Sermon Illustrations for Proper 21 | Ordinary Time 26 (2012)
Illustration
Object:
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
In Esther 9:20-22 we have the origins of the festival of Purim associated with the Esther story. Eugene Peterson, in his book Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work, explains the joy and celebration associated with this annual festival in the Jewish tradition when he writes: "The people of God were threatened with destruction. They were not destroyed. The experience was not unlike that undergone by Dostoyevsky when he faced the prospect of execution and was at the last moment reprieved; the presence of death heightened all aspects of life, gave them deeper color, new reality. One becomes conscious of the basic miracle of minimal being in such crisis situations."
Therefore, the festival of Purim is characterized by joy and celebration. The people of God were so close to extermination, but by the providence of God and Esther's plea on behalf of her people they now live.
Indeed, the festival of Purim commemorates the survival of the Hebrew people. Therefore, Purim has become an annual feast in the Jewish religious calendar. Some scholars rate it second in importance only to that of the Seder service at Passover.
Richard H.
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
With a lot of earthly wisdom and femme fatale, Esther achieved justice for the Jewish people, perhaps more effectively than had she sought to convert her Persian king/husband Ashasuerus to Judaism. The Bible teaches here that earthly wisdom and common sense are what we need in government! Sometimes too much spirituality is a barrier to getting things done in government. In the black church this message is sometimes taught, as some people are said "to be so holy as to be of no earthly use!"
Thomas Jefferson comments in this spirit: "I can never fear that things will go wrong where common sense has fair play." In the same spirit Martin Luther taught that rulers must be wise in the way of politics, while realizing that such earthly means can still serve God" (Luther's Works, Vol. 45, 119ff).
French scholar Blaise Pascal had it right, offering good advice for how we vote: Justice without power [the worldly wisdom it takes to exercise power] is not much use.
Mark E.
James 5:13-20
Prayer comes up often in scripture. Can you point to prayers that God has answered for you? One prayer I'm sorry I asked God to answer. I was graduating from seminary and I asked the Lord to give me money for my expenses. It was the most important request I could think of. The Lord answered my prayer by giving me $50,000. I wish I had never asked.
The money came from my folks' estate. They were killed on the way home from my ordination. I tell myself that that is not the way God works, but now I leave things in his hands! Always end your request with "thy will be done!" A fellow pastor prayed for patience, and the Lord put him through such trials to teach him patience that he never asked again.
Pray! But then leave it up to God who knows best.
Bob O.
James 5:13-20
Measles, chickenpox, swine flu, mad cow disease -- medical words today's "youth" recognize. The "older generation" remembers when polio, rheumatic fever, and tuberculosis touched our world.
A family became concerned when Mom became sick. "It's just a bout with her ulcer," they thought.
So when she volunteered to peel potatoes for supper, Dad let her. After the scraps were fed to their pet crow, the family realized she had contracted the Asian flu. They buried Scrappy and quarantined Mother.
A strong woman of faith, Mom asked for a prayer for healing. Pastor Eaton laid hands upon her, anointing her with oil. Reading the passage from James, they agreed "the prayer of faith will save the sick." By the next week, she was on the way to recovery.
Cynthia C.
James 5:13-20
There is a ministry in many congregations today that uses prayer shawls to comfort those who are sick, troubled, grieving, or experiencing any other kind of hardship. Members of the congregation crochet lap-sized or shoulder-sized shawls and give them to individuals as a tangible sign of the prayers of others that are being wrapped around the individual during their time of need. The individual is comforted by the prayers even after the words have ceased, for the shawl keeps the spiritual warmth close to the person's heart.
Mark M.
James 5:13-20
The Los Angeles Police Department experimented with a new technology that has become so effective in preventing crime that cities across the nation are employing it. It is called "predictive policing." Various data is placed into a computer, which then predicts where the next crime wave will be. The computer can draw the potential crime area as small as 500 square feet. These prediction areas are referred to as "boxes." When an officer is able, he is instructed to "go in the box," so his presence will prevent a predicted crime.
Application: James speaks of community when he asks, "How many of you are...?" He refers to the extended community beyond the church when he states, "whoever brings back a sinner from wandering." In other words, James is instructing us to "go in the box."
Ron L.
Mark 9:38-50
Jesus wants to maintain our saltiness; he gives us more salt! Salt is a disinfectant and preservative. It is also essential to good health. Body cells need salt to live and work. Salt combats chronic fatigue. Lack of salt can lead to cancer or compromise the cardiac system.
John Wesley says that the salt to which Jesus refers in the gospel is his grace (Commentary on the Bible, p. 430). That says it all! Grace preserves us in our faith, disinfects us of sin, gives life, health, and energy to do God's thing!
Mark E.
Mark 9:38-50
John shows how far the disciples were from understanding Jesus' teachings. John complained: "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us" (Mark 9:38). Jesus, of course, rebukes John's narrow outlook and contends: "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:40).
Fred Craddock puts this conversation into a larger context when he says "that Jesus had selected twelve to be apostles does not mean that no one else could trust in God as Jesus taught and participate in his ministry. The twelve had been chosen from among many disciples who certainly were not sent home because they were not of the apostolic circle. Exorcisms were performed among the Jews, and it was inevitable that those drawn to Jesus would call on his name for power over evil spirits...
"And why not? Who holds the franchise for relieving human suffering? The twelve, who should have celebrated the fact that the influence of Jesus was spreading, especially in view of their own recent failure, manifest a spirit of exclusivism."
Richard H.
In Esther 9:20-22 we have the origins of the festival of Purim associated with the Esther story. Eugene Peterson, in his book Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work, explains the joy and celebration associated with this annual festival in the Jewish tradition when he writes: "The people of God were threatened with destruction. They were not destroyed. The experience was not unlike that undergone by Dostoyevsky when he faced the prospect of execution and was at the last moment reprieved; the presence of death heightened all aspects of life, gave them deeper color, new reality. One becomes conscious of the basic miracle of minimal being in such crisis situations."
Therefore, the festival of Purim is characterized by joy and celebration. The people of God were so close to extermination, but by the providence of God and Esther's plea on behalf of her people they now live.
Indeed, the festival of Purim commemorates the survival of the Hebrew people. Therefore, Purim has become an annual feast in the Jewish religious calendar. Some scholars rate it second in importance only to that of the Seder service at Passover.
Richard H.
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
With a lot of earthly wisdom and femme fatale, Esther achieved justice for the Jewish people, perhaps more effectively than had she sought to convert her Persian king/husband Ashasuerus to Judaism. The Bible teaches here that earthly wisdom and common sense are what we need in government! Sometimes too much spirituality is a barrier to getting things done in government. In the black church this message is sometimes taught, as some people are said "to be so holy as to be of no earthly use!"
Thomas Jefferson comments in this spirit: "I can never fear that things will go wrong where common sense has fair play." In the same spirit Martin Luther taught that rulers must be wise in the way of politics, while realizing that such earthly means can still serve God" (Luther's Works, Vol. 45, 119ff).
French scholar Blaise Pascal had it right, offering good advice for how we vote: Justice without power [the worldly wisdom it takes to exercise power] is not much use.
Mark E.
James 5:13-20
Prayer comes up often in scripture. Can you point to prayers that God has answered for you? One prayer I'm sorry I asked God to answer. I was graduating from seminary and I asked the Lord to give me money for my expenses. It was the most important request I could think of. The Lord answered my prayer by giving me $50,000. I wish I had never asked.
The money came from my folks' estate. They were killed on the way home from my ordination. I tell myself that that is not the way God works, but now I leave things in his hands! Always end your request with "thy will be done!" A fellow pastor prayed for patience, and the Lord put him through such trials to teach him patience that he never asked again.
Pray! But then leave it up to God who knows best.
Bob O.
James 5:13-20
Measles, chickenpox, swine flu, mad cow disease -- medical words today's "youth" recognize. The "older generation" remembers when polio, rheumatic fever, and tuberculosis touched our world.
A family became concerned when Mom became sick. "It's just a bout with her ulcer," they thought.
So when she volunteered to peel potatoes for supper, Dad let her. After the scraps were fed to their pet crow, the family realized she had contracted the Asian flu. They buried Scrappy and quarantined Mother.
A strong woman of faith, Mom asked for a prayer for healing. Pastor Eaton laid hands upon her, anointing her with oil. Reading the passage from James, they agreed "the prayer of faith will save the sick." By the next week, she was on the way to recovery.
Cynthia C.
James 5:13-20
There is a ministry in many congregations today that uses prayer shawls to comfort those who are sick, troubled, grieving, or experiencing any other kind of hardship. Members of the congregation crochet lap-sized or shoulder-sized shawls and give them to individuals as a tangible sign of the prayers of others that are being wrapped around the individual during their time of need. The individual is comforted by the prayers even after the words have ceased, for the shawl keeps the spiritual warmth close to the person's heart.
Mark M.
James 5:13-20
The Los Angeles Police Department experimented with a new technology that has become so effective in preventing crime that cities across the nation are employing it. It is called "predictive policing." Various data is placed into a computer, which then predicts where the next crime wave will be. The computer can draw the potential crime area as small as 500 square feet. These prediction areas are referred to as "boxes." When an officer is able, he is instructed to "go in the box," so his presence will prevent a predicted crime.
Application: James speaks of community when he asks, "How many of you are...?" He refers to the extended community beyond the church when he states, "whoever brings back a sinner from wandering." In other words, James is instructing us to "go in the box."
Ron L.
Mark 9:38-50
Jesus wants to maintain our saltiness; he gives us more salt! Salt is a disinfectant and preservative. It is also essential to good health. Body cells need salt to live and work. Salt combats chronic fatigue. Lack of salt can lead to cancer or compromise the cardiac system.
John Wesley says that the salt to which Jesus refers in the gospel is his grace (Commentary on the Bible, p. 430). That says it all! Grace preserves us in our faith, disinfects us of sin, gives life, health, and energy to do God's thing!
Mark E.
Mark 9:38-50
John shows how far the disciples were from understanding Jesus' teachings. John complained: "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us" (Mark 9:38). Jesus, of course, rebukes John's narrow outlook and contends: "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:40).
Fred Craddock puts this conversation into a larger context when he says "that Jesus had selected twelve to be apostles does not mean that no one else could trust in God as Jesus taught and participate in his ministry. The twelve had been chosen from among many disciples who certainly were not sent home because they were not of the apostolic circle. Exorcisms were performed among the Jews, and it was inevitable that those drawn to Jesus would call on his name for power over evil spirits...
"And why not? Who holds the franchise for relieving human suffering? The twelve, who should have celebrated the fact that the influence of Jesus was spreading, especially in view of their own recent failure, manifest a spirit of exclusivism."
Richard H.
