[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for ChristMass 2B: “Happy New Year! Are You Ready?”

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded: 
-------- Original message --------From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> Date: 12/30/17  6:50 PM  (GMT-05:00) To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for ChristMass 2B: “Happy New Year!  Are You Ready?” 


Dear Friends,

 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Happy New Year!  Are You Ready?” and deals with all the
lessons.  Here it is: 

 

I can’t believe tomorrow starts our New Year- 2018!  Tomorrow, New Year’s Day, is the time when
the church thinks through naming, and specifically the naming of our Lord and
Savior Jesus, the Christ.  I hope you all
join me in ushering in the year 2018 in at God’s holy altar.  ChristMass Eve, we heard how Mary and Joseph
named their baby “Jesus,” (God saves) just as the angel had instructed
them.  

 

Naming is important. 
I remember nine years ago after Cat/astrophe died.  I remember how Bill+ and I struggled to come
up with a name for our new kitten.  We
thought about calling him “Astrophe-2,” but we were somehow uncomfortable with
that.  It was like he needed his own name.  After we saw him with his gorgeous soft,
brown coat and became impressed with his sweet, loving disposition- the perfect
name came to mind- “Magnificat,” because that’s what he is- a truly magnificent
cat!  We can’t go around the house
calling “Magnificat, “Magnificat, “Magnificat”- so it was clear we needed a
nickname.  His nickname has evolved to
“Cat,” but now that he’s all of twelve years old and knows his way around life,
one of his most frequent names is “Bad Cat- No! No!”  Names are important, because they symbolize
us.  When someone writes my name and
spells it “Judi” instead of “Judy” or “Judith”- as understandable as this is,
it’s like they really aren’t referring to me.

 

So what’s the connection with the naming of Jesus and
New Year’s Day?  As you know, time is a
human-made invention.  We use the
movement of this planet to measure how long something lasts.  A day is how long it takes for the earth to
rotate on its axis.  A year is how long
it takes for our planet to make the journey of one complete revolution around
the sun.  So tomorrow, our earth will
have made 2018 complete revolutions around the sun since Jesus was born,
because our calendar is based on his birth (i.e. 2017 A.D.- anno domini”- “the
Lord’s year.”  Actually, it’s really
probably about 2022 A.D., since Jesus was born more-or-less in 4 B.C.  All of this can get really confusing, so I
want to move into what it means to us.

 

The most important thing to remember about time,
whether it’s our coming new year 2018 or whenever, is that God is in
charge.  What’s going to happen to me in
2018?  Will I live or die?  Will wonderful or terrible things happen to
me this year?  Will I win the lottery? (I
doubt it since I don’t buy tickets.)  The
truth is, we really don’t know what life will throw at us this coming
year.  Does anyone remember “David, the
Bubble Boy?”  He was born with a terrible
birth defect- no immune system.  The
least significant germ could kill him. 
To allow David to survive, he lived his life in a plastic bubble- with
no human touch.  I think the bubble had
built-in gloves so someone could reach into his bubble for the basic
necessities.  I have no idea how all this
worked- how he got food or a bath or whatever. 
What I do know is that many Christians think that’s how God does with
Christians- keeps evil away from us as if we are in a bubble.  That’s not how life is.  God doesn’t spare his children, but he
strengthens and supports us.  You’ve
heard the saying, “People are like tea bags-you have to put them in hot water
before you know how strong they are.” 
With God, we can take anything the coming new year dishes out!

 

Unfortunately, sometimes it’s not by chance that the
new year dishes out troubles.  We do it
to ourselves.  You know I’m an animal
lover, so when our children were little, we frequently went to the Detroit
Zoo.  It always amazed me how those
mighty elephants could be chained by just a peg in the ground.  I knew those huge elephants could easily pull
out that peg.  What happened?  I’ll tell you what…when they were little, those
baby elephants were tied to a huge stake that they could not pull out.  I’m sure those little elephants pulled and
tugged, but to no avail.  They were
conditioned to think breaking free was impossible, so now they don’t even
try.  With the Lord’s help, you’re mighty
like those huge elephants.  Don’t let the
Devil convince you you’re helpless against those habits you’d like to
break.  Claim God’s power in 2018 to
break free.  

 

The trick to overcoming, whether we’re talking about
what life throws at us or what we’ve done to ourselves is putting God first in
2018.  You know the usual advice- don’t
miss church, receive Holy Communion weekly, start and close every day with God,
bless every single bite of food you put in your mouth, do spiritual reading
consistently.  I can hear you now---Rev.
Judy, I don’t have time.  We get so busy,
busy, busy- that we end up squeezing God out of our lives.  How is it possible to get it all done?  I’ll tell you how- give God his time
first.  Do you remember the story of the
father who was discussing the time problem with his teen-age son?  The teen’s problem was not God time, but
homework time.  The father got a gallon
jar and filled it with large rocks, then asked his son if it was full.  “Sure is!” said the son- that’s how 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 know what happened next, the father added
small rocks, then gravel, and finally water. 
“That’s how you organize your life, son,” said the father.  You put the big important things in first.”  Good advice! 
Take care of your responsibilities to God first: church, Bible reading,
prayer, and let the other things fit as they may.  Your life will have power like you wouldn’t
believe possible.  It was Martin Luther who
said that the busier his day, the more important it was that he start it with
prayer- true.  

 

Did you hear about the man, I’ll call him “George,”
who decided to make some changes in his life? 
He was bragging to a friend: “There's nothing like getting up at six in
the morning, going for a run around the park, and taking a brisk shower before
breakfast.”   His friend replied, “How
long have you been doing this?”  George
answered: “I start tomorrow.”  Tomorrow
won’t work.  Start today, now, at God’s
altar.  By God’s grace, you will
overcome.

 

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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