Sermon Illustrations for Proper 23 | Ordinary Time 28 (2018)
Illustration
Job 1:1; 2:1-10
How often in the troubles of our lives do we fail to perceive the presence of God? We look, as Job did, to the right and to the left, and we do not feel God or see God. Yet, it may be that we are looking outside for the presence of God, rather than internally. Job is discouraged. He cannot feel the presence of God. He looks forward and backward, but not inward.
We Christians believe that the light of Christ, the presence of God, lives in us. That light does not go away because the world or the situations outside of us are dark or troubling. God is there, or rather, God is here, in the midst, in our hearts and in our very souls and spirits. That is the gift of faith, the knowledge that we cannot run from the presence of God -- that God is always with us, in every situation, circumstance and occasion. We need look no further than our own souls.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Like Job we may not be as righteous as we think we are. The great American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr had thoughts about that matter:
... we regard ourselves as fairly virtuous, but we are not ultimately or absolutely virtuous... This is the situation in human nature. Whether in the family or in the nation, there is always a mixture of good and evil, of self-regard and self-giving, of self-obsession and self-forgetfulness. (Justice & Mercy, pp.39,42)
An earlier famed American theologian Jonathan Edwards explains God’s way of dealing with Job. It is necessary, he argued, for God to make human beings aware of their unworthiness:
This is God’s ordinary way before great and signal expressions of His mercy and favour. He very commonly so orders it in His providence, and so influences men by His Spirit, that they are brought to see their miserable condition as they are in themselves, or from an arm of flesh, before He appears for them, and also makes them sensible of their sin, and their unworthiness of God’s help. (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol.2, p.830)
Martin Luther made a similar point prior to the Reformation, regarding how God operates in order to help us recognize that we are not as good as we think we are: “Man hides what is his in order to conceal it, but God conceals what is His in order to reveal it. That is to say He hides it from the wise and the great in order that they might be humbled and become fools.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.51, p.26)
Mark E.
* * *
Job 23:1-9, 16-17 and Psalm 22:1-15
Did Job read that Psalm? He is crying out to his God because of his great suffering. Where else can we turn if we have a time of great suffering. I can’t imagine experiencing the great suffering I see happening to people around the world on the TV news. Even in our country as immigrants try to cross over our border illegally I doubt if I could do much for most of them but pray and give a small extra amount in the offering.
It makes me thank my God for giving me the blessings I experience every day. I am not starving. My house is not destroyed. I do see some disasters in our country when there is a hurricane or earthquake or a school shooting. I see it in countries where someone has lost a loved one in a war, as some have in our country, but maybe a whole family was wiped out in some countries. Some were imprisoned and tortured. I knew some in Nepal when I lived there who suffered in prison and they had an earthquake that destroyed all their possessions including their home after I left.
My wife left me one year and I cried out to the Lord. He answered me in a way I didn’t expect. I was alone for five years and then a woman appeared in my church who I went to visit the next day. My evangelism chairman went with me. We had a very warm and friendly talk. I discovered that she came to my church because her son had dated my daughter in high school. On the way out, the chairman told me, “Next time you go back alone.” One year later he was my best man at our wedding.
The Lord solved Job’s loneliness also.
The only difference between some of them in Nepal and Job was that they did not have people around them who made it worse by accusing them for bringing it on themselves as they did for Job. They only received accusations from their Hindu family who told them that they were suffering because they changed their faith to Christianitiy.
Thank our Lord that he is with us and gives us supportive family and friends in our church if we do have some bad times. We seldom have fellow members who tell us that we brought it all on ourselves as Job’s buddies did.
Yes! Sometimes we do bring disaster on ourselves with things like addiction to drugs or drinking or sins like adultery or cheating on our taxes.
Certainly no good church members would do any of those things...
Bob O.
* * *
Psalm 22:1-15
The quotation by Martin Luther in the Job 23:1-9, 16-17 well illustrates the sense of feeling forsaken by God to which this psalm testifies. Even Mother Teresa expressed her desolation in 1962 letter to a Bishop:
Often I wonder what does really God get from me in this state -- no faith, nor love -- not even in feelings. The other day I can't tell you how bad I felt. -- There was a moment when I nearly refused to accept. -- Deliberately I took the Rosary and very slowly and without even meditating or thinking -- I said it slowly and calmly. The moment passed -- but the darkness is so dark, and the pain is so painful. -- But I accept whatever He gives and I give whatever He takes. People they are drawn closer to God -- seeing my strong faith -- is this not deceiving people? Every time I have wanted to tell the truth -- “that I have no faith” -- the words do not come -- my mouth remains closed. -- And yet I still keep on smiling at God and all. (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, p.238)
John Calvin reflected on how this text read as a prophecy of the abandonment Jesus would feel on The Cross (v.1) can be of great comfort:
The fact that the Son of God suffered Himself to be reduced to such ignominy... is a rather bright mirror from which is reflected His unparalleled grace towards us. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IV/2, p.366)
We ought to regard it as an established principle, that as God never wearies in the exercise of His liberality, and as the most exuberant bestowment cannot exhaust His riches, it follows that, as we have experienced Him to be a father from our earliest infancy, He will show Himself the same towards us even to extreme old age. (Ibid., p.369)
Mark E.
* * *
Hebrews 4:12-16
Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
Many of us will have little professional connection with a truly sharp blade unless we’re carpenters, or loggers, or butchers, or chefs, or any profession where we come into contact with extraordinarily sharp objects. Indeed, for some of us losing a finger is an ever present danger.
But many of us have drawers full of fairly dull knives which do us little damage comparatively when we slip.
The people of Jesus’ time were intimately connected with sharp blades as well as the two-edged sword the author of the letter of the Hebrews warns us about. Indeed, it was all part of the intimate nature of warfare that required close contact with those you intended to harm.
Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, which takes place during the siege of Troy by the Greeks includes graphic descriptions of battles in which men hack at each other with swords and spears. There was nothing theoretical to those people thousands of years ago, about the ability of a two-edged sword to divide soul from spirit even as it divides joints from marrow.
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 4:12-16
E. Paul Hovey once wrote, “Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.” This is the essence of how we see the word of God described by the Hebrew writer in our text for today. I ran across this story that depicts what the Hebrew writer is telling us.
An old man lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you, but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”
The Grandfather turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don't want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water.” At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it's useless!”
“So, you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. “Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.”
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 4:12-16
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969, as a member of the Apollo 11 mission. Armstrong, along with astronaut Buzz Aldrin, departed from the Command Module they named Columbia, in the Lunar Module they called Eagle. The Eagle landed in Tranquility Base on the moon. Just before leaving the Eagle, Armstrong composed the words the first man on the moon would speak. Words that would forever be recorded in history. Upon placing his feet on the surface of the moon Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This was the sentence that was received on earth. Armstrong actually said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” But, the syllable “a” was not transmitted through space. Recordings of Armstrong's transmission show no evidence of the indefinite article “a” before “man,” though NASA and Armstrong insisted for years that static had obscured it. Repeated analysis of the recording demonstrates the “a” may have been spoken, but it has never been substantially proven. Armstrong stated he never would have intentionally made such a mistake. After repeatedly listening to the recording, he became uncertain if he failed to say “a.” Armstrong later said he “would hope that history would grant me leeway for dropping the syllable and understand that it was certainly intended, even if it was not said -- although it might actually have been.”
Application: The word of God is living and active, but sometimes we fail to get a correct transmission of it.
Ron L.
* * *
Mark 10:17-31
With God all things are possible. I don’t know about you but I hear this spoken in many challenging situations, as a reminder that when God is with us, many things can be accomplished. Yet, things are accomplished through God, with God and because God is present. Following the rules may make us feel like we are with God, and certainly following the commandments is important. This the young man discovers in his conversation with Jesus. But following the commandments, checking all the boxes on the checklist is not enough.
As the young man, and we discover, more is needed. Sacrificing is necessary. A release of idols is necessary. Think for a moment about the idols in your life. Are they wealth, influence, approval, power, possessions, status? What are you seeking rather than following Jesus? What clings to you and holds you back from “going all in” with God through Jesus? What parts of your life limit your ability to fulfill your life of faith? Perhaps, like the young man, we should ask God, the God of all possibilities, to help us let go!
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 10:17-31
Greed may be good, as Gordon Gekko said in the 1987 movie “Wall Street.” But greed has not been good for America as a whole. A 2016 Pew Research Center report found that the middle class had lost ground in 9 of 10 American cities. A CNN Money report at the end of that year found that families in the top 10% of American family incomes took home 20% of the total income earned by Americans. While in 1980 the top 10% wage earners averaged 27 times more than 50% of working adults. Today these wealthy workers earn a salary 81 times that of the average worker. Only if you are rich are times good, and the Trump tax break will help the wealthy more.
Martin Luther offers remarks in support of Jesus’ critique of these dynamics:
Everybody is concerned about piling up much money for himself... And yet the world considers money of sole importance, as though body and soul depended on it. God and one’s neighbor are despised, and mammon is served. (What Luther Says, p.972)
John Wesley offered a similar observation contending that all riches are a hindrance to the love of God, contending that without such love “all religion is a dead carcass.” (Commentary On the Bible, p.433)
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 10:17-31
Does Jesus test us? How can we not call him good. Has he hurt you in any way so that you might not feel he has been good to you?
You might ask yourself if you have disobeyed any of God’s commands. I’m sure we can all think of some command we have not obeyed. There are a number like sexual or lustful sins you might have messed up on? Have you ever been tempted when you saw a beautiful woman (or a handsome man)? You might still love your wife or husband, but did you have a thought, like our presidents have had, that just one night away would not hurt you? Did you ever see a thing in your office or job that you thought no one would miss it if you took it? On a recent trip, they expected someone to take one of their pencils or pens or something on the restroom sink?
You may have faith that you have not broken any of God’s “important” commands. Some Christians do.
But God can test us as he did that man who came to Jesus. What if your church asked you to sell all that you had and give to a worthy cause? Would we walk away sadly? Would we find another church?
Your church should be able to help you decide whether temptations to give are from God or from some scam operation. There are plenty of those!
When I became a pastor I gave up a prosperous business. When I went into the mission field, I used the money from my retirement. All the church did was keep my medical insurance covered. The sacrifices were temporary. I gave up my home and car and much of what I had. The Lord restored it to me when I came back, though I did not expect it.
All through life we have to draw lines as to what we are willing to sacrifice for some great need.
Bob O.
How often in the troubles of our lives do we fail to perceive the presence of God? We look, as Job did, to the right and to the left, and we do not feel God or see God. Yet, it may be that we are looking outside for the presence of God, rather than internally. Job is discouraged. He cannot feel the presence of God. He looks forward and backward, but not inward.
We Christians believe that the light of Christ, the presence of God, lives in us. That light does not go away because the world or the situations outside of us are dark or troubling. God is there, or rather, God is here, in the midst, in our hearts and in our very souls and spirits. That is the gift of faith, the knowledge that we cannot run from the presence of God -- that God is always with us, in every situation, circumstance and occasion. We need look no further than our own souls.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Like Job we may not be as righteous as we think we are. The great American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr had thoughts about that matter:
... we regard ourselves as fairly virtuous, but we are not ultimately or absolutely virtuous... This is the situation in human nature. Whether in the family or in the nation, there is always a mixture of good and evil, of self-regard and self-giving, of self-obsession and self-forgetfulness. (Justice & Mercy, pp.39,42)
An earlier famed American theologian Jonathan Edwards explains God’s way of dealing with Job. It is necessary, he argued, for God to make human beings aware of their unworthiness:
This is God’s ordinary way before great and signal expressions of His mercy and favour. He very commonly so orders it in His providence, and so influences men by His Spirit, that they are brought to see their miserable condition as they are in themselves, or from an arm of flesh, before He appears for them, and also makes them sensible of their sin, and their unworthiness of God’s help. (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol.2, p.830)
Martin Luther made a similar point prior to the Reformation, regarding how God operates in order to help us recognize that we are not as good as we think we are: “Man hides what is his in order to conceal it, but God conceals what is His in order to reveal it. That is to say He hides it from the wise and the great in order that they might be humbled and become fools.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.51, p.26)
Mark E.
* * *
Job 23:1-9, 16-17 and Psalm 22:1-15
Did Job read that Psalm? He is crying out to his God because of his great suffering. Where else can we turn if we have a time of great suffering. I can’t imagine experiencing the great suffering I see happening to people around the world on the TV news. Even in our country as immigrants try to cross over our border illegally I doubt if I could do much for most of them but pray and give a small extra amount in the offering.
It makes me thank my God for giving me the blessings I experience every day. I am not starving. My house is not destroyed. I do see some disasters in our country when there is a hurricane or earthquake or a school shooting. I see it in countries where someone has lost a loved one in a war, as some have in our country, but maybe a whole family was wiped out in some countries. Some were imprisoned and tortured. I knew some in Nepal when I lived there who suffered in prison and they had an earthquake that destroyed all their possessions including their home after I left.
My wife left me one year and I cried out to the Lord. He answered me in a way I didn’t expect. I was alone for five years and then a woman appeared in my church who I went to visit the next day. My evangelism chairman went with me. We had a very warm and friendly talk. I discovered that she came to my church because her son had dated my daughter in high school. On the way out, the chairman told me, “Next time you go back alone.” One year later he was my best man at our wedding.
The Lord solved Job’s loneliness also.
The only difference between some of them in Nepal and Job was that they did not have people around them who made it worse by accusing them for bringing it on themselves as they did for Job. They only received accusations from their Hindu family who told them that they were suffering because they changed their faith to Christianitiy.
Thank our Lord that he is with us and gives us supportive family and friends in our church if we do have some bad times. We seldom have fellow members who tell us that we brought it all on ourselves as Job’s buddies did.
Yes! Sometimes we do bring disaster on ourselves with things like addiction to drugs or drinking or sins like adultery or cheating on our taxes.
Certainly no good church members would do any of those things...
Bob O.
* * *
Psalm 22:1-15
The quotation by Martin Luther in the Job 23:1-9, 16-17 well illustrates the sense of feeling forsaken by God to which this psalm testifies. Even Mother Teresa expressed her desolation in 1962 letter to a Bishop:
Often I wonder what does really God get from me in this state -- no faith, nor love -- not even in feelings. The other day I can't tell you how bad I felt. -- There was a moment when I nearly refused to accept. -- Deliberately I took the Rosary and very slowly and without even meditating or thinking -- I said it slowly and calmly. The moment passed -- but the darkness is so dark, and the pain is so painful. -- But I accept whatever He gives and I give whatever He takes. People they are drawn closer to God -- seeing my strong faith -- is this not deceiving people? Every time I have wanted to tell the truth -- “that I have no faith” -- the words do not come -- my mouth remains closed. -- And yet I still keep on smiling at God and all. (Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, p.238)
John Calvin reflected on how this text read as a prophecy of the abandonment Jesus would feel on The Cross (v.1) can be of great comfort:
The fact that the Son of God suffered Himself to be reduced to such ignominy... is a rather bright mirror from which is reflected His unparalleled grace towards us. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IV/2, p.366)
We ought to regard it as an established principle, that as God never wearies in the exercise of His liberality, and as the most exuberant bestowment cannot exhaust His riches, it follows that, as we have experienced Him to be a father from our earliest infancy, He will show Himself the same towards us even to extreme old age. (Ibid., p.369)
Mark E.
* * *
Hebrews 4:12-16
Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
Many of us will have little professional connection with a truly sharp blade unless we’re carpenters, or loggers, or butchers, or chefs, or any profession where we come into contact with extraordinarily sharp objects. Indeed, for some of us losing a finger is an ever present danger.
But many of us have drawers full of fairly dull knives which do us little damage comparatively when we slip.
The people of Jesus’ time were intimately connected with sharp blades as well as the two-edged sword the author of the letter of the Hebrews warns us about. Indeed, it was all part of the intimate nature of warfare that required close contact with those you intended to harm.
Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, which takes place during the siege of Troy by the Greeks includes graphic descriptions of battles in which men hack at each other with swords and spears. There was nothing theoretical to those people thousands of years ago, about the ability of a two-edged sword to divide soul from spirit even as it divides joints from marrow.
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 4:12-16
E. Paul Hovey once wrote, “Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.” This is the essence of how we see the word of God described by the Hebrew writer in our text for today. I ran across this story that depicts what the Hebrew writer is telling us.
An old man lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you, but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”
The Grandfather turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don't want a bucket of water. I want a basket of water.” At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it's useless!”
“So, you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. “Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.”
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 4:12-16
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969, as a member of the Apollo 11 mission. Armstrong, along with astronaut Buzz Aldrin, departed from the Command Module they named Columbia, in the Lunar Module they called Eagle. The Eagle landed in Tranquility Base on the moon. Just before leaving the Eagle, Armstrong composed the words the first man on the moon would speak. Words that would forever be recorded in history. Upon placing his feet on the surface of the moon Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This was the sentence that was received on earth. Armstrong actually said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” But, the syllable “a” was not transmitted through space. Recordings of Armstrong's transmission show no evidence of the indefinite article “a” before “man,” though NASA and Armstrong insisted for years that static had obscured it. Repeated analysis of the recording demonstrates the “a” may have been spoken, but it has never been substantially proven. Armstrong stated he never would have intentionally made such a mistake. After repeatedly listening to the recording, he became uncertain if he failed to say “a.” Armstrong later said he “would hope that history would grant me leeway for dropping the syllable and understand that it was certainly intended, even if it was not said -- although it might actually have been.”
Application: The word of God is living and active, but sometimes we fail to get a correct transmission of it.
Ron L.
* * *
Mark 10:17-31
With God all things are possible. I don’t know about you but I hear this spoken in many challenging situations, as a reminder that when God is with us, many things can be accomplished. Yet, things are accomplished through God, with God and because God is present. Following the rules may make us feel like we are with God, and certainly following the commandments is important. This the young man discovers in his conversation with Jesus. But following the commandments, checking all the boxes on the checklist is not enough.
As the young man, and we discover, more is needed. Sacrificing is necessary. A release of idols is necessary. Think for a moment about the idols in your life. Are they wealth, influence, approval, power, possessions, status? What are you seeking rather than following Jesus? What clings to you and holds you back from “going all in” with God through Jesus? What parts of your life limit your ability to fulfill your life of faith? Perhaps, like the young man, we should ask God, the God of all possibilities, to help us let go!
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 10:17-31
Greed may be good, as Gordon Gekko said in the 1987 movie “Wall Street.” But greed has not been good for America as a whole. A 2016 Pew Research Center report found that the middle class had lost ground in 9 of 10 American cities. A CNN Money report at the end of that year found that families in the top 10% of American family incomes took home 20% of the total income earned by Americans. While in 1980 the top 10% wage earners averaged 27 times more than 50% of working adults. Today these wealthy workers earn a salary 81 times that of the average worker. Only if you are rich are times good, and the Trump tax break will help the wealthy more.
Martin Luther offers remarks in support of Jesus’ critique of these dynamics:
Everybody is concerned about piling up much money for himself... And yet the world considers money of sole importance, as though body and soul depended on it. God and one’s neighbor are despised, and mammon is served. (What Luther Says, p.972)
John Wesley offered a similar observation contending that all riches are a hindrance to the love of God, contending that without such love “all religion is a dead carcass.” (Commentary On the Bible, p.433)
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 10:17-31
Does Jesus test us? How can we not call him good. Has he hurt you in any way so that you might not feel he has been good to you?
You might ask yourself if you have disobeyed any of God’s commands. I’m sure we can all think of some command we have not obeyed. There are a number like sexual or lustful sins you might have messed up on? Have you ever been tempted when you saw a beautiful woman (or a handsome man)? You might still love your wife or husband, but did you have a thought, like our presidents have had, that just one night away would not hurt you? Did you ever see a thing in your office or job that you thought no one would miss it if you took it? On a recent trip, they expected someone to take one of their pencils or pens or something on the restroom sink?
You may have faith that you have not broken any of God’s “important” commands. Some Christians do.
But God can test us as he did that man who came to Jesus. What if your church asked you to sell all that you had and give to a worthy cause? Would we walk away sadly? Would we find another church?
Your church should be able to help you decide whether temptations to give are from God or from some scam operation. There are plenty of those!
When I became a pastor I gave up a prosperous business. When I went into the mission field, I used the money from my retirement. All the church did was keep my medical insurance covered. The sacrifices were temporary. I gave up my home and car and much of what I had. The Lord restored it to me when I came back, though I did not expect it.
All through life we have to draw lines as to what we are willing to sacrifice for some great need.
Bob O.
