[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 16B: “Do You Keep your God-Promises When You Get Home?”

[Joe Parrish]

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From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Aug 25, 2018 6:54 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 16B: “Do You Keep your God-Promises When You Get Home?”




ThisSunday’s sermon is entitled “Do You Keep your God-Promises When You GetHome?”and deals with the Old Testament lesson ( Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18). It will be tweaked to account for the fact that our 23 year old Christian sister, Ms. Dameka Henderson, mother of 2 precious children, died last night.  Here itis- untweaked: 

In our Old Testament lesson(Joshua 24), we heard part of the mighty prophet Joshua’s last words to hisbeloved people.  To get the most out ofthis sermon, let me refresh your memory about the sequence of the OldTestament.  You recall how the Childrenof Israel were slaves in Egypt; and how God called his mighty Prophet Moses tolead them out of Egypt through the Red Sea to the Promised Land.  It was in the desert that God gave theChildren of Israel (and therefore us) the Ten Commandments.  Just before the people were about to enterthe Promised Land, Moses died and Joshua was appointed the next prophet to takeover after Moses.  Joshua led theChildren of Israel across the Jordan River and also as they settled thePromised Land.  Do you remember what happenednext?  Time and time again, the Childrenof Israel, who had seen miracle after miracle as God protected and provided forthem in the desert and in conquering the Promised Land, started following thesophisticated ways of the pagans who lived among them and worshipped idols.  Calamity would hit; they would pray for Godto save them; God would; then things would go back to normal- including theirworship of the fashionable idols of the land.  Now- in today’s Old TestamentLesson, we hear Joshua’s last words to his beloved people.  We hear him as he challenges them: “Choosethis day whom you will serve” (God or idols). Then Joshua reminded them of his own lifelong choice: “As for me and myhouse, we will serve the Lord.”
 
Now let’s move our focus tothe Gospel.  Crisis- the 5,000 men (pluswomen and children) had been listening to Jesus in the hot sun.  It is getting late- time to travel home, andmany will be sick and fainting on the journey, since they haven’t eaten.  Jesus feeds all 5,000 plus from the fivebarley loaves and two small fish donated by a small boy.  After everyone has eaten, twelve baskets fullof leftovers are collected from the five barley loaves and two small fish.  What a miracle!  Jesus saved the day!  Surely after such a great miracle, the peoplewould be receptive to Jesus’ teaching- right? Wrong!  Jesus used the occasion toteach some of the 5,000 plus people about the meaning of the Bread from Heaven(i.e. his Holy Flesh given for the life of the world- Holy Communion).  Do you remember what happened next?  Some of these very same people whoexperienced this mind-blowing miracle start mumbling- “This teaching is toohard!  Who can stomach such teaching!”  They start to drift away- leave!  Jesus turns to the disciples and asks if theyare leaving too?  That’s when Simon Petermakes his prophetic statement: “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You alone have the words of eternallife!”  In other words, the twelvedisciples choose to stay with Jesus- no matter what.
 
Look at the pattern: Crisis,miraculous deliverance; life gets better; the people drift away- go back to thesame-old, same-old; the choice- whose side are you on?  With the Children of Israel- they faced theirhuge crisis (slavery in Egypt, the Red Sea in front and the Egyptian armybehind); with relief they gloried in their miraculous deliverance; life gotbetter and they drifted away from the Lord to selfish behavior; and Joshuachallenged them.  The same patternhappened in today’s Gospel.  The manywould-be disciples faced their crisis- no food and a long trip home; miraculousdeliverance with the multiplication of the five loaves and two small fish sothat all 5,000 plus were fed; and then hard teaching.  They decide that following Jesus is too hard;they start to drift away; Jesus’ challenge.
 
Now- what about us?  We’ve seen the same pattern in our lives,sometimes over and over again. Crisis; we pray for deliverance; God worksthings out for us- we get the house, car, job, health, whatever…  We get used to it and go back to the “same-old,same-old”, in other words- living as if God doesn’t exist and our only concernis what we want.  We become our own idol.  
 
You don’t want to be likethat, do you?  So how do you recognizethe symptoms of going back to the “same-old, same-old”?  It depends on your own personal weaknesses totemptation.  Check these out: 
1.     When someone doesevil to you, do you drop it and give it to God, or do you get revenge?  (This one can be really hard to identify-it’s easy for us to trick ourselves, and revenge can be so very subtle.)  
2.     What about moneyas your idol?  Do you put up God’s moneyfirst and work toward a tithe, or do you give God the leftovers?  
3.     What about yourrelationships?  Do you treat everyonewith respect, even your enemies?
4.     What about sex?  Do you follow your way or God’s way?  Adultery is NEVER all right!  Sex within marriage is always the rule, butif you’re doing it your way- are you taking all possible precautions againstpregnancy and STD’s, especially HIV? It’s one thing to risk yourself. It’s something else to bring an innocent baby into this world when youare not in any kind of position to care for or even provide for it.  
5.     What about yourtime?  Do you always give God his worshipevery Sunday, or do you just come to church when it is convenient?  Is every waking minute all about you, or doyou invest your time for God- helping others, improving yourself, doing all youcan to make God’s church and world glorious in His name?
6.     Your friends?  Do they determine your values, or does Jesusdetermine your values?  When you’retrying to decide what to do, do you ask yourself WWJD- what would Jesus do?
 
This list of sixtemptations may not have identified yours, but you know your weaknesses.  You know what God is calling you to change (orto keep changed), to improve (or to keep improved), how God wants you to grow(or to keep growing).  So now I’m askingyou the same thing Joshua asked his people? Whom will you serve- God or yourself and what you want?  I can only tell you my choice- I intend toserve the Lord.  
 
I’m going to close with astory.  I hope and pray these scriptureshave you thinking about changes that will make you a better Christian.  To be honest, our problem is not making achoice for Jesus while we’re in this holy church- it’s keeping the commitmentswe make when we get home.  This is astory about the First Goose Church of God in Christ.  Pastor Gander waddled up to the pulpit andbegan his fiery sermon. “What kind of birds are we?” He thundered. “Geese!” Thecongregation answered, and an “Amen” was heard from somewhere in the back.  “That¹s right!” shot back the Pastor. “We areGEESE! God made us GEESE to be GEESE, and not DUCKS or SPARROWS or KIWIS!”  “AMEN!” honked several congregants. “And whatare these things that GOD has given us, these MAJESTIC appendages?” “WINGS!”shouted the congregation, honking its approval of this fine observation.  “And WHY did GOD give us these finewings?”  “To FLY, Pastor!” said Mrs.Thelma Gosling, standing up in the first row. “We can FLY with them!” Choruses of “That¹s right, Thelma!” and “You go,Girl!” rang out from around the room. The pastor really started to groove now. “God wants us to FLY! We cansoar above the clouds! We can fill the skies! We are God¹s flying children! Themoles can dig, the lions can hunt, but we can fly! We can catch the windsbeneath our wings and thrill to the sensation of the breeze through ourfeathers. We can reach the mighty mountain tops and skim the tips of the giantSequoias!” “AMEN! We can FLY!” the congregation echoed back  “If GOD wants us to fly, then what do wegotta do?” challenged the pastor. “We gotta FLY!” said the congregation. “Wegotta WHAT?” asked Pastor Gander. “We gotta FLY!” “WHAT?” “FLY!!” “WHAT!”“FLY!!” And as the congregation WADDLED out of the church and WALKED home, theyremarked to one another on how inspiring the pastor¹s sermon was that morning(The Rev. John Ramsey, Ottawa, Ohio).  Sodon’t be like those geese- don’t waddle home. Use your Holy Spirit power.  Don’tblock the Spirit.  Make Jesus your choiceand stick with Him.  Amen.

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