[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 25A

Sun Oct 26 00:50:32 EDT 2014

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: propertalk.topic <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sun, Oct 26, 2014 12:01 am
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 25A

Dear Friends,

This Sunday’s sermon isentitled “When Dreams Die” and deals with the Old Testament Lesson (Exodus34:1-12).  Here it is: 

In our Old Testament Bible reading thismorning, we heard the sad episode of Moses’ death.  Moses- who by the glorious power of God faceddown the mightiest world power of his day, the Egyptian pharaoh.  Moses- who led the children of Israel out of Egypt fromslavery to freedom.  Moses- who climbedthe holy mountain to receive the Ten Commandments.  Moses- who interceded for those samehard-headed and hard-hearted people when they grew tired of waiting for him tocome down from the mountain and followed his brother Aaron in making and thenworshipping an idol (a golden calf). Moses who continued to intercede for the Israelites every time theyfaced hard times and their faith wavered. Moses- who at Meribah cried to the Lord when the people were withoutwater, prayed to the Lord and then used his staff to strike the rock.  You know what happened- out flowed preciouswater.  Moses- who led these people forFORTY YEARS through the desert to the Promised Land.  Yet, when they had finally reached their longawaited goal, the Lord took Moses up a high mountain so he could get a chanceto see the Promised Land.  There, Mosesdied without ever being allowed to enter the land with his beloved people.  Talk about a goal not reached- a dream notpersonally achieved!

Then there was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: From the Montgomery bus boycott throughfirebombings and beatings and jailings and terror at its worst, he faced downthe worst evil American racism had to offer. Through it all, he held fast to his dream- but he never personally sawit.  In one of his most famous sermons hesaid, “I have a dream......that my four little children will not be judged bythe 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, poorWhite) and to work for a Rainbow Coalition to work together for racial andeconomic justice.  A few days later, hisgoal was smashed by a sniper’s bullet.

And us...our dreams may not be as lofty asthose of Moses or Dr. King, but we’ve all had them.  You can ask any of our young people abouttheir goals.  If you ask, you will hearabout dreams of becoming teachers, lawyers, architects, doctors, singers,basketball and football players.  Youknow as well as I do that life is hard on dreams; in fact- I can think of threereasons why life is hard on dreams, and that’s what I’d like us to think aboutthis morning.

FIRST REASON- CONSEQUENCES.  Life is hard on dreams because we can’t prayourselves out of consequences we behave ourselves into.  That’s almost getting to be a St. Paul’s parishslogan.  Moses is the best example ofthis.  You might wonder- what sin couldMoses possibly have committed that was THAT BAD.  As you may know, Bible scholars have varyingtheories, but the most likely one is from what happened at Meribah when thepeople complained and Moses struck the rock to produce water.  What also happened was that the thirsty peopleintended to stone Moses, so he went in fear to the Lord, probably making itlook to the people as if Moses did not trust God.  In fact, in Numbers 20:12, God says to Mosesand Aaron, “Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did notrespect me.  And so, you will not be theones to lead them into the land I have promised.”  What’s the spiritual lesson for us?  The same as three weeks ago when we talkedabout not taking God’s name lightly. Don’t play with God.  If we wantto be blessed, we must follow God’s ways. Look at Psalm 1: 
1 “God blesses those people who refuseevil advice 
            andwon't follow sinners or join in sneering at God.   
2 Instead, the Law of the LORD makesthem happy, 
            andthey think about it day and night.
3 They are like trees growing beside astream, trees that produce fruit in season 
            andalways have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do.
4 That isn't true of those who areevil, 
            becausethey are like straw blown by the wind.   
5 Sinners won't have an excuse on theday of judgment, 
            andthey won't have a place with the people of God.   
6 The LORD protects everyone whofollows him, 
            butthe wicked follow a road that leads to ruin.”
Don’tplay with God.  You can’t pray your wayout 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 dreamsbecause this world is full of evil, and it is the true calling of every singleChristian to do everything in our power to eradicate evil every single place wefind it, no matter the risk to ourselves. Wow- but then no one ever said being a Christian was going to beeasy.  In fact, I read somewhere abouttaking up our cross and following Jesus. Again- our best example is the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He didn’t see the Promised Land, but whenfuture generations finally have a truly just, free country, it will be becauseof his sacrifice combined with the sacrifices of thousands of good people ofevery 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 rightway.  Do what Jesus said in today’sgospel reading (Matthew 22: 37-39):“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.....and love yourneighbor as much as you love yourself.”  

THIRD REASON- WE USUALLY MUST LIVE OUR LIVESONE 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 forthis!)  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 firstcall her off the sofa- first goodie. Next, another goodie got her to the hall; finally a third goodie got herto the bathroom- then SLAM, I had her. (She never did figure this out!) God did that with me.  When I wasabout six, I thought God was calling me to be a missionary (the only thing I’dever seen women do in church besides cooking and taking care of children).  That wasn’t it, but when I was about 20 Ithought my call was teaching inner-city, poverty children.  That was close, but not exactly it.  When I was about 22 I thought it was civilrights 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 elusivegoal was.  Finally, while I knelt as anacolyte at this holy altar at 31 years of age (about 45 years ago), I realizedwhat that call was- to be a priest.  Yousee 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 thefinal step; perhaps it’s just a stop along the way.  

FINAL THOUGHT- WHAT IF????  What if you are like Moses and consequenceshave interrupted your first dream?  Don’tquit.  God’s not through with you anymorethan he was with Moses, unless you think leading the people of Israel 40 yearsthrough the desert and then appointing his successor (Joshua) was nothing.  Stay strong, stay open, and God will show youyour next God-given goal.  Are youalive?  Then God has big dreams for you.  What if you are like Dr. King?  Don’t give in to evil; and don’t let evilbring 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 iswith you.  How do you get the power to dothis?  Do you remember the old song,“There is a balm in Gilead to make the woundedwhole;.....to heal the sin-sick soul.”  Gilead was a part of the Promised Land that Mosessaw.  In it were evergreen trees thatremind me of the house plants we sometimes have on our window sills in thekitchen in case we burn ourselves- the aloe plant.  Anyone have one?  You can’t carry a cross without getting hurtsometime, and we have the perfect balm- the arms of Jesus around us in the formof our Christian friends, Holy Communion, and the Holy Bible to heal our weary,sin-sick souls.  Amen. 

Foranyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statementsare posted on our parish’s NEW WEB SITE under “Sermons & Stuff”. Theaddress is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org.

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

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