[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Lent 3 on Romans

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Fr HC Smith <howard.smith at anglican.org.au>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Tue, Mar 22, 2011 4:30 am
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Lent 3 on Romans


Friends,

Below are a few thoughts for developing a sermon from the reading in Romans 

for Lent 3, from an Australian point of view.

Howard

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* Today we are up to the 3rd Sunday in Lent, that time in the year when we 

try a little harder to become more like Jesus.

+ Today Paul takes us on a little further in our journey of being followers 

of Jesus:

- he tells us as we practise our faith we will get the gift of

peace, and especially peace with God.

+ We have this peace because of what Jesus has done for us;

- once again it's not something we have to work hard to earn,

we don't have to try to be good, we don't have to go to

Church (though of course those are good things to do when we can).

+ Jesus has introduced us to God's undeserved kindness, as Paul

tells us today - and all we have to do is to act upon it.

+ When we keep that idea in the front of our minds, then we can

cope with all the sufferings which come to us,

- all the difficulties we may have to live through.

+ So when the problems of living seem to be so overwhelming,

- when we can't seem to find a way through;

- when other people, or just life, seem to be doing terrible things to us:

+ That's the very time to remember Jesus and to take hold of his

gift of peace with God.

+ Do you remember the woman we read about in the gospel

- she was all churned up about religion, about laws, about

what other people thought;

- but Jesus got her to stop focussing on those things, and

instead to concentrate on him, and his gift of peace.

+ and once she did that she was transformed

- she was filled with happiness, and set out to deal with all the

other problems in her life.

+ In one stroke, the rigid sanctions of the kind of worship and

religion and custom that she and her people had embraced for

centuries are abolished.

- Jesus proposes a revolutionary new way to God

- not based on the old system of exclusion and judgment,

- but a Way grounded in spirit and in truth.

+ As if all this is not enough, he commissions her to be a disciple

to her own people and does not send "a member of his staff" or

some man to accompany her to make sure she gets it right.

+ The ordination of women is not all that novel, after all.

+ The Samaritan woman dares to accept her charge and returns

to her townsfolk to tell them her tale.

+ That's an example for us to follow: take the time to

concentrate on Jesus: perhaps by reading the Bible, perhaps by

praying the Daily Office, perhaps by looking at, or holding, a cross;

- load all the other problems onto Jesus, trusting God's

word that you do have peace with God, and if you have that

kind of peace, you can let it flow into every other part of

your life, and you can start living at peace with other people,

and so find happiness once again.



* One of the great things to celebrate at Easter is the gift of

peace which Jesus gives to who choose to take up his invitation

to become his followers

- the gift which Paul underlined for us in today's reading from the Letter 

to the Romans.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Rev'd Dr H.C. Smith

 Retired Anglican Priest

 Orange NSW

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 






 
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