Sermon Illustrations for Second Sunday of Easter (2021)
Illustration
Acts 4:32-35
This is the scripture we make excuses for or insist that the peculiar financial arrangement of the first disciples was for their time, not ours. We give examples from the Acts of the Apostles that demonstrate private ownership so we can state that this was a temporary state of affairs. It makes us uncomfortable, especially in this country where we have more than most people around the world. I’m not sure what to say to encourage you to challenge your congregation to work harder at mutual aid. Perhaps it begins by preaching your message in a mirror.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 4:32-35
The “Milwaukee Journal Sentinel” told the sad story of David Carter in an article on February 4, 2012. According to Jim Stingl’s story, “Everyone tells me they liked David Carter, and they wished him well when he announced he was heading out to New Mexico to live and work. Except he never went. Carter left a couple notes at his West Allis home.” Stingl reports that Carter took his own life. That happened in late 2007. Carter’s body wasn’t discovered until January -- January of 2012!
For nearly five years no one checked on or tried to find him. Carter had few friends and no living family. According to a person in his neighborhood, “It's one of those things where it falls between the cracks, I guess."
That’s a tragic story and it saddened me to read it. As I thought about it, it is the exact opposite of what the church is to be as we see in Acts 4. “There was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34a). The early church reached out to one another and cared for each other. That’s the challenge for the church today. Are we meeting the needs of those in our fellowship or are some “falling through the cracks?”
Bill T.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
A 2016 Ligonier Ministries poll found that two-thirds of American Christians concede we sin sometimes, but that we are essentially good. Our lesson provides a needed critique of that attitude. The great theologian of the early church, St. Augustine, spoke to this issue and our false American attitudes:
No one can exist in this flesh without some light sins at least. But you shouldn’t think lightly of those sins we call light. If you think lightly of them when you weigh them, be afraid when you count them! Many light objects make one huge one; many drops fill a river; many grains make a heap. (Love One Another, My Friends, pp.6-7)
The lesson is about the good news that God in Christ forgives us. Martin Luther made that clear:
Christ is so merciful and kind that if it were possible, He would weep for every sinner who is troubled. Of all men He is the mildest, of all the gentlest. (Luther’s Works, Vol.30, p.237)
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
In some traditions the Sunday following Easter is Holy Humor Sunday. It harkens to the words of Paul about being a “fool” for Christ. This reading doesn’t present a humorous anecdote, but rather, accents the joy of knowing the Jesus intercedes for us, always. The declaration in this letter is that Jesus has atoned for all sin – past, present, and future and that Jesus intercedes for us with our Creator God. Jesus acts as the intermediary for us. Atonement is a challenging concept for many of us. It’s hard to imagine that someone would take the responsibility and the consequences for what we have done wrong. Yet, the author of 1 John reminds us that once again nothing we do can separate us from God. Jesus has already provided the path back into the arms of God. That’s worth feeling joy about.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 20:19-31
In some ways we can say this passage is the other Pentecost. In Luke’s account the Spirit arrives powerfully and sends out the disciples in dramatic fashion. But there’s a tendency to act as if there’s only one way for the Spirit to act. Here we see Jesus breathing into the disciples. This is reminiscent of the creation of humans in Genesis 2:7. God created a human and breathed into the nostrils of what was formed from the dust and only then does it become a human being. Jesus makes us disciples, makes us the new creation.
Frank R.
* * *
John 20:19-31
Elisabeth Elliot wrote, "Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them."
For the twentieth anniversary of “Larry King Live”, Barbara Walters interviewed King and asked him several direct and revealing questions. Two of the most telling responses came when she probed about fear and faith. Walters asked King, “What is your greatest fear?”
He immediately replied, “Death.” This interview occurred in 2005 when he was at the very top of his career and had much to lose, but none of that mattered compared to the fear of death. Her follow-up question was, “Do you believe in God?” King hesitated and then answered, “Not sure. I’m an agnostic.”
Can you imagine living life with the uncertainty of what comes next? It is hard to fathom. It doesn’t have to be that way. John writes, “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). We all have times of fear and doubt. What we do, though, is what Max Lucado wrote, “Meet your fears with faith.”
Bill T.
This is the scripture we make excuses for or insist that the peculiar financial arrangement of the first disciples was for their time, not ours. We give examples from the Acts of the Apostles that demonstrate private ownership so we can state that this was a temporary state of affairs. It makes us uncomfortable, especially in this country where we have more than most people around the world. I’m not sure what to say to encourage you to challenge your congregation to work harder at mutual aid. Perhaps it begins by preaching your message in a mirror.
Frank R.
* * *
Acts 4:32-35
The “Milwaukee Journal Sentinel” told the sad story of David Carter in an article on February 4, 2012. According to Jim Stingl’s story, “Everyone tells me they liked David Carter, and they wished him well when he announced he was heading out to New Mexico to live and work. Except he never went. Carter left a couple notes at his West Allis home.” Stingl reports that Carter took his own life. That happened in late 2007. Carter’s body wasn’t discovered until January -- January of 2012!
For nearly five years no one checked on or tried to find him. Carter had few friends and no living family. According to a person in his neighborhood, “It's one of those things where it falls between the cracks, I guess."
That’s a tragic story and it saddened me to read it. As I thought about it, it is the exact opposite of what the church is to be as we see in Acts 4. “There was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34a). The early church reached out to one another and cared for each other. That’s the challenge for the church today. Are we meeting the needs of those in our fellowship or are some “falling through the cracks?”
Bill T.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
A 2016 Ligonier Ministries poll found that two-thirds of American Christians concede we sin sometimes, but that we are essentially good. Our lesson provides a needed critique of that attitude. The great theologian of the early church, St. Augustine, spoke to this issue and our false American attitudes:
No one can exist in this flesh without some light sins at least. But you shouldn’t think lightly of those sins we call light. If you think lightly of them when you weigh them, be afraid when you count them! Many light objects make one huge one; many drops fill a river; many grains make a heap. (Love One Another, My Friends, pp.6-7)
The lesson is about the good news that God in Christ forgives us. Martin Luther made that clear:
Christ is so merciful and kind that if it were possible, He would weep for every sinner who is troubled. Of all men He is the mildest, of all the gentlest. (Luther’s Works, Vol.30, p.237)
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
In some traditions the Sunday following Easter is Holy Humor Sunday. It harkens to the words of Paul about being a “fool” for Christ. This reading doesn’t present a humorous anecdote, but rather, accents the joy of knowing the Jesus intercedes for us, always. The declaration in this letter is that Jesus has atoned for all sin – past, present, and future and that Jesus intercedes for us with our Creator God. Jesus acts as the intermediary for us. Atonement is a challenging concept for many of us. It’s hard to imagine that someone would take the responsibility and the consequences for what we have done wrong. Yet, the author of 1 John reminds us that once again nothing we do can separate us from God. Jesus has already provided the path back into the arms of God. That’s worth feeling joy about.
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 20:19-31
In some ways we can say this passage is the other Pentecost. In Luke’s account the Spirit arrives powerfully and sends out the disciples in dramatic fashion. But there’s a tendency to act as if there’s only one way for the Spirit to act. Here we see Jesus breathing into the disciples. This is reminiscent of the creation of humans in Genesis 2:7. God created a human and breathed into the nostrils of what was formed from the dust and only then does it become a human being. Jesus makes us disciples, makes us the new creation.
Frank R.
* * *
John 20:19-31
Elisabeth Elliot wrote, "Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them."
For the twentieth anniversary of “Larry King Live”, Barbara Walters interviewed King and asked him several direct and revealing questions. Two of the most telling responses came when she probed about fear and faith. Walters asked King, “What is your greatest fear?”
He immediately replied, “Death.” This interview occurred in 2005 when he was at the very top of his career and had much to lose, but none of that mattered compared to the fear of death. Her follow-up question was, “Do you believe in God?” King hesitated and then answered, “Not sure. I’m an agnostic.”
Can you imagine living life with the uncertainty of what comes next? It is hard to fathom. It doesn’t have to be that way. John writes, “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). We all have times of fear and doubt. What we do, though, is what Max Lucado wrote, “Meet your fears with faith.”
Bill T.
