Sermon Illustrations for Proper 10 | OT 15 (2016)
Illustration
Object:
Amos 7:7-17
When I was a child, my father decided to build a garage in the side yard. Due to a shortage of money in the household, it was to be a “do-it-yourself” project. Because it was right after World War II and lumber was in short supply, the garage was to have walls of concrete blocks rather than wood.
Unfortunately, neither my father nor the two friends who volunteered to help knew anything about the art and science of building. None of the three had even watched the construction of a concrete block wall. Ignorance of the process, however, did not deter them. They were young, strong, and eager. “How hard can it be?” they wondered aloud. “Others have done this. Certainly we can.”
They started the work early on Saturday morning and worked until the sun began to set. They did not finish the project, but they made progress. As they stepped back to admire their work, they noticed a problem. The north and south walls were relatively straight. The east wall, however, was leaning slightly inward. The west wall was leaning slightly outward.
As novice builders, they had neglected to check their work with a plumb line. Everything they had done that Saturday had to be torn down. They had to start all over again.
R. Robert C.
Amos 7:7-17
On his 10th anniversary with the Pittsburgh Steelers, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger became at the age of 33 the longest serving member on the team’s roster. During those years Roethlisberger said he matured and has come to understand things better. About those years he said, “Do you use them to improve, or do you stay the same?”
Application: The plumb line instructs us to improve ourselves.
Ron L.
Amos 7:7-17
Some things in America, like in ancient Israel, are warped. We fight about raising the minimum wage, while according to a 2015 CNN report the richest 1% of us own as much as the other 99% do collectively. The British paper The Guardian reports that a disproportionate number of African-Americans are shot by police in comparison to whites. Business-as-usual politics are not putting a dent in disturbing socioeconomic trends like these. Christians like us who want to do something about these matters may need to become radicals, to become extremists in the eyes of those defenders of the status quo. Martin Luther King Jr. understood Amos this way -- as an extremist for the cause of justice, an extremist like Paul and Jesus were (A Testament of Hope, p. 297). In other contexts he uses the term “maladjusted” to refer to those who come to terms with our present social system and its injustices. And so this text, in his view, is a call to the Church to become boldly and proudly maladjusted to all that is wrong with our nation (A Testament of Hope, pp.14, 89). At their best, Christians and their Church are counter-cultural rebels!
Mark E.
Colossians 1:1-14
One of the most important things we can do for each other is to pray. As a church pastor, my heart is always so deeply touched when someone in the congregation mentions they are praying for me. I feel renewed just in the knowledge that prayers are ascending for my spirit, my life, my work. What a gift! Paul shares with the church in Colossae his prayers for them, his recognition of their living in to the Spirit and the faithful lives they are pursuing. Their faithfulness is bearing fruit and Paul has been informed. He is grateful, but more than that Paul is praying that the church stays strong.
It’s one thing to pray for one another in times of trouble, and we surely need prayer support then. Yet how wonderful is it to be prayed for when life is going well, to be offered prayers of strength to keep fulfilling our lives in faith, our vocation, and our righteousness. This too is a gift. Maybe it’s an even more important gift. We rally around those in crisis, but hopefully some of us rarely, if ever, have a crisis. Does this mean that we are not in need of prayer? Certainly not. So the next time you kneel or sit or stand to pray, remember to offer prayers for continuing faithfulness and strength for those whose lives may be going well. They need prayer too.
Bonnie B.
Colossians 1:1-14
John Walsh, the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, was the commencement speaker at Wheaton College in 2000. His speech is still regarded as one of the finest commencement addresses ever given. In it he humbly acknowledges the daunting challenge he’s been given. In the last hour of college training he, a perfect stranger, is supposed to reveal some deep general truths about the world that have so far remained hidden. His practical, eight-point message is clear and direct. One of his statements is still quoted today: “Give each experience all your attention. Try to resist being distracted by other sights and sounds, other thoughts and tasks, and when it is, guide your mind back to what you're doing.”
As I read through Paul’s opening words in Colossians, I was reminded of a commencement address. It seems to me that a good commencement speech will attempt to challenge graduates to continue to learn, grow, and develop. They don’t seek so much to impart some “new, secret knowledge,” but rather to motivate and inspire. Paul writes in verses 9-10: “For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.” Paul and his companions are praying for the Christians at Colossae. His three-pronged prayer is one of continued maturity, holiness, and effectiveness. It is a direct and powerful intercession. The Colossian Christians, reading this prayer, have a clear target for which to aim. Through the Lord’s strength at work in them, they could reach new heights in their walk with him.
I’d seen John Walsh’s speech before, but thought about it again as I read this text. I couldn’t help but be troubled by a few questions. What is the challenge that is set before us? At what are we aiming? Are we distracted in our pursuit of the things of Jesus Christ?
Bill T.
Colossians 1:1-14
Evidently this was a church that Paul could have started in his home community. Now he was getting good reports about them from some friends on the church council there. One interesting thing about this introduction is that Timothy doesn’t seem to be an apostle, but he is a brother in the faith. An apostle is “one who is sent.” It seems like Timothy follows Paul around or stays planted in a church where he is needed.
Paul is hearing about their faith in their letters, and is assuring them in his letter that they are always in his prayers.
I get encouraging reports from my former seminary students in Nepal who are starting up many churches. I also pray for them every day. I get reports from them by e-mail every week, and respond with letters something like Paul’s.
I also get reports from churches I served in the U.S. and Canada. It is very encouraging to hear that the work you started is still growing. I suppose we could compare it to getting good reports about our grown children. One of my kids just got a Ph.D. and is serving as a professor in his university. That is like answers to our prayers.
Like Paul, we delight to hear that our work is progressing and that our kids and our churches and our students are all bearing fruit.
It is important to realize that we never get our final “degree” from the Lord and can stop working while we are alive. Yes, we are all saved by our Lord, but we still need to grow ourselves and to help others grow. We never stop sinning, but are always being forgiven. The two never end while we live. That is life! We constantly have good days and bad days, but God is always there beside us.
Yes, we are being strengthened constantly, and that is our hope. It sounds from Paul’s letters that the only place we can be strengthened is in our church. It is a constant thing which we need to be reminded of.
We need to be constantly strengthened, and we also need to help strengthen our children and our brothers and sisters in Christ -- as we hope they are strengthening us. We hope it never ends on this earth. God is always giving us patience and endurance, so we can have joy that our names are written in God’s will. We are going to inherit -- not because of what we do, but because we are his children!
Bob O.
Colossians 1:1-14
In Colossians 1:13, Paul gives thanks that the Father “has rescued us from the power of darkness.” Early Christian hymns refer to these powers as angelic, or satanic, spiritual opponents against whom we need protection. Here is a third-century Christian hymn which, in addition to praising God for many reasons, includes praise for God’s victory over the powers:
Holy is God, incomparable, from whom comes the Son of Life and Light.
Holy is God, the Father of all!
Holy is God, whose will is fulfilled by his own power.
Holy is God, who wishes to be known and to become known to his own.
Holy are you, who created everything through your word!
Holy are you, whose image is seen in all of nature.
Holy are you, who nature did not create.
Holy are you, stronger than the powers!
Holy are you, greater than even the weightiest!
Holy are you, greater than all praises!
Holy are you, Judge over all!
(Third-century Christian hymn, in Altechristliche Texte,C. Schmidt and W. Schubart, [Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1910])
Frank R.
Luke 10:25-37
Our Holy Land tour group was standing on the top of the Mount of Olives. When we looked in one direction, we saw the ancient walls of Jerusalem. When we turned around to look in the other direction, we saw the road head down the steep hill toward our next stop, the city of Jericho.
Our tour guide pointed out how that place has significance beyond a GPS reference. When Jesus said a man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, his listeners heard him say that fellow was traversing a dangerous place. The guide pushed the meaning a bit further to say, “The fact is that as human beings we live on the Jericho road.”
He went on to explain that the ancient city of Jericho sits on the edge of the wilderness. To ancient ears, mentioning Jericho immediately conjured the image of a place at the edge of desolation, even chaos. Jerusalem, on the other hand, was shorthand for the best civilization had to offer. Going down to Jericho meant to travel between Jerusalem, the place of order, and Jericho at the chaos of the wilderness.
“My friends,” the guide insisted, “life is a journey down the Jericho road. We never know when we will encounter some form of chaos that will destroy the order we crave and need. No matter our station in life, we can find ourselves literally or figuratively set upon by thieves, robbed, beaten, and left at the side of the road. When that happens, we need a compassionate neighbor to stop and lend assistance.”
R. Robert C.
Luke 10:25-37
Cynthia Breazeal, an MIT scientist, has created an 11-inch robot called Jibo. You can purchase Jibo for $749 on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo. Jibo, which is supposed to feel like another member of the family, was inspired by Breazeal’s seeing Star Wars when she was 10 years old. Breazeal was enthralled by what she said was the “rich personalities and relationships” among the droids. Breazeal said, “That was the vision that forever shaped my idea of what robots could and should be.”
Application: Are we willing to be inspired by what we see and hear in Jesus, and then be willing to go and do likewise?
Ron L.
Luke 10:25-27
This question about the Greatest Law is asked in different ways in the different gospels. In Mark, the scribe who asks the question is genuinely impressed by the answer Jesus gives. In Matthew, the same question is asked by a Pharisee who, having witnessed Jesus make short shrift of the Sadducees and their question, takes his turn trying to trap the Savior into uttering a soundbite that could be used against him.
In Luke, the question is not about the greatest law. When a lawyer asks “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” the subtext seems to be “What is the bare minimum I must do to inherit eternal life?” The answer, combining Deuteronomy 6:1-4 and Leviticus 19:18, seems daunting enough, but the lawyer, seeking to justify himself, asks for clarification on the neighbor question, and that brings up the parable of the Good Samaritan. He should have quit while he was ahead!
Frank R.
Luke 10:25-37
Nobel Prize-winning philanthropist and scholar Albert Schweitzer once said, “Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him.” Life is full of opportunities to be Good Samaritans. The only problem is that we are not inclined to behave this way. We are more like Martin Luther says we are, “more inclined to anger, hatred, envy, worldly pleasures, than to tender heartedness and other virtues” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 32).
What then are we to make of the Good Samaritan story, if we cannot love that way? John Calvin solves the problem -- he says we cannot do it alone, but God can: “For since every man is devoted to himself, there will never be true charity toward neighbors, unless where the love of God reigns; for it is a mercenary love that the children of the world entertain for each other, because every one of them has regard to his own advantage” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVII/1, p. 59).
Elsewhere Calvin proceeds to reflect on how government might apply Good Samaritan principles. He gives us a model for how to vote: “We are briefly taught that a just and well-regulated government will be distinguished for maintaining the rights of the poor and afflicted” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. V/2, p. 331).
Calvin claims that we have injustice in governments that do not legislate Good Samaritan principles, an interesting principle from which to assess our presidential candidates.
Mark E.
When I was a child, my father decided to build a garage in the side yard. Due to a shortage of money in the household, it was to be a “do-it-yourself” project. Because it was right after World War II and lumber was in short supply, the garage was to have walls of concrete blocks rather than wood.
Unfortunately, neither my father nor the two friends who volunteered to help knew anything about the art and science of building. None of the three had even watched the construction of a concrete block wall. Ignorance of the process, however, did not deter them. They were young, strong, and eager. “How hard can it be?” they wondered aloud. “Others have done this. Certainly we can.”
They started the work early on Saturday morning and worked until the sun began to set. They did not finish the project, but they made progress. As they stepped back to admire their work, they noticed a problem. The north and south walls were relatively straight. The east wall, however, was leaning slightly inward. The west wall was leaning slightly outward.
As novice builders, they had neglected to check their work with a plumb line. Everything they had done that Saturday had to be torn down. They had to start all over again.
R. Robert C.
Amos 7:7-17
On his 10th anniversary with the Pittsburgh Steelers, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger became at the age of 33 the longest serving member on the team’s roster. During those years Roethlisberger said he matured and has come to understand things better. About those years he said, “Do you use them to improve, or do you stay the same?”
Application: The plumb line instructs us to improve ourselves.
Ron L.
Amos 7:7-17
Some things in America, like in ancient Israel, are warped. We fight about raising the minimum wage, while according to a 2015 CNN report the richest 1% of us own as much as the other 99% do collectively. The British paper The Guardian reports that a disproportionate number of African-Americans are shot by police in comparison to whites. Business-as-usual politics are not putting a dent in disturbing socioeconomic trends like these. Christians like us who want to do something about these matters may need to become radicals, to become extremists in the eyes of those defenders of the status quo. Martin Luther King Jr. understood Amos this way -- as an extremist for the cause of justice, an extremist like Paul and Jesus were (A Testament of Hope, p. 297). In other contexts he uses the term “maladjusted” to refer to those who come to terms with our present social system and its injustices. And so this text, in his view, is a call to the Church to become boldly and proudly maladjusted to all that is wrong with our nation (A Testament of Hope, pp.14, 89). At their best, Christians and their Church are counter-cultural rebels!
Mark E.
Colossians 1:1-14
One of the most important things we can do for each other is to pray. As a church pastor, my heart is always so deeply touched when someone in the congregation mentions they are praying for me. I feel renewed just in the knowledge that prayers are ascending for my spirit, my life, my work. What a gift! Paul shares with the church in Colossae his prayers for them, his recognition of their living in to the Spirit and the faithful lives they are pursuing. Their faithfulness is bearing fruit and Paul has been informed. He is grateful, but more than that Paul is praying that the church stays strong.
It’s one thing to pray for one another in times of trouble, and we surely need prayer support then. Yet how wonderful is it to be prayed for when life is going well, to be offered prayers of strength to keep fulfilling our lives in faith, our vocation, and our righteousness. This too is a gift. Maybe it’s an even more important gift. We rally around those in crisis, but hopefully some of us rarely, if ever, have a crisis. Does this mean that we are not in need of prayer? Certainly not. So the next time you kneel or sit or stand to pray, remember to offer prayers for continuing faithfulness and strength for those whose lives may be going well. They need prayer too.
Bonnie B.
Colossians 1:1-14
John Walsh, the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, was the commencement speaker at Wheaton College in 2000. His speech is still regarded as one of the finest commencement addresses ever given. In it he humbly acknowledges the daunting challenge he’s been given. In the last hour of college training he, a perfect stranger, is supposed to reveal some deep general truths about the world that have so far remained hidden. His practical, eight-point message is clear and direct. One of his statements is still quoted today: “Give each experience all your attention. Try to resist being distracted by other sights and sounds, other thoughts and tasks, and when it is, guide your mind back to what you're doing.”
As I read through Paul’s opening words in Colossians, I was reminded of a commencement address. It seems to me that a good commencement speech will attempt to challenge graduates to continue to learn, grow, and develop. They don’t seek so much to impart some “new, secret knowledge,” but rather to motivate and inspire. Paul writes in verses 9-10: “For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.” Paul and his companions are praying for the Christians at Colossae. His three-pronged prayer is one of continued maturity, holiness, and effectiveness. It is a direct and powerful intercession. The Colossian Christians, reading this prayer, have a clear target for which to aim. Through the Lord’s strength at work in them, they could reach new heights in their walk with him.
I’d seen John Walsh’s speech before, but thought about it again as I read this text. I couldn’t help but be troubled by a few questions. What is the challenge that is set before us? At what are we aiming? Are we distracted in our pursuit of the things of Jesus Christ?
Bill T.
Colossians 1:1-14
Evidently this was a church that Paul could have started in his home community. Now he was getting good reports about them from some friends on the church council there. One interesting thing about this introduction is that Timothy doesn’t seem to be an apostle, but he is a brother in the faith. An apostle is “one who is sent.” It seems like Timothy follows Paul around or stays planted in a church where he is needed.
Paul is hearing about their faith in their letters, and is assuring them in his letter that they are always in his prayers.
I get encouraging reports from my former seminary students in Nepal who are starting up many churches. I also pray for them every day. I get reports from them by e-mail every week, and respond with letters something like Paul’s.
I also get reports from churches I served in the U.S. and Canada. It is very encouraging to hear that the work you started is still growing. I suppose we could compare it to getting good reports about our grown children. One of my kids just got a Ph.D. and is serving as a professor in his university. That is like answers to our prayers.
Like Paul, we delight to hear that our work is progressing and that our kids and our churches and our students are all bearing fruit.
It is important to realize that we never get our final “degree” from the Lord and can stop working while we are alive. Yes, we are all saved by our Lord, but we still need to grow ourselves and to help others grow. We never stop sinning, but are always being forgiven. The two never end while we live. That is life! We constantly have good days and bad days, but God is always there beside us.
Yes, we are being strengthened constantly, and that is our hope. It sounds from Paul’s letters that the only place we can be strengthened is in our church. It is a constant thing which we need to be reminded of.
We need to be constantly strengthened, and we also need to help strengthen our children and our brothers and sisters in Christ -- as we hope they are strengthening us. We hope it never ends on this earth. God is always giving us patience and endurance, so we can have joy that our names are written in God’s will. We are going to inherit -- not because of what we do, but because we are his children!
Bob O.
Colossians 1:1-14
In Colossians 1:13, Paul gives thanks that the Father “has rescued us from the power of darkness.” Early Christian hymns refer to these powers as angelic, or satanic, spiritual opponents against whom we need protection. Here is a third-century Christian hymn which, in addition to praising God for many reasons, includes praise for God’s victory over the powers:
Holy is God, incomparable, from whom comes the Son of Life and Light.
Holy is God, the Father of all!
Holy is God, whose will is fulfilled by his own power.
Holy is God, who wishes to be known and to become known to his own.
Holy are you, who created everything through your word!
Holy are you, whose image is seen in all of nature.
Holy are you, who nature did not create.
Holy are you, stronger than the powers!
Holy are you, greater than even the weightiest!
Holy are you, greater than all praises!
Holy are you, Judge over all!
(Third-century Christian hymn, in Altechristliche Texte,C. Schmidt and W. Schubart, [Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1910])
Frank R.
Luke 10:25-37
Our Holy Land tour group was standing on the top of the Mount of Olives. When we looked in one direction, we saw the ancient walls of Jerusalem. When we turned around to look in the other direction, we saw the road head down the steep hill toward our next stop, the city of Jericho.
Our tour guide pointed out how that place has significance beyond a GPS reference. When Jesus said a man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, his listeners heard him say that fellow was traversing a dangerous place. The guide pushed the meaning a bit further to say, “The fact is that as human beings we live on the Jericho road.”
He went on to explain that the ancient city of Jericho sits on the edge of the wilderness. To ancient ears, mentioning Jericho immediately conjured the image of a place at the edge of desolation, even chaos. Jerusalem, on the other hand, was shorthand for the best civilization had to offer. Going down to Jericho meant to travel between Jerusalem, the place of order, and Jericho at the chaos of the wilderness.
“My friends,” the guide insisted, “life is a journey down the Jericho road. We never know when we will encounter some form of chaos that will destroy the order we crave and need. No matter our station in life, we can find ourselves literally or figuratively set upon by thieves, robbed, beaten, and left at the side of the road. When that happens, we need a compassionate neighbor to stop and lend assistance.”
R. Robert C.
Luke 10:25-37
Cynthia Breazeal, an MIT scientist, has created an 11-inch robot called Jibo. You can purchase Jibo for $749 on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo. Jibo, which is supposed to feel like another member of the family, was inspired by Breazeal’s seeing Star Wars when she was 10 years old. Breazeal was enthralled by what she said was the “rich personalities and relationships” among the droids. Breazeal said, “That was the vision that forever shaped my idea of what robots could and should be.”
Application: Are we willing to be inspired by what we see and hear in Jesus, and then be willing to go and do likewise?
Ron L.
Luke 10:25-27
This question about the Greatest Law is asked in different ways in the different gospels. In Mark, the scribe who asks the question is genuinely impressed by the answer Jesus gives. In Matthew, the same question is asked by a Pharisee who, having witnessed Jesus make short shrift of the Sadducees and their question, takes his turn trying to trap the Savior into uttering a soundbite that could be used against him.
In Luke, the question is not about the greatest law. When a lawyer asks “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” the subtext seems to be “What is the bare minimum I must do to inherit eternal life?” The answer, combining Deuteronomy 6:1-4 and Leviticus 19:18, seems daunting enough, but the lawyer, seeking to justify himself, asks for clarification on the neighbor question, and that brings up the parable of the Good Samaritan. He should have quit while he was ahead!
Frank R.
Luke 10:25-37
Nobel Prize-winning philanthropist and scholar Albert Schweitzer once said, “Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him.” Life is full of opportunities to be Good Samaritans. The only problem is that we are not inclined to behave this way. We are more like Martin Luther says we are, “more inclined to anger, hatred, envy, worldly pleasures, than to tender heartedness and other virtues” (Complete Sermons, Vol. 3/1, p. 32).
What then are we to make of the Good Samaritan story, if we cannot love that way? John Calvin solves the problem -- he says we cannot do it alone, but God can: “For since every man is devoted to himself, there will never be true charity toward neighbors, unless where the love of God reigns; for it is a mercenary love that the children of the world entertain for each other, because every one of them has regard to his own advantage” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVII/1, p. 59).
Elsewhere Calvin proceeds to reflect on how government might apply Good Samaritan principles. He gives us a model for how to vote: “We are briefly taught that a just and well-regulated government will be distinguished for maintaining the rights of the poor and afflicted” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. V/2, p. 331).
Calvin claims that we have injustice in governments that do not legislate Good Samaritan principles, an interesting principle from which to assess our presidential candidates.
Mark E.
