[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Christmas 2C

[Joe Parrish]

-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Jan 2, 2016 11:27 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Christmas 2C



DearFriends,
 
ThisSunday’s sermon is entitled “The Wise Men” and deals with the gospel (Matthew2:1-12, [13-16]).  Here it is:
 
Well, once again the holidays are done.  Kids are back in school, gifts are opened,the New Year’s ball has dropped in New York, vacations are over, people aregetting ready to take their trees down, decorations are ready to be stored, andlife is set to return to its usual mode. After all our wonderful worship experiences the last few weeks, I hopeyour “usual” has changed.  I’m going tobe right “out-front” with my goal today. This is my last chance to impress on you the peace, power, andfulfillment available for you in this new year of 2016 if you will liveChristMass all year through.  In today’sgospel, we heard the story of the Wise Men and their visit to Jesus.  This episode in the lives of the Holy Familyprovides a perfect summary of ChristMass principles for us.  As you recall, here’s what happened.  There were some (remember, the Bible doesn’ttell how many) astrologers from the East (probably Persia, actually probably Baghdad)who saw an unusual star (or comet) that signified to them the birth of a newking.  They dropped everything they weredoing, left home and homeland, endured the rigors of travel for more-or-lesstwo years, and because of that star- went to Jerusalem, where they had aconference with King Herod.  The king hadhis Bible scholars study the scriptures (i.e. the Old Testament- the NewTestament hadn’t been written yet) to see where this new king would beborn.  When the scholars said“Bethlehem,” Herod told the Wise Men to go search for the new-child-king, andcome back so he could worship this new king also.  As the Wise Men approached Bethlehem, thestar stopped over the house where the child was.  They saw Mary and Jesus in the house.  They knelt down and worshipped Jesus, thengave him three gifts- gold (Jesus is King), frankincense (Jesus is Lord), andmyrrh (Jesus is Savior).   Then they werewarned in a dream to avoid King Herod, but go home another way.  When Herod figured out he had been tricked bythe Wise Men, he was furious.  At thatpoint, it became obvious Herod considered King Jesus a threat to his throne andhad intended, not to worship him, but to do away with him.  To be sure Jesus did not survive, Herodordered his soldiers to kill all Jewish boys two years and younger- which, heassumed would automatically get rid of the “Jesus threat.”  Herod should have known there’s no point infighting against God, because his plan didn’t work.  Joseph was warned in a dream to take Jesusand Mary and flee to Egypt.  Now that’swhat really happened.  Now my question toyou is- how is this story a wonderful summary of the ChristMass principles?
 
FIRST, GIVE GOD YOUR TIME.  Let’s begin by looking at the innkeeper.  Remember, he’s the person NOT to imitate.  Instead, be like the Wise Men in today’sepisode.  What’s the basic differencebetween the two?  The innkeeper made noroom for Jesus in his life.  The Wise Mendid.  It took a long time to follow thatstar and travel by foot or camel or some other animal from Baghdad toBethlehem.  Yet, if we’re not careful, wecan find ourselves admiring the Wise Men, but living like the Innkeeper.  We get so busy, busy, busy- that we squeezeGod out of our lives.  We don’t intendto- we just do.  How is it possible to readForward Day by Day, pray each morningand evening and before meals, and reach out to others?  I’ll tell you how- discipline yourself to giveGod his time first.  Remember from lastweek: the father trying to convince his high school son that he had time forhis homework.  Remember how the fathergot a gallon jar and filled it with large rocks, then asked his son if it wasfull.  “Sure is!” said the son- that’show my life is before I have my homework done. So the father took some medium sized rocks and added them.  “Full now?” asked the father?  “Now it’s full,” answered his son.  You remember what happened next, the fatheradded small rocks, then gravel, and finally water.  “That’s how you organize your life, son,”said the father.  You put the bigimportant things in first.  Goodadvice!  Take care of yourresponsibilities to God first: church, Bible reading, prayer, and let the otherthings fit as they may.  Your life willhave power like you wouldn’t believe possible. It was Martin Luther who said that the busier his day, the moreimportant it was that he start it with prayer- true.  So don’t be like the Innkeeper, be like theWise Men who made time in their busy lives for Jesus.
 
SECOND, NOTHING CAN STOP GOD’S PLAN, SO IF YOU’RE ON GOD’S SIDE, NEVERGIVE UP!  Do you believe this?  Today’s Bible episode provides one more exampleof this truth.  Notice how nothing couldkill Jesus or turn him around until he had finished his mission of dying andrising for us?  Not the power of KingHerod nor the strength of his soldiers; not even Herod’s lying mouth andscheming plans - because no one can defeat God’s purposes.  Justice will prevail.  Remember Dr. Tony Evan’s statement, “It’sworth waiting on God, because when He moves, He moves well!”  Here’s a story by an anonymous author thatillustrates this principle.  One day afarmer's donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal cried piteously forhours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided theanimal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway; so it just wasn'tworth it to him to try to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.  They each grabbed a shovel and began to shoveldirt into the well.  Realizing what washappening, the donkey at first cried and wailed horribly. Then, a few shovels fulllater, he quieted down completely.  Thefarmer peered down into the well, and was astounded by what he saw. With everyshovelful of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. Hewould shake it off and take a step up on the new layer of dirt.  This continued until the donkey stepped upover the edge of the well and trotted off, to the shock and astonishment of allthe neighbors!  Look friends- life isgoing to throw dirt on you, all kinds of dirt.  The smarter you are, the higher your goals,the more committed you are to the Lord- just be ready- the more dirt you canexpect.  The trick is- don’t let thedevil’s dirt bury you in depression or frustration or just giving up.  God is in charge and you can do it!  Just shake off that dirt every time it hits andtake a step up. Each of our troubles is a potential stepping-stone. We can getout of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up.  As with the Holy Family, so it is with us-nothing can stop God’s plan but ourselves. Justice wins every time- you can outsmart evil just like the wise olddonkey did; just like the Wise Men did.
 
THIRD, GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU. Do you remember how God provided for the Holy Family?  Maybe toddler Jesus would have preferred toysor clothes, but how do you think Joseph provided for his family in the unknownland of Egypt?  Probably with thefabulously expensive gold and frankincense and myrrh from the Wise Men.
 
FINALLY, DON’T BE STINGY.  Again be like the Wise Men who traveled allthat way to worship Jesus and give him gifts. Be like them- give quality gifts- like yourself, your time, your talent,your treasure- i.e. you.  Stop and think-when’s the last time you helped someone you don’t even know- a stranger, aneighbor, even an enemy?  If you can’tthink of the last time- what’s wrong here? Remember, the only way we can really give a gift to Jesus anyway is tohelp someone in need.  Do you recall hiswords from Matthew 25: “Whatever you do for the least of these, my sisters orbrothers, you do for me”.  And when yougive, don’t just give the leftovers.  Theconcluding lines of a poem by Christina Rozetti I told you about ages ago thatI learned as a little girl applies here. As you remember, it goes: “What can I give Him, poor as I am?  If I were a shepherd, I would give him alamb.  If I were a Wise Man, I would domy part.  What can I give him?  I’ll give him my heart.”  Have you given Jesus your heart, your wholeself?  Now’s a good time to start theyear giving your whole self to Jesus.
 
I’m going to close with one of my very favorite poems, by the Rev. Dr.Howard Thurman, who was chaplain of Howard University in Washington DC in the1930’s and ‘40’s.  It’s entitled “TheWork of Christmas.”  My prayer is that wemay all make this our work in 2013.
“When the song of the angelsis stilled, 
When the star in the sky isgone, 
When the kings and princesare home, 
When the shepherds are backwith their flock, 
The work of Christmasbegins: 
To find the lost, 
To heal the broken, 
To feed the hungry, 
To release the prisoner, 
To rebuild nations, 
To bring peace amongbrothers and sisters, 
To make music in the heart.
 
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updatedAfrican-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under“Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org.
 
Blessedpreaching,
JudyBoli
St.Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw,Michigan

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Propertalk" group.
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/20160103/145cca84/attachment.htm>