[Propertalk] A day-old sermon

[Joe Parrish]

Not to worry, Judy, it is still the week after the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost.
Many thanks!
Peace and blessings,
Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: JUDY BOLI <JUDY.BOLI at ecunet.org>
To: PROPERTALK.topic <PROPERTALK.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Wed, Jun 9, 2010 4:14 pm
Subject: A day-old sermon


Note #32993 from JUDY BOLI to PROPERTALK:

ear Friends,
Not much is as useless as an old sermon for the day before, but- once again, I 
ouldn't open ECUNET on Saturday night.  In case anyone is interested in day-old 
ermons, here it is:
Yesterday’s sermon was entitled “Terrible Times- Don’t Waste Them!” or “God can 
ake your mess and make it into your message.” (Joel Osteen) or “Don’t let evil 
efeat you, but defeat evil with good.” (Romans 12:19) and deals with all the 
essons.  Here it is:
My thinking about the presence of evil in the world and how we deal with it as 
od’s people got serious after watching the awful events of 9-11.  I’ve shared 
he teachings in this sermon with you at least every year since then, and 
oday’s Bible lessons raise the question of evil once again.  In the Old 
estament lesson (1st Kings 17: 8-16) we heard how there was a famine which was 
illing people and animals alike.  A famine is terrible.  In Psalm 146, vs. 7-9, 
e hear how God “gives justice to the poor and food to the hungry.  The LORD 
ets prisoners free and heals blind eyes.  He gives a helping hand to everyone 
ho falls.  The LORD loves good people and looks after strangers.  He defends 
he rights of orphans and widows, but destroys the wicked.”  All those are 
ositives, but someone first has to be poor, hungry, a prisoner, blind, a 
tranger, an orphan, a widow, and wicked.  In the epistle (Galatians 1:11-24), 
e hear how Paul started out very evil- killing Christia!
ns and persecuting the church.  Then in the gospel (Luke 7: 11-17), we hear the 
onderful episode of how Jesus brought the only son of a widow back to life.  
rue, that was wonderful, but the woman had to suffer the loss of her husband 
nd then her son before this miracle could happen.  
Difficult, painful times are present today- in fact, some of us are living 
hrough them right now.  The ghastly oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico killed 
leven people and has destroyed the way of life and livelihood for many people.  
t is threatening vulnerable ecosystems and destroying animals.  It’s hard to 
scape it and the sadness it brings.  We get to watch every time we turn on the 
V news.  We have members struggling with cancer and other illnesses.  We have 
hree families working to cope with the death of loved ones.  We have people 
ith money problems, moving problems, life problems, relationship problems, etc.  
n other words- join the human race.  This kind of pain is part of the human 
ondition.  St. Paul has advice for us when we face situations like these.  In 
omans 12: 19 he says, “Don’t let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.”  
 know how devoted you are to your Lord, so I’m sure that this is how you intend 
o live your life.  Me too.  The proble!
m is, in frustrating, confusing times like these- how do you know how to defeat 
vil with good?  We’d be glad to do as God wants, but how do we know what that 
s?  For me, one of the blessings of having lived through pain and suffering (as 
ell as wonderful times) is the chance to think through and refine my own 
ersonal theology of evil based on scripture, and especially on Gospel.  I’d 
ike to share it with you again this morning.  As you may remember, I see five 
asic principles in our dealing with evil. 
FIRST PRINCIPLE: We mustn’t delude ourselves about the power of the enemy.  Some 
ears ago, I asked our Sunday school youngsters to tell me what Satan looked 
ike.  You know what they said: a little man in a red jump suit with a tail, a 
itchfork, fire coming out of his fingernails (too many video games!), and 
orns- either red or black- couldn’t decide which.  Wouldn’t that be nice- if we 
ould always recognize him and his greatest desire was to get us to swear or 
ell a lie- don’t we all wish it were that simple.  The devil (or Satan) is just 
he name we give “the evil powers of this world that seek to corrupt and destroy 
he creatures of God”- i.e. US!  (“Book of Common Prayer”- Service of Holy 
aptism, p. 302)  Satan’s purpose is to close our open minds; turn our loving 
earts into cold, hateful hearts of stone; make us suspicious of everyone and 
verything; divide us; enslave us by fear; and diminish our spirit.  
SECOND PRINCIPLE: Evil is highly contagious- look how evil spreads, worse than 
mallpox or tuberculosis.  At the checkout line, a lady said, “I just can’t see 
hy they (the terrorists) hate us so!”  I know.  Among other reasons, one of 
hem goes back to the Jewish holocaust in World War II.  When the war was over, 
ur side- the winning side- officially established a homeland for the Jews in 
alestine and empowered them to become a nation.  I have to be suspicious that 
ne of the reasons this happened was plain and simple anti-Semitism....they 
idn’t want all those Jewish people in their land.  I remember, as a little girl 
rowing up in Detroit, seeing ad after ad in the classified section of the 
etroit News: “Apartment for rent- no pets, no children, no Jews.”  The problem 
f giving them a homeland in Palestine was that someone else already lived 
here- the Palestinians.  The Jews said God promised the land to them through 
heir ancestor Abraham (God did, but the Pale!
stinians are also Abraham’s descendants.)  The Palestinians said it was their 
and; hatred festered; and Satan sowed the seed for the poisonous harvest that 
fter all these years we are now reaping.  Unfortunately, it’s not just God’s 
ingdom that can start with a mustard seed and grow into a mighty tree- if we 
ater and inflame the hatred, Satan’s can also.  Unless we take preventative 
easures, what we sow is what we get.
THIRD PRINCIPLE: Jesus’ teachings, especially those in the sermon on the mount, 
re the vaccination against being destroyed when evil is thrown at us.  I was 
alking to a Bible teacher- definitely someone who should know better, who said 
e thought we should just go in and bomb the you-know-what out of any nation 
hat allows terrorists to live within their borders.  He justified his opinion 
y saying that the Bible is full of war- just look at the Old Testament.  True, 
ut Jesus came to fulfill the old covenant.  The Old Testament was written for 
he people of God when they were just beginning their journey.  “An eye for an 
ye” was a necessity to limit violence- so a whole family couldn’t be wiped out 
or the sin of one member.  You don’t give a toddler and a fifty-five year old 
randmother or grandfather the same rules.  Jesus said he had come to fulfill 
he law.  In fact, he said, “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye and a 
ooth for a tooth,’ but I tell you!
- love (i.e. want what is best for) your enemy.”  Remember, he’s not talking 
bout love- a feeling, but love- an action, a choice.  St. Paul reminds us that 
od says: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”
FOURTH PRINCIPLE: Looked at through God’s eyes, the power for who wins this 
ound- God or Satan, is not in the hands of the evil person or group, even 
hough they think and act as if they are in charge.  Power is in the hands of 
he VICTIM.  It is the victim who allows God to take charge of the encounter.  
r. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that.  Why?  Because it is the victim who 
etermines the response to the evil.  Satan can do nothing if the victim 
esponds as a Christian and refuses to spread anger and hate, but instead works 
o solve the initial problem that the devil used to start the whole evil mess.  
ook how this principle works.  Since Satan counts on being able to spread his 
vil by using one evil person (or a group of evil people) to get something 
oing, he must pick his person carefully.  The more negatives emotionally and 
hysically this person or group can cause the better.  The first incident only 
ets the ball going.  The power for good or evil is in the ha!
nds of the victim.  Look- if an evil person throws a ball of nasty garbage at 
e, I have a choice.  If I can’t dodge it, the instinctual human choice is to 
atch it and start throwing it back, letting it splatter at everyone within 
ange.    In fact, I might even miss and get a whole lot of innocent people.  
hat happens next?  Those on the other side do the same.  Before long, following 
ur natural tendencies, we are all a filthy stinking mess.  However, we are not 
alled to follow our natural tendencies- we are much more than the highest 
iological entity on this planet.  We are called to be children of God, and 
here is a better way.  Instead, we might catch the nasty ball and hold it until 
e figure out how to dispose of it with a minimum of damage- I might even use it 
o fertilize our church garden. thus taking care of the problem, but not 
preading the filth.  If we are strong enough, courageous enough, have enough 
pirit power, the contamination stops before it corr!
upts us or spreads to anybody else.
Bringing it down to the nitty-gritty of life, how do we do this?  Do we let evil 
eople walk all over us?  Of course not.  As Christians, our motivation for an 
ction is what is most important.  If a crazed gunman started shooting children 
t our neighborhood school, what should law-enforcement do?  They should stop 
im- using as much force as necessary, even if it meant killing him.  Why?  To 
et revenge?  No- to stop the violence, the killing of innocent children.  
hristians have no business getting revenge- only stopping evil and bringing the 
uilty to justice.  If we try to get revenge, we will participate with Satan in 
estroying our own spirit.  The Rt. Rev. Nathan Baxter, former dean of the 
ational Cathedral in Washington DC and now bishop of Central Pennsylvania, 
xpresses this idea well when he stated, “As we act, we must not become the evil 
e deplore.”  
FIFTH PRINCIPLE: Don’t waste terrible times!  When someone does something 
errible to you, or when encountering a ghastly life tragedy- don’t waste it!  
hat do I mean?  Think about it.  Think about the huge negative energy generated 
y evil experience.  That energy can be redirected, by your skill and obedience 
o our Lord, as positive power for God and for good.  You don’t believe me?  The 
est example of this is the cross.  What worse catastrophe could Satan throw at 
s than having people execute God’s son naked on a garbage heap?  And yet, 
hrough Jesus’ obedience- came the glorious resurrection, eternal life, 
alvation, fullness-of-living for all who would accept it.  The Chinese 
haracter for calamity is a combination of characters- crisis and opportunity- 
ame idea.  So my challenge to us today is, since we’ve already lived through 
he crisis (I hope), find the opportunity.  What opportunities can we ferret out 
f the messes of our lives?  Terrible times encoura!
ge us to reexamine our priorities.  In 9-11, do you remember the three 
assengers who became heroes (Jeremy Glick, Tom Burnett, and Mark Bingham) on 
nited Airlines Flight 93 that crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside?  They 
revented the terrorists from using the plane as a bomb against a 
eavily-populated target by trying to take back the plane.  What did they do as 
heir crisis became apparent?  They used their cell phones to call family and 
riends, they asked their listeners to say the Lord’s Prayer with them, and they 
ade the decision to make their lives count- they knew they could make a 
ifference.  At that point, talking on their cell phones- all the little 
isagreements, irritations didn’t matter at all.  What are your priorities?  
hen is the last time you told your family and friends that you love them?  If 
ou don’t do it today, how do you know you’ll get another chance?  Are you 
aking your life count- making a difference?  Are you really spending you!
r time and money on your true priorities?  Are you using all y!
our ener
y and problem-solving talent to work for God?
I’m going to close with a very familiar story- almost a parable- that I use at 
ust about every funeral, but it’s worth repeating.  This story illustrates 
sing crises and mistakes for positives.  Before I retired from teaching, Mr. 
pencer Porter was often the art teacher assigned to work with my fifth grade 
tudents.  He was one of the best art teachers I have ever seen.  If the 
oungsters were doing art on paper, he would start passing out the supplies, and 
ou could bet that by the time the last student got a paper, some of the first 
tudents were already waving their hands.  “Mr. Porter,” they would say- “Mr. 
orter, I messed up my paper.  I need a new one.”  Mr. Porter would answer, 
Turn it over and use the back.”  Within a few minutes, the hands would start to 
ave again.  “Mr. Porter, Mr. Porter, I messed up the back too!” they would 
ament.  Spencer Porter’s answer- “I’m not giving you another paper.  Now is 
our chance to become an artist and really d!
o art.  Look at your paper on the front, and look at your paper on the back, 
nd figure out what your can turn your mistakes into.”  My friends, some of the 
ost amazing artwork came from those students, because their “mistakes” forced 
hem to think outside the box, be creative, and try new solutions to what they 
hought were impossible problems.  I only hope they are continuing to apply that 
ind of thinking to their lives today, and I hope we learn from their example.  
he crises we face in our world today, plus those we face every day in the 
ormal demands of living, require fresh, Godly, Gospel solutions and the sure 
nowledge that with God as our guide, mistakes are simply lessons- lessons to be 
earned and used for the Kingdom.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom 
tatements are posted on our NEW PARISH WEB SITE. The address is: 
ttp://www.stpaulsepisag.com .
Blessed preaching.
udy Boli 
t. Paul's Episcopal Church
aginaw, Michigan

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