Sermon Illustrations For Proper 15 | Ordinary Time 20 (2020)
Illustration
Genesis 45:1-5
This is a lesson about forgiveness. Martin Luther reminds us how Joseph’s forgiving actions were functions of God’s grace:
Therefore the Holy Spirit and grace are a medicine, so to speak, for nature – a medicine by which what had been ruined or destroyed in the original corruption through sin is set to right and restored. (Luther’s Works, Vol.8, p.16)
Elsewhere he makes the point in another, related way:
Therefore the might and kindness of God must be set over against our infirmity and poverty, and finally against death itself. The Germans employ a fine proverb which says: God has more than He has ever given. (Luther’s Works, Vol.8, p.35)
As for forgiving like Joseph did, Mahatma Gandhi offered a good insight: “The weak can never forgive,” he once noted. Weakened as we are by sin, such forgiveness is only possible because of God’s love. And besides, not forgiving is not good for your mental outlook. Martin Luther King, Jr. once made that clear:
I’ve seen too much hate to want to hate myself, and I’ve seen hate on the faces of too many white citizens’ councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. (A Testament of Hope, p.256)
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 and Psalm 67
I have spent many of the last days speaking for and about justice. Indeed, it has been a life’s work for me. From my teenage protests on behalf of farmworker’s rights, to my anti-nuclear protests, to my standing for peace, to my protesting the invasion of Iraq, and now to my work at dismantling systems of racism, white supremacy and white privilege I have sought to seek justice – generally for the marginalized, the lost and the least among us. Recently I participated in a protest which called out the white supremacy in the church in the world and in the US particularly. As a member of the United Church of Christ, I stand for inclusion but recognize that in our history, we too had segregated congregations, limited access to the pulpit, and portray Jesus as a white, blue-eyed European man rather than the brown Palestinian Jew he was. Isaiah proclaims that the Lord says, “Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.” In these days I focus on attaining justice. What about you?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
In The Muppet Movie, which was released in 1979, the Muppets set out to find adventure. Perhaps, to this day, what is best remembered about the movie is the opening song, “The Rainbow Connection.” We see Kermit the Frog sitting on a log in a swamp. It was as if the little puppet was truly alive and singing for all of us. Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, and the voice of Kermit, was hiding behind Kermit, submerged in water. But the song was recorded earlier in a studio. Henson tried to sing the song in the studio but was unable to put any authenticity into it. He then placed Kermit puppet on his hand, and sang the song through Kermit, which made the song a national sensation. The writers of the song, Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher, describe the meaning of the song: “I also like the fact that it starts out with the negative: ‘Rainbows are only illusions, rainbows have nothing to hide.’ So, the song starts out as if he's going to pooh-pooh the whole idea, and then it turns: ‘So we've been told, and some choose to believe it. I know they're wrong, wait and see.’ And again, he doesn't have the answer: ‘Someday we'll find it.’” The song begins with these words:
Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbows are visions
But only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told
And some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong, wait and see
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me
Ron L.
* * *
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
What’s in a word? The Greek word sometimes translated as “disobedient,” really means “not yet persuaded.” Just as once we had not yet been persuaded, some of Paul’s Jewish compatriots had not yet been persuaded either.
Yet.
And what if a word in our translation isn’t even there? 11:29 reads “enemies of God.” The word meaning “of God” isn’t there in the Greek.
Frank R.
* * *
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Luis Palau, in his book Experiencing God’s Forgiveness tells about a mother who once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice, and justice demanded death.
“But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.” “Your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied. “Sir,” the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.” “Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son.
Paul’s people were disobedient and had turned away from God. Paul knew, though, that God was merciful. Just as the Gentiles were once apart from God’s promise and he was merciful to them, he will also be merciful to his covenant people. “God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” (vs. 30)
Max Lucado once wrote, “Our Savior kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than recoil in horror, he reaches out in kindness and says, 'I can clean that if you want.' And from the basin of his grace, he scoops a palm full of mercy and washes our sin.”
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
Jesus’ failure to respond positively to the Canaanite woman’s request seems problematic. About this matter Martin Luther once noted:
The incident, therefore, was recorded for our sakes to keep us from stumbling when the evil foe confronts us with the charge: You are not Christian, your prayers won’t accomplish a thing... Yes, the more sinful and wicked I perceive myself to be, the more passionately and earnestly will I call upon Him and let nothing deter me. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.323)
In another sermon the first reformer explained the point Jesus was making in His rebuke of the woman this way:
All this, however, is written for our comfort and instruction, that we may know how deeply God conceals His grace before our face, and that we may not estimate Him according to our feelings and thinking but strictly according to His Word. (Complete Sermons, Vol.1/2, p.152)
When we let our feelings guide us, we can readily become impatient with how and when God responds to our requests. That is why we need to be guided by the word, realizing God often conceals his grace. This reminds us again of how thoroughly sinful we are and helps us realize that we are totally dependent on God for everything in life. Twentieth-century Anglo-Catholic Mystic Thomas Merton explained these dynamics well:
The whole Christian life is a life in which the further a person progresses, the more he has to depend directly on God... The more we progress, the less we are self-sufficient, The more we progress, the poorer we get so that the man who has progressed most, is totally poor — he had to depend directly on God.
Life will be better when we can say joyfully with Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland that “My secret is that I need God — that I am sick and can no longer make it alone.”
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
This passage has always been difficult for me to preach. Not the beginning about what goes into and out of our mouths, but the words that Jesus speaks in response to the woman seeking healing for her daughter. How can Jesus, the one who has been bringing in the marginalized, the outcasts, the least among the people he encounters refuse to help a foreigner with the healing of her daughter? Is it simply an object lesson in the persistence of faith? Is it rather a human moment in the life of one who is both human and divine? Is it a clarity of mission? I ask these questions because I don’t have an answer. When I coach a congregation that has become insular, inward focused about using their resources only for their members and sacrificing mission, I talk about the expansive nature of God, about the call to care for and love all our neighbors. This is not a scripture I would use – but maybe that’s why it’s here to remind me that generosity is a gift of the Spirit, of faith. I, too, need to have the persistence of faith this mother has. Maybe that is lesson enough for us all.
Bonnie B.
This is a lesson about forgiveness. Martin Luther reminds us how Joseph’s forgiving actions were functions of God’s grace:
Therefore the Holy Spirit and grace are a medicine, so to speak, for nature – a medicine by which what had been ruined or destroyed in the original corruption through sin is set to right and restored. (Luther’s Works, Vol.8, p.16)
Elsewhere he makes the point in another, related way:
Therefore the might and kindness of God must be set over against our infirmity and poverty, and finally against death itself. The Germans employ a fine proverb which says: God has more than He has ever given. (Luther’s Works, Vol.8, p.35)
As for forgiving like Joseph did, Mahatma Gandhi offered a good insight: “The weak can never forgive,” he once noted. Weakened as we are by sin, such forgiveness is only possible because of God’s love. And besides, not forgiving is not good for your mental outlook. Martin Luther King, Jr. once made that clear:
I’ve seen too much hate to want to hate myself, and I’ve seen hate on the faces of too many white citizens’ councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. (A Testament of Hope, p.256)
Mark E.
* * *
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 and Psalm 67
I have spent many of the last days speaking for and about justice. Indeed, it has been a life’s work for me. From my teenage protests on behalf of farmworker’s rights, to my anti-nuclear protests, to my standing for peace, to my protesting the invasion of Iraq, and now to my work at dismantling systems of racism, white supremacy and white privilege I have sought to seek justice – generally for the marginalized, the lost and the least among us. Recently I participated in a protest which called out the white supremacy in the church in the world and in the US particularly. As a member of the United Church of Christ, I stand for inclusion but recognize that in our history, we too had segregated congregations, limited access to the pulpit, and portray Jesus as a white, blue-eyed European man rather than the brown Palestinian Jew he was. Isaiah proclaims that the Lord says, “Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.” In these days I focus on attaining justice. What about you?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
In The Muppet Movie, which was released in 1979, the Muppets set out to find adventure. Perhaps, to this day, what is best remembered about the movie is the opening song, “The Rainbow Connection.” We see Kermit the Frog sitting on a log in a swamp. It was as if the little puppet was truly alive and singing for all of us. Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, and the voice of Kermit, was hiding behind Kermit, submerged in water. But the song was recorded earlier in a studio. Henson tried to sing the song in the studio but was unable to put any authenticity into it. He then placed Kermit puppet on his hand, and sang the song through Kermit, which made the song a national sensation. The writers of the song, Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher, describe the meaning of the song: “I also like the fact that it starts out with the negative: ‘Rainbows are only illusions, rainbows have nothing to hide.’ So, the song starts out as if he's going to pooh-pooh the whole idea, and then it turns: ‘So we've been told, and some choose to believe it. I know they're wrong, wait and see.’ And again, he doesn't have the answer: ‘Someday we'll find it.’” The song begins with these words:
Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbows are visions
But only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we've been told
And some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong, wait and see
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me
Ron L.
* * *
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
What’s in a word? The Greek word sometimes translated as “disobedient,” really means “not yet persuaded.” Just as once we had not yet been persuaded, some of Paul’s Jewish compatriots had not yet been persuaded either.
Yet.
And what if a word in our translation isn’t even there? 11:29 reads “enemies of God.” The word meaning “of God” isn’t there in the Greek.
Frank R.
* * *
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Luis Palau, in his book Experiencing God’s Forgiveness tells about a mother who once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice, and justice demanded death.
“But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.” “Your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied. “Sir,” the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.” “Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son.
Paul’s people were disobedient and had turned away from God. Paul knew, though, that God was merciful. Just as the Gentiles were once apart from God’s promise and he was merciful to them, he will also be merciful to his covenant people. “God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” (vs. 30)
Max Lucado once wrote, “Our Savior kneels down and gazes upon the darkest acts of our lives. But rather than recoil in horror, he reaches out in kindness and says, 'I can clean that if you want.' And from the basin of his grace, he scoops a palm full of mercy and washes our sin.”
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
Jesus’ failure to respond positively to the Canaanite woman’s request seems problematic. About this matter Martin Luther once noted:
The incident, therefore, was recorded for our sakes to keep us from stumbling when the evil foe confronts us with the charge: You are not Christian, your prayers won’t accomplish a thing... Yes, the more sinful and wicked I perceive myself to be, the more passionately and earnestly will I call upon Him and let nothing deter me. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.323)
In another sermon the first reformer explained the point Jesus was making in His rebuke of the woman this way:
All this, however, is written for our comfort and instruction, that we may know how deeply God conceals His grace before our face, and that we may not estimate Him according to our feelings and thinking but strictly according to His Word. (Complete Sermons, Vol.1/2, p.152)
When we let our feelings guide us, we can readily become impatient with how and when God responds to our requests. That is why we need to be guided by the word, realizing God often conceals his grace. This reminds us again of how thoroughly sinful we are and helps us realize that we are totally dependent on God for everything in life. Twentieth-century Anglo-Catholic Mystic Thomas Merton explained these dynamics well:
The whole Christian life is a life in which the further a person progresses, the more he has to depend directly on God... The more we progress, the less we are self-sufficient, The more we progress, the poorer we get so that the man who has progressed most, is totally poor — he had to depend directly on God.
Life will be better when we can say joyfully with Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland that “My secret is that I need God — that I am sick and can no longer make it alone.”
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
This passage has always been difficult for me to preach. Not the beginning about what goes into and out of our mouths, but the words that Jesus speaks in response to the woman seeking healing for her daughter. How can Jesus, the one who has been bringing in the marginalized, the outcasts, the least among the people he encounters refuse to help a foreigner with the healing of her daughter? Is it simply an object lesson in the persistence of faith? Is it rather a human moment in the life of one who is both human and divine? Is it a clarity of mission? I ask these questions because I don’t have an answer. When I coach a congregation that has become insular, inward focused about using their resources only for their members and sacrificing mission, I talk about the expansive nature of God, about the call to care for and love all our neighbors. This is not a scripture I would use – but maybe that’s why it’s here to remind me that generosity is a gift of the Spirit, of faith. I, too, need to have the persistence of faith this mother has. Maybe that is lesson enough for us all.
Bonnie B.
