[Propertalk] Fwd: Part 1 of 2 - Sermon for Lent 2C

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Forwarded: Part 1 of 2


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-------- Original message --------
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> 
Date:02/20/2016  6:51 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> 
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Lent 2C 

Dear Friends,

 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Who’s Your God?” or “Who’s King (or Queen) of Your Hill?” and deals with all the lessons.  Here it is:  

 

Did you hear the story of the man who died and had to face St. Peter at the Pearly Gates?  Peter told him, “Before you meet with God, I thought I should tell you- we've looked at your life, and you really didn't do anything particularly good or bad. We're not at all sure what to do with you. Can you tell us anything you did that can help us make a decision?”  The newly arrived soul thought for a moment and replied, “Yeah, once I was driving along and came upon a woman who was being harassed by a group of bikers. So I pulled over, got out my tire iron, and went up to the leader of the bikers. He was a big, muscular, hairy guy with tattoos all over his body and a ring pierced through his nose. Well, I tore the nose ring out of his nose, and told him he and his gang had better stop bothering the woman or they would have to deal with me!”  “I'm impressed,” St. Peter responded, “When did this happen?”  “About two minutes ago,” came the reply (JokesWareHouse.com Joke of the Day).  I hate to tell you, but beating up a gang of bikers to save a poor defenseless lady isn’t really going to help much getting you into heaven.  Did you hear St. Paul’s statement to the Philippians (3:18-19)?  “I often warned you that many people are living as enemies of the cross of Christ. And now with tears in my eyes, I warn you again that they are headed for hell! They worship their stomachs and brag about the disgusting things they do. All they can think about are the things of this world.”  Another translation says, “Their god is their belly!”  My question to you this morning is- who or what is your god?  Do you remember the childhood game called “King (or Queen) of the Hill?”  Out of everything you like and love in your life, who or what is “top dog?”  Who or what is in competition to be lord of your life?  The answer to this question is really important, because it determines the success of your present life as well as your future destiny.  Each of our four Bible lessons today has a candidate for king/queen of your life- i.e. top idol.

 

Paul’s warning to the Philippians about the god of the belly is a warning we should all take to heart, because he’s talking about physical loves.  Is there anyone else in our congregation this morning who loves to eat?  Did you give some kind of food up for Lent and then find you’ve already slipped?  Be careful- who’s on the top of the hill of your life- God or food?  Now before the rest of us start to feel superior, answer this.  What about sleeping?  Is there anyone who sometimes sleeps in on Sunday in spite of the commandment that says, “Honor the Sabbath Day and keep it holy”?  Then there are the usual addictions of nicotine, alcohol, money, sex, gambling, TV, houses, clothes, cars, and who knows what else?  If one of these physical loves is moving up too high on the hill of your life, Lent is the perfect time to knock it down to size.

(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

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw, Michigan

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