Sermon Illustrations for Proper 23 | OT 28 (2022)
Illustration
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-12
Reading an anecdote from Michael Shannon led me to research a well-known scientist and botanist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century named Curtis G Lloyd. One of the final things he did was set up the Lloyd Wildlife Area in Crittenden, Kentucky. No axe ever has disturbed the 20-acre plot or ever will. When he died, Curtis’ ashes were scattered there, near an impressive tombstone. One side bears his name and says, “Erected by himself, for himself, in his own lifetime,” and then there is a line from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “What fools these mortals be.” On the other side it reads, “How many days, months, years, nobody knows, and nobody cares.”
“Nobody knows and nobody cares.” What a tragic epitaph. There is someone who cares. The text for today reiterates that for the people of God. Though they were in captivity and would be for a while, God intended for them to settle, grow, and multiply. God cared for them, even during times of trial and punishment. I’m reminded of the hymn, “Oh yes he cares, I know he cares. His heart is touched with my grief.”
Bill T.
* * *
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-12
In Psalm 137 those led away to Babylon lamented. “By the rivers we lay down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” When their captors taunted them, challenging them to sing the songs of Zion they cried, "How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”
Well, it’s not easy, but Jeremiah, writing to the exiles, tells them how to do it. Seek the welfare of the place where they are planted. Plant gardens, have children. Live. Love. Endure. When the Ten Tribes were conquered a generation earlier by the Assyrians, and the Israelites were led away, they were assimilated and lost their identity. The Judeans taken away into captivity outlived and outlasted their captors. First they sang their songs in a foreign land, and then, as they returned to their homes. Psalm 66 celebrates the wonders of God’s history with the people, basing their identity on the hardships endured during the Egyptian sojourn and the triumph at the Red Sea. The words were no doubt sung by the people Jeremiah wrote to, and their descendants, as well.
Frank R.
* * *
2 Timothy 2:8-15
The text’s focus on Christ’s death for us and our bearing the cross as a result is nicely addressed by the ancient North African theologian Athanasius. He writes:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we are thus judged, that if one died for all, then all died, and He dies for all... that through death He might bring to nought all him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For by the sacrifice of His own body, He both put an end to the law which was against us, and made a new beginning of life for us. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol.4, p.41)
Martin Luther offers similar observations:
Whatever sins I, you, and all of us have committed or may commit in the future, they are as much Christ’s own, as if he Himself had committed them. (Luther’s Works, Vol.26, p.278)
Be sure to know suffering and cross out of your heart and mind as much as you possibly can; otherwise, if you think about it for a long time, bad will become worse. When in spiritual trouble and tribulation, say... I will let Him [Christ] take care of this matter and fight it through. Long ages He predicted such suffering for me and promised me His divine and gracious help. (What Luther Says, p.361)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 17:11-19
Two friends met each other on the street one day. One looked sad, nearly in tears. His friend asked, “What’s happened, my friend? Why are you so sad?” His friend replied, “Let me tell you: three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.”
“That’s a lot of money,” his friend answered.
“Yes, but you see, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand dollars, free and clear.”
“Sounds to me that you’ve been very blessed.”
“You don’t understand!” he interrupted. “Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million from her.”
Now the man’s friend was really confused. “Then, why do you look so down?”
The man shot back, “This week—nothing!”
Thankfulness is important, but not always a given. William Faulkner once wrote, “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” The nine lepers who were cleansed were no doubt overjoyed at what had happened to them. They’d gone from unclean to clean; outcast to wanted; desperate to delighted. Perhaps they were too excited to say, “Thank you.” One, however, the Samaritan did. Will we think to thank?
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 17:11-19
This story takes place in Samaritan territory. There is great animosity between Jews and Samaritans, because of their shared conflicted history. When the Exiles returned they expected the residents to get out of their houses and let them take over. These “poor of the land” were probably part Jews, part populations exiled by the Babylonians to Judea, who worshipped the God of Israel. You had two groups believing they were the true Israel, with their own Torah, probably indistinguishable from each other by appearance. The stories contained in Nehemiah and Ezra make it clear there was fault on both sides.
But people who share the same difficulties that cause alienation and separation ignore the things that separated them before. The old conflicts don’t matter. Ten lepers, nine from Judea, one from Samaria, live together outside of the villages, rejected by their families. When Jesus heals them they will be restored to their families – if they first follow the instructions of the Torah to have their condition inspected by the priest and their healing confirmed. They set off to do so, but one of them comes back to thank Jesus. They were all healed .Luke doesn’t make the claim that those who did not thank Jesus, who followed his instructions and the word of Scripture instead, had their cures rescinded. But Jesus makes the point that this “other” who supposedly worships at the wrong church, according to the viewpoint of his contemporaries, was made well by his faith. The right faith, the one they were all sharing whether they admitted it or not.
Frank R.
Reading an anecdote from Michael Shannon led me to research a well-known scientist and botanist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century named Curtis G Lloyd. One of the final things he did was set up the Lloyd Wildlife Area in Crittenden, Kentucky. No axe ever has disturbed the 20-acre plot or ever will. When he died, Curtis’ ashes were scattered there, near an impressive tombstone. One side bears his name and says, “Erected by himself, for himself, in his own lifetime,” and then there is a line from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “What fools these mortals be.” On the other side it reads, “How many days, months, years, nobody knows, and nobody cares.”
“Nobody knows and nobody cares.” What a tragic epitaph. There is someone who cares. The text for today reiterates that for the people of God. Though they were in captivity and would be for a while, God intended for them to settle, grow, and multiply. God cared for them, even during times of trial and punishment. I’m reminded of the hymn, “Oh yes he cares, I know he cares. His heart is touched with my grief.”
Bill T.
* * *
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7; Psalm 66:1-12
In Psalm 137 those led away to Babylon lamented. “By the rivers we lay down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” When their captors taunted them, challenging them to sing the songs of Zion they cried, "How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”
Well, it’s not easy, but Jeremiah, writing to the exiles, tells them how to do it. Seek the welfare of the place where they are planted. Plant gardens, have children. Live. Love. Endure. When the Ten Tribes were conquered a generation earlier by the Assyrians, and the Israelites were led away, they were assimilated and lost their identity. The Judeans taken away into captivity outlived and outlasted their captors. First they sang their songs in a foreign land, and then, as they returned to their homes. Psalm 66 celebrates the wonders of God’s history with the people, basing their identity on the hardships endured during the Egyptian sojourn and the triumph at the Red Sea. The words were no doubt sung by the people Jeremiah wrote to, and their descendants, as well.
Frank R.
* * *
2 Timothy 2:8-15
The text’s focus on Christ’s death for us and our bearing the cross as a result is nicely addressed by the ancient North African theologian Athanasius. He writes:
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we are thus judged, that if one died for all, then all died, and He dies for all... that through death He might bring to nought all him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For by the sacrifice of His own body, He both put an end to the law which was against us, and made a new beginning of life for us. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol.4, p.41)
Martin Luther offers similar observations:
Whatever sins I, you, and all of us have committed or may commit in the future, they are as much Christ’s own, as if he Himself had committed them. (Luther’s Works, Vol.26, p.278)
Be sure to know suffering and cross out of your heart and mind as much as you possibly can; otherwise, if you think about it for a long time, bad will become worse. When in spiritual trouble and tribulation, say... I will let Him [Christ] take care of this matter and fight it through. Long ages He predicted such suffering for me and promised me His divine and gracious help. (What Luther Says, p.361)
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 17:11-19
Two friends met each other on the street one day. One looked sad, nearly in tears. His friend asked, “What’s happened, my friend? Why are you so sad?” His friend replied, “Let me tell you: three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.”
“That’s a lot of money,” his friend answered.
“Yes, but you see, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand dollars, free and clear.”
“Sounds to me that you’ve been very blessed.”
“You don’t understand!” he interrupted. “Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million from her.”
Now the man’s friend was really confused. “Then, why do you look so down?”
The man shot back, “This week—nothing!”
Thankfulness is important, but not always a given. William Faulkner once wrote, “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” The nine lepers who were cleansed were no doubt overjoyed at what had happened to them. They’d gone from unclean to clean; outcast to wanted; desperate to delighted. Perhaps they were too excited to say, “Thank you.” One, however, the Samaritan did. Will we think to thank?
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 17:11-19
This story takes place in Samaritan territory. There is great animosity between Jews and Samaritans, because of their shared conflicted history. When the Exiles returned they expected the residents to get out of their houses and let them take over. These “poor of the land” were probably part Jews, part populations exiled by the Babylonians to Judea, who worshipped the God of Israel. You had two groups believing they were the true Israel, with their own Torah, probably indistinguishable from each other by appearance. The stories contained in Nehemiah and Ezra make it clear there was fault on both sides.
But people who share the same difficulties that cause alienation and separation ignore the things that separated them before. The old conflicts don’t matter. Ten lepers, nine from Judea, one from Samaria, live together outside of the villages, rejected by their families. When Jesus heals them they will be restored to their families – if they first follow the instructions of the Torah to have their condition inspected by the priest and their healing confirmed. They set off to do so, but one of them comes back to thank Jesus. They were all healed .Luke doesn’t make the claim that those who did not thank Jesus, who followed his instructions and the word of Scripture instead, had their cures rescinded. But Jesus makes the point that this “other” who supposedly worships at the wrong church, according to the viewpoint of his contemporaries, was made well by his faith. The right faith, the one they were all sharing whether they admitted it or not.
Frank R.
