Illustrations For April 27, 2008 From The Immediate Word
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
Object:
When we are responding to the issue of other faiths and the response of Christians to them, it is wise to recall Jesus' first encounter with people of another faith. In Matthew 2:1-12, there is the story of the visit of the wise men. For Christians, it is important to recall that the first people to recognize and demonstrate submission to Jesus were these men from another culture and faith. These visitors from the east were the ones to announce to Israel and its leadership that a Messiah had been born. As we consider how to relate to other faiths, it is wise to be humble enough to consider the possibility that the other faith might teach us something about our own faith.
* * *
"There are those who prefer certainty to truth, those in church who put the purity of dogma ahead of the integrity of love. And what distortion of the gospel it is to have limited sympathies and unlimited certainties, when the very reverse -- to have limited certainties and unlimited sympathies -- is not only more tolerant but far more Christian."
-- William Sloane Coffin, Credo (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, 2003) p.144
* * *
"Last October 138 Muslim scholars and clerics released a statement titled 'A Common Word Between Us and You.' The statement declared that, 'The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians,' the basis of which can be found in 'the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God and love of neighbor." (Reported in the April 2008 issue of Sojourners, p. 8.) Should we look to people in other faiths to see signs of God's reconciling love operating in the world?
"(W)e must not presume to prejudge the last judgment. We know a few things, but they are enough: that the call of God is to all men; that those whom He chooses to convert are few; and that those few are chosen not for themselves but for the sake of all. If they forget that, they will be rejected."
-- Lesslie Newbigin, quoted in George R. Hunsberger, Bearing the Witness of the Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998)
* * *
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever" (John 14:16).
Martin Luther says, "Here we must note in what a friendly and comforting manner Christ speaks to all poor, saddened hearts and fearful, timid consciences. He shows us how we may truly recognize the Holy Spirit. We must learn to know and believe in the Holy Spirit as Christ describes him. His is not a Spirit of anger and terror but a Spirit of grace and consolation. We are to know that the entire Deity reflects sheer comfort."
-- Martin Luther, "Sermons on the Gospel of John (1537)," Luther's Works 24 (St. Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1976) p. 103
* * *
"Jesus said to the disciples: 'If you love me, you will keep my commandments' " (John 14:15).
Oswald Chambers says, "Our Lord never insists upon obedience; he tells us very emphatically what we ought to do, but he never takes means to make us do it. We have to obey him out of a oneness of spirit. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, he prefaced it with an IF -- you do not need to unless you like. 'If any will be my disciple, let them deny themselves, let them give up their right to themselves to me.'
"The Lord does not give me any rules; he makes his standard very clear, and if my relationship to him is that of love, I will do what he says."
-- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 1963) p. 307 (edited for inclusivity)
* * *
Jesus makes a tremendous promise to us in the last verse of our gospel text today. He says, "They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them" (John 14:21).
Jesus tells us that, if we keep his commandments, he's going to reveal himself to us. What an amazing thought! He's going to reveal himself! How is he going to do this? Probably not by showing himself to us is a form that our physical eyes can see. More likely in a calm assurance within us that he is, that he is with us at all times, and that he loves us beyond any love that we can imagine and calls us to do his work with him.
Life can't possibly get any better than that!
* * *
"There are those who prefer certainty to truth, those in church who put the purity of dogma ahead of the integrity of love. And what distortion of the gospel it is to have limited sympathies and unlimited certainties, when the very reverse -- to have limited certainties and unlimited sympathies -- is not only more tolerant but far more Christian."
-- William Sloane Coffin, Credo (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox, 2003) p.144
* * *
"Last October 138 Muslim scholars and clerics released a statement titled 'A Common Word Between Us and You.' The statement declared that, 'The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians,' the basis of which can be found in 'the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God and love of neighbor." (Reported in the April 2008 issue of Sojourners, p. 8.) Should we look to people in other faiths to see signs of God's reconciling love operating in the world?
"(W)e must not presume to prejudge the last judgment. We know a few things, but they are enough: that the call of God is to all men; that those whom He chooses to convert are few; and that those few are chosen not for themselves but for the sake of all. If they forget that, they will be rejected."
-- Lesslie Newbigin, quoted in George R. Hunsberger, Bearing the Witness of the Spirit (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998)
* * *
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever" (John 14:16).
Martin Luther says, "Here we must note in what a friendly and comforting manner Christ speaks to all poor, saddened hearts and fearful, timid consciences. He shows us how we may truly recognize the Holy Spirit. We must learn to know and believe in the Holy Spirit as Christ describes him. His is not a Spirit of anger and terror but a Spirit of grace and consolation. We are to know that the entire Deity reflects sheer comfort."
-- Martin Luther, "Sermons on the Gospel of John (1537)," Luther's Works 24 (St. Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1976) p. 103
* * *
"Jesus said to the disciples: 'If you love me, you will keep my commandments' " (John 14:15).
Oswald Chambers says, "Our Lord never insists upon obedience; he tells us very emphatically what we ought to do, but he never takes means to make us do it. We have to obey him out of a oneness of spirit. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, he prefaced it with an IF -- you do not need to unless you like. 'If any will be my disciple, let them deny themselves, let them give up their right to themselves to me.'
"The Lord does not give me any rules; he makes his standard very clear, and if my relationship to him is that of love, I will do what he says."
-- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour, 1963) p. 307 (edited for inclusivity)
* * *
Jesus makes a tremendous promise to us in the last verse of our gospel text today. He says, "They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them" (John 14:21).
Jesus tells us that, if we keep his commandments, he's going to reveal himself to us. What an amazing thought! He's going to reveal himself! How is he going to do this? Probably not by showing himself to us is a form that our physical eyes can see. More likely in a calm assurance within us that he is, that he is with us at all times, and that he loves us beyond any love that we can imagine and calls us to do his work with him.
Life can't possibly get any better than that!
