[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 23B

[joeparrish]

Forwarded: 


From my Android phone on T-Mobile. The first nationwide 4G network.

-------- Original message --------
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> 
Date:10/10/2015  10:19 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> 
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 23B 

Dear Friends,

 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Eye of a Needle” or “A $15 Porsche?!!” and deals with the Gospel (Mark 10:17-31).  Here it is:

 

Is there anyone in our congregation this morning who wants to inherit eternal life?  Well, listen up- the wisdom from this Bible lesson is for you!  This morning in the continuing story of Jesus’ life, we heard the episode from Mark (10:17-31) about the rich (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), young (Matthew), ruler (Luke).  In it, Jesus says something very strange.  He says it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.  To help you see what he’s probably talking about, let me tell you something that happened while I was still teaching at Longstreet School.  Almost every morning, my teacher friends and I gathered in a friend’s classroom to prepare for the day.  On this particular morning as we were talking, through the open door ran a small animal that looked like a large mouse or a small rat.  Well- you know how many of we women are- afraid of mice and rats.  All of my teacher friends screamed and jumped up on tables, chairs, whatever was available.  As you probably know, I’m not afraid of such animals (although I am afraid of insects), so I yelled at the little creature, chased it out of the classroom, and then firmly closed the door.  My friends got down and relaxed, then someone called the office to inform them that a rat-type animal (actually it turned out to be a ferret) was in the building.  The next thing we knew the ferret was back- he had scrunched down and re-entered the classroom through the crack at the bottom of the door.  My friends- that was a lot of scrunching, because that was a mighty small crack between the door and the floor!  Why am I telling you this story?  Because the camel Jesus was talking about had to do the same thing that ferret chose to do.  Do you recall how Jerusalem had a wall around it to protect it from enemy attack?  Well, many archeologists think there was a very small, short gate into Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle” gate.  It seems this gate was always open, because it was small enough to be protected by two watchmen.  Do you remember how merchants loaded their camels with expensive spices, cloth, and other goods to bring across the desert to sell?  If they arrived after all the other gates to the city were closed and if they wanted entrance, they could do one of two things.  Either they could wait until morning, or else they could take every last thing off their camels.  Then, one by one, the camels had to kneel down, (actually scrunch down like that ferret) to get through the very short gate. 
 
It’s not just olden-time camels who had to be rid of everything weighing them down; that’s what we’ve got to do too if we intend to inherit eternal life.  Before we go any further, I want to clear one thing up.  We heard Jesus say to sell everything and give the money to the poor.  Who was he talking to?  Us?  No?  So who was he talking to?  Sure- the man.  Why did Jesus tell him that?  Because Jesus was giving him the chance of a lifetime to become one of the disciples and he couldn’t take all that “stuff” with him.  Jesus doesn’t tell us to sell everything that we have and give the money to people poorer than we are.  The reason he doesn’t is because we aren’t called to walk the Palestine roads with him in the first century, so it’s not a necessity for our call.  Jesus was, however, saying something even more drastic with this example.  He was teaching that those of us who want to inherit eternal life must get down on our knees before our Lord.  He was saying that we must rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way of putting God first in our lives.  He was informing us that we must rid ourselves of everything that interferes with loving our Lord with our whole heart and soul and mind; everything that interferes with loving our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.  As the camel was unburdened from the riches piled on his back- so the obvious questions that almost scream from the Bible to us are- “What do you need to get rid of in your life?”  “What do I need to get rid of in my life?”  “What gets in the way between us and God?”  Here’s a list to get us thinking. 
 
Our first job?  We need to get rid of our greedy attitudes.  Are you greedy with your money, your food, your love?  Whatever is the object of your greed is also your first love, your god.  Some of us do fine with our friends but are greedy with God.  When that collection plate comes by, do we put as much as we possibly can into it, or do we put just enough so we don’t feel funny?  You know, as much as is possible, God expects ten percent of everything we own.  Greed is definitely one of those things we’ve got to get rid of. 
 
The Bible lessons add to our list.  From the Old Testament- do you take advantage of people who are vulnerable right now in their lives?  Also- are you totally honest in thought, word, and deed?  Still on honesty- do you buy items on the black market (and which have therefore probably been stolen from someone else)?  If you were not satisfied with your answers about honesty, what gets in the way?  As with the camel- get rid of it. 
 
We heard Jesus using the commandments in today’s gospel, so let’s consider the Ten Commandments.  Do you obey the four commandments about loving God (God FIRST, nothing else elbowing God out of the way in your life, never using God’s name lightly, church every Sunday)?  If not- what gets in the way?  As with the camel- get rid of it.  Do you obey the six commandments about loving your neighbor (honor your parents; no murder, no adultery, no stealing, no telling lies about other people, no coveting)?  If not- what gets in the way?  As with the camel- get rid of it.  
 
Then, from other recent Bible lessons- what about your tongue- do you watch it or do you tear people apart with it?  If not- what gets in the way?  Again, as with the camel- get rid of it.  What addictions do you have- alcohol, drugs, people, food, TV, sports, something I didn’t think of yet?  If not- what gets in the way?  As with the camel- get rid of them.  Do you only think of yourself- number one, or do you reach out and help other people?  If not- what gets in the way?  As with the camel- get rid of it.  
 
I’m going to close with a story to remind us to be like that camel and get rid of those things that hold us back.  It seems that one day a fifteen year-old boy came home with a Porsche and his parents began to scream, “Where did you get that car???!!!”  He calmly told them, “I bought it today.”  “With what money?” demanded his parents.  “We know what a Porsche costs!”  “Well,” said the boy, “this one cost me fifteen dollars.”  So the parents began to yell even louder. “Who would sell a car like that for fifteen dollars?” they said.  “It was the lady up the street,” said the boy.  “I don't know her name—she just moved in.  She saw me ride past on my bike and asked me if I wanted to buy a Porsche for fifteen dollars.”  “Oh no!”’ moaned the mother. “She must be a child abuser.  Who knows what she will do next?  John, you go right up there and see what's going on.”  So the boy's father walked up the street to the house where the lady lived and found her out in the yard calmly planting petunias!  He introduced himself as the father of the boy to whom she had sold a Porsche for fifteen dollars and demanded to know why she did it.  “Well,” she said, “this morning I got a phone call from my husband.  I thought he was on a business trip; but it seems he has run off to Hawaii with his secretary and doesn't intend to come back.  He asked me to sell his new Porsche and send him the money.  So I did.”*  Look brothers and sisters, as that angry wife got rid of that fancy car as fast as she could- you do the same- not with your car, but with the things that block you from God- get rid of them as fast as you can.  May God bless us with wisdom as we examine our lives, courage to get rid of those things that block us from God, and endurance to stick with our decisions.  Amen.
 
*JokesWareHouse.com
 

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

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to propertalk.topic+unsubscribe at ecunet.org.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20151010/b95d0289/attachment.htm>