[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 16

Sun Aug 23 06:50:32 EDT 2015

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Aug 22, 2015 8:04 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 16

Dear Friends,

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Whom Do You Serve?” or “Do You Keep your God-Promises When You Get Home?” or “Break Every Chain!” and deals with the Old Testament lesson (Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18) and the gospel (John 6:56-69).  Here it is: 

In our Old Testament lesson (Joshua 24), we heard part of the mighty prophet Joshua’s last words to his beloved people.  To get the most out of this sermon, let me refresh your memory about the sequence of the Old Testament.  You recall how the Children of Israel were slaves in Egypt; and how God called his mighty Prophet Moses to lead them out of Egypt through the Red Sea to the Promised Land.  It was in the desert that God gave the Children of Israel (and therefore us) the Ten Commandments.  Just before the people were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses died and Joshua was appointed the next prophet to take over after Moses.  Joshua led the Children of Israel across the Jordan River and also as they settled the Promised Land.  Do you remember what happened next?  Time and time again, the Children of Israel, who had seen miracle after miracle as God protected and provided for them in the desert and in conquering the Promised Land, started following the sophisticated ways of the pagans who lived among them and worshipped idols.  Calamity would hit; they would pray for God to save them; God would; then things would go back to normal- including their worship of the fashionable idols of the land.   Now- in today’s Old Testament Lesson, we hear Joshua’s last words to his beloved people.  We hear him as he challenges them: “Choose this day whom you will serve” (God or idols).  Then Joshua reminded them of his own lifelong choice: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Now let’s move our focus to the Gospel.  Crisis- the 5,000 men (plus women and children) had been listening to Jesus in the hot sun.  It is getting late- time to travel home, and many will be sick and fainting on the journey, since they haven’t eaten.  Jesus feeds all 5,000 plus from the five barley loaves and two small fish donated by a small boy.  After everyone has eaten, twelve baskets full of leftovers are collected from the five barley loaves and two small fish.  What a miracle!  Jesus saved the day!  Surely after such a great miracle, the people would be receptive to Jesus’ teaching- right?  Wrong!  Jesus used the occasion to teach some of the 5,000 plus people about the meaning of the Bread from Heaven (i.e. his Holy Flesh given for the life of the world- Holy Communion).  Do you remember what happened next?  Some of these very same people who experienced this mind-blowing miracle start mumbling- “This teaching is too hard!  Who can stomach such teaching!”  They start to drift away- leave!  Jesus turns to the disciples and asks if they are leaving too?  That’s when Simon Peter makes his prophetic statement: “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You alone have the words of eternal life!”  In other words, the twelve disciples choose to stay with Jesus- no matter what.

Look at the pattern: Crisis, miraculous deliverance; life gets better; the people drift away- go back to the same-old, same-old; the choice- whose side are you on?  With the Children of Israel- they faced their huge crisis (slavery in Egypt, the Red Sea in front and the Egyptian army behind); with relief they gloried in their miraculous deliverance; life got better and they drifted away from the Lord to selfish behavior; and Joshua challenged them.  The same pattern happened in today’s Gospel.  The many would-be disciples faced their crisis- no food and a long trip home; miraculous deliverance with the multiplication of the five loaves and two small fish so that all 5,000 plus were fed; and then hard teaching.  They decide that following Jesus is too hard; they start to drift away; Jesus’ challenge.

Now- what about us?  We’ve seen the same pattern in our lives, sometimes over and over again. Crisis; we pray for deliverance; God works things out for us- we get the house, car, job, health, whatever…  We get used to it and go back to the “same-old, same-old”, in other words- living as if God doesn’t exist and our only concern is what we want.  We become our own idol.  

You don’t want to be like that, do you?  So how do you recognize the symptoms of going back to the “same-old, same-old”?  It depends on your own personal weaknesses to temptation.  Check these out: 

When someone does evil to you, do you drop it and give it to God, or do you get revenge?  (This one can be really hard to identify- it’s easy for us to trick ourselves, and revenge can be so very subtle.)  

What about money as your idol?  Do you put up God’s money first and work toward a tithe, or do you give God the leftovers?  

What about your relationships?  Do you treat everyone with respect, even your enemies?

What about sex?  Do you follow your way or God’s way?  Adultery is NEVER all right!  Sex within marriage is always the rule, but if you’re doing it your way- are you taking all possible precautions against pregnancy and STD’s, especially HIV?  It’s one thing to risk yourself.  It’s something else to bring an innocent baby into this world when you are not in any kind of position to care for or even provide for it.  

What about your time?  Do you always give God his worship every Sunday, or do you just come to church when it is convenient?  Is every waking minute all about you, or do you invest your time for God- helping others, improving yourself, doing all you can to make God’s church and world glorious in His name?

Your friends?  Do they determine your values, or does Jesus determine your values?  When you’re trying to decide what to do, do you ask yourself WWJD- what would Jesus do?

This list of six temptations may not have identified yours, but you know your weaknesses.  You know what God is calling you to change (or to keep changed), to improve (or to keep improved), how God wants you to grow (or to keep growing).  So now I’m asking you the same thing Joshua asked his people?  Whom will you serve- God or yourself and what you want?  I can only tell you my choice- I intend to serve the Lord.  

I’m going to close with a story.  I hope and pray these scriptures have you thinking about changes that will make you a better Christian.  To be honest, our problem is not making a choice for Jesus while we’re in this holy church- it’s keeping the commitments we make when we get home.  This is a story about the First Goose Church of God in Christ.  Pastor Gander waddled up to the pulpit and began his fiery sermon. “What kind of birds are we?” He thundered. “Geese!” The congregation answered, and an “Amen” was heard from somewhere in the back.  “That¹s right!” shot back the Pastor. “We are GEESE! God made us GEESE to be GEESE, and not DUCKS or SPARROWS or KIWIS!”  “AMEN!” honked several congregants. “And what are these things that GOD has given us, these MAJESTIC appendages?” “WINGS!” shouted the congregation, honking its approval of this fine observation.  “And WHY did GOD give us these fine wings?”  “To FLY, Pastor!” said Mrs. Thelma Gosling, standing up in the first row.  “We can FLY with them!” Choruses of “That¹s right, Thelma!” and “You go, Girl!” rang out from around the room.  The pastor really started to groove now. “God wants us to FLY! We can soar above the clouds! We can fill the skies! We are God¹s flying children! The moles can dig, the lions can hunt, but we can fly! We can catch the winds beneath our wings and thrill to the sensation of the breeze through our feathers. We can reach the mighty mountain tops and skim the tips of the giant Sequoias!” “AMEN! We can FLY!” the congregation echoed back  “If GOD wants us to fly, then what do we gotta do?” challenged the pastor. “We gotta FLY!” said the congregation. “We gotta WHAT?” asked Pastor Gander. “We gotta FLY!” “WHAT?” “FLY!!” “WHAT!” “FLY!!” And as the congregation WADDLED out of the church and WALKED home, they remarked to one another on how inspiring the pastor¹s sermon was that morning (The Rev. John Ramsey, Ottawa, Ohio).  So don’t be like those geese- don’t waddle home.  Use your Holy Spirit power.  Don’t block the Spirit.  Make Jesus your choice and stick with Him.  Amen.

For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .

Blessed preaching,

Judy Boli

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw, Michigan

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