When We Act Like Piñatas: Sermon Illustration Tuesday

When my kids were little, I used to hang piñatas from our favorite tree in the backyard as often as possible. Sometimes we did it for their birthdays, but sometimes we did it because it was Saturday, and what better day for a piñata than Saturday? I’d sneak off to the store to get a dinosaur or unicorn or rainbow-colored zebra, fill it full of candy, and two hours later we’d be scrambling through the grass in search of Starbursts.

The more opportunities I’ve had to blow it as an adult, the more other peoples’ responses have reminded me we’re a lot like those piñatas from my backyard. When people erupt into fits of rage when they’re wronged or surprise us with tenderness when we know they’ve been hurt, we get to see what’s inside of them. We see what they’re made of whenever they break.

Hopefully it’s not with a baseball bat, but at some point in life something will break you. We can’t avoid it, because we’re all a little broken and we’re bound to get things wrong. Someone will eventually nestle their way into your heart and then let you down. And when they do, you’ll either explode in anger or show a steady stream of love. Be love, so love will flow out when people fail you, just like it flowed from Jesus when He took the fall for us.

Give away love like you’re made of it. Let it fill you up like candy in a piñata, so when you take a hit, it’s what will pour out of you.

Bob Goff, Live in Grace, Walk in Love: A 365 Day Journey, Thomas Nelson, 2019, p. 45.

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