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<div style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12px" id=AOLMsgPart_0_b14c64d5-79d8-4551-82ec-7b7f22fa006c><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT><FONT size=4>Many thanks, Judy!</FONT></TT></PRE><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT><FONT size=4>Peace and blessings,</FONT></TT></PRE><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT><FONT size=4>Joe</FONT></TT></PRE><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT><FONT size=4></FONT></TT> </PRE><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT>Note #32998 from JUDY BOLI to PROPERTALK:
Dear Friends,
I'm posting early (for me) so I don't run into ECUNET technical trouble tomorrow
night. Sundays sermon is entitled Live What You Believe (Proper 6C, 6-13-10)
and deals with all the lessons. Here it is:
Dear Friends,
Sundays sermon is entitled Live What You Believe (Proper 6C, 6-13-10) and
deals with all the lessons. Here it is:
Todays Bible lessons are heavy because they zero in right where we live. Do
you remember the God is dead craze some years ago? Todays Bible lessons deal
with people who proclaimed that they followed God, but then actually were living
their lives as if God didnt exist.
Starting with David (beloved of God) in todays Old Testament lesson- he would
have loved the Holman Christian Standard Bible, which was proofread by the
Peachtree Editorial and Proofreading Service- a company specializing in
proofreading Bibles. The proofreaders at Peachtree see the Bible as God's Word,
so they are passionate about getting it right. None of them wants to see an
error like the one made in the 1631 King James edition of the Bible. It read,
Thou shalt (they forgot the NOT) commit adultery. As you know, thats exactly
what David did. Remember his shameful adultery with Bathsheba (actually it was
probably a rape, since people didnt tell kings no in those days), how he got
her pregnant and then purposely had her husband Uriah killed in battle to cover
up the pregnancy. Today we heard the prophet Nathan (one of the bravest people
in the Bible) confront David with his sin. David said he loved God, but surely
didnt live as if God mattered. He car!
ed more about getting what he wanted when he wanted it at whatever cost to
others- he cared more about this than God.
There once was a teen-age girl who loved parties. One morning she was having
breakfast with her father, and she asked, Daddy, I'd like to have a party this
weekend. Is that all right? You just had a party just last weekend, honey,
he says. Do you think it is necessary to entertain your friends so often?
Oh, this isn't to entertain my friends, his daughter replies. This is to snub
my enemies. That brings us right to Peter. He wasnt snubbing enemies, but he
WAS snubbing Gentiles. As you recall, earlier God had used a vision to teach
Peter that all people, Jews as well as Gentiles, were equal in his sight. Peter
was fine with that until he went to visit the church in Jerusalem where James
was bishop. James did not believe in equality. So Peter wouldnt look foolish,
he went back to his old ways of discriminating against Gentiles so he could fit
in with his peers. Luckily, Paul heard about it. In todays epistle, we hear
Paul confronting Peter !
about his two-faced behavior. Remember when Jesus asked Peter three times if
Peter loved Jesus? Peter proclaimed his love for his Savior, but surely didnt
live as if God mattered. He cared more about what his friends thought and about
his popularity than he did about God, at least at this point in his life.
Finally, there was Simon, the Pharisee, who had invited Jesus over to his house
for dinner. As we heard, while they were eating, a woman who was a known
sinner- probably a prostitute, entered the house and fell all over Jesus feet.
She was someone whom Jesus had forgiven at an earlier time for some serious sin.
The woman took Jesus sandals off, got all emotional, and cried so hard that her
tears washed his feet. Then she took off her own headscarf and let her hair
down- something that women of that culture NEVER did. A husband could divorce
his wife if she let her hair down in the presence of another man. She used her
long hair to dry Jesus feet. She finished by pouring perfume all over Jesus
feet and finally rubbed them dry. As you can imagine, Simon was horrified- you
see, he had been taught from childhood not to associate with people like this,
so he didnt look beyond the behavior to see the person. He also couldnt
understand why Jesus would tolerate s!
uch behavior. Jesus did look beyond the behavior to her thankful heart. Simon
was so busy condemning the woman and Jesus that he ignored his own extremely
serious sin of judging others. His better-than-thou attitude blinded his eyes
to the thanksgiving offered by the woman as well as his own sin.
So, where are you in relation to God? Do you only follow him when its
convenient? Do your words proclaim him Lord, but do you live as if he really
doesnt exist? Would you, like David, really prefer a Bible with some of the
commandments edited or some of Jesus words eliminated? Like David, do you get
what you want, no matter whom you hurt? Like Peter, are you two-faced? Do you
say one thing to a persons face and another behind their back? Like Simon, are
there people you look down on? Perhaps theyre too dark or too light or too
smart or too slow or too poor or too rich or too whatever?
Finally, with both David and Peter- their mouths got them into trouble. Do you
remember the old African wisdom statement: Birds are entangled by their feet,
and we humans by our tongues? The thought for the week tells us what to do:
Im always careful of he words I speak, I keep them soft and sweet, I never
know from day to day which ones Ill have to eat (anonymous). Let us pray: may
the words of our mouths, the meditation of our hearts, and the actions of our
lives be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom
statements are posted on our NEW PARISH WEB SITE. The address is:
<A href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.com/" target=_blank>http://www.stpaulsepisag.com</A> .
Blessed preaching.
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom
statements are posted on our NEW PARISH WEB SITE. The address is:
<A href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.com/" target=_blank>http://www.stpaulsepisag.com</A> .
Blessed preaching.
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan
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