[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] If I were preaching (and posted on our church website: a sermon for Lent 4A, 3-22-2020 entitled “The Egg, the Carrot, and the Coffee” or “Once I Was Blind, but Now I See”

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sun, Mar 22, 2020 6:12 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] If I were preaching (and posted on our church website: a sermon for Lent 4A, 3-22-2020 entitled “The Egg, the Carrot, and the Coffee” or “Once I Was Blind, but Now I See”

HERE WE GO AGAIN, ANOTHER WEEK OF MEETING GOD HALF WAYIN OVERCOMING THIS VIRUS BY STAYING ISOLATED SO IT CAN'T SPREAD FROM OR TO US!  Here is the sermon I would have preached ifwe were not home sacrificing by not spreading or getting the virus: “The Egg, the Carrot, and the Coffee”or “Once I Was Blind, but Now I See”(Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A: 3-22-2020) When the prophetIsaiah quoted God as saying, “My ways are not your ways, and my thoughts arenot your thoughts,” his words really describe today’s Bible lessons.  In each one, we find God choosing someone todo His work- someone we probably wouldn’t dream of choosing.  In the Old Testament lesson (1stSamuel 16: 1-13), we listen as Jesse shows off all of his sons to the prophetSamuel- actually ALMOST all of his sons. One by one, they paraded before the prophet, and one by one- Samuelsaid- “No, this isn’t the person God has chosen to be king.”  Remember, it was only when pressed that Jesse“remembered” one more son- just a kid. That kid grew to be the mighty King David, the greatest king Israel hadever seen; the root from whom the messiah, Jesus, developed. Did you hear the truestory of the lady and the blind man (sent in to Ann Landers and published inthe Washington Post October 13, 1998)? Mrs. Smith was stark-naked and just about to step into the shower whenthe doorbell rang. She hollered, “Who is it?” He shouted back, “It's the blindman.” She figured it was safe, so she opened the door. He looked at her inshock and asked, “Where do you want me to hang these blinds, lady?” Then there was theblind man in today’s gospel (John 9: 1-38) - not a man hired to hang windowshades, but a person with the handicapping condition of blindness.  Everyone knew a blind man was useless, yet hewas the person who taught the learned Pharisees a thing or two.  When he said in verse 25: “Once I was blind,but now I see,” his wisdom in recognizing who Jesus was put the ignorance ofthe Pharisees to shame. Finally there wasPaul, who wrote the wise advice to the Ephesian Church (Ephesians 5:15-16)reminding them to “act like people with good sense and not like fools.  These are evil times, so make every minutecount.”  Who was Paul to tell anyone whatto do?  As you recall, he was a mass murderer.  He had as many Christians as possibleexecuted.  In fact, he was the one whoheld the coats while Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned todeath.  He reminds me of another personwho wrote something- actually one of our favorite hymns- John Newton, theauthor of “Amazing Grace.”  As Paul was amurderer, so was John Newton.  Hecaptained slave ships, throwing sick and dying Africans overboard so theywouldn’t inconvenience his sailors.  Helater was converted and became a priest in England in our own AnglicanCommunion.  His friendship was one of theinfluences that converted William Wilberforce and then convinced him as aChristian man to work in the English government to abolish the slavetrade.  Wilberforce was the prime personto get the slave trade stopped. Why am I telling youabout these people?  Because each onespeaks to us about how God can use everyone. Perhaps you are (or you know) a discouraged David- someone whose familydisrespects them over and over, someone whose self-concept is down around theirknees.  Tell them (or yourself) that outof little acorns, mighty oak trees grow, so forget about what other people sayand be all that you can be. Or perhaps you have ahandicapping condition.  Maybe you (orsomeone you love) are too fat, thin, crippled, slow in school, old, young,etc.  Recall how the blind man taught thePharisees a thing or two and remember that God doesn’t make junk.  Don’t worry about what you can’t do.  Focus on what you can do for the Lord. Or perhaps you (orsomeone you love) are a Paul or a John Newton. You’ve done some heavy sinning and think God can’t use a sinner likeyou.  You may even have heard people saythey’re too sinful to set foot in church. Remember that John Newton didn’t stop captaining slave ships as soon ashe was converted.  His awareness of singrew on him until he gave his whole life to Jesus, was ordained, wrote “AmazingGrace,” and discipled William Wilberforce to overcome slavery in the BritishIsles. In closing, I’m goingto remind you of a story I’ve told a number of times. A daughter complained toher father about her life and how things were so hard for her. Maybe she waslike David and not respected by her family. Maybe she was like the blind man and had a handicapping condition ofsome sort.  Perhaps she had made some badchoices and was now living through the consequences of her behavior.  Whatever- she told him that she did not knowhow she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fightingand struggling. It seemed as soon 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 herto the 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, whatdo you see?"  "Carrots, eggs,and coffee," she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel thecarrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take anegg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiledegg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted it andsmelled its rich aroma. She humbly asked. "What does it meanFather?"  He explained that each ofthem had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently.The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected tothe boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Itsthin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting throughthe boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans wereunique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed thewater.          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. -- 
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