53 Sermon Illustrations on Family Values

“I can promise you one thing. I’ll do nothing to disgrace the office ....” Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart) in “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.” [review of movies at end]

As the U.S. Senate opened its impeachment trial of President Clinton Jan. 7 [1999], and the words perjury, obstruction of justice, abuse of power and sexual misconduct continue to headline most daily periodicals and news channels, perhaps a bit of Hollywood -- yes, Hollywood -- can help combat the attitudes of “I don’t care anymore” or that morality no longer has any place in our lives.

Help also can come from your pastor to the question, Are there still men and women who live by steadfast principles derived from biblical teachings? Indeed, there are real-life people who serve or have served in their chosen occupations while maintaining a regard for God’s commands.

As for movie heroes, here are some videos depicting politicians, religious leaders, educators and everyday “common” men and women who personify responsibility. They live the credo “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” rather than “Do unto others -- just don’t get caught.”

• MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. (1939). Jimmy Stewart reminds us what American politicians should aspire to. Freshman Sen. Jefferson Smith finds himself fighting for the ordinary guy against corruption and the powers that be. A very moving and perceptive Frank Capra film. Mr. Stewart’s Jefferson Smith embodies qualities we not only seek in a politician, but in a friend as well.

• MOTHER TERESA. (1987). In a time when the media is focusing on the follies of some TV evangelists, here’s a documentary about a group of women putting Christ’s teachings into practice. A life-changing film about an order of nuns who serve mankind. Petrie Productions.

• And we Protestants have our heroes as well: DIETRICH BONHOFFER: MEMORIES AND PERSPECTIVES. This 90-minute documentary features friends, family and students of the martyred theologian in World War II Germany. A vivid look at a remarkable man. Gateway Films/Vision Video.

• ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN. (1941). A devout minister (Fredric March) and family deal with the community and church life during changing early 1900s America. This film family reminds us that a sacrificial spirit is needed to carry out God’s plan for our lives. A fun scene has the skeptical Reverend attending his first movie.

• THE FOURTH WISEMAN. (1985). Based on the Henry Van Dyke tale of a good magi (Martin Sheen) seeking the birthplace of Jesus, but, because of his duty to others, is delayed in the desert for 33 years, only to see (from afar) the Savior as he is being crucified. He spent his life searching for the Messiah in order to give valuable treasures, but one by one he sells his priceless gifts to help others in need. This TV-made movie is full of compassion and illustrations of how our Lord would have us treat our fellow man. Alan Arkin serves well as comic relief in his role as the magi/doctor’s self-serving slave. A selfish man, the slave is finally moved by his master’s constant self-sacrifices. The end features the dying doctor looking up at Jesus, who commends him for his offerings. Christ assures the magi that when he did these things for others, he did them for the Son of Man as well.

• THE SCARLET AND THE BLACK. (1983). True story of a priest (Gregory Peck) who harbored allied POW escapees and the Nazi official (Christopher Plummer) who tries to catch him. The film is a bit long (155 min.) but the epilogue should not be missed. The lead’s mirroring of Christ’s compassion will help remind each of us to love our enemies.

• LILIES OF THE FIELD. (1963). Sidney Poitier won a Best Actor Oscar as a handyman who helps build a chapel for a sect of nuns. A gentle, sweet film, kept believable by Poitier’s solid performance.

• 1953’s THE ROBE has a Roman centurion (Richard Burton) haunted by his participation in the execution of Christ. One significant scene has the Roman giving a donkey to a Hebrew boy. It is probably the finest gift, if not the only one the child has ever received; yet the next day he bestows it to another peasant boy. This visual signifies, “It is better to give than to receive,” and startles the soldier into an awareness that there is something to this new religion.

• In 1935, LES MISERABLES provided a profound sampling of Christ’s teaching. Early on, a scene features a priest confronting French police with their prisoner, a thief who has stolen the only finery the monseigneur possesses, some expensive dinnerware. Rather than accusing the man of robbery, the clergyman announces that the thief was given the utensils. Furthermore, the priest scolds him for forgetting to take the silver candlesticks, which he then gives to the bewildered convict. Due to the man of faith’s compassion, our story’s protagonist turns his life around, serving God and man, including his long-time enemy.

• In Charles Laughton’s 1939 version of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, Esmeralda, a lowly gypsy girl, enters a cathedral to pray. She is surrounded by finely dressed, haughty aristocracy, each praying for their individual desires. We are taken aback, moved, enlightened and perhaps convicted by this girl’s selfless entreaties. She exemplifies Christ’s instruction to pray for others. It is a noble prayer, one that undoubtedly caught the attention of the addressee.

• THE CIVIL WAR. (1989). Ken Burns’ eloquent look at the struggle between the North and the South should be required viewing, especially for teens. This quintessential documentary on the War Between the States is a moving, learning experience about the foibles and nobility of the human spirit. Indeed, it defines the American spirit.

• MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS. (1995). Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas. PG (1 profanity; several mild expletives). A struggling composer takes a job as a high school teacher. Soon it becomes his 30-year occupation, giving students a compass to life. A feel-good movie in the tradition of Stand and Deliver. It is a pleasure to view a film about a principled man, loyal in profession and marriage.

• FRIENDLY PERSUASION. (1956). Unforgettable Gary Cooper tour de force. But then, everything about this picture is unforgettable. A charming portrayal of a Quaker family’s convictions being tested while caught in the Civil War conflict. President Reagan gave a copy to Mikhail Gorbachev.

• TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. (1962). Horton Foote’s Oscar-winning screenplay of the Harper Lee novel about rural life, justice, honor and bigotry as seen through the eyes of a 9-year-old girl. The ideals illustrated in the father figure (Gregory Peck) give each husband, father or neighbor something to strive to become. Other Horton Foote screenplays paying tribute to old- fashioned ethics: Tender Mercies and The Trip To Bountiful.

• PLACES IN THE HEART. (1984). A literate script presents a determined widow (Sally Field) bent on saving her farm during the ‘30s Depression. Contains perhaps the greatest ending to a film this buff has ever seen. A repentant adulterer is finally forgiven when his wife, moved by the pastor’s sermon, takes her husband’s hand during the service, signifying the restoring of a relationship through Christ’s love. Just as we are about to put our hankies away, another symbolic healing occurs. I won’t give that one away. Trust me, it’s powerful!

• BABETTE’S FEAST. This 1987 Best Foreign Film Oscar-winner is based on a short story by Isak Dinesen about two sisters in a small Danish town who take in a homeless woman as their servant. A beautiful story of devotion and sacrifice urging us not to hide behind our religion, but to put it into action. Like viewing a fine old painting or enjoying a sumptuous meal, it is a remarkable example that many American filmmakers could take a lesson from. Easy-to-read subtitles.

• And last -- perhaps the most significant film of all time -- IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946). Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey is given the opportunity to see what his community would have been like if he had never been born. He reminds us that we touch so many lives and can have a real influence on those souls. Mr. Stewart’s character personifies a caring and responsible spirit, and his example is eventually rewarded.

My mailbox is deluged weekly with fundraising letters from pro-family organizations that invoke the threat of same-sex “marriage” being legalized by liberal judges in various states. As important as it is to stand for the truth, these groups are tilting at windmills as long as American Christians continue to have a less-than-biblical respect for opposite-sex marriage.

That point was brought home to me recently with astounding clarity. A young lady who my wife grew up with decided to divorce her husband of two years, with a young daughter relegated to being tossed back and forth in a joint custody arrangement. There was no abuse or adultery, but since marriage is hard when two people are young and broke, she decided they made, in her words, “better friends than marriage partners.”

As far as I know, the young lady has never made a profession of faith, does not attend church and does not claim to know Jesus Christ, so to no one's surprise she sees no problem with a quickie divorce when things have not worked out the way she wanted.

It's time we quit being “huffy” when a pagan acts like a pagan -- what else do you expect?

What disgusted me was the response of the young lady's mother and grandmother, which is symptomatic of how lightly modern American Christians esteem marriage. Both the mother and the grandmother claim to be Christians and attend church regularly. The mother said very little except to offer her daughter a place to stay. The grandmother, however, was bolder. “I don't believe in divorce,” she said, “but sometimes it can't be avoided.”

Well, in this case we'll never know if it could have been avoided. No one tried to counsel the young lady or her husband or share with them what God has to say about marriage.

As a quick review for the sake of convenience, God said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24, NASB). Expounding on the theme, Jesus added, “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:6, NASB). Jesus went on to add that Moses gave the exception allowing divorce because of the hardness of people's hearts. Therefore, the exception is not absolute and does not have to be followed.

God's opinion on divorce of any kind is quite clear: Malachi 2:16 says that God hates divorce.

As God's children, should we not also hate divorce? Of course we should, and we should seek to avoid it wherever and whenever possible. But the simple fact of the matter is that corporately we do not hate divorce, nor do American Christians avoid it any better than our non-believing fellow Americans. A 2001 survey by George Barna showed that the divorce rate among evangelical Christians is “statistically identical” as the divorce rate among the general population.

When marriage means that little to the people of God, why should the broader culture care what we think about the subject?

The pro-homosexual “marriage” crowd is the one making all the noise and actually having the courage to stick up for what they believe, as perverted as it is. They understand that the first rule of getting what you want from the government in a democracy is to make more noise than the other guy.

There is really only one way for Christians to respond to this nightmare and silence the critics of traditional marriage and proponents of homosexual “marriage.” It's not easy. It's not always fun. It takes everything a person can give all the time.

It's called staying married, even when times are tough and you want out more than you want another breath. Beyond that, Christians should seek to glorify not themselves but God with their marriages.

If the broader culture should see the divorce rate among Christians go through the floor, they would know that there really was something different about us. Who knows what kind of opportunities this radical strategy would bring about for evangelism and national revival?

Right now, roughly a third of Americans say they support homosexual “marriage.” But in another few years, homosexual “marriage” will be the law of the land if Christians –- too many of whom see no problem with easy, no-fault heterosexual divorce -- have not recovered a respect for marriage beyond sending the occasional check to a pro-family organization.

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