Sermon Illustration

Father O'Shea, the parish priest in the village, was giving a sermon about charity. He said, "The trouble with the world today is that some people have too much and others have too little. We must give of ourselves and our worldly goods to help the less fortunate." He said to Harrigan, "If you had ten thousand pounds, wouldn't you give half of it to the poor?" He said, "I would that, Father." The priest said, "If you had two greyhounds, wouldn't you give one of them to your neighbour next door?" Harrigan said, "No." The priest said, "And why not?" He said, "I have two greyhounds." Sermon Illustration Library copyright © 2006-2009 by Scott Severance (contact). A

It was the last week of the month. As I was getting ready to prepare our Sabbath meal, I stood in front of my pantry, looking at the empty shelves. What can I do? I thought. The small ration that the Communist government of Cuba allowed per family per month was gone. Only two cups of rice and a small bit of oil and part of a loaf of bread were left. From my summer garden I had a green plantain (a banana that you cook), two tomatoes, and a small head of lettuce. That was all the food I had to feed my family for Friday night, Sabbath and Sunday. Because the first day of the next month was on Monday, I could not go to the store to buy more food until then. For my little family of three--my husband, Hugo, our daughter, Lena, and me--there was not enough food. We usually had visitors come to our home for Sabbath dinner, But not this Sabbath! I thought. I put the rice to cook in a little pot. With one of the tomatoes I made a little salsa and cooked six small "meatballs" made out...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to...

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital--the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greet...

A man was once asked, "Are you a believer in the Christian religion?" "Oh, certainly!" "You are a member of some church, then, I suppose?" "Member of a church? No, indeed. Why should I be a member of a church? It is quite unnecessary; the dying thief wasn't a member of a church, and he went to heaven." "But of course you have been baptized; you know the command—" "Been baptized? Oh, no; that is another needless ceremony! I am as safe as the dying thief was, and he never was baptized." "But surely, since you will not join a church or be baptized, you will do something in acknowledgment of your faith. You will give of your means—you will help the cause in some way?" "No, sir; I do nothing of the kind. The dying thief—" "Let me remark, my friend, before you go any further, that you seem to be on pretty intimate terms with the dying thief. You seem to derive a great deal of consolation ...

Ruth went to her mailbox and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter: "Dear Ruth: "I'm going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit. "Love Always, "Jesus" Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. "Why would the Lord want to visit me? I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer." With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. "Oh my goodness, I really don't have anything to offer. I'll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner." She reached for her purse and counted out its contents. Five dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least." She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of French brea...

Willis and Margaret sauntered down the streets of Baguio, enjoying a short reprieve from the intense heat and humidity of Manila. Willis had been elected president of the North Philippine Union, but Americans have to seek the coolness of the mountain air of the islands further to the south in order to regain some of the vigor the intense heat saps from them. While admiring the handicrafts of the clever Philippine people, Willis glanced up to see a little beggar girl headed toward them. He said to Margaret, "Look who's coming toward us—a beggar." "How do you know she's a beggar?" Margaret asked. "You can always tell them because they wear clothes two sizes too big for them. They think all Americans are rich. Let's ignore her to see what she does." "Agreed," Margaret said. As they walked past her extended hand, she took hold of Willis' coattail and pulled it. He turned and asked, "What do you want?" "P...

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied. The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn't have the sundae, ...

try not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Downs Syndrome. I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade. The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me; the mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truck stop germ" the pairs of white-shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truck stop waitress wants to be flirted with. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I clos...