Sermon Illustrations for Baptism of Our Lord (2014)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 42:1-9
The Servant is to be called the light to the nations (vv. 6-7). We need to shed some light on the subject -- some light on our sense of the darkness and chaos of our unjust circumstances. According to 2012 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings for full-time working women were $712, compared to $854 for men. In 2009 the U.S. Department of Justice estimated that African Americans made up 39.4% of the prison population. Less than 25% of the American public attends church more than once a month.
Only the light of Christ can turn things around. It is like Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Of course, the reference to being light to the nations could also refer to the chosen people of God, to us. Christ comes to light us up with his light, to help the rest of America to see the injustices they have missed, to be led away from their spiritual darkness and wanderings. John Wesley so profoundly reflected on what this shining light is like and how it might make a difference:
Let your light so shine: You lowliness of heart; your gentleness, and meekness of wisdom; your serious, weighty concern for the things of eternity, and sorrow for the sins and miseries of men… your tender good-will to all mankind, and fervent love to your supreme benefactor.
(Works, Vol. 5, pp. 308-309)
God has made us like the Hollywood lights that shine on the stars. The stars don't turn on the lights. Someone else (God) does that. But lights only shine on stars. God has made us stars -- stars who can get a lot of attention from the world and make a difference with all our (spiritual) notoriety.
Mark E.
Isaiah 42:1-9
Often one thinks of service as needing to be a big event, but service is simply giving of one's self for others, even in the small things of life.
The story is told that during World War I there was a senior adult French woman who, throughout one of the summers of the war, stood all day, every day in the blazing heat outside a field hospital with an old faded umbrella, waiting to shield the eyes of the wounded from the heat as they were brought in on stretchers. She seldom said anything, but the very act of helping demonstrated her servant's heart.
Our prayer should be that God would make us strong to do the work of servant-ministry!
Derl K.
Isaiah 42:1-9
When Henry Bessemer invented the Bessemer furnace in 1856, in 20 minutes the same amount of steel could be produced that previously took 24 hours. This introduced into American history the epoch that became known as the "age of steel," since steel dominated and transformed construction.
Application: When Isaiah said we "shall not grow faint or be crushed," we are living in our own "age of steel."
Ron L.
Acts 10:34-43
When we think that we have the only avenue of truth, it may come as a surprise to find out that God does not show favoritism! Some discover it like Peter, while others fight against it out of principle. It is a revelation to know that Jesus died for people and not principles. Denominations and legislatures have not discovered that. We like to think of ourselves proudly as people of principle! We have to remember that the Pharisees were the most principled people in Jesus' day, but they were sure not his favorites!
There were nations who had not heard about Christ, but were open to him. We can only leave it in God's hands who will be saved. Jesus descended into hell to preach and led a host of captives. Does that mean only those who died before he was born or is it also for those even now who have never heard the gospel yet?
God only tells us that we are commanded to preach the message of Christ and leave it up to God. We will be held accountable only for those we could have reached out to and didn't. We would only be held accountable if we didn't go there or if we failed to support a mission there if we had the opportunity.
Does that second verse imply that nations who do what is right can still be saved without Jesus?
Paul said that they were witnesses to everything Jesus did. Since we didn't live in that age, does that excuse us for not being witnesses? The apostles preached to many who were not personal witnesses of everything that Jesus did. Paul came later and only heard about Jesus in a vision on his trip to hurt the church.
Some congregations say that you can't be saved unless you can point to a time when you were saved! I had such an experience, but I know many who did not and yet because of the life they are living and words spoke, I know that they have met the Lord.
If we have heard the message and failed to make it a large part of our lives, we had better do some praying! It won't be because of our own deeds or beliefs that we are saved, it will be because the Holy Spirit has come into our lives. Reading the scriptures can open us to receive God's Spirit. The Old Testament predicted Jesus' life and times. Then we read the testimony of those who were eyewitnesses. When we have done these things, it opens the door for God's Spirit to enter.
I believe that all who open their ears and hearts to God's calling will be saved as long as they continue searching. God honors faithfulness, even if we may have doubts but do not give up our search for him.
Don't ever give up! Listen! Read! Learn! God will come to you even if you may not realize he is already in you!
Bob O.
Matthew 3:13-17
Hearing voices from the sky is sometimes viewed as a psychological problem where the person is in need of help. However, in the case of Jesus at his baptism, it was not a psychological event but a confirmation of his ministry from God, the Father!
According to William Barclay, the two sentences strike an important chord in the minds of the Jews because each is a quotation that describes the Messiah. The first is Psalm 2:7, describing the king who was to come, and the other is Isaiah 42:1, which is the Suffering Servant.
Barclay writes, "In that moment he (Jesus) knew that he was chosen to be king, but he also knew that his throne must be a cross."
Jesus came to be conqueror of the world, but only through the power of suffering love.
Derl K.
Matthew 3:13-17
Everything in Jesus' ministry, and our lives as Christians, begins in the waters of baptism. How appropriate, since most evolutionary theorists hypothesize that water is the source of life. Not only did the first animals with a backbone have a common ancestor in first-like creatures, but the first life may have been one-celled aquatic creatures. More than likely, in ancient oceans there were chemicals which brought into existence complex organic molecules as a result of energy from the sun. To this day, all living cells require water, as it accounts for 65% to 90% of the body weight of all the earth's plants and animals. No wonder God uses water to give us new life.
The ancient African theologian Tertullian notes that waters bring forth life and that the Spirit of God hovering over the waters from the beginning (Genesis 1:2) continues today as the Spirit hovers over the waters of baptism to give new life (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, p. 670). In the same spirit, Martin Luther described what God adds to the baptismal waters which make them so effective:
Who would call the baptism of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit powerless water? Do we not see what seasoning God throws into the water…. So it has become a priceless sugar water, fragrant nectar, and medicine because God has interposed himself.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, pp. 221-222)
This sugared water is alluring, almost addictive. For those of us baptized it is as Pope Emeritus Benedict once said: In baptism we have "become fascinated by Christ." Baptism addicts us to Christ and sets us out on a life fascinated by him.
Mark E.
Matthew 3:13-17
In the 1860s Alfred Nobel invented dynamite to level hills and blast mountains to facilitate construction. The advantage of dynamite was its stability, as it replaced nitroglycerin. Unfortunately, all good things can be used for evil, as the military discovered the destructive power of dynamite for war. Nobel, so despondent by the misuse of his product, used the profits he gained from his invention to establish the Nobel Peace Prize as a way to compensate for the misuse of dynamite.
Application: The dove came down upon Jesus to show that in a world of sin, the Holy Spirit will prevail.
Ron L.
The Servant is to be called the light to the nations (vv. 6-7). We need to shed some light on the subject -- some light on our sense of the darkness and chaos of our unjust circumstances. According to 2012 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings for full-time working women were $712, compared to $854 for men. In 2009 the U.S. Department of Justice estimated that African Americans made up 39.4% of the prison population. Less than 25% of the American public attends church more than once a month.
Only the light of Christ can turn things around. It is like Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Of course, the reference to being light to the nations could also refer to the chosen people of God, to us. Christ comes to light us up with his light, to help the rest of America to see the injustices they have missed, to be led away from their spiritual darkness and wanderings. John Wesley so profoundly reflected on what this shining light is like and how it might make a difference:
Let your light so shine: You lowliness of heart; your gentleness, and meekness of wisdom; your serious, weighty concern for the things of eternity, and sorrow for the sins and miseries of men… your tender good-will to all mankind, and fervent love to your supreme benefactor.
(Works, Vol. 5, pp. 308-309)
God has made us like the Hollywood lights that shine on the stars. The stars don't turn on the lights. Someone else (God) does that. But lights only shine on stars. God has made us stars -- stars who can get a lot of attention from the world and make a difference with all our (spiritual) notoriety.
Mark E.
Isaiah 42:1-9
Often one thinks of service as needing to be a big event, but service is simply giving of one's self for others, even in the small things of life.
The story is told that during World War I there was a senior adult French woman who, throughout one of the summers of the war, stood all day, every day in the blazing heat outside a field hospital with an old faded umbrella, waiting to shield the eyes of the wounded from the heat as they were brought in on stretchers. She seldom said anything, but the very act of helping demonstrated her servant's heart.
Our prayer should be that God would make us strong to do the work of servant-ministry!
Derl K.
Isaiah 42:1-9
When Henry Bessemer invented the Bessemer furnace in 1856, in 20 minutes the same amount of steel could be produced that previously took 24 hours. This introduced into American history the epoch that became known as the "age of steel," since steel dominated and transformed construction.
Application: When Isaiah said we "shall not grow faint or be crushed," we are living in our own "age of steel."
Ron L.
Acts 10:34-43
When we think that we have the only avenue of truth, it may come as a surprise to find out that God does not show favoritism! Some discover it like Peter, while others fight against it out of principle. It is a revelation to know that Jesus died for people and not principles. Denominations and legislatures have not discovered that. We like to think of ourselves proudly as people of principle! We have to remember that the Pharisees were the most principled people in Jesus' day, but they were sure not his favorites!
There were nations who had not heard about Christ, but were open to him. We can only leave it in God's hands who will be saved. Jesus descended into hell to preach and led a host of captives. Does that mean only those who died before he was born or is it also for those even now who have never heard the gospel yet?
God only tells us that we are commanded to preach the message of Christ and leave it up to God. We will be held accountable only for those we could have reached out to and didn't. We would only be held accountable if we didn't go there or if we failed to support a mission there if we had the opportunity.
Does that second verse imply that nations who do what is right can still be saved without Jesus?
Paul said that they were witnesses to everything Jesus did. Since we didn't live in that age, does that excuse us for not being witnesses? The apostles preached to many who were not personal witnesses of everything that Jesus did. Paul came later and only heard about Jesus in a vision on his trip to hurt the church.
Some congregations say that you can't be saved unless you can point to a time when you were saved! I had such an experience, but I know many who did not and yet because of the life they are living and words spoke, I know that they have met the Lord.
If we have heard the message and failed to make it a large part of our lives, we had better do some praying! It won't be because of our own deeds or beliefs that we are saved, it will be because the Holy Spirit has come into our lives. Reading the scriptures can open us to receive God's Spirit. The Old Testament predicted Jesus' life and times. Then we read the testimony of those who were eyewitnesses. When we have done these things, it opens the door for God's Spirit to enter.
I believe that all who open their ears and hearts to God's calling will be saved as long as they continue searching. God honors faithfulness, even if we may have doubts but do not give up our search for him.
Don't ever give up! Listen! Read! Learn! God will come to you even if you may not realize he is already in you!
Bob O.
Matthew 3:13-17
Hearing voices from the sky is sometimes viewed as a psychological problem where the person is in need of help. However, in the case of Jesus at his baptism, it was not a psychological event but a confirmation of his ministry from God, the Father!
According to William Barclay, the two sentences strike an important chord in the minds of the Jews because each is a quotation that describes the Messiah. The first is Psalm 2:7, describing the king who was to come, and the other is Isaiah 42:1, which is the Suffering Servant.
Barclay writes, "In that moment he (Jesus) knew that he was chosen to be king, but he also knew that his throne must be a cross."
Jesus came to be conqueror of the world, but only through the power of suffering love.
Derl K.
Matthew 3:13-17
Everything in Jesus' ministry, and our lives as Christians, begins in the waters of baptism. How appropriate, since most evolutionary theorists hypothesize that water is the source of life. Not only did the first animals with a backbone have a common ancestor in first-like creatures, but the first life may have been one-celled aquatic creatures. More than likely, in ancient oceans there were chemicals which brought into existence complex organic molecules as a result of energy from the sun. To this day, all living cells require water, as it accounts for 65% to 90% of the body weight of all the earth's plants and animals. No wonder God uses water to give us new life.
The ancient African theologian Tertullian notes that waters bring forth life and that the Spirit of God hovering over the waters from the beginning (Genesis 1:2) continues today as the Spirit hovers over the waters of baptism to give new life (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, p. 670). In the same spirit, Martin Luther described what God adds to the baptismal waters which make them so effective:
Who would call the baptism of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit powerless water? Do we not see what seasoning God throws into the water…. So it has become a priceless sugar water, fragrant nectar, and medicine because God has interposed himself.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, pp. 221-222)
This sugared water is alluring, almost addictive. For those of us baptized it is as Pope Emeritus Benedict once said: In baptism we have "become fascinated by Christ." Baptism addicts us to Christ and sets us out on a life fascinated by him.
Mark E.
Matthew 3:13-17
In the 1860s Alfred Nobel invented dynamite to level hills and blast mountains to facilitate construction. The advantage of dynamite was its stability, as it replaced nitroglycerin. Unfortunately, all good things can be used for evil, as the military discovered the destructive power of dynamite for war. Nobel, so despondent by the misuse of his product, used the profits he gained from his invention to establish the Nobel Peace Prize as a way to compensate for the misuse of dynamite.
Application: The dove came down upon Jesus to show that in a world of sin, the Holy Spirit will prevail.
Ron L.
