[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for January 24

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for the Epiphany 3:

     Luke 4:14-21 - "Good News"
     Luke 4:14-21 - "The Upside Down Life" by Leonard Sweet

Luke 4, the sermon titled "Good News"

The story is told of a Franciscan monk in Australia assigned to be the
guide and "gofer" to Mother Teresa when she visited New South Wales.
Thrilled and excited at the prospect of being so close to this great
woman, he dreamed of how much he would learn from her and what they would
talk about. But during her visit, he became frustrated. Although he was
constantly near her, the friar never had the opportunity to say one word
to Mother Teresa. There were always other people for her to meet.

Finally, her tour was over, and she was due to fly to New Guinea. In
desperation, the Franciscan friar spoke to Mother Teresa: If I pay my own
fare to New Guinea, can I sit next to you on the plane so I can talk to
you and learn from you? Mother Teresa looked at him. "You have enough
money to pay airfare to New Guinea?" she asked.

Yes, he replied eagerly. "Then give that money to the poor," she said.
"You'll learn more from that than anything I can tell you." Mother Teresa
understood that Jesus' ministry was to the poor and she made it hers as
well. She knew that they more than anyone else needed good news.

On a Saturday morning, in Nazareth, the town gathered in the synagogue to
listen to Jesus read and teach. It was no big surprise. He was well known
in the area; it was his hometown. He was raised there. They wanted to
learn from him. So when he read from the Isaiah scroll, "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the
poor" everyone understood these words to be the words of Isaiah. It is how
that prophet from long ago defined his ministry.

When Jesus finished that reading he handed the scroll to the attendant and
sat down. In that day you sat in the Moses Seat to teach to the people.
Today preachers stand in a pulpit. So all eyes were on Jesus, waiting for
him to begin his teaching. What would he say about this great prophet
Isaiah? Would he emphasis the bad news? Israel had sinned and would be
taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Or would he emphasis the good
news? One day God would restore his people and bring them back from
captivity. It was Israel's ancient history but it still spoke volumes.

Now here's the wonderful twist, the thing that catches everyone off guard
that Saturday morning in Nazareth. Jesus does neither. He doesn't
emphasize the past. He focuses on the present. He doesn't lift up Isaiah
as the great role model; Jesus lifts up himself. This is the pertinent
point. It's what upsets everybody at the synagogue. It's why everybody was
furious with him and drove him out of town. They were going to kill him.
He dared to say that these great words of Isaiah were really about
himself. "Today," he said, "this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

This morning let's look at the ministries of Isaiah and Jesus. Why are
their ministries so closely tied and why does Jesus describe himself as
fulfilling Isaiah's ministry?

1. Isaiah's Ministry
2. Jesus' Ministry

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by
joining www.eSermons.com.
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Luke 4, the sermon titled "The Upside Down Life"

I confuse "inversion therapy" with "aversion therapy."

The latter ("aversion therapy") is where you train your dog not to leave
your yard, or not dig, or not bark, with a collar that shocks the dog when
it does run off, dig, or bark.

"Inversion therapy" helps alleviate back and neck pain by taking the usual
gravitational press we live with and literally "standing it on its head."
One method is to strap your feet into boots and hang upside down like a
big bat. Rosie O'Donnell once did this on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, I
think. Another method is to strap your whole body to a flat surface that
then completely flips upside down, the body suspended head down, feet in
the air.

Inversion advocates claim when you exercise while in this upside down
position - in other words, when you do sit-ups or torso twists upside down
- you are helping your squished, painful vertebrae to expand, realign, and
even regenerate. Strengthened by exercise and set free from the constant
compression of gravity, sore backs, stiff necks, arthritic hips, can all
relax and literally "take a load off."

But here's the rub: When our perspective is turned upside down, it is not
usually very comfortable. Things look different. Things feel different.
Things work different. Things ARE different.

The world of the Haitian people has turned terrifyingly and tragically
upside down. What used to be ceilings and roofs are now floors and heaps
of rubble. The center for Haiti's commerce and government has become the
center for devastation and loss. Where there had been roads, there is now
impassable ruin. A 7.2 earthquake is no respecter of persons. Both the
rich and the poor are homeless, helpless, and hurting. Port-au-Prince is
gone. Nothing is the same. Things ARE different.

What turned Haiti upside down has changed our world as well. Last week the
perspective of America was also forced upside down. Remember the tyranny
of terrorism and the muscle-flexing of military might that has kept our
eyes and energies focused on the far away middle east? Suddenly overnight
the natural disaster in Haiti snapped our hearts and hands back to this
side of the world.

Remember the national debate on the need for "full body scans?" Suddenly
we were frantically trying to help free bodies from the rubble and ruin.

Remember obsessing over how to keep airliners in American airspace
terrorist free? Suddenly we were rushing airplanes filled with emergency
supplies and rescue workers to land at an airport that for a few days
didn't even have any air traffic controllers. Pilots had to guide
themselves in by chatting with each other, and the tarmac looked like a
shopping mall parking lot on Thanksgiving weekend.

Remember sending our troops into a country armed with the latest weaponry?
Suddenly we were sending our troops into a country with food, water,
medicine, rescue dogs, earth moving equipment, communications devices.

Who among us has not heard hearts breaking at the horror of the new
realities confronting Haiti? But being turned upside down has released a
healing spirit of humanity and compassion around the world. And as we
identify with the Haitian people, we know we all stand on fragile crusts
of earth that can shake us up and shake us down, at any time and any
where.

Turning things upside down, shaking up perspectives, shaking down
assumptions, was Jesus' specialty. Jesus taught "inversion therapy" from
the moment he began to speak in public until his final breath on the
cross.

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining 
www.Sermons.com
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He Came to Help Us See

Besides freeing us from fear and guilt, Jesus came to help us see. He
wasn't talking about physical blindness, but rather, spiritual blindness.
We can't see because we are trapped by habits, addictions and illusions of
happiness. Therefore we are trapped, oppressed by our own choices and
situations. Some of us are in denial. Others of us are reinforced through
the enabling of other people. Consequently, we are not free.

One night a tiger trainer was performing at a circus. He went into the
cage with the tigers and a huge hush came over the crowd as the doors were
locked behind him. Skillfully, the trainer put the tigers though their
routine, entertaining the crowd. But, suddenly there was a "pop" and the
all the lights went out under the big top.

The trainer was locked inside the cage with the tigers in complete
darkness. They could see him with their night vision, but he could not see
them. All he had was a chair and a whip for protection. Finally the lights
came back on and the trainer finished his performance.

Later in a TV interview, the trainer admitted how scared he was. Then he
realized that the tigers did not know that he could not see them. "I just
cracked my whip and talked to them," he said, "until the lights came on."
(from "Tigers in the Dark," God's Little Lessons on Life for Dad, Honor
Books)

Keith Wagner, Liberated and Free
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Fulfilling Others?

And the marvel is this: Jesus somehow fits the void in all the far flung
instances of human longing. When medieval European artists painted the
Holy Family, they usually painted them with typical German, Italian, or
Flemish features. It was not imagination or prejudice which made them do
so, but the instinctive feeling that Jesus belonged to them; he was one of
their people. In our time, Christian artists in Africa and Asia paint the
Holy Family with features and coloring appropriate to their world. Again,
it is because they feel that Jesus belongs to them.

The mountain church, where a duet twangs out country-western music on a
guitar, may seem to have little in common with a Bach rendition from a
four-manual organ; but each is seeking to show its adoration of Jesus in
its own best way. Here is the common bond between a ghetto storefront
church and the massive Gothic structure some miles away: they both bear
the name of Jesus Christ; and they each seek, in their own way and
setting, to fulfill the human longing. What about you and me? What is the
longing in our lives which Christ has filled? "Today," Jesus said, "this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." For you, for me? To what
degree are we in the business of fulfilling the scripture in the lives of
others?

J. Ellsworth Kalas, Sermons on the Gospel Readings, Cycle C, CSS
Publishing Company
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Hope

Do you remember the story of Pandora's Box in Greek Mythology? The lovely
Pandora was sent by Zeus to be the bride of Epimetheus.  One of Pandora's
more endearing charms was her curiosity, but that quality also proved to
nearly be her undoing. One day Mercury, the messenger, sent a box to the
young couple. It was meant for them to enjoy, but under no circumstances
were they to open it. Well, of course, it is the old story of the
forbidden fruit. Told that she could not do it, it became the thing that
she desired to do the most. So one day she pried it open and peeked
inside. Suddenly out flew swarms of insects that began attacking them.
Both lovers were stung with the poison of suspicion, hatred, fear and
malice. Now the once happy couple began to argue.  Epimetheus became
bitter and Pandora wept with a broken heart. But in the midst of the
quarreling, they heard a tiny voice cry out: Let me out, to sooth your
pain. Fearfully they opened the box again, and this time a beautiful
butterfly flew out. It touched the couple and miraculously their pain was
healed and they were happy again.  The butterfly we are told was hope. It
is hope that sustains us; it is hope that sooths our pain.

Staff, www.eSermons.com.

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Called to Action

At Christmas I received as a gift the book, Holy Sweat, by Tim Hansel. I
enjoyed it very much. He tells of a guest preacher in a rather large
church who began, "There are three points to my sermon." Most people
yawned at the point. They'd heard that many times before.  But he went on.
"My first point is this. At this time there are approximately two billion
people starving to death in the world."  The reaction through the
congregation was about the same, since they'd heard that sort of statement
many times before, too. And then he said, "My second point."

Everybody sat up. Only 10 or 15 seconds had passed, and he was already on
his second point? He paused, then said, "My second point is that most of
you don't give a damn!"  He paused again as gasps and rumblings flowed
across the congregation, and then said:

"And my third point is that the real tragedy among Christians today is
that many of you are now more concerned that I said 'damn' than you are
that I said two billion people are starving to death." Then he sat down.

The whole sermon took less than a minute, but it is in many ways one of
the most powerful ones ever given. He was reminding us we are called not
to mere piety but to genuine morality. We are called to action, not to
fancy words.  Jesus preached a short sermon. But what a sermon! He clearly
denotes the kind of ministry he came to pursue. It is to be a ministry to
the poor and outcast, the blind and unaffirmed.

James T. Garrett, God's Gift, CSS Publishing Company.

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The Future is God's Gift

Let me tell you about a commencement speech that was addressed to
Harvard's Senior Class. On the morning of their graduation, seniors gather
in Memorial Church to hear the minister offer words of solace and
encouragement as they leave "the Yard" to take their places in the world.

The 1998 senior class heard the unvarnished truth from the Rev. Peter
Gomes, minister at Harvard and the author of several books on the Bible.
Doctor Gomes took no prisoners that day. He began: "You are going to be
sent out of here for good, and most of you aren't ready to go. The
president is about to bid you into the fellowship of educated men and
women and, (and here he paused and spoke each word slowly for emphasis)
you know just - how - dumb - you - really - are."

The senior class cheered in agreement.

"And worse than that," Doctor Gomes continued, "the world - and your
parents in particular - are going to expect that you will be among the
brightest and best. But you know that you can no longer fool all the
people even some of the time. By noontime today, you will be out of here.
By tomorrow you will be history. By Saturday, you will be toast. That's a
fact - no exceptions, no extensions."

"Nevertheless, there is reason to hope," Doctor Gomes promised. "The
future is God's gift to you. God will not let you stumble or fall. God has
not brought you this far to this place to ABANDON you or leave you here
alone and afraid. The God of Israel never stumbles, never sleeps, never
goes on sabbatical. Thus, my beloved and bewildered young friends, do not
be afraid."

Peter Gomes, adapted by Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com

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Love Is an Action

Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came
into his office full of hatred toward her husband. "I do not only want to
get rid of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt
him as much as he has me."

Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan "Go home and act as if you really
love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every
decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous
as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him
believe you love him. After you've convinced him of your undying love and
that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you're
getting a divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge in her eyes,
she smiled and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be
surprised!" And she did it with enthusiasm. Acting "as if." For two months
she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing. When
she didn't return, Crane called. "Are you ready now to go through with the
divorce?"

"Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really do love him." Her
actions had changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability
to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated
deeds.

J. Allan Petersen

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Act As If You Do Love

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time
bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as
we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if
you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure
someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do
him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

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Faith

Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that
are not at hand.

Thomas Aquinas

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 Resurrecting the Message of Christ

Ralph Waldo Emerson made the observation: "An institution is the
lengthened shadow of one man." Take that thought -- the institutional
church is the lengthened shadow of one Man -- Jesus Christ. We Christians
owe it to ourselves and to the world to resurrect this message of Christ
from the debris of history.

James T. Garrett, God's Gift, CSS Publishing Company

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Devine Defiance

Many of us have heard the story about Abraham Lincoln. He was defeated
seven times for elective office before winning the Presidency of the
United States. He certainly defied the odds. And he did not give up.

Then there was Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh earned all of $85 from his
paintings during his lifetime. One hundred years after his death, just one
painting alone, Dr. Bachet, sold for the incredible sum of $82.5 million.

The conclusion to this illustration and for many additional illustrations
and sermons for the Epiphany 3 can be accessed at www.Sermons.com.