amazing how the Lord ignores our traditions?
At least both Mary and the shepherds had something to treasure in their hearts, though the shepherds did more advertising when they left.
I had a member tell me of his experience when he saw a manger scene in our church yard. His wife had died about a week before, but when he saw the baby Jesus in the manger scene, he was sure he saw his wife in the group surrounding him. It was so real, he was crying.
The Lord does work in mysterious ways so keep our minds open.
Bob O.
