Sermon Illustrations for Proper 18 | Ordinary Time 23 (2019)
Illustration
Jeremiah 18:1-11
The metaphors in scripture sometimes make sense to us and help us move into deeper relationship with God. Here Jeremiah experiences the metaphor of a potter and clay. God sends Jeremiah to watch the potter making a clay pot. As Jeremiah watched the potter determines the pot is spoiled and remakes it. God reveals to Jeremiah that God, too, can be the potter who reworks the nation of Israel moving them from evil to righteousness.
For most of us in this century, the idea of God molding us is foreign. We value free will and individual choice. Yet I would argue that every experience we have, every path we follow, every decision we make, molds us, changes us and refashions us. If we are open to the will of God, the discernment of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of Jesus, we are remolded and reformed to resemble more closely the best-self God created us to be.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Jeremiah 18:1-11
A 2012 survey from GlobeScan found that 58 percent of Americans agree with the statement that “the rich deserve their wealth.” And a 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 1 in 4 of us think the poor deserve their fate, for their lack of a work ethic. Little has likely changed in these attitudes during this decade of the 20teens. We are indeed the children of Benjamin Franklin who is quoted as teaching that “God gives all Things to Industry [industriousness].” (Works, p.1284) The trouble is that if life is all about making it on our own, Liberation Theologian Rubem Alves says, then the only ones who get ahead are the rich and powerful, further marginalizing and oppressing the masses (A Theology of Human Hope, p.156).
The reading makes clear that the myth of the self-made man and woman is a lie! John Calvin well summarizes the point of the lesson:
Ye have nothing of you own, but what God has conferred on you is at His will and pleasure. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IX/2, p.395)
There is much joy and great pleasure in this insight, in recognizing that we are just clay in God’s hands. Clay never worries how it will turn out. Why then are we often bothered about what comes next in our lives? Enjoy being molded by God!
Mark E.
* * *
Jeremiah 18:1-11
This is a difficult passage if you just take it as it is written. One of the benefits of God’s church is that it should help us understand what God is telling us in some of these hard to understand texts.
Sometimes the potter has to redo his work if it is not the way it should be. The Lord can remake us if we are not the way he wants us. That can mean that we may experience disasters and pain that hurts, but as long as we can be sure that God is behind our troubles and is working on us to make us perfect in his eyes then we must trust him. We may not understand what he is doing to us until his work begins to show improvement.
One of my sons had a battle with Alcohol when the wife he loved died. God worked with him in his pain so that eventually he became a counselor to other alcoholics.
God put me through one marriage that was far from perfect. When it ended God sent me another wife who was more supportive and even encouraged me to go on the mission field in Nepal.
I started as a photographer for a few years, but God had to reform me in his hands to make me a pastor. No, it was not easy. I loved my business and my former wife said she would not be happy if I was to change and serve the God I had grown to love. God had to work hard to reshape my clay.
It was the greatest experience when God’s work was completed, so be patient if and when the Lord is working on you.
Some prisoners begin to realize that God is reshaping him into a new life that will make God and us happier.
A church can also sense when our clay has reformed as the Lord wants it to be.
Bob O.
* * *
Philemon 1:1-21
I find it interesting that Onesimus’s name means “useful.” Paul uses a play on words with his name when he writes, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. (Philemon 11). Once a useless, rebellious slave, Onesimus became useful through the saving and transforming grace of God. That’s the theme of the short letter to Philemon.
I read an old proverb that illustrates this letter. There was a leader of a city who would take daily walks to gain peace of mind and inspiration from nature. One day, the old man found himself walking much further than usual and stopped to rest under a great tree which easily towered above all the rest. The tree was a wonder to behold, and it lured the old man to investigate it in more detail.
The man noticed the branches spread so wide that the tree could easily have provided shade for more than a thousand horses. He wondered, "What kind of tree is this? Its timber must be quite extraordinary." His mind raced with thoughts of how he could impress the people of his village with the story of this tree and all the wealth it would bring the village by cutting it down.
But as he continued to study the tree, he noticed that the branches were too gnarled and twisted to be of use for lumber. The trunk of the tree was twisted and of no value. The man exclaimed, "This wretched tree is completely useless. Why in the world did it ever grow so large?"
In disgust, the man sat. Slowly a smile crept across his face. He thought, "The tree grew to this mighty size because it is useless to those who would have cut it down. Its beauty and great shade would not have been if man had found the tree useful. Now, what seems useless to man is exactly the kind of thing that God puts to great use."
Bill T.
* * *
Philemon 1:1-21
I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) (Philemon 10-11)
In his poem "The Three Voices" Lewis Carroll, best known for "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," includes the following stanza as part of a mock-condemnation.
The Great and Good must ever shun
That reckless and abandoned one
Who stoops to perpetrate a pun.
In fact Carroll loved puns, and they are sprinkled throughout his writing. The writer Isaac Asimov, in his "Treasure of Humor," confesses to being addicted to puns, and notes that the proper response to a good pun is not laughter, but groaning.
Calling to mind the fact that the letters of Paul were not read silently, but aloud to the entire congregation to whom they were addressed -- and that includes this sometimes called personal letter to Philemon -- one wonders if there was a great deal of groaning when Philemon's letter was read aloud.
Could Philemon been expecting that this welcome letter from Paul to the house churches of Colossae would have included a reference to his escaped slave? That's a private matter, isn't it? Philemon, the owner of the house church addressed in the letter, might have bristled in anger when he realized Paul was writing about his personal property, a human being whose name meant "Useful." It was a typical slave name, referring to a characteristic of such a person.
Now I doubt if Philemon laughed at the pun which followed but perhaps he was caught up by surprise at least, when Paul took another word for useful, chreston, and made a play on words -- achreston, not useful or useless, euchreston, good useful. And there's another twist -- the core word sounded the same as the word for Christ -- meaning formerly he was not a Christian to you, but now he is indeed a Christian to you and to me.
Groan…. Sorry, Philemon. Paul’s got you in a bind.
Frank R.
* * *
Philemon 1:1-21
I was attending Wesley Theological Seminary, located in Washington, DC. It was in the mid-1970s, and Dr. Joseph Weber, a German theologian whose command of the scriptures was so insightful I felt he lived in the New Testament, which by his studies he probably did. One day in class he shared an insight that has forever stayed with me when I study the Apostle Paul. Dr. Weber said everyone recites Paul’s conversion experience from Luke’s account in the book of Acts. The professor asked would we not be better informed if we studied what Paul wrote about the Damascus Road experience himself, especially as Paul discussed it in Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians. So, when we read in Philemon regarding Paul’s message on love and evangelism, and how he discusses that he is in prison, and how he goes on to discuss the important persons in his life, we must place ourselves in the Colossae prison with Paul if we really want to understand Paul and his message.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 14:25-33
Regarding Jesus’ call to “hate” one’s family and life itself the eminent Reformed theologian Karl Barth writes:
It is not the persons who are to be hated. It is the hold which these persons have and by which they themselves are also gripped. The coming of the Kingdom of God means an end of the absolute of family no less than of possessions and fame... The life of the new creature is something rather different from a healthy and worthy continuation of the old. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/2, p.551)
Medieval Mystic Meister Eckhart made a similar point in describing the Christian whom Jesus describes as “pure in heart”:
What is a pure heart? It is a detached heart, isolated for all creatures... to God is honor due. Who are they that honor Him? Those who are completely gone out of themselves and no longer seek their own interest... but are separated from all that, separated from all that pertains to them; it is from them that God receives glory, they glorify God in giving Him His due. (Elmer O’Brien, ed., Varieties of Mystic Experience, p.127)
What good then is wealth and all that we own? Ancient North African theologian Lactantius offers thoughtful guidance:
Riches also do not render men illustrious, except they are able to make them conspicuous by good works. For men are rich, not because they possess riches, but because they employ them on works of justice; and they who seem to be poor on this account are rich, because they are not in want, and desire nothing. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.7, p.151)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 14:25-33
The price of following Jesus is steep – leaving behind the wishes of family and friends, making tough choices that separate us from things we might choose to do, acting with love when we would just as soon express anger and hostility or judgment. These are the things we lay aside. I remember when I finally succumbed to the will of God in my life to seek the education and preparation for ordained ministry. It was a decision my father couldn’t understand. I was successful in my career. I would be in my late 40’s when I graduated. Yet, I left those concerns behind. I followed. The following has not been without challenges – a significant reduction in income, the wonderment of friends and family, the struggle to lead the church in times of conflict and decline. The rewards have been so much greater: the knowledge that I am fulfilling my true vocation, the love of God that pours out of and between people in the church, the peace of mind that comes with the discernment of my place in the world. The price is steep, but for me, definitely worth it.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 14:25-33
That is a most puzzling text if we take it literally. Can we hate our folks? Can we hate our wife and kids and even our own life? Most of the Bible is telling us to even love our enemies! What does God mean by “hate.” I think it is saying that we should love God above anything else. He is taking it to the extreme.
Jesus went to an extreme by suffering a horrible death. He did not even love his own life. Can we go to such extremes?
When I was a missionary in Nepal, many of my seminary students deserted their parents to become Christians. Some were even tortured or killed for their faith.
My former wife did not want to be a pastor’s wife. She was not a church enthusiast, but my love for the Lord drove me to enter seminary despite her complaints. No, I did not hate her, but she was second to my devotion for the God I had come to know and love.
When I was called to be a missionary to Nepal, I knew it could be a dangerous move. Even our kids thought it was a crazy move. By then I had married a different wife several years after my former wife left me. Yes, I knew there was danger in Nepal, but I had given my life to God so It was more important than my life! I gave my life to God.
These are things that come to you mainly after you have put the Lord’s priorities above all else. Now I am over 90 years old and the main thing that I set my mind on is that I look forward to being with my God after I am gone. God is telling us that should anything else come before him we are not worthy to be with God.
It may be easier at 90 to make everything else secondary to God when we think of eternity coming up fairly soon.
Our church can paint a picture of heaven not as a place of fancy real-estate, but as place of eternal love even greater than anything we have or could expedience on earth. We get there by love not by financial sacrifices by giving our time, but by love for our Lord as he loves us.
Bob O.
The metaphors in scripture sometimes make sense to us and help us move into deeper relationship with God. Here Jeremiah experiences the metaphor of a potter and clay. God sends Jeremiah to watch the potter making a clay pot. As Jeremiah watched the potter determines the pot is spoiled and remakes it. God reveals to Jeremiah that God, too, can be the potter who reworks the nation of Israel moving them from evil to righteousness.
For most of us in this century, the idea of God molding us is foreign. We value free will and individual choice. Yet I would argue that every experience we have, every path we follow, every decision we make, molds us, changes us and refashions us. If we are open to the will of God, the discernment of the Holy Spirit and the leadership of Jesus, we are remolded and reformed to resemble more closely the best-self God created us to be.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Jeremiah 18:1-11
A 2012 survey from GlobeScan found that 58 percent of Americans agree with the statement that “the rich deserve their wealth.” And a 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 1 in 4 of us think the poor deserve their fate, for their lack of a work ethic. Little has likely changed in these attitudes during this decade of the 20teens. We are indeed the children of Benjamin Franklin who is quoted as teaching that “God gives all Things to Industry [industriousness].” (Works, p.1284) The trouble is that if life is all about making it on our own, Liberation Theologian Rubem Alves says, then the only ones who get ahead are the rich and powerful, further marginalizing and oppressing the masses (A Theology of Human Hope, p.156).
The reading makes clear that the myth of the self-made man and woman is a lie! John Calvin well summarizes the point of the lesson:
Ye have nothing of you own, but what God has conferred on you is at His will and pleasure. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IX/2, p.395)
There is much joy and great pleasure in this insight, in recognizing that we are just clay in God’s hands. Clay never worries how it will turn out. Why then are we often bothered about what comes next in our lives? Enjoy being molded by God!
Mark E.
* * *
Jeremiah 18:1-11
This is a difficult passage if you just take it as it is written. One of the benefits of God’s church is that it should help us understand what God is telling us in some of these hard to understand texts.
Sometimes the potter has to redo his work if it is not the way it should be. The Lord can remake us if we are not the way he wants us. That can mean that we may experience disasters and pain that hurts, but as long as we can be sure that God is behind our troubles and is working on us to make us perfect in his eyes then we must trust him. We may not understand what he is doing to us until his work begins to show improvement.
One of my sons had a battle with Alcohol when the wife he loved died. God worked with him in his pain so that eventually he became a counselor to other alcoholics.
God put me through one marriage that was far from perfect. When it ended God sent me another wife who was more supportive and even encouraged me to go on the mission field in Nepal.
I started as a photographer for a few years, but God had to reform me in his hands to make me a pastor. No, it was not easy. I loved my business and my former wife said she would not be happy if I was to change and serve the God I had grown to love. God had to work hard to reshape my clay.
It was the greatest experience when God’s work was completed, so be patient if and when the Lord is working on you.
Some prisoners begin to realize that God is reshaping him into a new life that will make God and us happier.
A church can also sense when our clay has reformed as the Lord wants it to be.
Bob O.
* * *
Philemon 1:1-21
I find it interesting that Onesimus’s name means “useful.” Paul uses a play on words with his name when he writes, “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me. (Philemon 11). Once a useless, rebellious slave, Onesimus became useful through the saving and transforming grace of God. That’s the theme of the short letter to Philemon.
I read an old proverb that illustrates this letter. There was a leader of a city who would take daily walks to gain peace of mind and inspiration from nature. One day, the old man found himself walking much further than usual and stopped to rest under a great tree which easily towered above all the rest. The tree was a wonder to behold, and it lured the old man to investigate it in more detail.
The man noticed the branches spread so wide that the tree could easily have provided shade for more than a thousand horses. He wondered, "What kind of tree is this? Its timber must be quite extraordinary." His mind raced with thoughts of how he could impress the people of his village with the story of this tree and all the wealth it would bring the village by cutting it down.
But as he continued to study the tree, he noticed that the branches were too gnarled and twisted to be of use for lumber. The trunk of the tree was twisted and of no value. The man exclaimed, "This wretched tree is completely useless. Why in the world did it ever grow so large?"
In disgust, the man sat. Slowly a smile crept across his face. He thought, "The tree grew to this mighty size because it is useless to those who would have cut it down. Its beauty and great shade would not have been if man had found the tree useful. Now, what seems useless to man is exactly the kind of thing that God puts to great use."
Bill T.
* * *
Philemon 1:1-21
I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) (Philemon 10-11)
In his poem "The Three Voices" Lewis Carroll, best known for "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," includes the following stanza as part of a mock-condemnation.
The Great and Good must ever shun
That reckless and abandoned one
Who stoops to perpetrate a pun.
In fact Carroll loved puns, and they are sprinkled throughout his writing. The writer Isaac Asimov, in his "Treasure of Humor," confesses to being addicted to puns, and notes that the proper response to a good pun is not laughter, but groaning.
Calling to mind the fact that the letters of Paul were not read silently, but aloud to the entire congregation to whom they were addressed -- and that includes this sometimes called personal letter to Philemon -- one wonders if there was a great deal of groaning when Philemon's letter was read aloud.
Could Philemon been expecting that this welcome letter from Paul to the house churches of Colossae would have included a reference to his escaped slave? That's a private matter, isn't it? Philemon, the owner of the house church addressed in the letter, might have bristled in anger when he realized Paul was writing about his personal property, a human being whose name meant "Useful." It was a typical slave name, referring to a characteristic of such a person.
Now I doubt if Philemon laughed at the pun which followed but perhaps he was caught up by surprise at least, when Paul took another word for useful, chreston, and made a play on words -- achreston, not useful or useless, euchreston, good useful. And there's another twist -- the core word sounded the same as the word for Christ -- meaning formerly he was not a Christian to you, but now he is indeed a Christian to you and to me.
Groan…. Sorry, Philemon. Paul’s got you in a bind.
Frank R.
* * *
Philemon 1:1-21
I was attending Wesley Theological Seminary, located in Washington, DC. It was in the mid-1970s, and Dr. Joseph Weber, a German theologian whose command of the scriptures was so insightful I felt he lived in the New Testament, which by his studies he probably did. One day in class he shared an insight that has forever stayed with me when I study the Apostle Paul. Dr. Weber said everyone recites Paul’s conversion experience from Luke’s account in the book of Acts. The professor asked would we not be better informed if we studied what Paul wrote about the Damascus Road experience himself, especially as Paul discussed it in Corinthians, Galatians and Philippians. So, when we read in Philemon regarding Paul’s message on love and evangelism, and how he discusses that he is in prison, and how he goes on to discuss the important persons in his life, we must place ourselves in the Colossae prison with Paul if we really want to understand Paul and his message.
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 14:25-33
Regarding Jesus’ call to “hate” one’s family and life itself the eminent Reformed theologian Karl Barth writes:
It is not the persons who are to be hated. It is the hold which these persons have and by which they themselves are also gripped. The coming of the Kingdom of God means an end of the absolute of family no less than of possessions and fame... The life of the new creature is something rather different from a healthy and worthy continuation of the old. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/2, p.551)
Medieval Mystic Meister Eckhart made a similar point in describing the Christian whom Jesus describes as “pure in heart”:
What is a pure heart? It is a detached heart, isolated for all creatures... to God is honor due. Who are they that honor Him? Those who are completely gone out of themselves and no longer seek their own interest... but are separated from all that, separated from all that pertains to them; it is from them that God receives glory, they glorify God in giving Him His due. (Elmer O’Brien, ed., Varieties of Mystic Experience, p.127)
What good then is wealth and all that we own? Ancient North African theologian Lactantius offers thoughtful guidance:
Riches also do not render men illustrious, except they are able to make them conspicuous by good works. For men are rich, not because they possess riches, but because they employ them on works of justice; and they who seem to be poor on this account are rich, because they are not in want, and desire nothing. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.7, p.151)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 14:25-33
The price of following Jesus is steep – leaving behind the wishes of family and friends, making tough choices that separate us from things we might choose to do, acting with love when we would just as soon express anger and hostility or judgment. These are the things we lay aside. I remember when I finally succumbed to the will of God in my life to seek the education and preparation for ordained ministry. It was a decision my father couldn’t understand. I was successful in my career. I would be in my late 40’s when I graduated. Yet, I left those concerns behind. I followed. The following has not been without challenges – a significant reduction in income, the wonderment of friends and family, the struggle to lead the church in times of conflict and decline. The rewards have been so much greater: the knowledge that I am fulfilling my true vocation, the love of God that pours out of and between people in the church, the peace of mind that comes with the discernment of my place in the world. The price is steep, but for me, definitely worth it.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 14:25-33
That is a most puzzling text if we take it literally. Can we hate our folks? Can we hate our wife and kids and even our own life? Most of the Bible is telling us to even love our enemies! What does God mean by “hate.” I think it is saying that we should love God above anything else. He is taking it to the extreme.
Jesus went to an extreme by suffering a horrible death. He did not even love his own life. Can we go to such extremes?
When I was a missionary in Nepal, many of my seminary students deserted their parents to become Christians. Some were even tortured or killed for their faith.
My former wife did not want to be a pastor’s wife. She was not a church enthusiast, but my love for the Lord drove me to enter seminary despite her complaints. No, I did not hate her, but she was second to my devotion for the God I had come to know and love.
When I was called to be a missionary to Nepal, I knew it could be a dangerous move. Even our kids thought it was a crazy move. By then I had married a different wife several years after my former wife left me. Yes, I knew there was danger in Nepal, but I had given my life to God so It was more important than my life! I gave my life to God.
These are things that come to you mainly after you have put the Lord’s priorities above all else. Now I am over 90 years old and the main thing that I set my mind on is that I look forward to being with my God after I am gone. God is telling us that should anything else come before him we are not worthy to be with God.
It may be easier at 90 to make everything else secondary to God when we think of eternity coming up fairly soon.
Our church can paint a picture of heaven not as a place of fancy real-estate, but as place of eternal love even greater than anything we have or could expedience on earth. We get there by love not by financial sacrifices by giving our time, but by love for our Lord as he loves us.
Bob O.
