[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Epiphany 4B

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Fri, Jan 27, 2012 11:52 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Epiphany 4B


Dear Friends,

Tomorrow’s sermon is entitled “No Matter How Hard Life Gets, God Is in
Charge!” or “Rough Side of the Mountain” and deals with the Old
Testament lesson (Deuteronomy 18: 14- 19) and the gospel (Mark 1: 21-
28). Here it is:

2012 is not off to a good start.  It seems like every time I turn on
the television set, I hear of another shooting.  People are still
losing their homes at a shameful rate- in our area from unpaid taxes
when they lose their jobs, and the jobless rate is still terrible.  It
is improving on paper, but people are still desperate.  The world
economy is shaky, and in this part of the city, “depression” is a much
more accurate word than “recession.”  Even though major banks had to
be shored up with public funds- i.e. our taxes, still we hear of their
top executives getting huge bonuses.  In other words, the rich are
getting richer and everyone else is getting poorer!  You know the old
statement that goes: “There are only two things you can count on in
life- death and taxes.”  Well, I can put it a better way.  “There are
only two things you can count on in life: life is hard and God is in
charge!”  Even after all the tragedies I just mentioned- there’s no
question that life is hard.  Those of us who’ve walked through the
valleys also know that GOD IS IN CHARGE.  These two truths are what
I’d like us to focus on this morning, and I’d like us to explore what
today’s Bible lessons have to say to us about them.

The first truth is the pure reality that life is hard and loss is
inevitable.  We parents and grandparents try so hard to shield our
beloved children from the roughness of living, but anyone who’s lived
a while really knows this is true.  Through much of our lives, we find
ourselves climbing up the rough side of the mountain- as the song
says.  Today’s Bible lessons speak to two of the difficulties we all
face in life.  The Old Testament scripture tells how Moses, who has
led the Israelites forty years through the dessert, will not be
allowed to enter the Promised Land.  Another prophet, Joshua, will
lead them in, and Moses will die after being allowed to look at the
Promised Land from a distance.  Moses’ situation is much like that of
Dr. King- he went to the mountain top, he saw the Promised Land, but
he died before he could enter it.  Anyone old enough to remember the
grief when Dr.  King was shot?  I remember- it was the day before my
birthday, and it seemed like everyone I knew grieved for a long time.
That must have been how the Israelites felt- huge grief over losing
their leader of 40 plus years.  No question about it- life is hard,
and loss, with its accompanying grief, is inevitable.

Another way life is hard is that it is unfair.  Both the Old Testament
reading and the epistle show us people of God who are dealing with
this painful reality.  Do you remember how unfair Dr. King’s murder
was?  We’ve seen many episodes of war on television; in fact our own
country is responsible for the Iraq war that just ended.  Disregard
how just a specific war is- just consider the unfairness of all the
innocent people who are killed or wounded.  Another kind of unfairness
is shown in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  Do you know anyone who
is interested in exerting his or her own rights at the expense of
others?  Examples- I can play my stereo as loud as I want- it’s my
right!  Or- I don’t care if you are on trying to give up smoking (or
on a diet, or whatever), I can eat, drink, smoke anything I want.
It’s my right.  Well the Corinthians were like that.  They were
divided- Jewish Christians against Gentile Christians about eating
meat.  In their society, the best place to buy really good meat was at
the pagan temple, because after the animal had been sacrificed to
idols, it was sold.  The problem was- Jewish Christians knew idols
were nothing, so they had no problem eating meat that had been
sacrificed to a nothing, i.e. an idol.  Many gentile Christians, on
the other hand, had actually been part of that worship before they
were saved, and they felt really uncomfortable having anything to do
with that temple or those idols- even if the idols were really nothing
at all.  When they couldn’t resolve their problem, they wrote to
Paul.  You heard his response.  He assured the Jewish Christians that
they were correct- they really did have the right to eat whatever they
chose, including meat offered to idols.  After saying that, he shifted
gears from “rights” to “love.”  He told them that they did NOT have
the right to weaken the faith of a person for whom Christ died.  He
concluded by saying in verse 13, “So if I hurt one of the LORD'S
followers by what I eat, I will never eat meat as long as I live.”  So
much for rights.  Life is not fair.  No matter how unfairly we are
treated, as Jesus’ followers- we are expected to carry our cross and
do what is best for others.

We’ve seen two examples (out of many that we could use) that life is
hard.  What about the other truth- that God is in charge?  How can we
claim the power that comes from this sure knowledge?  First- let’s
look at what it doesn’t mean.  When we say that God is in charge, does
it always mean that all we have to do is pray and God will make our
troubles and hardships go away.  Sometimes it does mean that, and we
get a miracle; but what about when we don’t?  What about when that
person we love dies, or that leader (like Moses or Dr. King) is taken
from us?  What about when the diagnosis is inoperable cancer and it
continues to progress?  What about when our loved ones are in the way
of those bullets?  What if when we pray for peace, instead our sinful
world or city or neighborhood erupts into war?  If you’ve walked with
the Lord, you already know the answer.  Sometimes God expects us to
strengthen our faith by walking hand-in-hand with him through the
valley as in the 23rd Psalm, even when it’s the valley of the shadow
of death.  In times like that, his promise in Romans 8 is absolutely
true: “There is NOTHING that can separate you from God’s love.”  By
ourselves- we would crumble, but with the Lord, the Word, the
Sacraments, the Church- nothing can crush our spirits.  That’s one way
God is in charge.

The Gospel shows another way God is in charge- by using Satan’s worst
tricks to the advantage of the Kingdom.  Today’s gospel tells of a man
who had been afflicted by evil for much of his life- truly a tragic
waste of human potential.  What did Jesus do?  By healing the
possessed man, he proclaimed his Lordship so many could come to know
him as Lord!  That kind of spiritual karate is what God expects us to
do.  When you are faced with evil- whatever it is; redirect the
negative energy into positive energy and get something good out of it
for yourself or someone else.  Has someone treated you unjustly?  Take
it to the Lord in prayer, then figure how to get justice for yourself
and other people.  Do you have a habit that threatens to enslave you?
Take it to the Lord in prayer, then get healing for yourself and learn
to be an instrument of healing for others.  Even facing sickness and
death, touch some life with your faith and spiritual power.  Don’t
ever waste trouble.  The worse it is, the more we must get good out of
it.

So- two things are sure in life: life is hard and God is in charge.
Let’s close by bowing our heads and praying together the Prayer of St.
Francis on page 833 of the Book of Common Prayer.  It is number 62.
Let us pray.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
    		to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. 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

 
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