Sermon Illustrations for Proper 20 | Ordinary Time 25 (2021)
Illustration
Proverbs 31:10-31
Dave Branon wrote this story and I thought it fit this text. A man decided to make Mother's Day special for his wife. He bought her presents. He took her out to eat and tried to make life easy for her. Later, she told him what made her weekend special. It was something he did during church on Mother's Day. When the men in the church were told they could have the microphone to say something about a special woman in their life, he listened for a while as others spoke. Then, when the last call was given, he stood and spoke briefly about his wife — telling how thankful he was for her godly example. She was moved as he honored her before others. Those eighteen seconds were the highlight of her weekend. She even requested a tape of the service so she could savor his thoughtful words.
This text is a power and poetic tribute to the character of a godly woman. She is to be cherished and praised. I think it is nice when a man does kind things for his wife, but if he compliments her publicly, he truly honors her and deepens their relationship.
The writer of Proverbs 31 notes in verse 29, “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” May all of us learn from this example and be thankful for the influence of godly women in our lives.
Bill T.
* * *
Proverbs 31:10-31
At first sight it might look like this passage is telling women to buck up, smile, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do everything — get up in the dark, make breakfast for everyone run the house, sew, sow, work in the fields, and smile through it all while your husband hangs out at the city gates with the rest of the drones, congratulating each other on what a good job they’re doing while all the time they’re doing nothing.
Do it all and do it well. Who needs an identity? Or a moment to catch one’s breath?
I’m wondering how many times this has been cheerfully preached by some male pastor over the centuries to tell women the Bible says this is your place.
Now there’s no question this passage is written from the viewpoint of a patriarchal society, but here are a couple of clues to help you, male or female, in interpreting and perhaps even celebrating this passage.
It’s important to recall that women and men in biblical times did not live in the fantasy world of 1950’s television where the man worked at a paying job and the woman worked at home. This image of the “competent wife” is based on the ancient household, in which everyone worked, and everyone was essential to the maintenance of the household and the family craft or business. Archaeology has uncovered clear signs of how major portions of the house were set aside for the family business in which women were as essential as men to the success of the operation.
While this is true for people at all levels of the economy, this passage is focused even more tightly on a wealthier family, one tied to production, and not necessarily rich because of a royal title. Typically, rich women had control of finances and the family business. In the New Testament we see this embodied in women like Susanna, Joanna, and Mary of Magdala (Luke 8:1-3). Women typically chose which teachers, philosophers, poets, and artisans were patronized by the family. That’s why we see how the women financially supported the ministry of Jesus. They were no doubt examples of competence and success. One also meets home-owning women like Lydia (Acts 16:40), and the sisters Mary and Martha who provided both hospitality and charitable works for the community of God.
Notice that this ideal housewife is also a teacher. It is the woman who passes on the wisdom which has been the subject of this book, as well as chesed, the steadfast love (here translated as ‘kindness’ in the NRSV) that is typically the kind of love ascribed to God.
Note that in our times NGOs tend to work through women when it comes to economic development. Women receive 97% of all microloans in the developing world because women start businesses that benefit their families, using the profits to pay off the original loans and take out larger ones to further develop the business. (Men, alas, typically spend these loans on themselves and default on payments).
I wonder if our view of a woman’s “proper place” in society has been infected by a sort of golden age that probably never really existed? At any rate, I hope this passage is less cringeworthy than when you first encountered it.
Frank R.
* * *
James 3:13--4:3, 7-8a
James calls us to submit ourselves to God, to be wholly present in God’s sight. He calls us to live in wisdom, to live into the wisdom of our faith. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” That is a command to live into the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our relationships with one another. To live in mercy, peace, gentleness, purity, and righteousness changes us, as much as it changes the world. We are called to live in this way through the wisdom provided by God. I don’t know about you but some days this is especially difficult. When I am confronted by anger, animosity, fear, or the hypocrisy of others, I find it challenging to be merciful, gentle, or peaceful. That is when I fall to my knees, literally or figuratively, and seek God’s Spirit to dwell in me. God never disappoints.
Bonnie B.
* * *
James 3:13--4:3, 7-8a
Human beings on this side of the fall into sin are filled with envy. Socrates had it right: “Envy is the ulcer of the soul.” Spanish novelist Carlos Zafón once wrote:
Envy is the religion of the mediocre. It comforts them, it soothes their worries, and finally it rots their souls, allowing them to justify their meanness and their greed until they believe these to be virtues.
We need God to provide us a life with an alternative. Eighteenth-century English poet Alexander Pope beautifully describes the alternative to envy. He writes:
Teach me to feel another's woe. To hide the fault I see: That the mercy I show to others; that mercy also show to me.
English translations of the text speak of the Christian becoming “impartial.” Guatama Buddha well captures the intention of this concept as he notes that it is nothing more than experiencing the unity of life to see one’s own self in all beings and all beings in oneself. You don’t envy when you see yourself in your neighbor and your neighbor in yourself.
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 9:30-37
Jesus has a foot in two different worlds when he tells his disciples: “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again (Mark 9:31).”
One foot is planted in the apocalyptic passages of Daniel. In Daniel 7:13-14 we read that the Son of Man will come with the clouds and be given kingship and will reign forever. But the powers of darkness still reigned, Jesus warned. An unholy monster would “…speak words against the Most High, shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High, and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his power for a time, two times, and half a time.”
This symbol of three and a half times, or years, or seasons, pointed to a broken seven. If seven was a number that meant perfection, three and a half was a broken seven, which was the time dark would reign, in this case while Jesus lay in the tomb.
The other foot was planted in prophecy, specifically the prophecies of the suffering servant that appear in the latter part of Isaiah. Read Isaiah 53:4-7, about “he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases….” and “by his bruises we are healed.” Now Jesus seems to be familiar with both Isaiah’s suffering servant and the image of the Son of Man descending from beside the throne of the Ancient of Days, and I suspect he taught his disciples about these scriptures, yet still, as Mark wrote: “…they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him (9:30).”
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 9:30-37
In 1953, a man arrived at the Chicago railroad station. He was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. People watched as he stepped off the train. He was noticeable, being a tall man with bushy hair and a big moustache. Cameras flashed and city officials approached with hands outstretched to meet him, and he thanked them politely. Then, unexpectedly, he asked to be excused for a minute. He walked through the crowd to the side of an elderly African American woman struggling with two large suitcases. He picked them up, smiled, and escorted her to the bus, helped her get on, and wished her a safe journey. Then Albert Schweitzer turned to the crowd and apologized for keeping them waiting. It is reported that one member of the reception committee told a reporter, “That’s the first time I ever saw a sermon walking.”
Jesus’ disciples argued who among them would be the greatest. Jesus, in a vivid and powerful way, illustrated for them what greatness was about. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). John Ortberg once wrote, “When Jesus came in the form of a servant, he was not disguising who God is. He was revealing who God is.” ay we serve one another.
Bill T.
Dave Branon wrote this story and I thought it fit this text. A man decided to make Mother's Day special for his wife. He bought her presents. He took her out to eat and tried to make life easy for her. Later, she told him what made her weekend special. It was something he did during church on Mother's Day. When the men in the church were told they could have the microphone to say something about a special woman in their life, he listened for a while as others spoke. Then, when the last call was given, he stood and spoke briefly about his wife — telling how thankful he was for her godly example. She was moved as he honored her before others. Those eighteen seconds were the highlight of her weekend. She even requested a tape of the service so she could savor his thoughtful words.
This text is a power and poetic tribute to the character of a godly woman. She is to be cherished and praised. I think it is nice when a man does kind things for his wife, but if he compliments her publicly, he truly honors her and deepens their relationship.
The writer of Proverbs 31 notes in verse 29, “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” May all of us learn from this example and be thankful for the influence of godly women in our lives.
Bill T.
* * *
Proverbs 31:10-31
At first sight it might look like this passage is telling women to buck up, smile, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do everything — get up in the dark, make breakfast for everyone run the house, sew, sow, work in the fields, and smile through it all while your husband hangs out at the city gates with the rest of the drones, congratulating each other on what a good job they’re doing while all the time they’re doing nothing.
Do it all and do it well. Who needs an identity? Or a moment to catch one’s breath?
I’m wondering how many times this has been cheerfully preached by some male pastor over the centuries to tell women the Bible says this is your place.
Now there’s no question this passage is written from the viewpoint of a patriarchal society, but here are a couple of clues to help you, male or female, in interpreting and perhaps even celebrating this passage.
It’s important to recall that women and men in biblical times did not live in the fantasy world of 1950’s television where the man worked at a paying job and the woman worked at home. This image of the “competent wife” is based on the ancient household, in which everyone worked, and everyone was essential to the maintenance of the household and the family craft or business. Archaeology has uncovered clear signs of how major portions of the house were set aside for the family business in which women were as essential as men to the success of the operation.
While this is true for people at all levels of the economy, this passage is focused even more tightly on a wealthier family, one tied to production, and not necessarily rich because of a royal title. Typically, rich women had control of finances and the family business. In the New Testament we see this embodied in women like Susanna, Joanna, and Mary of Magdala (Luke 8:1-3). Women typically chose which teachers, philosophers, poets, and artisans were patronized by the family. That’s why we see how the women financially supported the ministry of Jesus. They were no doubt examples of competence and success. One also meets home-owning women like Lydia (Acts 16:40), and the sisters Mary and Martha who provided both hospitality and charitable works for the community of God.
Notice that this ideal housewife is also a teacher. It is the woman who passes on the wisdom which has been the subject of this book, as well as chesed, the steadfast love (here translated as ‘kindness’ in the NRSV) that is typically the kind of love ascribed to God.
Note that in our times NGOs tend to work through women when it comes to economic development. Women receive 97% of all microloans in the developing world because women start businesses that benefit their families, using the profits to pay off the original loans and take out larger ones to further develop the business. (Men, alas, typically spend these loans on themselves and default on payments).
I wonder if our view of a woman’s “proper place” in society has been infected by a sort of golden age that probably never really existed? At any rate, I hope this passage is less cringeworthy than when you first encountered it.
Frank R.
* * *
James 3:13--4:3, 7-8a
James calls us to submit ourselves to God, to be wholly present in God’s sight. He calls us to live in wisdom, to live into the wisdom of our faith. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” That is a command to live into the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our relationships with one another. To live in mercy, peace, gentleness, purity, and righteousness changes us, as much as it changes the world. We are called to live in this way through the wisdom provided by God. I don’t know about you but some days this is especially difficult. When I am confronted by anger, animosity, fear, or the hypocrisy of others, I find it challenging to be merciful, gentle, or peaceful. That is when I fall to my knees, literally or figuratively, and seek God’s Spirit to dwell in me. God never disappoints.
Bonnie B.
* * *
James 3:13--4:3, 7-8a
Human beings on this side of the fall into sin are filled with envy. Socrates had it right: “Envy is the ulcer of the soul.” Spanish novelist Carlos Zafón once wrote:
Envy is the religion of the mediocre. It comforts them, it soothes their worries, and finally it rots their souls, allowing them to justify their meanness and their greed until they believe these to be virtues.
We need God to provide us a life with an alternative. Eighteenth-century English poet Alexander Pope beautifully describes the alternative to envy. He writes:
Teach me to feel another's woe. To hide the fault I see: That the mercy I show to others; that mercy also show to me.
English translations of the text speak of the Christian becoming “impartial.” Guatama Buddha well captures the intention of this concept as he notes that it is nothing more than experiencing the unity of life to see one’s own self in all beings and all beings in oneself. You don’t envy when you see yourself in your neighbor and your neighbor in yourself.
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 9:30-37
Jesus has a foot in two different worlds when he tells his disciples: “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again (Mark 9:31).”
One foot is planted in the apocalyptic passages of Daniel. In Daniel 7:13-14 we read that the Son of Man will come with the clouds and be given kingship and will reign forever. But the powers of darkness still reigned, Jesus warned. An unholy monster would “…speak words against the Most High, shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High, and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his power for a time, two times, and half a time.”
This symbol of three and a half times, or years, or seasons, pointed to a broken seven. If seven was a number that meant perfection, three and a half was a broken seven, which was the time dark would reign, in this case while Jesus lay in the tomb.
The other foot was planted in prophecy, specifically the prophecies of the suffering servant that appear in the latter part of Isaiah. Read Isaiah 53:4-7, about “he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases….” and “by his bruises we are healed.” Now Jesus seems to be familiar with both Isaiah’s suffering servant and the image of the Son of Man descending from beside the throne of the Ancient of Days, and I suspect he taught his disciples about these scriptures, yet still, as Mark wrote: “…they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him (9:30).”
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 9:30-37
In 1953, a man arrived at the Chicago railroad station. He was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. People watched as he stepped off the train. He was noticeable, being a tall man with bushy hair and a big moustache. Cameras flashed and city officials approached with hands outstretched to meet him, and he thanked them politely. Then, unexpectedly, he asked to be excused for a minute. He walked through the crowd to the side of an elderly African American woman struggling with two large suitcases. He picked them up, smiled, and escorted her to the bus, helped her get on, and wished her a safe journey. Then Albert Schweitzer turned to the crowd and apologized for keeping them waiting. It is reported that one member of the reception committee told a reporter, “That’s the first time I ever saw a sermon walking.”
Jesus’ disciples argued who among them would be the greatest. Jesus, in a vivid and powerful way, illustrated for them what greatness was about. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). John Ortberg once wrote, “When Jesus came in the form of a servant, he was not disguising who God is. He was revealing who God is.” ay we serve one another.
Bill T.
