Sermon Illustrations for Proper 8 | OT 13 (2019)
Illustration
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
In an economy like ours that values flexibility, experience and loyalty matter less and less (Alan Wolfe, Moral Freedom: The Search for Virtue in World of Choice, pp.23ff .). The loyalty to legacy is what this story of Elijah and Elisha’s loyalty to the former’s prophetic legacy is all about.
Faith involves this kind of loyalty to roots. What Pope Paul VI once said about the liturgy could be applied to Christian life in general:
[It] is like a strong tree whose beauty is derived from the continuous renewal of its leaves, but whose strength comes from the old trunk, with solid roots in the ground.
This vision of faith and life is reminiscent of the word Sankofa from the Twi language of Ghana . It literally means “Go back and get it.” It refers to the Asanate Adinkra symbol represented by a bird with its head turned backward while moving forward carrying an egg in its mouth. It is associated with the proverb, “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” Faith lives this reality!
Mark E.
* * *
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
The mantle is passed from Elijah to Elisha, from one prophet to the next. As Elijah begins to understand that his life is ending and his role of prophet is coming to a close, his question to Elisha is deeply moving, “Tell me what I can do for you before I leave you.” Elisha’s response is also deeply moving. “Just allow me to inherit a double portion of your spirit.” What an inheritance! Yet, that is what mentors and teachers offer their protégés and students – their wisdom, their passion, and their spirit. I wonder sometimes if that is what we seek – a double portion of the spirit of those who have come before us. Think for a moment about the ones who were examples of faith and love to you. What spirit did they share? What would you do with a double portion of that spirit? These are good questions for these days.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
I found this story by Debra McGrath-Kerr and Dick Sheridan that was originally published in the New York Daily News, and reprinted in Reader's Digest, January 1996. It’s an old story, but one that still resonates with truth.
Mary Ann Dennis was walking her bull mastiff, Buz, in New York City's Riverside Park when an elderly man told her, "That guy robbed me." The suspect, in black jeans and tank top, was fleeing.
Dennis urged the victim to help her follow the robber, but the man couldn't run. So, five-foot-two Dennis went it alone. With Dennis and Buz in pursuit, the suspect raced out of the park, ran one block and hailed a cab.
"I was screaming and waving my hands," Dennis says, "but a taxi picked him up."
She kept running and just as she was losing hope, a white van pulled up beside her. After she explained the situation, the driver said, "Get in!"
When they caught up with the cab, its passenger was gone. The cabby told Dennis the man had fled toward Broadway. She and Buz picked up the chase on foot. Seeing the thief hopping into another cab, Dennis leaped in front of it, shouting, "Stop! That man robbed somebody." The thief jumped out and threatened Dennis before running to a third taxi. Dennis jumped in front of it just before the traffic light changed. Within moments the police arrived and handcuffed the suspect, who was charged with third-degree robbery and criminal possession of stolen property.
When asked would she do it again, Dennis answered, "Definitely! Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself. If the whole world lived that way, this wouldn't be a cold city."
Bill T.
* * *
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Slavery was an economic condition in the Roman Empire, not a race-based condition as practiced in the United States prior to the Civil War. People were reduced to slavery because of economic devastation, or because they were captured during war, or because they were born into slavery. American slavery was based on the abominable assumption that some races were inferior than others and doomed, by some twisted interpretation of scripture, by God's will to slavery.
But even so, slavery was a hateful condition, and liberation was the goal of any slave in the Roman Empire. This chapter of Galatians focuses in large part upon the things that enslave us, but Paul in the first verse makes a crucial statement that begs a question — if one is finally freed why would one allow conditions to deteriorate to the point where a return to slavery is the only option?
But if people escape from debt but have not learned to avoid the conditions that caused them to overspend they will soon be economic slaves. Those who have lost a great deal of weight but have not addressed the root of hidden pain may find themselves gaining back the weight . People who escape from disastrous marriages sometimes marry another person of the same sort under which they suffered earlier. To be truly liberated from slavery requires honest self-examination and the resolve to make dramatic and permanent changes — usually with the help of others. After all, if we could do things by ourselves we probably wouldn't have gotten in trouble in the first place.
Frank R.
* * *
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Rev. James Smith was a Baptist preacher. He served New Park Street Chapel in London from 1841 to 1850. The church is better known for the pastor who followed Smith into the pulpit — Charles Spurgeon. Smith wrote a devotional titled The Believer’s Daily Remembrance. It was so popular that it went through thirty-eight editions.
For May 4 he wrote a devotional on the scriptural passage from Jeremiah 3:22, which reads, “I will cure you of backsliding.” He begins by writing, “Sin brings sickness. The believer can only be healthful as he walks with God…” Regarding this sickness he wrote, “but if we wander from him, spiritual disease will seize upon us.” This transitioned Smith into describing the sickness of a backslider with these words, “The backslider feels too weak to run in the way of God’s commands; too confused to read his interest in God’s promises; too guilty to call God Father; too wretched to rejoice in hope. He has no liberty in prayer: no enjoyment of his Bible; no peace in his conscience; no delight in God’s ways.”
Yet, Smith does offer hope for the backslider. He writes that the “Great Physician” will cure the backslider if he returns with “weeping and supplication.”
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 9:51-62
Jesus calls his followers to a “no holds barred” discipleship in this text, to put nothing before Christ. John Calvin understood Christ to have that kind of commitment, for his determination to move toward his death in Jerusalem (v.53) is said to be “a remarkable proof of his unbounded love to us.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/2, p.375) Motivated by such love, we are more likely to share this sort of no- holds barred commitment that Billy Graham once described:
Make sure of your commitment to Jesus Christ and seek to follow him every day. Don’t be swayed by the false values of this world, but put Christ and his will first in everything you do.
An anonymous quote floating around on the internet captures some of this way of thinking, making clear what true commitment is:
There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.
Pope Francis calls us to this sort of faith:
There is no such thing as low-cost Christianity. Following Jesus means swimming against the tide, renouncing evil and selfishness.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 9:51-62
As a conference minister in the United Church of Christ, I spend a lot of time with congregations who are declining in attendance, size and energy. Often the folks in those churches are looking back to remember what the church was like during their heyday — full pews, burgeoning Sunday school classes, and lots of financial support for programs and staff. That is not the reality of the mainline church in the 21st century. And yet, we look back. This scripture lesson, this good news, reminds us that “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” Nostalgia is wonderful but nostalgia will not help the church survive or thrive. Just as we no longer use rabbit ears on our televisions or use a rotary phone, we can no longer employ the same methods of sharing the good news of God’s love. Let’s not spend our time looking back, seeking to replicate what was. Instead let us move bravely forward to engage the world in the here and now with the message of God’s love and grace.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 9:51-62
Jesus does not stop heading for the terrible end in sight for him, but they were not supposed to punish those who wanted to hold him back from heading to Jerusalem where they knew it was dangerous for him to go.
It seems that one man was willing to follow Jesus even into danger, but he wanted a little time to finish his earthly responsibilities first . Jesus told him no, that he should follow now! How many of us would like to follow our Lord, but want to clean up a few things we would like to finish first ?
My wife and I went back to Nepal a short while after we had returned from our first trip there. We knew there was danger there, but God was calling us. So we set aside all the things we wanted to take care of before we went again. It was not easy and our kids wanted us to wait. (They didn’t want us to go the firsts time.)
I know many missionaries who traveled into danger for themselves and their families . Conversely, I know at least one business man who quit his church so it wouldn’t damage his career.
We need our church to stand behind us when we are faced with any temptation that might hurt our faith.
Bob O.
In an economy like ours that values flexibility, experience and loyalty matter less and less (Alan Wolfe, Moral Freedom: The Search for Virtue in World of Choice, pp.23ff .). The loyalty to legacy is what this story of Elijah and Elisha’s loyalty to the former’s prophetic legacy is all about.
Faith involves this kind of loyalty to roots. What Pope Paul VI once said about the liturgy could be applied to Christian life in general:
[It] is like a strong tree whose beauty is derived from the continuous renewal of its leaves, but whose strength comes from the old trunk, with solid roots in the ground.
This vision of faith and life is reminiscent of the word Sankofa from the Twi language of Ghana . It literally means “Go back and get it.” It refers to the Asanate Adinkra symbol represented by a bird with its head turned backward while moving forward carrying an egg in its mouth. It is associated with the proverb, “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” Faith lives this reality!
Mark E.
* * *
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
The mantle is passed from Elijah to Elisha, from one prophet to the next. As Elijah begins to understand that his life is ending and his role of prophet is coming to a close, his question to Elisha is deeply moving, “Tell me what I can do for you before I leave you.” Elisha’s response is also deeply moving. “Just allow me to inherit a double portion of your spirit.” What an inheritance! Yet, that is what mentors and teachers offer their protégés and students – their wisdom, their passion, and their spirit. I wonder sometimes if that is what we seek – a double portion of the spirit of those who have come before us. Think for a moment about the ones who were examples of faith and love to you. What spirit did they share? What would you do with a double portion of that spirit? These are good questions for these days.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
I found this story by Debra McGrath-Kerr and Dick Sheridan that was originally published in the New York Daily News, and reprinted in Reader's Digest, January 1996. It’s an old story, but one that still resonates with truth.
Mary Ann Dennis was walking her bull mastiff, Buz, in New York City's Riverside Park when an elderly man told her, "That guy robbed me." The suspect, in black jeans and tank top, was fleeing.
Dennis urged the victim to help her follow the robber, but the man couldn't run. So, five-foot-two Dennis went it alone. With Dennis and Buz in pursuit, the suspect raced out of the park, ran one block and hailed a cab.
"I was screaming and waving my hands," Dennis says, "but a taxi picked him up."
She kept running and just as she was losing hope, a white van pulled up beside her. After she explained the situation, the driver said, "Get in!"
When they caught up with the cab, its passenger was gone. The cabby told Dennis the man had fled toward Broadway. She and Buz picked up the chase on foot. Seeing the thief hopping into another cab, Dennis leaped in front of it, shouting, "Stop! That man robbed somebody." The thief jumped out and threatened Dennis before running to a third taxi. Dennis jumped in front of it just before the traffic light changed. Within moments the police arrived and handcuffed the suspect, who was charged with third-degree robbery and criminal possession of stolen property.
When asked would she do it again, Dennis answered, "Definitely! Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself. If the whole world lived that way, this wouldn't be a cold city."
Bill T.
* * *
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Slavery was an economic condition in the Roman Empire, not a race-based condition as practiced in the United States prior to the Civil War. People were reduced to slavery because of economic devastation, or because they were captured during war, or because they were born into slavery. American slavery was based on the abominable assumption that some races were inferior than others and doomed, by some twisted interpretation of scripture, by God's will to slavery.
But even so, slavery was a hateful condition, and liberation was the goal of any slave in the Roman Empire. This chapter of Galatians focuses in large part upon the things that enslave us, but Paul in the first verse makes a crucial statement that begs a question — if one is finally freed why would one allow conditions to deteriorate to the point where a return to slavery is the only option?
But if people escape from debt but have not learned to avoid the conditions that caused them to overspend they will soon be economic slaves. Those who have lost a great deal of weight but have not addressed the root of hidden pain may find themselves gaining back the weight . People who escape from disastrous marriages sometimes marry another person of the same sort under which they suffered earlier. To be truly liberated from slavery requires honest self-examination and the resolve to make dramatic and permanent changes — usually with the help of others. After all, if we could do things by ourselves we probably wouldn't have gotten in trouble in the first place.
Frank R.
* * *
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Rev. James Smith was a Baptist preacher. He served New Park Street Chapel in London from 1841 to 1850. The church is better known for the pastor who followed Smith into the pulpit — Charles Spurgeon. Smith wrote a devotional titled The Believer’s Daily Remembrance. It was so popular that it went through thirty-eight editions.
For May 4 he wrote a devotional on the scriptural passage from Jeremiah 3:22, which reads, “I will cure you of backsliding.” He begins by writing, “Sin brings sickness. The believer can only be healthful as he walks with God…” Regarding this sickness he wrote, “but if we wander from him, spiritual disease will seize upon us.” This transitioned Smith into describing the sickness of a backslider with these words, “The backslider feels too weak to run in the way of God’s commands; too confused to read his interest in God’s promises; too guilty to call God Father; too wretched to rejoice in hope. He has no liberty in prayer: no enjoyment of his Bible; no peace in his conscience; no delight in God’s ways.”
Yet, Smith does offer hope for the backslider. He writes that the “Great Physician” will cure the backslider if he returns with “weeping and supplication.”
Ron L.
* * *
Luke 9:51-62
Jesus calls his followers to a “no holds barred” discipleship in this text, to put nothing before Christ. John Calvin understood Christ to have that kind of commitment, for his determination to move toward his death in Jerusalem (v.53) is said to be “a remarkable proof of his unbounded love to us.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/2, p.375) Motivated by such love, we are more likely to share this sort of no- holds barred commitment that Billy Graham once described:
Make sure of your commitment to Jesus Christ and seek to follow him every day. Don’t be swayed by the false values of this world, but put Christ and his will first in everything you do.
An anonymous quote floating around on the internet captures some of this way of thinking, making clear what true commitment is:
There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.
Pope Francis calls us to this sort of faith:
There is no such thing as low-cost Christianity. Following Jesus means swimming against the tide, renouncing evil and selfishness.
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 9:51-62
As a conference minister in the United Church of Christ, I spend a lot of time with congregations who are declining in attendance, size and energy. Often the folks in those churches are looking back to remember what the church was like during their heyday — full pews, burgeoning Sunday school classes, and lots of financial support for programs and staff. That is not the reality of the mainline church in the 21st century. And yet, we look back. This scripture lesson, this good news, reminds us that “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” Nostalgia is wonderful but nostalgia will not help the church survive or thrive. Just as we no longer use rabbit ears on our televisions or use a rotary phone, we can no longer employ the same methods of sharing the good news of God’s love. Let’s not spend our time looking back, seeking to replicate what was. Instead let us move bravely forward to engage the world in the here and now with the message of God’s love and grace.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Luke 9:51-62
Jesus does not stop heading for the terrible end in sight for him, but they were not supposed to punish those who wanted to hold him back from heading to Jerusalem where they knew it was dangerous for him to go.
It seems that one man was willing to follow Jesus even into danger, but he wanted a little time to finish his earthly responsibilities first . Jesus told him no, that he should follow now! How many of us would like to follow our Lord, but want to clean up a few things we would like to finish first ?
My wife and I went back to Nepal a short while after we had returned from our first trip there. We knew there was danger there, but God was calling us. So we set aside all the things we wanted to take care of before we went again. It was not easy and our kids wanted us to wait. (They didn’t want us to go the firsts time.)
I know many missionaries who traveled into danger for themselves and their families . Conversely, I know at least one business man who quit his church so it wouldn’t damage his career.
We need our church to stand behind us when we are faced with any temptation that might hurt our faith.
Bob O.
