Sermon Illustrations for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (2021)
Illustration
Acts 10:44-48
Prejudice is always wrong. Nat King Cole is a well-known artist who was the first African American to host his own national television program. In 1948, he purchased a beautiful home in an exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood. When the local neighborhood association confronted him and informed him it didn’t want any undesirables to move in, Cole responded, “Neither do I. If I see any coming in here, I’ll be the first to complain.” He lived in that house until his death in 1965.
While prejudice has always been a sin, it is not new to our century. As the church was beginning, there were some who struggled with the idea of Gentiles being a part of it. In our text, Peter reveals what God has shown him. He asked, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (Acts 10:47). God’s plan was not just for Jews, but for all people. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us and unites us.
Methodist clergyman E.M. Bounds wrote, “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use — men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.”
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 10:44-48
We are not the gatekeepers. We are not nearly as important as we think we are (unless we’re truly humble in which case there’s a good chance we’re a lot more important than we’ve ever guessed).
Just this past Easter Sunday this tenth chapter of Acts was also one of the lectionary scriptures. For more information on the backstory of this passage go back to Easter’s Charting the Course. What is important this Sunday is to point out is that the old way of deciding righteousness is out the window. The Holy Spirit is the great actor in the Acts of the Apostles. The title of the book should be Acts of the Holy Spirit. This seminal event happens without a church council or any official permission. It is obvious that the Spirit had been present before the Apostle brought the good news!
Frank R.
* * *
1 John 5:1-6
In a sermon on this lesson about love the great St. Augustine wrote:
The discipline of love, dear friends, its vigor, its flowers, its fruit, its beauty, its charm, its nourishment, its drink, its food, its embraces – we can never have too much of these! (Love One Another, My Friends, p.103)
But it is incorrect to think that we must love, or that we need to give up a lot in order to love. Though we are tempted, God in Christ does the heavy lifting. Martin Luther set matters straight on that score:
Above all, however, it is necessary for a Christian to believe in the mercy and goodness of God through Christ. Then he should know that in this way he is defended and made safe. Many have destroyed themselves with abstinence and at the same time have lost life and limb. Even we ourselves have experienced this. But one must give the body the things that are necessary, not the things that are superfluous; and one must do battle constantly, but with faith and the Word. (Luther’s Works, Vol.30, p.312)
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 5:1-6
Loving God is supposed to be easy for us. Loving Jesus is supposed to be the path of the faithful. However, sometimes we are like unruly children. We choose our own way, our own path, and make our own decisions even if they move us away from our intimate relationship with God. For me this is the purpose of prayer — not to ask for intercessions although that is powerful, but really to seek the Holy Spirit’s support and encouragement as I try to love God with my whole self, as I try to follow Jesus. I want to love God and follow God’s commandments. I want to follow Jesus. Sometimes I need help. As the hymn says, I am “standing in the need of prayer”1 Prayer moves me closer to God, closer to Jesus and through the Holy Spirit I am encouraged and empowered. What do your prayers do for you?
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 15:9-17
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). The “New York Times” shares the story of Ray Blankenship in the December 27, 1987 issue.
One morning as Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Andover, Ohio, home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch emptied underneath a road into the main culvert. Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the floundering child. As soon as he could, he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Blankenship surfaced and was able to grab the child's arm. They thrashed about in the water. Within about three feet of the gaping culvert, Ray's felt something—possibly a rock— protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. "If I can just hang on until help comes," he thought. He did better than that. By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock.
On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard's Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting for Blankenship’s selfless act. Most people didn’t know it at the time, but Ray Blankenship couldn’t swim.
Blankenship was willing to risk his life to save the life of a two-year-old little girl. That’s the kind of love and sacrifice Jesus challenged his followers to have.
Bill T.
* * *
John 15:9-17
As a preacher I sometimes feel like I’ve been stuck in the great discourse that follows the footwashing. It just goes on and on and on. But it’s not nearly as abstract as one might think. The footwashing is the key. Jesus, the Master, washed the feet of his disciples. Washing feet was a task reserved for slaves. There is no instance in ancient literature of a superior washing the feet of an inferior until Jesus does this. Jesus tells his disciples he is giving them a lesson. He is demonstrating that the greatest love is to lay down your life for a friend. This means more than taking a bullet. If we’re looking at the Hebrew concepts behind these Greek words, we realize that Jesus is talking about nefesh, the breath that is, a word that is sometimes translated as soul or spirit and means something akin to “being.” In loving others, we serve others. We lay down our very being and become something greater by becoming something lesser. Let’s go Hebrew on this passage again. The word for Love in Hebrew isn’t just about how you feel. It’s what you do. Love is action. Like Eliza Dolittle in “My Fair Lady” sings, “Don’t talk of love – show me!” Or, in “Fiddler on the Roof,” when Tevya asks his wife of twenty-five years if she loves him, she lists all the things she’s done, and says, “If that’s not love, what is?”
Of course, Jesus isn’t done loving and doing – there’s this matter of the cross that’s just ahead.
Frank R.
1 Not my brother, nor my sister, but it's me, O Lord
Prejudice is always wrong. Nat King Cole is a well-known artist who was the first African American to host his own national television program. In 1948, he purchased a beautiful home in an exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood. When the local neighborhood association confronted him and informed him it didn’t want any undesirables to move in, Cole responded, “Neither do I. If I see any coming in here, I’ll be the first to complain.” He lived in that house until his death in 1965.
While prejudice has always been a sin, it is not new to our century. As the church was beginning, there were some who struggled with the idea of Gentiles being a part of it. In our text, Peter reveals what God has shown him. He asked, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (Acts 10:47). God’s plan was not just for Jews, but for all people. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us and unites us.
Methodist clergyman E.M. Bounds wrote, “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use — men of prayer, men mighty in prayer.”
Bill T.
* * *
Acts 10:44-48
We are not the gatekeepers. We are not nearly as important as we think we are (unless we’re truly humble in which case there’s a good chance we’re a lot more important than we’ve ever guessed).
Just this past Easter Sunday this tenth chapter of Acts was also one of the lectionary scriptures. For more information on the backstory of this passage go back to Easter’s Charting the Course. What is important this Sunday is to point out is that the old way of deciding righteousness is out the window. The Holy Spirit is the great actor in the Acts of the Apostles. The title of the book should be Acts of the Holy Spirit. This seminal event happens without a church council or any official permission. It is obvious that the Spirit had been present before the Apostle brought the good news!
Frank R.
* * *
1 John 5:1-6
In a sermon on this lesson about love the great St. Augustine wrote:
The discipline of love, dear friends, its vigor, its flowers, its fruit, its beauty, its charm, its nourishment, its drink, its food, its embraces – we can never have too much of these! (Love One Another, My Friends, p.103)
But it is incorrect to think that we must love, or that we need to give up a lot in order to love. Though we are tempted, God in Christ does the heavy lifting. Martin Luther set matters straight on that score:
Above all, however, it is necessary for a Christian to believe in the mercy and goodness of God through Christ. Then he should know that in this way he is defended and made safe. Many have destroyed themselves with abstinence and at the same time have lost life and limb. Even we ourselves have experienced this. But one must give the body the things that are necessary, not the things that are superfluous; and one must do battle constantly, but with faith and the Word. (Luther’s Works, Vol.30, p.312)
Mark E.
* * *
1 John 5:1-6
Loving God is supposed to be easy for us. Loving Jesus is supposed to be the path of the faithful. However, sometimes we are like unruly children. We choose our own way, our own path, and make our own decisions even if they move us away from our intimate relationship with God. For me this is the purpose of prayer — not to ask for intercessions although that is powerful, but really to seek the Holy Spirit’s support and encouragement as I try to love God with my whole self, as I try to follow Jesus. I want to love God and follow God’s commandments. I want to follow Jesus. Sometimes I need help. As the hymn says, I am “standing in the need of prayer”1 Prayer moves me closer to God, closer to Jesus and through the Holy Spirit I am encouraged and empowered. What do your prayers do for you?
Bonnie B.
* * *
John 15:9-17
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). The “New York Times” shares the story of Ray Blankenship in the December 27, 1987 issue.
One morning as Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Andover, Ohio, home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch emptied underneath a road into the main culvert. Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the floundering child. As soon as he could, he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Blankenship surfaced and was able to grab the child's arm. They thrashed about in the water. Within about three feet of the gaping culvert, Ray's felt something—possibly a rock— protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. "If I can just hang on until help comes," he thought. He did better than that. By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock.
On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard's Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting for Blankenship’s selfless act. Most people didn’t know it at the time, but Ray Blankenship couldn’t swim.
Blankenship was willing to risk his life to save the life of a two-year-old little girl. That’s the kind of love and sacrifice Jesus challenged his followers to have.
Bill T.
* * *
John 15:9-17
As a preacher I sometimes feel like I’ve been stuck in the great discourse that follows the footwashing. It just goes on and on and on. But it’s not nearly as abstract as one might think. The footwashing is the key. Jesus, the Master, washed the feet of his disciples. Washing feet was a task reserved for slaves. There is no instance in ancient literature of a superior washing the feet of an inferior until Jesus does this. Jesus tells his disciples he is giving them a lesson. He is demonstrating that the greatest love is to lay down your life for a friend. This means more than taking a bullet. If we’re looking at the Hebrew concepts behind these Greek words, we realize that Jesus is talking about nefesh, the breath that is, a word that is sometimes translated as soul or spirit and means something akin to “being.” In loving others, we serve others. We lay down our very being and become something greater by becoming something lesser. Let’s go Hebrew on this passage again. The word for Love in Hebrew isn’t just about how you feel. It’s what you do. Love is action. Like Eliza Dolittle in “My Fair Lady” sings, “Don’t talk of love – show me!” Or, in “Fiddler on the Roof,” when Tevya asks his wife of twenty-five years if she loves him, she lists all the things she’s done, and says, “If that’s not love, what is?”
Of course, Jesus isn’t done loving and doing – there’s this matter of the cross that’s just ahead.
Frank R.
1 Not my brother, nor my sister, but it's me, O Lord
