Sermon Illustrations For Proper 10 | Ordinary Time 15 (2020)
Illustration
Genesis 25:19-34
The “Let’s Make a Deal” game show remains one of the most interesting on television. In the early 1970’s, it was hosted by Monty Hall. Now, with basically the same format, it is hosted by Wayne Brady. The format of the game is straight-forward. The contestants make deals with the host. In most cases, the contestant will be offered something of value and given a choice of whether to keep it or exchange it for a different item. The hard part is the other item is hidden from the contestant until that choice is made. He/she doesn’t know if the trade will be something of greater value or a prize that is referred to as a "zonk," something purposely chosen to be of little or no value. Invariably, when a “zonk” happens, it is accompanied by the appropriate four tones or music. One contestant gave up $2,000 cash for the chance to win a zonk prize sub sandwich car of no value. Another contestant gave up $1,000 cash for a zonk prize of a super-size Flintstones tricycle. Getting “zonked” is always a bad thing.
In our text we find Esau, in some ways, getting zonked. He also made a foolish and bad trade. Esau came in from hunting famished. Jacob was making a stew. The Targum of Jonathan says it was on the day in which Abraham died. The stew Jacob was making, according to Jewish writers, was the food of mourners. Esau is desperate for some of Jacob’s stew, so Jacob says, in effect, “Let’s make a deal. I’ll give you the food, you give me the birthright.” Esau agrees and the deal is made. Esau gave up his standing for stew. Cue the music. That’s definitely a zonk.
Bill T.
* * *
Genesis 25:19-34
Jacob and Esau have two very different kinds of intelligence, which I will talk about in the Charting the Course section. But this inequality reminded me of a book by Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, in which this best-selling author addresses a question asked him by a resident of Papua New Guinea: “Why do you people have all the cargo?” What this hunter/gatherer was asking was why the westerners he encountered had all the first world technology, manufacturing, and goods (which he lumped under the rubric “cargo”) and people in the third world were struggling to obtain for themselves.
Diamond rejects the various racist arguments that certain cultural groups are inherently more intelligent. He insists that accidents of geography and the prevalence of domesticated animals in certain regions made a tremendous difference. Simply put, in Eurasia, the environment favored transmission of technological advances in an east-west direction because there were no major bodies of water or mountains to impede the advance. This, along with the presence of at least five of the seven major domesticated animals meant that people and ideas could move relatively easily on this axis. The development of cities meant that certain populations developed some immunity to certain diseases sooner than other cultures. Whereas in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and the thousands of islands of the Pacific, the presence of mountains, oceans, and other barriers slowed the spread of technologies, the gathering of peoples with their diseases, and made them the prey of western people with their technology and their diseases when the inevitable encounters occurred.
No one idea explains everything, so I’m not saying Diamond has all the answers, but the author is attempting to make sense of the inequalities in our present day without suggesting some humans are more intelligent or more capable than others. His friend from Papua New Guinea, for instance, could safely discern over sixty different kinds of mushrooms to identify which kinds are poisonous, and which are safe to eat, an indication of a useful intelligence the author did not have.
None of the apparent inequalities among the various human populations which may be a historical accident are any indication that God loves some of us less or some of us more.
Frank R.
* * *
Genesis 25:19-34, Psalm 119:105-112
Hallmark received some very bad publicity for producing a commercial in which a homosexual couple were shown being married. A new scandal erupted when actress Lori Loughlin, who was used in an advertising campaign, was arrested in the nationwide college admission scandal. These two incidents tarnished the reputation of Hallmark, which has always promoted itself as a family institution. During the coronavirus pandemic in the Spring of 2020, Hallmark was able to reestablish its reputation through an act of generosity. Hallmark mailed out two million greeting cards to anyone who asked for one. A spokesperson for Hallmark said the gesture was “to help put more care in the world.”
Ron L.
* * *
Romans 8:1-11
Christian biblical interpretation tends to over-spiritualize the Bible––and especially Paul. We often view Paul’s distinction between flesh and spirit in metaphorical terms. “The flesh” is symbolic of earthly concerns: jobs, relationships, pop culture, etc., while “the spirit” refers to religion: worship, alms, prayer, etc. Thus, Paul’s warning in Romans 8: 1-11 that “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace” (8:6), is often interpreted as an exhortation to direct one’s mind towards worship, alms, and prayer rather than jobs, relationships, or pop culture. While this advice is no doubt valuable, I think there is value with taking Paul a little bit more literally.
Once, when I was in grad school, I got a spider bite on my leg. It was extremely, earth-shakingly painful. It caused my calf to swell up as if there was a grapefruit under the skin. It throbbed every second of the day, and every step felt like a spike through my foot. It was so excruciating that I began to notice that it was impossible for me to do the “earthly” things that were important to me. I couldn’t read or work. I had no patience with others. I snapped at my best friend over nothing. I completely freaked out during class and was generally a nasty person to be around.
After the pain subsided, I went around to my friends and colleagues apologizing for my behavior. I explained that I couldn’t think through the pain. The pain had been so intense that I had felt almost as if I was losing myself. Elaine Scarry writes about this phenomenon in The Body in Pain and argues that during experiences of extreme pain, such as torture, the self is quite literally “unmade.” After my experience with the spider bite, I imagined what kind of person I would be if I was constantly in that state of pain. Would I even still be me, or would I become an entirely different person?
Paul’s concern about the flesh is not only an admonishment against attachment to worldly things over spiritual things, it is also an acknowledgement that our flesh literally shapes who we are. A body in pain fundamentally impinges upon the spirit within it. Similarly, pregnancy and birth fundamentally changes a woman’s relationship to herself and to others. The physical act of becoming a mother is not incidental to one’s understanding of self, it goes far deeper than that. A soldier who comes back from war with an amputated leg is not the same person as he was when he had both legs, and it is not just because his traumatic experiences have been imprinted on his psyche––they also live out in his body.
By reading Romans 8:1-11, we have the opportunity not only to reflect upon our concern over earthly matters as opposed to spiritual matters, but also on the relationship between our bodies and ourselves––and others. The color of a person’s skin shapes her or his daily life in ways large and small, and one must wonder, how much of the self is a result of this embodied experience, and what does it do to the spirit within the flesh when that flesh is feared, abhorred, and treated as an object of violence? By understanding the dangers of the flesh and its role in the formation of the self, we then become more aware of the ways in which we treat others physically––and not just psychologically or socially––and how it shapes who they are as people. Where I feel tension between myself and Paul is in his solution to this “problem of the flesh.” In this passage, Paul suggests that we abandon any attachment to the flesh, which at first glance, flies in the face of an ethic of care for the flesh.
However, as we read on in Romans 8, it becomes clear that Paul believes that “the present time” is quickly passing away and is “not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed to us” (8:18). For Paul, the eschaton was on the horizon, and he believed that soon, his flesh along with all human flesh, would be replaced with indescribable heavenly bodies. I wonder, had Paul known humanity would have to wait in expectation for hundreds of years, if he might have given us different advice.
M T.
* * *
Romans 8:1-11
This text portrays the struggle between sin and grace, spirit and flesh. On this matter Martin Luther once wrote:
Just as grace has placed God in the place of all things it seems even its own interests, and prefers Him to itself and seeks only those things which belong to God and not its own things, so nature on the other hand sets itself in place of all other things, even in the place of God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.25, p.344)
Modern theologian Karl Barth made clear that we cannot break out of this struggle, that only the Holy Spirit can make it happen:
The indwelling of the Spirit in us, the self-inaugurated motion of the Spirit toward us, by which men are related to God, and which is their death and their life, is necessary for the establishing of our relation to God. (The Epistle to the Romans, p. 291)
Elsewhere Barth made the point of the Spirit’s work even more bluntly:
Grace, then, means neither that men can or ought to do something, nor that they can or ought to do nothing. Grace means that God does something... We are under grace, and we are ourselves the objective of its attack. (The Epistle to the Romans, pp.215-216)
Politics is not nearly as important as what God through the Holy Spirit is doing to us and our nation.
Mark E.
* * *
Romans 8:1-11
In these tumultuous days of pandemic, racial tension, police brutality, protests and seeming mayhem, it is difficult to rest in the spirit. It’s hard to ignore the tension that lives in our bodies, in our flesh. Yet, recognizing the pain in our flesh does not preclude us from living in the spirit. As I stand for the justice for my neighbors, the justice Jesus calls us to when he reminds us to love our neighbor as ourselves, as I light a candle and stand in a vigil for peace and justice – I am living in the Spirit. I am calling on all that is holy to remind us that we are called to care for the least among us, to seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Speaking truth to power. Praying and singing for justice and with the power of the Holy Spirit. This is my calling as Christian. What is yours?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Ellyn Shea wrote, on June 29, 2015, an article for deeproot.com called “What is Good Soil?” In it she gave an overview of what constituted good soil. I’m not a farmer or an agricultural engineer, but I did find it interesting. Good soil is determined by its properties. The soil texture matters, as does the structure and pH and nutrient levels. Different soils are better than others for different things. Loam and clay are best for wheat as long as they are not acidic or sodic. A sandy loam is better for corn as long as it has a pH level between 5.8 and 6.8.
Jesus talked about “good soil,” too. “Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” That’s a remarkable production rate. Some have suggested that a good rate of production would be ten-fold. Jesus is talking about far greater. What are the characteristics of this soil? He describes it in verse 23. “But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” What is the good soil like? People who hear the word, understand it, and allow it to produce in their lives. Would the word of God grow in the soil of your life?
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Tom Moore, 99-years-old, a World War Two veteran, lives in eastern England. During the coronavirus pandemic he wanted to do something to show his appreciation for the health care workers treating those who were infected. He decided he was going to walk 100 laps around his garden in Marston Moretaine. He was going to complete the journey before his 100th birthday on April 30, 2020. His family decided they would raise 1,000 pounds for his campaign. A video of his walk went viral, and at the completion of his last lap, surrounded by a military honor guard, Moore was able to raise $16 million. Moore embarked on this pilgrimage saying that the health care workers “deserve everything we can give them.”
Ron L.
* * *
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
It’s now an accepted fact that there are several different kinds of intelligences and several different kinds of teaching are required to address those. If you’ve ever been asked to work on children’s Sunday School curriculum, you’ve been made aware some are of us are verbal, some are musical, some are interpersonal, some learn intrapersonally, some learn through the natural world, some are mathematically intelligent, and so on.
This also affects preaching. There is a long history of biblical art, yet how many of us incorporate art into our preaching? Aside from an obligatory representation of an odd European-looking Jesus as the Good Shepherd, or perhaps an old man saying grace over his meager loaf of bread, what art is on display in our churches? What art is used as part of a power point during the sermon?
This particular scripture about seeds and soil is a natural. What tactile experiences can be worked into a children’s story? What ancient or modern depictions can be worked into the message? Is there a way you can reach someone who does not learn verbally through art?
Frank R.
The “Let’s Make a Deal” game show remains one of the most interesting on television. In the early 1970’s, it was hosted by Monty Hall. Now, with basically the same format, it is hosted by Wayne Brady. The format of the game is straight-forward. The contestants make deals with the host. In most cases, the contestant will be offered something of value and given a choice of whether to keep it or exchange it for a different item. The hard part is the other item is hidden from the contestant until that choice is made. He/she doesn’t know if the trade will be something of greater value or a prize that is referred to as a "zonk," something purposely chosen to be of little or no value. Invariably, when a “zonk” happens, it is accompanied by the appropriate four tones or music. One contestant gave up $2,000 cash for the chance to win a zonk prize sub sandwich car of no value. Another contestant gave up $1,000 cash for a zonk prize of a super-size Flintstones tricycle. Getting “zonked” is always a bad thing.
In our text we find Esau, in some ways, getting zonked. He also made a foolish and bad trade. Esau came in from hunting famished. Jacob was making a stew. The Targum of Jonathan says it was on the day in which Abraham died. The stew Jacob was making, according to Jewish writers, was the food of mourners. Esau is desperate for some of Jacob’s stew, so Jacob says, in effect, “Let’s make a deal. I’ll give you the food, you give me the birthright.” Esau agrees and the deal is made. Esau gave up his standing for stew. Cue the music. That’s definitely a zonk.
Bill T.
* * *
Genesis 25:19-34
Jacob and Esau have two very different kinds of intelligence, which I will talk about in the Charting the Course section. But this inequality reminded me of a book by Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, in which this best-selling author addresses a question asked him by a resident of Papua New Guinea: “Why do you people have all the cargo?” What this hunter/gatherer was asking was why the westerners he encountered had all the first world technology, manufacturing, and goods (which he lumped under the rubric “cargo”) and people in the third world were struggling to obtain for themselves.
Diamond rejects the various racist arguments that certain cultural groups are inherently more intelligent. He insists that accidents of geography and the prevalence of domesticated animals in certain regions made a tremendous difference. Simply put, in Eurasia, the environment favored transmission of technological advances in an east-west direction because there were no major bodies of water or mountains to impede the advance. This, along with the presence of at least five of the seven major domesticated animals meant that people and ideas could move relatively easily on this axis. The development of cities meant that certain populations developed some immunity to certain diseases sooner than other cultures. Whereas in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and the thousands of islands of the Pacific, the presence of mountains, oceans, and other barriers slowed the spread of technologies, the gathering of peoples with their diseases, and made them the prey of western people with their technology and their diseases when the inevitable encounters occurred.
No one idea explains everything, so I’m not saying Diamond has all the answers, but the author is attempting to make sense of the inequalities in our present day without suggesting some humans are more intelligent or more capable than others. His friend from Papua New Guinea, for instance, could safely discern over sixty different kinds of mushrooms to identify which kinds are poisonous, and which are safe to eat, an indication of a useful intelligence the author did not have.
None of the apparent inequalities among the various human populations which may be a historical accident are any indication that God loves some of us less or some of us more.
Frank R.
* * *
Genesis 25:19-34, Psalm 119:105-112
Hallmark received some very bad publicity for producing a commercial in which a homosexual couple were shown being married. A new scandal erupted when actress Lori Loughlin, who was used in an advertising campaign, was arrested in the nationwide college admission scandal. These two incidents tarnished the reputation of Hallmark, which has always promoted itself as a family institution. During the coronavirus pandemic in the Spring of 2020, Hallmark was able to reestablish its reputation through an act of generosity. Hallmark mailed out two million greeting cards to anyone who asked for one. A spokesperson for Hallmark said the gesture was “to help put more care in the world.”
Ron L.
* * *
Romans 8:1-11
Christian biblical interpretation tends to over-spiritualize the Bible––and especially Paul. We often view Paul’s distinction between flesh and spirit in metaphorical terms. “The flesh” is symbolic of earthly concerns: jobs, relationships, pop culture, etc., while “the spirit” refers to religion: worship, alms, prayer, etc. Thus, Paul’s warning in Romans 8: 1-11 that “to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace” (8:6), is often interpreted as an exhortation to direct one’s mind towards worship, alms, and prayer rather than jobs, relationships, or pop culture. While this advice is no doubt valuable, I think there is value with taking Paul a little bit more literally.
Once, when I was in grad school, I got a spider bite on my leg. It was extremely, earth-shakingly painful. It caused my calf to swell up as if there was a grapefruit under the skin. It throbbed every second of the day, and every step felt like a spike through my foot. It was so excruciating that I began to notice that it was impossible for me to do the “earthly” things that were important to me. I couldn’t read or work. I had no patience with others. I snapped at my best friend over nothing. I completely freaked out during class and was generally a nasty person to be around.
After the pain subsided, I went around to my friends and colleagues apologizing for my behavior. I explained that I couldn’t think through the pain. The pain had been so intense that I had felt almost as if I was losing myself. Elaine Scarry writes about this phenomenon in The Body in Pain and argues that during experiences of extreme pain, such as torture, the self is quite literally “unmade.” After my experience with the spider bite, I imagined what kind of person I would be if I was constantly in that state of pain. Would I even still be me, or would I become an entirely different person?
Paul’s concern about the flesh is not only an admonishment against attachment to worldly things over spiritual things, it is also an acknowledgement that our flesh literally shapes who we are. A body in pain fundamentally impinges upon the spirit within it. Similarly, pregnancy and birth fundamentally changes a woman’s relationship to herself and to others. The physical act of becoming a mother is not incidental to one’s understanding of self, it goes far deeper than that. A soldier who comes back from war with an amputated leg is not the same person as he was when he had both legs, and it is not just because his traumatic experiences have been imprinted on his psyche––they also live out in his body.
By reading Romans 8:1-11, we have the opportunity not only to reflect upon our concern over earthly matters as opposed to spiritual matters, but also on the relationship between our bodies and ourselves––and others. The color of a person’s skin shapes her or his daily life in ways large and small, and one must wonder, how much of the self is a result of this embodied experience, and what does it do to the spirit within the flesh when that flesh is feared, abhorred, and treated as an object of violence? By understanding the dangers of the flesh and its role in the formation of the self, we then become more aware of the ways in which we treat others physically––and not just psychologically or socially––and how it shapes who they are as people. Where I feel tension between myself and Paul is in his solution to this “problem of the flesh.” In this passage, Paul suggests that we abandon any attachment to the flesh, which at first glance, flies in the face of an ethic of care for the flesh.
However, as we read on in Romans 8, it becomes clear that Paul believes that “the present time” is quickly passing away and is “not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed to us” (8:18). For Paul, the eschaton was on the horizon, and he believed that soon, his flesh along with all human flesh, would be replaced with indescribable heavenly bodies. I wonder, had Paul known humanity would have to wait in expectation for hundreds of years, if he might have given us different advice.
M T.
* * *
Romans 8:1-11
This text portrays the struggle between sin and grace, spirit and flesh. On this matter Martin Luther once wrote:
Just as grace has placed God in the place of all things it seems even its own interests, and prefers Him to itself and seeks only those things which belong to God and not its own things, so nature on the other hand sets itself in place of all other things, even in the place of God. (Luther’s Works, Vol.25, p.344)
Modern theologian Karl Barth made clear that we cannot break out of this struggle, that only the Holy Spirit can make it happen:
The indwelling of the Spirit in us, the self-inaugurated motion of the Spirit toward us, by which men are related to God, and which is their death and their life, is necessary for the establishing of our relation to God. (The Epistle to the Romans, p. 291)
Elsewhere Barth made the point of the Spirit’s work even more bluntly:
Grace, then, means neither that men can or ought to do something, nor that they can or ought to do nothing. Grace means that God does something... We are under grace, and we are ourselves the objective of its attack. (The Epistle to the Romans, pp.215-216)
Politics is not nearly as important as what God through the Holy Spirit is doing to us and our nation.
Mark E.
* * *
Romans 8:1-11
In these tumultuous days of pandemic, racial tension, police brutality, protests and seeming mayhem, it is difficult to rest in the spirit. It’s hard to ignore the tension that lives in our bodies, in our flesh. Yet, recognizing the pain in our flesh does not preclude us from living in the spirit. As I stand for the justice for my neighbors, the justice Jesus calls us to when he reminds us to love our neighbor as ourselves, as I light a candle and stand in a vigil for peace and justice – I am living in the Spirit. I am calling on all that is holy to remind us that we are called to care for the least among us, to seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Speaking truth to power. Praying and singing for justice and with the power of the Holy Spirit. This is my calling as Christian. What is yours?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Ellyn Shea wrote, on June 29, 2015, an article for deeproot.com called “What is Good Soil?” In it she gave an overview of what constituted good soil. I’m not a farmer or an agricultural engineer, but I did find it interesting. Good soil is determined by its properties. The soil texture matters, as does the structure and pH and nutrient levels. Different soils are better than others for different things. Loam and clay are best for wheat as long as they are not acidic or sodic. A sandy loam is better for corn as long as it has a pH level between 5.8 and 6.8.
Jesus talked about “good soil,” too. “Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” That’s a remarkable production rate. Some have suggested that a good rate of production would be ten-fold. Jesus is talking about far greater. What are the characteristics of this soil? He describes it in verse 23. “But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” What is the good soil like? People who hear the word, understand it, and allow it to produce in their lives. Would the word of God grow in the soil of your life?
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Tom Moore, 99-years-old, a World War Two veteran, lives in eastern England. During the coronavirus pandemic he wanted to do something to show his appreciation for the health care workers treating those who were infected. He decided he was going to walk 100 laps around his garden in Marston Moretaine. He was going to complete the journey before his 100th birthday on April 30, 2020. His family decided they would raise 1,000 pounds for his campaign. A video of his walk went viral, and at the completion of his last lap, surrounded by a military honor guard, Moore was able to raise $16 million. Moore embarked on this pilgrimage saying that the health care workers “deserve everything we can give them.”
Ron L.
* * *
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
It’s now an accepted fact that there are several different kinds of intelligences and several different kinds of teaching are required to address those. If you’ve ever been asked to work on children’s Sunday School curriculum, you’ve been made aware some are of us are verbal, some are musical, some are interpersonal, some learn intrapersonally, some learn through the natural world, some are mathematically intelligent, and so on.
This also affects preaching. There is a long history of biblical art, yet how many of us incorporate art into our preaching? Aside from an obligatory representation of an odd European-looking Jesus as the Good Shepherd, or perhaps an old man saying grace over his meager loaf of bread, what art is on display in our churches? What art is used as part of a power point during the sermon?
This particular scripture about seeds and soil is a natural. What tactile experiences can be worked into a children’s story? What ancient or modern depictions can be worked into the message? Is there a way you can reach someone who does not learn verbally through art?
Frank R.
