Sermon Illustrations for Proper 12 | OT 17
Illustration
Object:
Genesis 29:15-28
I don't usually watch TV while I work out at our local YMCA, but I happened one day to notice a story on ESPN that grabbed my attention while I was on the treadmill. It was about Gary Neal, a 26-year-old rookie guard for the San Antonio Spurs, which was funny because I don't really follow basketball. At LaSalle University, Neal had won the Atlantic-10 Conference Rookie of the Year award, and seemed well on his way to a successful college career and possibly the NBA. However, a rape allegation of which he was later exonerated led to his dismissal from LaSalle. He took out student loans and applied at Towson University in Maryland. After he was cleared of wrongdoing, Neal went on to be fourth in the nation in scoring his senior year. Yet he was unsigned by any NBA team. After playing successfully in Turkey, Italy, and Spain, he was invited to a Spurs tryout, and after impressing them during the summer, he was signed and has gone on to lead all NBA rookies in 3-point shooting percentage, as well as crack the top 20 in the entire league in that category.
When I read this passage, I think of that story. Jacob agrees to work for Laban for seven years to win the hand of the woman he loves, but when the time comes and he is cheated out of that marriage, he continues to work hard, overcome obstacles, and finally realizes his dream of marrying Rachel, eventually fathering what would become the entire nation of Israel.
Craig K.
Genesis 29:15-28
Mark Feldmeir in his Testimony to the Exiles tells the story of Lance Armstrong. In 1995 this young man was the greatest cyclist in North America. Then he was hit with the news that threatened his life as well as his career. He had testicular cancer that had spread swiftly to his brain and his lungs. The doctors gave him little hope for survival.
Two years after countless surgeries and much radiation and chemotherapy, he began training once again. In 1999 he won the Tour de France. What persistence and endurance! In summarizing his feat, Armstrong said, "I was meant for a long, hard climb."
Jacob also was "meant for the long, hard climb." His love for Rachel enabled him to work an additional seven years for her after he had been tricked by Laban to work for seven years only to get Leah for a wife, someone he didn't love.
Richard H.
Romans 8:26-39
Everyone in the village believed Pendle Hill was haunted by demons. In 1652 George Fox courageously walked up that hill to exorcise Satan and call for the saints in the name of Christ. While in prayer, a vision appeared before Fox he described as "a people in white raiment, coming to the Lord." The vision signified that proclaiming Christ's power over sin would gather people to the kingdom. And it did. By 1660 Fox had 50,000 followers. At first they called themselves "children of the light," "publishers of Truth," or "the camp of the Lord." Gradually they came to prefer the term "Friends," in accord with Jesus' words recorded in John 15:14: "You are my friends if you do what I command you." Today the group is often referred to as the "Quakers."
In climbing that hill, George Fox knew that nothing could separate him from the love of Jesus. With the assurance of faith, Fox began a new religious movement.
Ron L.
"How much do you love me?" We have all heard that question -- from a sibling, from a child, from a lover. What do we answer? "I love you this much," our arms stretched as wide as they go? "I love you from here to China!" Or, as we learn in Sunday school songs, "I have love like the ocean." And still, those answers are never quite enough. Because we love these people more than the few meager feet of our arm span. Although from here to China seems like an unimaginable distance, we know that it is still not as much as we love them. And we feel like our hearts are still deeper and wider than the great blue oceans that cross the globe.
Leah T.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
William J. Bausch, in his book Storytelling: Imagination and Faith, notes that virtually nothing Jesus said is recorded in lecture form. Rather the New Testament confirms that Jesus in his preaching and teaching preferred the parable -- story form. Parables had power. They were disturbing, paradoxical, and challenging.
In addition, Bausch says, concerning Jesus, "He knew that people were at various stages on their life's journey. The story, as it turns out, with its multi-level meanings and messages was just the right vehicle of communication for a universal religion. For another thing, Jesus respected each person's integrity and free will. He chose the story-parable because it, more than any other form, gives each person room to work on what was said. The use of the parable is automatically an invitation to the listener's involvement and response."
Our scripture passage begins, "He put before them another parable," and Jesus goes on to explain the meaning of the "kingdom of heaven" by telling a few stories of everyday life.
Richard H.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
In today's instant information culture, we can easily see how something can grow from the proverbial size of a mustard seed into something huge. Remember Pokemon? High School Musical? The Atkins diet? Pet rocks? The Macarena? The problem with all of these is they had no lasting power. Even today, some people balk at the idea that Twilight and Biebermania will soon go the way of the dodo. But they will.
Contrast that with the teachings of a backwater rabbi and his twelve uneducated followers in first-century Judea. That tiny mustard seed has since grown into the largest faith in the world, and as much as some may think otherwise, it isn't going anywhere.
Craig K.
I don't usually watch TV while I work out at our local YMCA, but I happened one day to notice a story on ESPN that grabbed my attention while I was on the treadmill. It was about Gary Neal, a 26-year-old rookie guard for the San Antonio Spurs, which was funny because I don't really follow basketball. At LaSalle University, Neal had won the Atlantic-10 Conference Rookie of the Year award, and seemed well on his way to a successful college career and possibly the NBA. However, a rape allegation of which he was later exonerated led to his dismissal from LaSalle. He took out student loans and applied at Towson University in Maryland. After he was cleared of wrongdoing, Neal went on to be fourth in the nation in scoring his senior year. Yet he was unsigned by any NBA team. After playing successfully in Turkey, Italy, and Spain, he was invited to a Spurs tryout, and after impressing them during the summer, he was signed and has gone on to lead all NBA rookies in 3-point shooting percentage, as well as crack the top 20 in the entire league in that category.
When I read this passage, I think of that story. Jacob agrees to work for Laban for seven years to win the hand of the woman he loves, but when the time comes and he is cheated out of that marriage, he continues to work hard, overcome obstacles, and finally realizes his dream of marrying Rachel, eventually fathering what would become the entire nation of Israel.
Craig K.
Genesis 29:15-28
Mark Feldmeir in his Testimony to the Exiles tells the story of Lance Armstrong. In 1995 this young man was the greatest cyclist in North America. Then he was hit with the news that threatened his life as well as his career. He had testicular cancer that had spread swiftly to his brain and his lungs. The doctors gave him little hope for survival.
Two years after countless surgeries and much radiation and chemotherapy, he began training once again. In 1999 he won the Tour de France. What persistence and endurance! In summarizing his feat, Armstrong said, "I was meant for a long, hard climb."
Jacob also was "meant for the long, hard climb." His love for Rachel enabled him to work an additional seven years for her after he had been tricked by Laban to work for seven years only to get Leah for a wife, someone he didn't love.
Richard H.
Romans 8:26-39
Everyone in the village believed Pendle Hill was haunted by demons. In 1652 George Fox courageously walked up that hill to exorcise Satan and call for the saints in the name of Christ. While in prayer, a vision appeared before Fox he described as "a people in white raiment, coming to the Lord." The vision signified that proclaiming Christ's power over sin would gather people to the kingdom. And it did. By 1660 Fox had 50,000 followers. At first they called themselves "children of the light," "publishers of Truth," or "the camp of the Lord." Gradually they came to prefer the term "Friends," in accord with Jesus' words recorded in John 15:14: "You are my friends if you do what I command you." Today the group is often referred to as the "Quakers."
In climbing that hill, George Fox knew that nothing could separate him from the love of Jesus. With the assurance of faith, Fox began a new religious movement.
Ron L.
"How much do you love me?" We have all heard that question -- from a sibling, from a child, from a lover. What do we answer? "I love you this much," our arms stretched as wide as they go? "I love you from here to China!" Or, as we learn in Sunday school songs, "I have love like the ocean." And still, those answers are never quite enough. Because we love these people more than the few meager feet of our arm span. Although from here to China seems like an unimaginable distance, we know that it is still not as much as we love them. And we feel like our hearts are still deeper and wider than the great blue oceans that cross the globe.
Leah T.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
William J. Bausch, in his book Storytelling: Imagination and Faith, notes that virtually nothing Jesus said is recorded in lecture form. Rather the New Testament confirms that Jesus in his preaching and teaching preferred the parable -- story form. Parables had power. They were disturbing, paradoxical, and challenging.
In addition, Bausch says, concerning Jesus, "He knew that people were at various stages on their life's journey. The story, as it turns out, with its multi-level meanings and messages was just the right vehicle of communication for a universal religion. For another thing, Jesus respected each person's integrity and free will. He chose the story-parable because it, more than any other form, gives each person room to work on what was said. The use of the parable is automatically an invitation to the listener's involvement and response."
Our scripture passage begins, "He put before them another parable," and Jesus goes on to explain the meaning of the "kingdom of heaven" by telling a few stories of everyday life.
Richard H.
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
In today's instant information culture, we can easily see how something can grow from the proverbial size of a mustard seed into something huge. Remember Pokemon? High School Musical? The Atkins diet? Pet rocks? The Macarena? The problem with all of these is they had no lasting power. Even today, some people balk at the idea that Twilight and Biebermania will soon go the way of the dodo. But they will.
Contrast that with the teachings of a backwater rabbi and his twelve uneducated followers in first-century Judea. That tiny mustard seed has since grown into the largest faith in the world, and as much as some may think otherwise, it isn't going anywhere.
Craig K.
