Sermon Illustrations for Proper 18 | OT 23 | Pentecost 15 (2021)
Illustration
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
In his book, I Almost Missed the Sunset, Bill Gaither writes about the time he and his wife Gloria bought land to build a home. They’d been married and few years and were teaching school in Alexandria, Indiana, where Bill had grown up. They wanted a piece of land where they could build a house. They noticed the parcel south of town where cattle grazed. It belonged to a 92-year-old retired banker named Mr. Yule. He’d promised it to farmers and wasn’t selling. In a conversation with Yule, the Gaither’s told him that they’d hoped he’d be willing to sell to someone who wanted to settle there. Yule pondered that and then asked Bill his name again. Hearing the name “Gaither,” he asked if they were related to a Grover Gaither. Bill smiled. “He was my grandfather.” Gaither relates that Yule then put down his paper and took off his glasses. "Interesting. Grover Gaither was the best worker I ever had on my farm. Full day's work for a day's pay. So honest. What'd you say you wanted?" He then promised to think it over. A week later the Gaither’s returned and Yule sold them the land at an incredibly low price.
Thirty years later, Gaither notes, “My son and I strolled that beautiful property. ‘Benjy’ I said, ‘you've had this wonderful place to grow up through nothing that you've done, but because of the good name of a great-granddad you never met.’"
A good name matters.
Bill T.
* * *
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Oddly enough, although these three stanzas of proverbs are planted in the same chapter of Proverbs, they’re on different sides of a major (but unseen) border in the book.
Proverbs 10:1 through 22:16 comprises the major collection of Proverbs. This portion is a manual to instruct young men (and they were always men), many of them from the country and other outlying areas, in the ways of the royal court. They probably memorized five proverbs at a time. This central core was probably compiled during Solomon’s reign. The first nine chapters and the sections that follow this central core are additions that may have been cemented in place by time the time of Hezekiah’s reign. (My source on this is John W. Miller’s commentary, Proverbs, part of the Believers Church Bible Commentary.)
22:1-2 — This set of proverbs establishes God’s advocacy for the poor. They go well with the companion lectionary selection from James 2. It opens with something counter-intuitive to the culture at large — the importance of a good name.
While the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, for instance, spent a good deal of their time and energy creating the monuments that would live after them, this proverb suggests a good name is the best monument. That’s because – hold your breath – in God’s eyes there is no difference between rich and poor. In most eras we’re talking super-rich and super-poor. The idea of nobility is wholly false. We’re all the same.
The American sin of slavery was built around the idea that some people were not as fully human as others, and shamefully this was preached from American pulpits. Scripture knows nothing of this. We are not separate species. God made us all.
Therefore —
22:8-9 — You reap what you sow. The powerful could beat the powerless mercilessly with rods — but not forever. This is a lesson that those who wished to wield power in the courts were expected to learn. You cannot act with impunity without consequences.
The second line involves a little false science but good theology. The ancients believed that the eye sent forth light which illuminated the things we see. Not true, but what that meant was our act of seeing could affect others. They believed in the evil eye -- looking at someone with malice could harm them. And that’s true, regardless of the science. We’ve all heard the saying, “If looks could kill….” In a certain sense they do. This second line emphasizes the opposite. Instead of the evil eye, it speaks of the good eye. Those who look on the poor with the good eye bless both themselves and those who they help.
The final two verses of this passage are planted outside the original collection of proverbs but builds intentionally on this same theme.
22:22-23 — Those who rob the poor crush them. That’s the sense of the verb used in this verse. They believe that no one will stand up against them. Wrong!
The gate refers to the city gates. Just as older folks sometimes gather at the local diner to sit for an hour or more over a cup of coffee to solve the world’s problems, so in biblical times they gathered at the city gates. From there they could see who was coming and going, talk about problems, and in general catch up. Others would take advantage of this resource and ask them to adjudicate disputes. Taking advantage of the lowly and humble at the city gate suggests that these rich and powerful people think they can do this with impunity. No one will speak up against them. But God is there at the city gates too, and God is the one who takes their side.
Regardless of which side of the border these proverbs are planted, they address something that people in power, or desire to rise in power, need to know — God is on the side of the poor and the disadvantaged.
Frank R.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
I remember reading a story about a pastor who was ready to begin his ministry in a new congregation. As the congregation waited for the pastor to arrive, a dirty, smelly apparently homeless man entered the sanctuary. The ushers all but ignored him. People turned their heads away, wrinkling their noses at the stench. Not one person reached out to welcome the man or include him. He finally went to the front of the sanctuary, climbed the chancel the steps and turned to the congregation. As he did so, he began to remove his outer layers of clothing to reveal himself, the newly called pastor, to the congregation. There was no need for a sermon that Sunday. The message of love of neighbor, inclusion of the least among us, the need to reach out and include all those seeking God was clear to that congregation and I hope through this message, is clear to us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
With Labor Day to follow, this lesson clearly directs us to the plight of the working class and the poor. The pandemic dramatically increased poverty rates. In the meantime, a 2020 State of the Plate poll revealed that two thirds of church leaders say giving dropped since the advent of Covid-19. This is a Lesson to prod our generosity.
Poverty is a horrible reality to endure. Mahatma Gandhi’s words are a real judgment on churches who think ministry should just be about saving souls. He wrote: “There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Martin Luther once well summarized our responsibility to the poor:
We should learn well how to please Christ. We do please Him by dedicating our entire life with all possible diligence solely to the service of our neighbor. Down, down, says Christ; you will find me in the poor; you are rising too high if you do not find me there. (What Luther Says, p. 206)
As Latin American liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez put it: “There is no authentic evangelization that is not accompanied by action on behalf of the poor.”
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
Every culture has its own “cooties,” a code of cleanliness that has nothing to do with actually killing germs. It’s a way of drawing boundaries in which insiders unjustly claim that outsiders give them the heebie-jeebies.
Sometimes our dietary peculiarities give insiders the cooties. Cultures create their own boundaries about clean and unclean foods, whether that list includes or excludes horses, cheese, corn, dogs, or corn dogs. It doesn’t have to make sense, but it’s very real to the culture.
Now in the verses that precede this story Jesus redefined clean and unclean. He that that it wasn’t what rituals people observed, or the way they washed their hands, or what they ate made them clean or unclean. It’s what they said and did. It’s not what goes in the mouth, but what comes out of our mouths, that makes us unclean.
So, it’s ironic that having talked about how our definition about insiders and outsiders must change in the kingdom, Jesus seems to fail the clean/unclean test. At first, he doesn’t come out looking so good.
Fortunately, the Syro-Phoenician woman wasn’t having it. She challenged Jesus about the boundary he drew when it came to healing her daughter. Her response was even funny, but to the point. “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” (Based on my book Mark His Words published by CSS Publishing, 2018).
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
In the mid-1800’s, many different engineers were called in to give their ideas on a possible railroad through the Andes Mountains. The consensus among them was the job was impossible. A Polish engineer named Ernest Malinowski was called in. Malinowski's reputation as an engineer was well known, but he was, at that time, sixty years old, so the authorities feared to impose such a rigorous task on the man.
Malinowski assured the representatives of the various countries interested that the job could be done, and he started the highest railroad in the world. The railway began to make its way across the Andes from Peru with 62 tunnels and thirty bridges along its way. One tunnel ran 4,000 feet in length, 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. Revolutions in some of the countries through which the railroad passed, held up construction, and once Malinowski had to flee Peru and remain in exile for a time. Nothing, however, deterred him from completing the engineering feat that became one of the wonders of the world in 1880.
Persistence mattered. It mattered in the text for today, too. A Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus and literally begged him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Though she was a Gentile and knew that Jesus’ mission was to the Jews, she pleaded for crumbs from the table. Jesus, touched by her persistent faith, healed the little girl.
Jonathan Edwards once said, “It is very apparent from the Word of God that he often tries the faith and patience of his people, when they are crying to him for some great and important mercy, by withholding the mercy sought for a season; and not only so, but at first he may cause an increase of dark appearances. And yet he, without fail, at last prospers those who continue urgently in prayer with all perseverance and “will not let him go except he blesses.”
Bill T.
In his book, I Almost Missed the Sunset, Bill Gaither writes about the time he and his wife Gloria bought land to build a home. They’d been married and few years and were teaching school in Alexandria, Indiana, where Bill had grown up. They wanted a piece of land where they could build a house. They noticed the parcel south of town where cattle grazed. It belonged to a 92-year-old retired banker named Mr. Yule. He’d promised it to farmers and wasn’t selling. In a conversation with Yule, the Gaither’s told him that they’d hoped he’d be willing to sell to someone who wanted to settle there. Yule pondered that and then asked Bill his name again. Hearing the name “Gaither,” he asked if they were related to a Grover Gaither. Bill smiled. “He was my grandfather.” Gaither relates that Yule then put down his paper and took off his glasses. "Interesting. Grover Gaither was the best worker I ever had on my farm. Full day's work for a day's pay. So honest. What'd you say you wanted?" He then promised to think it over. A week later the Gaither’s returned and Yule sold them the land at an incredibly low price.
Thirty years later, Gaither notes, “My son and I strolled that beautiful property. ‘Benjy’ I said, ‘you've had this wonderful place to grow up through nothing that you've done, but because of the good name of a great-granddad you never met.’"
A good name matters.
Bill T.
* * *
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Oddly enough, although these three stanzas of proverbs are planted in the same chapter of Proverbs, they’re on different sides of a major (but unseen) border in the book.
Proverbs 10:1 through 22:16 comprises the major collection of Proverbs. This portion is a manual to instruct young men (and they were always men), many of them from the country and other outlying areas, in the ways of the royal court. They probably memorized five proverbs at a time. This central core was probably compiled during Solomon’s reign. The first nine chapters and the sections that follow this central core are additions that may have been cemented in place by time the time of Hezekiah’s reign. (My source on this is John W. Miller’s commentary, Proverbs, part of the Believers Church Bible Commentary.)
22:1-2 — This set of proverbs establishes God’s advocacy for the poor. They go well with the companion lectionary selection from James 2. It opens with something counter-intuitive to the culture at large — the importance of a good name.
While the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, for instance, spent a good deal of their time and energy creating the monuments that would live after them, this proverb suggests a good name is the best monument. That’s because – hold your breath – in God’s eyes there is no difference between rich and poor. In most eras we’re talking super-rich and super-poor. The idea of nobility is wholly false. We’re all the same.
The American sin of slavery was built around the idea that some people were not as fully human as others, and shamefully this was preached from American pulpits. Scripture knows nothing of this. We are not separate species. God made us all.
Therefore —
22:8-9 — You reap what you sow. The powerful could beat the powerless mercilessly with rods — but not forever. This is a lesson that those who wished to wield power in the courts were expected to learn. You cannot act with impunity without consequences.
The second line involves a little false science but good theology. The ancients believed that the eye sent forth light which illuminated the things we see. Not true, but what that meant was our act of seeing could affect others. They believed in the evil eye -- looking at someone with malice could harm them. And that’s true, regardless of the science. We’ve all heard the saying, “If looks could kill….” In a certain sense they do. This second line emphasizes the opposite. Instead of the evil eye, it speaks of the good eye. Those who look on the poor with the good eye bless both themselves and those who they help.
The final two verses of this passage are planted outside the original collection of proverbs but builds intentionally on this same theme.
22:22-23 — Those who rob the poor crush them. That’s the sense of the verb used in this verse. They believe that no one will stand up against them. Wrong!
The gate refers to the city gates. Just as older folks sometimes gather at the local diner to sit for an hour or more over a cup of coffee to solve the world’s problems, so in biblical times they gathered at the city gates. From there they could see who was coming and going, talk about problems, and in general catch up. Others would take advantage of this resource and ask them to adjudicate disputes. Taking advantage of the lowly and humble at the city gate suggests that these rich and powerful people think they can do this with impunity. No one will speak up against them. But God is there at the city gates too, and God is the one who takes their side.
Regardless of which side of the border these proverbs are planted, they address something that people in power, or desire to rise in power, need to know — God is on the side of the poor and the disadvantaged.
Frank R.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
I remember reading a story about a pastor who was ready to begin his ministry in a new congregation. As the congregation waited for the pastor to arrive, a dirty, smelly apparently homeless man entered the sanctuary. The ushers all but ignored him. People turned their heads away, wrinkling their noses at the stench. Not one person reached out to welcome the man or include him. He finally went to the front of the sanctuary, climbed the chancel the steps and turned to the congregation. As he did so, he began to remove his outer layers of clothing to reveal himself, the newly called pastor, to the congregation. There was no need for a sermon that Sunday. The message of love of neighbor, inclusion of the least among us, the need to reach out and include all those seeking God was clear to that congregation and I hope through this message, is clear to us.
Bonnie B.
* * *
James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17
With Labor Day to follow, this lesson clearly directs us to the plight of the working class and the poor. The pandemic dramatically increased poverty rates. In the meantime, a 2020 State of the Plate poll revealed that two thirds of church leaders say giving dropped since the advent of Covid-19. This is a Lesson to prod our generosity.
Poverty is a horrible reality to endure. Mahatma Gandhi’s words are a real judgment on churches who think ministry should just be about saving souls. He wrote: “There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” Martin Luther once well summarized our responsibility to the poor:
We should learn well how to please Christ. We do please Him by dedicating our entire life with all possible diligence solely to the service of our neighbor. Down, down, says Christ; you will find me in the poor; you are rising too high if you do not find me there. (What Luther Says, p. 206)
As Latin American liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez put it: “There is no authentic evangelization that is not accompanied by action on behalf of the poor.”
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
Every culture has its own “cooties,” a code of cleanliness that has nothing to do with actually killing germs. It’s a way of drawing boundaries in which insiders unjustly claim that outsiders give them the heebie-jeebies.
Sometimes our dietary peculiarities give insiders the cooties. Cultures create their own boundaries about clean and unclean foods, whether that list includes or excludes horses, cheese, corn, dogs, or corn dogs. It doesn’t have to make sense, but it’s very real to the culture.
Now in the verses that precede this story Jesus redefined clean and unclean. He that that it wasn’t what rituals people observed, or the way they washed their hands, or what they ate made them clean or unclean. It’s what they said and did. It’s not what goes in the mouth, but what comes out of our mouths, that makes us unclean.
So, it’s ironic that having talked about how our definition about insiders and outsiders must change in the kingdom, Jesus seems to fail the clean/unclean test. At first, he doesn’t come out looking so good.
Fortunately, the Syro-Phoenician woman wasn’t having it. She challenged Jesus about the boundary he drew when it came to healing her daughter. Her response was even funny, but to the point. “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” (Based on my book Mark His Words published by CSS Publishing, 2018).
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 7:24-37
In the mid-1800’s, many different engineers were called in to give their ideas on a possible railroad through the Andes Mountains. The consensus among them was the job was impossible. A Polish engineer named Ernest Malinowski was called in. Malinowski's reputation as an engineer was well known, but he was, at that time, sixty years old, so the authorities feared to impose such a rigorous task on the man.
Malinowski assured the representatives of the various countries interested that the job could be done, and he started the highest railroad in the world. The railway began to make its way across the Andes from Peru with 62 tunnels and thirty bridges along its way. One tunnel ran 4,000 feet in length, 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. Revolutions in some of the countries through which the railroad passed, held up construction, and once Malinowski had to flee Peru and remain in exile for a time. Nothing, however, deterred him from completing the engineering feat that became one of the wonders of the world in 1880.
Persistence mattered. It mattered in the text for today, too. A Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus and literally begged him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Though she was a Gentile and knew that Jesus’ mission was to the Jews, she pleaded for crumbs from the table. Jesus, touched by her persistent faith, healed the little girl.
Jonathan Edwards once said, “It is very apparent from the Word of God that he often tries the faith and patience of his people, when they are crying to him for some great and important mercy, by withholding the mercy sought for a season; and not only so, but at first he may cause an increase of dark appearances. And yet he, without fail, at last prospers those who continue urgently in prayer with all perseverance and “will not let him go except he blesses.”
Bill T.
