[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Feb. 28 (Lent 2C) Luke 13:31-35

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Feb. 28 (Lent 2C). They focus
on Luke 13:31-35, the story of the Pharisees warning Jesus that Herod
intends to kill him.

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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING: When it comes to criticism, we need to cultivate a
divine indifference. We preachers take our jobs both too lightly and too
seriously. Jesus told a busy woman: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and
troubled about many things; one thing is needful" (Luke 10:41-42a). The one
thing needful for the preacher is to announce the Gospel the best you can,
and let the Lord do the rest.  (William Roen -- courtesy of Fr. Charles
Hoffacker)


TITLE:  A Good Life or a Long Life?


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  Christ calls us to a life of service that values God
and neighbor even above our own lives.


SCRIPTURE:  Luke 13:31-35

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 read a CNN story about the collapse of the Hotel Montana in Port au Prince,
Haiti.  CNN told of the many relief workers who were in that hotel when it
collapsed.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/29/haiti.hotel.montana/index.html?hpt=C2

These were not relief workers who went in response to the earthquake.  These
were relief workers who went to Haiti BEFORE the earthquake, and who were as
surprised as anyone else when the earth began to shake and the walls began
to fall.  Many were Christian workers --Christian relief workers -- college
students.  They wanted to help people.  Britney Gengel, one of the students,
had spent the day feeding the poor.  Shortly before the earthquake, she
called her mother to say, "I've found my calling."  Today, she is one of the
missing -- almost certainly one of those who died in the quake. (For an
update on Britney, go to http://alert.lynn.edu/).

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FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:
http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT03luke.htm

Scroll down to the correct chapter and verse.


TRUE STORY:

See the Martin Luther King story:

On April 3, 1968, Dr. King preached at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple in
Memphis.  He spoke of an incident that took place in New York City ten years
earlier.  He had been signing books when a deranged woman stabbed him.  The
blade came close to puncturing his aorta, which would have killed him.

Dr. King talked about other threats to his life.  Then he talked about the
Parable of the Good Samaritan.  When the priest and the Levite saw the
wounded man lying alongside the road, they asked themselves, "If I STOP to
help this man, what will happen to ME?"  But the Samaritan came along and
asked a different question.  He asked himself, "If I DON'T STOP to help this
man, what will happen to HIM?"

King went on to acknowledge the threats against his life, but he said that
they didn't matter.  He said:

"Well, I don't know what will happen now.
We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter to me now.
Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place.
But I'm not worried about that now. I just want to do God's will.
And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain.
And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land.
I may not get there with you.
But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the
promised land.
And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any
man.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

After that speech, Dr. King went back to his room at the Lorraine Motel to
rest.  The next afternoon, he was standing on the balcony of his room when a
shot rang out and killed him.  But he had done what he had come to do.
There was work left to do, but others would do it.  Dr. King had set the
nation on the right path.
- - - - -

and the Vasily Grossman story:

I happened also to be reading a book by Vasily Grossman -- a journalist with
the Soviet army during World War II.  Grossman was a Jew.  When he learned
that the Germans had invaded the Soviet Union, he urged his mother to flee
from Berdichev, her hometown in the Ukraine.  However, his mother refused to
leave, saying that she could not abandon her niece.  The German army quickly
overtook the town, and Grossman's mother died there.  Grossman never forgave
himself for failing to persuade her to leave (Vasily Grossman, A Writer at
War).


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

Elisabeth's husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to
establish contact with the Auca Indians of Ecuador in the hope of becoming a
missionary to them.  Reflecting on his death, she says:

He is no fool
who gives what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose.

Elisabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

You will become a saint
by complying exactly with your daily duties.

Mary Joseph Rossello

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

One who trusts in Christ alone
(will) completely give up his idols, horoscopes
and other such practices of his old life
that go against Christ's Lordship.
When a true believer is made aware of any area of his life
that is not yielded to Christ,
he will yield it.
When he is made aware of a Christian principle to be followed,
he will follow it whatever the cost.

So when a new believer finds out
that a follower of Christ should love his enemies,
he will do so,
even though that seems sheer folly in today's society.

Ajith Fernando

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

A man came to Tertullian with a problem.  His problem was the difficulty of
earning a living in a heathen world.  What if the mason was asked to build a
heathen temple?  What if the tailor was asked to make clothes for a heathen
priest?  What if the soldier must daily burn his pinch of incense on the
altar of the camp?  The man finished up by saying:  "I must live."  And
Tertullian answered him in one immortal question:  "Must you?"

>From William Barclay, Everyday with William Barclay

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I believe I am not mistaken
in saying that Christianity is a demanding and serious religion.
When it is delivered as easy and amusing,
it is another kind of religion altogether.

Neil Postman

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
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HYMN STORY:  Children of the Heavenly Father

Lina Sandell, the author of this hymn, was a Lutheran pastor's daughter in
Froderyd, Sweden.  She was a "daddy's girl" -- very close to her father.  As
a child, she enjoyed playing quietly in her father's study as he worked.

Lina began writing hymns at an early age.  Then, when she was 26 years old,
tragedy struck.  She and her father were passengers in a boat crossing Lake
Vattern when the boat lurched and her father fell overboard.  As Lina
watched in horror, her father drowned before anyone could mount a rescue
effort.

When tragedy strikes, some people allow it to destroy them, but Lina's faith
saw her through the tragedy.  Her grief gave her music new depth and
sensitivity.

During her lifetime, Lina wrote 650 hymns.  "Children of the Heavenly
Father" is the one that is most familiar to English-speaking congregations.
Many people will also recognize the hymn that begins with the words, "Day by
day and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here" --
a hymn of quiet assurance.

The hymn, "Children of the Heavenly Father," offers that same kind of quiet
assurance.  It speaks of resting safely in the father's bosom -- of the
Father tending and nourishing his children and protecting them from evil.

Listen to this verse, and imagine Lina thinking of her father's death as she
wrote it.  "Neither life nor death shall ever/ From the Lord His children
sever;/ Unto them His grace He showeth,/ And their sorrows all He knoweth."


NOTE:  See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm


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