Sermon Illustrations for Advent 2 (2024)
Illustration
Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4
Both of these scriptures (as well as the New Testament lesson) give us guidance preparing for the holiday. I am taking these insights from the Charting the Course Installment I wrote for this week.
The historical situation underlying the passage from Baruch is the ignominious exile by Jerusalem elites from the Holy Land and their glorious return. The language echoes Isaiah 40, words that are used in Luke 3 to describe the mission and ministry of John the Baptist, to prepare the way of the Lord: “For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.” (Baruch 5:7)
The joy of return and reunion undergird this passage — which for many of us are a key feature in the Christmas holiday that is approaching. The anticipation of company, and the longing for company, the need to get together, are at the heart of our holiday, and in this scripture. People are on the move — “Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One…” (5:9).
Indeed, joy or abject disappointment may result from the return or refusal to return for several family and friends. Sometimes factors are out of our control. These are honest and true feelings, but it may be the task of the preacher to remind the congregation that as real as the personal feelings are for what occurs on this holiday — or doesn’t! Whether or not things work out the way we want we must not lose sight of the fact that union and reunion with God’s presence is “the reason for the season.” As the Christmas song has it, the infant Jesus came “for poor ornery people like you and like I.”
As for the appropriateness of Christmas decorations, Baruch (like Malachi, our other Old Testament choice) continues the theme of preparing for the great day of the Lord, but unlike him, not abjectly. We are the bride of Christ. We are loved! Act like it. Beautify! Both our homes and our churches should be decked with appropriate decorations for the season.
Malachi’s words can be seen as a counterpoint to Baruch’s invitation to dress up for the holidays — Malachi tells us to prepare for the great day of the Lord in sackcloth and ashes. He also warns us to be prepared for some difficult testing. Yet this is necessary. One’s entry into military service is preceded by “boot camp,” designed to put one through tests more difficult than will be encountered in daily practice, so that when the day of battle arrives, one will know one can endure. Malachi assures us that this time of testing and trial that we are enduring will lead to an acceptable offering. This purification, highlighted in Jeremiah 9:7 and Zechariah 13:9, if approached as a personal boot camp, can certainly be seen in this light.
All of us have gone through a time of testing and trial the past several years, with the pandemic, climate change, political and social upheaval, and whatever tribulations your congregation or individuals may have gone through! In preparing for the coming of the infant king, we might well consider whether we are ready to be the bride of Christ, inheritors of the promise, pleasing to the Lord, and worthy of entering the temple again.
The question posted by both Malachi and Baruch is — are you ready? Are we ready?
Frank R.
* * *
Baruch 5:1-9
Reflections by the famed German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who courageously stood up to Hitler, on a different text clearly apply to this one if read prophetically. He wrote:
Who is addressed here? People who know they are enslaved and in chains. People who know that an oppressor has them under control and forces them to do compulsory labor... And now ... Advent tells us nothing else: "Your redemption is drawing near!" It is already knocking at the door; don't you hear it?... It isn't happening quickly, but it is coming. Christ is breaking open his way to you... (A Testament to Freedom, p.236)
Commenting on a passage in Isaiah 40 which parallels v.7 of this apocryphal text and the assurance it gives John Calvin writes:
...although many and formidable difficulties are stated to hinder the salvation of the church, still the hand of God will be victorious and prevail...
It ought to be observed that many obstructions always arise whenever God makes provision for our deliverance, or wishes to aid the afflicted; and although his glory is more fully displayed by these obstructions, yet we suffer no loss... (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol.Vlll/1, p.206)
Modern theologian and heir of Calvin, Karl Barth, offered very similar reflections on the nature of the hope we have as faithful people, reflected in this text:
If the truth be told, men as men are always restless in tribulation. But our hope
is different in kind; for it is the hope of faith. This hope does not rise or fall as ours does. Its nerve-center lies not in human capacity, but in the capacity and purpose of God. (The Epistle To the Romans, p.157)
Mark E.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
An unwillingness to look to the future, allowing the past to bind us, is bad for brain health and happiness. The brain is capable of self-organization, no matter hold old it is, but when not challenged to make new connections (a process facilitated by the secretion and enjoyment of good-feeling brain chemicals) it stagnates and ages (Kelly Bulkeley, ed., Soul, Psyche, Brain, pp.138ff.; Sherwin Nuland, The Art of Aging, pp.233f).
On the subject of hope, 18th-century French Humanist Blaise Pascal offers comments about how life lived without regard for the future is futile. He wrote:
For it is indubitable that this life is but an instant of time, that the state of death is eternal... and thus that all our actions and thoughts must follow such different paths to the state of this eternity. (Pensees, p.161)
Modern American theologian and social commentator Reinhold Niebuhr made a similar point well, contending that we need always to live with the end (the future) in view:
Human life is historical, and we cannot evade the constitution of our life. We must not be preoccupied about tomorrow, but it is still a fact that tomorrow is the day when the promise of youth is fulfilled... Tomorrow, of course, is also the day when death and decay impend as those of us are aware who have passed the meridian of life... The current generation must come to terms with this fact and develop trust and patience congruent with it. (Justice & Mercy, p.84)
Mark E.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
In the DreamWorks movie 1917, two young soldiers were ordered by their commanding officer to deliver a message to another unit. The phone lines between the units had been cut, so this was the only way to communicate. If the message wasn’t delivered, the other unit would be walking directly into a trap. While there was no guarantee that the message will be accepted or followed by the neighboring commanding officer, the soldiers were sent anyway.
God also has a message for humanity. A Savior is coming. Malachi introduces a figure whom God calls “my messenger.” It is interesting that verse one notes “my messenger.” Malachi’s name in Hebrew means, “my messenger.” The message is clear. “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple” (vs. 1). Malachi observes that the appearance of the Lord may take people by surprise — as grace so often does. Once again, God’s messenger prepares the heart of the people for the coming of the Lord, who will be soon in our midst.
Will the message be received? It was by some in Jesus’ day, but not by others. How will the message be received today?
Bill T.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of our brother and savior Jesus. This season is a time to focus on the promises of God, to be physically with us, in our human state. Malachi promises that the one who will prepare the way is also coming. We Christians know that person as John the Baptizer, the cousin of Jesus, who initiates the act of washing away the sinfulness of people who come in repentance. John washes people in the muddy waters of the River Jordan.
I can remember walking into the River Jordan when I was in Israel. As a pastor, I took a small flask of River Jordan Water home with me, boiled it, froze it, and melted a few drops into the baptismal font every time I performed a baptism. This was my way of physically linking us all with all those who had been baptized before. It was a wonderful reminder for me of all those who had come before, all who had prepared the way, for Jesus to come in all the lives that followed. Advent brings those moments to mind for me.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Paul writes from prison, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” How did your faith begin? Do you remember when you first felt faith? I can remember going to church school, preparing for my first communion, and for confirmation, but I am not certain those occasions were the beginning of my faith. I believe the beginning of my faith came in grief. When I was 12, my five-year-old brother died of brain cancer. It was a horrific experience for my whole family. And I remember being so angry with God that I screamed at God asking why my brother was taken and why did I deserve to live seven years more than he.
It was at that moment that I knew in my heart that God existed and that I had faith in the God I couldn’t see, but whose presence I was certain of. All the rest of the days of my life I have encountered the living God and a living faith. All the rest of my life the good works of faith have been growing in me. I hope they continue to grow as I continue to age and until I am held in the embrace of my ever-living and ever-loving God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Preaching on this text, Martin Luther deemed it a testimony to gratitude. About this he proclaimed:
It behooves the Christian who recognizes the grace of goodness of God expressed in the gospel, first of all to manifest his thankfulness therefore, toward God - his highest duty and toward man. (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/2, pp.331-332)
However, the first reformer contended that we are all wrong if we think we can get anything out of our good works. He added, "But if your good works are wrought with the object of securing the thanks and applause of the world, you will meet with a reception quite the reverse." (Ibid., pp.338-339) “Christians are people who do good works spontaneously because God has changed them. We are like good trees which cannot but bear fruit” (Luther's Works, Vol.26, pp.154-155).
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
The Baptist ties in the core of Isaiah 40, the prophetic poem about the return of the people from exile back to the homeland, with the coming of the Messiah. It’s not enough to prepare our hearts. John warns us we must also prepare the great highway to make it easier for others to find their way!
What’s in it for me? some ask, when it comes to the holiday, to family, and the church. Self-centeredness is not a good strategy for this season. After all, it’s not always about us. Yes, bake cookies, decorate the house, prepare for visitors or to be a visitor, worship together, strengthening each other for our journey as believers through the winding road of this holiday season, where it is so easy for us to get untracked.
Luke calls to mind those words of Isaiah 40 about smoothing out the road for the returnees, leveling hills, filling in troughs. That’s part of our task during this season in our churches, because this is when those who rarely pass through church doors make their way into our midst. Are we welcoming or judgmental? Are we smiling, or wrapped up in our own concerns (understandable, but still….)?
But the boot camp of our holiday and heart preparations should also help us prepare the way for others. The images of Isaiah 40 remind us that we are travelling together on a difficult road, and that the oldest and the youngest, the most vulnerable in our population, will find it very difficult. The spiritual road is very difficult for those suffering from depression (days get shorter in the northern hemisphere, and physically we all get a little blue) and other emotional difficulties. Not everyone can look past Santa Claus and see Saint Nicholas throwing gold sacks through windows to save three young women from a seemingly inevitable foul fate.
The thing is, this all happens in a strict time frame. This is our opportunity to be a beacon of light and hope! That repentance that John proclaims? The Greek word is metanoia — which means a change of perception, of one’s mind, the way we think, the focus of our heart! We can’t change our ways immediately — but we can work on our outlook.
The references to the rulers in the time of Jesus remind us that the coming of our Lord did not take place in some mythical age of peace and wonder, but that real events take place in the real world, and that our own troubles and victories happen in that same holy history. Right now.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
The state of Missouri, in which I live, is doing a state-wide road/highway repair in 2024. On the Missouri Department of Transportation website, there are about 85 projects listed throughout several different counties in the state. Why are they doing this? The Missouri Department of Transportation is repairing roads to ensure they are safe and in good condition. MoDOT maintains over 34,000 miles of road and 10,385 bridges. MoDOT spends between $15—$20 million annually on patching and repairing potholes. According to KSHB news in Kansas City, Missouri roads rated the eighth worst in the nation in 2018.
Having good roads is important for a state. Citizens want and need to be able to travel smoothly and get where they are going. That’s the reason for roads, after all. They exist to get people where they are going.
John’s role was to prepare the way of the Lord. John's role was to symbolically "clear the path" for Jesus by calling Israel to repent of sin and turn back to the way of God. If they did so, they would be ready to follow God's Son. The messenger of Jesus came to call people to get ready. Are we ready for Jesus’ coming?
Bill T.
Both of these scriptures (as well as the New Testament lesson) give us guidance preparing for the holiday. I am taking these insights from the Charting the Course Installment I wrote for this week.
The historical situation underlying the passage from Baruch is the ignominious exile by Jerusalem elites from the Holy Land and their glorious return. The language echoes Isaiah 40, words that are used in Luke 3 to describe the mission and ministry of John the Baptist, to prepare the way of the Lord: “For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.” (Baruch 5:7)
The joy of return and reunion undergird this passage — which for many of us are a key feature in the Christmas holiday that is approaching. The anticipation of company, and the longing for company, the need to get together, are at the heart of our holiday, and in this scripture. People are on the move — “Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One…” (5:9).
Indeed, joy or abject disappointment may result from the return or refusal to return for several family and friends. Sometimes factors are out of our control. These are honest and true feelings, but it may be the task of the preacher to remind the congregation that as real as the personal feelings are for what occurs on this holiday — or doesn’t! Whether or not things work out the way we want we must not lose sight of the fact that union and reunion with God’s presence is “the reason for the season.” As the Christmas song has it, the infant Jesus came “for poor ornery people like you and like I.”
As for the appropriateness of Christmas decorations, Baruch (like Malachi, our other Old Testament choice) continues the theme of preparing for the great day of the Lord, but unlike him, not abjectly. We are the bride of Christ. We are loved! Act like it. Beautify! Both our homes and our churches should be decked with appropriate decorations for the season.
Malachi’s words can be seen as a counterpoint to Baruch’s invitation to dress up for the holidays — Malachi tells us to prepare for the great day of the Lord in sackcloth and ashes. He also warns us to be prepared for some difficult testing. Yet this is necessary. One’s entry into military service is preceded by “boot camp,” designed to put one through tests more difficult than will be encountered in daily practice, so that when the day of battle arrives, one will know one can endure. Malachi assures us that this time of testing and trial that we are enduring will lead to an acceptable offering. This purification, highlighted in Jeremiah 9:7 and Zechariah 13:9, if approached as a personal boot camp, can certainly be seen in this light.
All of us have gone through a time of testing and trial the past several years, with the pandemic, climate change, political and social upheaval, and whatever tribulations your congregation or individuals may have gone through! In preparing for the coming of the infant king, we might well consider whether we are ready to be the bride of Christ, inheritors of the promise, pleasing to the Lord, and worthy of entering the temple again.
The question posted by both Malachi and Baruch is — are you ready? Are we ready?
Frank R.
* * *
Baruch 5:1-9
Reflections by the famed German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who courageously stood up to Hitler, on a different text clearly apply to this one if read prophetically. He wrote:
Who is addressed here? People who know they are enslaved and in chains. People who know that an oppressor has them under control and forces them to do compulsory labor... And now ... Advent tells us nothing else: "Your redemption is drawing near!" It is already knocking at the door; don't you hear it?... It isn't happening quickly, but it is coming. Christ is breaking open his way to you... (A Testament to Freedom, p.236)
Commenting on a passage in Isaiah 40 which parallels v.7 of this apocryphal text and the assurance it gives John Calvin writes:
...although many and formidable difficulties are stated to hinder the salvation of the church, still the hand of God will be victorious and prevail...
It ought to be observed that many obstructions always arise whenever God makes provision for our deliverance, or wishes to aid the afflicted; and although his glory is more fully displayed by these obstructions, yet we suffer no loss... (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol.Vlll/1, p.206)
Modern theologian and heir of Calvin, Karl Barth, offered very similar reflections on the nature of the hope we have as faithful people, reflected in this text:
If the truth be told, men as men are always restless in tribulation. But our hope
is different in kind; for it is the hope of faith. This hope does not rise or fall as ours does. Its nerve-center lies not in human capacity, but in the capacity and purpose of God. (The Epistle To the Romans, p.157)
Mark E.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
An unwillingness to look to the future, allowing the past to bind us, is bad for brain health and happiness. The brain is capable of self-organization, no matter hold old it is, but when not challenged to make new connections (a process facilitated by the secretion and enjoyment of good-feeling brain chemicals) it stagnates and ages (Kelly Bulkeley, ed., Soul, Psyche, Brain, pp.138ff.; Sherwin Nuland, The Art of Aging, pp.233f).
On the subject of hope, 18th-century French Humanist Blaise Pascal offers comments about how life lived without regard for the future is futile. He wrote:
For it is indubitable that this life is but an instant of time, that the state of death is eternal... and thus that all our actions and thoughts must follow such different paths to the state of this eternity. (Pensees, p.161)
Modern American theologian and social commentator Reinhold Niebuhr made a similar point well, contending that we need always to live with the end (the future) in view:
Human life is historical, and we cannot evade the constitution of our life. We must not be preoccupied about tomorrow, but it is still a fact that tomorrow is the day when the promise of youth is fulfilled... Tomorrow, of course, is also the day when death and decay impend as those of us are aware who have passed the meridian of life... The current generation must come to terms with this fact and develop trust and patience congruent with it. (Justice & Mercy, p.84)
Mark E.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
In the DreamWorks movie 1917, two young soldiers were ordered by their commanding officer to deliver a message to another unit. The phone lines between the units had been cut, so this was the only way to communicate. If the message wasn’t delivered, the other unit would be walking directly into a trap. While there was no guarantee that the message will be accepted or followed by the neighboring commanding officer, the soldiers were sent anyway.
God also has a message for humanity. A Savior is coming. Malachi introduces a figure whom God calls “my messenger.” It is interesting that verse one notes “my messenger.” Malachi’s name in Hebrew means, “my messenger.” The message is clear. “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple” (vs. 1). Malachi observes that the appearance of the Lord may take people by surprise — as grace so often does. Once again, God’s messenger prepares the heart of the people for the coming of the Lord, who will be soon in our midst.
Will the message be received? It was by some in Jesus’ day, but not by others. How will the message be received today?
Bill T.
* * *
Malachi 3:1-4
Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of our brother and savior Jesus. This season is a time to focus on the promises of God, to be physically with us, in our human state. Malachi promises that the one who will prepare the way is also coming. We Christians know that person as John the Baptizer, the cousin of Jesus, who initiates the act of washing away the sinfulness of people who come in repentance. John washes people in the muddy waters of the River Jordan.
I can remember walking into the River Jordan when I was in Israel. As a pastor, I took a small flask of River Jordan Water home with me, boiled it, froze it, and melted a few drops into the baptismal font every time I performed a baptism. This was my way of physically linking us all with all those who had been baptized before. It was a wonderful reminder for me of all those who had come before, all who had prepared the way, for Jesus to come in all the lives that followed. Advent brings those moments to mind for me.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Paul writes from prison, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” How did your faith begin? Do you remember when you first felt faith? I can remember going to church school, preparing for my first communion, and for confirmation, but I am not certain those occasions were the beginning of my faith. I believe the beginning of my faith came in grief. When I was 12, my five-year-old brother died of brain cancer. It was a horrific experience for my whole family. And I remember being so angry with God that I screamed at God asking why my brother was taken and why did I deserve to live seven years more than he.
It was at that moment that I knew in my heart that God existed and that I had faith in the God I couldn’t see, but whose presence I was certain of. All the rest of the days of my life I have encountered the living God and a living faith. All the rest of my life the good works of faith have been growing in me. I hope they continue to grow as I continue to age and until I am held in the embrace of my ever-living and ever-loving God.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Philippians 1:3-11
Preaching on this text, Martin Luther deemed it a testimony to gratitude. About this he proclaimed:
It behooves the Christian who recognizes the grace of goodness of God expressed in the gospel, first of all to manifest his thankfulness therefore, toward God - his highest duty and toward man. (Complete Sermons, Vol.4/2, pp.331-332)
However, the first reformer contended that we are all wrong if we think we can get anything out of our good works. He added, "But if your good works are wrought with the object of securing the thanks and applause of the world, you will meet with a reception quite the reverse." (Ibid., pp.338-339) “Christians are people who do good works spontaneously because God has changed them. We are like good trees which cannot but bear fruit” (Luther's Works, Vol.26, pp.154-155).
Mark E.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
The Baptist ties in the core of Isaiah 40, the prophetic poem about the return of the people from exile back to the homeland, with the coming of the Messiah. It’s not enough to prepare our hearts. John warns us we must also prepare the great highway to make it easier for others to find their way!
What’s in it for me? some ask, when it comes to the holiday, to family, and the church. Self-centeredness is not a good strategy for this season. After all, it’s not always about us. Yes, bake cookies, decorate the house, prepare for visitors or to be a visitor, worship together, strengthening each other for our journey as believers through the winding road of this holiday season, where it is so easy for us to get untracked.
Luke calls to mind those words of Isaiah 40 about smoothing out the road for the returnees, leveling hills, filling in troughs. That’s part of our task during this season in our churches, because this is when those who rarely pass through church doors make their way into our midst. Are we welcoming or judgmental? Are we smiling, or wrapped up in our own concerns (understandable, but still….)?
But the boot camp of our holiday and heart preparations should also help us prepare the way for others. The images of Isaiah 40 remind us that we are travelling together on a difficult road, and that the oldest and the youngest, the most vulnerable in our population, will find it very difficult. The spiritual road is very difficult for those suffering from depression (days get shorter in the northern hemisphere, and physically we all get a little blue) and other emotional difficulties. Not everyone can look past Santa Claus and see Saint Nicholas throwing gold sacks through windows to save three young women from a seemingly inevitable foul fate.
The thing is, this all happens in a strict time frame. This is our opportunity to be a beacon of light and hope! That repentance that John proclaims? The Greek word is metanoia — which means a change of perception, of one’s mind, the way we think, the focus of our heart! We can’t change our ways immediately — but we can work on our outlook.
The references to the rulers in the time of Jesus remind us that the coming of our Lord did not take place in some mythical age of peace and wonder, but that real events take place in the real world, and that our own troubles and victories happen in that same holy history. Right now.
Frank R.
* * *
Luke 3:1-6
The state of Missouri, in which I live, is doing a state-wide road/highway repair in 2024. On the Missouri Department of Transportation website, there are about 85 projects listed throughout several different counties in the state. Why are they doing this? The Missouri Department of Transportation is repairing roads to ensure they are safe and in good condition. MoDOT maintains over 34,000 miles of road and 10,385 bridges. MoDOT spends between $15—$20 million annually on patching and repairing potholes. According to KSHB news in Kansas City, Missouri roads rated the eighth worst in the nation in 2018.
Having good roads is important for a state. Citizens want and need to be able to travel smoothly and get where they are going. That’s the reason for roads, after all. They exist to get people where they are going.
John’s role was to prepare the way of the Lord. John's role was to symbolically "clear the path" for Jesus by calling Israel to repent of sin and turn back to the way of God. If they did so, they would be ready to follow God's Son. The messenger of Jesus came to call people to get ready. Are we ready for Jesus’ coming?
Bill T.
