Sermon Illustrations for Advent 2 (2021)
Illustration
Baruch 5:1-9
Referring to this lesson, the ancient theologian Irenaeus wrote:
... the prophet has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to multiply those left upon earth, should both be under the rule of the saints to minister to this Jerusalem. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.1, p.565)
The text is about the fresh start God affords us in Christ. The coming son is like a bridge to this new reality. About Christ’s role in this way, the medieval mystic Catherine of Siena once wrote:
Wishing to remedy your great evils, I have given you the bridge of my son, in order that passing across the flood, you may not be drowned, which flood is the tempestuous sea of this dark life... I say that this bridge reaches from heaven to earth, and constitutes the union which I have made with man. (Varieties of Mystic Experience, p.149)
The Roman Catholic Catechism (218) offers a thoughtful reflection on how consistent God is in forgiving his people, a consistency reflected in this text understood as prophecy:
In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them from among all peoples as his special possession: His sheer gratuitous love. And thanks to the prophets, Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped saving them and pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins.
Mark E.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
This lesson is about being prepared. On this topic, Martin Luther once wrote:
To prepare is to clear out of the way whatever will be an obstruction. This preparation is nothing else than our humbling ourselves from our arrogance and glory. Those are the chief obstacles for the hypocrites who walk in human ways and in their own presumption and do not accept the grace of Christ. To prepare this way, however, is to walk on it naked, without merits of any kind in the grace of God alone. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.9)
Famed New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann offers an equally compelling vision of what life looks like when lived in light of the promised Christ. The promised Christ sets us free:
To exist as Christian means to live in freedom, a freedom that the believer is brought to by the divine grace which appeared in Christ. The one justified by faith is set free from his past from sin, from himself. And he is set free for a real historical life in free decisions. (History and Eschatology, p.45)
Mark E.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
The story of Paul’s part in the founding of the churches of Philippi is one of the most fascinating stories from the Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 16 tells us how Paul turned aside from his chosen path because of a vision in which a man from Macedonia begged him to come preach there. Paul’s ministry began by sharing with a group of women engaged in prayer along the riverside, came to include people from all walks of society from the wealthy Lydia, who owned the monopoly on purple cloth, to the jailer and his family, and possibly (we hope) the slave girl freed from the prophesying spirit that possessed her.
Paul’s sufferings in Philippi included false arrest, brutal beatings, and imprisonment before vindication and freedom. Now Paul writes once more from jail, separated physically from these people with whom he has a close bond, but bound together in a community of prayer. Paul’s prayers are not for his freedom, but “that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be found blameless….” (1:10). Here is a reminder that we are all a work in progress, requiring prayer from others, and called to pray with and for others. This community of prayer is real, and though we love best to be with each other when we pray, there is no less strength in our prayers when we are separated by distance.
Indeed, as we have seen during the various surges of the pandemic, some of us have learned to navigate, if not love, platforms like Zoom, and while we pined to be together, we learned that the church is not a building, and the ties that bind us together remain strong if we continue to uphold each other in prayer.
Perhaps you are not physically isolated at this time -- but the holidays draw us farther apart with all the distractions and duties that go along with them. We feel imprisoned by the desire -- or demand -- to bake the favorite cookies and serve the favorite dishes. Come to the manger. Come to the newborn king. As the shepherds will abandon everything and RUN to see the Good News born into the world, so we too must drop everything sometimes and pray with and for each other for the reign of Christ.
Frank R.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Former Oklahoma congressman and sooner quarterback J.C. Watts once said, “Compassion can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It does come with a price tag, but that price tag isn’t the amount of money spent. The price tag is love.”
Because of the dedicated, faithful and generous giving and sharing in the gospel, Paul is moved by the Philippian Christians. He writes, “For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.” (vs. 8) It is clear that this church is special to Paul and Paul is special to them. They were an encouragement to one another.
As a baseball fan, I found this story in Our Daily Bread, June 19, 1994, appealing. Forty thousand fans were on hand in the Oakland stadium when Rickey Henderson tied Lou Brock’s career stolen base record. According to USA Today, Brock, who had left baseball in 1979, followed Henderson’s career and was excited about his success. Realizing that Rickey would set a new record, Brock said, “I’ll be there. Do you think I’m going to miss it now? Rickey did in twelve years what took me ninteen. He’s amazing.”
Celebrating and encouraging others is refreshing.
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
Noting reference in the text to John’s voice as one in the wilderness, Martin Luther contended that this is a reminder about the nature of the gospel message proclaimed by preachers. Living in the gospel puts you in the wilderness:
By contrast wilderness is placed opposite the teaching of the law. For like a jail, a wall, and a city, the law secures and fences us in. The voice of the gospel, however, is a free wilderness, open to all, public and unrestrained. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.8)
Augustine considered John the Baptist as a model for Christian living. The longer he lived the less prominent is his ministry and more Jesus’ prominence merges. He must increase but we and John must decrease (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.7, p.95).
Martin Luther offered some interesting comments in a 1537 sermon about what happens when we live like John giving it all up in order to depend solely on God:
Whenever there is such a faith and assurances of grace in Christ, you can confidently conclude with regard to your vocation and works that these are pleasing to God and are true and good Christian fruits. Furthermore, such temporal and physical works... develop into fruit that endures unto life everlasting. (Luther’s Works, Vol.24, p.220)
Mark E.
Referring to this lesson, the ancient theologian Irenaeus wrote:
... the prophet has pointed out, that as many believers as God has prepared for this purpose, to multiply those left upon earth, should both be under the rule of the saints to minister to this Jerusalem. (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol.1, p.565)
The text is about the fresh start God affords us in Christ. The coming son is like a bridge to this new reality. About Christ’s role in this way, the medieval mystic Catherine of Siena once wrote:
Wishing to remedy your great evils, I have given you the bridge of my son, in order that passing across the flood, you may not be drowned, which flood is the tempestuous sea of this dark life... I say that this bridge reaches from heaven to earth, and constitutes the union which I have made with man. (Varieties of Mystic Experience, p.149)
The Roman Catholic Catechism (218) offers a thoughtful reflection on how consistent God is in forgiving his people, a consistency reflected in this text understood as prophecy:
In the course of its history, Israel was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to them, a single motive for choosing them from among all peoples as his special possession: His sheer gratuitous love. And thanks to the prophets, Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped saving them and pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins.
Mark E.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
This lesson is about being prepared. On this topic, Martin Luther once wrote:
To prepare is to clear out of the way whatever will be an obstruction. This preparation is nothing else than our humbling ourselves from our arrogance and glory. Those are the chief obstacles for the hypocrites who walk in human ways and in their own presumption and do not accept the grace of Christ. To prepare this way, however, is to walk on it naked, without merits of any kind in the grace of God alone. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.9)
Famed New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann offers an equally compelling vision of what life looks like when lived in light of the promised Christ. The promised Christ sets us free:
To exist as Christian means to live in freedom, a freedom that the believer is brought to by the divine grace which appeared in Christ. The one justified by faith is set free from his past from sin, from himself. And he is set free for a real historical life in free decisions. (History and Eschatology, p.45)
Mark E.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
The story of Paul’s part in the founding of the churches of Philippi is one of the most fascinating stories from the Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 16 tells us how Paul turned aside from his chosen path because of a vision in which a man from Macedonia begged him to come preach there. Paul’s ministry began by sharing with a group of women engaged in prayer along the riverside, came to include people from all walks of society from the wealthy Lydia, who owned the monopoly on purple cloth, to the jailer and his family, and possibly (we hope) the slave girl freed from the prophesying spirit that possessed her.
Paul’s sufferings in Philippi included false arrest, brutal beatings, and imprisonment before vindication and freedom. Now Paul writes once more from jail, separated physically from these people with whom he has a close bond, but bound together in a community of prayer. Paul’s prayers are not for his freedom, but “that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be found blameless….” (1:10). Here is a reminder that we are all a work in progress, requiring prayer from others, and called to pray with and for others. This community of prayer is real, and though we love best to be with each other when we pray, there is no less strength in our prayers when we are separated by distance.
Indeed, as we have seen during the various surges of the pandemic, some of us have learned to navigate, if not love, platforms like Zoom, and while we pined to be together, we learned that the church is not a building, and the ties that bind us together remain strong if we continue to uphold each other in prayer.
Perhaps you are not physically isolated at this time -- but the holidays draw us farther apart with all the distractions and duties that go along with them. We feel imprisoned by the desire -- or demand -- to bake the favorite cookies and serve the favorite dishes. Come to the manger. Come to the newborn king. As the shepherds will abandon everything and RUN to see the Good News born into the world, so we too must drop everything sometimes and pray with and for each other for the reign of Christ.
Frank R.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Former Oklahoma congressman and sooner quarterback J.C. Watts once said, “Compassion can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It does come with a price tag, but that price tag isn’t the amount of money spent. The price tag is love.”
Because of the dedicated, faithful and generous giving and sharing in the gospel, Paul is moved by the Philippian Christians. He writes, “For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.” (vs. 8) It is clear that this church is special to Paul and Paul is special to them. They were an encouragement to one another.
As a baseball fan, I found this story in Our Daily Bread, June 19, 1994, appealing. Forty thousand fans were on hand in the Oakland stadium when Rickey Henderson tied Lou Brock’s career stolen base record. According to USA Today, Brock, who had left baseball in 1979, followed Henderson’s career and was excited about his success. Realizing that Rickey would set a new record, Brock said, “I’ll be there. Do you think I’m going to miss it now? Rickey did in twelve years what took me ninteen. He’s amazing.”
Celebrating and encouraging others is refreshing.
Bill T.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
Noting reference in the text to John’s voice as one in the wilderness, Martin Luther contended that this is a reminder about the nature of the gospel message proclaimed by preachers. Living in the gospel puts you in the wilderness:
By contrast wilderness is placed opposite the teaching of the law. For like a jail, a wall, and a city, the law secures and fences us in. The voice of the gospel, however, is a free wilderness, open to all, public and unrestrained. (Luther’s Works, Vol.17, p.8)
Augustine considered John the Baptist as a model for Christian living. The longer he lived the less prominent is his ministry and more Jesus’ prominence merges. He must increase but we and John must decrease (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol.7, p.95).
Martin Luther offered some interesting comments in a 1537 sermon about what happens when we live like John giving it all up in order to depend solely on God:
Whenever there is such a faith and assurances of grace in Christ, you can confidently conclude with regard to your vocation and works that these are pleasing to God and are true and good Christian fruits. Furthermore, such temporal and physical works... develop into fruit that endures unto life everlasting. (Luther’s Works, Vol.24, p.220)
Mark E.
