Emphasis Preaching Journal

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Grief remains one of the few things that has the power to silence us. It is a whisper in the world and a clamor within. More than sex, more than faith, even more than its usher death, grief is unspoken, publicly ignored except for those moments at the funeral that are over too quickly, or the conversations among the cogno- scenti, those of us who recognize in one another a kindred chasm deep in the center of who we are.

(from Anna Quindlen, after writing an obituary for her sister, who died of cancer at the age of 41, “Life After Death,” New York Times, May 4, 1994)


2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
To his people’s puzzlement, David did not desire vengeance against Absalom. Yet David’s behavior is so contrary to that found in our nation today.

The pace of executions is accelerating, and more states are making use of capital punishment. Pennsylvania Attorney General Ernie Preate said: “The American public wants it. They’re fed up with the criminals getting away with ‘murder’ and they want to see them pay.”

Since the Supreme Court allowed states to resume capital punishment in 1976, more than 170 had been executed by 1993. Marvin White, an assistant Mississippi attorney general said: “This is a democracy, you know. The people know what they’re doing.”


2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
A man had a son who from birth had been strong-willed and rebellious. During his teenage years, the boy became worse and worse. He got into drugs. He stole from his parents to support his drug habit, and when they confronted him, he would become belligerent. He made their lives a living hell.

Finally one night, in a fit of intoxicated rage, the boy attacked his family. The only way his father could stop him was by shooting him. The boy died in his father’s arms.

For the father there were no feelings of victory, even though he had saved his family. There was not even a sense of relief that the long nightmare was finally over. There was only profound sorrow and grief. His child was dead.


2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
When the telephone rang just after three o’clock in the morning Carl knew it was bad news. It was a close friend from church. The man was crying as he told Carl that his seventeen-year-old son was in a serious automobile accident. Carl immediately left for the hospital to be with his friend.

Carl found Jim and Sandy in a private room with the hospital chaplain. Carl joined in the prayer. They would continue to pray throughout the night as they waited anxiously for word that the young man was out of surgery. It would be touch and go for the next several days. Jim and Sandy along with other family members spent their days at the hospital.

As Carl prepared his Sunday school lesson, he could not help but think of Jim’s son. He recalled all the times they talked about sports, homework, as well as other subjects. Carl wondered why he never spoke of Christ. Why hadn’t he asked him if Christ lived in his heart? All Carl knew was that they never talked about Jesus. Carl encouraged his class not to shy away speaking on matters of faith. “We should not be timid about talking about our relationship with Jesus,” he said.

Fortunately for Jim and Sandy their son would pull through — but would need months for recovery. Carl would visit him in the hospital and later rehabilitation center. The young man and his family felt he was given a second chance at life.

King David was not as fortunate. Even though he gave strict orders that his wayward son not be harmed, his son was killed. David’s grief echoes down through the centuries, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son.” For David it was too late, let us not make that same mistake but speak to our loved ones about Jesus.


2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Brad was no good, or so thought most of the townsfolk. He dropped out of school, spent his time partying, took drugs, and stole to feed his habits. He had been sent to juvenile centers several times, but nothing seemed to work. The general consensus was that he would come to no good. And he did come to a tragic end. Not yet twenty, Brad got drunk one night, stole a truck, sped down the road, lost control, and plowed into a telephone pole. He died instantly.

Nobody expected the outpouring of grief that they witnessed from his mother. At the funeral, and for weeks after, she was inconsolable. Didn’t she know that Brad would end this way? Sure she did, but she loved her son as only a mother could. She hoped and prayed that he would change his ways. And now he was gone. She was devastated.

So was David when Absalom was killed. Absalom was on a road that led to death, either his or David’s. And when it was Absalom who died, David wept as only a father could weep. Despite everything, David loved his son. Maybe a lesson for us to learn: Everybody has a mother or a father (or somebody else) who loves them.


Ephesians 4:25--5:2
A man who was going blind arranged the area outside his house so that he could get anywhere he wanted in his yard. He connected ropes to a series of three feet high stakes that led to the edges of the property. The lot looked something like a spider’s web; but, he could step from his door and put his arm over a rope so that it was between his arm and body. He then followed a rope to wherever he wanted to go on his property.

Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 4:25—5:2 are like those ropes. They aren’t at all restraining, in the sense of tying us up. They are freeing. As we live in the middle of a difficult, confusing world, often complicated with webs of sin, we can confidently negotiate our Christian journey. We have the pattern of God’s grace to guide us wherever we go.


Ephesians 4:25--5:2
I once knew a person who was never angry. At least he never seemed to be angry. He had, I later discovered, as much anger within him as you or I; but he believed his anger was wrong, unacceptable to God. So he kept it bottled-up inside. A pressure cooker, he finally exploded. All that pent-up anger burst forth in a flash of self-destructive emotion. Ephesians doesn’t say, “Do not be angry.” Ephesians says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Anger unexpressed is anger stored up, hoarded. The line between a person who will not allow himself to express anger at all and a person who stores up anger is a very fine one. Both treasure their anger. Anger, expressed or unexpressed, must be let go. Anything less warps the spirit and invites the evil one to dwell within.


Ephesians 4:25--5:2
There is an Indian tale about a band of thieves. As they lurked in the bushes near a house, the man of the house noticed them and quickly devised a plan. He said loudly to his wife, “Come, wife, and put all our valuables in this box. Thieves struck our neighbors’ house last night, and we must be careful. Help me take this box to the well — if thieves come, they will not find it there.” The thieves watched the man and his wife take the box to the well and pitch it in. When the couple was asleep that night, the thieves hurried to the well and spent the whole night drawing water from the well in order to find the box. When the man of the house woke in the morning, he found the thieves still at it. “Thank you, my friends,” he said to the surprised thieves. “My plants have needed watering. How kind of you to do so!”


Ephesians 4:25--5:2
An English schoolmaster was a strict disciplinarian. He demanded unfailing obedience to his every command. Consequences were harsh for any student who dared to break a rule. When a new boy moved into town, the schoolmaster decided to show him first thing who was boss.

He explained to the new boy, “I am the absolute and final authority in this classroom. I make all the rules and you had better obey them, or else. When I call on you, I want you to stand to the left of your desk, hold your textbook in your right hand, and answer the question.”

“But, sir,” the new boy said.

“No ifs, ands, or buts, young man. That’s the way it is.”

Later he called on the new boy, who stood to the left of his desk, held his book in his left hand, and answered the question. The teacher grabbed the boy and shook him harshly, only then realizing that the boy had no right arm.

It is so easy to be harsh with others when they don’t do just what we want. Remember that everybody has some kind of an “empty sleeve” that we can’t see. The apostle Paul reminds us to treat others as Jesus Christ has treated you — in the spirit of amazing grace. Be compassionate and merciful.


John 6:35, 41-51
It was a familiar site in every village through which Jesus and his disciples walked: The conical clay ovens, fired with wood, in which the women of each household would bake the daily ration of bread. These ovens were located out back, behind the houses, to offset the risk of fire. Early each morning, the baker-women would sweep out the ashes from the day before and stoke the ovens with dry sticks. They’d light the fire and direct a child to keep feeding dry branches into it, until the required temperature was reached.

While this was happening, the women would go through the familiar ritual of bread-making: preparing the dough from flour and water, kneading it, adding the yeast, waiting for the dough to rise, then pounding it down — only to have it rise again. When it reached the desired consistency, the bakers would press it out flat and slide it into the clay oven. What came out was a warm, bubbly loaf very much like pita bread. It was the staff of life, indeed. Other food items might come and go with the seasons — and with the success of those who hunted or fished for it — but bread was the staple that got them through feast and famine alike.

People of our culture have all but lost the sensory experience of eating fresh-baked bread. The bread we buy in the supermarket is baked in some central factory facility many miles away, is packed in plastic, and sliced to fit the toaster.

Not so for the bread Jesus’ disciples would have known. That bread was baked fresh daily and often eaten warm from the oven. Break open a loaf, watch the steam rise from out of its center, let the rich, yeasty smell penetrate your nostrils. Taste and see that — indeed — it is good. The Lord is good!


John 6:35, 41-51
Trucks go by our house, and you cannot hear anything else over their rumble; a storm occurs, and you can’t hear anything over the thunder; God speaks, and you cannot hear God over the grumbling in and around you. We have a great ability for grumbling. It starts in the Old Testament as murmuring and then grows and runs right through today. We do need some discussion, and we need to ask some questions for clarification, but we tend to grumble, get nowhere, and miss out on the good word that is being given to us.


John 6:35, 41-51
Christ has promised to be with us through all of the experiences of life, no matter how difficult they may be. As we accept him as “the bread of life,” he will give us the inner direction and peace that we need to face the future unafraid. Furthermore, he will guide us even unto eternal life.

Evidence of this is seen in the life of David Livingstone. This great missionany returned to England after serving in Africa for sixteen years. His old school invited him back, and he made an address before the students. As they looked at the speaker’s platform, they saw a man with a face worn and thin, a man whose arm has been disabled from the bite of a lion, and a man who had been afflicted with fever.

Included in the address that day were these words of the great missionary: “Do you know what sustained me during those sixteen years of exile in Africa? The passage that helped me most was, ‘Lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ ” He could say this because “the bread of life” of Christ was his constant guide and companion.


John 6:35, 41-51
Myrtle is the oldest member of the church who now resides in a nursing home. One Sunday someone brought her to church. As she entered the sanctuary it almost seemed like it was the first time she had been to church. Her memory was slipping at 96 years old. People made an extra effort to greet her. It was truly good to see this saint of the church. Whenever anyone asked how long she had been a member of the church she never gave an exact number of years. The pastor stated that it must have been over sixty years.

Myrtle played an important role in the life of the church. She taught Sunday school for years and was active in the women’s circle. Perhaps what people remembered the most was how she stood at the front door to welcome people to the church.

When it was time for communion, John wheeled Myrtle to the altar. The pastor gave her a piece of bread, looking in her eyes saying, “The body of Christ broken for you.” She looked at the bread in her hand for the longest time before she put it to her lips. She had difficulty grasping the plastic cup as the pastor handed it to her, “The blood of Christ shed for you.” Slowly she put the cup to her lips.

As she was wheeled back to her pew John noticed tears in many of the worshipers’ eyes. Many were deeply moved by Myrtle’s example. She loved Jesus and served her church well. Myrtle lived out and believed Jesus’ words “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.”

Jesus declared that he is the “bread of life.” There were some in the crowd who questioned Jesus. It was as if they were wearing blinders, they could not see Jesus for who he truly was the Son of God. Jesus stated, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.”


John 6:35, 41-51
From the mouth of babes: Little Kimmy, aged five, was trying to deal with the death of her grandfather. She had been told that Opa had died and was with Jesus now in heaven. Then Kimmy heard the reading in church about the living bread, and whoever eats of Jesus the living bread would live forever. She was confused and asked her grandmother, “Oma, why didn’t Opa eat Jesus, ’cause then he wouldn’t have died.” Grandma then gently explained that eating the living bread meant believing in Jesus, and that because Opa had believed he was now living in heaven with Jesus.

That satisfied Kimmy ... for now.