[Propertalk] Fw: Sermon Resources for August 16 - Part 1 of 3

Sat Aug 15 16:20:31 EDT 2009

Subject: Sermon Resources for August 16 - Part 1 of 3

Sermon Resources for Proper 15:

    Ephesians 5:15-20  -  Be Careful How You Live
    Ephesians 5:15-20  -  Wise, Worshipful, and Wonderfully Wayward

                                       by Leonard Sweet

Ephesians 5, the sermon titled "Be Careful How You Live" 

There are two birds that fly over our nation's deserts: One is the hummingbird and the other is the vulture. The vultures find the rotting meat of the desert, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.

That is the essence of Paul's teaching: In life, there are two birds. The one bird looks for foolishness and stupidity, the other looks for wisdom. The vultures seek to fill themselves with the rotting flesh of drunkenness and debauchery, the hummingbird sobriety, freshness, and the Spirit. In the desert of this world you have your scavengers who are angry and ungrateful, but you also have those who hum a grateful hymn of thanksgiving. The irony is that you find what you are looking for.

In the fifth chapter of Ephesians Paul outlines proper behavior for good living. In our short passage he admonishes his readers to be careful how they live. He is brief and to the point. Three things we must do: Be wise, be sober, and be thankful. It's a short list but if we can orient our daily lives around these three-be wise, be sober, be thankful-we will transform not only our lives but also the lives of our family, friends, church, and neighbors. Paul then offers these admonitions:

1. Be Careful How You Live: Be Wise
2. Be Careful How You Live: Be Sober
3. Be Careful How You Live: Be Thankful

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.

__________________________________

Second Sermon by Len Sweet

Ephesians 5, the sermon entitled "Wise, Worshipful and Wonderfully Wayward" 

We used to tell these people, "Get off your high horse." I never knew what that meant literally, for they weren't on any horse, high or low. But we all knew what the expression meant. 

Is there anyone more annoying, more off-putting, more "fur-rubbed-the-wrong-way," than someone who is convinced they are "better" than you? Whether they are richer, or smarter, or prettier, or stronger, there are those who love going around "on their high horse."

In junior highs and high schools "cliques" rule the world. Every possible grouping of people gets its own label. Every pack has its own indelible identity. There are "jocks" and "cheerleaders." There are "Goths" and "Geeks." There are "Nerds" and "Freaks." How ironic that it is in school - the place we are primed and prepared for the expansive possibilities of the future that everyone is so tightly pigeon-holed and securely marked. 

Jesus failed to fit into any of the preconceived plans people had for a Messiah, for a Leader, for a Savior. And so did the first generations of Jesus' disciples fail to fit into any of the cultural conceptions of what was a "religion" or a "community." These "Christians" weren't Jews. These "Christians" weren't Gentiles. These Christians performed rites and rituals that sounded salacious and suspicious - what about all this drinking the blood and eating the body of a dead guy? Isn't that cannibalism? And this rhetoric about everyone loving one another? Isn't that the codeword for orgies? And these Christians kiss one another whenever they get together, regardless of social rank or color or economic status. 

The truth was these Christians came together to sing and pray and talk and give thanks. When Christians "celebrated" the wine did not flow and the moral boundaries did not disappear. In a world where religious ecstasy, mysterious secret rites, and  sexual excess were the "norms," these new "kids on the block," these "Christians" weren't "worse," they weren't "better." They were just really, really "different." So "different" that it was hard finding any category to place them in. 

If you've survived grades 1-12, and it looks like many of you have, you know that being tagged as "different" is never a good thing. Even though Jesus tried to keep a low profile, being "different" got Jesus in big trouble with the Jewish religious hierarchy, who then quickly passed him on to the Roman political hierarchy, where he got in more trouble. 

Being "different" paved Jesus' path to the cross.

Embodying Jesus' "differentness" got the first Christians in trouble too. They didn't fit within Judaism. Yet they stood completely outside the pagan, cultic traditions. The first century religious world didn't know what to do with these disciples of a crucified criminal. Eventually Judaism, which was already on the "suspect" list of the Roman Empire, chose to put its head down, "hunker-in-the-bunker" and distance itself from these Christians. Eventually Rome found Christians made excellent fall-guys and fodder for the Coliseum carnage. Christians vs. Lions was a game with a predictable out-come. But many found it fun to watch, and cities competed with one another as to who could build the biggest and best stadium where these games could take place. 

How did it happen that Christians now have a "holier-than-thou," "better-than-you" reputation? Being "Christian" has never been about being "better" than others. Being "Christian" has always been about being "different." Living "differently" than the world. Seeing different solutions to the problems of humanity. Celebrating a very "different" kind of victory - a victory that starts with a death on a cross and whose end was not yet come. The gospel is less about "better" than "different." Disciples of Jesus are not just called to be "better" but to be "different." A Christian's motto might be "I beg to differ." 

Being different, living different - that is the life-blood which keeps the circulation of the body alive and separated from the rest of the world, even while living in its midst. The Ephesians writer in today's text looked at three ways these Christians were "different."  

First, they were wise.

Second, they were worshipful.

Third, they were wondrously wayward.

The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be obtained by joining www.eSermons.com.

Click here:  http://www.esermons.com/signup or call 1-800-777-7731 to join.

________________________________ 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20090815/3770b412/attachment.htm>