Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Sermon illustrations...
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Since I was going to talk about no longer being infants spiritually I would introduce the lesson by introducing Jake, my 15 month old, solid as a rock, grandson. Many of you were there, you remember how this went. He was so good during the intro, I just thought I would keep him with me the whole lesson. Halfway thru my arm started cramping. I had Jake in my right arm, but a mike on my left and a Bible in my left hand. So there we were. Soon sweat popped out on my head, Jake got heavier, tragedy was approaching. "Please Jake, cry for Mommy, Daddy, or Mimi...Pops will never make it."
By the end, it was close the Bible and use my left hand to prop up my right. And good ol' Jake just hung in there. He looked at you, he looked at me, he even looked at his folks. But he was happy to stay with Pops. It made me think of lots of other things in life. Like commitments I rashly make and then have to struggle to keep. And the people more than three rows back probably couldn't even tell how hard it was. And I was too proud to ask for help. Boy, I wonder if that fits any of the rest of my life. You know, harder than it looks and too proud to ask for help.
And I sure didn't want to drop Jake. He never knew how tough it was. I hope I never let him down. There are probably lots of people in my life counting on me not to drop them.
But you know what? It was fun. By now, I'm not even sore any more. All I remember is how much fun it was to preach with Jake. Someday in heaven all I'm going to remember is how happy I am...I may not even remember the hard times.
So maybe it was a pretty good sermon illustration after all.
For me.
By the end, it was close the Bible and use my left hand to prop up my right. And good ol' Jake just hung in there. He looked at you, he looked at me, he even looked at his folks. But he was happy to stay with Pops. It made me think of lots of other things in life. Like commitments I rashly make and then have to struggle to keep. And the people more than three rows back probably couldn't even tell how hard it was. And I was too proud to ask for help. Boy, I wonder if that fits any of the rest of my life. You know, harder than it looks and too proud to ask for help.
And I sure didn't want to drop Jake. He never knew how tough it was. I hope I never let him down. There are probably lots of people in my life counting on me not to drop them.
But you know what? It was fun. By now, I'm not even sore any more. All I remember is how much fun it was to preach with Jake. Someday in heaven all I'm going to remember is how happy I am...I may not even remember the hard times.
So maybe it was a pretty good sermon illustration after all.
For me.
