[Propertalk] FW: Sermon Resources for March 10 - Part 2

[Joe Parrish]

Admitting We Need Help

Sign seen in a textile mill, "When your thread becomes tangled, call the
foreman." A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and
she thought, "I'll just straighten this out myself." She tried, but the
situation only worsened. Finally she called the foreman. "I did the best I
could," she said. "No you didn't. To do the best, you should have called
me." 

Traditional

___________________________ 

 

Where Are We At the Parable's End? 

 

Let's step back outside with the older brother, still in need of a shower,
arms folded across his chest, the moral high road. "But when this son of
yours came back ... you killed the fatted calf for him." He cannot even
bring himself to acknowledge his brother with a name -- "this son of yours."
A sense of unfairness, as you know, can turn venomous rather quickly. 

So where are we at parable's end? Are we inside the party celebrating? Or
are we standing outside with our arms folded, refusing to come in? Jesus
will not tell us how this story will end. The father passionately invites
the older son inside, "pleads with him" to join in the welcome. Curiously,
however, we are never told what the older brother decides to do. The story
ends but it doesn't end. You can almost hear the voice of Walter Cronkite
saying, "You are there." Will we RSVP to a party thrown by an unfair God? Or
will we stubbornly remain outside? In a world where God does not play fair,
this parable forces us to make a choice. Who is the real "prodigal" here?
Who is the real "waster"? From the beginning Jesus says that this is a story
about two brothers. Which one is the authentic prodigal? Which one has yet
to come home to the Father's extravagant love?  

 

Frank G. Honeycutt, Sermons on the Gospel Reading, Cycle C, CSS Publishing

____________________________ 

 

Our Own Sin Is Hard To See 

 

Let me tell you a true story. Back in 1893 there were a group of four
sisters. The Cherry Sisters they called themselves, who made their stage
debut in Cedar Rapids in a skit they wrote themselves. For three years, the
Cherry Sisters performed to packed theaters throughout the Midwest. People
came to see them to find out if they were as bad as they had heard. Their
unbelievably atrocious acting enraged critics and provoked the audience to
throw vegetables at the would-be actresses. Wisely, the sisters thought it
best to travel with an iron screen which they would erect in front of the
stage in self-defense.

Amazingly, in 1896 the girls were offered a thousand dollars a week to
perform on Broadway -- not because they were so good, but because they were
so unbelievably bad. Seven years later, after the Cherry Sisters had earned
what in that day was a respectable fortune of $200,000, they retired from
the stage for the peaceful life back on the farm. Oddly enough, these
successful Broadway "stars" remained convinced to the end that they were
truly the most talented actresses ever to grace the American stage. They
never had a clue as to how bad they truly were! 

 

The parable this morning does not tell us what the elder brother did when
his father came out to speak to him. It doesn't reveal to us whether he
realized that his envy and disdain had made him just as bad as his younger
brother. Yes, the elder brother had never stooped to find himself in the
pigpens of life. He would never have been caught dead carousing with
prostitutes or wasting his resources in riotous living but in the end his
refusal to rejoice at the return of his sinful brother was, to Jesus, just
as offensive.

The tragedy was that he never realized just how bad HE truly was! 

 

Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company.

_________________ 

 

We Prefer Justice to Mercy 

 

Perhaps you remember the cartoon strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is a
little boy with an overactive imagination and a stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who
comes to life as his imaginary friend. In one cartoon strip, Calvin turns to
his friend Hobbes and says, "I feel bad I called Susie names and hurt her
feelings. I'm sorry I did that." Hobbes replies, "Maybe you should apologize
to her." Calvin thinks about it for a moment and then responds, "I keep
hoping there's a less obvious solution." We have trouble accepting those
whom God accepts because we take God's acceptance for granted and God's
forgiveness as our right.

We are much like the elder brother who preferred justice to mercy. We have
worked for what we have (or so we think), and it's unfair that everyone else
should not have to do the same. We have earned God's favor (or so we think)
by "staying at home." We have merited his acceptance by the good life that
we live. So how dare God receive and accept our sinful brother who has
returned home saying he's sorry. 

 

Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company.

_______________ 

 

Who Resented The Prodigal's Return? 

 

The Religious Ed teacher was reading this story of the Prodigal Son to his
class, clearly emphasizing the resentment the older brother expressed at the
return of his brother. When he was finished telling the story, he asked the
class, "Now who was really sad that the prodigal son had come home?" After a
few minutes of silence, one little boy raised his hand and confidently
stated, "The fatted calf."

Staff, www.Sermons.com
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0012Ba3gPZjZbuAj2FjLiSTCpQOMX07BnLMGP1fXaYmmO9p
9Owqj-Il2TjXbmg5GtyFhQBwGiL90j1mBw_2DMKVtKLJpgMPEhWFc16h4Y2t5yM=> 

______________

What the World Expects of the Church

On a cold, dreary December evening, several hundred people gathered at a
large downtown church in Winston-Salem to celebrate the Christmas season.
Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald, present that evening, had gone down a long hallway
to help a small boy who was pushing against massive oak doors trying to get
outside. The boy was about 2 years old and as he pushed he was crying as if
his heart would break.

The Bishop picked him up, thinking he belonged to someone at one of the
Christmas parties but as he opened the doors and looked outside he spotted
an old-model car speeding away in the darkness. Gradually, it dawned on him
that the child he held in his arms had been abandoned.

Phone calls were made, and soon the church was filled with people wanting to
help in any way they could. Within moments, the local TV stations
interrupted their usual programs to ask if anyone knew the identity of the
little boy. The next morning, one of the city's newspapers put the child's
picture on the front page. Under the picture there was an article describing
the events of the evening before. The article began with this striking line:
"Someone trusted the church last night, and the church came through!"

Bishop Fizgerald later reflected on this event and wrote these words... 

 

The rest of this illustration and many additional illustrations and sermons
for this week, Holy Week, and Easter can be accessed at www.Sermons.com
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0012Ba3gPZjZbuAj2FjLiSTCpQOMX07BnLMGP1fXaYmmO9p
9Owqj-Il2TjXbmg5GtyFhQBwGiL90j1mBw_2DMKVtKLJpgMPEhWFc16h4Y2t5yM=> .  

 

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