[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Lent 1A

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded: 



-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Mar 4, 2017 8:09 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Lent 1A



Dear Friends,
 
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Yield Not toTemptation” or “The Devil Made Me Do It!” and deals with the beginning of Lent.  Here it is: 
 
We just heard the story ofthe temptation of Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11) and we know the feelingof being tempted all too well, because temptation is a part of our lives.  In Lent it gets even worse as we try to stickwith our Lenten commitment of giving up something that keeps us from being thebest we can be and taking on something to deepen our spiritual lives.  You know as well as I do, even good change ishard.  On top of it, we human beings area disobedient, stubborn lot!  Did youhear the story of the husband and wife who got in an argument?  Each was giving the other the “silenttreatment.” Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need hiswife to wake him at 5:00 A.M. for an early morning business flight. Not wantingto be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper,“Please wake me at 5:00 A.M.”  He left it where he knew she would findit.  The next morning, the man woke up,only to discover it was 9:00 A.M.,and he had missed his flight.  Furious,he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed apiece of paper by the bed.  The papersaid, “It is 5:00 A.M. Wakeup.”  Do you see how stubborn andrebellious we can be?  All we have to dois know there is something we should do, and we don’t want to do it.  Sounds like Adam and Eve all over again.  What did you give up for Lent?  If it’s doughnuts, I know your car justhappens to drive by the doughnut shop. If it’s smoking, I know you look at those cigarettes when you pay foryour gas.  It’s no accident that Jesustaught us to pray: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,”better translated: “Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us fromevil.”  Jesus came to give us life, allowus to live our lives to the fullest. What is the opposite of “live?” Sure, “E-V-I-L”- what the devil wants to trick us into choosing.
 
As we live through Lent, 2017, here are threeuseful facts about temptation and how to handle it:  (Each one comes with a story to help usremember the Biblical concept.)
1)      THE DEVIL CANNOT FORCEUS.  ALLHE CAN DO IS SIMPLY TRY TOCONVINCE US.  Remember, Jesus isLord.  When we’re under huge assault,it’s so easy to forget that Jesus has overcome, so the power to overcome is inour hands.  The trouble is- he’s a masterat tricking us and we get convinced all too easily.  Did you hear about the woman who just lovedto shop?  The problem was- both of theircredit cards were maxed out, and she had promised her husband that she would notbuy anything that was not absolutely necessary. Well, Lent came soon after she made the promise, and her Lentencommitment was that she would exercise every day.  Since it was pouring rain, she couldn’t walkoutside; so she decided to go to the mall to walk and get her exercise.  “Don’t worry, dear,” she told her husbandbefore leaving.  “I won’t buy anything- Ipromise you.”  Her walk in the mallstarted out just fine, but then, as she strode past one of her favorite stores,she saw this beautiful dress in the window. You know what she did- stopped walking to look at it.  She noticed that it was in her favorite colorand would match the shoes she purchased the week before.  “It won’t hurt if I just go in the store tolook.  They probably won’t have my sizeanyway.”  When she checked out the rack,there was that gorgeous dress; and it was in her perfect color and correctsize.  “Wow!” she thought.  “It won’t hurt to just try it on.  Trying it on is not the same thing as buyingit.”  You know what she did- took it intothe dressing room to try it on.  After itwas on, she looked at her image in the mirror, and she really did lookgood.  All of a sudden, she came to hersenses and remembered her promise to her husband.  “Get the behind me, Satan!” she ordered.  “I’m not buying this dress!”  From behind her came a soft voice that said-“Gee, that’s a shame.  It looks reallygood back here too!”
2)      OVERCOMING TEMPTATION IS NOTSIMPLY A MATTER OF EDUCATION.  ALTHOUGHWE DO NEED OUR FACTS, BUT THE REALPROBLEM IS ONE OF THE WILL-CHOOSING LONG-TERM WELL-BEING OVERSHORT-TERM HAPPINESS. The Old Testament Genesis lesson of the temptation andsin of Adam and Eve is a good example of this fact about temptation.  Their problem was not education.  They knew the facts- don’t eat thefruit.  If they did, they would die.  They understood what God wanted them todo.  Their problem was not education- itwas choice.  They WANTED to eat thefruit.  It looked good, so they did whatthey wanted and went against God’s teaching.
3)      BELIEVING THAT “I CAN GET AWAY WITH IT. NO ONE WILL CATCH ME.  I CAN OUTSMART GOD ANDEVERYBODY ELSE!”…not true!  The Bible (Numbers 32:23) reminds us: “Besure your sin will find you out.”  Do youremember the story of the two lovers?  Itwas Valentine’s Day, and the young couple was in love.  The problem was- they were college students,and they had an important test scheduled for that morning.  They decided to forget about the class justthis once, make a good excuse, and hope the instructor would let them make upthe test; so they took a long drive. When they went to class the next day, they told the instructor that theyhad a flat tire, so they couldn’t get to class. She replied with sympathy and said they could take the test rightthen.  As soon as they were ready towrite, she said, “Now the first question: which tire was flat?”  (i.e. short term happiness over long termwell-being.)  The Rev. Dr. Anthony Evansreminds us: “Used improperly, credit cards operate a lot like sin: enjoy now,pay later.”
 
What should we rememberabout temptation this Lent, 2017?
1)      From the wife trying toovercome the temptation to buy the dress: THE DEVIL CAN’T FORCE US.  ALLHE CAN DO IS TRY TO CONVINCE US.”
2)      From Adam and Eve and thefirst sin: THE OVERCOMING TEMPTATION IS NOT SIMPLY A MATTER OF EDUCATION.  ALTHOUGH WE DO NEED OUR FACTS, THE REAL PROBLEM IS ONEOF THE WILL- CHOOSING LONG-TERM WELL-BEINGOVER SHORT-TERM HAPPINESS.
3)      From the lovers trying toout-smart their teacher: BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT.
 
May God bless us as we keep a holy Lent fullof life-giving spiritual growth.
 
For anyone who isinterested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements areposted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .
 
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Propertalk" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to propertalk.topic+unsubscribe at ecunet.org.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20170304/bda8c38a/attachment.htm>