[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 19B

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Sep 15, 2012 7:54 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 19B


Dear Friends,

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled Words and Toothpaste” or “Take Up
Your Cross and Follow Jesus” and deals with the epistle (James 3:1-
12) and the gospel (Mark 8:27-38).  Here it is:

Do you remember the story of the Sunday school teacher who wanted to
be sure her little kindergarten students really understood that Jesus
was inside them, especially after they had received Holy Communion?
She asked the children, “Where is Jesus?  One replied, “In heaven.”
Wonderful, said the teacher, but that wasn’t exactly the answer she
wanted so she asked again, “Where is Jesus?”  “In my heart,” answered
a sweet little girl.  All this time, little Johnny was frantically
waving his hand.  Knowing better, the teacher called on him.  “Where
is Jesus, Johnny?” she asked.  “In our bathroom!” answered Johnny.
“In your bathroom?!” asked the teacher.  “Johnny, why in the world
would you say that Jesus is in your bathroom?”  “That’s easy,” Johnny
replied.  “Every morning when my big sister gets in the bathroom to do
her hair and locks the door, my father yells- “Good Lord!  Are you
still in there?”  Well, Jesus didn’t ask where he was in our gospel
lesson this morning.  He asked who he was.  As you recall, Jesus
started by “testing the waters” so to speak.  He asked his disciples
who everyone was saying he was.  After the expected answers of
“Elijah” and “John the Baptist” and maybe one of the other prophets,
Jesus turned the question on them.  He got right down and personal by
asking the hard question- “Whom do YOU think I am?”  Good question-
not just for them, but for us.  Peter answered with amazing insight
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Jesus must have
been encouraged, because he began to pour out his heart and tell his
beloved disciples how his calling was to suffer, be executed on a
cross, die, and then rise again on the third day.  Peter must have
thought Jesus had lost it, because he pulled him aside and basically
told him to “get himself together and not talk that way.”  That’s when
Jesus told Peter to “Get thee behind me, Satan!”  Jesus went on to say
that he was not the only one who would suffer, but that all of his
disciples were expected to “deny themselves and take up their cross”
and follow him.

Just a reminder- I’m sure you remember the difference between a cross
and an affliction.  An affliction is something (like my diabetes) that
is annoying, frustrating- but something over which I have no control.
A cross, on the other hand, is chosen.  So, if for you, like Peter,
Jesus is truly your Lord as well as your Savior, how are you doing?
Are you obeying him by denying yourself and taking up your cross, or
do you tend to usually take the easy way?  Do you “put yourself out”
for the church and other people?  Do you make sacrificial choices, or
do you tend to choose only what you want to do, looking out for number
one?  Do you help whoever needs it, or do you help only your family?
If you find your choices are mostly for yourself and your family,
Jesus says you are missing out on real life.  That’s what he means
when he says, “If you want to save your life, you will destroy it.
But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will
save it” (Mark 8:35).

The Bible lessons for today focus on one kind of cross Jesus expects
us to bear, and you can guess what it is by checking out the James
lesson.  James (possibly Jesus’ little brother) reminds us how
dangerous an out-of-control tongue is.  Stop and think how many lives
have been damaged, and sometimes destroyed, by someone who “lets it
all hang out” and tells another person exactly what they think.  Often
we do this trying to “help” the other person (in other words to
“teach” them a lesson), but what does James say about teachers in
today’s epistle (James 3:1)?  “My friends, we should not all try to
become teachers. In fact, teachers will be judged more strictly than
others.”  And Jesus himself reminds us that we’d better take care of
our own problems before we presume to tell others what they should
do.  He tells us not to bother trying to take the little speck out our
neighbor’s eye when we have a huge log in our own eye (Matthew
7:1-5).  Did you notice the wisdom in the thought for the week?  “The
fastest horse cannot catch a word spoken in anger (Chinese proverb).
You know that’s true!  I’ve got a question for you: what’s the same
about this tube of toothpaste and a bunch of words?  (Squirt some
toothpaste on a piece of paper and show it.)  Do you see this
toothpaste?  Now, do you see this dollar bill?  This dollar bill goes
to anyone who can put the toothpaste back into the tube.  My dollar is
safe, isn’t it!?  If you think it’s hard to get toothpaste back into
the tube, try forcing words back into your mouth after you’ve said
something stupid or mean!  Who here hasn’t at some time said something
when you were mad, then wished with all your heart you could take it
back, but (just like the toothpaste) those words were out for all to
hear?  Relationships have been destroyed, family feuds started, jobs
lost, fights, even murders and suicides- all due to what comes out of
our mouths in anger.  So maybe the cross our Lord is asking you to
carry is to learn to control your mouth and use it for God’s glory
instead of using it to spread the devil’s kingdom.

No one ever said being a Christian is easy.  It IS fulfilling,
exciting, a wonderful way to live, full of hope because we know where
we’re spending eternity; but not easy.  I’m going to close with a
story of a man who’d gotten a ticket for speeding, even though he was
sure he had been going the legal limit.  Because this man knew he was
innocent, he decided to contest his ticket even though all his friends
said contesting it was useless.  As he walked into the courtroom and
sat down, he saw a woman already before the judge trying to talk her
way out of a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign.
“But your honor,” said the lady.  Before she could even finish her
sentence, the judge boomed- “Guilty!  I’m fining you $50 and costs!”
“Jerk!” exclaimed the woman under her breath.  “I heard that!” said
the judge.  “That’ll be an extra $50.”  The next person before the
judge was a man who had gone through a yellow light.  Without even
giving him a chance to speak, the judge proclaimed- “Guilty!  I’m
fining you $100 and costs!”  “Bozo!” exclaimed the man softly- hoping
the judge would not hear.  “I heard that!” said the judge.  “That’ll
be an extra $100.”  At that point, our friend who had just come in
started leafing through his wallet.  “What are you doing?” the judge
asked.  “Just checking, your honor.  I want to see if I have enough
money to tell you what I think of you.”

My friends, telling that judge off was going to be expensive, and
that’s where the tie-in is.  Living for Jesus is too.  May God bless
all of us as we daily do our best to deny ourselves, sacrifice for
others, and take up our cross and follow our blessed Lord.

For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
wisdom statements either is or will be 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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