Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2
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Sermon Starters (Proper 14B)(2021)
In his essay, “Christianity and Literature” in the book, Christian Reflections, C.S. Lewis argues that much of the New Testament assumes that major human relations (Christ to God, us to Christ) are imitative. Reflecting on that essay, Cornelius Plantinga notes, “Whereas modern criticism views imitation in literature, for example, as bad and unhappy (creativity, originality, spontaneity all put imitation in the shade), it is the normal way in the New Testament of presenting the art of life itself. “Only God, maybe only God the Father, is truly original. All else is derivative and reflective. Saints are not moral or spiritual geniuses. They are imitators. [Lewis writes] ‘Our whole destiny seems to lie . . . in being as little as possible ourselves, in acquiring a fragrance that is not our own but borrowed; in becoming clear mirrors filled with the image of a face that is not ours’.”Being Blood Filters
We’ve all heard of people getting carried away with road rage or parents acting inappropriately at their child’s athletic game. But perhaps the ultimate example of out-of-control emotions leading to terrible behavior occurred 21 years ago in Waterloo, Iowa. I don’t remember hearing about this incident before last week even though this tragic incident happened in my former hometown. Apparently some kids were practicing hockey while their fathers were watching. The play got a bit rough, which led to an argument between two fathers and their argument, in turn, became violent. Before it was over, three young hockey players watched in horror as the father of a fellow hockey player beat their father to death. The children pleaded with the aggressor to stop, but to no avail. He didn’t quit until his opponent was beaten into unconsciousness with what would prove to be fatal wounds. In a doubly sad irony, the man who died in that incident had watched a different fatal fight years before — one between his father and his brother in which his brother ended up dead...
Resources from 2018 to 2020
Preaching Helps (Proper 14B)(2018)
In his essay, “Christianity and Literature” in the book, Christian Reflections, C.S. Lewis argues that much of the New Testament assumes that major human relations (Christ to God, us to Christ) are imitative. Reflecting on that essay, Cornelius Plantinga notes, “Whereas modern criticism views imitation in literature, for example, as bad and unhappy (creativity, originality, spontaneity all put imitation in the shade), it is the normal way in the New Testament of presenting the art of life itself. “Only God, maybe only God the Father, is truly original. All else is derivative and reflective. Saints are not moral or spiritual geniuses. They are imitators. [Lewis writes] ‘Our whole destiny seems to lie . . . in being as little as possible ourselves, in acquiring a fragrance that is not our own but borrowed; in becoming clear mirrors filled with the image of a face that is not ours’.”The Tie That Binds: Forgiveness
In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis paints a picture of hell as a huge, gray city. The inhabitants of this city live only on its outermost edges. There are rows and rows of empty houses in the middle. They are empty because everyone who used to live there quarreled with the neighbors, and then moved, and quarreled with the new neighbors and moved again. It is so large that it takes hundreds of years to travel from one end of the city to the other. All because its citizens can never resolve any differences and forgive each other. All they want to do is get as far away from each other as possible...Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
In the Elton John song “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” he sings “Don’t let the sun go down on me. Although I’ve searched myself, it’s always someone else I see. I just allowed a fragment of your life to wander free. But losing everything is like the sun going down on me.” How many times do we find ourselves allowing fragments of our lives to wander into things that are not really who we are as God’s children, and as a result, we find that we have lost something of ourselves? Occasionally, we are tempted to reject truth and allow anger to gain control of our lives. When this happens, we cannot “light the darkness” that surrounds us because we have lost control of what we once had and have let “the sun go down” on fragments of hostility...
Resources from 2015 to 2017
Imitators of God
("'Live a life of love,' Paul tells the Ephesians in this week's epistle. As I thought about these words of Paul, words that can sound so trivial and trite, I saw a movie that reminded me of how our lonely world really is looking for love. It's a bio-pic about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys called Love and Mercy. Wilson was the innovative genius behind the Beach Boys, but despite his professional success, for much of his personal life he has battled the dark demons of mental illness...")Straight Talk
("One time there was a country doctor in Scotland who had very poor clients. Although his patients would pay him in eggs, chickens, vegetables at harvest, and meat at slaughtering time, his huge ledger book would contain many names where nothing was paid. Once per year, the doctor would go through his book and write 'Forgiven' wherever he knew the patients would never be able to pay. When the doctor died and his heirs received all of his material possessions, they brooded over the ledger book and all of the 'Forgiven' debts..." and other short illustrations)
Resources from 2006 to 2008
Imitation of Life
"One of the classic episodes of the TV show Seinfeld is about 'serenity now'. It involves a self-help mantra adopted by Frank Costanza, the crazy father of Jerry's neurotic friend George. Frank, who loses his temper instantly and constantly, has developed high blood pressure..." and another illustration
Resources from the Archives
Out of the Depths
David quotes a commencement address given by Mary Schmich which he attributes to Kurt Vonnegut. The original address can be read here.Have I Got Some News For You!
("I will never forget my Uncle telling of a time when he was sitting in the waiting room of the 'Birthing Center' at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem. This wasn't your ordinary - run of the mill - Birthing Center. This is the place people go who are having multiple births...")