These Illustrations are based on Matthew 5:13-20
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Sermon Opener - Let My Little Light Shine - Matthew 5:13-20

There are all kinds of theories about how to motivate people.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton hadn't won a game in eight weeks. A critical member of the press was suggesting that he be dropped from the starting rotation. The future looked bleak, and Sutton felt terrible. Then, before a game, Dodgers manager Walter Alston tapped him on the shoulder. "I'd like to speak with you, Don," he said. Sutton prepared himself for the worst.

"Don," said Alston, "I know how the past couple of months have been for you. Everyone's wondering whether we can make it to the play-offs . . . You know there's a lot of pressure . . . I've had to make a decision." Sutton had visions of being taken off the mound. Then Alston continued. "If the Dodgers are going to win this year," he said, looking Sutton in the eye, "they're going to win with Don Sutton pitching. Come what may, you're staying in the starting job. That's all I wanted to say."

Sutton's losing streak lasted two more weeks, but because of his manager's encouragement he felt different about it. Something in him was turning around. He found himself pitching the best ball of his career. In the National League pennant drive, he won 13 games out of 14. (1)

There are all kinds of theories about how to motivate people. We can do it through guilt, through fear, through shame. But these were not Jesus' methods. Jesus motivated through positive messages of hope and encouragement.

Consider our lesson for today. Jesus says to his followers, "You are the light of the world. . . ." Can you imagine that? Here was a motley crew of farmers and fishermen and tax collectors and housewives in a tiny and remote village in an obscure part of the world and Jesus was saying to them, "You are the light of the world." Talk about a statement of faith! Let's go farther than that. Talk about a crazy idea! Light of the world? That bunch? It must have sounded absurd at the time even to them. Only Jesus could have seen that through this motley crew God would indeed change the world forever. At the time, however, it probably sounded like so much idle chatter. "You are the light of the world," he said and so they were. Now do you want to hear something really absurd? So are we.

Jesus says to us this morning that WE are the light of the world. Think about that for a moment. Sink your teeth into it savor it. You and I are the light of the world. What does it mean? Well, let me suggest some possibilities.

1. We Have a Responsibility for the World.

2. We Have Something the World Desperately Needs.

3. We Are Not the Source of Our Light, but We Reflect a Much Greater Light.

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Turn On the Lights! - Matthew 5:13-20

Wauconda is a small village in the state of Illinois. For over 40 years the town had placed two large illuminated crosses on the city water towers during the Christmas season. Until one year when the town council received a threat of legal suit if the crosses were continued, based on the separation of church and state. The town council grudgingly took them down.

But that's when the citizens of Wauconda took matters into their own hands. They decided to place lighted reminders of Christ on their own property. So, allover the community, up went crosses and nativity stars and lighted manger scenes and trees. You could see Wauconda from the interstate freeway! You could see Wauconda a hundred miles away. All night it was as bright as day because the people decided to turn on the lights.

In our scriptural text for this morning, Jesus is urging us to turn on the lights. Each of us is supposed to shine for Christ's sake. Our light is not like that of the sun. Our light resembles that of the moon; it is a reflected light, from the Christ-spirit who lives within us. We care supposed to shine that other persons might see that light and give glory, not to us, but to the Lord who illuminates us.

Think for a moment how Jesus' first-century audience would have understood his words. The typical home in Palestine was very dark with only one circular window perhaps not more than eighteen inches across. Lamps were essential. The typical lamp was nothing more than a bowl of oil with a wick floating in it. It was not easy to light lamps; remember, this was before the age of matches. Therefore, lamps were kept burning continuously. And, when the family was sleeping or was out, an earthen bushel container was placed over the lamp so that nothing would catch on fire. But when the family was at home and awake, the lamp was placed high on a stand so that all corners of the room would have some light.

The essential message this scripture has for us today is this: A Christian must reflect Christ as surely as the moon reflects the sun. Our task is to illuminate a dark world with the reflected light of Christ, always giving him the glory.

I believe that our Lord is calling us to turn on some lights in three particular ways:

1. By pledging, ambitiously, our time, talent, and money
2. By setting a good example
3. By your witness 

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Humor: The Language of God

There was a mother mouse who decided to teach her children about the world. So she gathered all of her little mice and set out for a walk. They walked down the hall and turned to the right. Then they went down the hall and took another right. And suddenly they found themselves in front of the family cat dozing in the sunlight. The mother mouse was scared. But she didn't want to give in to her fright. So she signaled to the children to be very quiet and to follow as she began to tip toe quietly and slowly past the sleeping cat. Just as she was about to get past the cat, the cat's eyes popped open and raised its paw.

The little mice were petrified. What would their mother do? Well, just as the cat's paw started to come down, that mother mouse looked the cat right in the eye and started barking like a dog. And do you know what? The cat was so startled and frightened that it jumped up and ran away! The mother mouse, wiped her brow, shook a little and then turned to her little mice and said, "Children, I hope you learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes it's good to know a second language!"

It's the same way with us. It's good to know a second language. Salt and light are the language of God; the language of Grace; the language of hope and love. And when this language is translated into action it becomes the most beautiful language ever spoken. We're called to be salt and light and to speak the language of God as we live our faith. We're called to live the Word.

Billy D. Strayhorn, The Salt and Light Brigade

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Reflect the Light

In an article entitled "Reflect the Light," Roble Nebres tells about the time he drove to the summit of Mt. Haleakala. After watching the sunset it became dark and he became anxious about the descent down the steep, winding road. When he left the parking lot the median strips on the road suddenly came alive with reflectorized lights. They provided a much needed directional guide on the mountain road.

The reflectors illuminated the way for Nebres, who made his descent safely down the treacherous mountain road. The reflectors, however, were useless without his headlights shining on them. The light they gave depended on the light from another source. Otherwise they could not help him see.

When Jesus told his disciples they were the "light of the world," he meant they were to be reflectors of the light of God. God is the illuminating source. God provides the light that is reflected from us. And God needs us to be reflectors of God’s light to a world of darkness.

Keith Wagner, Are We Hiding Our Faith?

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Legalism

The story is told of a little girl who went to visit her grandparents. It seems as though they held Sunday as the Lord’s day, and holy. They thought it should be a day of quietness, to walk, not run in it, and that the Bible was the only book that should be read. The granddaughter could not swing nor gather the flowers that grew in the pasture. While grandpa was taking his nap, she asked for permission to walk to the gate, and received it. Along the fence she stopped to watch the old mule, standing with his head bowed and his eyes closed. Reaching through the fence, she said, “Poor old fellow, have you got religion, too?”

Unfortunately, that is how many view Christianity. They are completely turned off by the legalism which has crept in unawares. Worst of all, perhaps, is the fact that we Christians are guilty of thinking of it as a virtue, rather than a vice.

Bob Deffinbaugh, The Fatal Failures of Religion: #2 Legalism

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The Temptation We Face Everyday

"One night at the end of a special Saturday night worship service," writes Warren Hudson of Ontario, Canada, "a thunderstorm unleashed a bolt of lightning that plunged the church into darkness." With the congregation seated in total darkness, the pastor felt his way to the kitchen to find some candles. The pastor handed out the candles to everyone present. Persons lit their candles in much the same way as many churches do on Christmas Eve, each person lighting the candle of the person next to them. The worshipers then made their way through the church's winding hallways to the front door.

"Peering out, we could see the rain coming down in sheets," Warren remembers. With traffic snarled, people were running for the nearest shelter. Looking around they realized that the entire city was in darkness. "There in the darkness we stood," Warren writes, "a little band of Christians, each clutching a light, not sure whether to venture out into the storm or stay inside the church in hopes that the storm would soon blow over."

There in the darkness the light of truth struck him. In this most dramatic way he realized what it means to be the "light of the world." He writes, "It occurred to me then that this is the temptation I face every day. It is easy to play it safe and be a good Christian in church. It is a lot harder to venture out in faith into the storms of the world."

Warren Hudson, adapted by King Duncan, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com

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A Better Influence

One of my favorite Peanuts cartoons showed Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown. She said, “Guess what, Chuck. The first day of school and I got sent to the principal’s office. It was your fault, Chuck.” He said, “My fault? How could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?” She said, “You’re my friend, aren’t you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.”

Eric S. Ritz, Salty Christians

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Where Is the Church?

John Stott, from Great Britain and a leading Reformed theologian, has these challenging words to say to the church today:

You know what your own country is like. I'm a visitor, and I wouldn't presume to speak about America. But I know what Great Britain is like. I know something about the growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, pornography, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion.

Whose fault is it? Let me put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?"

If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the salt?"

If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?"

John Stott, adapted by Adrian Dieleman, The Salt of the Earth

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Humor: Do You Sell Salt?

In his book Led by the Carpenter, D. James Kennedy writes:

“A man walked into a little mom-and-pop grocery store and asked, ‘Do you sell salt?’

‘Ha!’ said Pop the proprietor. ‘Do we sell salt? Just look!’ And Pop showed the customer one entire wall stocked with nothing but salt. Morton salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt, seasoning salt, Epsom salts, every kind imaginable.

‘Wow!’ said the customer.

You think that's something?’ said Pop with a wave of his hand. ‘That's nothing! Come look.’ Pop led the customer to a back room filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes of salt. ‘Do we sell salt?’ he said.

‘Unbelievable!’ said the customer.

‘You think that's something?’ said Pop. ‘Come! I'll show you salt!’ Pop led the customer down some steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the previous room, filled floor to ceiling, with every imaginable form and size and shape of salt, even huge ten-pound salt licks for the cow pasture.

‘Incredible!’ said the customer. ‘You really do sell salt!’

‘No!’ said Pop. ‘That's just the problem! We never sell salt! But that salt salesman? Hoo-boy! Does he sell salt!’"

Phil Thrailkill, The Privilege and the Price

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Turning on the Lights Despite the Risk

One of the boldest and most dramatic decisions of World War II was made by Admiral Marc Mitscher in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Late in the afternoon of June 20, 1944, Mitscher had dispatched a bombing mission against the fleeing Japanese fleet. It was pitch dark when the first of the flyers began returning to their carriers. But with the fleet under strict wartime blackout regulations and the pilots' fuel supplies running dangerously low, many of the flyers would never be able to find their way back to their carriers.

Admiral Mitscher took a calculated risk. He turned on the lights. One returning flyer described the scene as a "Hollywood premier, Chinese New Year's, and Fourth of July all rolled into one." For two hours the planes landed. Some eighty pilots, out of gas, ditched in the sea but close enough to the carriers that few were lost.

When we are bold enough to turn on the lights for Christ, despite the costs and the risks, lost souls are won for our Lord and our city is electrified with his power.

Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com

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Changing the World

It was during the early days of television. A workman was placing television transmitters at the very top of the Empire State building in New York City. Seeing him at work up there, so far off the ground, a reporter thought this would make a fascinating human interest story. So, when the workman had completed his task and had returned to the ground, the reporter approached him and asked, “Aren’t you frightened to work under conditions like that that? Isn’t it dangerous to work so high off the ground?” The workman replied, “Yes sir, it is dangerous.” Then he added, “But then, how many people can say that they have changed the skyline of a city like New York!”

God offers us the privilege of changing the skyline not of a city, but of the world. We can help make this world healthier, more humane, more harmonious, and more blessed. God made a good world. Now He wants us to help Him make it good again. We can do that. By God’s grace, we really can do that. If we can, surely we must.

James McCormick, Selected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

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ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS NOT IN OUR EMAIL
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Sermon Opener – Jesus Light by Leonard Sweet - Matthew 5:13-20

What’s your favorite color? Is it more 450? Or do you tend towards 600? Maybe even 700?

In case those numbers don’t immediately mean anything to you, on the visible spectrum scale for light 450 nanometers means “blue,” 600 is yellow, and at 700 nanometers you are seeing red.

But we don’t “see” numbers, do we? We see the beautiful, variable, illuminating colors that light takes on as it is refracted and reflected before our eyes. We don’t experience nanometers. We bask under a blue sky? Or we bath in wonder at the beauty of a sunset that melts from orange to red to crimson and purple. Whether we catalogue light as 550 nanometers or perceive it as “green” is all a matter of perspective. Are we dissecting the idea of “light” into its most basic components (measured nanometers)? Or are we responding to the expression of that light as we experience it in the world (colors)?

In Matthew’s account of the “Sermon on the Mount,” immediately after Jesus lays out his “blessed be” Beatitudes, he lifts up two metaphors of how disciples of the kingdom will be known to this world. They will be the “salt of the earth,” they will be the “light of the world,” a light that will “shine before others.” Salt sharpens flavors. Light sharpens both sight and insight. Jesus is calling would-be followers of the kingdom to sharpen lives by living on the sharp, the cutting edges, the places where new perspectives, new tastes, and new visions are embraced.

Light does not just banish darkness and illuminate corners and crevices. Light also works to provide a new perspective…

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A Light in the Darkness

Let me tell you a story about one of the most remarkable young men who ever lived. This young man had been left blind in both eyes by a childhood accident. In nineteenth-century France, when this young man lived, blind children had little help and few hopes. But then a kindly priest, Father Jacques Palluy, took an interest in the lad. He was amazed at the boy's intelligence and eagerness to learn. With his parents' permission, Father Palluy enrolled the boy in the Royal Institute of Blind Youth in Paris.

Thrust into a new and frightening environment, the boy was lonely and depressed. In time, however, he found friendship and encouragement. Unfortunately he was frustrated by the institute's lack of books in raised print. He also found the symbols in raised print confusing. So he set out, at twelve years of age, to invent his own system. After three years he perfected the method, but he encountered indifference and hostility when he tried to convince the world that his system was better. Even with the support of the institute's director, he was told again and again that he was too young to have created a workable alphabet for the blind.

Years passed. This young man grew older, was made a teacher at the institute, and became a fine organist, always hoping that his method would find acceptance. But his health was frail. It was not until he lay in bed, dying of tuberculosis, that he heard that the first steps were being taken to popularize his system. Though he did not live to witness it, Louis Braille's alphabet became the universal method of reading for the blind. His courage and hunger for knowledge enabled him to triumph over disability and disease and open new worlds to future generations. He found a way to become light for those who lived in darkness.

King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

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What about the Truth?

I'm reminded of a dialogue that took place in a class one day when the teacher came in and welcomed the students and said, "Now I want to lay down some ground rules. First, since no one has the truth, you should be open-minded to the opinions of your fellow students." Well, at that point a young lady raised her hand. The teacher said, "Elizabeth, do you have a question?"

Elizabeth said, "Yes, I do. If nobody has the truth, isn't that a good reason for me not to listen to my fellow students? After all, if nobody has the truth why should I waste my time listening to other people and their opinions? What would be the point? Only if somebody has the truth does it make sense to be open-minded, don't you agree?"

The teacher said, "No, I don't. Are you claiming to know the truth? Isn't that a little bit arrogant and dogmatic?"

Elizabeth said, "Not at all. I think it is dogmatic and arrogant to assert that there is not one person on earth who knows the truth. After all, have you met every person in the world and quizzed them exhaustively? If not, then how do you know? In fact, I believe it's the absolute opposite of arrogance to say that I will alter my opinions to fit the truth whenever and wherever I find it. If I happen to think that I have a good reason to believe I know the truth, and would like to share it with you, why won't you listen to me? Why would you automatically discredit my opinion before it is even spoken? I thought we were supposed to listen to everybody's opinion?"

The teacher in a fit of frustration said, "Well, this is going to prove to be an interesting semester."

Elizabeth said, "Ain't that the truth."

James Merritt, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com

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Humor: Being Graceful Salt

A pastor tells the story of how he and his wife decided to have the church council and the husbands and wives of the council members over to dinner. It was quite an undertaking, but then this pastor and his wife wanted to be salt and light for the leaders of their church. When it came time for dinner, everyone was seated and the pastor’s wife asked her four year old daughter if she would like to say grace. The girl replied that she didn’t know what to say and the mom said, "Just say what I say, honey." Everyone bowed their head and the little girl said, "O dear Lord, why am I having all these people for dinner!"

John Jewell, God’s View of Who You Are

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What Kind of Pillar Are You? - Matthew 5:13-20

Who are the pillars of the church? If others look to you as a “pillar of the church,” what kind of pillar are you?

Jesus answers that question in our gospel reading for this morning, but to get to his answer we’ve got to exercise the discipline of historical context. We’ve got to put his words and images in the context of the culture of his day. So here we go . . .

Anyone who has ever had a class on Greek and Roman culture has had to recall and recognize the three distinctive types of architectural columns used to support the stately monuments, temples, and public buildings that adorned their world. Let’s see how well you remember your columns…anyone?

I’ll give a hint: Doric is one.

There you go. The three are the Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian. These three styles of supportive pillars framed the graceful entrances of some of the most imposing, majestic architectural wonders the world has ever known. Yet today they stand in ruins. Time, decay, wars, earthquakes, floods have left us little to look at except a few of those stately pillars. The glory of the Parthenon, the grandeur of the Coliseum, are merely hinted at by the few remaining columns that still stand upright and intact, like the bones of some long extinct dinosaur. The pillars remain. But the people and powers that put them up long ago crumbled into the dust of history.

In the ancient world pillars could be either a sign of welcome or a sign of warning: a portal into new possibilities, or a symbol of a last outpost, a sign of the end.

The so-called “Pillars of Hercules” — the mountain peaks that flank either side of the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar — have shared both of those titles. The Pillars supposedly marked the farthest reaches of Hercules’ journeys during his “twelve labors.” They were symbols of the end of the world and were believed to be inscribed with the warning “nec plus ultra” — “nothing further beyond.” The original understanding of the Pillars of Hercules was as a huge “do not enter” sign before the waters of the unknown and the worlds that lay beyond the Mediterranean. Too many “pillars of the church” are like these “Pillars of Hercules” beyond whom no one might sail.

But by the time of Charles V, aka “the Holy Roman Emperor,” the symbol of the Pillars of Hercules offered a different message. As Spanish explorers sails across the Atlantic to the Americas these “Pillars” were re-christened to proclaim “Plus Ultra” — “Further Beyond.” In other words, the Pillars had gone from being a protective gate closing in the Mediterranean to being the entrance gate opening into a whole new world of possibilities.

These are the kinds of “Pillars of the Church” that Jesus summons forth….

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Salt and Light

WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY refers to "witness" in such terms as "testimony ... to act as a witness of ... to give or be evidence of." It is understandable that Jesus would use such metaphors as salt and light when speaking of the Christian witness.

Salt. Salt was a valuable commodity in the ancient world, not uncommonly used as a bartering agent. As insignificant as the reference itself may seem, Jesus was actually dignifying the Church by referring to it in the sense of something rare and precious.

You are familiar with the expression, "That should be taken with a grain of salt." Sometimes things are said to us which are bland, tasteless, or even worse, in bad taste. Salt adds flavor which causes many items which we consume to become more palatable. The remark, "taken with a grain of salt" implies that some tasteless or crude remarks would go down better with a grain of salt. Salt adds flavor or zest. When Jesus commented, "You are the salt of the earth," he was implying that the Christian witness causes even the unfortunate, tasteless things in life to be more palatable. To remove the salt is to remove a prime ingredient to the whole of life itself, leaving it to the crude, base, and tasteless elements to prevail.

Matthew 5:13 continues, "But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men." Moffett translates the phrase more precisely: "If salt becomes insipid, what can make it salt again?" Insipid is the word. An insipid person is one who stands for nothing, contributes nothing, is dull, unimaginative, shallow, harmless, and a fence-straddler. Jesus encouraged the Church to be salt, avoiding insipidness.

Light. "You are the light of the world" is another familiar reference made in regard to the Christian witness. Indeed, a person does not light a lamp only to put it beneath a bushel where it cannot be seen. It is told that a congregation constructed a new sanctuary in which to worship. It was beautifully constructed, traditionally consistent with symbolic Christian architecture, practical in every consideration and lovely in every detail. Only one thing was omitted. There were no lights. Instead, little niches had been fashioned into the walls and window bases which were to hold candles. Each member was assigned a niche and told that he was to provide the candle for that particular spot. Otherwise, the spot would remain dark. In a very real sense, they were the light, and they got the message. They also understood that they were not only the light of the Church, but the "light of the world."

You and I are challenged to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. The antithesis of the Christian witness is insipidness and darkness.

Larry D. Powell, Glimpses through the Dark Glass

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Parable of the Wall Socket

"Mother, her face just shines," said Linda.

"Yes, she has an inner glow," said her mother. "Her spirit is wonderful."

"You'd think she had a light bulb on somewhere in her head."

"Well, she's happy and she loves people. She's a working Christian," said the mother.

"It would be nice if everyone could look so bright and cheerful," said the daughter. "Mother, this vacuum isn't working again."

"Yes, it is. Look at the plug. There's your trouble. You didn't put both prongs in the socket. See, like this."

"Oh, that's it," said the daughter. "No wonder the motor would not go."

Using electricity requires both the inflow and the outflow of power to complete the circuit. The Christian life also requires, that in lighting up a life, the inflowing of God's Spirit must also flow outward to others and back to God to make the circuit complete. A light bulb will not light up, if the circuit is broken inside or outside.

Christians have the obligation, the opportunity, and the job of letting their lives glow with God's knowledge, and Christian service. And those, who so engage themselves, write the most beautiful stories that man may know.

It is not easy, but it is worthwhile. If Christian believers do not do the will of God in spreading His love to all, His Truth to all, His blessings to all, the light goes out and many stumble in the darkness of selfishness and fear.

Read St. Matthew 5:14,15,16 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Illustration, www.Sermons.com

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Parable of the Three Candles

Three children carried their candles home from church. Each thought of it preciously in relationship to the commitment made in the beautiful Candle Light Service.

One had not even lit the candle in order to keep it good as new. The other had let the candle burn during the service and carried it forth still lit from the church, but it blew out at the doorway. The third blew out his candle and took it home and lit it a number of times during the year until it was burned down into the dish.

"Look," said Mary. "after ten months have passed, I still have my candle as good as new. I was smarter than the others. John's is all burned up and Eddie's just lays in the drawer half used up. Who's the smartest, mother?"

"I don't know," replied the mother. "Candles are made to be used. They give forth their light for whatever the user decides. Who can say what John was thinking, as he did his work with the lighted candle, and who knows how Eddie feels, when he opens his drawer and sees the candle.

We are meant to use our lives being helpful to others and; whether you light a candle or don't use candles, there is a spiritual light that should be in you and which should shine out to make others happy. It is not how big your candle is, but how you use the light that it gives."

Read St Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Illustration, www.Sermons.com

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From Basement to Craft Fairs

Doris was most comfortable when she was busy at work in her secluded spot in the basement of her parents' home. She had been born with a deformed left arm which wasn't of much use to her; hence, she had chosen not to participate in sports nor in the school band. But she had studied art and in that she excelled. Her quiet personality stemmed partly from her physical impairment and partly because she hadn't received much encouragement to excel in anything.

But she did have her little workshop in the basement, where she spent a good deal of her time. She cherished the hours spent there because she was doing the one thing she felt confident she could do well -- painting. Yet even her parents weren't much aware of -- nor appreciative of -- her growing artistic ability.

During her last two years in high school and the two years following graduation, she devoted increasing time to oil and acrylic still life paintings. As she looked out of the basement half windows at the familiar Wisconsin countryside, she captured ever more vividly the seasonal changes and the varieties that nature offered. The completed unframed canvasses were standing in ever thickening rows beyond her little nook in the basement. Doris' secret talent was clouded by only one fact -- she was the only person who knew about it.

That is, until her favorite cousin Denise came to visit. Denise was quite the opposite of Doris -- a bubbly personality, outgoing and adventurous. She hadn't seen Doris since her high school graduation and now Denise had come to spend a week with her. Doris would not have shown her cousin all those canvasses stacked in the basement, but Denise's inquisitive nature soon led her to the dozens of paintings that stood facing the walls.

"Doris, where did these paintings come from?" Denise asked, remembering that Doris had taken a few art classes in high school. "Did you do this wonderful work?" Denise asked with her hands on her hips.

"They're nothing special," Doris tried to apologize.

"Wrong! They're marvelous!" Denise argued. She spent the next half hour quickly going through one stack after another, while Doris stood by a bit embarrassed. "Doris, you need to get these paintings out where people can see them and buy them," Denise pleaded. "People will buy good paintings like these."

Doris demurred, offering timid apologies for the paintings and her talent. But Denise would have none of it. "There's arts and crafts shows everywhere during these summer months, and I'm going to help you get these paintings out where people can see them," Denise challenged. And for the next few weeks there was no stopping Denise. She extended her visit beyond her original plans. "I don't have a job yet anyway for the summer," she rationalized. "I want you to sign your name to every one of these paintings," she instructed Doris.

After four weekend arts and crafts shows, more than two dozen of Doris' paintings had been sold. As she and Denise headed back to Doris' home on a Sunday evening, Doris reflected the warmth of her feelings as she admitted, "I guess people do like my stuff."

"Well, like I said, you have to get it out where people can see it," Denise commented as she gave her cousin a hug.

Merle G. Franke, Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit, Cycle A

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For 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)

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No Spin Necessary

After a visit to the doctor, a woman told her husband, "Honey, the doctor said I am in a very distraught condition and that it is essential for me to go to St. Tropez, then to Aspen, and to buy myself a new mink wrap."

The husband immediately called the doctor back. "What did you mean by all this stuff about St. Tropez, Aspen and mink coats?"

"What?" said the doctor, "I just recommended to your wife a regimen of frequent baths, plenty of fresh air, and to be sure to dress in warm clothes." The wife put a little spin on her medical condition.

Now, contrast the role of the spin-master with the open sincerity of St. Paul: "When I came to you, brothers and sisters," he writes, "I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God" (NRSV).

Paul was one of the wisest, most talented men who ever lived. He is one of the, if not the, most quoted man in history. Even Shakespeare pales in comparison. Yet St. Paul spoke simply and directly when he taught the truth of Christ. He wanted people to experience not the power of his oratory, but the power of God.

Paul knew that the Corinthians loved big words and complex logic. He also knew that there were those who gave the people what they wanted. But Paul had decided that this would undermine the message that he brought. To shape the message or the presentation of the message to please the audience would be wrong. He wanted converts, not compliments.

King Duncan, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com

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The Good News Never Conflicts with Truth

The esteemed space scientist Dr. Werner von Braun received many cards and letters over the years from people who believe that space exploration is against the Creator's wishes. "Scripture mail," NASA calls it. These correspondents warned the scientist to cease this dangerous godless folly. "One lady wrote that God doesn't want man to leave Earth and she was willing to bet me $10 that we wouldn't make it," said Episcopalian von Braun. "I answered that, as far as I knew, the Bible said nothing about space flight but it was clearly against gambling."

Why are some people so threatened by scientific discoveries? Don't they know that truth is from God wherever it may be found? The notable church father Justin Martyr settled the matter once and for all when he wrote, "Whatever has been uttered aright by any [person] in any place belongs to us Christians." Christian faith does not need defenders, for it is never in conflict with truth.

Adapted from Bob Ward, The Light Stuff

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Truth: The Most Powerful Idea

Marilyn vos Savant, the brilliant woman who reportedly has the highest I.Q. ever recorded, writes a syndicated column in which she answers tricky questions from people who want the benefit of her intelligence. Someone wrote to ask what she thought is the most powerful idea. Marilyn vos Savant replied that "truth" was the most powerful idea she knew of, because it is not affected by how we relate to it. Whether or not we know it, or whether or not we agree with it, doesn't matter, because truth is still true.

Ms. vos Savant is right on target. Truth is powerful. You and I believe that truth is from God.

What is the Gospel the Good News anyway? I believe it can be summed up in three verses: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1); "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16), and "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27).

You and I may believe this thing and that about Scripture and about life in general, but these three statements are incontrovertible! They are true.

They don't need to be defended; they only need to be lived. There are people in our society who spend too much of their energy and time defending God as if God needed it.

Adapted from Max Anders, God