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<DIV><FONT size=4>Forwarded with Tim's permission:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=Tim.Zingale@ecunet.org href="mailto:Tim.Zingale@ecunet.org">Tim
Zingale</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=SERMONSHOP_SERMONS.topic@ecunet.org
href="mailto:SERMONSHOP_SERMONS.topic@ecunet.org">SERMONSHOP_SERMONS.topic@ecunet.org</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, September 21, 2009 2:49 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> 17th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 21 Lectionary 26
Sermon</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Times; FONT-SIZE: medium"
class=Apple-style-span>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><BIG>17th Sunday after Pentecost<BR><BR>Proper
21<BR><BR>Lectionary 26<BR><BR>Mark 9:38-50<BR><BR>"Are you
Salt?"<BR></BIG></DIV>
<DIV><BIG><BR>38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in
your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us."<BR><BR>39 But
Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name
will be able soon after to speak evil of me.<BR><BR>40 For he that is not
against us is for us.<BR><BR>41 ¶ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a
cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose
his reward.<BR><BR>42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me
to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.<BR><BR>43 And if your hand causes you to sin,
cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go
to hell, to the unquenchable fire.<BR><BR>44<BR><BR>45 And if your foot causes
you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two
feet to be thrown into hell.<BR><BR>46<BR><BR>47 And if your eye causes you to
sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,<BR><BR>48 where their worm does not
die, and the fire is not quenched.<BR><BR>49 For every one will be salted with
fire.<BR><BR>50 Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will
you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one
another."RSV<BR><BR>Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who
is the Christ.<BR><BR>What kind of people does a church produce? Let me repeat
that question, What kind of people does a church produce?? That may sound like a
strange question but in all reality that is the question which our gospel lesson
asks in many different ways this morning. Does the church produce people who
give a drink or cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty in Jesus' name? Does
the church produce people who lead others to sin? Does the church produce salt,
pure and willing to preserve the goals and ideals of Jesus? Does the church
produce people who practice what they preach?? Does the church produce people of
faith who are willing to put their faith into action in their own lives as well
as the lives of others?<BR><BR>This lesson is asking us to look seriously at our
conduct as members of the body of Christ, not only how we treat others, but also
how we conduct our own individual lives in relationship to the teachings of
Jesus and the commands of God as found in the 10 commandments.<BR><BR>To get a
better understanding of what Jesus means in this text, I would like to look at
four individuals,<BR><BR>"First a gal named Shirley. Shirley was a dedicated
mother. Her children lacked nothing. If they were hungry, at the first sign of
hunger, they were fed. If her children's friend got a new toy, Shirley's
children got the same one.<BR><BR>They were the first at school when they got
older to have their heir own car. They weren't made to do anything, because once
upon a time, Shirley's father made her go to church. Shirley's children don't go
to church, but they are good children, with good manners and good grades, but
they are good and bland--tasteless saltless. No faith, no belief in Christ,
these children are good but selfish, looking out only for
themselves.<BR><BR>Then there is Bill. Bill is retired now and as he says. He
had it made. He worked hard all his life and as Bill says he is going to take it
easy in retirement. Sit on the porch and rock in the rocker. Bill has been asked
to do volunteer work for the Senior Citizen Center, but as he did with the
people at the church, he told them to let the younger ones take their turn. He
just wanted to rock and rock and rock. Bill lacks salt, too.<BR><BR>But Tom just
the opposite of Bill. Tom is going to be somebody. He graduated early from high
school. Got a good scholarship to college. He worked hard getting good grades.
Now he is working hard for the company. They promised to make him rich and they
are. But Tom lost something on the way up the corporate ladder, his wife and
children. She left taking the children with her. He says she didn't understand.
But she says his job is an obsession. His children visit on every fourth
weekend, for the afternoon. He really does love his job. Money is Tom's way of
keeping score concerning life and as far Tom is concerned, he is way ahead,
running up a huge score. But Tom is saltless!!<BR><BR>Then there is Mage. Mage
is the town gossip. She has just been part of a juicy and really slanderous
gossip. But Mage has second thoughts about what she has done. She finds her
pastor and asks if there is anything she can do to make amends. She says, "But
Pastor, I will do anything to wipe the slate clear."<BR><BR>The pastor said ,
"Mage come here. In this basket are goose feathers. Let us go to the top of the
bell tower." When they reached the top of the bell tower, the pastor pours the
feathers into the wind and they scatter in every direction. "Now Mage," said the
Pastor, "Now you go out and gather up all the feathers and bring them back to me
and I will tell you what you can do to make amends for your lies."<BR><BR>The
pastor returned to his desk and Mage ran out the door chasing the feathers. Many
hours past, then the pastor heard a knocking at the door. It was Mage. She was
crying and had only a few feathers in her basket. "I see what you mean, Pastor,
I cannot undo what I have done."<BR><BR>"That is right, Mage," said the Pastor,
"You cannot undo it, but from now on you can do good deeds and say good
thing. While that will not undo what you have done, it will help to
counteract the effect a little, and that will be the most that you can do. For
all the rest, your lies, your spreading false gossip, you will have to trust God
to forgive you. "<BR><BR>What kind of people does the church produce? I think
all, it produces a Shirley, who is selfish, a Bill who is willing to let others
do his duty, Tom who is only concerned about material things and a Mage who
liked to talk about others.<BR><BR>But who does Jesus say out of these four will
receive their reward? I think Mage, because she eventually saw herself as she
really was and was willing to repent, to change her live, to try to live as
Christ commands us to live.<BR><BR>Shirley, Bill and Tom didn't see anything
wrong with their lifestyles. They didn't see how they had lost their saltiness,
how they had lost what Jesus says is important for Christian living, love,
kindness, faith, trust and belief. Shirley had a faith but she was too selfish,
to self-centered to allow that faith to grow. So she didn't pass it on to her
children.<BR><BR>Bill saw the world now that he was retired as someone else's.
He didn't have to be involved. He didn't have to work, he didn't have to care,
or show kindness or compassion or love, "Let someone else do it." But does our
life as a follower of Jesus ever end on this earth? Is there a retirement in
Christian living??<BR><BR>What about Tom, money, fame, prestige were really his
gods. They became so much his god that he forsook family, children and maybe his
soul if he doesn't repent and wake up.<BR><BR>But Mage, she was different.
Somehow she felt she had done wrong. Somehow she felt guilty. Somehow she felt
she had to make amends for the wrongs she had done. But she could never really
take back those hurts, she could never take away the pain of her lies. She could
never really undo all the misery she caused. However, she learned that by
changing, by trying to do what was right, by being kind, compassionate, caring
and loving, she could bring a measure of God's grace into this world. And maybe
in that way she could even the scale a little.<BR><BR>All through this lesson,
Jesus is making the point that our lifestyles, our conduct, our attitude, our
very way of life does make a difference as we live in faith. Jesus understands
that we cannot be perfect, we will sin, but it is that attitude concerning sin
which he is speaking about here. We are to be like Mage, willing to repent,
willing to change, willing to say we are sorry, then try to live better. Jesus
says this in some very harsh language when he says, "<SPAN
style="FONT-STYLE: italic">And if your hand causes you to sin, cut if off; it is
better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell. And if
your foot causes you to sin, cut if off, it is better for you to enter life lame
that with two feet to be thrown into hell."</SPAN> and he goes on and on.
But is Jesus really saying the church should be made up of maimed and lame
people?? I think not. But he is pointing out the seriousness of our sins, and he
says we need to acknowledge these sins before Him and the Father so that we
might receive forgiveness.<BR><BR>In Scotland many years ago, the farmers wanted
to appease the evil spirits, so they left a corner in each field unplowed. They
felt if they sacrificed this small part to these evil spirits, the remainder of
the field would yield good crops. But what happened, the corner that was left to
itself produced a lot of weeds, and those weeds scattered by the wind spread
over the whole field and the whole field became full of weeds and the yield
suffered.<BR><BR>So it is with our life in Christ. Jesus doesn't want us to
leave one part of out life that sins around to infect the rest of it. He wants
us to do some thing about it. He wants us to get rid of the weeds, so that
the whole field might be clean. Jesus doesn't want one part of our life in the
Devil's hand, because eventually the devil will have our whole life. Jesus wants
us to be realistic about life, to repent and change those areas which separate
us from him, which drive a wedge between us and God.<BR><BR>This repentance
happens each day when we are honest with ourselves and with God. Each day we
come to him and ask him to forgive, to cleanse, to renew, to make right again.
This happens for us in our daily prayer life, it happens here this morning as
you come to his table to eat and to drink his body and blood given and shed for
you. It happens each time you reconcile yourself with your neighbor then you are
seeking forgiveness for a wrong from your neighbor and from God. Our lives are
in a constant state of confessing, receiving forgiveness and the whole process
is repeated again and again. Jesus is calling us from our compliancy with sin,
to a life that each day seeks God's forgiveness for the wrongs that have been
committed.<BR><BR>A professional piano player said, "If I miss a day of
practice, I know it. If I miss two days, my friends know it. If I miss three
days, my audience knows it. " He had to keep at it day in and day out. So with
us in our life with Christ. We need to keep at it each day. Confessing,
receiving forgiveness, loving our neighbor, worshiping Christ is a day in and
day out way of life for a Christian.<BR><BR>What kind of people does a church
produce? I hope people who recognize the realty which shows life is sinful and
each day to confess, to repent, to receive forgiveness and the strength and
courage to live in God's everlasting grace.<BR><BR>Amen<BR><BR>Written by Pastor
Tim Zingale </BIG></SPAN> </DIV>
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