[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 25A- "When Dreams Die"

Sat Oct 28 17:10:19 EDT 2017

Forwarded
-------- Original message --------From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> Date: 10/28/17  3:01 PM  (GMT-05:00) To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org> Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 25A- "When Dreams Die" 

Dear Friends,

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “When Dreams
Die” and deals with the Old Testament Lesson (Exodus 34:1-12).  Here it is: 

In our Old Testament Bible reading this
morning, we heard the sad episode of Moses’ death.  Moses- who by the glorious power of God faced
down the mightiest world power of his day, the Egyptian pharaoh.  Moses- who led the children of Israel out of
Egypt from slavery to freedom.  Moses-
who climbed the holy mountain to receive the Ten Commandments.  Moses- who interceded for those same
hard-headed and hard-hearted people when they grew tired of waiting for him to
come down from the mountain and followed his brother Aaron in making and then
worshipping an idol (a golden calf). 
Moses who continued to intercede for the Israelites every time they
faced hard times and their faith wavered. 
Moses- who at Meribah cried to the Lord when the people were without
water, prayed to the Lord and then used his staff to strike the rock.  You know what happened- out flowed precious
water.  Moses- who led these people for
FORTY YEARS through the desert to the Promised Land.  Yet, when they had finally reached their long
awaited goal, the Lord took Moses up a high mountain so he could get a chance
to see the Promised Land.  There, Moses
died without ever being allowed to enter the land with his beloved people.  Talk about a goal not reached- a dream not
personally achieved!

Then there was the Rev. Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.: From the Montgomery
bus boycott through firebombings and beatings and jailings and terror at its
worst, he faced down the worst evil American racism had to offer.  Through it all, he held fast to his dream-
but he never personally saw it.  In one
of his most famous sermons he said, “I have a dream......that my four little
children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of
their character.”  Dr. King went to
Memphis, Tennessee, to support the strike of the garbage workers (poor Black,
poor Hispanic, poor White) and to work for a Rainbow Coalition to work together
for racial and economic justice.  A few
days later, his goal was smashed by a sniper’s bullet.

And us...our dreams may not be as lofty as
those of Moses or Dr. King, but we’ve all had them.  You can ask any of our young people about
their goals.  If you ask, you will hear
about dreams of becoming teachers, lawyers, architects, doctors, singers,
basketball and football players.  You
know as well as I do that life is hard on dreams; in fact- I can think of three
reasons why life is hard on dreams, and that’s what I’d like us to think about
this morning.

FIRST REASON- CONSEQUENCES.  Life is hard on dreams because we can’t pray
ourselves out of consequences we behave ourselves into.  That’s almost getting to be a St. Paul’s
parish slogan.  Moses is the best example
of this.  You might wonder- what sin
could Moses possibly have committed that was THAT BAD.  As you may know, Bible scholars have varying
theories, but the most likely one is from what happened at Meribah when the
people complained and Moses struck the rock to produce water.  What also happened was that the thirsty
people intended to stone Moses, so he went in fear to the Lord, probably making
it look to the people as if Moses did not trust God.  In fact, in Numbers 20:12, God says to Moses
and Aaron, “Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not
respect me.  And so, you will not be the
ones to lead them into the land I have promised.”  What’s the spiritual lesson for us?  The same as three weeks ago when we talked
about not taking God’s name lightly. 
Don’t play with God.  If we want
to be blessed, we must follow God’s ways. 
Look at Psalm 1: 

1 “God blesses those people who refuse
evil advice 

            and
won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God.   

2 Instead, the Law of the LORD makes
them happy, 

            and
they think about it day and night.

3 They are like trees growing beside a
stream, trees that produce fruit in season 

            and
always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do.

4 That isn't true of those who are
evil, 

            because
they are like straw blown by the wind.   

5 Sinners won't have an excuse on the
day of judgment, 

            and
they won't have a place with the people of God.   

6 The LORD protects everyone who
follows him, 

            but
the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin.”

Don’t
play with God.  You can’t pray your way
out of consequences you behaved yourself into. 
We are many times our own worst enemy when we try to achieve our goals.

SECOND REASON- EVIL- Life is hard on dreams
because this world is full of evil, and it is the true calling of every single
Christian to do everything in our power to eradicate evil every single place we
find it, no matter the risk to ourselves. 
Wow- but then no one ever said being a Christian was going to be
easy.  In fact, I read somewhere about
taking up our cross and following Jesus. 
Again- our best example is the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He didn’t see the Promised Land, but when
future generations finally have a truly just, free country, it will be because
of his sacrifice combined with the sacrifices of thousands of good people of
every color and creed who stood up for justice and God and good.  What’s the spiritual lesson for us?  Don’t take the easy way; take the right
way.  Do what Jesus said in today’s
gospel reading (Matthew 22: 37-39): “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, soul, and mind.....and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.”  

THIRD REASON- WE USUALLY MUST LIVE OUR LIVES
ONE STEP AT A TIME, ONE DREAM AT A TIME. 
I think sometimes God does us like I used to do our cat last cat- Astrophe.  (Magnificat is too smart for this!)  If I wanted to lock her in the bathroom, I’ll
never get her in there in one step, and I surely couldn’t catch her!  Instead, I had to get some goodies and first
call her off the sofa- first goodie. 
Next, another goodie got her to the hall; finally a third goodie got her
to the bathroom- then SLAM, I had her.  (She
never did figure this out!)  God did that
with me.  When I was about six, I thought
God was calling me to be a missionary (the only thing I’d ever seen women do in
church besides cooking and taking care of children).  That wasn’t it, but when I was about 20 I
thought my call was teaching inner-city, poverty children.  That was close, but not exactly it.  When I was about 22 I thought it was civil
rights work, so I organized rent strikes with Detroit CORE and went to Mississippi,
Selma, Atlanta.  That was close, but not
it either.  I used to think that I would
never really understand what that elusive goal was.  Finally, while I knelt as an acolyte at this
holy altar at 31 years of age (about 48 years ago), I realized what that call
was- to be a priest.  You see how God
went from goodie to goodie to goodie. 
What’s the spiritual lesson for us? 
Maybe what you think is your goal is not the final step; perhaps it’s
just a stop along the way.  

FINAL THOUGHT- WHAT IF????  What if you are like Moses and consequences
have interrupted your first dream?  Don’t
quit.  God’s not through with you anymore
than he was with Moses, unless you think leading the people of Israel 40 years
through the desert and then appointing his successor (Joshua) was nothing.  Stay strong, stay open, and God will show you
your next God-given goal.  Are you
alive?  Then God has big dreams for you.  What if you are like Dr. King?  Don’t give in to evil; and don’t let evil
bring you down to its level by revenge, dishonesty, etc.  You will overcome?  What if you’re like Astrophe or me?  Take life step by step, and know that God is
with you.  How do you get the power to do
this?  Do you remember the old song,
“There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;.....to heal the sin-sick
soul.”  Gilead was a part of the Promised
Land that Moses saw.  In it were
evergreen trees that remind me of the house plants we sometimes have on our
window sills in the kitchen in case we burn ourselves- the aloe plant.  Anyone have one?  You can’t carry a cross without getting hurt
sometime, and we have the perfect balm- the arms of Jesus around us in the form
of our Christian friends, Holy Communion, and the Holy Bible to heal our weary,
sin-sick souls.  Amen. 

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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