Sermon Illustrations for the Third Sunday of Easter (2018)
Illustration
Acts 3:12-19
Healing is a miraculous thing to see. I do not have the gift of healing, but I have known those whose touch can transform illness to wellness. Yet, still it seems miraculous when a disease is cured, especially in a way that confounds the professionals who treat illnesses. I believe that miracles still happen. Are you surprised, or do you believe that as well?
Peter shares with the crowd that healing comes from God, that those who seem to have healing power are simply conduits of divine healing. But what does it mean when healing doesn’t come? Does it mean that God doesn’t care or that people didn’t pray hard enough or well enough? I don’t think so. I believe God’s love is poured out on us even when healing is not the result of that love. So rather than judging the actions of healers or of God, perhaps we should just sing God’s praises when healing comes and trust God when it does not.
Bonnie B.
Acts 3:12-19
The American public seems more inclined to take the sort of credit for doing good themselves that Peter reneged on. What New York Times cultural commentator David Brooks wrote at the beginning of the century about the perceived meritocracy of America’s educated elite still captures the thinking of most Americans with an education:
It does not necessarily follow that we are mere puppets when God works on us. Peter performed the miracle. But he did so like a member of the choir directed by the director. And just as the band leader selects the song and makes sure it is well performed, is responsible for the good that comes of it, so it is with God (Dionysius of Alexandria, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.6, p.88).
Mark E.
Acts 3:12-19
In the whole Bible democracy was a disaster. From the vote of Adam and Eve in the garden to the vote of the people to have Jesus crucified. We would be worshiping a golden calf if the majority were always right!
Our faith in Jesus’ healing can also come through doctors. In one of my churches we prayed at an evening service for a member to be healed from his bad heart. When he was on the table waiting for surgery, his doctor left for a minute while he was still conscious. There just happened to be a doctor from back east who had tried a much less invasive operation that healed a patient of his. Our man’s doctor asked him if he would be willing to have him try that operation with the other doctor who volunteered to join him at the operating table. Our member said yes, anything would be better than the radical surgery, which his doctor had planned to perform. That new operation was done and our member went home in only a few days instead to the months he thought he would have to endure in the hospital.
God can perform his healing through doctors also. We knew that coincidence must have been from the Lord.
Yes, I have seen some members healed just through a prayer. I was healed of a lifetime of asthma when I was 42 by the prayers of some in my Bible study. I have never had asthma since that day! We knew it was the Lord. He still works his miracles today, but he may do it in his time and in the way he wants it done.
We can find many passages in the Old Testament predicting the coming of the savior and his healing. Do we believe it today? That’s why we come to church -- for healing and forgiveness. The healing is not always physical. We may need to find healing from grief when a loved one dies, or when we lose our job or are laid up with an illness, or grow too old to live at home anymore. There are many experiences in life that may need healing. That is one of the functions of a church.
Bob O.
1 John 3:1-7
At the time the New Testament was written there was no pole star. Polaris, part of the Little Dipper, did not yet exist as a compass for night travellers as it does now.
The stars move and the earth wobbles, so the night sky changes, but not fast enough for us to notice, with our short life spans.
Now the planets -- that’s a different story. From the vantage point of someone on earth, the planets not only appear to move from night to night, but because we’re orbiting the sun just like them, from our vantage point they sometimes perform slow loops (called epicycles) over the course of several nights. These ancients called the planets “Wanderers” or “Wandering stars,” and that word planetes (from which we get our word planet) is the word used in 1 John 3:7 where it says, “Little children, let no one deceive you.” The word translated “deceive” is that word planetes. The author of this letter wants Christians to be as constant as the stars in the sky, not deceived wanderers who don’t stay in one spot.
Frank R.
1 John 3:1-7
Dr. Fred Craddock tells a story about vacationing with his wife one summer in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One night they found a quiet little restaurant where they looked forward to a private meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The man made his way to them and asked what Craddock did for a living.
"I teach homiletics at the graduate seminary of Phillips University," Craddock replied.
"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a story to tell you."
The man stuck out his hand. "I’m Ben Hooper. I was born not far from here across the mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born, so I had a pretty hard time. When I started to school, my classmates had a name for me, and it wasn’t a very nice name. I used to go off by myself at lunch time because the things they said to me cut me so deep. What was worse was going to town on Saturday afternoons and feeling like every eye was burning a hole through me, wondering just who my father was.
"When I was about twelve years old, a new preacher came to our church. I would always go in late and slip out early. But one day the preacher said the benediction so fast I got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. I could feel every eye in the church on me. Just about the time I got to the door, I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I looked up and the preacher was looking right at me. ‘Who are you, son,’ he asked. I felt this big weight coming down on me. It was like a big black cloud. Even the preacher was putting me down. But as he looked down at me, studying my face, he began to smile. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God!’"
This simple declaration made a big impact on the young man. Ben Hooper went on to become the governor of Tennessee in 1911. It is important to recognize that through Jesus Christ, you are a child of God. We are God’s children and he is still working in us. Celebrate who you are today and, perhaps more importantly, whose you are.
Bill T.
Luke 24:36b-48
A 2017 study of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America reported that 18.1% of Americans over 18 suffered from depression. Martin Luther has offered a Word of comfort:
Luke 24:36b-48
This passage gives us a hint that we will not just be ghosts in heaven. No, we may not have all the wounds we had before we died, but we will still have bodies and can be recognized. It is impossible to describe heaven in detail, but there is one thing we can count on: Love. If God so loved us then we should not worry about where we will go after death.
My grandmother often had a snack for the family after a member had died, but I was puzzled when I was there enjoying a doughnut. Why was the family crying? I had been taught in Sunday school what a wonderful place heaven was, so why were they were all crying? I thought that maybe the deceased was not going to that wonderful place.
Later I compared this sadness to a family whose father got a job in Hawaii. The family would come to join him later when he was settled in there. Yes the family looked forward to being in Hawaii, but they cried because they would miss dad for a while until it was their turn to come and join him.
It still bothered me that Jesus was eating with his disciples. Will we eat in heaven after we die? Will there be restrooms after that banquet that has no end? I also wondered if someone who lost a limb would have it replaced in heaven. Jesus still had his wounds in his body after the resurrection.
I think that the answer to all these questions is just to accept the fact that we are always in the love of God -- dead or alive! Don’t think about apartment houses in heaven. Just think of being with a God who loves us so much that he suffered and died for us! We don’t preach about ghosts in church. Don’t be troubled by doubts, but believe in a risen Lord who loves us.
Bob O.
Luke 24:36b-48
Oh, how I would have loved to be a witness at that table in Emmaus when the risen Christ was revealed to the downhearted disciples? How I would have loved to see their amazement and joy? Can you picture the scene in your mind’s eye? It is the breaking of the bread that does it. All the talking and sharing and teaching was not enough to reveal Christ to the disciples. Rather it took the act of breaking the bread, a repeat of the action taken at the Passover table on the night of Jesus’ arrest. Something so simple reveals Christ; not the complexities of theology or prophetic witness or scriptural interpretation, but the simple breaking of the bread. It never ceases to amaze and astonish me.
The next time you watch communion elements be prepared, picture that table in Emmaus. Picture the revealing and recognition that happens at the breaking of bread. Celebrate that moment with joy and awe. It truly is a miracle!
Bonnie B.
Healing is a miraculous thing to see. I do not have the gift of healing, but I have known those whose touch can transform illness to wellness. Yet, still it seems miraculous when a disease is cured, especially in a way that confounds the professionals who treat illnesses. I believe that miracles still happen. Are you surprised, or do you believe that as well?
Peter shares with the crowd that healing comes from God, that those who seem to have healing power are simply conduits of divine healing. But what does it mean when healing doesn’t come? Does it mean that God doesn’t care or that people didn’t pray hard enough or well enough? I don’t think so. I believe God’s love is poured out on us even when healing is not the result of that love. So rather than judging the actions of healers or of God, perhaps we should just sing God’s praises when healing comes and trust God when it does not.
Bonnie B.
Acts 3:12-19
The American public seems more inclined to take the sort of credit for doing good themselves that Peter reneged on. What New York Times cultural commentator David Brooks wrote at the beginning of the century about the perceived meritocracy of America’s educated elite still captures the thinking of most Americans with an education:
Self-actualization is what educated existence is all about. For members of the educated class, life is one long graduate school. When they die, God meets them at the gates of heaven, totes up how many fields of self-expression they have mastered, and then hands them a divine diploma and lets them in.(Bobos in Paradise)As it was commonly said in Norwegian immigrant circles in this country, “Americans like to toot their own horn.” This lesson makes clear it is just the opposite. Famed American Puritan Jonathan Edwards had it right:
There is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on God... they are dependent on Him in every way... The redeemed have all their good of God. God is the author of it. (Works, Vol.2, p.3)Martin Luther made a similar point in a sermon:
So one is not called a Christian because he does much, but because he receives something from Christ, draws from Him and lets Christ only give to him. If one no longer receives anything from Christ, he is no longer a Christian, so that the name Christian continues to be based only on receiving, and not on giving and doing... (Complete Sermons, Vol.3/1, p.329-330)
It does not necessarily follow that we are mere puppets when God works on us. Peter performed the miracle. But he did so like a member of the choir directed by the director. And just as the band leader selects the song and makes sure it is well performed, is responsible for the good that comes of it, so it is with God (Dionysius of Alexandria, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.6, p.88).
Mark E.
Acts 3:12-19
In the whole Bible democracy was a disaster. From the vote of Adam and Eve in the garden to the vote of the people to have Jesus crucified. We would be worshiping a golden calf if the majority were always right!
Our faith in Jesus’ healing can also come through doctors. In one of my churches we prayed at an evening service for a member to be healed from his bad heart. When he was on the table waiting for surgery, his doctor left for a minute while he was still conscious. There just happened to be a doctor from back east who had tried a much less invasive operation that healed a patient of his. Our man’s doctor asked him if he would be willing to have him try that operation with the other doctor who volunteered to join him at the operating table. Our member said yes, anything would be better than the radical surgery, which his doctor had planned to perform. That new operation was done and our member went home in only a few days instead to the months he thought he would have to endure in the hospital.
God can perform his healing through doctors also. We knew that coincidence must have been from the Lord.
Yes, I have seen some members healed just through a prayer. I was healed of a lifetime of asthma when I was 42 by the prayers of some in my Bible study. I have never had asthma since that day! We knew it was the Lord. He still works his miracles today, but he may do it in his time and in the way he wants it done.
We can find many passages in the Old Testament predicting the coming of the savior and his healing. Do we believe it today? That’s why we come to church -- for healing and forgiveness. The healing is not always physical. We may need to find healing from grief when a loved one dies, or when we lose our job or are laid up with an illness, or grow too old to live at home anymore. There are many experiences in life that may need healing. That is one of the functions of a church.
Bob O.
1 John 3:1-7
At the time the New Testament was written there was no pole star. Polaris, part of the Little Dipper, did not yet exist as a compass for night travellers as it does now.
The stars move and the earth wobbles, so the night sky changes, but not fast enough for us to notice, with our short life spans.
Now the planets -- that’s a different story. From the vantage point of someone on earth, the planets not only appear to move from night to night, but because we’re orbiting the sun just like them, from our vantage point they sometimes perform slow loops (called epicycles) over the course of several nights. These ancients called the planets “Wanderers” or “Wandering stars,” and that word planetes (from which we get our word planet) is the word used in 1 John 3:7 where it says, “Little children, let no one deceive you.” The word translated “deceive” is that word planetes. The author of this letter wants Christians to be as constant as the stars in the sky, not deceived wanderers who don’t stay in one spot.
Frank R.
1 John 3:1-7
Dr. Fred Craddock tells a story about vacationing with his wife one summer in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. One night they found a quiet little restaurant where they looked forward to a private meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The man made his way to them and asked what Craddock did for a living.
"I teach homiletics at the graduate seminary of Phillips University," Craddock replied.
"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a story to tell you."
The man stuck out his hand. "I’m Ben Hooper. I was born not far from here across the mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born, so I had a pretty hard time. When I started to school, my classmates had a name for me, and it wasn’t a very nice name. I used to go off by myself at lunch time because the things they said to me cut me so deep. What was worse was going to town on Saturday afternoons and feeling like every eye was burning a hole through me, wondering just who my father was.
"When I was about twelve years old, a new preacher came to our church. I would always go in late and slip out early. But one day the preacher said the benediction so fast I got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. I could feel every eye in the church on me. Just about the time I got to the door, I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I looked up and the preacher was looking right at me. ‘Who are you, son,’ he asked. I felt this big weight coming down on me. It was like a big black cloud. Even the preacher was putting me down. But as he looked down at me, studying my face, he began to smile. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God!’"
This simple declaration made a big impact on the young man. Ben Hooper went on to become the governor of Tennessee in 1911. It is important to recognize that through Jesus Christ, you are a child of God. We are God’s children and he is still working in us. Celebrate who you are today and, perhaps more importantly, whose you are.
Bill T.
Luke 24:36b-48
A 2017 study of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America reported that 18.1% of Americans over 18 suffered from depression. Martin Luther has offered a Word of comfort:
But now forgiveness is so great and powerful [he proclaimed], that God not only forgives the former sins you have committed; but looks through His fingers and forgives the sins you will yet commit. (Complete Sermons, Vol.1/2, p.317)The first Reformer proceeds to elaborate on the awesome comfort this insight can offer:
Must not the heart presently start with alarm at its own boldness and say: Do you really think it is true that the great and majestic God, the maker of heaven and earth, has so regarded my misery and so mercifully looked upon me, deeply and manifoldly as I have sinned against Him...? How can such grace and such a treasure be grasped by the human heart, or in fact by any creature? (Ibid., p.330)Mark E.
Luke 24:36b-48
This passage gives us a hint that we will not just be ghosts in heaven. No, we may not have all the wounds we had before we died, but we will still have bodies and can be recognized. It is impossible to describe heaven in detail, but there is one thing we can count on: Love. If God so loved us then we should not worry about where we will go after death.
My grandmother often had a snack for the family after a member had died, but I was puzzled when I was there enjoying a doughnut. Why was the family crying? I had been taught in Sunday school what a wonderful place heaven was, so why were they were all crying? I thought that maybe the deceased was not going to that wonderful place.
Later I compared this sadness to a family whose father got a job in Hawaii. The family would come to join him later when he was settled in there. Yes the family looked forward to being in Hawaii, but they cried because they would miss dad for a while until it was their turn to come and join him.
It still bothered me that Jesus was eating with his disciples. Will we eat in heaven after we die? Will there be restrooms after that banquet that has no end? I also wondered if someone who lost a limb would have it replaced in heaven. Jesus still had his wounds in his body after the resurrection.
I think that the answer to all these questions is just to accept the fact that we are always in the love of God -- dead or alive! Don’t think about apartment houses in heaven. Just think of being with a God who loves us so much that he suffered and died for us! We don’t preach about ghosts in church. Don’t be troubled by doubts, but believe in a risen Lord who loves us.
Bob O.
Luke 24:36b-48
Oh, how I would have loved to be a witness at that table in Emmaus when the risen Christ was revealed to the downhearted disciples? How I would have loved to see their amazement and joy? Can you picture the scene in your mind’s eye? It is the breaking of the bread that does it. All the talking and sharing and teaching was not enough to reveal Christ to the disciples. Rather it took the act of breaking the bread, a repeat of the action taken at the Passover table on the night of Jesus’ arrest. Something so simple reveals Christ; not the complexities of theology or prophetic witness or scriptural interpretation, but the simple breaking of the bread. It never ceases to amaze and astonish me.
The next time you watch communion elements be prepared, picture that table in Emmaus. Picture the revealing and recognition that happens at the breaking of bread. Celebrate that moment with joy and awe. It truly is a miracle!
Bonnie B.
