Sermon Illustrations for Proper 24 | Ordinary Time 29 (2024)
Illustration
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
Most people assume God’s answer to Job, showing him the depth and breadth of the universe is meant to cow Job’s resistance, leading him, now broken, to repent, abjectly saying “...therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (42:6).”
But when God addresses Job with the words sometimes translated “Gird up your loins like a man....”(38:3) he is addressing Job as a gabor, a warrior, one who is strong enough to take this awe-inspiring vision of “the whole infinity of the universe” and his place in it. God has, in effect, told him to pull up his big girl panties, as the saying goes, and after seeing the big picture, “the whole infinity of the universe,” Job emerges with a new perspective.
One of the things I really enjoy about some of the many recent documentaries available on the many channels and platforms available to us nowadays, is that we can truly see, not quite with the eyes of God, what is happening in the natural world. And the clearer we see, the greater and more awesome is the mystery of creation! We get to share Job’s perspective.
Frank R.
* * *
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
This is a text to proclaim the greatness of God, his presence in all realms of life. A statement by John Calvin well expresses the intentions of Job’s interactions with our Lord:
If men attempt to reach the infinite height to which God is exalted, although they fly above the clouds, they must fail in the midst of their course. Those who seek to see him in his naked majesty are certainly very foolish. That we may enjoy the sight of him, he must come forth to view with his clothing; that is to say, we must cast our eyes upon the very beautiful fabric of the work in which he wishes to be seen by us, and not be too curious and rash in searching into his secret essence. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.VI/1, p.145)
The awesome character of God does not make him any less a friend to his people. Famed modern reformed theologian Karl Barth made that clear:
In it [God’s encounters with Job] he does not cease to be, nor is he any less, his [Job’s] friend, his sworn covenant-partner... he [God] does not ask for his [humanity’s] understanding, agreement, or applause. On the contrary, he simply asks that he [a human being] should be content not to know why and to what end he [the human being] exists, and so in this way and not another. He [God] simply asks that he [the individual] should concede that he has nothing to do with his course and direction. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/3 First Half, p.431)
God’s testimony to Job prods us to see God in the created order, to realize that what we think to be natural is actually God at work. What is “natural” is really special, a hint of divine revelation. The formulator of Process Philosophy Alfred North Whitehead profoundly made this point when he wrote, “Apart from God, every activity is merely a passing whiff of insignificance.”
Mark E.
* * *
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
God is clearly seeking Job’s answer to the questions being asked. God wants to know if Job understands the marvelous nature and creativity of God. And God is clarifying that Job was not present at creation, was not present when the foundations were being laid. Neither were we, my friends.
When we seek to control anything other than our own behavior, our own faith journey, we seek to be God, rather than letting God be God. It is vitally important that we understand that for which we have control and that which is beyond our control. We cannot change the path of the sun or the moon, the seasons coming and going, the stars in the sky. What we can do is offer thanksgiving for all that is around us and focus on our relationship with God. We can be reminded that to God be the glory and the power.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Hebrews 5:1-10
I came across this story as I was reading about Fathers’ Day. One father surmised, “Father’s Day is that one time of the year when I get complete obedience from every member of my family. I tell them not to spend a lot of money on me—and they don’t.” I thought this was a humorous anecdote, but it also raised a good question. What is complete obedience?
I believe most parents probably don’t see that in their kids. After all, we are humans, and we make mistakes. I came across an interesting description of how Arabian horses are trained. It is said that Arabian horses are hard to train. I read that Arabian horses are trained rigorously in the middle eastern deserts. The horses must learn to fully obey their masters. This obedience is tested by withholding water for a while and then turning them loose near water. As the horses get to the edge of the water, and just before they drink, the trainer blows his whistle. If the horses have learned to obey, they turn around and come back to the trainer who then gives them as much water as they need.
While I cannot verify the veracity of that horse story, I was struck by the strenuous call for obedience. It reminded me of what Jesus literally did. The Hebrew writer notes, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:7-9, emphasis mine).
Knowing all that Jesus endured because he chose to obey God when it was hard, will we yield to him? Will we obey?
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 5:1-10
I have to confess that the author of the Letter to the Hebrews makes my head hurt. His command of Greek requires much more out of the reader, or at least this reader. Please, let me get back to the Johannine literature.
This author uses also images attached to the temple worship which is not part of my existence – high priests, Aaronic priests, and high priests according to the order of Melchizedek. I always feel out of my depth. Maybe this is not in my language.
What I think about is how one of two things is possible here. First, if the temple still exists as the writer writes, then throughout the period preceding the second temple’s destruction high priest was both a religious and political office, and high priests could be replaced by a governor or client-king serving on behalf of the Romans if they were not acting in a politically appropriate manner. It’s the kind of thing people knew, and therefore the office itself was altogether suspect.
The other possibility is that the temple has already been destroyed (many commentators would tend towards this position) in which case everything to do with the now lost temple culture has been romanticized, idealized, and sanitized. Regardless, the one important point is that Jesus remains the perfect substitute for a flawed human office, and is better described less in those terms and more in terms of a mythically malleable Melchizedek, who is mentioned only rarely in scripture (see Genesis 14:17-20, Psalm 110:4, and several times in the Letter to the Hebrews), and who can be not only what we want but what we need. And that is something I can relate to – Jesus who fits no easy category and who both challenges and comforts, opening the doors of heaven, setting a perfect example, and encouraging us not so much to perform the correct temple rituals but to follow him as best we can!
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 10:35-45
Martin Luther nicely described the insidious self-seeking evident in James and John. He wrote:
But the impure and perverted lovers, who are nothing else than parasites and who seek their own advantage in God, neither love nor praise his bare goodness, but have an eye to themselves and consider how only good God is to them... They delighted in their salvation much more than in their Savior, in the gift more than in the giver, in the creature rather than in the Creator. (Luther’s Works, Vol.21, p.309)
John Calvin also provided a thoughtful insight about this text:
He [Jesus] does not explain generally how deadly a plague ambition is, but simply warns them that nothing is more foolish than to fight about nothing. He shows that the primacy, which is the occasion of dispute among them, has no existence in his kingdom. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/2, pp.423-424)
Christ does not leave us in our self-seeking sin. He may break us, smash our sin, but then forgives and heals. It is like Eugene O’Neill wrote in The Great God Brown: “Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.”
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 10:35-45
Jealousy challenges us all. In this interaction, the other disciples are angry with James and John for asking to be seated at the right and left of Jesus. Even though Jesus told James and John that could not be granted to them, the others were jealous. How often have you looked at the blessings someone else has and wished them for yourself, and maybe even been angry that they have that blessing and you do not? I know I have fallen into that trap.
For most of us, it is stuff or status or reputation that we are jealous of. It’s not about being honored by God. And Jesus reminds all the disciples that it the servant leader, the one who gives freely, who is blessed. If we want to be like Jesus, we must serve. Rarely are any of us jealous of those who serve us – housekeepers, servers in restaurants, repair persons – we don’t seem to be jealous about service – and yet, if we want to be like Jesus, if we want to follow Jesus, we, too, need to serve. May it be so.
Bonnie B.
Most people assume God’s answer to Job, showing him the depth and breadth of the universe is meant to cow Job’s resistance, leading him, now broken, to repent, abjectly saying “...therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (42:6).”
But when God addresses Job with the words sometimes translated “Gird up your loins like a man....”(38:3) he is addressing Job as a gabor, a warrior, one who is strong enough to take this awe-inspiring vision of “the whole infinity of the universe” and his place in it. God has, in effect, told him to pull up his big girl panties, as the saying goes, and after seeing the big picture, “the whole infinity of the universe,” Job emerges with a new perspective.
One of the things I really enjoy about some of the many recent documentaries available on the many channels and platforms available to us nowadays, is that we can truly see, not quite with the eyes of God, what is happening in the natural world. And the clearer we see, the greater and more awesome is the mystery of creation! We get to share Job’s perspective.
Frank R.
* * *
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
This is a text to proclaim the greatness of God, his presence in all realms of life. A statement by John Calvin well expresses the intentions of Job’s interactions with our Lord:
If men attempt to reach the infinite height to which God is exalted, although they fly above the clouds, they must fail in the midst of their course. Those who seek to see him in his naked majesty are certainly very foolish. That we may enjoy the sight of him, he must come forth to view with his clothing; that is to say, we must cast our eyes upon the very beautiful fabric of the work in which he wishes to be seen by us, and not be too curious and rash in searching into his secret essence. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.VI/1, p.145)
The awesome character of God does not make him any less a friend to his people. Famed modern reformed theologian Karl Barth made that clear:
In it [God’s encounters with Job] he does not cease to be, nor is he any less, his [Job’s] friend, his sworn covenant-partner... he [God] does not ask for his [humanity’s] understanding, agreement, or applause. On the contrary, he simply asks that he [a human being] should be content not to know why and to what end he [the human being] exists, and so in this way and not another. He [God] simply asks that he [the individual] should concede that he has nothing to do with his course and direction. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/3 First Half, p.431)
God’s testimony to Job prods us to see God in the created order, to realize that what we think to be natural is actually God at work. What is “natural” is really special, a hint of divine revelation. The formulator of Process Philosophy Alfred North Whitehead profoundly made this point when he wrote, “Apart from God, every activity is merely a passing whiff of insignificance.”
Mark E.
* * *
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
God is clearly seeking Job’s answer to the questions being asked. God wants to know if Job understands the marvelous nature and creativity of God. And God is clarifying that Job was not present at creation, was not present when the foundations were being laid. Neither were we, my friends.
When we seek to control anything other than our own behavior, our own faith journey, we seek to be God, rather than letting God be God. It is vitally important that we understand that for which we have control and that which is beyond our control. We cannot change the path of the sun or the moon, the seasons coming and going, the stars in the sky. What we can do is offer thanksgiving for all that is around us and focus on our relationship with God. We can be reminded that to God be the glory and the power.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Hebrews 5:1-10
I came across this story as I was reading about Fathers’ Day. One father surmised, “Father’s Day is that one time of the year when I get complete obedience from every member of my family. I tell them not to spend a lot of money on me—and they don’t.” I thought this was a humorous anecdote, but it also raised a good question. What is complete obedience?
I believe most parents probably don’t see that in their kids. After all, we are humans, and we make mistakes. I came across an interesting description of how Arabian horses are trained. It is said that Arabian horses are hard to train. I read that Arabian horses are trained rigorously in the middle eastern deserts. The horses must learn to fully obey their masters. This obedience is tested by withholding water for a while and then turning them loose near water. As the horses get to the edge of the water, and just before they drink, the trainer blows his whistle. If the horses have learned to obey, they turn around and come back to the trainer who then gives them as much water as they need.
While I cannot verify the veracity of that horse story, I was struck by the strenuous call for obedience. It reminded me of what Jesus literally did. The Hebrew writer notes, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:7-9, emphasis mine).
Knowing all that Jesus endured because he chose to obey God when it was hard, will we yield to him? Will we obey?
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 5:1-10
I have to confess that the author of the Letter to the Hebrews makes my head hurt. His command of Greek requires much more out of the reader, or at least this reader. Please, let me get back to the Johannine literature.
This author uses also images attached to the temple worship which is not part of my existence – high priests, Aaronic priests, and high priests according to the order of Melchizedek. I always feel out of my depth. Maybe this is not in my language.
What I think about is how one of two things is possible here. First, if the temple still exists as the writer writes, then throughout the period preceding the second temple’s destruction high priest was both a religious and political office, and high priests could be replaced by a governor or client-king serving on behalf of the Romans if they were not acting in a politically appropriate manner. It’s the kind of thing people knew, and therefore the office itself was altogether suspect.
The other possibility is that the temple has already been destroyed (many commentators would tend towards this position) in which case everything to do with the now lost temple culture has been romanticized, idealized, and sanitized. Regardless, the one important point is that Jesus remains the perfect substitute for a flawed human office, and is better described less in those terms and more in terms of a mythically malleable Melchizedek, who is mentioned only rarely in scripture (see Genesis 14:17-20, Psalm 110:4, and several times in the Letter to the Hebrews), and who can be not only what we want but what we need. And that is something I can relate to – Jesus who fits no easy category and who both challenges and comforts, opening the doors of heaven, setting a perfect example, and encouraging us not so much to perform the correct temple rituals but to follow him as best we can!
Frank R.
* * *
Mark 10:35-45
Martin Luther nicely described the insidious self-seeking evident in James and John. He wrote:
But the impure and perverted lovers, who are nothing else than parasites and who seek their own advantage in God, neither love nor praise his bare goodness, but have an eye to themselves and consider how only good God is to them... They delighted in their salvation much more than in their Savior, in the gift more than in the giver, in the creature rather than in the Creator. (Luther’s Works, Vol.21, p.309)
John Calvin also provided a thoughtful insight about this text:
He [Jesus] does not explain generally how deadly a plague ambition is, but simply warns them that nothing is more foolish than to fight about nothing. He shows that the primacy, which is the occasion of dispute among them, has no existence in his kingdom. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/2, pp.423-424)
Christ does not leave us in our self-seeking sin. He may break us, smash our sin, but then forgives and heals. It is like Eugene O’Neill wrote in The Great God Brown: “Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.”
Mark E.
* * *
Mark 10:35-45
Jealousy challenges us all. In this interaction, the other disciples are angry with James and John for asking to be seated at the right and left of Jesus. Even though Jesus told James and John that could not be granted to them, the others were jealous. How often have you looked at the blessings someone else has and wished them for yourself, and maybe even been angry that they have that blessing and you do not? I know I have fallen into that trap.
For most of us, it is stuff or status or reputation that we are jealous of. It’s not about being honored by God. And Jesus reminds all the disciples that it the servant leader, the one who gives freely, who is blessed. If we want to be like Jesus, we must serve. Rarely are any of us jealous of those who serve us – housekeepers, servers in restaurants, repair persons – we don’t seem to be jealous about service – and yet, if we want to be like Jesus, if we want to follow Jesus, we, too, need to serve. May it be so.
Bonnie B.
