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An Often Neglected Treasure Chest for Sermon Illustrations

Lightstock
Lightstock

It is late in the week, and pastors are making headway on their sermons. By now most have a good handle on the text and even are working towards application for their congregation. But there is always a can that seems to get kicked down the road: illustrations. This is because illustrations are not often right on the surface of the freshly excavated text. It takes some time and often substantial reflection to find helpful and appropriate illustrations.

I am a firm believer in the necessity of illustrating well. The preacher should give time each week to the prayerful consideration of how to illustrate the text.

However, I also believe there is a cache of illustrations that are often neglected by preachers. These illustrations are found in the person of Jesus Christ.

I don’t know why we neglect our Lord as the illustration of the passage. Perhaps it’s just an oversight. This is innocent enough. But I fear that some preachers may be searching for something more. Some may be attempting to impress their hearers so they look for the perfectly crafted story, quote from a novel, adaptation of a news story, scene from a movie, or something else that captures the point. I know that I have felt this temptation at times. Perhaps there are other reasons; but this is enough to make me pause and consider my heart.

If you are searching for illustrations for your Sunday sermon I want to encourage you to ask how Jesus’s own life and ministry serves to make your point.

Let me give you a couple of examples from my recent sermons.

This week I am preaching Genesis 13. This is the passage where Abram and Lot split up because they don’t have enough room. In one of my points I am trying to show that if we walk by sight (instead of faith) then we are vulnerable to all kinds of temptations, because our hearts are sinful. Jesus is the perfect example of one who was tempted by what he saw (Luke 4) and yet kept on trusting God’s Word and promises. Walking through the passage in Genesis will show our tendency to be tempted like Lot (and Eve before him) with things we see. However, Jesus shows us the pattern of faith.

In another sermon I was in Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel. I actually remember searching for examples of fratricide. There were gruesome, heart-shredding examples. However, in considering Jesus’s life and ministry I was reminded of the fact that he came as fellow human being to his “brothers” but was rejected and killed. When you consider that innocent Jesus was plotted against and ultimately killed by those who were supposed to love him you have the weighty tension that you are looking for.

I could give many more examples, but I encourage you to read through the New Testament with an eye to how many times the writers appeal to aspects of Christ’s life or implications of his work that model and motivate our Christian living. It is difficult to outdo Jesus in your illustrations.

Here are some reasons to ensure that you help people to see how Christ illustrates the point you are making:

It helps people to know their Bibles better

We have an embarrassing level of biblical illiteracy in the church. Some people are new to their Bible and need to see as much as they can. Other people fast from the Bible like a vegan at a rib festival. I don’t get it. Giving people more time with Jesus is always a winning formula.

It helps people to see how their Bible fits together

Another issue that we are facing is a lack of understanding as to how the Bible fits together. One of the regular comments that I get when people visit Emmaus is, “I have never heard people make connections like that between the Old and New Testament.” The wall between Jew and Greek has come down (Eph. 2:14ff), but the wall between testaments is too often still up in many pulpits. Helping people to see Jesus in the Old Testament through types, shadows, and principles is invaluable to their spiritual life.

It helps people to better understand what Jesus has to do with everyday life

I love the fact that Paul doesn’t just tell husbands that they need to stop being lazy and start doing better. He tells them to look at Jesus, study Jesus, follow Jesus, and be a husband like Jesus is with the church (Eph. 5:25ff). Showing how Jesus trusted his Father amid being mistreated will encourage his followers to do the same (1 Pet. 2:23). There is a treasure trove of Christological gold for preachers to draw from and lay before their hearers each week.

It helps people to love Jesus more

This is what we want after all, isn’t it? How do people see the glory of Christ? It is through his Word (2 Cor. 3:18). How do we show the glory of Christ as pastors? It is by preaching the Word. Therefore, I want to jam us much glory into my sermon that I possibly can. Deploying Christ as an illustration in my sermon is a precision-guided doxological cruise missile. I want the text and the sermon to explode on their laps and make them say, “Glory!” Using Christ in illustrations does not guarantee this response but it sure helps.

A final word: I am not against using illustrations and word pictures. I love them actually. But I am gently reminding fellow ministers of the gospel that we do have quite a repository of imagery to draw from. Don’t neglect this treasure. It will doubtless do you and your people much good.

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