Free Sermon Illustrations From The Immediate Word For April 3, 2011
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
>The story is told of ten-year-old Tillie, whose parents had decided to take her to the beach for an exotic Christmas vacation.
On Christmas morning she and her mother went out on the beach to wade and collect shells, and Tillie noticed that the sea looked different than it had the day before -- flatter and frothier. The water, she joked to her mother, was having a "bad hair" day. Then it dawned on Tillie that she had seen a picture of the sea that looked just like this in her world studies class at school. It was a picture taken in Hawaii years earlier, just before a tsunami crashed ashore. Tillie told her mother -- and her mother, seeing the fear and urgency in Tillie's eyes, believed her. Together they went to the lifeguards, who took some convincing but eventually agreed to clear the beach and tell people to move inland.
This was Christmas 2004, and nearly a quarter million people died as a result of that earthquake and tsunami -- but hundreds were saved because they recognized leadership in a ten-year-old girl and were wise enough to follow her.
* * *
We tend to think of the greatest leaders as alpha males who are Olympian in stature -- Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte. Plutarch's Lives and Thomas Carlyle's Great Men seem inevitable, and we hold such great leaders up as models. Yet caution against easy generalization is advised, for the evidence of history also reveals a surprising array of unlikely individuals who rose to the top. One thinks of Moses. He started life out as a slave and lacked confidence because of a speech impediment; yet he grew in strength of character and for four decades led a disheartened people out of Egypt to found a nation in the Promised Land. Even more mine-boggling is the example of a 12-year-old shepherd in the thirteenth century named Stephen of Cloyes -- he somehow inspired tens of thousands of children from across France to join him on a crusade to Jerusalem. Other unlikely leaders have been Cleopatra (who turned on her own brother-husband); Emperor Claudius (who used his disability -- a stammer and a club foot -- to advantage); Joan of Arc (a teenage girl who heard voices in her head); Queen Elizabeth I (who was long considered illegitimate and thus not an heir to the throne); Mahatma Gandhi (small of stature and humble in bearing); and Presidents Abraham Lincoln (considered intellectually inferior to his many rivals), Ulysses Grant (an alcoholic who could barely get a command at the beginning of the Civil War), Harry Truman (a haberdasher without a college degree), Dwight Eisenhower (whose army career almost ended on the eve of World War II), and Gerald Ford (who never sought the Oval Office).
-- http://www.gvsu.edu/hauenstein/effective-leaders-494.htm
* * *
Just how far can machismo take you? It has been discovered on the mountainous battlefields of Afghanistan that even the hardiest of souls succumb to the natural elements. Soldiers who parachute into the upper altitudes of the Afghanistan mountains, absent of the time to acclimate their bodies to the thin air, instantly suffer from altitude sickness. This leaves them with headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Some soldiers have trouble standing; others are unable to stand at all. Their unit becomes immobile and unable to complete its mission. At 25,000 feet, 25% of the troops are ineffective. At 11,500 feet, 50% of the troops are ineffective. At 14,800 feet, 100% of the troops are immobile.
The US Army is spending $2.5 million in research on how to overcome this problem. Rod Allen, an Air Force veteran whose special-operations unit was dropped into a high altitude combat zone, said of the soldiers and airmen involved: "These are all young, strong, type-A personality guys, and they think they're just going to gut it out. They believe they are bulletproof. But at 20,000 feet, it hurts just to think."
The psalmist speaks that "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil." Dark valleys come in many forms. It can be an illness. It can be marital discord. It can be problems at work. It can be parachuting into a high-altitude combat zone. In any of these cases there is fear if one feels abandoned and hopeless. But the fear can be alleviated if you know you are supported by others who care and are working with you. The presence of the Lord goes beyond just a spiritual presence, but it is also manifested in a cadre of people who care. Just as the military's special-ops group knows researchers are aware and addressing a great fear of theirs -- high-altitude combat -- we know our Christian brothers and sisters are caring for us.
* * *
Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois just signed into law an abolishment of capital punishment for the state he oversees. He intently listened to arguments for both sides of the issue. But when the arguing ceased, he then reviewed the number of capital cases whose verdicts were overturned from the admittance of new DNA evidence or because of judicial error. Humans can make mistakes in judgment. Then Quinn turned to his Bible and a passage in 2 Corinthians about human imperfections. Then he prayed. Then he signed the piece of legislation.
Quinn's entire political career was also guided by a book written by Chicago's Cardinal Bernardin titled The Gift of Peace. In that book Bernardin discusses ethics as a "seamless garment" or a "consistent ethic of life." Quinn realized that permitting capital punishment would put a tear in his "seamless garment" of ethical beliefs. Quinn maintains that one's religious beliefs are inseparable from one's political practices. He said, "I think it's indispensable. When you're elected and sworn into office, that oath really involves your whole life experience, your religious experience. You bring that to bear on all the issues."
Samuel was told that others "look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Quinn chose not to look upon a man in prison garb, but to see the soul of a man who could be innocent as a result of human misjudgment. Let us be careful how we judge, always being certain we are looking at the humanness of the issue.
* * *
This week's Old Testament lesson addresses the question of what role physical appearance played in the selection of Israel's greatest king, David. The short answer to that question is... none whatsoever.
The story begins when the prophet Samuel receives a message from God to take up his horn of oil and anoint Israel's next king. The only problem is, the Lord doesn't tell Samuel exactly who the next king will be -- just that he's going to be one of the eight sons of a certain Judean farmer by the name of Jesse. Samuel travels to Jesse's homestead, assuming that he'll recognize the new king when he sees him. But he doesn't -- seven sons of Jesse walk by, but not one of them displays that inscrutable aura of holiness Samuel figures will be just oozing out of the man God has chosen. "Is there no other?" he asks.
"Well, there's little Davy. If he were a sheep, he'd be the runt of the litter. We didn't even bother to invite someone so lacking in aristocratic refinement to this casting call -- we figured that would be cruel and unusual punishment."
"Send for him," says Samuel, doing a slow burn. When David finally does come forward, he's not wearing a tailored robe, Gucci sandals, or a pinky ring. His hands are calloused from gripping a walking stick, and he stinks of sheep. Yet this youngest son has a down-home, wholesome attractiveness. He's "ruddy," has "beautiful eyes," and is "handsome." There's no contrivance about him -- David is comfortable in his own skin. He -- not one of his more cosmopolitan brothers -- is the one God has chosen.
How does the Lord do it? How does the Lord select David? First Samuel provides an answer: "The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (16:7). There's tremendous hope in those words for those of us who are not accustomed to thinking of ourselves as "beautiful people." The Lord has not created us to be beautiful -- the Lord has created us to be good.
* * *
It's hard to imagine a candidate running for president today without a veritable army of style and grooming consultants, which is even more remarkable considering what some of our greatest presidents have looked like. George Washington was physically strong and -- at over six feet tall -- had an imposing presence. Yet he wore a set of wooden false teeth that gave him tremendous pain and led him to adopt a grim, tight-lipped expression that made him look perpetually angry. Abraham Lincoln was well-known as being one of the homeliest men around. He had a huge mole on one cheek and was so tall and awkward that some historians think he might have had a mild case of the pathological condition known as giantism. Franklin D. Roosevelt spent much of his time in a wheelchair due to polio. In those pre-television days, FDR's political handlers worked hard to keep newspaper photographers away from his wheelchair, crutches, and leg braces -- although in this age of television that level of protection would be unthinkable.
Yet where would we be today as a nation without Washington, Lincoln, or FDR? The simple truth is that if today's obsessive interest in physical appearance had prevailed back then, none of these three men would have made it to the presidency.
"The Lord does not see as mortals see," says Samuel. "They look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
* * *
Motivational speaker Doug Dickerson (www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com) tells the story of a beauty products company that asked the citizens of a large metropolitan area to send them letters about and pictures of the most beautiful people they knew.
Of course thousands of letters came in, but none so intriguing as the one from a little boy that said: "A beautiful woman lives down the street from me. I visit her every day. She makes me feel like the most important kid in the world. We play checkers and she listens to my problems. She understands me, and when I leave she yells out the door that she's proud of me." He had enclosed a photo of a toothless old woman, her face wrinkled by age, her hair pulled back in a bun.
The president of the cosmetic company thought for a minute and then rejected the letter and picture. "If we use this," he said, "people will realize that you don't need our stuff to be beautiful."
* * *
Remember Archie Bunker, that curmudgeon of curmudgeons, and his ditzy wife Edith from the old television comedy All in the Family? In one episode, the two of them are attending Edith's high-school reunion. Edith runs into an old classmate of hers by the name of Buck. In his younger days Buck had been very handsome ñ but now, decades later, he's put on a lot of weight and is no longer what anyone would describe as good-looking.
None of this matters a bit to Edith, who's having a great time visiting with Buck and laughing about the old days. Through it all, Edith doesn't seem to notice how extremely heavy Buck has become. Later on, when Edith and Archie are talking, she remarks in her whiny voice, "Archie, ain't Buck a beautiful person?"
Archie looks back at her with his trademark curl of the lip and replies: "You're a pip, Edith. You know that. You and I look at the same guy -- and you see a beautiful person and I see a blimp."
Edith suddenly loses the smile from her face. She displays a puzzled expression that slowly turns into sadness. "Yeah," she says wistfully, "ain't it too bad."
* * *
The Smithsonian Institute is preparing to place Thomas Jefferson's Bible on display this coming November. It is a cut-and-paste Bible of a mere 86 pages. After retiring from public office in 1820, Jefferson sat down with two Bibles, a razor blade, and some paste, and began to create his own Bible. It would contain only the words and actions of Jesus -- nothing miraculous or mysterious would be entertained. The result was what Jefferson referred to as The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Jefferson maintained that Jesus "was the first of human Sages." Jefferson considered himself to be a devout Christian. After completing the micro-testament, Jefferson wrote to a friend, "It is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus." Part of Jefferson's Bible is a reflection of his attitude toward what he called "pseudo-Christians." These were Christians who were more concerned about doctrine than teaching and actions. They were preoccupied with abstract theorizing rather than the actual implementation of the teachings of Jesus.
When the blind man was healed, the Pharisees were unconcerned about the new life that was restored; they could only focus on the religious doctrine of Sabbath regulations that were violated. The Pharisees were more concerned with theorizing about religion rather than practicing the tenets of religion. An 86-page Bible may be more than sufficient for us, if it causes us to refrain from theorizing and instead calls us forth into action.
* * *
Habits are things we do because we can't stop doing them. Biting fingernails, smoking, swearing, and cracking chewing gum are all habits. There's no reason for doing them -- it's just that those of who do them can't seem to stop.
Customs are things that we do because we've always done them. The hymns we sing, the rituals we employ in worship, how we celebrate holidays -- these tend to be customs. There isn't a lot of meaning attached to how we do them; we've just always done them that way.
Traditions grow out of our core values. They are re-enactments. They remind of us of who and why we are. The sacraments are traditions in the church.
The church finds itself in trouble not because it has traditions, but because it has habits and customs that it treats as though they are traditions.
On Christmas morning she and her mother went out on the beach to wade and collect shells, and Tillie noticed that the sea looked different than it had the day before -- flatter and frothier. The water, she joked to her mother, was having a "bad hair" day. Then it dawned on Tillie that she had seen a picture of the sea that looked just like this in her world studies class at school. It was a picture taken in Hawaii years earlier, just before a tsunami crashed ashore. Tillie told her mother -- and her mother, seeing the fear and urgency in Tillie's eyes, believed her. Together they went to the lifeguards, who took some convincing but eventually agreed to clear the beach and tell people to move inland.
This was Christmas 2004, and nearly a quarter million people died as a result of that earthquake and tsunami -- but hundreds were saved because they recognized leadership in a ten-year-old girl and were wise enough to follow her.
* * *
We tend to think of the greatest leaders as alpha males who are Olympian in stature -- Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte. Plutarch's Lives and Thomas Carlyle's Great Men seem inevitable, and we hold such great leaders up as models. Yet caution against easy generalization is advised, for the evidence of history also reveals a surprising array of unlikely individuals who rose to the top. One thinks of Moses. He started life out as a slave and lacked confidence because of a speech impediment; yet he grew in strength of character and for four decades led a disheartened people out of Egypt to found a nation in the Promised Land. Even more mine-boggling is the example of a 12-year-old shepherd in the thirteenth century named Stephen of Cloyes -- he somehow inspired tens of thousands of children from across France to join him on a crusade to Jerusalem. Other unlikely leaders have been Cleopatra (who turned on her own brother-husband); Emperor Claudius (who used his disability -- a stammer and a club foot -- to advantage); Joan of Arc (a teenage girl who heard voices in her head); Queen Elizabeth I (who was long considered illegitimate and thus not an heir to the throne); Mahatma Gandhi (small of stature and humble in bearing); and Presidents Abraham Lincoln (considered intellectually inferior to his many rivals), Ulysses Grant (an alcoholic who could barely get a command at the beginning of the Civil War), Harry Truman (a haberdasher without a college degree), Dwight Eisenhower (whose army career almost ended on the eve of World War II), and Gerald Ford (who never sought the Oval Office).
-- http://www.gvsu.edu/hauenstein/effective-leaders-494.htm
* * *
Just how far can machismo take you? It has been discovered on the mountainous battlefields of Afghanistan that even the hardiest of souls succumb to the natural elements. Soldiers who parachute into the upper altitudes of the Afghanistan mountains, absent of the time to acclimate their bodies to the thin air, instantly suffer from altitude sickness. This leaves them with headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Some soldiers have trouble standing; others are unable to stand at all. Their unit becomes immobile and unable to complete its mission. At 25,000 feet, 25% of the troops are ineffective. At 11,500 feet, 50% of the troops are ineffective. At 14,800 feet, 100% of the troops are immobile.
The US Army is spending $2.5 million in research on how to overcome this problem. Rod Allen, an Air Force veteran whose special-operations unit was dropped into a high altitude combat zone, said of the soldiers and airmen involved: "These are all young, strong, type-A personality guys, and they think they're just going to gut it out. They believe they are bulletproof. But at 20,000 feet, it hurts just to think."
The psalmist speaks that "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil." Dark valleys come in many forms. It can be an illness. It can be marital discord. It can be problems at work. It can be parachuting into a high-altitude combat zone. In any of these cases there is fear if one feels abandoned and hopeless. But the fear can be alleviated if you know you are supported by others who care and are working with you. The presence of the Lord goes beyond just a spiritual presence, but it is also manifested in a cadre of people who care. Just as the military's special-ops group knows researchers are aware and addressing a great fear of theirs -- high-altitude combat -- we know our Christian brothers and sisters are caring for us.
* * *
Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois just signed into law an abolishment of capital punishment for the state he oversees. He intently listened to arguments for both sides of the issue. But when the arguing ceased, he then reviewed the number of capital cases whose verdicts were overturned from the admittance of new DNA evidence or because of judicial error. Humans can make mistakes in judgment. Then Quinn turned to his Bible and a passage in 2 Corinthians about human imperfections. Then he prayed. Then he signed the piece of legislation.
Quinn's entire political career was also guided by a book written by Chicago's Cardinal Bernardin titled The Gift of Peace. In that book Bernardin discusses ethics as a "seamless garment" or a "consistent ethic of life." Quinn realized that permitting capital punishment would put a tear in his "seamless garment" of ethical beliefs. Quinn maintains that one's religious beliefs are inseparable from one's political practices. He said, "I think it's indispensable. When you're elected and sworn into office, that oath really involves your whole life experience, your religious experience. You bring that to bear on all the issues."
Samuel was told that others "look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Quinn chose not to look upon a man in prison garb, but to see the soul of a man who could be innocent as a result of human misjudgment. Let us be careful how we judge, always being certain we are looking at the humanness of the issue.
* * *
This week's Old Testament lesson addresses the question of what role physical appearance played in the selection of Israel's greatest king, David. The short answer to that question is... none whatsoever.
The story begins when the prophet Samuel receives a message from God to take up his horn of oil and anoint Israel's next king. The only problem is, the Lord doesn't tell Samuel exactly who the next king will be -- just that he's going to be one of the eight sons of a certain Judean farmer by the name of Jesse. Samuel travels to Jesse's homestead, assuming that he'll recognize the new king when he sees him. But he doesn't -- seven sons of Jesse walk by, but not one of them displays that inscrutable aura of holiness Samuel figures will be just oozing out of the man God has chosen. "Is there no other?" he asks.
"Well, there's little Davy. If he were a sheep, he'd be the runt of the litter. We didn't even bother to invite someone so lacking in aristocratic refinement to this casting call -- we figured that would be cruel and unusual punishment."
"Send for him," says Samuel, doing a slow burn. When David finally does come forward, he's not wearing a tailored robe, Gucci sandals, or a pinky ring. His hands are calloused from gripping a walking stick, and he stinks of sheep. Yet this youngest son has a down-home, wholesome attractiveness. He's "ruddy," has "beautiful eyes," and is "handsome." There's no contrivance about him -- David is comfortable in his own skin. He -- not one of his more cosmopolitan brothers -- is the one God has chosen.
How does the Lord do it? How does the Lord select David? First Samuel provides an answer: "The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart" (16:7). There's tremendous hope in those words for those of us who are not accustomed to thinking of ourselves as "beautiful people." The Lord has not created us to be beautiful -- the Lord has created us to be good.
* * *
It's hard to imagine a candidate running for president today without a veritable army of style and grooming consultants, which is even more remarkable considering what some of our greatest presidents have looked like. George Washington was physically strong and -- at over six feet tall -- had an imposing presence. Yet he wore a set of wooden false teeth that gave him tremendous pain and led him to adopt a grim, tight-lipped expression that made him look perpetually angry. Abraham Lincoln was well-known as being one of the homeliest men around. He had a huge mole on one cheek and was so tall and awkward that some historians think he might have had a mild case of the pathological condition known as giantism. Franklin D. Roosevelt spent much of his time in a wheelchair due to polio. In those pre-television days, FDR's political handlers worked hard to keep newspaper photographers away from his wheelchair, crutches, and leg braces -- although in this age of television that level of protection would be unthinkable.
Yet where would we be today as a nation without Washington, Lincoln, or FDR? The simple truth is that if today's obsessive interest in physical appearance had prevailed back then, none of these three men would have made it to the presidency.
"The Lord does not see as mortals see," says Samuel. "They look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
* * *
Motivational speaker Doug Dickerson (www.dougsmanagementmoment.blogspot.com) tells the story of a beauty products company that asked the citizens of a large metropolitan area to send them letters about and pictures of the most beautiful people they knew.
Of course thousands of letters came in, but none so intriguing as the one from a little boy that said: "A beautiful woman lives down the street from me. I visit her every day. She makes me feel like the most important kid in the world. We play checkers and she listens to my problems. She understands me, and when I leave she yells out the door that she's proud of me." He had enclosed a photo of a toothless old woman, her face wrinkled by age, her hair pulled back in a bun.
The president of the cosmetic company thought for a minute and then rejected the letter and picture. "If we use this," he said, "people will realize that you don't need our stuff to be beautiful."
* * *
Remember Archie Bunker, that curmudgeon of curmudgeons, and his ditzy wife Edith from the old television comedy All in the Family? In one episode, the two of them are attending Edith's high-school reunion. Edith runs into an old classmate of hers by the name of Buck. In his younger days Buck had been very handsome ñ but now, decades later, he's put on a lot of weight and is no longer what anyone would describe as good-looking.
None of this matters a bit to Edith, who's having a great time visiting with Buck and laughing about the old days. Through it all, Edith doesn't seem to notice how extremely heavy Buck has become. Later on, when Edith and Archie are talking, she remarks in her whiny voice, "Archie, ain't Buck a beautiful person?"
Archie looks back at her with his trademark curl of the lip and replies: "You're a pip, Edith. You know that. You and I look at the same guy -- and you see a beautiful person and I see a blimp."
Edith suddenly loses the smile from her face. She displays a puzzled expression that slowly turns into sadness. "Yeah," she says wistfully, "ain't it too bad."
* * *
The Smithsonian Institute is preparing to place Thomas Jefferson's Bible on display this coming November. It is a cut-and-paste Bible of a mere 86 pages. After retiring from public office in 1820, Jefferson sat down with two Bibles, a razor blade, and some paste, and began to create his own Bible. It would contain only the words and actions of Jesus -- nothing miraculous or mysterious would be entertained. The result was what Jefferson referred to as The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Jefferson maintained that Jesus "was the first of human Sages." Jefferson considered himself to be a devout Christian. After completing the micro-testament, Jefferson wrote to a friend, "It is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus." Part of Jefferson's Bible is a reflection of his attitude toward what he called "pseudo-Christians." These were Christians who were more concerned about doctrine than teaching and actions. They were preoccupied with abstract theorizing rather than the actual implementation of the teachings of Jesus.
When the blind man was healed, the Pharisees were unconcerned about the new life that was restored; they could only focus on the religious doctrine of Sabbath regulations that were violated. The Pharisees were more concerned with theorizing about religion rather than practicing the tenets of religion. An 86-page Bible may be more than sufficient for us, if it causes us to refrain from theorizing and instead calls us forth into action.
* * *
Habits are things we do because we can't stop doing them. Biting fingernails, smoking, swearing, and cracking chewing gum are all habits. There's no reason for doing them -- it's just that those of who do them can't seem to stop.
Customs are things that we do because we've always done them. The hymns we sing, the rituals we employ in worship, how we celebrate holidays -- these tend to be customs. There isn't a lot of meaning attached to how we do them; we've just always done them that way.
Traditions grow out of our core values. They are re-enactments. They remind of us of who and why we are. The sacraments are traditions in the church.
The church finds itself in trouble not because it has traditions, but because it has habits and customs that it treats as though they are traditions.
