Sermon Illustrations for Proper 15 | OT 20 (2016)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 5:1-7
Sometimes when I read the prophet Isaiah I am comforted, but this passage holds little comfort. In this passage Isaiah is proclaiming God’s anger and disappointment. The nation God has taken out of bondage, the nation God has called his own, the nation which God has called to the Promised Land, this nation has rebelled, has ignored God, has acted without righteousness and compassion. The vineyard, the Hebrew people, have not borne the fruit God hoped for or intended. The people have gone astray. God’s anger is expressed here. “I’ll remove the hedge, the protection. I’ll let the nation be overgrown and overthrown. Justice has not prevailed in the nation so I will offer justice, justice but not mercy.”
These are harsh words; words designed to awaken the people. These are words of anger designed to force the people into self-examination. It seems as if God is saying, “Look at the gifts I have given, the abundance I have shared, the love I have offered. Why are you rejecting all these gifts? Why are you rejecting me?” In what places of your life have you rejected God? Have you deemed yourself unworthy of God’s love and therefore you reject that love or mercy or compassion? Have you sinned and therefore feel you are beyond forgiveness? God is waiting. Turn back. Repent and move back into the embrace of God. That is all God wants of you. Out of that simple act of turning back to God, life can begin anew.
Bonnie B.
Isaiah 5:1-7
I have known many mothers who have gone to great lengths to get their children to take bitter-tasting medicine. I recently saw a new item in an advertisement. It was for a sippy cup, but it was a different kind of sippy cup. The cup had a small container attached to the lid where medicine could be put in. If a mom used this cup, she could put the medicine in the small compartment and juice in the cup. The child would unknowingly drink the cup first, getting the medicine followed by a juice chaser. The kid would never know the difference. It seemed like a pretty good way to get kids to take the stuff that’s “good for them.”
The passage at the beginning of Isaiah 5 is an interesting one. It is an incredible example of the beauty of language and consummate skill. Of this text in its original language, Delitzsch wrote: “The figurative rhythm, the musical euphony, the charming assonances in this appeal are impossible to reproduce.” The Holy Spirit through the prophet Isaiah uses this remarkable parable to give the people of Judah what’s “good for them.” The beginning, a song, is a beautiful exposition of God and his vineyard. Bride and groom are often depicted figuratively in the owner of the vineyard and the vineyard. As Judah heard the words of this song, it had to be pleasurable. The scene changes quickly, though. The love song fades into a courtroom. It is time for judgment for the vineyard! The hearers, no doubt, were concerned. The verdict and consequences are announced in verses five and six. By the time the parable closes in verse seven, the guilty are identified. Just like the child who doesn’t realize she’s taking medicine, Judah never saw it coming.
Bill T.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Could God’s vineyard be America today? He cleared away the stones -- even some beautiful ones in national parks. He planted good grapevines -- all the immigrants from other countries who were planted here. He built watchtowers to guard our shores and a wine press, hoping for a good crop.
What did he get for all His work? He got a failed crop. Do all of our candidates for political office promise a good crop, if elected? What kind of a crop has God had with us up till now? Every day the papers are full of bloodshed and tragedies, even in this great land. Some may be caused by the NRA, but it is people who shoot the guns and not only the restrictive rules that have made the difference! There are also bombs going off and planes crashing into buildings.
There are cries of distress about dangerous water and radiation from atomic energy. There are dangerous highways and train tracks. There are badly built or run factories and poorly built houses and apartments. But then there are also cries of distress from people of different faiths or racial or national backgrounds. The list could go on!
Are we the garden of God’s delight? What does he see when he looks at our land and what are we doing to help raise a good crop? He is counting on his people. Today that is you, sitting here in God’s house. We are his modern Israel. We are his Judah. He is counting on the U.S. to help raise a good crop. That is not only with money (which helps), but with our everyday tasks and goals.
Even in Bible days it was individual people whom God calls to begin to make a difference. Some suffered for it, like his prophets. Some are suffering today in our country for trying to make things better and raise a “good crop” for the Lord. Are you ready for the reward? Are you ready for the sacrifice? Can you start in your congregation and go from there? Listen to see if God is calling you.
Bob O.
Isaiah 5:1-7
It is hard to find a play on words in English that mimics the concluding half-line Hebrew, but spelling may help. Justice in Hebrew is mishpat; and bloodshed is mishpach; and righteousness is tsedeqah; and iniquity, which may be a better translation for cry, is tse-aqah. Thus the prophet concludes with the distinction between true grapes and wild grapes. A true harvest promotes justice and righteousness in the land, not bloodshed and iniquity. The task of the people of God is to maintain a community of right relationships where one group does not gain advantage over a less fortunate group.
The ballad of Isaiah reflects the history of God with his people and their deliverance into exile. In the New Testament these verses are reflected in the parable of the wicked tenants (Matthew 21:33ff). In a briefer version, the gospel repeats the story of the vineyard, extended to include God’s history with his people until the time of Christ.
(Robert W. Neff & Frank Ramirez, Country Seer, City Prophet: The Unpopular Messages of Micah and Isaiah, p. 29)
Frank R.
Hebrews 11:29--12:2
Anyone who claims that the message of the Bible is self-evident and easy to understand has obviously not waded into the book of Hebrews. For instance, the meaning of this ending of the 11th chapter is not only opaque to the casual reader, but nearly so to a seminary-educated pastor. Even respected New Testament scholars are sometimes puzzled as to which, how, and why some of the Old Testament heroes and heroines are referenced.
Then the 12th chapter opens with a statement about how that long list of aforementioned faithful folks from the ancient past forms a cloud of witnesses that surrounds us. By their faithful witness, we are set free to run with perseverance the race that is set before us. With those first two verses of chapter 12, a little light of understanding and encouragement begins to break through.
The life of faith is likened to running a race. This race is not competitive. The object is not to defeat others and somehow claim victory as the winner. A life of faith is not like fighting a battle with the competition. To paraphrase Frederick Buechner in Whistling in the Dark, the race is not against competition. It is more like learning to play beautiful music with others. The call is not to get there first. We are called simply to persevere until we get there.
R. Robert C.
Hebrews 11:29--12:2
More than four decades after the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, a cloth bag full of souvenirs brought back by Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was discovered. The bag contained unneeded equipment, such as the waist tether that Armstrong used to suspend his feet during a rest period when the lunar module was on the moon. Now, many years later, these items bring us great fascination and curiosity -- so much so that they were put on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
Application: We will always have a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us.
Ron L.
Hebrews 11:29--12:2
Faith saves! But is that something we do all by ourselves? Martin Luther King Jr. says that “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” John Wesley says that “Faith animates the most heroic enterprises... overcomes all impediments... effects the greatest things” (Commentary on the Bible, p. 569). But, he adds, Christ is “The author and finisher of our faith who begins it in us, carries it on, and perfects it” (Commentary on the Bible, p. 569). As great as faith is, it is not something we do. It is just an open hand that only has and does all these things because of what is in that hand -- Christ. It is like Martin Luther says: “It [faith] takes hold of Christ in such a way that Christ is the object of faith, or rather not the object but, so to speak, the One who is present in faith itself” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 26, p. 129).
Mark E.
Luke 12:49-56
Reconciling these words of Jesus with the Isaiah prophecy of the Prince of Peace is difficult. Jesus seems clearly to be saying that he has come to divide family member from family member, nation from nation. That doesn’t seem so very peaceful. In fact, it seems downright destructive. Yet there is a lesson here for us. We sometimes pay more attention to the world around us than we do to the world within us. It is not the external that causes hate and division and violence. Rather it is what is within us, or maybe what isn’t within us.
Louis Farrakhan is quoted as having said, “There really can be no peace without justice. There can be no justice without truth. And there can be no truth, unless someone rises up to tell you the truth.” Jesus sought an internal change in the people. Jesus sought a renewal in the people that was about love and mercy and justice and compassion. Some people would follow this invitation. Some people would not. It is not so much Jesus that divides the people, but our desire or refusal to follow Jesus that divides us. When we proclaim judgment instead of compassion, we are dividing from Jesus. When we seek power over rather than partnership with, we are dividing from Jesus. We when seek our own aggrandizement rather than the support and development of others, we are dividing from Jesus. Jesus came to show us the way of life, the truth of God’s love, and an eternal life. Yet we divide into factions and seek our own being right rather than righteousness. Maybe if we all followed in the footsteps of Jesus we would find the peace we seek.
Bonnie B.
Luke 12:49-56
There are things over which people divide. It is an election season, and some families are split over Democrats and Republicans. People also choose up sides when it comes to sports teams. There are some who love the Dodgers, while others in the same family have been Angels fans for as long as they can remember. I have known people in the same family who have had intense discussions about what make of truck is the best. Some swear by Ford, while others believe if it isn’t a Chevy it isn’t a truck. Taking a step back and looking at these things that can divide people, I think we can see how silly it is to get too riled up about any of them. None of those things matters enough to abandon family.
It is hard to imagine what might be important enough to put ahead of family. There is one, though. Jesus makes it clear in this text that who he is and why he came has the potential to divide. Allegiance to Jesus Christ is the most important bond or relationship that a person can have. It is hard to fathom, but it is absolutely true. If there are those, even in your family, that oppose Jesus, then it is right to choose Jesus. Jesus is the focal point of all of human history. Time hinges upon his coming. Everyone will have to make a decision at some point about who Jesus is and what he means.
Most of the things that families disagree and argue about at the dinner table are insignificant. People can have differing opinions about politics, sports, trucks, and a host of other things. Only one thing is really that important.
Bill T.
Luke 12:49-56
God is not coming to bring divisions; it’s more that he finds divisions when he comes to us. For example, he finds religious divisions like those between Muslims and Christians. No, God does not want the kind of peace between us that will make us accept their faith as being as good as ours. No, he is not asking us to commit genocide and destroy all Muslims (though that seems to be the goal of too many radical Muslims for us and for their fellow Muslims).
In the Old Testament the prophets point up the danger for Israelis who live among other nations that have different religions and who take on some of their pagan practices to fit in. God is not looking for that kind of peace between them. He wants to preserve that kind of division peacefully.
There was great division of faith when we lived in Nepal. God didn’t want us just to accept the Hindus as they were. The only way he wanted to end division was to bring the Hindus to him. The big question is how to do that.
When we were there, the thing that brought peace was when we, by our example, made them rethink their beliefs. When some of the young men I was teaching in the seminary showed love to the ones who threw them in jail and tortured them, it was converting them. We can win more Muslims by showing love than by killing them. God may hate their denial of him, but he still loves them and wants them saved.
A couple of my own children have trouble with the faith. This creates division in the family. The way we can come together is to win them to Christ by our love and patience! Family divisions are evident even in pastor’s families. I think very few (if any) are won by shouting at them and telling them they are going to hell if they don’t do what we tell them to do! I remember that I was about 30 when I came back to Christ. My mother prayed for me all those 30 years. She was patient, and her patience was rewarded. That patience also worked with some of my kids and with some of my friends.
Don’t give up! Be patient and learn how to interpret the signs.
Bob O.
Luke 12:49-56
This particular passage is tied to the previous passage, which mentions the thief in the night. The disciples ask for clarification of the image -- whether it applies to everyone, or just to them. Jesus speaks further on the meaning, and it called to mind a pamphlet given to me by a professor in seminary about the tension to watching and waiting!
In the gospel form of the story no specific content was given to the watching (Matthew 24:42-44; Luke 12:39-40) except that the house is to be defended.... “Waiting” was an attitude of expectancy in regard to ultimate justification. “Watching” is an attitude of expectancy in regard to judgment. Both have their place in the life of the early church, teaching attitudes leading to certain forms of behavior. The “wait” motif has the net effect of prolonging, while the “watch” motif foreshortens. By taking away signs of the end and comparing the end to a thief in the night, the church placed a heavy threat of immediacy on the hearer -- a threat which had no predetermined end, so needed no adaptation.
(from Graydon F. Snyder, Sayings on the Delay of the End [Biblical Research, 1975], p. 14)
Frank R.
Sometimes when I read the prophet Isaiah I am comforted, but this passage holds little comfort. In this passage Isaiah is proclaiming God’s anger and disappointment. The nation God has taken out of bondage, the nation God has called his own, the nation which God has called to the Promised Land, this nation has rebelled, has ignored God, has acted without righteousness and compassion. The vineyard, the Hebrew people, have not borne the fruit God hoped for or intended. The people have gone astray. God’s anger is expressed here. “I’ll remove the hedge, the protection. I’ll let the nation be overgrown and overthrown. Justice has not prevailed in the nation so I will offer justice, justice but not mercy.”
These are harsh words; words designed to awaken the people. These are words of anger designed to force the people into self-examination. It seems as if God is saying, “Look at the gifts I have given, the abundance I have shared, the love I have offered. Why are you rejecting all these gifts? Why are you rejecting me?” In what places of your life have you rejected God? Have you deemed yourself unworthy of God’s love and therefore you reject that love or mercy or compassion? Have you sinned and therefore feel you are beyond forgiveness? God is waiting. Turn back. Repent and move back into the embrace of God. That is all God wants of you. Out of that simple act of turning back to God, life can begin anew.
Bonnie B.
Isaiah 5:1-7
I have known many mothers who have gone to great lengths to get their children to take bitter-tasting medicine. I recently saw a new item in an advertisement. It was for a sippy cup, but it was a different kind of sippy cup. The cup had a small container attached to the lid where medicine could be put in. If a mom used this cup, she could put the medicine in the small compartment and juice in the cup. The child would unknowingly drink the cup first, getting the medicine followed by a juice chaser. The kid would never know the difference. It seemed like a pretty good way to get kids to take the stuff that’s “good for them.”
The passage at the beginning of Isaiah 5 is an interesting one. It is an incredible example of the beauty of language and consummate skill. Of this text in its original language, Delitzsch wrote: “The figurative rhythm, the musical euphony, the charming assonances in this appeal are impossible to reproduce.” The Holy Spirit through the prophet Isaiah uses this remarkable parable to give the people of Judah what’s “good for them.” The beginning, a song, is a beautiful exposition of God and his vineyard. Bride and groom are often depicted figuratively in the owner of the vineyard and the vineyard. As Judah heard the words of this song, it had to be pleasurable. The scene changes quickly, though. The love song fades into a courtroom. It is time for judgment for the vineyard! The hearers, no doubt, were concerned. The verdict and consequences are announced in verses five and six. By the time the parable closes in verse seven, the guilty are identified. Just like the child who doesn’t realize she’s taking medicine, Judah never saw it coming.
Bill T.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Could God’s vineyard be America today? He cleared away the stones -- even some beautiful ones in national parks. He planted good grapevines -- all the immigrants from other countries who were planted here. He built watchtowers to guard our shores and a wine press, hoping for a good crop.
What did he get for all His work? He got a failed crop. Do all of our candidates for political office promise a good crop, if elected? What kind of a crop has God had with us up till now? Every day the papers are full of bloodshed and tragedies, even in this great land. Some may be caused by the NRA, but it is people who shoot the guns and not only the restrictive rules that have made the difference! There are also bombs going off and planes crashing into buildings.
There are cries of distress about dangerous water and radiation from atomic energy. There are dangerous highways and train tracks. There are badly built or run factories and poorly built houses and apartments. But then there are also cries of distress from people of different faiths or racial or national backgrounds. The list could go on!
Are we the garden of God’s delight? What does he see when he looks at our land and what are we doing to help raise a good crop? He is counting on his people. Today that is you, sitting here in God’s house. We are his modern Israel. We are his Judah. He is counting on the U.S. to help raise a good crop. That is not only with money (which helps), but with our everyday tasks and goals.
Even in Bible days it was individual people whom God calls to begin to make a difference. Some suffered for it, like his prophets. Some are suffering today in our country for trying to make things better and raise a “good crop” for the Lord. Are you ready for the reward? Are you ready for the sacrifice? Can you start in your congregation and go from there? Listen to see if God is calling you.
Bob O.
Isaiah 5:1-7
It is hard to find a play on words in English that mimics the concluding half-line Hebrew, but spelling may help. Justice in Hebrew is mishpat; and bloodshed is mishpach; and righteousness is tsedeqah; and iniquity, which may be a better translation for cry, is tse-aqah. Thus the prophet concludes with the distinction between true grapes and wild grapes. A true harvest promotes justice and righteousness in the land, not bloodshed and iniquity. The task of the people of God is to maintain a community of right relationships where one group does not gain advantage over a less fortunate group.
The ballad of Isaiah reflects the history of God with his people and their deliverance into exile. In the New Testament these verses are reflected in the parable of the wicked tenants (Matthew 21:33ff). In a briefer version, the gospel repeats the story of the vineyard, extended to include God’s history with his people until the time of Christ.
(Robert W. Neff & Frank Ramirez, Country Seer, City Prophet: The Unpopular Messages of Micah and Isaiah, p. 29)
Frank R.
Hebrews 11:29--12:2
Anyone who claims that the message of the Bible is self-evident and easy to understand has obviously not waded into the book of Hebrews. For instance, the meaning of this ending of the 11th chapter is not only opaque to the casual reader, but nearly so to a seminary-educated pastor. Even respected New Testament scholars are sometimes puzzled as to which, how, and why some of the Old Testament heroes and heroines are referenced.
Then the 12th chapter opens with a statement about how that long list of aforementioned faithful folks from the ancient past forms a cloud of witnesses that surrounds us. By their faithful witness, we are set free to run with perseverance the race that is set before us. With those first two verses of chapter 12, a little light of understanding and encouragement begins to break through.
The life of faith is likened to running a race. This race is not competitive. The object is not to defeat others and somehow claim victory as the winner. A life of faith is not like fighting a battle with the competition. To paraphrase Frederick Buechner in Whistling in the Dark, the race is not against competition. It is more like learning to play beautiful music with others. The call is not to get there first. We are called simply to persevere until we get there.
R. Robert C.
Hebrews 11:29--12:2
More than four decades after the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, a cloth bag full of souvenirs brought back by Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was discovered. The bag contained unneeded equipment, such as the waist tether that Armstrong used to suspend his feet during a rest period when the lunar module was on the moon. Now, many years later, these items bring us great fascination and curiosity -- so much so that they were put on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
Application: We will always have a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us.
Ron L.
Hebrews 11:29--12:2
Faith saves! But is that something we do all by ourselves? Martin Luther King Jr. says that “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” John Wesley says that “Faith animates the most heroic enterprises... overcomes all impediments... effects the greatest things” (Commentary on the Bible, p. 569). But, he adds, Christ is “The author and finisher of our faith who begins it in us, carries it on, and perfects it” (Commentary on the Bible, p. 569). As great as faith is, it is not something we do. It is just an open hand that only has and does all these things because of what is in that hand -- Christ. It is like Martin Luther says: “It [faith] takes hold of Christ in such a way that Christ is the object of faith, or rather not the object but, so to speak, the One who is present in faith itself” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 26, p. 129).
Mark E.
Luke 12:49-56
Reconciling these words of Jesus with the Isaiah prophecy of the Prince of Peace is difficult. Jesus seems clearly to be saying that he has come to divide family member from family member, nation from nation. That doesn’t seem so very peaceful. In fact, it seems downright destructive. Yet there is a lesson here for us. We sometimes pay more attention to the world around us than we do to the world within us. It is not the external that causes hate and division and violence. Rather it is what is within us, or maybe what isn’t within us.
Louis Farrakhan is quoted as having said, “There really can be no peace without justice. There can be no justice without truth. And there can be no truth, unless someone rises up to tell you the truth.” Jesus sought an internal change in the people. Jesus sought a renewal in the people that was about love and mercy and justice and compassion. Some people would follow this invitation. Some people would not. It is not so much Jesus that divides the people, but our desire or refusal to follow Jesus that divides us. When we proclaim judgment instead of compassion, we are dividing from Jesus. When we seek power over rather than partnership with, we are dividing from Jesus. We when seek our own aggrandizement rather than the support and development of others, we are dividing from Jesus. Jesus came to show us the way of life, the truth of God’s love, and an eternal life. Yet we divide into factions and seek our own being right rather than righteousness. Maybe if we all followed in the footsteps of Jesus we would find the peace we seek.
Bonnie B.
Luke 12:49-56
There are things over which people divide. It is an election season, and some families are split over Democrats and Republicans. People also choose up sides when it comes to sports teams. There are some who love the Dodgers, while others in the same family have been Angels fans for as long as they can remember. I have known people in the same family who have had intense discussions about what make of truck is the best. Some swear by Ford, while others believe if it isn’t a Chevy it isn’t a truck. Taking a step back and looking at these things that can divide people, I think we can see how silly it is to get too riled up about any of them. None of those things matters enough to abandon family.
It is hard to imagine what might be important enough to put ahead of family. There is one, though. Jesus makes it clear in this text that who he is and why he came has the potential to divide. Allegiance to Jesus Christ is the most important bond or relationship that a person can have. It is hard to fathom, but it is absolutely true. If there are those, even in your family, that oppose Jesus, then it is right to choose Jesus. Jesus is the focal point of all of human history. Time hinges upon his coming. Everyone will have to make a decision at some point about who Jesus is and what he means.
Most of the things that families disagree and argue about at the dinner table are insignificant. People can have differing opinions about politics, sports, trucks, and a host of other things. Only one thing is really that important.
Bill T.
Luke 12:49-56
God is not coming to bring divisions; it’s more that he finds divisions when he comes to us. For example, he finds religious divisions like those between Muslims and Christians. No, God does not want the kind of peace between us that will make us accept their faith as being as good as ours. No, he is not asking us to commit genocide and destroy all Muslims (though that seems to be the goal of too many radical Muslims for us and for their fellow Muslims).
In the Old Testament the prophets point up the danger for Israelis who live among other nations that have different religions and who take on some of their pagan practices to fit in. God is not looking for that kind of peace between them. He wants to preserve that kind of division peacefully.
There was great division of faith when we lived in Nepal. God didn’t want us just to accept the Hindus as they were. The only way he wanted to end division was to bring the Hindus to him. The big question is how to do that.
When we were there, the thing that brought peace was when we, by our example, made them rethink their beliefs. When some of the young men I was teaching in the seminary showed love to the ones who threw them in jail and tortured them, it was converting them. We can win more Muslims by showing love than by killing them. God may hate their denial of him, but he still loves them and wants them saved.
A couple of my own children have trouble with the faith. This creates division in the family. The way we can come together is to win them to Christ by our love and patience! Family divisions are evident even in pastor’s families. I think very few (if any) are won by shouting at them and telling them they are going to hell if they don’t do what we tell them to do! I remember that I was about 30 when I came back to Christ. My mother prayed for me all those 30 years. She was patient, and her patience was rewarded. That patience also worked with some of my kids and with some of my friends.
Don’t give up! Be patient and learn how to interpret the signs.
Bob O.
Luke 12:49-56
This particular passage is tied to the previous passage, which mentions the thief in the night. The disciples ask for clarification of the image -- whether it applies to everyone, or just to them. Jesus speaks further on the meaning, and it called to mind a pamphlet given to me by a professor in seminary about the tension to watching and waiting!
In the gospel form of the story no specific content was given to the watching (Matthew 24:42-44; Luke 12:39-40) except that the house is to be defended.... “Waiting” was an attitude of expectancy in regard to ultimate justification. “Watching” is an attitude of expectancy in regard to judgment. Both have their place in the life of the early church, teaching attitudes leading to certain forms of behavior. The “wait” motif has the net effect of prolonging, while the “watch” motif foreshortens. By taking away signs of the end and comparing the end to a thief in the night, the church placed a heavy threat of immediacy on the hearer -- a threat which had no predetermined end, so needed no adaptation.
(from Graydon F. Snyder, Sayings on the Delay of the End [Biblical Research, 1975], p. 14)
Frank R.
