Sermon Illustrations For Proper 6 | Ot 11 (2017)
Illustration
Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
Eric Schmitt-Matzen is a Tennessee man who for a long time has played Santa Claus. In December of 2016 a story broke in the Knoxville News-Sentinelabout how Schmitt-Matzen, playing Santa, visited a dying five-year-old boy whose wish was to see Santa Claus. In the article Schmitt-Matzen described how the boy received his gift, hugged him, and then died in his arms. It’s an incredibly moving story that went viral. In the days following the story’s rise, questions were raised about its veracity. Checking on the story now, it is still uncertain as to what happened.
Whether it is proved, there is something about this story that compels us to believe it. We want to believe that the incredible happens. We like it when a story too good to be true happens. That’s the kind of story we find in these Genesis accounts. Abraham entertains some heavenly visitors and is told that in due season Sarah will have a son. Sarah, overhearing this conversation, laughs because she knows that she is well past the age of childbearing. It is the laugh of scorn; a ridiculous laugh. When confronted she denies it, but it is clear that she did laugh. Nine months later, Sarah laughs again. Isaac was born. When he was circumcised, Sarah makes a statement: “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” It sounded too good to be true, but it was.
Though it sounds unbelievable, I’d like to think the Santa story from Knoxville is true. It might be. I do know that Isaac’s birth did happen. God is the master at making the impossible the reality.
Bill T.
Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
U.S. News reported that in 2016 15% of Americans were in poverty. Martin Luther King’s analysis of our economic situation in 1967 still applies today, 50 years later: “Those at the lowest economic level, the poor white and Negro, the aged and chronically ill, are traditionally unorganized and therefore have little ability to force the necessary growth in their income. They stagnate or become even poorer in relation to the larger society” (A Testament of Hope, p. 615).
King’s 16th-century namesake believed that this lesson has a word for us today: “The Church can and must not be indifferent to these difficulties.... By God’s command and by the instruction of the forefathers it is constrained to practice works of mercy, to feed the hungry and the thirsty, to receive exiles hospitably, to comfort prisoners, and to visit the sick” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 3, p. 180).
This sort of hospitality was evidenced in the way in which Abraham received his guests. As it turns out, God was present among the guests and in Abraham’s home. God himself comes to us in the poor we encounter, Luther said: “This is the historical meaning of this passage and an outstanding praise of hospitality, in order that we may be sure that God himself is in our home, is being fed at our house, is lying down and resting as often as some pious brother in exile... comes to us and is received hospitably by us. This is called brotherly love or Christian charity” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 3, p. 189).
Mark E.
Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
The Zika virus has become a worldwide concern. As it is spread by mosquitoes, it is difficult, if not impossible, to protect oneself against the virus. Though it is mainly confined to third-world countries, those who have traveled to those countries have brought the illness home with them. The problem has been further complicated because of the migration of mosquitoes. The problem has just been extended. It was first thought that the virus only infected a fetus in the first trimester; it has now been learned that the damage can extend well into the later stages of pregnancy. Pediatrician James Bale Jr. said, “This is really a remarkable degree of damage.”
Application: Our lesson discusses miracles, and there are times when a miracle is all that we can place our hope in.
Ron L.
Romans 5:1-8
I’m not crazy about suffering, and I bet you aren’t either. No one really likes pain and suffering. Yet Paul reminds the church in Rome and us that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Paul was one of those guys who knew suffering -- some he caused and some he endured. He knew that the difficult things and times in our lives can help us learn to endure. I preached a sermon recently titled “Attitude is Everything.” I think that’s true. How we choose to view the situations in which we find ourselves truly makes a difference. We have a lot of control over our attitude and the choices we make. I can choose to be pessimistic, or I can choose to encounter each day with hope. That is my choice and yours too. So the next time there are clouds in your day, remember that you might need a little rain to cause you to reflect, to encounter and understand the suffering of others, and to know the joy of the bright sunshine when it arrives. We are people of hope and resurrection. Choose that attitude, and truly endurance, character, and hope will reign in our days.
Bonnie B.
Romans 5:1-8
How can we rejoice over our suffering? That is the last thing we want to rejoice over. Yes, we need to have perseverance -- yet we hate to do it because of suffering. But why do we have to persevere if we have nothing to persevere against?
As children in grade school, we first learned to persevere in our classes (math, spelling, reading, etc.). If we persevered, we gained much that gave us hope for our future. Sometimes we suffered through some classes, but if we stuck with it we gained much, including character. Others can admire our growth in character -- especially our parents -- and if we did well, even our teachers and fellow students.
There are “spiritual” challenges in life also. We have endured the temptations of sex and greed, to name just two. That can give us hope that God loves us, since even if we failed to survive spiritual challenges we know that there is hope through our Lord’s sacrifice. While we were still sinners, he died for us that we might have eternal life with him.
We have not been saved because we kept every commandment (which we haven’t!). We are saved because of our faith. Our church is one thing that helps us endure and have faith, because we hear God’s word and because we see others around us with surviving faith.
Some bless soldiers who may have died for us and our country. Some bless fellow Christians who may have died for our faith. These may be true, but God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
One thing that can help us learn is our parents: even though we may sin, we are still loved by them. Yes, we may be punished, but when we endure we know that we are still loved. Jesus goes even further! If we believe in him, he will help us endure any suffering we might encounter, but nothing as terrible as his suffering for us. We are powerless to endure by ourselves, but he will give us the strength to make it. All we need is faith in him!
Bob O.
Romans 5:1-8
It is interesting that the claims for Jesus and Caesar are very similar. Compare the claims made in these two documents with regards to the reason people are to celebrate the birthday of Caesar, with the reasons we give for celebrating Christ’s birth at Christmas.
One official document read: “It is subject to question whether the birthday of our most divine Caesar smells more of joy or blessing, this being a date that we could probably without fear of contradiction equate with the beginning of all things if not in terms of nature, certainly in terms of utility, seeing that he restored stability, when everything was collapsing and falling into disarray, and gave a new looks to the entire world that would have been most happy to accept its own ruin had not the good and common fortune of all been born Caesar. Therefore people might justly assume that his birthday spells the beginning of life and real living and marks the end and boundary of any regret that they themselves had been born” (David R. Wallace, The Gospel of God: Romans as Paul’s Aeneid, pp. 152-153).
And from one inscription, where the emperor is referred to as “the god”: “But the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of tidings of joy on his account”(Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 366).
These claims were made for Caesar because he was a conqueror. The claims made for Jesus are because he died for others -- and as Paul points out, we are to suffer like Jesus.
Frank R.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
I recently did some study about the Civil War. It is an interesting and tragic part of our history. There were some incredible things that happened in that war, but one that stuck out to me was how doctors worked. A doctor in the Civil War was called a surgeon. They were responsible for treating the sick and wounded of their regiment. Often there were so many wounded that they worked on men from other regiments. This was especially true at Gettysburg, where the injured numbered in the thousands. Surgeons in both armies were taxed to the limits of their endurance and treated the most severe cases first. The remaining soldiers languished in the open air, waiting their turn on the surgeon's table. It is a hard picture to envision -- so many hurt, dying men, and so few doctors available to help them.
That’s a hard picture to see, and so is the one Jesus sees at the end of Matthew 9: “When he saw the crowds, he felt deeply sorry for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘There’s plenty of harvest to be had, but not many workers!’ ” It’s a hard picture to envision -- so many people lost, hurting, and struggling, and so few to help them. Jesus adds, “So pray the master of the harvest to send more workers to harvest his fields!”
As Jesus looks out on the world today, I wonder what picture he sees. I’m guessing he sees large numbers of people hurt, wounded, dying, and lost. Are there enough workers?
Bill T.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
This is a story of Christ showing compassion to those in need, the harassed and helpless. Commenting on this account, the great theologian of the last century Karl Barth wrote: “He [Christ] was not only affected to the heart by the misery which surrounded him... but it went right into his heart, so that it was now his misery.... He took it from them and laid it on himself. It was more his than that of those who suffered it. He took it from them and laid it on himself” (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/2, pp. 184ff).
Christ has taken our misery and made it his own. The courageous and brilliant Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famed German theologian who stood up to Hitler, beautifully describes this loving God of ours who comforts us as Jesus did: “He [God] always wants to be with us, wherever we may be -- in our sin, in our suffering and death. We are no longer alone; God is with us. We are no longer homeless; a bit of the eternal home has moved into us” (A Testament To Freedom, p. 196).
Mark E.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
In 1901 President William B. McKinley visited Niagara Falls. Encouraged by his entourage, he agreed to walk across the bridge connecting the United States with Canada. Great excitement prevailed, until he suddenly halted near the center of the bridge and returned home. McKinley explained that he did not want to be the first president to leave the boundaries of the United States while still in office.
Application: In our calling to follow Christ we cannot go halfway, nor can we turn around. We must persevere, surmounting every obstacle placed in our path. Obliged to our Savior, we are undaunted in our mission. Our lesson discusses the need for us to be disciples who will also teach and preach.
Ron L.
Eric Schmitt-Matzen is a Tennessee man who for a long time has played Santa Claus. In December of 2016 a story broke in the Knoxville News-Sentinelabout how Schmitt-Matzen, playing Santa, visited a dying five-year-old boy whose wish was to see Santa Claus. In the article Schmitt-Matzen described how the boy received his gift, hugged him, and then died in his arms. It’s an incredibly moving story that went viral. In the days following the story’s rise, questions were raised about its veracity. Checking on the story now, it is still uncertain as to what happened.
Whether it is proved, there is something about this story that compels us to believe it. We want to believe that the incredible happens. We like it when a story too good to be true happens. That’s the kind of story we find in these Genesis accounts. Abraham entertains some heavenly visitors and is told that in due season Sarah will have a son. Sarah, overhearing this conversation, laughs because she knows that she is well past the age of childbearing. It is the laugh of scorn; a ridiculous laugh. When confronted she denies it, but it is clear that she did laugh. Nine months later, Sarah laughs again. Isaac was born. When he was circumcised, Sarah makes a statement: “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” It sounded too good to be true, but it was.
Though it sounds unbelievable, I’d like to think the Santa story from Knoxville is true. It might be. I do know that Isaac’s birth did happen. God is the master at making the impossible the reality.
Bill T.
Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
U.S. News reported that in 2016 15% of Americans were in poverty. Martin Luther King’s analysis of our economic situation in 1967 still applies today, 50 years later: “Those at the lowest economic level, the poor white and Negro, the aged and chronically ill, are traditionally unorganized and therefore have little ability to force the necessary growth in their income. They stagnate or become even poorer in relation to the larger society” (A Testament of Hope, p. 615).
King’s 16th-century namesake believed that this lesson has a word for us today: “The Church can and must not be indifferent to these difficulties.... By God’s command and by the instruction of the forefathers it is constrained to practice works of mercy, to feed the hungry and the thirsty, to receive exiles hospitably, to comfort prisoners, and to visit the sick” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 3, p. 180).
This sort of hospitality was evidenced in the way in which Abraham received his guests. As it turns out, God was present among the guests and in Abraham’s home. God himself comes to us in the poor we encounter, Luther said: “This is the historical meaning of this passage and an outstanding praise of hospitality, in order that we may be sure that God himself is in our home, is being fed at our house, is lying down and resting as often as some pious brother in exile... comes to us and is received hospitably by us. This is called brotherly love or Christian charity” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 3, p. 189).
Mark E.
Genesis 18:1-15 (21:1-7)
The Zika virus has become a worldwide concern. As it is spread by mosquitoes, it is difficult, if not impossible, to protect oneself against the virus. Though it is mainly confined to third-world countries, those who have traveled to those countries have brought the illness home with them. The problem has been further complicated because of the migration of mosquitoes. The problem has just been extended. It was first thought that the virus only infected a fetus in the first trimester; it has now been learned that the damage can extend well into the later stages of pregnancy. Pediatrician James Bale Jr. said, “This is really a remarkable degree of damage.”
Application: Our lesson discusses miracles, and there are times when a miracle is all that we can place our hope in.
Ron L.
Romans 5:1-8
I’m not crazy about suffering, and I bet you aren’t either. No one really likes pain and suffering. Yet Paul reminds the church in Rome and us that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Paul was one of those guys who knew suffering -- some he caused and some he endured. He knew that the difficult things and times in our lives can help us learn to endure. I preached a sermon recently titled “Attitude is Everything.” I think that’s true. How we choose to view the situations in which we find ourselves truly makes a difference. We have a lot of control over our attitude and the choices we make. I can choose to be pessimistic, or I can choose to encounter each day with hope. That is my choice and yours too. So the next time there are clouds in your day, remember that you might need a little rain to cause you to reflect, to encounter and understand the suffering of others, and to know the joy of the bright sunshine when it arrives. We are people of hope and resurrection. Choose that attitude, and truly endurance, character, and hope will reign in our days.
Bonnie B.
Romans 5:1-8
How can we rejoice over our suffering? That is the last thing we want to rejoice over. Yes, we need to have perseverance -- yet we hate to do it because of suffering. But why do we have to persevere if we have nothing to persevere against?
As children in grade school, we first learned to persevere in our classes (math, spelling, reading, etc.). If we persevered, we gained much that gave us hope for our future. Sometimes we suffered through some classes, but if we stuck with it we gained much, including character. Others can admire our growth in character -- especially our parents -- and if we did well, even our teachers and fellow students.
There are “spiritual” challenges in life also. We have endured the temptations of sex and greed, to name just two. That can give us hope that God loves us, since even if we failed to survive spiritual challenges we know that there is hope through our Lord’s sacrifice. While we were still sinners, he died for us that we might have eternal life with him.
We have not been saved because we kept every commandment (which we haven’t!). We are saved because of our faith. Our church is one thing that helps us endure and have faith, because we hear God’s word and because we see others around us with surviving faith.
Some bless soldiers who may have died for us and our country. Some bless fellow Christians who may have died for our faith. These may be true, but God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
One thing that can help us learn is our parents: even though we may sin, we are still loved by them. Yes, we may be punished, but when we endure we know that we are still loved. Jesus goes even further! If we believe in him, he will help us endure any suffering we might encounter, but nothing as terrible as his suffering for us. We are powerless to endure by ourselves, but he will give us the strength to make it. All we need is faith in him!
Bob O.
Romans 5:1-8
It is interesting that the claims for Jesus and Caesar are very similar. Compare the claims made in these two documents with regards to the reason people are to celebrate the birthday of Caesar, with the reasons we give for celebrating Christ’s birth at Christmas.
One official document read: “It is subject to question whether the birthday of our most divine Caesar smells more of joy or blessing, this being a date that we could probably without fear of contradiction equate with the beginning of all things if not in terms of nature, certainly in terms of utility, seeing that he restored stability, when everything was collapsing and falling into disarray, and gave a new looks to the entire world that would have been most happy to accept its own ruin had not the good and common fortune of all been born Caesar. Therefore people might justly assume that his birthday spells the beginning of life and real living and marks the end and boundary of any regret that they themselves had been born” (David R. Wallace, The Gospel of God: Romans as Paul’s Aeneid, pp. 152-153).
And from one inscription, where the emperor is referred to as “the god”: “But the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of tidings of joy on his account”(Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 366).
These claims were made for Caesar because he was a conqueror. The claims made for Jesus are because he died for others -- and as Paul points out, we are to suffer like Jesus.
Frank R.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
I recently did some study about the Civil War. It is an interesting and tragic part of our history. There were some incredible things that happened in that war, but one that stuck out to me was how doctors worked. A doctor in the Civil War was called a surgeon. They were responsible for treating the sick and wounded of their regiment. Often there were so many wounded that they worked on men from other regiments. This was especially true at Gettysburg, where the injured numbered in the thousands. Surgeons in both armies were taxed to the limits of their endurance and treated the most severe cases first. The remaining soldiers languished in the open air, waiting their turn on the surgeon's table. It is a hard picture to envision -- so many hurt, dying men, and so few doctors available to help them.
That’s a hard picture to see, and so is the one Jesus sees at the end of Matthew 9: “When he saw the crowds, he felt deeply sorry for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘There’s plenty of harvest to be had, but not many workers!’ ” It’s a hard picture to envision -- so many people lost, hurting, and struggling, and so few to help them. Jesus adds, “So pray the master of the harvest to send more workers to harvest his fields!”
As Jesus looks out on the world today, I wonder what picture he sees. I’m guessing he sees large numbers of people hurt, wounded, dying, and lost. Are there enough workers?
Bill T.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
This is a story of Christ showing compassion to those in need, the harassed and helpless. Commenting on this account, the great theologian of the last century Karl Barth wrote: “He [Christ] was not only affected to the heart by the misery which surrounded him... but it went right into his heart, so that it was now his misery.... He took it from them and laid it on himself. It was more his than that of those who suffered it. He took it from them and laid it on himself” (Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV/2, pp. 184ff).
Christ has taken our misery and made it his own. The courageous and brilliant Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famed German theologian who stood up to Hitler, beautifully describes this loving God of ours who comforts us as Jesus did: “He [God] always wants to be with us, wherever we may be -- in our sin, in our suffering and death. We are no longer alone; God is with us. We are no longer homeless; a bit of the eternal home has moved into us” (A Testament To Freedom, p. 196).
Mark E.
Matthew 9:35--10:8 (9-23)
In 1901 President William B. McKinley visited Niagara Falls. Encouraged by his entourage, he agreed to walk across the bridge connecting the United States with Canada. Great excitement prevailed, until he suddenly halted near the center of the bridge and returned home. McKinley explained that he did not want to be the first president to leave the boundaries of the United States while still in office.
Application: In our calling to follow Christ we cannot go halfway, nor can we turn around. We must persevere, surmounting every obstacle placed in our path. Obliged to our Savior, we are undaunted in our mission. Our lesson discusses the need for us to be disciples who will also teach and preach.
Ron L.
