[Propertalk] Proper 27 a 2017 - part 1

[Robert P Morrison]

	This draft was begun before the events of last Sunday and I've been
looking at it off and on since then.

	Comments, should you be inclined.

	Bob

	HE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY
AFTER PENTECOST

	JOSHUA 24:1-3a, 14-25    PROPER 27 a

	1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18  12th NOVEMBER, 2017

	MATTHEW 25:1-13   PSALM 78:1-7

	 Give us grateful hearts, O God.

	 It’s difficult, incredibly difficult, to comprehend that this
means, sometimes. But it’s part of who we’re working to become as
Christians, no matter what’s going on around us.

	 Give us grateful and loving hearts.

	 How do we get there, though?

	 I don’t know if anyone has ever calculated how many hours the
members of the ECW group put into the Bazaar that was held last
weekend. It’s not a few. First, there are the people who start
thinking about it even before Christmas each year. They talk to
themselves or to others about what worked and what didn’t; what was
popular with the guests who patronised the Bazaar and what elicited
little interest. So at least some people begin their plans way ahead
of time, knowing that THIS will be back, and that THAT will be
discontinued. They may even sneak around to spy at other people’s
bazaars, especially here in Albany, to see if they can pick up any
ideas. Of course, not everyone is able to or is interested in doing
the same thing.

	 So folk think through January, February, March, and so on, perhaps
not every waking moment, but for a fair bit of their time, and they
refine and refine their thoughts.

	 Then these people, or perhaps others, begin to think about how to
pull the various ideas and projects together in a practical way, and
they all begin to invite others to brainstorm with them, and to start
the practical first steps towards November. Because everyone knows
that November is coming!

	 All through spring, summer, and fall, they work away, mostly by ones
and twos. Then they come together for about a month and a final week
to put their work out for others to admire and to buy. And, in about
six to eight weeks, it all starts up all over again.

	 O.K., you probably didn’t need or want to hear me say that last
sentence. But we all know that it’s true!

	 So we come to Joshua, talking to the people.

	 Everyone knew it wasn’t easy being engaged in God’s everlasting
Bazaar, but the expectations, the promise of the results, were great.
THAT’S why everyone responded to Joshua as they did.

	 “Yes! We’re ready to work! We’re prepared to set aside all the
stuff we know we should give up. We know that being engaged and
married to God will take a lot of effort. However, we’re in it for
the long haul. Besides, despite our complaints, God’s bazaar is
really a heck of a lot of fun for which to prepare and to set up!”

	 “You’re kidding!” was Joshua’s comeback. “There are no
half measures. You’re in or you’re out. If you promise, then back
off and break your end of the bargain, you know that God’s going to
be ticked off!!”

	 Joshua and the people went back and forth until a contract was drawn
up and the people made a commitment and started to feel really good
about what they’d done.

	 Of course, it always looks good when it’s January, and the Bazaar
isn’t till November. It always looks good when you don’t know that
someone may come along, waving tickets for Hawaii, or Mexico, and
saying that it’ll be perfectly O.K. to take two weeks, four weeks, a
month, maybe more, off.

	 And here the analogy may break down. Because you CAN take your
knitting with you to Hawaii, or to Mexico, or anywhere else.

	 Not so with what Joshua was presenting – at least, not in the way
we might usually understand it. This was a
twenty-four-seven-three-hundred-and-sixty-five-day proposition –
three-hundred-and-sixty-six in a leap year!

	 It’s so easy to say, “Yes!” to God when the sun’s out, or
not out, depending on how you feel and work, and everything looks as
if there will never be anymore troubles. The real test is when we want
to slack off, or our friends wave those travel tickets in our faces,
or our family members start to place burdens and demands on us. It’s
NOT easy all the time. THAT’S what we forget so often.

	 Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness
that rebel against God?

	 I renounce them.

	 Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and
destroy the creatures of God?

	 I renounce them.

	 Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of
God?

	 I renounce them.

	 Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?

	 I do.

	 Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?

	  I do.

	 Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?

	 I do.


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