[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 19B: “Words and Toothpaste”

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded: 



-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Sep 15, 2018 8:02 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 19B: “Words and Toothpaste”



DearFriends,
 
ThisSunday’s sermon is entitled “Words and Toothpaste” or “Take Up Your Cross andFollow Jesus” and deals with all the lessons. Here it is:  
 
Do you remember thestory of the Sunday school teacher who wanted to be sure her littlekindergarten students really understood that Jesus was inside them, especiallyafter they had received Holy Communion?  Sheasked the children, “Where is Jesus?  Onereplied, “In heaven.”  Wonderful, saidthe teacher, but that wasn’t exactly the answer she wanted so she asked again,“Where is Jesus?”  “In my heart,”answered a sweet little girl.  All thistime, little Johnny was frantically waving his hand.  Knowing better, the teacher called onhim.  “Where is Jesus, Johnny?” sheasked.  “In our bathroom!” answeredJohnny.  “In your bathroom?!” asked theteacher.  “Johnny, why in the world wouldyou say that Jesus is in your bathroom?” “That’s easy,” Johnny replied.  “Everymorning when my big sister gets in the bathroom to do her hair and locks thedoor, my father yells- “Good Lord!  Areyou still in there?”  Well, Jesus didn’task where he was in our gospel lesson this morning.  He asked who he was.  As you recall, Jesus started by “testing thewaters” so to speak.  He asked hisdisciples who everyone was saying he was. After the expected answers of “Elijah” and “John the Baptist” and maybeone of the other prophets, Jesus turned the question on them.  He got right down and personal by asking thehard question- “Whom do YOU think I am?” Good question- not just for them, but for us.  Peter answered with amazing insight thatJesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus must have been encouraged, because he began to pour out his heartand tell his beloved disciples how his calling was to suffer, be executed on across, die, and then rise again on the third day.  Peter must have thought Jesus had lost it,because he pulled him aside and basically told him to “get himself together andnot talk that way.”  That’s when Jesustold Peter to “Get thee behind me, Satan!” Jesus went on to say that he was not the only one who would suffer, butthat all of his disciples were expected to “deny themselves and take up theircross” and follow him.  
 
Just a reminder- I’msure you remember the difference between a cross and an affliction.  An affliction is something (like my diabetes)that is annoying, frustrating- but something over which I have no control.  A cross, on the other hand, is chosen.  So, if for you, like Peter, Jesus is trulyyour Lord as well as your Savior, how are you doing?  Are you obeying him by denying yourself andtaking up your cross, or do you tend to usually take the easy way?  Do you “put yourself out” for the church andother people?  Do you make sacrificialchoices, or do you tend to choose only what you want to do, looking out fornumber one?  Do you help whoever needsit, or do you help only your family?  Ifyou find your choices are mostly for yourself and your family, Jesus says you aremissing out on real life.  That’s what hemeans when he says, “If you want to save your life, you will destroy it.  But if you give up your life for me and forthe good news, you will save it” (Mark 8:35).
 
The Bible lessons fortoday focus on one kind of cross Jesus expects us to bear, and you can guesswhat it is by checking out the James lesson. James (possibly Jesus’ little brother) reminds us how dangerous anout-of-control tongue is.  Stop and thinkhow many lives have been damaged, and sometimes destroyed, by someone who “letsit all hang out” and tells another person exactly what they think.  Often we do this trying to “help” the otherperson (in other words to “teach” them a lesson), but what does James say aboutteachers in today’s epistle (James 3:1)? “My friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teacherswill be judged more strictly than others.” And Jesus himself reminds us that we’d better take care of our ownproblems before we presume to tell others what they should do.  He tells us not to bother trying to take thelittle speck out our neighbor’s eye when we have a huge log in our own eye(Matthew 7:1-5).  Did you notice thewisdom in the thought for the week?  “Thefastest horse cannot catch a word spoken in anger (Chinese proverb).  You know that’s true!  I’ve got a question for you: what’s the sameabout this tube of toothpaste and a bunch of words?  (Squirt some toothpaste on a piece of paperand show it.)  Do you see this toothpaste?  Now, do you see this dollar bill?  This dollar bill goes to anyone who can putthe toothpaste back into the tube.  Mydollar is safe, isn’t it!?  If you thinkit’s hard to get toothpaste back into the tube, try forcing words back intoyour mouth after you’ve said something stupid or mean!  Who here hasn’t at some time said somethingwhen you were mad, then wished with all your heart you could take it back, but (justlike the toothpaste) those words were out for all to hear?  Relationships have been destroyed, family feudsstarted, jobs lost, fights, even murders and suicides- all due to what comesout of our mouths in anger.  So maybe thecross our Lord is asking you to carry is to learn to control your mouth and useit for God’s glory instead of using it to spread the devil’s kingdom.
 
No one ever said beinga Christian is easy.  It IS fulfilling,exciting, a wonderful way to live, full of hope because we know where we’respending eternity; but not easy.  I’mgoing to close with a story of a man who’d gotten a ticket for speeding, eventhough he was sure he had been going the legal limit.  Because this man knew he was innocent, he decidedto contest his ticket even though all his friends said contesting it wasuseless.  As he walked into the courtroomand sat down, he saw a woman already before the judge trying to talk her wayout of a ticket for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign.  “But your honor,” said the lady.  Before she could even finish her sentence,the judge boomed- “Guilty!  I’m finingyou $50 and costs!”  “Jerk!” exclaimedthe woman under her breath.  “I heardthat!” said the judge.  “That’ll be anextra $50.”  The next person before thejudge was a man who had gone through a yellow light.  Without even giving him a chance to speak, thejudge proclaimed- “Guilty!  I’m finingyou $100 and costs!”  “Bozo!” exclaimedthe man softly- hoping the judge would not hear.  “I heard that!” said the judge.  “That’ll be an extra $100.”  At that point, our friend who had just comein started leafing through his wallet.  “Whatare you doing?” the judge asked.  “Justchecking, your honor.  I want to see if Ihave enough money to tell you what I think of you.”  
 
My friends, tellingthat judge off was going to be expensive, and that’s where the tie-in is.  Living for Jesus is too.  May God bless all of us as we daily do ourbest to deny ourselves, sacrifice for others, and take up our cross and followour blessed Lord.
 
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

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