Login / Signup

Free Access

Advent Sale - Save $131!

Sermon Illustrations for Proper 22 | OT 27 (2022)

Illustration
Lamentations 1:1-6; 3:19-26
John Calvin well describes the distress and doubt which this lesson depicts:

...for there is nothing more difficult for men than to preserve their minds in a state of peace and tranquility, undisturbed by any disquieting fears, whilst they are in this world, which is subject to many changes. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.V/1, p. 18)

Sometimes feelings like this lead to an utter hopelessness about life, a sense that all that awaits us is the grave. The father of existentialist philosophy Soren Kierkegaard captured these feelings well when he wrote:

I do not care for anything... I do not care at all. There are well-known insects which die in the moment of fecundation. So it is with joy; life’s supreme and richest moment of pleasure is coupled with death. (Either/Or, Vol. 2, p. 234) 

Faith, then, is a kind of rebellion against all the meaninglessness and chaos of life. It is as an African theologian of the early church Tertullian once put it: “It [Christian faith] is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd.”
Mark E.

* * *

Psalm 137
In an exposition on the psalm, in words written more than 1500 years ago, Augustine well describes the human condition and our need for deliverance:

We are tempted by delights of earthly things, and we struggle daily with the suggestions of unlawful pleasures; scarce do we breathe freely even in prayer: we understand that we are captives... Who hath redeemed us? Christ. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 8, p. 631)   

John Calvin sees a word of hope in the psalm. He writes:

If the divine promises inspire us with hope and confidence, and God’s Spirit temper our afflictions to the rule of his own uprightness, we shall lift up our heads in the lowest depths of affliction to which we may be cast down, and glory in the fact that it is well with us and our worst distresses... (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. VI/2, p. 197)
Mark E.

* * *

2 Timothy 1:1-14
There are quite a few stories from the pages of American history. One of them concerns the Declaration of Independence and John Hancock. His autograph on the Declaration of Independence is so well known that it is often used as a noun synonymous to “signature.” The question is why did John Hancock sign his name proportionally larger than the rest of the delegates? Legend states that he signed his name bigger than everyone else’s so that the “fat old king could read it without his spectacles.” According to the story, Hancock was boldly declaring his stance and wanted the king to know it.

Fact, though, is not always the same as the myth. Hancock, as the president of the Continental Congress, was the first person to sign the document and because he was the leader of Congress, his signature was centered below the text. According to the National Archives it was customary that other delegates began to sign at the right below the text in geographical order according to the states they represent. The northernmost state, New Hampshire began and ended with Georgia, the southernmost. While it is possible that the size of Hancock’s signature might be intentional, no one knows for sure.

Whether the size of his signature indicated it or not, it is certain that Hancock and the fifty-five others who signed the Declaration of Independence were making a bold statement. In his final letter, Paul is urging Timothy to be bold in his witness for Jesus. He urges him, “Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8). Will we be bold in our stance for the Lord?
Bill T.

* * *

2 Timothy 1:1-14
Words, words, words. Paul writes in this second letter to Timothy, that “I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did…” (2 Timothy 1:31). But the word translated as “worship” is latreia, which is richer word. We get two different English words from this one Greek word – liturgy, the words which we pronounce in worship, and latrine, or toilet. That’s quite a contrast, but the litourgia was a servant who chose to serve a god, or God, by keeping the temple clean in sometimes gutty ways. Paul is talking about worship that includes service at whatever level is necessary.
Frank R.

* * *

Luke 17:5-10
This text certainly has political implications for sermons on caring for the poor and those discriminated against in society. If you want illustrations relevant to these themes, consult the links to my Illustrations for 2019 and 2016. If you want to focus more on the text’s reminder that God owes us nothing, consider John Calvin’s reflections on the lesson:

The object of the parable is to show that God claims all that belongs to us as his property and possesses an entire control over our personals and services; and, therefore, that all the zeal may be manifested by us in discharging our duty does not lay him under obligation to us by any sort of merit; for, as we are his property, so he on his part can owe us nothing. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XVI/2, p. 194) 

There are two principles, therefore, that must be maintained; first, that God naturally owes us nothing, and that all their services which we render to him are not worth a single straw. (Ibid., p. 196)

Commenting on the text John Wesley writes: “...we are to forgive all, penitent or impenitent (so as to bear them the sincerest good will and to do them all the good we can)...” (Commentary On the Bible, p. 448)

Happy is he who judges himself an unprofitable servant; miserable is he whom God pronounces such. But though we are unprofitable to him, our serving him is not unprofitable to us; for he is pleased to give by his grace a value to our good works... (Ibid.)
Mark E.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Ash Wednesday
20 – Sermons
100+ – Illustrations / Stories
23 – Children's Sermons / Resources
16 – Worship Resources
19 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Lent 1
31 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
39 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
33 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Lent 2
32 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
35 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: Two pairs of headphones. One should be a larger, more traditional pair, and the other a smaller, ‘ear bud’ pair.

* * *

John Jamison
Object: A phone with a camera, a candy bar, and all kinds of noisemakers. You could use a real megaphone or make one by rolling up a piece of poster board. Other noisemakers could be bells, horns, whistles, pan lids to bang together, and anything else that can make a lot of noise.

* * *

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

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
George Reed
Dean Feldmeyer
For March 9, 2025:
  • Lenten Resistance by Chris Keating. Rather than reducing Jesus' temptations to a series of personal challenges akin to surviving an obstacle course or American Ninja challenge, Luke calls us to see temptations as moments of clarifying our baptismal identities.
  • Second Thoughts: Ancient Future by Tom Willadsen based on Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13, and Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16.

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Frank Ramirez
Ash Wednesday is a day for remembering our sins, asking for forgiveness, and resolving to change. In his essay “On Forgiveness,” C.S. Lewis made an important distinction between asking forgiveness for sins and excusing our sins. Instead of confessing fault, people make excuses for what they’ve done – not only to God, but to each other. How many times have you heard (or made) what seemed to be an apology, but which ended up as an excuse for which no blame was taken?
David Coffin
Around 1987, an aspiring young musician left the confines of his Midwest rural Indiana home to try to find fame and fortune in the streets of Los Angeles, California. He found the streets as a place to fight survival as he saw homelessness, ruthless predators taking advantage of people and he ended up living in a friend’s mother’s basement.
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Isaiah 58:1-12

StoryShare

John E. Sumwalt
   the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
   no scourge come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
(vv. 9-12)
Peter Andrew Smith
Jonathan picked up the phone on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hi, I’m calling from Blessings Outreach Ministry,” the voice on the other end said. “Am I speaking to Mr. Jonathan LeSalle?

“Yes, it is.”

“Mr. LeSalle, I’m Bethany from the donations committee. I’m calling to thank you for your extremely generous gift you made last week. You’ve made so many wonderful things possible.”

“You’re very welcome,” Jonathan said. “I’ve been supporting your efforts for years and finally had a year where I was able to make a sizeable donation to help out.”

SermonStudio

Bonnie Bates
As we enter the Lenten season, we reflect on the life of Jesus, his ministry, his sacrifice, and his love for us. Paul contrasted, in this letter, the concepts of righteousness to the law and to faith, accenting that righteousness that comes from faith is the more important. The word, God’s word, is not distant from us, rather it is near us, near our lips and our heart. Knowing Jesus and proclaiming our faith, these are what brings us into relationship with God.
Wayne Brouwer
Jesus was tempted.

We know the story is there, but it isn’t our favorite, is it? Somehow it tarnishes our ideas about Jesus. Was he as wimpy as we are, almost ready to step over the edge of whatever morality we might have left, at the first offer?
Mariann Edgar Budde
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
-- Isaiah 58:11-12

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
-- 2 Corinthians 6:2c

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The story of Jesus in the wilderness warns us against temptations to self-sufficiency, power, and invulnerability.

Old Testament Lesson
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Firstfruits
John N. Brittain
Mitchell (obviously not his real name) was a pillar of the church I served a quarter century ago and an inspiration to many. A firmly established independent business man, he was in one of those lines of work that depended on a good name, and a high reputation, and he had both. Every year Mitchell would be among the first to turn in his pledge card making whatever adjustment in commitment the finance committee had suggested; he was similarly enthusiastic about special projects.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
When Tracy was going on fifteen, her family decided to move to the city from the sleepy market town where Tracy had lived all her life. Tracy was so excited she could hardly wait. Nothing ever happened in the country. There was nothing to do, and along with all her friends, Tracy was usually bored. But things were so different in the city. There were cinemas and pubs and clubs. There was dancing and rock bands and bowling alleys. And there were buses!

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL