In the next section of the sermon one might give examples of how running away from God is one of the prominent themes in Scripture.Ī.“I Am Running Away.” “I am running away,” the little bunny says. To use The Runaway Bunny story, one could open the sermon by describing and quoting the story as I have done above. The poem speaks of God’s fierce and relentless pursuit of us). (Another often-quoted image one might work with in this sermon is the classic poem “The Hound of Heaven” by the English poet Francis Thompson. If one stays true to the text of the psalm, the bunny story can be a delightful entrée into the passage and a focusing image for the sermon. Some may say, “Too sentimental!” But if done well, the sermon need not lapse into sentimentalism. Why not use the runaway bunny story in a sermon as a metaphor for God’s love for us? I’m sure I’m not the first to do so. What is it that makes that story so compelling? Is it the profound love that healthy parents have for their children? Love is powerful in all kinds of relationships. At the end the mother speaks of catching him in her arms to hold him fast and hug him. The story continues in the same vein with the bunny wanting to run away by various means and his mother saying she would do whatever necessary to find him. For you are my little bunny.” “If you run after me,” said the little bunny, “I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you.” “If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother, “I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.” “If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny, “I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.” “If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,” said his mother, “I will be a mountain climber, and I will climb to where you are.” (Margaret Wise Brown, The Runaway Bunny, Harper & Row, 1942 revised ed. So he said to his mother, “I am running away.” “If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you. Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. Why not use the book in a sermon on Psalm 139:7-12? Maybe you know the story: The book has always reminded me of Psalm 139. Written in 1942, the book has been in print for seventy years and is one of the best-selling children’s books of all time. When our daughters were young, one of their favorite books we read to them was The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. “You are there, and there, and even there….” Where can I go? Where can I flee? Nowhere. If I go to the farthest limits of the sea, even there your right hand shall hold me fast.” The pictures are vivid: up to the heavens, down to the underworld, to the farthest limits of the sea. But I have long thought there is also a playful quality in the images: “If I ascend to heaven, you are there if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. The words of Psalm 139 are among the most beautiful in the Scriptures: “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” How can one begin to do these words justice when preaching? The meaning is profound. God’s inescapable presence is a gift God offers us. But there is nowhere we can hide from the God who created us and loves us. We wander away from God and run from God. Theological Point: God’s presence is inescapable. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.Īnd settle at the farthest limits of the sea, Learning From the Psalms How to Pray Through Your Work.Beyond Rank and Power: What Philemon Tells Us About Leadership.Evangelism - Sharing the Gospel at Work.10 Key Points About Work in the Bible Every Christian Should Know.Ministers are now considering a new testing method for travellers which would cut isolation times, with airport-testing hoping to be given the go-ahead in the next few days. St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands.Greece (except the islands of Zante, Crete, Mykonos – if you arrive in England from any of these islands you will need to self-isolate).
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