Sermon Illustrations For Proper 20 | Ordinary Time 25 (2020)
Illustration
Exodus 16:2-15
Our Daily Bread, May 16, 1992, shared a story about missionary Hudson Taylor. The article noted Taylor’s complete trust in God’s faithful provision by citing what he wrote in his journal. “Our heavenly Father is a very experienced one. He knows very well that his children wake up with a good appetite every morning. He sustained three million Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. We do not expect he will send three million missionaries to China; but if he did, he would have ample means to sustain them all. Depend on it, God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
Did you catch the last line of Taylor’s entry? God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply. Despite the complaining of his people, God told Moses that he would provide for them each day. “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”
God will provide for you and me, too, if we will do things God’s way. Will we complain when things are hard, or will we trust?
Bill T.
* * *
Exodus 16:2-15
I’m writing this while we all stay home during the Covid-19 pandemic so hopefully by the time you read this in September we’ll all be getting out and about. Whatever the situation, this lesson still applies. Jesus told us to pray for our daily bread, not for our neighbor’s bread, or indeed, all the bread from the now-empty shelves at the local grocery store now jammed into our freezer. We recently lived through a season of unreasonable hoarding. Hoarding, which stems from this false belief that we matter more than anyone else, springs up regularly. Remember Y2K? Remember other health scares, as well as those scares that turned out to be all too real? Now in this passage Moses delivers the word of the Lord. God will provide enough manna for everyone, every day. But if we extend this passage just a few verses, through 16:20, we are reminded that everyone who hoarded manna ended up with maggoty manna. I doubt if all that toilet paper that was hoarded earlier this year went bad, but neither did it yield any increase in investment. Perhaps it led to a harvest of shame, especially if neighbors found out. But confession on the past, while helpful, is not as important as resolving to trust the Lord in the present moment when this happens again in the future.
Frank R.
* * *
Exodus 16:2-15
Hope
On Sunday, April 5, 2020, New York City spontaneously began a ritual of community support and hope for the healthcare workers combating the coronavirus. It is now called “Clap Because We Care,” and it has become a new urban ritual, as it has been adopted by cities across our nation. Every evening at seven o’clock people line the streets and applaud the healthcare workers for their magnificent effort. The hour was specifically chosen because that is the hour of shift change. Those who are leaving the hospital at the end of their working day, and those who are arriving at the hospital to begin their working day, are greeted with applause and cheers.
Peter Marks is a reporter for The Washington Post. In an article for the Post he described how he was unexpectedly caught up in the frenzy of the celebration that first Sunday night. He said the street was “alive with noise.” He went on to say, “I couldn’t tell exactly where the cacophony was coming from: It seemed as if it was everywhere at once.” He wrote that “this surround-sound expression of support and gratitude engulfed me.” Though, the most important line in Marks’ article was his closing line, “It’s New Yorkers joining in a chorus, singing out in solidarity: ‘We are here.’”
Ron L.
* * *
Philippians 1:21-30
A Harris Poll taken before the recent pandemic found that 71% of Americans felt lonely! (The pandemic did not spike these numbers that much.) This lesson provides an antidote we need to get the American public to recognize. It is true that life without companionship, without Christ, is pretty miserable. Such a life feels like it’s not worth living. John Calvin put it this way:
And assuredly it is Christ alone that makes us happy both in death and in life; otherwise, if death is miserable life is no degree happier; so that it is difficult to determine whether it is more advantageous to live or to die out of Christ. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXI/2, p.42)
Famed Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards makes it clear that we have a constant companion in Christ, sticking with us through thick and thin:
And as Christ is unchangeable in His intercession, so He is unchangeable in upholding and preserving those that are His, and ordering all things for their good. (Works, Vol.2, p.951)
You may greatly comfort yourself that you have an unchangeable friend in Jesus Christ. (Works, Vol.2, p.954)
Long-time love-relationships comfort you because they enhance the secretion of the comforting brain chemical oxytocin (Daniel Amen, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, p.93). And you also seem to get enhanced experiences with oxytocin in long-term spiritual relationships, like the ones we have with Jesus (S. B. Algoe and B. M. Way, in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience [2014]).
Mark E.
* * *
Philippians 1:21-30
How can I ever live my life to be worthy of the grace and blessings God has provided? Paul’s letter calls to my soul to be more than I am, more than I think I can be. But how do I really live my life in a manner worthy of the Gospel? How can I repay what I have been given? Well, the reality is that I can never repay the love and grace offered to me. I can never earn it. The good news is I don’t have to earn it. God freely forgives, graces, loves me. What joy there is in that knowledge! To live in the manner of the Gospel then is not about repaying but offering gratitude. To live in the manner of the Gospel is to follow in the ways, attitudes, behaviors of Jesus. I know I will never get there, but it is a worth-while journey, nonetheless. At my weakest, I can look to Jesus for the strength to continue to live into the Gospel. When I am feeling my strongest, I can sing the praise to God for the gifts and blessings I have received. It’s a wonderful gift to know that perfect is not required; my attempt is enough.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 20:1-16
Sometimes I just want to focus in on one word. Like heteire.
This passage allows several interpretations. God is unfair in a grace-filled way. Or we can talk about the prevalence of day labor in Jesus’ day because of so many farmers driven off their land. Or ask people who they don’t want to see in heaven, and whose last second confession might earn them a place in paradise.
But we mustn’t overlook the social distance between different economic groups prevalent in that first century society. It’s astounding that the rich landowner goes himself to hire day laborers instead of sending his overseer (his episkopos, the word that gets translated as bishop elsewhere in the New Testament with all the theological baggage of our time instead of recognizing that he’s the hireling, or more likely a slave whose job it is to recruit the workers). There’s got to be a sermon on the Incarnation right there. Then, when challenged at the end of the parable the landowner uses that one word I want to talk about, “heteire,” usually translated “friend.” That’s astounding that the rich man would refer to a day laborer as friend when he could easily have him beaten and cast out without his denarius for questioning the way he spends his money. That word is related to another word for “association” or “club.” The implication is that landowner and day laborer, two opposite ends of the social and economic spectrum, are part of the same club — humanity! If the landowner is our parent God, we are one in Christ. God hangs around with us? God clubs with us? God book clubs with us? There’s a lot in this word.
Frank R.
* * *
Matthew 20:1-16
In his book And the Angels Were Silent, Max Lucado recounts a story from his youth. I think much of it fits well with this text. Lucado writes, “My dad was convinced school holidays were made for boys to earn money. Like it or not, be it Christmas, summer, or Thanksgiving, he'd wake my brother and me before the sun was up and drop us off at one of the local roustabout companies to see if we could hire on for the day.” Lucado notes that’s where he met Ben. Ben was an older guy whose snowy white hair cascaded down from a ball cap. His shoulders were stooped, and his face leathered from seven decades of West Texas winters. Lucado talks about that system. “If you couldn't weld, then you would roughneck. If you couldn't roughneck, then you'd service wells. If you couldn't service wells, then you'd roustabout. But if you couldn't roustabout, well, it was the unemployment line.”
Lucado describes how workers were chosen, based on the strength of the back and the experience of the worker. For Ben and Max, though, it didn’t always work out. Ben had experience and Max strength, but they often found themselves left in the shed, unchosen.
Lucado talks about that story in connection with this text. He notes that Jesus carefully weaves this parable of grace.
Though there are many points that can come from this parable, for just a minute, look at the choosing. Can you see it? The landowner hired workers at 9:00. He did it again at noon. He came back again at 3:00. But most incredibly, it happened at 5:00.
Did you catch the last time? Five in the afternoon! What is a worker doing hanging around hoping to be hired at 5:00 in the afternoon? The best have long since gone. The mediocre workers went at lunch. The last string went at 3:00. What kind of worker is left at 5:00 P.M.?
They are unskilled, untrained, and uneducated. They are the forgotten ones. They are hanging with one hand from the bottom of the ladder. They are absolutely dependent upon a merciful boss giving them a chance they don't deserve. These are the ones to whom Jesus reaches out. He did then and he still does today.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 20:1-16
Discipleship
Albert Simpson was the founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in 1897. The organization had its origin in New York City. Along with others who were a part of the original organizers they considered themselves not to be a church, a sect, or a denomination, but rather as a movement among all Christians. They stressed Christ as “Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King.” They were also very active in mission programs. In the same year Simpson published a daily devotional book titled, Days of Heaven Upon Earth: A Year Book of Scripture Texts and Living Truths. The meditation for April 7 reflected on healing others. In his devotional he emphasized the importance of touch. But, Simpson went on to write, we often fail to heal because our “spirit has not felt its way to the heart of Christ.” We are unable to draw Christ’s love into our being. This is why Simpson closed with these words, “May we this day lay aside all things that could hinder our near approach to Him, and walk hand in hand, heart to heart, with Jesus.”
Ron L.
Our Daily Bread, May 16, 1992, shared a story about missionary Hudson Taylor. The article noted Taylor’s complete trust in God’s faithful provision by citing what he wrote in his journal. “Our heavenly Father is a very experienced one. He knows very well that his children wake up with a good appetite every morning. He sustained three million Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. We do not expect he will send three million missionaries to China; but if he did, he would have ample means to sustain them all. Depend on it, God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
Did you catch the last line of Taylor’s entry? God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply. Despite the complaining of his people, God told Moses that he would provide for them each day. “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.”
God will provide for you and me, too, if we will do things God’s way. Will we complain when things are hard, or will we trust?
Bill T.
* * *
Exodus 16:2-15
I’m writing this while we all stay home during the Covid-19 pandemic so hopefully by the time you read this in September we’ll all be getting out and about. Whatever the situation, this lesson still applies. Jesus told us to pray for our daily bread, not for our neighbor’s bread, or indeed, all the bread from the now-empty shelves at the local grocery store now jammed into our freezer. We recently lived through a season of unreasonable hoarding. Hoarding, which stems from this false belief that we matter more than anyone else, springs up regularly. Remember Y2K? Remember other health scares, as well as those scares that turned out to be all too real? Now in this passage Moses delivers the word of the Lord. God will provide enough manna for everyone, every day. But if we extend this passage just a few verses, through 16:20, we are reminded that everyone who hoarded manna ended up with maggoty manna. I doubt if all that toilet paper that was hoarded earlier this year went bad, but neither did it yield any increase in investment. Perhaps it led to a harvest of shame, especially if neighbors found out. But confession on the past, while helpful, is not as important as resolving to trust the Lord in the present moment when this happens again in the future.
Frank R.
* * *
Exodus 16:2-15
Hope
On Sunday, April 5, 2020, New York City spontaneously began a ritual of community support and hope for the healthcare workers combating the coronavirus. It is now called “Clap Because We Care,” and it has become a new urban ritual, as it has been adopted by cities across our nation. Every evening at seven o’clock people line the streets and applaud the healthcare workers for their magnificent effort. The hour was specifically chosen because that is the hour of shift change. Those who are leaving the hospital at the end of their working day, and those who are arriving at the hospital to begin their working day, are greeted with applause and cheers.
Peter Marks is a reporter for The Washington Post. In an article for the Post he described how he was unexpectedly caught up in the frenzy of the celebration that first Sunday night. He said the street was “alive with noise.” He went on to say, “I couldn’t tell exactly where the cacophony was coming from: It seemed as if it was everywhere at once.” He wrote that “this surround-sound expression of support and gratitude engulfed me.” Though, the most important line in Marks’ article was his closing line, “It’s New Yorkers joining in a chorus, singing out in solidarity: ‘We are here.’”
Ron L.
* * *
Philippians 1:21-30
A Harris Poll taken before the recent pandemic found that 71% of Americans felt lonely! (The pandemic did not spike these numbers that much.) This lesson provides an antidote we need to get the American public to recognize. It is true that life without companionship, without Christ, is pretty miserable. Such a life feels like it’s not worth living. John Calvin put it this way:
And assuredly it is Christ alone that makes us happy both in death and in life; otherwise, if death is miserable life is no degree happier; so that it is difficult to determine whether it is more advantageous to live or to die out of Christ. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XXI/2, p.42)
Famed Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards makes it clear that we have a constant companion in Christ, sticking with us through thick and thin:
And as Christ is unchangeable in His intercession, so He is unchangeable in upholding and preserving those that are His, and ordering all things for their good. (Works, Vol.2, p.951)
You may greatly comfort yourself that you have an unchangeable friend in Jesus Christ. (Works, Vol.2, p.954)
Long-time love-relationships comfort you because they enhance the secretion of the comforting brain chemical oxytocin (Daniel Amen, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, p.93). And you also seem to get enhanced experiences with oxytocin in long-term spiritual relationships, like the ones we have with Jesus (S. B. Algoe and B. M. Way, in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience [2014]).
Mark E.
* * *
Philippians 1:21-30
How can I ever live my life to be worthy of the grace and blessings God has provided? Paul’s letter calls to my soul to be more than I am, more than I think I can be. But how do I really live my life in a manner worthy of the Gospel? How can I repay what I have been given? Well, the reality is that I can never repay the love and grace offered to me. I can never earn it. The good news is I don’t have to earn it. God freely forgives, graces, loves me. What joy there is in that knowledge! To live in the manner of the Gospel then is not about repaying but offering gratitude. To live in the manner of the Gospel is to follow in the ways, attitudes, behaviors of Jesus. I know I will never get there, but it is a worth-while journey, nonetheless. At my weakest, I can look to Jesus for the strength to continue to live into the Gospel. When I am feeling my strongest, I can sing the praise to God for the gifts and blessings I have received. It’s a wonderful gift to know that perfect is not required; my attempt is enough.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 20:1-16
Sometimes I just want to focus in on one word. Like heteire.
This passage allows several interpretations. God is unfair in a grace-filled way. Or we can talk about the prevalence of day labor in Jesus’ day because of so many farmers driven off their land. Or ask people who they don’t want to see in heaven, and whose last second confession might earn them a place in paradise.
But we mustn’t overlook the social distance between different economic groups prevalent in that first century society. It’s astounding that the rich landowner goes himself to hire day laborers instead of sending his overseer (his episkopos, the word that gets translated as bishop elsewhere in the New Testament with all the theological baggage of our time instead of recognizing that he’s the hireling, or more likely a slave whose job it is to recruit the workers). There’s got to be a sermon on the Incarnation right there. Then, when challenged at the end of the parable the landowner uses that one word I want to talk about, “heteire,” usually translated “friend.” That’s astounding that the rich man would refer to a day laborer as friend when he could easily have him beaten and cast out without his denarius for questioning the way he spends his money. That word is related to another word for “association” or “club.” The implication is that landowner and day laborer, two opposite ends of the social and economic spectrum, are part of the same club — humanity! If the landowner is our parent God, we are one in Christ. God hangs around with us? God clubs with us? God book clubs with us? There’s a lot in this word.
Frank R.
* * *
Matthew 20:1-16
In his book And the Angels Were Silent, Max Lucado recounts a story from his youth. I think much of it fits well with this text. Lucado writes, “My dad was convinced school holidays were made for boys to earn money. Like it or not, be it Christmas, summer, or Thanksgiving, he'd wake my brother and me before the sun was up and drop us off at one of the local roustabout companies to see if we could hire on for the day.” Lucado notes that’s where he met Ben. Ben was an older guy whose snowy white hair cascaded down from a ball cap. His shoulders were stooped, and his face leathered from seven decades of West Texas winters. Lucado talks about that system. “If you couldn't weld, then you would roughneck. If you couldn't roughneck, then you'd service wells. If you couldn't service wells, then you'd roustabout. But if you couldn't roustabout, well, it was the unemployment line.”
Lucado describes how workers were chosen, based on the strength of the back and the experience of the worker. For Ben and Max, though, it didn’t always work out. Ben had experience and Max strength, but they often found themselves left in the shed, unchosen.
Lucado talks about that story in connection with this text. He notes that Jesus carefully weaves this parable of grace.
Though there are many points that can come from this parable, for just a minute, look at the choosing. Can you see it? The landowner hired workers at 9:00. He did it again at noon. He came back again at 3:00. But most incredibly, it happened at 5:00.
Did you catch the last time? Five in the afternoon! What is a worker doing hanging around hoping to be hired at 5:00 in the afternoon? The best have long since gone. The mediocre workers went at lunch. The last string went at 3:00. What kind of worker is left at 5:00 P.M.?
They are unskilled, untrained, and uneducated. They are the forgotten ones. They are hanging with one hand from the bottom of the ladder. They are absolutely dependent upon a merciful boss giving them a chance they don't deserve. These are the ones to whom Jesus reaches out. He did then and he still does today.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 20:1-16
Discipleship
Albert Simpson was the founder of The Christian and Missionary Alliance in 1897. The organization had its origin in New York City. Along with others who were a part of the original organizers they considered themselves not to be a church, a sect, or a denomination, but rather as a movement among all Christians. They stressed Christ as “Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King.” They were also very active in mission programs. In the same year Simpson published a daily devotional book titled, Days of Heaven Upon Earth: A Year Book of Scripture Texts and Living Truths. The meditation for April 7 reflected on healing others. In his devotional he emphasized the importance of touch. But, Simpson went on to write, we often fail to heal because our “spirit has not felt its way to the heart of Christ.” We are unable to draw Christ’s love into our being. This is why Simpson closed with these words, “May we this day lay aside all things that could hinder our near approach to Him, and walk hand in hand, heart to heart, with Jesus.”
Ron L.
