Sermon Illustrations for Second Sunday of Easter (2024)
Illustration
Acts 4:32-35
There is something important about being in a community. It fosters a sense of belonging, caring, and sharing. We live in a fast-paced world that doesn’t slow down. We have Door Dash, express lines in stores, and can pay bills online instantly. I was surprised, then, to read about a Sobey’s Grocery store in Belmont, which I think is in Canada. The owner of the store, Jerry MacLachlan noticed that one of his cashiers had a long line of people. They’d lined up because they liked to talk to him. Instead of angrily getting on to him, though, MacLachlan had an idea. He created a “Social Slow Lane” for people who wanted that extra moment of just talking and caring.
That story is a reminder of the importance of community and belonging. Caring for one another makes a difference. The Sobey’s store discovered that, and the early church knew that, too. The “whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul.” They shared with each other as “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions.” They cared for each other and shared with each other so much so that “there was not a needy person among them.”
Community mattered to the early church. Francis Schaeffer once wrote, “Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful - Christian community is the final apologetic.”
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 4:32-35
This is certainly a text for addressing the current economic disparities in America. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research 2023 study indicated that in 2021 earnings differences were particularly pronounced by gender, race, and ethnicity. Hispanic or Latina women's median earnings were just 61.4 percent of white non-Hispanic men's, and Black women's were just 67.4 percent. And the Economic Policy Institute reports that in 2022, CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in contrast to 1965 when they were paid just 21 times as much as a typical worker. The suspicions Martin Luther raised about the economic (capitalist) markets of his day ring true today:
But that I demand: Whatever you deal about among men, in buying or selling, you are to consider it as something uncertain, which is not to be trusted and believed in. For certain it is, if you trust any man, you are already deceived, for human nature, it itself, cannot but lie and deceive. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/1, pp. 302-303)
In accord with the text’s openness to sharing property with the poor (vv.34-35) as the solution for our ills, we find some support in U.S. Constitutional precedents, first in comments by Benjamin Franklin and then in a comment by Alexander Hamilton:
All the property that is necessary to man for the conservation of the individual and propagation of the species, is his natural right... But all property superfluous to such purposes is the property of the public... who may therefore by other laws dispose of it, whenever the welfare of the public shall demand such disposition. (Writings, pp. 1081-1082)
Happy it is when the interest which the government has in the preservation of its own power coincides with a proper distribution of the public burden and tends to guard the least wealthy part of the community from oppression. (The Federalist Papers, No. 36).
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
Forgiveness and sin are the themes of this epistle writing. The writer wants us to know that we can and will be forgiven if we come and seek that forgiveness. God isn’t a vending machine where we put in a coin and select what we want. Rather we come to God with the honesty of the recognition of our sins and the need for reconciliation and mercy. God meets us where we are, offers that joy. And yet, we need to walk into that light of love and forgiveness. We need to make that choice, that choice to walk toward God, to turn around in our repentance. We make the choice to be in relationship with God and with each other as a community of believers following in the footsteps of Jesus. The path back into relationship isn’t always easy, but it is so worth it to walk into the warmth of the light, the mercy, the forgiveness, and the love of God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
It was a 19th-century American newspaper editor and poet named George Pope Morris who uttered the famous statement about unity that we Americans need to hear today, “United we stand, divided we fall.” It echoes this lesson. Picking up on 1:7, the great 18th-century British political and philosopher Edmund Burke once observed that “Whatever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man.” World War II Dutch heroine Corrie Ten Boom, who saved many Jews from the Holocaust, referred to how Christ unites us and then urged that we “be united with other Christians. A wall with loose bricks is not good. The bricks must be cemented together.” Christ and faith are the cornerstones which hold us all together. Famed Catholic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin nicely explains how Christ unifies us all:
The principle of unity which saves our guilty world, wherein all is in process of returning to dust, is Christ. Through the force of his magnetism, the light of his ethical teaching, the unitive power of his very being, Jesus establishes again at the heart of the world the harmony of all endeavours and the convergence of all beings. (Hymn of the Universe, p. 147)
Mark E.
* * *
John 20:19-31
Josh McDowell wrote in his book Answers to Tough Questions,”People refuse to believe that which they don’t want to believe, in spite of evidence. When explorers first went to Australia, they found a mammal which laid eggs; spent some time in water, some on land; had a broad, flat tail, webbed feet, and a bill similar to a duck. Upon their return to England, they told the populace of this, and all felt it was a hoax. They returned to Australia and found a pelt from this animal and took it back to England, but the people still felt it was a hoax. In spite of the evidence, they disbelieved because they didn’t want to believe.”
The Apostle Thomas faced a tough situation. He heard the others talk about a resurrected Jesus, but it seemed too good to be true. He couldn’t believe it unless he could see it for himself. In a loving, caring way Jesus showed himself to Thomas. He didn’t rebuke him for doubts but did note that “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe” (v. 29).
What about people today? The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and the validity of his claims are there. Though there is evidence, the path to Jesus is through faith. Many disbelieve because they don’t want to believe. Will you choose to believe?
Bill T.
* * *
John 20:19-31
I really can’t blame Thomas. I think he gets a bad rap sometimes. After all, the other disciples have already seen Jesus. They knew he was alive. How was Thomas to simply believe his friends that such a miracle had happened? He was anchored in his grief, his feelings of loss and pain. How could this miracle have happened? I know that when I am in pain or grieving, there is very little that can bring me hope. It’s really hard to see beyond the darkness of the pain.
I know that Jesus’ words to Thomas are words to us. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." For we have not seen, at least most of us have not seen a vision of the Risen Christ. Yet, we believe. That is a gift of our faith, of our relationship with Jesus. And while Thomas had an intimate relationship with Jesus who could blame him for questioning the miracle of resurrection, as he lived in the acute pain of loss? Grace is what Jesus offered to Thomas and grace is what we need to offer to one another in our own pain, loss, and grief.
Bonnie B.
There is something important about being in a community. It fosters a sense of belonging, caring, and sharing. We live in a fast-paced world that doesn’t slow down. We have Door Dash, express lines in stores, and can pay bills online instantly. I was surprised, then, to read about a Sobey’s Grocery store in Belmont, which I think is in Canada. The owner of the store, Jerry MacLachlan noticed that one of his cashiers had a long line of people. They’d lined up because they liked to talk to him. Instead of angrily getting on to him, though, MacLachlan had an idea. He created a “Social Slow Lane” for people who wanted that extra moment of just talking and caring.
That story is a reminder of the importance of community and belonging. Caring for one another makes a difference. The Sobey’s store discovered that, and the early church knew that, too. The “whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul.” They shared with each other as “no one claimed private ownership of any possessions.” They cared for each other and shared with each other so much so that “there was not a needy person among them.”
Community mattered to the early church. Francis Schaeffer once wrote, “Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful - Christian community is the final apologetic.”
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 4:32-35
This is certainly a text for addressing the current economic disparities in America. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research 2023 study indicated that in 2021 earnings differences were particularly pronounced by gender, race, and ethnicity. Hispanic or Latina women's median earnings were just 61.4 percent of white non-Hispanic men's, and Black women's were just 67.4 percent. And the Economic Policy Institute reports that in 2022, CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in contrast to 1965 when they were paid just 21 times as much as a typical worker. The suspicions Martin Luther raised about the economic (capitalist) markets of his day ring true today:
But that I demand: Whatever you deal about among men, in buying or selling, you are to consider it as something uncertain, which is not to be trusted and believed in. For certain it is, if you trust any man, you are already deceived, for human nature, it itself, cannot but lie and deceive. (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/1, pp. 302-303)
In accord with the text’s openness to sharing property with the poor (vv.34-35) as the solution for our ills, we find some support in U.S. Constitutional precedents, first in comments by Benjamin Franklin and then in a comment by Alexander Hamilton:
All the property that is necessary to man for the conservation of the individual and propagation of the species, is his natural right... But all property superfluous to such purposes is the property of the public... who may therefore by other laws dispose of it, whenever the welfare of the public shall demand such disposition. (Writings, pp. 1081-1082)
Happy it is when the interest which the government has in the preservation of its own power coincides with a proper distribution of the public burden and tends to guard the least wealthy part of the community from oppression. (The Federalist Papers, No. 36).
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
Forgiveness and sin are the themes of this epistle writing. The writer wants us to know that we can and will be forgiven if we come and seek that forgiveness. God isn’t a vending machine where we put in a coin and select what we want. Rather we come to God with the honesty of the recognition of our sins and the need for reconciliation and mercy. God meets us where we are, offers that joy. And yet, we need to walk into that light of love and forgiveness. We need to make that choice, that choice to walk toward God, to turn around in our repentance. We make the choice to be in relationship with God and with each other as a community of believers following in the footsteps of Jesus. The path back into relationship isn’t always easy, but it is so worth it to walk into the warmth of the light, the mercy, the forgiveness, and the love of God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
1 John 1:1--2:2
It was a 19th-century American newspaper editor and poet named George Pope Morris who uttered the famous statement about unity that we Americans need to hear today, “United we stand, divided we fall.” It echoes this lesson. Picking up on 1:7, the great 18th-century British political and philosopher Edmund Burke once observed that “Whatever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man.” World War II Dutch heroine Corrie Ten Boom, who saved many Jews from the Holocaust, referred to how Christ unites us and then urged that we “be united with other Christians. A wall with loose bricks is not good. The bricks must be cemented together.” Christ and faith are the cornerstones which hold us all together. Famed Catholic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin nicely explains how Christ unifies us all:
The principle of unity which saves our guilty world, wherein all is in process of returning to dust, is Christ. Through the force of his magnetism, the light of his ethical teaching, the unitive power of his very being, Jesus establishes again at the heart of the world the harmony of all endeavours and the convergence of all beings. (Hymn of the Universe, p. 147)
Mark E.
* * *
John 20:19-31
Josh McDowell wrote in his book Answers to Tough Questions,”People refuse to believe that which they don’t want to believe, in spite of evidence. When explorers first went to Australia, they found a mammal which laid eggs; spent some time in water, some on land; had a broad, flat tail, webbed feet, and a bill similar to a duck. Upon their return to England, they told the populace of this, and all felt it was a hoax. They returned to Australia and found a pelt from this animal and took it back to England, but the people still felt it was a hoax. In spite of the evidence, they disbelieved because they didn’t want to believe.”
The Apostle Thomas faced a tough situation. He heard the others talk about a resurrected Jesus, but it seemed too good to be true. He couldn’t believe it unless he could see it for himself. In a loving, caring way Jesus showed himself to Thomas. He didn’t rebuke him for doubts but did note that “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet come to believe” (v. 29).
What about people today? The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and the validity of his claims are there. Though there is evidence, the path to Jesus is through faith. Many disbelieve because they don’t want to believe. Will you choose to believe?
Bill T.
* * *
John 20:19-31
I really can’t blame Thomas. I think he gets a bad rap sometimes. After all, the other disciples have already seen Jesus. They knew he was alive. How was Thomas to simply believe his friends that such a miracle had happened? He was anchored in his grief, his feelings of loss and pain. How could this miracle have happened? I know that when I am in pain or grieving, there is very little that can bring me hope. It’s really hard to see beyond the darkness of the pain.
I know that Jesus’ words to Thomas are words to us. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." For we have not seen, at least most of us have not seen a vision of the Risen Christ. Yet, we believe. That is a gift of our faith, of our relationship with Jesus. And while Thomas had an intimate relationship with Jesus who could blame him for questioning the miracle of resurrection, as he lived in the acute pain of loss? Grace is what Jesus offered to Thomas and grace is what we need to offer to one another in our own pain, loss, and grief.
Bonnie B.
