Sermon Illustration: The Secret of the Universe

Below is an illustration about the Bible from chapter 4 of Jared Wilson’s The Imperfect Disciple. I read it and thought there are several times this (or a similar illustration) could be used.

My primary walking-around Bible is an ESV journaling Bible. The binding is coming apart. I have written in nearly every margin. Some pages are crinkled and stained. There is a bloody fingerprint in there somewhere. (It might be chocolate, actually.) If you were passing by my green ’97 Chevy Suburban in a parking lot and happened to see this worn bout book lying on the passenger seat, where it often rests, you’d hardly give it a second look. Certainly you wouldn’t feel the least big tempted to break in to my vehicle and steal this book.

But imagine somebody took you aside one day as you were walking by, grabbed you by the arm, pointed in the direction of my vehicle, and said, ‘Do you see that beat-up Chevy Suburban over there? On the passenger seat rests “THE SECRET OF THE UNIVERSE.” 

Well, you might consider that for at least a second, wouldn’t you?

The secret of the universe! The thing, the message that every human being has been searching for since the creation of the world. The skeleton key that unlocks humanity itself. The answer to all human desire and longing and dissatisfaction and brokenness. The very voice of God! A word straight from outer space! And it is inside that book inside that vehicle.