[Propertalk] FW: Sermon for Proper 25A

[Joe Parrish]

-----Original Message-----
From: Judy [mailto:judy_boli at ecunet.org] 
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 9:52 PM
To: SERMONSHOP SERMONS
Subject: Sermon for Proper 25A

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow's sermon is entitled "When Dreams Die" and deals with the Old
Testament lesson (Deuteronomy 34: 1-12). Here it is:

In our Old Testament Bible reading this morning, we heard the sad
episode of Moses' death.  Moses- who by the glorious power of God
faced down the mightiest world power of his day, the Egyptian
pharaoh.  Moses- who led the children of Israel out of Egypt from
slavery to freedom.  Moses- who climbed the holy mountain to receive
the Ten Commandments.  Moses- who interceded for those same hard-
headed and hard-hearted people when they grew tired of waiting for him
to come down from the mountain and followed his brother Aaron in
making and then worshipping an idol (a golden calf).  Moses who
continued to intercede for the Israelites every time they faced hard
times and their faith wavered.  Moses- who at Meribah cried to the
Lord when the people were without water, prayed to the Lord and then
used his staff to strike the rock.  You know what happened- out flowed
precious water.  Moses- who led these people for FORTY YEARS through
the desert to the Promised Land.  Yet, when they had finally reached
their long awaited goal, the Lord took Moses up a high mountain so he
could get a chance to see the Promised Land.  There, Moses died
without ever being allowed to enter the land with his beloved people.
Talk about a goal not reached- a dream not personally achieved!

Then there was the Rev. Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.- his monument on
the Washington Mall was finally dedicated last Sunday.  From the
Montgomery bus boycott through firebombings and beatings and jailings
and terror at its worst, he faced down the worst evil American racism
had to offer.  Through it all, he held fast to his dream- but he never
personally saw it.  In one of his most famous sermons he said, "I have
a dream......that my four little children will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character."  Dr. King
went to Memphis, Tennessee, to support the strike of the garbage
workers (poor Black, poor Hispanic, poor White) and to work for a
Rainbow Coalition to work together for racial and economic justice.  A
few days later, his goal was smashed by a sniper's bullet.

And us...our dreams may not be as lofty as those of Moses or Dr. King,
but we've all had them.  You can ask any of our young people about
their goals.  If you ask, you will hear about dreams of becoming
teachers, lawyers, architects, doctors, singers, basketball and
football players.  You know as well as I do that life is hard on
dreams; in fact- I can think of three reasons why life is hard on
dreams, and that's what I'd like us to think about this morning.

FIRST REASON- CONSEQUENCES.  Life is hard on dreams because we can't
pray ourselves out of consequences we behave ourselves into.  That's
almost getting to be a St. Paul's parish slogan.  Moses is the best
example of this.  You might wonder- what sin could Moses possibly have
committed that was THAT BAD.  As you may know, Bible scholars have
varying theories, but the most likely one is from what happened at
Meribah when the people complained and Moses struck the rock to
produce water.  What also happened was that the thirsty people
intended to stone Moses, so he went in fear to the Lord, probably
making it look to the people as if Moses did not trust God.  In fact,
in Numbers 20:12, God says to Moses and Aaron, "Because you refused to
believe in my power, these people did not respect me.  And so, you
will not be the ones to lead them into the land I have promised."
What's the spiritual lesson for us?  The same as three weeks ago when
we talked about not taking God's name lightly.  Don't play with God.
If we want to be blessed, we must follow God's ways.  Look at Psalm
1:
1 "God blesses those people who refuse evil advice
	and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God.
2 Instead, the Law of the LORD makes them happy,
	and they think about it day and night.
3 They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce
fruit in season
	and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do.
4 That isn't true of those who are evil,
	because they are like straw blown by the wind.
5 Sinners won't have an excuse on the day of judgment,
	and they won't have a place with the people of God.
6 The LORD protects everyone who follows him,
	but the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin."
Don't play with God.  You can't pray your way out of consequences you
behaved yourself into.  We are many times our own worst enemy when we
try to achieve our goals.

SECOND REASON- EVIL- Life is hard on dreams because this world is full
of evil, and it is the true calling of every single Christian to do
everything in our power to eradicate evil every single place we find
it, no matter the risk to ourselves.  Wow- but then no one ever said
being a Christian was going to be easy.  In fact, I read somewhere
about taking up our cross and following Jesus.  Our best example is
the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He didn't see the Promised Land,
but when future generations finally have a truly just, free country,
it will be because of his sacrifice combined with the sacrifices of
thousands of good people of every color and creed who stood up for
justice and God and good.  What's the spiritual lesson for us?  Don't
take the easy way; take the right way.  Do what Jesus said in today's
gospel reading (Matthew 22: 37-39): "Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, soul, and mind.....and love your neighbor as much as you
love yourself."

THIRD REASON- WE USUALLY MUST LIVE OUR LIVES ONE STEP AT A TIME, ONE
DREAM AT A TIME.  I think sometimes God does us like I used to do our
cat last cat- Astrophe.  (Magnificat is too smart for this!)  If I
wanted to lock her in the bathroom, I'll never get her in there in one
step, and I surely couldn't catch her!  Instead, I had to get some
goodies and first call her off the sofa- first goodie.  Next, another
goodie got her to the hall; finally a third goodie got her to the
bathroom- then SLAM, I had her.  (She never did figure this out!)  God
did that with me.  When I was about six, I thought God was calling me
to be a missionary (the only thing I'd ever seen women do in church
besides cooking and taking care of children).  That wasn't it, but
when I was about 20 I thought my call was teaching inner-city, poverty
children.  That was close, but not exactly it.  When I was about 22 I
thought it was civil rights work, so I organized rent strikes with
Detroit CORE and went to Mississippi, Selma, Atlanta.  That was close,
but not it either.  I used to think that I would never really
understand what that elusive goal was.  Finally, while I knelt as an
acolyte at this holy altar at 31 years of age (about 42 years ago), I
realized what that call was- to be a priest.  You see how God went
from goodie to goodie to goodie.  What's the spiritual lesson for us?
Maybe what you think is your goal is not the final step; perhaps it's
just a stop along the way.

FINAL THOUGHT- WHAT IF????  What if you are like Moses and
consequences have interrupted your first dream?  Don't quit.  God's
not through with you anymore than he was with Moses, unless you think
leading the people of Israel 40 years through the desert and then
appointing his successor (Joshua) was nothing.  Stay strong, stay
open, and God will show you your next God-given goal.  Are you alive?
Then God has big dreams for you.  What if you are like Dr. King?
Don't give in to evil; and don't let evil bring you down to its level
by revenge, dishonesty, etc.  You will overcome?  What if you're like
Astrophe or me?  Take life step by step, and know that God is with
you.  How do you get the power to do this?  Do you remember the old
song, "There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;.....to
heal the sin-sick soul."  Gilead was a part of the Promised Land that
Moses saw.  In it were evergreen trees that remind me of the house
plants we sometimes have on our window sills in the kitchen in case we
burn ourselves- the aloe plant.  Anyone have one?  You can't carry a
cross without getting hurt sometime, and we have the perfect balm- the
arms of Jesus around us in the form of our Christian friends, Holy
Communion, and the Holy Bible to heal our weary, sin-sick souls.
Amen.

For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
wisdom statements are posted on our parish web site. The address is:
http://www.stpaulsepisag.com .

Blessed preaching.
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan