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Illustrations for Proper 5 | Ordinary Time 10 (2021)

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1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20 (11:14-15)
There is a lot of cynicism about government. A 2020 Pew Research Center poll found that just 20% of Americans trust the federal government, and the events in Washington in January may illustrate deeper cynicism. John Wesley’s comments on this lesson may provide insights about our present situation in America. He claimed that in seeking a king, the desires of the people of Israel exceeded their reason (Commentary on the Bible, p.183). Maybe in our political choices we have followed our desires more than reason. In our post-Trump context, we dare not forget the warning issued by 18th-century British commander John Edward Acton that “power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

In dealing with this lesson, it is important to note that God did not stop the creation of a monarchy in Israel. This seems an acknowledgement of the need for government (see Romans 13:1). It is as Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist Papers (p.110):

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint?

Martin Luther makes clear that government is really a creation of God, ultimately dependent on our Lord:

Let government be whatever it please, it is not of men; otherwise it would not be safe for one hour. If God did not sustain government authorities with His power, Mr. Everybody would kill all of them. Since, then, government is in God’s power and ordinance, one must look upon it as God’s representative. (What Luther Says, p.576)
Mark E. 

* * *

Psalm 138
The psalmist proclaims, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.” We don’t talk about wrath much. Anger, yes. Hate, yes. Violence, yes. But wrath fits in times of extreme rage and anger. Wrath fits in times of hate and violence. It’s an old, not often used word, but I experienced wrath at a recent congregational gathering. People were so hurt, so angry, so in pain, that there was no way forward in healthy communication. There were accusations. There was name calling. There was yelling even. I would call it wrath. Had we all had the ability or taken the action to reach our hands out to God, had we been able to move into prayer, seeking God’s guidance, the tide and tenor of the conversation might have changed. I am preserved and delivered, but many were not. I pray God’s hand deliver.
Bonnie B.

* * *

Psalm 138
This is a psalm of thanksgiving and being thankful is good for you. The Nov. 20, 2012 issue of “Psychology Today” reported on a Chinese study which revealed that higher levels of gratitude were associated with better sleep, and with lower anxiety and depression. It is good to be grateful. British writer G. K. Chesterton makes this point with a challenge:

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

John Calvin adds an interesting observation about reasons for being grateful to God. He’s not so great that He forgets anyone:

... the greatness of God does not prevent His having respect for the poor and humble ones of the earth. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.VI/2, p.202)
Mark E.

* * *

2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
Everyone knows the process by which a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. A caterpillar stuffs itself with leaves, growing plumper and longer through a series of molts in which it sheds its skin. One day, the caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective casing, the caterpillar’s body is radically transformed, eventually emerging as a butterfly or moth.

I reviewed that process from the website Scientific American. What I didn’t know is what happened inside the cocoon. According to the same website, the caterpillar, first, digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all its tissues. Then the process of transformation begins as the cells begin to form the wings, antennae, legs, eyes and all the other features of an adult butterfly or moth. While I’ve been aware of the caterpillar/butterfly transformation for a long time, I did not know what happened in the cocoon. It sounds difficult and perhaps even painful.

I thought about that process as I read this passage again. We go through struggles and hardships in this life. Paul acknowledges that. He writes in verses 16-17, “Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.” I don’t know if the butterfly remembers what it was like to be a caterpillar, but I doubt it. There will come a day when the struggles of this life will be no more and forgotten as we enjoy an eternal glory in the presence of our king.
Bill T.

* * *

2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1
In this passage, Paul has been talking about real afflictions – he will catalog his personal afflictions later in the letter – and demonstrates by example that we cling to scripture for strength in tough times. Paul quotes Psalm 116:10 when he writes, in Greek, “I believed, and so I spoke.” One might make the point that Paul is sort of misquoting the verse by taking it out of context. If you turn to the psalm, you might read something like this: I kept my faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted….”

But Paul is quoting from the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, which reads, indeed, “I believed, and so I spoke.” More to the point, when we’re sinking in the storm, and reaching for anything to cling to, it’s what the hymn or the scripture verse says to us at that moment which saves us.

Maybe later, when things are calmer, we can take time to appreciate the larger context, and the depths of meaning in each scripture, but at the moment, when we need help sometimes the Holy Spirit has a special message for us in a verse that we need right now.
Frank R.

* * *

Mark 3:20-35
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” These ancient words from the gospel of Mark have never been truer. We are divided, in homes, families, churches, communities, nations. We have forgotten how to talk civilly in dialogue with one another. We have forgotten dialogue all together. It seems that we speak to convince the other that we are right, and they are wrong. Divided houses cannot stand. Divided churches cannot stand. What is the answer? It is the same as it always has been. The answer is to love, to focus on love. To see those around us through the eyes of God, of Christ. We need some serious rebuilding. Love is the answer.
Bonnie B.

* * *

Mark 3:20-35
There is a lot of uncertainty in America about salvation. A survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center of Arizona Christian University revealed that a plurality of American adults (48%) and most American Christians (52%) believe that salvation can be earned. We are not sure salvation is certain, despite what Jesus seems to say in v. 28. But what of the unpardonable sin? Billy Graham nicely described it once:

The unpardonable sin is rejecting the truth about Christ. It is rejecting, completely and finally, the witness of the Holy Spirit, which declares that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who alone can save us from our sins.

Somebody struggling with concern about faith and salvation is not committing the sin against the Holy Spirit! We do well to keep in mind John Calvin’s reflections on this matter of confidence in our salvation. He wrote: “The very nature of God makes it impossible for Him not to be merciful.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.VI/1, p.131)
Mark E.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Maundy Thursday
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160+ – Illustrations / Stories
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18 – Commentary / Exegesis
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Good Friday
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10 – Worship Resources
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Easter!
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Easter 2
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Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
Tom Willadsen
For April 20, 2025:

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: A bowl and a towel.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent

Have you ever gotten in trouble for not doing what you were supposed to do? (Let them respond.) Maybe it was something you were supposed to do at home, or maybe it was something you were supposed to do for someone else. Well, our story today is about the time Jesus’ friends didn’t do what Jesus told them they were supposed to do.
John Jamison
Activity: The Easter Game. See the note. 
John Jamison
Object: A box of Kleenex?

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

Today is the day we call Good Friday, and it is the day that Jesus died. What happened on Good Friday is the story I want to tell you about. It is a short story, but it is also a very sad story. (Show the Kleenex.) It is so sad that I brought a box of Kleenex with me in case we need it. Let’s hear our story together.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Acts 10:34-43
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Isaiah 65:17-25
The vision of Isaiah, the new heaven and new earth, a world we cannot begin to imagine, moves us from the sorrow of Good Friday and the waiting of Saturday, into the joy of the resurrection. Isaiah proclaims from God, “no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress.” What a moment, what a time that will be. What hope there is in this prophecy? God’s promises are laid out before us. God’s promises are proclaimed to us.
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Bonnie Bates
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
It’s unclear whether the original prophet is speaking about his own sufferings as a prophet bringing an unwanted word to people who want to believe all is well (and which could have led to severe physical punishment on the part of the authorities), or to the nation as the suffering servant who have suffered under the lash of a foreign oppressor, much as God’s people suffered under the Egyptians. These are legitimate interpretations, and perhaps there’s a bit of truth in all viewpoints.
Wayne Brouwer
When Canadian missionaries Don and Carol Richardson entered the world of the Sawi people in Irian Jaya in 1962, they were aware that culture shock awaited them. But the full impact of the tensions they faced didn’t become apparent until one challenging day.
David Kalas
What do you do on the night before God saves you? 

The children of Israel had been languishing in hopeless bondage for centuries. How many of them had lived and died under the taskmaster’s whip? How many of them had cried out to the Lord for help without seeing their prayers answered?  And so, as surely as their bodies were weighed down under the weight of their physical burdens, their spirits must also have been weighed down under years of bondage and despair.
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14
It is perhaps not widely known, but the Community Blood Center has a website that contains stories of blood recipients.  I spent some time on that website as I thought about this passage. One of the stories that struck me was Kristen’s. Kristen’s time of need came during the birth of her first child. After a smooth pregnancy, she experienced serious problems during delivery, which led to a massive hemorrhage. She needed transfusions immediately, and ended up receiving 28 units of platelets, plasma, and whole blood.

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. (v. 14)

Mary weeps as she comes to the tomb that first Easter morning. She weeps because her dearest friend is dead. When this friend comes up behind her she turns around and sees him, but she doesn't really see him. Do you know what I mean?

Mary thought Jesus was the gardener. She implores him, "Sir, if you have taken him away tell me where you have laid him…"  She sees him but she doesn't see him.
Peter Andrew Smith
I’m sorry but I have some bad news. John heard the words of the doctor again as he sat in the pew waiting for the service to start on Good Friday. He was at church because he was a regular and he hoped, he prayed that he could escape the rising fear and dread that had come from the medical appointment yesterday. The doctor had been sure there was no problem when John had told him the symptoms he was experiencing a couple of weeks ago. The doctor even told him to just ignore them as they were a sign of getting older.
John E. Sumwalt
In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ (v. 25)

I was seven years old, the same age as my grandson, Leonard, when I asked the big communion question in the barn while helping Dad, the first Leonard Sumwalt, milk cows in 1958.

SermonStudio

Bonnie Bates
All my life I have struggled with the concept of calling this day of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion as “good.” What could possibly be good about Jesus being arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified? How can we call this feast day “good”?
Wayne Brouwer
When I was a pastor in rural southern Alberta, we held our Easter Sunrise worship services in a cemetery. It was difficult to gather in the dark, since neither mountains nor forests hid the spring-time sun, and the high desert plains lay open to almost ceaselessly unclouded skies. Still, we mumbled in hushed whispers as we acknowledged one another, and saved our booming tones for the final rousing chorus of “Up from the grave he arose…!” We did not shake the earth as much as we hoped.
Dennis Koch
Gospel Theme:

Different paces and paths to resurrection faith

Gospel Note:
John here obviously mingles at least two Easter morning traditions, the one featuring Mary Magdalene and the other starring Peter and the beloved disciple. The overall effect, however, is to show three different paths and paces to resurrection faith: the unnamed disciple rushes to the empty tomb and comes to faith simply upon viewing it; Mary slowly but finally recognizes the risen Christ and believes; Peter, however, simply goes home, perhaps to await further evidence.
Pamela Urfer
Cast: Two Roman soldiers, FLAVIUS and LUCIUS, and an ANGEL

Length:
15 minutes

FLAVIUS and LUCIUS are seated on their stools, center stage.

FLAVIUS: (Complaining) What was all the hurry about for this burial? I don't understand why we had to rush.

LUCIUS:
(Distracted but agreeable) Hmmmm.

FLAVIUS: I don't know why I even ask. It's so typical of the military: Hurry up and wait.

LUCIUS:
True.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
The liturgy can start with a procession in which a child carries the Easter candle from the West end of the church to the altar at the East end, stopping at intervals to raise the candle high and cry, "Christ our Light". The people respond with "Alleluia!" All the candles in church are then lit from the Easter candle.

Call to worship:

The Lord is risen, he is risen indeed! Let us rejoice and be glad in him!

Invitation to confession:

Jesus, we turn to you.

Lord, have mercy.

Special Occasion

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