Checkmate and the last move | John Ortberg | Sermon Illustrations

Bishop Kenneth Ulmer is the pastor of a church that meets in Los Angeles at the Forum where the Lakers used to play basketball. He tells the story of two men in a museum who see a painting of a chess game. One character in the painting looked like a man; the other looked very much like the devil. The man was down to his last piece. The title of the painting was Checkmate.

One of the two men looking at the painting was an international chess champion. Something about the painting intrigued him. He began to study it. He grew so engrossed that the man with him got a little impatient and asked what he was doing.

The chess champion said, “Something about this painting bothers me. I want to study it awhile. You go ahead and wander around.”

When the friend came back after a while, the chess master said, “We must locate the man who painted this piece. We must tell him he must either change the picture or change the title. I have determined there is something wrong with this painting, and I am an international chess champion.”

His friend asked, “What’s wrong with the painting?”

The man replied, “It’s titled Checkmate, but the title is wrong. The king still has one more move.”


John Ortberg, When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box

Checkmate and the last move | John Ortberg | Sermon Illustrations

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