Sermon Illustrations for Proper 27 | Ordinary Time 32 (2023)
Illustration
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Who are the gods you worship? I mean it. I know you are faithful to God through Jesus and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Yet, many of us worship our positions, our belongings, our power, our money, as much or perhaps even more than we worship God. Joshua is calling the people of God to leave behind their other gods and to worship the God who has delivered them to the promised land. Maybe you feel you haven’t reached you promised land yet. Maybe the promised land is less about a place for us, than it is a state of our spirits and our relationship with God. What if that’s the promised land? Will you worship only God? Will you put God in the center of your life? Will you live in the spirit of the living God? That, in and of itself, will help us leave behind our other gods.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
About this text, John Calvin once noted:
By this example we are taught how multifarious are the fallacies occupying the senses of man, and how tortuous the recesses in which they hide their hypocrisy and folly, while they deceive themselves by vain confidence. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IV/1, p.278)
Like the ancient Hebrews we go whoring after false gods — wealth, sex, drugs, and the big house. The Reformed document Heidelberg Catechism well defines such idolatry, noting that we practice it whenever we “imagine or possess something in which to put... trust in place of or beside the one true God...” (The [Presbyterian] Book of Confessions, 4.095)
But famed modern Reformed theologian Karl Barth sees good news in the text as well. He wrote:
The Old Testament covenant is a covenant of grace. It is instituted by God himself in the fullness of sovereignty and in the freest determination and decree. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/1, p.23)
This grace makes it an easy matter to follow the Lord, to keep covenant with him, to do good works. Martin Luther told us this when he claimed that “All that a Christian does is nothing bur fruit. Everything such a person does is easy for him. Nothing is too arduous.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.24, p.30)
Mark E.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
While this passage has become very popular as a description of something called “the rapture,” in which believers will be lifted up and away from the earth along with those who had previously died in Christ before various trials and tribulations that appear in Revelation take place, this doctrine of the “get out of jail free” was simply unknown during most of Christian history. It was developed in the nineteenth century by John Nelson Darby. Paul would have known nothing about the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the final book of the New Testament, nor was there anything like the idea of a New Testament in his day. The Bible the first Christians knew consisted solely of the Hebrew Scriptures, what we often call the Old Testament.
What Paul was addressing was the anxiety caused to some of the believers in Thessalonica from misinformation they were given concerning their loved ones who died before Jesus returned in glory. They were being told if you died before Jesus returned you would not be raised in the resurrection of the dead. Only those still living at the time of his appearance would reign with him. Paul assured the Thessalonians this was wrong. Dead or alive, all believers would share with Christ when he appeared in glory.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
I came across an interesting story about dolphins. Did you know that dolphins sleep with one eye open? They do so because they can only let one side of their brain sleep at a time. When the left side of the brain sleeps, the right eye will close, and vice versa. It isn’t some weird stunt. They do it because they must always remain partially conscious to remind themselves to breathe.
Dolphins are mammals so they need to surface regularly to take in air. For dolphins, breathing is not automatic or reflexive the way it is for humans. Dolphins must decide to breathe, so they cannot ever fully fall asleep, or they would suffocate and drown. Staying awake, at least somewhat, is crucial for a dolphin’s survival. Paul did not want the Thessalonian Christians to be uniformed about the Second Coming of Jesus. They were to encourage each other with the truth that Jesus was coming back. May we, today, encourage each other as well and not be uniformed, but alert to his coming.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 25:1-13
St. Augustine suggested that we are all to be identified with the virgins in this parable in the sense that “it is good to abstain from the unlawful excitements of the senses, and on that account every Christian soul has gotten the name virgin...” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.6, p.402) In his view, “The lamps of the wise virgins burned with an inward oil, with the assurance of a good conscience, with an inner glory, and an inmost charity.” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.6, p.404) About these lamps, John Wesley wrote: “The lamp is faith. A lamp and oil with it is faith working by love.” (Commentary On the Bible, p.421) And yet the parable reports that not all were prepared. Augustine notes then that this is a message of repentance, that it is not time to sleep. He adds:
For the hour will come, and come when we know not... But if we are all to sleep, how shall we watch? Watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with hope, watch with charity, watch with good works... (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.6, p.405)
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 25:1-13
If God called you home to heaven in the next moment, how ready would you be? Would you be worried about your stuff, the mess you are leaving behind for family or friends to clean up? Would you be thinking of all the things you wanted to do in your life that you didn’t do? Readiness is everything. Jesus is teaching that. We don’t know when the end of our earthly existence will end. The question is our relationship with God such that we have no hesitancy in leaving behind this earthly existence? In 2021, my beloved husband decided to end his eight-year battle with renal failure and stop dialysis. He made this decision surrounded by family and with our full support. He knew he would likely only live another week. Yet, he was ready. His spirit was calm. His faith was strong. He was ready to surrender into the arms of Jesus. And as he moved from this world, I was holding his hand and knowing there was readiness in his spirit. There was sadness and grief, but there was hope in that moment and a sense of peace. I hunger to live in that kind of peace every day.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 25:1-13
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
Oh see, what your God has done.
The gospel song “Keep your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” is attributed to Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945) who recorded it in 1928. Johnson is famous for thirty recordings he made during a short period of time, for which he benefited hardly at all. He died in bitter poverty from pneumonia after his house burned down when the Dallas Fire Department refused to come to the home of a black man, nor would any hospital admit him. It is based on this passage in Matthew.
Johnson’s unique slide guitar style and distinctive singing heavily influenced the rock and blues guitarists and singers of the sixties, who rediscovered his rare (at the time) recordings and shared them with each other. His work is now much more readily available, including free downloads of his old 78s at Archive.org.
Frank R.
Who are the gods you worship? I mean it. I know you are faithful to God through Jesus and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Yet, many of us worship our positions, our belongings, our power, our money, as much or perhaps even more than we worship God. Joshua is calling the people of God to leave behind their other gods and to worship the God who has delivered them to the promised land. Maybe you feel you haven’t reached you promised land yet. Maybe the promised land is less about a place for us, than it is a state of our spirits and our relationship with God. What if that’s the promised land? Will you worship only God? Will you put God in the center of your life? Will you live in the spirit of the living God? That, in and of itself, will help us leave behind our other gods.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
About this text, John Calvin once noted:
By this example we are taught how multifarious are the fallacies occupying the senses of man, and how tortuous the recesses in which they hide their hypocrisy and folly, while they deceive themselves by vain confidence. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.IV/1, p.278)
Like the ancient Hebrews we go whoring after false gods — wealth, sex, drugs, and the big house. The Reformed document Heidelberg Catechism well defines such idolatry, noting that we practice it whenever we “imagine or possess something in which to put... trust in place of or beside the one true God...” (The [Presbyterian] Book of Confessions, 4.095)
But famed modern Reformed theologian Karl Barth sees good news in the text as well. He wrote:
The Old Testament covenant is a covenant of grace. It is instituted by God himself in the fullness of sovereignty and in the freest determination and decree. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.IV/1, p.23)
This grace makes it an easy matter to follow the Lord, to keep covenant with him, to do good works. Martin Luther told us this when he claimed that “All that a Christian does is nothing bur fruit. Everything such a person does is easy for him. Nothing is too arduous.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.24, p.30)
Mark E.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
While this passage has become very popular as a description of something called “the rapture,” in which believers will be lifted up and away from the earth along with those who had previously died in Christ before various trials and tribulations that appear in Revelation take place, this doctrine of the “get out of jail free” was simply unknown during most of Christian history. It was developed in the nineteenth century by John Nelson Darby. Paul would have known nothing about the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the final book of the New Testament, nor was there anything like the idea of a New Testament in his day. The Bible the first Christians knew consisted solely of the Hebrew Scriptures, what we often call the Old Testament.
What Paul was addressing was the anxiety caused to some of the believers in Thessalonica from misinformation they were given concerning their loved ones who died before Jesus returned in glory. They were being told if you died before Jesus returned you would not be raised in the resurrection of the dead. Only those still living at the time of his appearance would reign with him. Paul assured the Thessalonians this was wrong. Dead or alive, all believers would share with Christ when he appeared in glory.
Frank R.
* * *
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
I came across an interesting story about dolphins. Did you know that dolphins sleep with one eye open? They do so because they can only let one side of their brain sleep at a time. When the left side of the brain sleeps, the right eye will close, and vice versa. It isn’t some weird stunt. They do it because they must always remain partially conscious to remind themselves to breathe.
Dolphins are mammals so they need to surface regularly to take in air. For dolphins, breathing is not automatic or reflexive the way it is for humans. Dolphins must decide to breathe, so they cannot ever fully fall asleep, or they would suffocate and drown. Staying awake, at least somewhat, is crucial for a dolphin’s survival. Paul did not want the Thessalonian Christians to be uniformed about the Second Coming of Jesus. They were to encourage each other with the truth that Jesus was coming back. May we, today, encourage each other as well and not be uniformed, but alert to his coming.
Bill T.
* * *
Matthew 25:1-13
St. Augustine suggested that we are all to be identified with the virgins in this parable in the sense that “it is good to abstain from the unlawful excitements of the senses, and on that account every Christian soul has gotten the name virgin...” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.6, p.402) In his view, “The lamps of the wise virgins burned with an inward oil, with the assurance of a good conscience, with an inner glory, and an inmost charity.” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.6, p.404) About these lamps, John Wesley wrote: “The lamp is faith. A lamp and oil with it is faith working by love.” (Commentary On the Bible, p.421) And yet the parable reports that not all were prepared. Augustine notes then that this is a message of repentance, that it is not time to sleep. He adds:
For the hour will come, and come when we know not... But if we are all to sleep, how shall we watch? Watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with hope, watch with charity, watch with good works... (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.6, p.405)
Mark E.
* * *
Matthew 25:1-13
If God called you home to heaven in the next moment, how ready would you be? Would you be worried about your stuff, the mess you are leaving behind for family or friends to clean up? Would you be thinking of all the things you wanted to do in your life that you didn’t do? Readiness is everything. Jesus is teaching that. We don’t know when the end of our earthly existence will end. The question is our relationship with God such that we have no hesitancy in leaving behind this earthly existence? In 2021, my beloved husband decided to end his eight-year battle with renal failure and stop dialysis. He made this decision surrounded by family and with our full support. He knew he would likely only live another week. Yet, he was ready. His spirit was calm. His faith was strong. He was ready to surrender into the arms of Jesus. And as he moved from this world, I was holding his hand and knowing there was readiness in his spirit. There was sadness and grief, but there was hope in that moment and a sense of peace. I hunger to live in that kind of peace every day.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Matthew 25:1-13
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
Oh see, what your God has done.
The gospel song “Keep your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” is attributed to Blind Willie Johnson (1897-1945) who recorded it in 1928. Johnson is famous for thirty recordings he made during a short period of time, for which he benefited hardly at all. He died in bitter poverty from pneumonia after his house burned down when the Dallas Fire Department refused to come to the home of a black man, nor would any hospital admit him. It is based on this passage in Matthew.
Johnson’s unique slide guitar style and distinctive singing heavily influenced the rock and blues guitarists and singers of the sixties, who rediscovered his rare (at the time) recordings and shared them with each other. His work is now much more readily available, including free downloads of his old 78s at Archive.org.
Frank R.
