[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Christ, the King Sunday - Part 1 of 2

[Joe Parrish]

Sermon for Christ, the King Sunday - Part 1 of 2
Dear Friends,
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Jesus, the Christ Is Lord” or “Those Four-Letter Words!” and deals with the concept of Christ, the King.  Here it is:
 Our previous cat was named Astrophe (from the word Cat-Astrophe!).  As she aged and got sicker with kidney disease, and I knew the time had come to have her euthanized, I asked the veterinarian how to pick our next cat. The doctor said to gently pick up the kitten I think I like and hold it like a baby on its back.  If it didn’t struggle- it had a good chance of being a happy, loving animal companion.  She reminded me that both dogs and cats are much happier if their humans are at the top of the “pecking order.”  She explained that animals without a leader live confused, frustrating, sometimes aggressive lives.  Sounds a lot like people to me- I think we also need a leader- and for me, that leader is Jesus.  I guess this is why Christ the King Sunday really speaks to me.  A life with only “self” in charge has real possibilities of being a sad, confused life.  Example- a reporter once asked Marilyn Monroe if she believed in astrology.  She replied, “Sure, I believe in everything a little bit.”  You remember the tragic end of her searching life was suicide.  My challenge to you today is- don’t believe in just a little bit of everything- astrology, psychics, rabbits’ feet, luck.  Give your life to God- totally, completely, no holding back.  Jesus said, “I am the Way, I am Truth, and I am Life.”  A song we haven’t sung in a really long time speaks to me about a minute-by-minute Christ-the-King centered life.  The song is “God Is in Charge,” and I’d like us to focus on it this morning.
You remember the song.  It starts: “Be still my soul, for God is in charge.”  A life with God in charge is a life in which our priorities are clear.  If God is in charge, we won’t have many frustrating, panic-stricken times when we worry about what to do next, because we’ll be in close touch with our Heavenly Dad- so we can follow his direction and trust him to lead us.  We can put our troubles in God’s hands and leave them there.  We know what we will do and what we won’t do, because we have Jesus to guide us.  How do you get to that point in your relationship with God?  You put him first.  Don’t let God be an afterthought.  Discipline yourself.  Start everyday with prayer and spiritual reading or listening.  Talk to him through the day.  Close each day by evaluating it- confess your sins and put your life in God’s hands as you drift off to sleep.  Our Old Testament lesson is from Daniel. 7.  In Daniel 6, the Bible tells us how Daniel was in the lions’ den because of his determination to follow God’s way.  If we place God first in our lives, we can have as much peace as Daniel did in that den of lions because- we don’t know our future, but we surely know who holds our future in his hands, and that’s our Heavenly Father!
Next we sing, “Open Thou my mind, for God is in charge.”  Did you notice- this matches what many Episcopalians say mentally just before the gospel is read: “May your words be in my mind…”  If Jesus is really your Lord, he starts by being Lord of your mind.  Our minds are like computers- junk in, junk out; poison in, poison out.  The while ago a friend sent me an email that had an attachment with a virus- designed to destroy the guts of my computer when I opened the attachment.  Yes, she is still my friend- she didn’t know her computer was infected any more than we know when we pass our colds on to others.  When I clicked to open the attachment, my anti-virus software warned me- asking if I wanted to immediately delete the message without opening it.  You know I said- “Yes,” so the message was gone and my computer remained uncontaminated- thank God!  Don’t let spiritual viruses into your mind.  All evil and destructive actions start in our minds.  Stop those thoughts of revenge, desiring something or someone you know you shouldn’t have, hatred, greed, worry when they first start.  Give them to God and think about something positive.  Put God in charge of your mind.
 [continued in Part 2]
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
JUDY.BOLI at ecunet.org, 
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan

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