[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 8C: “What Holds Us Back?” or “Are You the Carrot, the Egg, or the Coffee?”

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From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Jun 29, 2019 9:05 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 8C: “What Holds Us Back?” or “Are You the Carrot, the Egg, or the Coffee?”

DearFriends, ThisSunday’s sermon is entitled   “What Holds Us Back?” or “Are You the Carrot,the Egg, or the Coffee?” and is based on the gospel (Luke 9:51-62).  Here it is:   Did you hear about thelittle girl when she went to the doctor for her physical so she could enterkindergarten?  As the doctor looked downher ears with an otoscope, he asked, “Do you think I'll find Big Bird in here?”The little girl stayed silent. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor andlooked down her throat. He asked, “Do you think I'll find Cookie Monster downthere?” Again, the little girl was silent. Then the doctor put a stethoscope toher chest. As he listened to her heart beat, he asked, “Do you think I'll hearBarney in there?”  “Oh, no!” the littlegirl replied. “Jesus is in my heart. Barney's on my underpants” (Peter L.Haynes).  Even though you’ve acceptedJesus as your Lord and Savior; even though he’s in your heart, have you everwished for a stronger spiritual life, a more powerful overcoming attitude, acloser walk with Him?  This morning we heardthe story of a number of interpersonal exchanges Jesus had.  If you think about them, they all hadsomething in common.  Each person turneddown the chance of a lifetime- a closer walk with Jesus, for something notnearly as important.  Let’s look at eachperson’s experience with Jesus to see what we can learn from it. First, we heard howJesus intended to go through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem, but was rebuffedbecause of his destination.  We’ve heardmany episodes in which Samaritans accepted Jesus- perhaps they perceived him asdifferent from many other Jews. This time, however, they wanted nothing to dowith him, since he was on his way to Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, and theywere so bitter about the way Jews treated them. Here’s an example of old attitudes, old sins separating them from one ofthe greatest honors anyone could have- welcoming Jesus and his disciples intotheir homes.  You heard Paul’s list ofsins from his Galatians letter: “People's desires make them give in to immoralways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds.   They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hateothers, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, andselfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They getdrunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told youbefore, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share inthe blessings of God's kingdom” ( 5:19 -21).  Do any of these sound like you?  Jesus heard lots of excuses in today’sGospel, and in my ministry I hear a lot too. The most common ones are: “Pastor, that’s just how I am.”  You know the answer to that one- “Well, bythe grace of the Lord, use the power from your Holy Communion and change!”  The other excuse I frequently hear is- “Ican’t be perfect.  Everyone has his orher flaws and faults.  I’ll just pleadthe Blood.”  Friends- that won’twork.  To be forgiven by God, you mustintend to change.  You may failrepeatedly, but the intention must be there, or the forgiveness won’t be there. Life lesson- no excuses- get rid of the sin that holds you back. Next we hear of theperson who promised Jesus to go anywhere with him- until he heard that Jesuswas essentially homeless.  The requirements of being a disciplewere too hard for this person to face. Maybe we hear Jesus’ expectations of loving our enemies and no revengeand bringing others to Him through his church and reaching out to help othersand accepting those who differ from us- and we say- that’s too much of a crossto carry.  True- no one ever said followingJesus would be easy, but I’m here to tell you that’s it’s the only way tolive.  When Jesus said, “I am the Way,the Truth, and the Life”- he meant it. Living Jesus’ way is the only path to a happy, fulfilled life. Then we hear of theson who makes a request that really sounds reasonable to us- he wants to waitand bury his father.  What kind of personwould deny a request like that- yet Jesus does. What’s up?  What we DON’T knowabout customs in Bible times can really interfere with understanding theultimate message of an episode in scripture. Here’s a prime example.  In thosedays, it was the duty of the eldest son to care for his parents until theydied.  His reward for this was a doubleportion of the inheritance.  So if therewere two sons, when the parents died the estate would be divided into threeequal parts.  The oldest son would gettwo parts and the youngest would get one part. If there were three sons, the estate would be divided into four partswith the oldest son getting two of the parts, and so on.  The request of the son in the Jesus episodesounds very reasonable until you realize that his father wasn’t dead yet.  Following Jesus wasn’t convenient just then,because the man wanted to wait so he could lay claim on his money and property,then follow Jesus.  Under thosecircumstances- it was quite reasonable for Jesus to say, “Let the dead bury thedead.  You follow me.”  What’s the life lesson for us?  He’snot telling us to neglect our family responsibilities- that’s our first area ofministry.  What he is saying is- don’twait for a more convenient time to follow him. Do it now. Finally, we hear ofthe person who just wants to take care of things at home.  What’s the matter with this request?  Nothing, except in that culture- “taking careof things at home” would involve getting his parents’ permission to leave andfollow Jesus.  Our life lesson- no one should be given veto power over our commitmentto our Lord. Did you notice thecommon thread through all these lost opportunities?  Peopleintended to do the right thing, they intended to follow Jesus, but then ascircumstances got hard or their lives got complicated, their commitmentslipped.  I’m going to close with anold story.  As I tell it, you can decideif you are the carrot, the egg, or the coffee? A daughter complainedto her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did notknow how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired offighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new onearose.  She had decided that her fate wasto lead a disappointing life and that her lot in life was to never succeed atanything.  Her father, a chef, took her tothe kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed a carrot, in the second heplaced an egg, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them boilfor about twenty minutes, then fished everything out of the boiling water.  Turning to her, he asked. “Darling, what doyou see.”  “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,”she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She didand noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it.After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, heasked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted it and smelled its richaroma. She humbly asked. “What does it mean Father?”  He explained that each of them had faced thesame adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went instrong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water,it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell hadprotected its liquid interior. But after sitting through the boiling water, itsinside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. Afterthey were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.             Like the carrot, doadverse circumstances weaken you, make you lose your commitment to God, andgive up?  Or like the egg, do adversecircumstances harden you and make you unloving and evil?  I hope not. I hope you are like the coffee beans. I hope your faith and love and commitment enrich those adversecircumstances by the power of the Spirit until they are transformed into asweet-smelling gift to our 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,JudyBoliSt.Paul's Episcopal ChurchSaginaw,Michigan-- 
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