[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Easter Sunday

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Apr 7, 2012 10:20 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Easter Sunday


Dear Friends,

Tomorrow’s sermon is entitled “Easter- Which Side are You On?” or “It
Is Accomplished!  So What!!” and deals with the gospel (John 20:
1-18).  Here it is:

Happy Easter!  Did anyone get a chocolate bunny yet today?  A
chocolate egg?  A chocolate ANYTHING?  Did you hear the story of the
little girl who visited her friend’s house the day before Easter?  She
and her friend decided they’d try to find the Easter candy ahead of
time.  They found some and ate it, but it really tasted strange.
Later at home, she confessed to her mother what she had done and said,
“Mommy”, I do have one question I need to ask you.”  “What, dear?”
asked her mother.  “Can chocolates walk?” asked the child.  “No,
dear,” her mother says. “Of course not.”  “Oh-oh!,” the child
exclaimed, “I guess I’d better go brush my teeth, because I think I
just ate a cockroach.”  Don’t settle for the fake Easter- the one with
chocolate bunnies and cream eggs and jelly beans and baskets.  Enjoy
that one, but claim the real thing, the Easter with resurrection
power!  Let’s look at what happened.

We are all aware of how atrociously painful Jesus’ last days were,
but- if you think about it, his friends had also lived in crisis.  The
entire week had been unbelievably bad for all of Jesus’ friends-
actually going from terrible to worse.  They’d watched everyone turn
against him; with even his disciples leaving him to face his worst
times alone. They saw the trial, the beatings, the mocking, the
torture, his execution, and his burial.  Worse yet, because the
Sabbath was approaching, they couldn’t even give Jesus a proper
burial- his body had to be just quickly placed in the grave and locked
in with a huge stone.  Early Sunday morning, the women went to anoint
the body of Jesus.  When they got there, the stone was rolled away,
the body was gone, and an angel told them he had risen from the dead.

That’s what happened- Jesus is alive, but what’s it to you?   Let’s be
honest with each other.  Really- what difference does it make in your
life as you struggle to pay your bills, help the people you love get
along, avoid trouble, and get a little joy out of life.  The answer to
this question presented itself again the day before yesterday at the
very end of our Good Friday service.  Thrity-one of us (at one time or
another throughout the three hours) sat around the cross and kept
vigil, as you would in a hospital room while you waited for the death
of a loved one.  As we did the Stations of the Cross and the Good
Friday prayer book liturgy, we counted down the minutes.  At ten
seconds to three o’clock, we started counting: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1, 0- and shouted “It is accomplished!” because that’s what
Jesus said.  He didn’t say, “It’s over.”  He said, “ACCOMPLISHED!”  So
I ask you, what’s accomplished?  I can answer in two words REGIME
CHANGE!  This November, the U.S.A had an election in which Barack
Obama is going to run against a Republican yet to be named.  Then in
January of 2013, whoever wins will be sworn in as president.  If it’s
not President Obama, that will be an example of a regime change.  On
Good Friday through Easter- 2000 some years ago, the entire universe
had a regime change   The entire universe was reclaimed from the
forces of chaos, destruction, and evil; heaven had been claimed, and
the forces of God and good and life had won.  God is in charge.

How do you claim this regime change?  Well, first of all- have you
accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  If not- don’t wait!  Do it
now!  Tell me when you come up to the altar at Communion time, and we
can take care of that today.

But say you accepted Jesus years ago.  My question to you today then
is- are you living as if God and good and life are in charge; or are
you living as if evil and death are in charge?  Are you living a Good
Friday life or an Easter life?  Are you on the winning side, or are
you on the losing side, and how can you tell?
1.	Good Friday life- the perspective is defense; Easter life- the
perspective is offense!
2.	Good Friday life- I don’t get mad; I get even!  Easter life- drop
it; don’t let hatred poison your spirit; give the problem to God and
leave it there (i.e. God says, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay- and
God does a much better job than we ever could and can even get
spiritual growth in the lives of our enemies.).
3.	Good Friday life- I can’t take it!  I’ve got to have something
(alcohol, TV, drugs, nicotine, food, etc.) to make it through another
day!  Easter life- God can get you through anything!
4.	Good Friday life- ME, MY, MINE- my time and money and family and
material things are my own!  Easter life- everything I have is a gift
from God to be used to make my life and the lives of God’s other
children better.
5.	Good Friday life- I can’t!  Easter life- if it’s God’s will, I can!
6.	Good Friday life- I only associate with “my kind.”  Easter life-
the ground is level at the foot at the cross.
7.	Good Friday life- when you’re dead, you’re dead!  Easter life-
Jesus is the firstfruit; so death is new birth into heaven.

Did you hear the story of the depressed man and his friend who tried
to cheer him up?  The man said to his friend: “Say, you look
depressed. What are you thinking about?”  “My future,” was the quick
answer.  “What makes it look so hopeless?”  “My past.”

There- did I get you thinking?  Let me close with a final story that
perhaps will allow this Easter to become a turning point in your life,
because if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve
always gotten.  I’m going to close by repeating a story that has
almost become a St. Paul’s parable- because this is probably the
seventh time I’ve told it, but its message fits living life to its
fullest.  It’s the goldfish story.  Remember what happened to Clarence
Harvey (Congress of 1988) when he was young?  This is how he tells
it.  “When I was a little kid, I had a pet goldfish.  One summer as I
was packing to spend three months with relatives at the lake up north,
my dad said, ‘Take this goldfish with you.  I don't want to take care
of it this summer.’  One day after we got up to the lake, I decided to
become a liberator.  I went down to the dock with my fishbowl and gave
my fish a little talk.  ‘I am going to throw you in this lake,’ I
said.  ‘You will be free.  You can eat well here and grow up to be a
big fish.’  But when I put the goldfish in the water at the end of the
dock, it stayed right there.  I backed off, thinking the fish was
attached to my shadow.  But when I moved back to be sure it was gone,
it was still right there.  I even threw a stone into the water to
scare it away, but that goldfish just swam around it.  When I came
back after lunch, the goldfish was still there, swimming in the same
spot.  I sat down and thought, ‘That fish should be free.  It's got
the whole lake to swim in.’  Suddenly, I saw a big ripple in the water
- a huge ripple.  Whop!  A big bass swallowed my little goldfish.
Later in life someone told me that a goldfish, once it has lived in a
circumference of a certain size, has been conditioned to think small.
It will stay there until it dies - swimming around in that small
circle.”

Did you notice the thought for the week: “Life’s not the way it’s
supposed to be. It’s the way it is.  The way you cope with it is what
makes the difference” (Anonomous).  My friends- don’t let your past
determine your future!  Your past is the diving board, God’s Easter
power is the spring in the springboard to your future.  Easter power
reminds us that the future belongs to God and you.  Think BIG!  If you
can conceive it, and God wants you to do it, the sky’s the limit; and
the Risen Christ can give you the power to overcome!  Jesus rose, so
make Easter choices and follow Him.

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

 
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