Sermon Illustrations for Proper 22 | Ordinary Time 27 (2024)
Illustration
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
In addition to all her ministry to the poor, Mother Teresa felt a burden for the lonely. As she once put it: “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” A 2024 Healthy Minds poll revealed that near 1/3 of Americans feel lonely. The Surgeon General of the US has issued a report on the crisis. Job certainly felt alone in his crisis. And yet there are hints that God is not abandoning him or us in our loneliness. Martin Luther offered comments on this story which make it clear that no matter how bad things are we are not alone, not without God:
From the example of Job one can understand to some extent what it is to be forsaken of God... Yet Job is not completely forsaken, his soul and life are still preserved and sure under the protection of God and His holy angels, and he still has comfort in his heart. (Luther’s Works, Vol.12, p.125)
Modern physics provides us with another set of images for appreciating that we are never alone. Because of the turbulence in the atom, whose molecules are always in motion and splitting apart, physicists have needed to posit the so-called Higgs Field as the region in which all the various atoms and their molecules come together to form matter. Something in that field holds matter together (the Higgs Boson). Since we believe God is the Creator of all matter, then he must also be found in the invisible Higgs Field. Consider that insight the next time you have the blues. God is with you, in all the matter that surrounds you! No need ever to feel lonely again. The one who made you is in and with you.
Mark E.
* * *
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
(Hi all — I’m taking much of my comments on the Book of Job from a self-published work titled Job: The Bootleg Commentary, by Robert W. Neff and Frank Ramirez. Originally Bob and I were commissioned to write a commentary for a particular series, but there were too many strictures, so we abandoned that project and wrote other books instead.)
The book of Job begins as an isolated chapter in the history of humankind, yet it is the most universal of stories. Unlike most other books in the Old Testament, there is no connection, on the surface at least, between the hero and Israel. He simply lives in the east where the locus of the entire book occurs. Most historical books in the Hebrew Bible open with the phrase, “And there was…,” connecting the story with what preceded it, story wise. There is no such link with Job. He pops up, “A man there was…,” without definite lineage or direct tie to a specific past. There is no list of ancestors, no obvious connection with either the primeval history of Genesis 1-11 with its constant, if inconsistent, genealogies, and there is only a tenuous attempt to blend Job’s story into the saga of Abram and his descendants.
What does this say about the nature of the story?
The historical circumstances are meant to seem remote in terms of the name of the lead character and the location of his home. Along with the opening sentence, the reader has no historical setting in which to locate this individual. Samuel Balantine in his commentary on Job suggests that the location of Uz in the East reflects the tradition of the primeval garden of Eden so the land of Uz functions not as a geographical location but as a theological one. The description of Job’s life follows a patriarchal style of existence that would suggest living outside specific locations and boundaries. The historical circumstances of Job’s life seem to have been left deliberately ambiguous.
Because of the absence of a genealogy and precise location for Job’s home, some Jewish observers believed he stood outside history. They asserted that the whole story was a mashal, a parable about righteous suffering. The Babylonian Talmud claimed that Job did not exist. (“Job never was and never existed but is only a typical figure.” B.B 15a) The story diverts our attention away from a particular time and place to a consideration of the life of devotion in the context of deep suffering. Argument about Job’s literal truth diverts our attention from the implications of this breathtaking literary masterpiece. We are led not to a geographical topography but a breathtaking landscape of suffering, which turns out to be nothing less than our own world.
This premise is confirmed by the telling of the details about Job’s life: his homeland; his name, his family and possessions, and his relationship with God. Job’s name, location, and his family and possessions are mentioned only once. However, the fourth detail is stated three times in exactly the same way: “A man blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (1:1; 1:8; and 2:3). This description of Job is known both on earth and in heaven. It is not only the premise on which the prologue rests but also the one on which the whole book depends.
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
Some in the business world say that April 23, 1985, was a day that will live in marketing infamy. That was the day that the Coca Cola Company announced it was changing the formula for the world’s most popular soft drink. “New Coke” was born! It was the first change in the product in 99 years. It went as badly as you might think it did. New Coke lasted about 79 days and then the original, called Coca Cola Classic, was returned. Why did this go so badly? The answer is clear. The Classic Coke tasted way better than the New Coke. There was no comparison.
No comparison. Those words apply to a lot of different things. Classic Coke vs. New Coke: No comparison. Fresh vegetables vs. canned vegetables: no comparison. Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James, well, you get the idea. The writer of Hebrews is also setting up a “no comparison” situation. Jesus vs. angels; no comparison. “When he had made purification for[c] sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Heb. 1:3-4).
There is no one like Jesus. The words to the chorus of the song, “Jesus, there is no one like you” say, “Jesus, there’s no one like you. Jesus, we love you, ever adore you. There is no one like you.” May we be reminded of that, too, as we think about Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
The book of Job has always been challenging to read. In this passage, the accuser (the evil one) is given permission to torment and damage Job’s life. The only condition in the text is that the accuser cannot take Job’s life. Unlike most of us, Job doesn’t express anger or blame. Job, rather, reflects on all the blessings of his life and sees these occurrences as just another part of life. If we accept and thank God for the good things, how then can we blame God for the bad things that happen to us?
I don’t believe that God sits on a far away throne somewhere and causes the tragedies of our lives. We, as human beings, can wreck enough havoc on our own. Rather, I believe that God walks with us, offers us grace and courage, surrounds us with love and hope, even in the midst of the worst things that befall us. Job exemplifies that faithfulness. Oh, that I always could do the same.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
These opening four verses are one sentence — and what a sentence. It is meant to be heard more than read. The first phrase has five words that begin with ‘p,’ pah, pah, pah, pah, pah. And the verse continues with more euphony. It sounds good to hear, even if you don’t understand Greek. The author is in control, and in these four verses the whole book is summarized — God has been attempting in every way possible to get our attention, through acts of creation, signs, wonders, and words, but focus on Jesus — and forget angels, temples, and everything else, because the son is elevated above everything else. Focus!
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 10:2-16
Divorce rates have leveled off or declined since the pandemic but in 2023, 35% to 50% of first marriages were ending in divorce and in that year 60% to 70% of second marriages dissolved. Martin Luther offered some sound advice on keeping marriage alive. He wrote:
It is impossible to keep peace between man and woman in family life if they do not condone and overlook each other’s faults but watch everything to the smallest point. For who does not at times offend? Thus, many things must be overlooked; very many things must be ignored that a peaceful relation may exist. (What Luther Says, p.905)
Benjamin Franklin echoes similar sentiments about 200 years later. As he put it, “You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife?” (Writings, p.1259)
There are a lot of positive reasons for long-term marriage. Luther himself, a happily married man once observed that “There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.” Sex is even better in a good marriage. In long-term relationships, our brains get flooded with the brain chemical oxytocin which soothes, calms our emotions, and apparently heals. Unlike dopamine which is also secreted in sexual encounters it is not a drug to which we build up a tolerance, and so we do not lose the “high” after numerous encounters like happens in shorter-term affairs in which the dopamine high begins to ebb (Juhi, Kamari, Oxytocin: The Love Hormone That Saves Your Marriage And Heals You Wounds Too).
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 10:2-16
I could sidestep the challenging parts of this passage, but let’s talk about marriage for a moment…and let’s consider the context. In the time of Jesus, as well as before, and for some time after, women were “sold” into marriage — they did not make their own choices. The choices were made for them by fathers or elder male relatives. Additionally, woman had no means of supporting themselves or creating an independent life. If they divorced, they needed to be accepted back into their father’s house. Men ruled the homeplaces and the family and marital relationships.
In that context, we can look at what Jesus says as a means of protecting those who are not supported and who are marginalized. The sin of adultery is used to accent the shifts in behavior and power in marital relationships. And there is an accent on a commitment, a God-blessed union and covenant of the relationship — a way of blessing the creation of a new household of faith. We could talk about this for a long time and we might not understand all the nuances of this interpretation of the law. However, times are different now and there is free choice, independence, and self-fulfillment in the marital covenants we now make. Maybe the thoughts we have need to be able considerations before a commitment is made, rather than what happens after the covenant is broken.
Bonnie B.
In addition to all her ministry to the poor, Mother Teresa felt a burden for the lonely. As she once put it: “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” A 2024 Healthy Minds poll revealed that near 1/3 of Americans feel lonely. The Surgeon General of the US has issued a report on the crisis. Job certainly felt alone in his crisis. And yet there are hints that God is not abandoning him or us in our loneliness. Martin Luther offered comments on this story which make it clear that no matter how bad things are we are not alone, not without God:
From the example of Job one can understand to some extent what it is to be forsaken of God... Yet Job is not completely forsaken, his soul and life are still preserved and sure under the protection of God and His holy angels, and he still has comfort in his heart. (Luther’s Works, Vol.12, p.125)
Modern physics provides us with another set of images for appreciating that we are never alone. Because of the turbulence in the atom, whose molecules are always in motion and splitting apart, physicists have needed to posit the so-called Higgs Field as the region in which all the various atoms and their molecules come together to form matter. Something in that field holds matter together (the Higgs Boson). Since we believe God is the Creator of all matter, then he must also be found in the invisible Higgs Field. Consider that insight the next time you have the blues. God is with you, in all the matter that surrounds you! No need ever to feel lonely again. The one who made you is in and with you.
Mark E.
* * *
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
(Hi all — I’m taking much of my comments on the Book of Job from a self-published work titled Job: The Bootleg Commentary, by Robert W. Neff and Frank Ramirez. Originally Bob and I were commissioned to write a commentary for a particular series, but there were too many strictures, so we abandoned that project and wrote other books instead.)
The book of Job begins as an isolated chapter in the history of humankind, yet it is the most universal of stories. Unlike most other books in the Old Testament, there is no connection, on the surface at least, between the hero and Israel. He simply lives in the east where the locus of the entire book occurs. Most historical books in the Hebrew Bible open with the phrase, “And there was…,” connecting the story with what preceded it, story wise. There is no such link with Job. He pops up, “A man there was…,” without definite lineage or direct tie to a specific past. There is no list of ancestors, no obvious connection with either the primeval history of Genesis 1-11 with its constant, if inconsistent, genealogies, and there is only a tenuous attempt to blend Job’s story into the saga of Abram and his descendants.
What does this say about the nature of the story?
The historical circumstances are meant to seem remote in terms of the name of the lead character and the location of his home. Along with the opening sentence, the reader has no historical setting in which to locate this individual. Samuel Balantine in his commentary on Job suggests that the location of Uz in the East reflects the tradition of the primeval garden of Eden so the land of Uz functions not as a geographical location but as a theological one. The description of Job’s life follows a patriarchal style of existence that would suggest living outside specific locations and boundaries. The historical circumstances of Job’s life seem to have been left deliberately ambiguous.
Because of the absence of a genealogy and precise location for Job’s home, some Jewish observers believed he stood outside history. They asserted that the whole story was a mashal, a parable about righteous suffering. The Babylonian Talmud claimed that Job did not exist. (“Job never was and never existed but is only a typical figure.” B.B 15a) The story diverts our attention away from a particular time and place to a consideration of the life of devotion in the context of deep suffering. Argument about Job’s literal truth diverts our attention from the implications of this breathtaking literary masterpiece. We are led not to a geographical topography but a breathtaking landscape of suffering, which turns out to be nothing less than our own world.
This premise is confirmed by the telling of the details about Job’s life: his homeland; his name, his family and possessions, and his relationship with God. Job’s name, location, and his family and possessions are mentioned only once. However, the fourth detail is stated three times in exactly the same way: “A man blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (1:1; 1:8; and 2:3). This description of Job is known both on earth and in heaven. It is not only the premise on which the prologue rests but also the one on which the whole book depends.
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
Some in the business world say that April 23, 1985, was a day that will live in marketing infamy. That was the day that the Coca Cola Company announced it was changing the formula for the world’s most popular soft drink. “New Coke” was born! It was the first change in the product in 99 years. It went as badly as you might think it did. New Coke lasted about 79 days and then the original, called Coca Cola Classic, was returned. Why did this go so badly? The answer is clear. The Classic Coke tasted way better than the New Coke. There was no comparison.
No comparison. Those words apply to a lot of different things. Classic Coke vs. New Coke: No comparison. Fresh vegetables vs. canned vegetables: no comparison. Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James, well, you get the idea. The writer of Hebrews is also setting up a “no comparison” situation. Jesus vs. angels; no comparison. “When he had made purification for[c] sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Heb. 1:3-4).
There is no one like Jesus. The words to the chorus of the song, “Jesus, there is no one like you” say, “Jesus, there’s no one like you. Jesus, we love you, ever adore you. There is no one like you.” May we be reminded of that, too, as we think about Jesus.
Bill T.
* * *
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
The book of Job has always been challenging to read. In this passage, the accuser (the evil one) is given permission to torment and damage Job’s life. The only condition in the text is that the accuser cannot take Job’s life. Unlike most of us, Job doesn’t express anger or blame. Job, rather, reflects on all the blessings of his life and sees these occurrences as just another part of life. If we accept and thank God for the good things, how then can we blame God for the bad things that happen to us?
I don’t believe that God sits on a far away throne somewhere and causes the tragedies of our lives. We, as human beings, can wreck enough havoc on our own. Rather, I believe that God walks with us, offers us grace and courage, surrounds us with love and hope, even in the midst of the worst things that befall us. Job exemplifies that faithfulness. Oh, that I always could do the same.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
These opening four verses are one sentence — and what a sentence. It is meant to be heard more than read. The first phrase has five words that begin with ‘p,’ pah, pah, pah, pah, pah. And the verse continues with more euphony. It sounds good to hear, even if you don’t understand Greek. The author is in control, and in these four verses the whole book is summarized — God has been attempting in every way possible to get our attention, through acts of creation, signs, wonders, and words, but focus on Jesus — and forget angels, temples, and everything else, because the son is elevated above everything else. Focus!
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 10:2-16
Divorce rates have leveled off or declined since the pandemic but in 2023, 35% to 50% of first marriages were ending in divorce and in that year 60% to 70% of second marriages dissolved. Martin Luther offered some sound advice on keeping marriage alive. He wrote:
It is impossible to keep peace between man and woman in family life if they do not condone and overlook each other’s faults but watch everything to the smallest point. For who does not at times offend? Thus, many things must be overlooked; very many things must be ignored that a peaceful relation may exist. (What Luther Says, p.905)
Benjamin Franklin echoes similar sentiments about 200 years later. As he put it, “You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in your wife?” (Writings, p.1259)
There are a lot of positive reasons for long-term marriage. Luther himself, a happily married man once observed that “There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.” Sex is even better in a good marriage. In long-term relationships, our brains get flooded with the brain chemical oxytocin which soothes, calms our emotions, and apparently heals. Unlike dopamine which is also secreted in sexual encounters it is not a drug to which we build up a tolerance, and so we do not lose the “high” after numerous encounters like happens in shorter-term affairs in which the dopamine high begins to ebb (Juhi, Kamari, Oxytocin: The Love Hormone That Saves Your Marriage And Heals You Wounds Too).
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 10:2-16
I could sidestep the challenging parts of this passage, but let’s talk about marriage for a moment…and let’s consider the context. In the time of Jesus, as well as before, and for some time after, women were “sold” into marriage — they did not make their own choices. The choices were made for them by fathers or elder male relatives. Additionally, woman had no means of supporting themselves or creating an independent life. If they divorced, they needed to be accepted back into their father’s house. Men ruled the homeplaces and the family and marital relationships.
In that context, we can look at what Jesus says as a means of protecting those who are not supported and who are marginalized. The sin of adultery is used to accent the shifts in behavior and power in marital relationships. And there is an accent on a commitment, a God-blessed union and covenant of the relationship — a way of blessing the creation of a new household of faith. We could talk about this for a long time and we might not understand all the nuances of this interpretation of the law. However, times are different now and there is free choice, independence, and self-fulfillment in the marital covenants we now make. Maybe the thoughts we have need to be able considerations before a commitment is made, rather than what happens after the covenant is broken.
Bonnie B.
