[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for June 6 - Part 1

[Joe Parrish]

Sermons for Proper 5: 
     Luke 7:11-17 – “How to Rise above Discouragement”  
     Galatians 1:11-24 – “Are You Paying Too Much For Your Whistle?” by Leonard Sweet

Luke 7 the sermon titled "How to Rise above Discouragement" 

It's a dramatic scene when you think about it -- I mean -- a funeral procession halted and the trip to the cemetery interrupted. Of course it was not anything like our scene -- a black Cadillac hearse, followed by one or more black Cadillac limousines, followed perhaps by several cars, lights on, concerned not to lose their place in the line in the traffic.

No, this scene was at once more primitive and personal. No city traffic to contend with in this procession. No indifferent motorists disturbed that they were delayed a few minutes for the funeral. No, this is a village scene, people on foot, following the widowed mother who is following the professional mourners with their cymbals, flutes and high-pitched shrieking and wailing.

It is a Palestinian village scene in Nain, just a short distance from Nazareth (Jesus' hometown), and a day's walk from Capernaum (Jesus' new, adopted town). The pallbearers are carrying the body of a young man in a long wicker basket covered by a shroud for burial outside the city. Except for very important people, ancient Jews buried their dead outside the city, usually on the day of death or the next day. Embalming was not practiced.

For modern, indifferent eyes and blasé people, the scene was dramatic enough by itself. Think of it: the dead man was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. The pathos and sorrow of the ages is contained in that statement. In a patriarchal society orphans, such as this young man, and widows, like his mother, were regarded as vulnerable, weak and without much opportunity for economic support. Nonetheless, a great crowd followed the procession, indicating sympathy and support at least for the time being.

That's drama enough -- a large crowd of caring people -- but now there is more. Jesus approaches, apparently coming from Capernaum where he just healed the Roman Centurion's slave. He saw the widowed, desolate mother, had compassion for her, thinking perhaps of his own mother reputedly widowed at an early age.

"Do not weep," he told her. Her tears for her son no doubt now intermingling with the endless salty tears shed for her husband. And in the continuing drama risking ceremonial impurity, he reached out, touched the bier and possibly the body, and the procession halted.

Can you see the modern setting -- someone halting the hearse, opening the door of the limousine, telling the widowed mother in mourning black not to weep, and then saying beside the coffin, "Young man, I say to you, arise." Startling indeed, and startling enough in first century Palestine which had a tradition of miracle stories of great prophets like Elijah and Elisha raising widows' sons from the dead. And the young man sat up and began to speak, and like Elijah and Elisha before Jesus, the new great prophet gave the son back to his mother.

Talk about rising above discouragement! Talk about overcoming the greatest obstacle to human fulfillment. Talk about overcoming life's defeats: this was it -- Jesus raising this young man from the dead as he had Jairus' daughter and Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha.

He didn't raise everybody physically from the dead of course, just as he didn't heal everybody. But what he did do then and still does today, is to help everyone rise above discouragement. And that's where we focus today -- rising above discouragement. 

1. We Must Not Deny Reality
2. We Must Consider the Alternatives
3. We Must Allow Ourselves to Be Touched by Christ

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.

Galatians 1:11-24 the sermon titled “Are You Paying Too Much for Your Whistle?”]  

What is the first thing you remember buying with your own hard-earned money? Can you remember what it was?

Every kid has had some longed-for, worked-for, saved-for dream. For me as a kid it was a scratch-built Indie race car made out of plywood. I can still see it in my mind’s eye today. I went to sleep at night deciding what colors I would paint it — when I wasn’t striking out every batter in the New York Yankees lineup. I knew that such a car would make me happy forever.

I never got it.

But the things we did save up for and get as a kid? How’d that work for you? Did life’s earliest purchases always work out well?

The ninja warrior “action figure” doesn’t actually DO anything. Bummer.
The BB gun jams and never fires again after the first six shots. Bummer.
The sea monkeys float in the water for a minute then sink into the silt never to be seen again. Bummer.

Benjamin Franklin never forgot the first purchase he ever made. It was a tin whistle. When he was a little child he saw it in a store window and coveted it, and finally got the money and went and bought it. Almost as soon as he had purchased it, he knew he had been cheated. It had cost him too much. It wasn’t worth what he had paid for it.

But if he paid too much for the whistle, he didn’t pay too much for the lesson it taught him. It stayed with him all through his life. And ever after he would look at men and women, friends and acquaintances, politicians and statesmen, absorbed in the pursuit of power, or of fame, or of wealth, and see that they were all getting too little for what it was costing them. Never one to be shy, Ben would say to them, “You are paying too much for your whistle!”

How much are you paying for your whistle? The first lesson in Economics 101 should be that everything in life comes at a cost. Everything exacts a price.

Want to get into a great college?

Start spending your hours and days studying hard, investing in knowledge, compounding your cognitive abilities.

Want the best-looking lawn on the block?

Start feeding the grass, researching nutrients, mowing, watering, mulching, aerating. The cost will be time, sweat equity, and not a little moolah.

Want your family -- your marriage, your children, your relatives -- to be strong and whole and healthy?

It doesn’t just happen by happenstance. You have to make special time for each person you love. You have to listen to each concern and care about every problem. You have to watch Barbie go shopping instead of the basketball game. You have to be able to know the names of the Jonas brothers and the four kinds of Pokemon and how to find out anything about anyone on Facebook.

Life costs. The question of life is this: is the whistle you are investing in worth it? And if it is, how high a cost are you ultimately willing to pay for your whistle?

The apostle Paul paid a lot for his “whistle.” Eventually he paid the ultimate price. Actually, Paul bought two “whistles” in his life — and he paid a heavy price for both…

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining www.Sermons.com
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Pre-Publication Announcement:

Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola

“Christians have made the gospel about so many things … things other than Christ.

Jesus Christ is the gravitational pull that brings everything together and gives them significance, reality, and meaning. Without him, all things lose their value. Without him, all things are but detached pieces floating around in space…”

Jesus Manifesto brings Jesus back to the center of the church. This new book refocuses our attention on Christ as the driving force behind our spiritual truth.

Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola will be available Tuesday, June 1st at www.Amazon.com with an amazing publication day discount. Order on Tuesday! 

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Jesus Can, Jesus Will

You know, I passed a funeral on the road the other day: a hearse followed by a long line of cars all burning their headlights in broad daylight. I followed our quaint Southern custom of pulling off the road and stopping until they were past to honor the deceased and show respect to his loved ones. Because I did not know the people involved, I hardly gave it a second thought, and continued on my way as soon as they were past. But Jesus, as it were, flipped on his own lights, turned his car around, and joined the procession to the gravesite. 
 
As a Minister of the Gospel I have often had to preside at funerals. There one has the great privilege of offering comfort, sympathy, support, and hope based on the glorious Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. But there is also in such moments a feeling of impotence. I can offer hope for the future, but I cannot reverse what has happened in the immediate past. I can offer comfort for the present, but I cannot fill the gap that has been left in people's lives. But the point of this passage is that Jesus could. The point of this passage is that Jesus can. The point of this passage is that Jesus will.
 
Donald T. Williams, The Widow of Nain's Son

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The Power of Death Reversed

Alfred Krupp, a famous munitions maker, lived in constant fear of death. Everyone throughout his entire company was strictly forbidden to refer to the subject of death in conversation. He ran from his own house because a relative of his wife's suddenly died there. And when Mrs. Krupp objected, Alfred became so enraged that he initiated what was to be a lifelong separation. During his last sickness, he offered his doctor a million dollars to prolong his life. But, of course, that was impossible. 

Death has very real power. Money and prestige and position aren't going to change that. Visits and phone calls and sympathy cards aren't going to change that. Preachers and churches and expensive funerals aren't going to change that. 

Jesus enters into the situation with strange words and even stranger actions, words and actions that at first glance seem totally out of place. He says to the widow, "Don't cry." And then He touches the funeral board, so that all attention will be focused on Him as He addresses the carefully wrapped corpse. "Young man I say to you, get up!" Jesus doesn't wrestle in prayer to His Father. He doesn't struggle in deep spiritual warfare. He simply commands the corpse to get up. And catch this. His command reverses the powers of darkness and death! His command transforms a funeral procession into a family reunion.

Ron Luchies, A God With Heart
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Death is not extinguishing the light from the Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.
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Ah, that’s the reason a bird can sing
On his darkest day he believes in Spring.

Douglas Malloch (1877-1938), You Have to Believe

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Two Processions

Two processions – one going into Nain and headed up by Jesus, the Lord of Life; the other going out of Nain and headed up by death.

The two processions are on a collision course. Can't you just see it?! This kinds of reminds me of two freight trains hurtling towards each other on the same track. Or, it reminds me of the movie, "The Patriot" starring Mel Gibson with a long line of British Redcoats and a long line of American Revolutionaries charging towards each other. You know something has to give.

Most people have come to believe that death never gives way. We've always been told that the two certain things in life are death and taxes. Death comes upon every person. The statistics are most impressive, 100% of those who have ever been born have died. And again, with a few exceptions, most of those who have died have stayed dead. Death is certain and death is immovable. When the young man entered death, it was his final step. When death takes hold of a person, there is no return, no going back, no appeal, no argument. Death is the end and it has the last word. And in our Scripture passage we see that it has spoken on the life of the only son of a widow in Nain.

However, coming to meet the procession headed by death is the procession headed by Jesus. Jesus also came to have the last word. Jesus is life Himself and He came that people should have life and have it to the full.

What will happen when these two processions meet at the town gate of Nain? Will it be the procession headed by Jesus or will it be the procession headed by the coffin and the corpse that gives way?

Adrian Dieleman, Don't Cry 
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Don’t Deny the Existence of Trouble

Any daily newspaper recounts tragic story after story of premature deaths, fractured relationships, and broken dreams. Indeed, we need not turn to any newspaper for an accounting of the world's troubles and sorrows. We have only to look at our own friends and neighbors and families. We have only to look into our own lives and hearts. Jesus, the healer and power-giver, never insulted people by telling them their problems weren't real. He never told the sick they were never really sick or that their illness had no pain or reality. He never told people that death wasn't real, nor did he offer this widowed mother Pollyannaish pabulum to soothe her grieving heart.

I am reminded of a friend of mine living in Indiana where tornadoes are frequent. His young son had a special fear of storms. One day, when a storm threatened, the father took his son to the front of their lovely, substantial home, pointed out across the neighborhood, and said to the boy, "There, you see everything is okay. These are solid homes and we are safe and dry in them." About that time a tornado touched down a block away and utterly destroyed several of these "substantial" homes. The storms of the natural world are real just as are the storms of the spiritual, psychological world. Trouble and tragedy are real. Evil and death are real. Jesus never said to his disciples on the stormy Sea of Galilee, "This is no storm. The storm is in your mind." He never said that. Instead he said to the storm, "Peace, be still." And it was. Are you out of a job? Did your home decline in value? Are your financial resources dwindling? Do you have a serious illness? Is your marriage not right? Is there a real problem with the children? Are you enslaved in a debilitating habit? Then don't deny it, says Jesus. The widow never said her son wasn't dead. Admit the problems. Don't deny them.

Maurice A. Fetty, The Divine Advocacy, CSS Publishing Company

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