[Propertalk] Fwd: Illustration and sermon from Proclaim

[Joe Parrish]

This week's Illustration:




Judge and Savior
                             
  God is both our judge and our savior. Consider the following:
                             
  There was a man on a crowded city street who, while distracted, stepped right in front of moving truck. Another man grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the sidewalk. Shaken, the first man thanked the other profusely. The rescuer accepted the thanks and disappeared into the crowd. The man who had been pulled to safety, however, had been on his way to rob a convenience store. Now safe, he saw no reason not to continue. He did, but within hours, he was apprehended by the police and taken into court. As he faced the bench, he was surprised to see that the judge was the man who had saved his life earlier in the day. When the judge asked him if he had anything to say, the man said, “Your Honor, you know me. You saved my life this morning. Can’t you help me now?” The judge responded, “This morning I was your savior. Now I am your judge.” Both relationships were valid and applicable.



Proclaim Sermon for this Week


How Big Is Our World?
March 25, 2012


John 12: 20-33
Lent 5


Summary
Jesus saw the fulfillment of his call in the visit of Greek seekers; they remind us of the size of our world, under God's love.


Excerpt
  The first followers of Jesus lived in a very small world. Their homeland, Palestine, was about the size of the state of New Jersey, but most of Jesus' disciples had spent their lives in just one province of Palestine, the section called Galilee. They knew there was a city called Rome because soldiers from Rome patrolled their streets. But mostly their world was a realm they could walk to. And that's a good thing, since walking was generally their only means of transportation. No bus, no train, no automobile, no carriage, and much of the time not even a donkey. I repeat: Jesus' disciples lived in a small world.


The visit from Greek seekers
  Today's lesson is about an occasion when - suddenly and without warning - the disciples' world grew much, much bigger. They had come to Jerusalem for the annual Passover event. Jews were there from most of the Roman Empire, because Passover was the event a Jew didn't want to miss. And a few Gentiles were there, too; not many but a few: Gentiles who were seekers after truth, and who felt that Jews knew something about God that the pagan religions didn't know.
  Several of these Gentiles - some Greeks - (we don't know how many) came to one of the disciples, Philip. "Sir," they said, "we want to see Jesus." These men had no doubt heard reports of Jesus' teaching and healing; perhaps they had even observed for themselves. As already indicated, they were seekers after truth, and it must have seemed to them that Jesus had something unique, powerful, perhaps life-changing to offer, so they wanted to talk with him for themselves.
  It was logical that they turned to the apostle Philip for help because Philip - unlike the other disciples - had a Greek name. Thus, these Greeks would feel that he might be more sympathetic and understanding than the other disciples. Philip got his fellow disciple, Andrew, and they go to Jesus together with the request.
  The conversation that follows is strange; almost bizarre. Jesus says nothing directly about the Greek guests or their question. He seems almost to ignore the request. "The hour has come," Jesus says, "for the Son of Man to be glorified." Jesus goes on to say that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain, but that if it dies, it bears much fruit. Therefore, Jesus continues, we must be ready to "hate" our lives in this world, ready to lay our lives down to serve God.
  At that point, Jesus says that his soul is troubled; so troubled that if it were possible, he would want to be saved from this hour, but that he knows that it is for this very hour that he has come into the world. Then Jesus says, "And I, when I am lifted up from this earth, will draw all people to myself." The writer of this gospel goes on to say that by this statement Jesus indicated "the kind of death he was to...(approximately 1,150 words remaining.)


http://www.proclaimsermons.com/viewSermon.asp?title=How%20Big%20Is%20Our%20World%3F


 
 
 
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