Sermon Illustrations
The Temptation of the Buddha-Mummy
Deep in our hearts, the dark part of us wants to be worshiped and adored. We desire power, attention, fame, praise, and many other things that are God's to receive. And every so often, we get a reminder of worship gone wrong … Or at least strange. Recently a man who had bought a Buddha statue found a mummified skeleton inside it. The skeleton was once a Buddhist master who placed himself in the statue after years of preparation to achieve "new levels of enlightenment and veneration." In that culture if the mummification process succeeds that statue would be put into a temple and worshiped.
Possible Preaching Angle:
There is a type of idolatry that looks for something to worship, and a type of idolatry that looks to be worshiped. Which is your heart in most danger of?
Source:
Hannah Keyser, “Mummy Discovered Inside an Ancient Buddha Statue,” Mental Floss (2-24-15)