Sermon Illustrations for Palm/Passion Sunday (2019)
Illustration
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Have you ever been burdened by guilt? You regret an action, or an inaction and you carry around the regret and guilt like a sack attached to your back, and your spirit. Isaiah reminds us that moving into relationship with God helps us let go of the judgments of others, and perhaps even the judgements we put on ourselves. And Isaiah calls us to stand together with each other and with God as we struggle against the forces of culture which may judge and burden us. With God, we are never alone. We can stand against our foes; we can even let go of the guilt that burdens us and turn toward God. Turning toward God, acts of repentance, these are the things that give us strength to take the next step in our faith journey with confidence. Let it be so.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 50:4-9a
In a poll conducted by YouGov five years ago it was found that only 1 in 7 Americans wake up feeling fresh every day. Like the prophet says about Judah, we are weary. A more recent 2008 Gallup poll finds 44% of us feel burned out. Like the people of Judah addressed by Isaiah, we are weary — weary of the tedium of life. The father of Existentialism Søren Kierkegaard put it well:
How terrible tedium is – terribly tedious; I know no stronger expression... I lie stretched out, inactive; the only thing I see is emptiness; the only thing I move about in is emptiness. (Either/Or, Vol.1, p.36)
Our lesson promises that God will vindicate us through his suffering servant. All sorts of neurobiological studies suggest that spirituality, that faith in God, enhances energy, gets us past our weariness and tedium. It seems that in faith there are significant increases in dopamine levels (Andrew Newberg, Principles of Neurotheology, pp.175-176). And studies as recent as a 2012 University of Connecticut study demonstrated that dopamine-flow enhances our energy, that it increases motivation. (Also see Daniel Amen, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, pp.94-95). God and faith do indeed overcome our weariness.
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Sometimes something like a voice wakes me in the middle of the night or the early morning but I don’t know what or who it is. If it sounds like one of the passages I have memorized, I assume it could be the Lord. I receive patiently whatever God sends. Once it was a sentence from the Lord’s Prayer telling me to forgive as I want to be forgiven. In an instant I realize what I have to do if I want to be forgiven. If it is my fault, I have to be ready to take my punishment
Some of us have found that in certain schools of higher education we are ridiculed for our faith. Our accusers tell us that we need to study more and then we will discover that our greatest power is our mind. They may not mock or spit, but they try to make you feel ignorant and stupid. There is no point trying to convert them until the Lord opens the way because they think they know better and will only laugh at us.
It is the Lord who opens our eyes, and we find him speaking to us in the Bible and in our church. We have to have an open heart to receive what God has for us.
Bob O.
* * *
Philippians 2:5-11
In September 2018 the memorial to those who died on Flight 93 was dedicated. The Flight 93 National Memorial is located in the field where Flight 93, a commuter flight from New Jersey to California, was highjacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001.
As passengers on the Boeing 757 learned of other highjacked aircraft being used as flying bombs to be crashed into buildings, they decided to act. The passengers decided to retake their airplane with the now famous words, “Let’s roll.” As they stormed the cockpit the terrorist pilot rolled the plane, trying to get the intruders off balance. The aircraft then became inverted and crashed at 563 mph on the edge of a reclaimed strip mine, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:30 a.m. The impact ignited about 100 hemlock trees. All 40 passengers were killed.
The 44-acre impact site is fenced off from the public. A 17-ton sandstone marks the exact impact site. Though at memorial plaza the Flight 93 National Memorial, called the Tower of Voices, stands proud. The 93-foot structure is shaped like a hemlock tree, and is encircled by hemlock trees. The tower has 40 wind chimes, one for each passenger, and each has a distinctive and coordinated sound. The surrounding hemlock trees symbolize sound waves. The bells range from 5 to 10 feet long, and weigh as much as 150 pounds.
Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, and the first secretary of Homeland Security, said the Tower of Voices will be “an everlasting concert by our heroes.”
Ron L.
* * *
Philippians 2:5-11
I ran across this story that I thought clearly depicted humility. At a reception honoring musician Sir Robert Mayer on his 100th birthday, elderly British socialite Lady Diana Cooper fell into conversation with a friendly woman who seemed to know her well. Lady Diana's failing eyesight prevented her from recognizing her fellow guest, until she peered more closely at the magnificent diamonds. She realized she was talking to Queen Elizabeth! Overcome with embarrassment, Lady Diana curtsied and stammered, "Ma'am, oh, ma'am, I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't recognize you without your crown!" The queen replied without hesitation, “t was so much Sir Robert's evening, that I decided to leave it behind."
Leaving behind her crown speaks of the humility and grace of the queen. Consider what Jesus left behind as he came to earth. Is there any doubt that he humbled himself? May we have the same mind as that of Christ Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
Philippians 2:5-11
We tend to use the terms “work like a slave” or “slaving away” rather casually, but slavery is an ugly, demeaning, and undeserved condition.
Slavery in the ancient world was different than American slavery, which was race based and built on the false assumption that certain groups were not only inferior, but intended by God to be slaves. This stemmed from a sinful and self-serving misreading of scripture. In the ancient world one might be born into slavery, or become enslaved as a result of having been captured in war or have sold oneself or family members into slavery to pay crushing debts. Now because this slavery was not race based one could work and buy oneself out of slavery, and even rise in society, but there remained a strong taint not only against those who had escaped slavery, but also their descendants who might never have been slaves.
We see some evidence of this in a reference to “the synagogue of the Freedmen” in Acts 6:9. The fact that the word behind “Freedmen” is not Greek but a Latin loan word (libertine) tells us that this is a Roman term isolating people in that class conscious society. It is members of that synagogue who are especially disagreeable in their challenge to the martyr Stephen not long before his martyrdom by stoning.
All this makes even more significant the audacity of the Apostle Paul when he calls upon the Philippian Christians to emulate Jesus who took on the form of a slave. Philippi was a Roman city where many military retirees settled. Those who lived there were citizens of Rome even though many of them would never have visited that city. They had the privileges and rights of Roman citizenship, of which they would have been very proud. Roman heroes, like the real-Caesars or the mythical founder of Rome Aeneus, claimed to be descended from gods. Yet Jesus, the Son of God, did not take advantage of equality with God, was obedient even to the point of taking on the form of a slave. Being executed is the most demeaning death in the Roman Empire.
It is astounding and audacious that the apostle would make such a claim and ask the residents of Philippi to follow suit and slave away like Jesus. It is even more astounding and audacious that evidently some did!
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 22:14--23:56
The Palm Sunday story is all about the sin of the crowd in Jerusalem. Martin Luther pointed out that their sin is our sin, though we don’t want to admit it:
We should weep for ourselves, because sin has polluted us so, and because so terrible a judgment awaits us. But where is the man to be found who weeps? The deeper men sink into the slime of sin, the more secure and joyful they grow. (Sermons On the Passion of Christ, p.152)
The crowd surrounding Jesus was fickle, just like his disciples and just like us. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes us so well: “We are a puny and fickle folk. Avarice, hesitation, and following are our diseases.” Infamous political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli was right about human nature. As he put it, “Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.”
No two ways about it: We are a pretty hard bunch of creatures to love. And yet our Gospel lesson makes clear that God can love even us. In a sermon on this text Martin Luther claimed:
The second aspect of His [Christ’s] adornment is His great love for us, His whole heart being aimed at helping us. His suffering does not deter Him; indeed He hardly gives it a thought, so greatly is He concerned about us and our distress... Could there be a greater, more fervent love then that? (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.427)
The obvious answer is “No.” Only God could love fickle beings like us.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 22:14--23:56
This passage is the foundation for the Lord’s supper. Jesus is using it so that whenever they eat of it, they will think of his sacrifice. Which had not been made yet.
One thing we learn from this and other passages is that democracy was a disaster in the Bible. We would be worshiping a golden calf if democracy were the most important element in our faith.
The people wanted a king so God allowed them to have kings against his will. Some were good, but others were a disaster. Almost all the Lord’s prophets were murdered.
We don’t know if there was a lot of gerrymandering, but the vote was enough to send Jesus to the cross.
I wondered where all the people who praised him on Palm Sunday were.
All we can do is vote for our Lord as we come to his table to repeat that last supper.
Even our constitution is not against our faith in God. It is only against one religion taking over in our country.
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 22:14-23:56
Have you ever been denied by a friend? Has one of your dearest friends ever betrayed you? Multiply this feeling by dozens of experiences, or hundreds? As I think about the betrayal of Peter, I remember times I have walked away from a friend, left a situation out of fear or pain. Peter, the staunchest of supporters, the rock on which Jesus claims the church will be built, is just like us. He is an ordinary man beset by fear and loss and confusion. He is one who loves but betrays, knows but fails to acknowledge.
And yet, Jesus welcomes Peter and even Judas to the table of grace, clearly loving them even in their betrayal. Remember the last time you were deeply in fear, afraid to make the right choice or any choice; frozen in place, ready to do almost anything to escape the situation. Remember that pain and know it is only a portion of what Peter feels in this moment, these moments of betrayal and denial. And know too, that Jesus loves you still.
Bonnie B.
Have you ever been burdened by guilt? You regret an action, or an inaction and you carry around the regret and guilt like a sack attached to your back, and your spirit. Isaiah reminds us that moving into relationship with God helps us let go of the judgments of others, and perhaps even the judgements we put on ourselves. And Isaiah calls us to stand together with each other and with God as we struggle against the forces of culture which may judge and burden us. With God, we are never alone. We can stand against our foes; we can even let go of the guilt that burdens us and turn toward God. Turning toward God, acts of repentance, these are the things that give us strength to take the next step in our faith journey with confidence. Let it be so.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Isaiah 50:4-9a
In a poll conducted by YouGov five years ago it was found that only 1 in 7 Americans wake up feeling fresh every day. Like the prophet says about Judah, we are weary. A more recent 2008 Gallup poll finds 44% of us feel burned out. Like the people of Judah addressed by Isaiah, we are weary — weary of the tedium of life. The father of Existentialism Søren Kierkegaard put it well:
How terrible tedium is – terribly tedious; I know no stronger expression... I lie stretched out, inactive; the only thing I see is emptiness; the only thing I move about in is emptiness. (Either/Or, Vol.1, p.36)
Our lesson promises that God will vindicate us through his suffering servant. All sorts of neurobiological studies suggest that spirituality, that faith in God, enhances energy, gets us past our weariness and tedium. It seems that in faith there are significant increases in dopamine levels (Andrew Newberg, Principles of Neurotheology, pp.175-176). And studies as recent as a 2012 University of Connecticut study demonstrated that dopamine-flow enhances our energy, that it increases motivation. (Also see Daniel Amen, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, pp.94-95). God and faith do indeed overcome our weariness.
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Sometimes something like a voice wakes me in the middle of the night or the early morning but I don’t know what or who it is. If it sounds like one of the passages I have memorized, I assume it could be the Lord. I receive patiently whatever God sends. Once it was a sentence from the Lord’s Prayer telling me to forgive as I want to be forgiven. In an instant I realize what I have to do if I want to be forgiven. If it is my fault, I have to be ready to take my punishment
Some of us have found that in certain schools of higher education we are ridiculed for our faith. Our accusers tell us that we need to study more and then we will discover that our greatest power is our mind. They may not mock or spit, but they try to make you feel ignorant and stupid. There is no point trying to convert them until the Lord opens the way because they think they know better and will only laugh at us.
It is the Lord who opens our eyes, and we find him speaking to us in the Bible and in our church. We have to have an open heart to receive what God has for us.
Bob O.
* * *
Philippians 2:5-11
In September 2018 the memorial to those who died on Flight 93 was dedicated. The Flight 93 National Memorial is located in the field where Flight 93, a commuter flight from New Jersey to California, was highjacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001.
As passengers on the Boeing 757 learned of other highjacked aircraft being used as flying bombs to be crashed into buildings, they decided to act. The passengers decided to retake their airplane with the now famous words, “Let’s roll.” As they stormed the cockpit the terrorist pilot rolled the plane, trying to get the intruders off balance. The aircraft then became inverted and crashed at 563 mph on the edge of a reclaimed strip mine, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:30 a.m. The impact ignited about 100 hemlock trees. All 40 passengers were killed.
The 44-acre impact site is fenced off from the public. A 17-ton sandstone marks the exact impact site. Though at memorial plaza the Flight 93 National Memorial, called the Tower of Voices, stands proud. The 93-foot structure is shaped like a hemlock tree, and is encircled by hemlock trees. The tower has 40 wind chimes, one for each passenger, and each has a distinctive and coordinated sound. The surrounding hemlock trees symbolize sound waves. The bells range from 5 to 10 feet long, and weigh as much as 150 pounds.
Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, and the first secretary of Homeland Security, said the Tower of Voices will be “an everlasting concert by our heroes.”
Ron L.
* * *
Philippians 2:5-11
I ran across this story that I thought clearly depicted humility. At a reception honoring musician Sir Robert Mayer on his 100th birthday, elderly British socialite Lady Diana Cooper fell into conversation with a friendly woman who seemed to know her well. Lady Diana's failing eyesight prevented her from recognizing her fellow guest, until she peered more closely at the magnificent diamonds. She realized she was talking to Queen Elizabeth! Overcome with embarrassment, Lady Diana curtsied and stammered, "Ma'am, oh, ma'am, I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't recognize you without your crown!" The queen replied without hesitation, “t was so much Sir Robert's evening, that I decided to leave it behind."
Leaving behind her crown speaks of the humility and grace of the queen. Consider what Jesus left behind as he came to earth. Is there any doubt that he humbled himself? May we have the same mind as that of Christ Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
Philippians 2:5-11
We tend to use the terms “work like a slave” or “slaving away” rather casually, but slavery is an ugly, demeaning, and undeserved condition.
Slavery in the ancient world was different than American slavery, which was race based and built on the false assumption that certain groups were not only inferior, but intended by God to be slaves. This stemmed from a sinful and self-serving misreading of scripture. In the ancient world one might be born into slavery, or become enslaved as a result of having been captured in war or have sold oneself or family members into slavery to pay crushing debts. Now because this slavery was not race based one could work and buy oneself out of slavery, and even rise in society, but there remained a strong taint not only against those who had escaped slavery, but also their descendants who might never have been slaves.
We see some evidence of this in a reference to “the synagogue of the Freedmen” in Acts 6:9. The fact that the word behind “Freedmen” is not Greek but a Latin loan word (libertine) tells us that this is a Roman term isolating people in that class conscious society. It is members of that synagogue who are especially disagreeable in their challenge to the martyr Stephen not long before his martyrdom by stoning.
All this makes even more significant the audacity of the Apostle Paul when he calls upon the Philippian Christians to emulate Jesus who took on the form of a slave. Philippi was a Roman city where many military retirees settled. Those who lived there were citizens of Rome even though many of them would never have visited that city. They had the privileges and rights of Roman citizenship, of which they would have been very proud. Roman heroes, like the real-Caesars or the mythical founder of Rome Aeneus, claimed to be descended from gods. Yet Jesus, the Son of God, did not take advantage of equality with God, was obedient even to the point of taking on the form of a slave. Being executed is the most demeaning death in the Roman Empire.
It is astounding and audacious that the apostle would make such a claim and ask the residents of Philippi to follow suit and slave away like Jesus. It is even more astounding and audacious that evidently some did!
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 22:14--23:56
The Palm Sunday story is all about the sin of the crowd in Jerusalem. Martin Luther pointed out that their sin is our sin, though we don’t want to admit it:
We should weep for ourselves, because sin has polluted us so, and because so terrible a judgment awaits us. But where is the man to be found who weeps? The deeper men sink into the slime of sin, the more secure and joyful they grow. (Sermons On the Passion of Christ, p.152)
The crowd surrounding Jesus was fickle, just like his disciples and just like us. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes us so well: “We are a puny and fickle folk. Avarice, hesitation, and following are our diseases.” Infamous political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli was right about human nature. As he put it, “Of mankind we may say in general they are fickle, hypocritical, and greedy of gain.”
No two ways about it: We are a pretty hard bunch of creatures to love. And yet our Gospel lesson makes clear that God can love even us. In a sermon on this text Martin Luther claimed:
The second aspect of His [Christ’s] adornment is His great love for us, His whole heart being aimed at helping us. His suffering does not deter Him; indeed He hardly gives it a thought, so greatly is He concerned about us and our distress... Could there be a greater, more fervent love then that? (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.427)
The obvious answer is “No.” Only God could love fickle beings like us.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 22:14--23:56
This passage is the foundation for the Lord’s supper. Jesus is using it so that whenever they eat of it, they will think of his sacrifice. Which had not been made yet.
One thing we learn from this and other passages is that democracy was a disaster in the Bible. We would be worshiping a golden calf if democracy were the most important element in our faith.
The people wanted a king so God allowed them to have kings against his will. Some were good, but others were a disaster. Almost all the Lord’s prophets were murdered.
We don’t know if there was a lot of gerrymandering, but the vote was enough to send Jesus to the cross.
I wondered where all the people who praised him on Palm Sunday were.
All we can do is vote for our Lord as we come to his table to repeat that last supper.
Even our constitution is not against our faith in God. It is only against one religion taking over in our country.
Bob O.
* * *
Luke 22:14-23:56
Have you ever been denied by a friend? Has one of your dearest friends ever betrayed you? Multiply this feeling by dozens of experiences, or hundreds? As I think about the betrayal of Peter, I remember times I have walked away from a friend, left a situation out of fear or pain. Peter, the staunchest of supporters, the rock on which Jesus claims the church will be built, is just like us. He is an ordinary man beset by fear and loss and confusion. He is one who loves but betrays, knows but fails to acknowledge.
And yet, Jesus welcomes Peter and even Judas to the table of grace, clearly loving them even in their betrayal. Remember the last time you were deeply in fear, afraid to make the right choice or any choice; frozen in place, ready to do almost anything to escape the situation. Remember that pain and know it is only a portion of what Peter feels in this moment, these moments of betrayal and denial. And know too, that Jesus loves you still.
Bonnie B.
