Sermon Illustrations for Proper 25 | Ordinary Time 30 (2018)
Illustration
Job 42:1-6,10-17
It is not Job’s or our deep faith which leads to faith and repentance. Famed 20th-century Reformed theologian Karl Barth made that clear:
The fact that the world is large and strange is the new thing that brings him [Job] to the repentance to which his friends, those learned masters of apologetics, could not bring him. But of course this new thing can consist only in the fact that -- and this is not given with the existence and nature of the world as such -- God Himself speaks with him about His works. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.II/1, p.115)
It is the surprising encounters with God that change us, that lead us to faith. It is like the 19th-century forefather of existentialism Søren Kierkegaard claimed that we can only become disciples when the call comes from God himself (Philosophical Fragments, p.126):
Better to have your lover tell you she or he loves you than to hear about it secondhand from the friend of the one we love. When the Gospel changes your life, it’s because God himself did the talking.
And the tragedy is that life is like famed actress and singer Pearl Bailey (herself the daughter of a pastor) once said: “People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him.”
Mark E.
* * *
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Job’s profession of his faith in the power of God results in his healing and the restoration of his life. The last chapter of Job reminds us that God is present in the here and now, in the past, and in the future. Les Parrot recently wrote in a devotional, “I am not a softhearted poet. I am not a people-pleasing idealist. I live with full-throttle ambition and no shortage of self-interest. I am impatient and sometimes insecure. I jockey for position and I like exclusive privileges. I can be judgmental, insensitive, petty and resentful. Oh, I can be cheap and stingy. But I want to love like Jesus.”1
I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot like me -- at least some days. Accepting that our faith is the bedrock of our lives and the anchor that keeps us stable and moving into the realm of God is sometimes really hard. Our humanness gets in the way. Job’s humanness got in the way as well, but Job came to realize that God was ever-present, ever-acting, ever-loving in his life. When I can embrace those facts, I become more like Jesus, more loving, more caring, less judgmental, less selfish and less petty. That is my aim. What is yours?
Bonnie B.
1 Encouragement for Today, August 27, 2018
* * *
Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22)
Writing about this psalm John Calvin observed:
It is a doctrine full of the sweetest comfort that God departs not from us, even when we are overwhelmed by a succession of miseries, and, as it were, almost deprived of life. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IV/2, p.572)
Its message seems to vindicate the observations of author Christopher Morley in his book Inward Ho: “I had a thousand questions to ask God; but when I met him they all fled and didn’t seem to matter.”
Lecturing on this psalm, Martin Luther commented on the joy that comes with an encounter with God:
How happy I am that my creator is such a person, that such a person has given me such things and such great things! They are much more pleasing because so great a person gave them than if I had them of myself. (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, p.163)
Mark E.
* * *
Hebrews 7:23-28
The author of Hebrews presents an ideal picture of a long line of high priests serving consecutively, each high priest’s tenure ending with death. But that’s not the picture presented in the gospels. During the time of Jesus both Annas and his son-in-law Caiaphas are identified as High Priest. The office had become something of a political appointment, and the one lost the appointment when the other was called into the position. That can’t always have been comfortable, having two High Priests who seemingly wield some sort of authority. The various tasks that help our congregations function are not meant as a life term. We call new people into leadership all the time. But while it’s good for the person who formerly held an office to be available for consultation and advice, it’s not helpful when a person continues to act like they’re in charge, as if there were some sort of shadow church that was the “real” church.
This is even worse when a former pastor won’t let go.
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 7:23-28
I came across an interesting article while browsing the internet recently. It was called, “Real vs. Fake: The Infamous Case of the Quickly Copied Fidget Cube” and was written by Jono Lee. The article was about a Kickstarter campaign and product called “The Fidget Cube.” Lee decided to be a financial backer of this product and invest in it. He relates in the article how he visited China for a manufacturing event and decided to tour the electronics market area called Huaqiangbei. He writes, “Imagine my surprise when I reach a floor to find almost every store there selling fidget cubes. Every other wall was filled with them. Not just normal fidget cubes, but even 12 sided monstrosities.” Apparently, China and other manufacturers had started making copies or fakes. The rest of the article compares the original and the fake version of the Fidget Cube and discusses whether the original is worth the price difference.
I thought about that article as I read through Hebrews 7. Jesus is the real high priest. He holds that position permanently. “The law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.” In the world of Fidget Cubes, I suppose a copy, or a second-rate product might be okay. In terms of a savior, or high priest, though, there is only one.
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 7:23-28
George Wesley Bellows, born in 1882, was a great American artist. He is known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He is also known for his prizefight series. In his very public support of the United States intervention in World War I, he created in 1918 a series of lithographs and paintings that graphically depicted atrocities which the Allies said had been committed by Germany during its invasion of Belgium. From this series he painted the execution of nurse Edith Cavell by the Germans in 1915. Understandably, Bellows was not an eyewitness to this event, but recreated it from the stories others told him. When he was criticized for painting an execution that he had not personally witnessed, he replied that “neither had Leonardo da Vinci been present at the Last Supper.”
Application: As Jesus makes intercessions on our behalf, we are to intercede for others. This is what Bellows did for the victims in Belgium who suffered from the atrocities committed by the Germans.
Ron L.
* * *
Mark 10:46-52
What happens in your life when you call out to Jesus? Do people tell you to be quiet, try to silence your actions of faith? How persistent are you when that happens? Like Bartimaeus do you call out anyway? Do you refuse to be silent as you are moving into alignment with Jesus? Do you continue to seek the will of God and the influence of Jesus in the troubles and the joys of your life?
Bartimaeus continues to call out to Jesus and Jesus asks him clearly, “What do you want?” The request is made and the request is fulfilled. Bartimaeus’ faith leads him into wholeness and health. Jesus is clear. It is the faith of Bartimaeus that makes him well. His willingness to act, to follow Jesus, to move into the embrace of God is what moves him into wholeness.
When we call out to Jesus are we made whole? Maybe physical healing doesn’t come, but emotional and spiritual healing can. Wholeness is more than physical wellness. Wholeness is alignment with the will of God, in the presence of life’s challenges, Bartimaeus knew that. Do we?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 10:46-52
That blind man must have heard about Jesus power before he came, so the word was getting around. We hear about Jesus’ power every Sunday, but do we believe?
One of the reasons our church in Nepal was filling up and their faith was growing so fast there was because Jesus’ pastors were healing people there and the word was getting around. Not everyone who came was healed, but those who believed the message were often healed for all to see.
When I was healed of asthma in Utah at the age of 42, some heard about it and came to my church or to the Bible study where I was healed to hear more. When one member was healed of heart problems, some came to talk to him, but all did not believe that it was Jesus who healed him. Those who were healed knew it was Jesus who healed them. Sometimes it was not an instant healing, but when it happened, they knew it was Jesus who had done it.
I went to a Catholic healing service once and saw evil spirits come out of a woman who they prayed for. Those of her family who knew she had a problem for years were crying as they thanked God for his healing. They had no doubt it was genuine.
The first thing that those who were healed and those who witnessed it did was to tell others about it. Unless a person who heard about it had faith in Jesus, they often had doubts. Some even doubted when they met the healed person.
When I would tell about a healing at a service, there were still some who doubted my story. Seeing is believing, but experiencing it is the most powerful.
Several of my members had other prayers answered. Some were simple things like finding a parking place or a theatre seat on a holiday. They were convinced it was God. Whatever you ask, believe, the Bible says.
Bob O.
* * *
Mark 10:46-52
Jesus was begged for mercy by the blind man Bartimaeus (v.47). John Calvin sees blindness as a condition of all of us when we fail to show reverence to God, setting a higher value on our own ambition than on the truth of God (Commentary on John 7:48). In another sermon Martin Luther praises the begging blind man as a paradigm for the way in which Christian should petition God. Luther contended:
People don’t take to begging. But we have to doff our bashful hats and realize that the Lord God wants to have it so, that we happily come near. For it is His desire and honor to be generous and it pleases Him when people look to Him for every good thing. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.309)
So learn to petition boldly and do not doubt that God will for Christ’s sake give you what is for your good... The more you persist in prayer the better God likes it. (Ibid., p.310)
Yearning for God in this way keeps faith healthy.
Mark E.
It is not Job’s or our deep faith which leads to faith and repentance. Famed 20th-century Reformed theologian Karl Barth made that clear:
The fact that the world is large and strange is the new thing that brings him [Job] to the repentance to which his friends, those learned masters of apologetics, could not bring him. But of course this new thing can consist only in the fact that -- and this is not given with the existence and nature of the world as such -- God Himself speaks with him about His works. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.II/1, p.115)
It is the surprising encounters with God that change us, that lead us to faith. It is like the 19th-century forefather of existentialism Søren Kierkegaard claimed that we can only become disciples when the call comes from God himself (Philosophical Fragments, p.126):
Better to have your lover tell you she or he loves you than to hear about it secondhand from the friend of the one we love. When the Gospel changes your life, it’s because God himself did the talking.
And the tragedy is that life is like famed actress and singer Pearl Bailey (herself the daughter of a pastor) once said: “People see God every day, they just don’t recognize him.”
Mark E.
* * *
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Job’s profession of his faith in the power of God results in his healing and the restoration of his life. The last chapter of Job reminds us that God is present in the here and now, in the past, and in the future. Les Parrot recently wrote in a devotional, “I am not a softhearted poet. I am not a people-pleasing idealist. I live with full-throttle ambition and no shortage of self-interest. I am impatient and sometimes insecure. I jockey for position and I like exclusive privileges. I can be judgmental, insensitive, petty and resentful. Oh, I can be cheap and stingy. But I want to love like Jesus.”1
I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot like me -- at least some days. Accepting that our faith is the bedrock of our lives and the anchor that keeps us stable and moving into the realm of God is sometimes really hard. Our humanness gets in the way. Job’s humanness got in the way as well, but Job came to realize that God was ever-present, ever-acting, ever-loving in his life. When I can embrace those facts, I become more like Jesus, more loving, more caring, less judgmental, less selfish and less petty. That is my aim. What is yours?
Bonnie B.
1 Encouragement for Today, August 27, 2018
* * *
Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22)
Writing about this psalm John Calvin observed:
It is a doctrine full of the sweetest comfort that God departs not from us, even when we are overwhelmed by a succession of miseries, and, as it were, almost deprived of life. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IV/2, p.572)
Its message seems to vindicate the observations of author Christopher Morley in his book Inward Ho: “I had a thousand questions to ask God; but when I met him they all fled and didn’t seem to matter.”
Lecturing on this psalm, Martin Luther commented on the joy that comes with an encounter with God:
How happy I am that my creator is such a person, that such a person has given me such things and such great things! They are much more pleasing because so great a person gave them than if I had them of myself. (Luther’s Works, Vol.10, p.163)
Mark E.
* * *
Hebrews 7:23-28
The author of Hebrews presents an ideal picture of a long line of high priests serving consecutively, each high priest’s tenure ending with death. But that’s not the picture presented in the gospels. During the time of Jesus both Annas and his son-in-law Caiaphas are identified as High Priest. The office had become something of a political appointment, and the one lost the appointment when the other was called into the position. That can’t always have been comfortable, having two High Priests who seemingly wield some sort of authority. The various tasks that help our congregations function are not meant as a life term. We call new people into leadership all the time. But while it’s good for the person who formerly held an office to be available for consultation and advice, it’s not helpful when a person continues to act like they’re in charge, as if there were some sort of shadow church that was the “real” church.
This is even worse when a former pastor won’t let go.
Frank R.
* * *
Hebrews 7:23-28
I came across an interesting article while browsing the internet recently. It was called, “Real vs. Fake: The Infamous Case of the Quickly Copied Fidget Cube” and was written by Jono Lee. The article was about a Kickstarter campaign and product called “The Fidget Cube.” Lee decided to be a financial backer of this product and invest in it. He relates in the article how he visited China for a manufacturing event and decided to tour the electronics market area called Huaqiangbei. He writes, “Imagine my surprise when I reach a floor to find almost every store there selling fidget cubes. Every other wall was filled with them. Not just normal fidget cubes, but even 12 sided monstrosities.” Apparently, China and other manufacturers had started making copies or fakes. The rest of the article compares the original and the fake version of the Fidget Cube and discusses whether the original is worth the price difference.
I thought about that article as I read through Hebrews 7. Jesus is the real high priest. He holds that position permanently. “The law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.” In the world of Fidget Cubes, I suppose a copy, or a second-rate product might be okay. In terms of a savior, or high priest, though, there is only one.
Bill T.
* * *
Hebrews 7:23-28
George Wesley Bellows, born in 1882, was a great American artist. He is known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He is also known for his prizefight series. In his very public support of the United States intervention in World War I, he created in 1918 a series of lithographs and paintings that graphically depicted atrocities which the Allies said had been committed by Germany during its invasion of Belgium. From this series he painted the execution of nurse Edith Cavell by the Germans in 1915. Understandably, Bellows was not an eyewitness to this event, but recreated it from the stories others told him. When he was criticized for painting an execution that he had not personally witnessed, he replied that “neither had Leonardo da Vinci been present at the Last Supper.”
Application: As Jesus makes intercessions on our behalf, we are to intercede for others. This is what Bellows did for the victims in Belgium who suffered from the atrocities committed by the Germans.
Ron L.
* * *
Mark 10:46-52
What happens in your life when you call out to Jesus? Do people tell you to be quiet, try to silence your actions of faith? How persistent are you when that happens? Like Bartimaeus do you call out anyway? Do you refuse to be silent as you are moving into alignment with Jesus? Do you continue to seek the will of God and the influence of Jesus in the troubles and the joys of your life?
Bartimaeus continues to call out to Jesus and Jesus asks him clearly, “What do you want?” The request is made and the request is fulfilled. Bartimaeus’ faith leads him into wholeness and health. Jesus is clear. It is the faith of Bartimaeus that makes him well. His willingness to act, to follow Jesus, to move into the embrace of God is what moves him into wholeness.
When we call out to Jesus are we made whole? Maybe physical healing doesn’t come, but emotional and spiritual healing can. Wholeness is more than physical wellness. Wholeness is alignment with the will of God, in the presence of life’s challenges, Bartimaeus knew that. Do we?
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 10:46-52
That blind man must have heard about Jesus power before he came, so the word was getting around. We hear about Jesus’ power every Sunday, but do we believe?
One of the reasons our church in Nepal was filling up and their faith was growing so fast there was because Jesus’ pastors were healing people there and the word was getting around. Not everyone who came was healed, but those who believed the message were often healed for all to see.
When I was healed of asthma in Utah at the age of 42, some heard about it and came to my church or to the Bible study where I was healed to hear more. When one member was healed of heart problems, some came to talk to him, but all did not believe that it was Jesus who healed him. Those who were healed knew it was Jesus who healed them. Sometimes it was not an instant healing, but when it happened, they knew it was Jesus who had done it.
I went to a Catholic healing service once and saw evil spirits come out of a woman who they prayed for. Those of her family who knew she had a problem for years were crying as they thanked God for his healing. They had no doubt it was genuine.
The first thing that those who were healed and those who witnessed it did was to tell others about it. Unless a person who heard about it had faith in Jesus, they often had doubts. Some even doubted when they met the healed person.
When I would tell about a healing at a service, there were still some who doubted my story. Seeing is believing, but experiencing it is the most powerful.
Several of my members had other prayers answered. Some were simple things like finding a parking place or a theatre seat on a holiday. They were convinced it was God. Whatever you ask, believe, the Bible says.
Bob O.
* * *
Mark 10:46-52
Jesus was begged for mercy by the blind man Bartimaeus (v.47). John Calvin sees blindness as a condition of all of us when we fail to show reverence to God, setting a higher value on our own ambition than on the truth of God (Commentary on John 7:48). In another sermon Martin Luther praises the begging blind man as a paradigm for the way in which Christian should petition God. Luther contended:
People don’t take to begging. But we have to doff our bashful hats and realize that the Lord God wants to have it so, that we happily come near. For it is His desire and honor to be generous and it pleases Him when people look to Him for every good thing. (Complete Sermons, Vol.5, p.309)
So learn to petition boldly and do not doubt that God will for Christ’s sake give you what is for your good... The more you persist in prayer the better God likes it. (Ibid., p.310)
Yearning for God in this way keeps faith healthy.
Mark E.
