[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter materials for (June 14) Proper 6B, Mark 4:26-34

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for (June 14) Proper 6B. They focus on Mark 4:26-34, where Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

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Microsoft Word file:  
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/06-14jw/Mark_4.26-34.doc

HTML file (web page): 
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/06-14jw/Mark_4.26-34.htm

WordPerfect file:  
http://www.lectionary.org/SW/06-14jw/Mark_4.26-34.wpd

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A TIP: If you want the Word or WordPerfect files, LEFT-CLICK on the link and see what happens.  That should bring up a dialog box that asks if you want to open the file or save it.  Choose OPEN.  Then save it wherever you like on your hard drive.

If that doesn't work, RIGHT-CLICK on the link.  You should get a sub-menu.  Hopefully, "Save Target As" will be one of the options.  Click on that.  Then save the file wherever you want on your hard drive.


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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  

The trouble is that our public men are really artificial.  They're created by the most devastating tool that technology has invented -- the teleprompter:  They don't speak spontaneously....  They read this thing that's going around there in front of them, words that have been created for them by PR men.  It allows an inadequate, minor individual to appear to be a statesman.  (Barbara Tuchman)


TITLE:  Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  The kingdom of God is in our presence today, not in dramatic, showy ways, but in ways as inconspicuous as a tiny mustard seed.


SCRIPTURE:  Mark 4:26-34

Stories:
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"Would Jesus Wear a Rolex on His Television Show?"  The late Paul Harvey, with his whimsical sense of humor, decided to interview several television evangelists to see how they would answer that question.

Jerry Falwell replied: 

      "I do not subscribe to the 'theology of prosperity.'...
      I wear an inexpensive watch.  
      I think Jesus would."

Evelyn Roberts, wife of televangelist Oral Roberts, said: 

      "Jesus wore a seamless robe, doubtless a gift from an admirer, 
      but sufficiently valuable so that Roman soldiers cast lots for the garment.  
      He was not afraid to wear nice things.  
      To maximize His ministry, He would need television.  
      For television programs he would need to tell time.  
      Would Jesus wear a Rolex?  Why not?"

Robert Schuller noted that you first have to decide if Jesus would have been on television.  Schuller thought he would have, because television is a great medium for preaching the Gospel.  But would Jesus have worn a Rolex on his television show?  Schuller said, "I think not."

Paul Harvey, after relating the televangelists' responses, closed with these words:  

      "Would Jesus wear a Rolex on TV?  
      More likely, he would move about unnoticed 
      within the ranks of the Salvation Army. 
      Which he does."

 The Salvation Army does lots of good work with the "little people" of the world -- people who desperately need help.  Paul Harvey thought that Jesus would have done the same. 

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Some years ago, John Vannorsdall preached a sermon in which he told how he happened, one day, to notice the kingdom of God.  Allow me to close with his words.  See if you can find a parallel for your life.  He said:

      "I remember one time, years ago, 
      when I was in a hotel in a strange city 
      and it was just before noon on a Saturday 
      when I heard the ringing of a bell.  

      From my window I could see people entering a stone church 
      with the bell in an open steeple.  
      I'd never done it before, especially on Saturday, 
      but it seemed important that I go across the square.  

      The church was cool and dark, until my eyes adjusted 
      and I could see a handful of people scattered here and there 
      in what was a large place.  

      The minister or priest, I'm not sure of his tradition, 
      led us in Psalms and prayers, 
      and said a few helpful things about the lesson he had read, 
      blessed us, 
      and we left as we were ready.  

      The Kingdom of God had come close, 
      and I'd laid down my pen and followed the sound of a bell.  
      I'm glad I did that.  
      Too often I've not."
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FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:  
http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT02mark.htm 

Scroll down to Mark 4.  There are two sermons on this text posted there.

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THOUGHT PROVOKERS:  

If angels came in packages, we'd almost always pick the wrong one.  Even as the devil is evil disguised as good, angels are goodness disguised.  They show up in foolscap, calico, and gingham, and brown paper bags.  Jesus discovered the realm of God in a mustard seed, the smallest and least portentous of all seeds.  Mustard seeds and angels have this in common.  They are little epiphanies of the divine amidst the ordinary.

F. Forrester Church

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People do not enter the kingdom in crowds; they must enter as individuals; for the moment of entry is the personal and individual acceptance of the will of God.  That is why the growth of the mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, into a tree symbolizes the kingdom.  That is why, if a person is placed in an environment which is hostile or indifferent to the claims of God, he must not regard it as something to regret and resent, but as a privilege and a challenge to be the tiny seed from which the kingdom grows. 

The Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer for Everyman, William Barclay

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Jesus lets us in on an astonishing secret. God has chosen to change the world through the lowly, the unassuming and the imperceptible .. That has always been God's strategy -- changing the world through the conspiracy of the insignificant. He chose a ragged bunch of Semite slaves to become the insurgents of His new order....  And, who would have ever dreamed that God would choose to work through a baby in a cow stall to turn the world right side up? It is still God's policy to work through the embarrassingly insignificant to change his world and create his future. 

Tom Sine, The Mustard Seed Conspiracy

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A holy Christian life is made up of a number of small things:
 Little words, not eloquent sermons;
 Little deeds, not miracles of battle,
 Or one great, heroic deed of martyrdom;
The little constant sunbeam,
 not the lightning.

The avoidance of little evils,
 Little inconsistencies, little weaknesses,
 Little follies and indiscretions,
 And little indulgences of the flesh made up
The beauty of a holy life.

Andrew Bonar

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"It's hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe, 
but rather to make us disciples, citizens of God's new age, 
a kingdom of surprise."

Stanley Hauerwas

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