Sermon Illustrations for Proper 7 | OT 12 (2013)
Illustration
Object:
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a
In 1952, composer John Cage wrote a piece called 4'33" (Four minutes, 33 seconds). Originally written for a single pianist, it can be performed on any instrument or any combination of instruments. The choice of instruments does not matter, because during the entire duration of the performance not a single note is played. Several renditions of 4'33" have been recorded over the years. The idea behind this quirky composition is that the music consists of the ambient sounds of the room in which it is performed. The silence enables the audience to really listen. Martin Luther once pointed out that God made the world out of nothing. The question to ask yourself, he says, is whether you have yet become nothing, so that God can make something out of you.
Scott B.
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a
A concern for the television industry today is what is being referred to as "Zero TV" households. These are homes that are no longer connected to television, either by cable or antenna. These are households that fall out of the traditional definition of a TV home, and there are presently 5 million of these residences. They may watch shows through websites, having subscribed to an online service, but they're not directly connected to the networks and pay-to-view channels. The challenge of the television industry is to get their programming back into these homes.
Application: Just because an individual lives in a "Zero TV" household does not mean he or she is not connected to the outside world. It is the same as Elijah being able to hear God in a whisper.
Ron L.
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a
Elijah, the great man of God, was in despair, ready to quit. But it is like the Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi once put it: "Winners never quit, and quitters never win." God did not abandon Elijah, for God is no quitter. He did not quit on the Hebrews, did not quit on Elijah, and will not quit on us. (That is why he sent Jesus.) And that faithfulness is what guarantees that God's ways will prevail, for he is the ultimate winner, the one who never quits! It is as the famed theologian of hope Jurgen Moltmann once wrote: "God is faithful. He does not deny himself. What he says comes to pass" (Theology of Hope, p. 122).
Mark E.
Galatians 3:23-29
The law is not our schoolmaster. It leads us to our teacher, who is Christ. We all have times when we feel trapped by the law and can't escape. The Jews had 613 laws in addition to the big ten! They tried to trap Jesus with all these miniscule rules, but he refuses to be trapped. So if we want an answer we should go to him and not just bring out more rules: don't drink or smoke or dance -- and on and on! There are so many that we can't even remember them all and feel trapped -- held prisoner to them! The law is only given as a guideline for our life. It shows us what pleases God.
When we realize that we have already violated many of those laws by thought, word, or deed, then we may feel we are lost! Hopefully this will drive us to the message of Christ that he has justified us, not by law but by our coming to him in faith. Faith in him is what makes us free.
The Old Testament may make us think that only Jews are saved if they believe in Christ, but the New Testament makes it clear that we are all children of Abraham through our faith. There is no longer any difference between Jew or Gentile. Not that we are better than Jews, but that we come to Christ as equals. All the distinctions and divisions in life are swallowed up in our relationship to Christ. We are all God's children: male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile. God has made us one in him, and we are all heirs to his wonderful rewards.
The door that leads to all these rewards is our baptism into Christ. Don't try to enter by any other means like trying to obey all the laws!
Bob O.
Galatians 3:23-29
Humanity revels in polarization. Everywhere one looks, locally and globally, people are pitting themselves against one another according to various distinctions: ethnic heritage, racial genetics, or gender differences. Rodney King, an African American whose claim to fame was that he got beat up by four white cops and it was on tape for the whole world to see, recently died. His famous quote was: "Can we all get along?" Apparently not. The acquittal of all four officers in the aftermath of the beating is credited for starting the 1992 Los Angeles riots in which 53 people died. Paul's plea is that we can rise above such polarization when we "[clothe ourselves] with Christ." There is a promise of better relationships, re-created relationships, when we see one another through the eyes of Christ.
Mark M.
Luke 8:26-39
David Letterman, the host of the Late Show, suffered for decades with depression. He refused treatment because he was concerned that the medication would adversely affect his personality. In 2003, with an attack of the shingles, Letterman decided to get treatment. After the new health that the medication provided, Letterman shared in a television special with Oprah Winfrey what his new life is like. Letterman said, "It's like seeing the world with 20/20 vision."
Application: Whenever we are healed of a debilitating illness, it is like living a new life in a new world.
Ron L.
Luke 8:26-39
The real point of this story is not the miracle of healing Jesus did, but the miracle that it transformed the man healed into an evangelist. English evangelist Alan Redpath was on target when he claimed that "the conversion of a soul is the miracle of the moment..." And evangelism is what the church and what our lives are for. C.S. Lewis and Martin Luther make that clear respectively in the following quotations:
"The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose."
"We live on earth for no other purpose than to be helpful to others. Otherwise it would be best for God to take away our breath and let us die as soon as we are baptized and have begun to believe. But he lets us live here in order that we may lead other people to believe, doing for them what he has done for us" (What Luther Says, p. 961).
Mark E.
Luke 8:26-39
If you are afraid of clowns, you are coulrophobic. If you are gerascophobic, you are afraid of growing old. If you dread going to the dentist, you might well suffer from dentophobia. Musophobes get the creeps from mice. Ophidiophobes are mortified at the sight of a snake. Thenatophobes fear death. And people who are homilophobic are afraid of sermons. You've got to wonder who has a better understanding of these things, the people who aren't afraid of them, or the ones who are. Who better understood Jesus: the man who begged to follow him, or the frightened townsfolk who pleaded for him to leave?
Scott B.
In 1952, composer John Cage wrote a piece called 4'33" (Four minutes, 33 seconds). Originally written for a single pianist, it can be performed on any instrument or any combination of instruments. The choice of instruments does not matter, because during the entire duration of the performance not a single note is played. Several renditions of 4'33" have been recorded over the years. The idea behind this quirky composition is that the music consists of the ambient sounds of the room in which it is performed. The silence enables the audience to really listen. Martin Luther once pointed out that God made the world out of nothing. The question to ask yourself, he says, is whether you have yet become nothing, so that God can make something out of you.
Scott B.
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a
A concern for the television industry today is what is being referred to as "Zero TV" households. These are homes that are no longer connected to television, either by cable or antenna. These are households that fall out of the traditional definition of a TV home, and there are presently 5 million of these residences. They may watch shows through websites, having subscribed to an online service, but they're not directly connected to the networks and pay-to-view channels. The challenge of the television industry is to get their programming back into these homes.
Application: Just because an individual lives in a "Zero TV" household does not mean he or she is not connected to the outside world. It is the same as Elijah being able to hear God in a whisper.
Ron L.
1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a
Elijah, the great man of God, was in despair, ready to quit. But it is like the Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi once put it: "Winners never quit, and quitters never win." God did not abandon Elijah, for God is no quitter. He did not quit on the Hebrews, did not quit on Elijah, and will not quit on us. (That is why he sent Jesus.) And that faithfulness is what guarantees that God's ways will prevail, for he is the ultimate winner, the one who never quits! It is as the famed theologian of hope Jurgen Moltmann once wrote: "God is faithful. He does not deny himself. What he says comes to pass" (Theology of Hope, p. 122).
Mark E.
Galatians 3:23-29
The law is not our schoolmaster. It leads us to our teacher, who is Christ. We all have times when we feel trapped by the law and can't escape. The Jews had 613 laws in addition to the big ten! They tried to trap Jesus with all these miniscule rules, but he refuses to be trapped. So if we want an answer we should go to him and not just bring out more rules: don't drink or smoke or dance -- and on and on! There are so many that we can't even remember them all and feel trapped -- held prisoner to them! The law is only given as a guideline for our life. It shows us what pleases God.
When we realize that we have already violated many of those laws by thought, word, or deed, then we may feel we are lost! Hopefully this will drive us to the message of Christ that he has justified us, not by law but by our coming to him in faith. Faith in him is what makes us free.
The Old Testament may make us think that only Jews are saved if they believe in Christ, but the New Testament makes it clear that we are all children of Abraham through our faith. There is no longer any difference between Jew or Gentile. Not that we are better than Jews, but that we come to Christ as equals. All the distinctions and divisions in life are swallowed up in our relationship to Christ. We are all God's children: male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile. God has made us one in him, and we are all heirs to his wonderful rewards.
The door that leads to all these rewards is our baptism into Christ. Don't try to enter by any other means like trying to obey all the laws!
Bob O.
Galatians 3:23-29
Humanity revels in polarization. Everywhere one looks, locally and globally, people are pitting themselves against one another according to various distinctions: ethnic heritage, racial genetics, or gender differences. Rodney King, an African American whose claim to fame was that he got beat up by four white cops and it was on tape for the whole world to see, recently died. His famous quote was: "Can we all get along?" Apparently not. The acquittal of all four officers in the aftermath of the beating is credited for starting the 1992 Los Angeles riots in which 53 people died. Paul's plea is that we can rise above such polarization when we "[clothe ourselves] with Christ." There is a promise of better relationships, re-created relationships, when we see one another through the eyes of Christ.
Mark M.
Luke 8:26-39
David Letterman, the host of the Late Show, suffered for decades with depression. He refused treatment because he was concerned that the medication would adversely affect his personality. In 2003, with an attack of the shingles, Letterman decided to get treatment. After the new health that the medication provided, Letterman shared in a television special with Oprah Winfrey what his new life is like. Letterman said, "It's like seeing the world with 20/20 vision."
Application: Whenever we are healed of a debilitating illness, it is like living a new life in a new world.
Ron L.
Luke 8:26-39
The real point of this story is not the miracle of healing Jesus did, but the miracle that it transformed the man healed into an evangelist. English evangelist Alan Redpath was on target when he claimed that "the conversion of a soul is the miracle of the moment..." And evangelism is what the church and what our lives are for. C.S. Lewis and Martin Luther make that clear respectively in the following quotations:
"The church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose."
"We live on earth for no other purpose than to be helpful to others. Otherwise it would be best for God to take away our breath and let us die as soon as we are baptized and have begun to believe. But he lets us live here in order that we may lead other people to believe, doing for them what he has done for us" (What Luther Says, p. 961).
Mark E.
Luke 8:26-39
If you are afraid of clowns, you are coulrophobic. If you are gerascophobic, you are afraid of growing old. If you dread going to the dentist, you might well suffer from dentophobia. Musophobes get the creeps from mice. Ophidiophobes are mortified at the sight of a snake. Thenatophobes fear death. And people who are homilophobic are afraid of sermons. You've got to wonder who has a better understanding of these things, the people who aren't afraid of them, or the ones who are. Who better understood Jesus: the man who begged to follow him, or the frightened townsfolk who pleaded for him to leave?
Scott B.
