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

[Joe Parrish]

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “When Dreams Die” and deals with the Old Testament Lesson (Exodus 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.: 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.  Again- 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 45 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’s NEW WEB SITE under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org.
Judy Boli



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