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<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">So I Could Stand Beside My King</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">There is an old story about the Greek Marathon.
Muscular, conditioned runners paced nervously near the starting line for the
long-distance race. The time was near. They "shook out" their muscles, inhaled
deeply, and put on their "game faces." In the midst of it all, a young stranger
took his place at the starting line. His physique was awesome.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Taking no notice of the other contestants, he
stared straight ahead. Two prizes would be awarded the winner of the Marathon: a
magnificent bouquet of flowers and the honor of standing beside the king until
the conclusion of other contests. There seemed to be no question among the
runners about who would win the prize. It is alleged that the stranger was
offered money not to run. Someone else attempted to bribe him with property.
Refusing the offers, he toed the mark and awaited the signal to run. When the
signal was given, he was the first away. At the finish line, he was the first to
cross, well ahead of the rest. When it was all done, someone asked the young man
if he thought the flowers were worth as much as the money and property he had
refused. He replied, "I did not enter the race for the flowers. I ran so that I
could stand beside my king!"</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Again, the woman who "intruded" into the
Pharisee's house apparently had one thing on her mind. She wanted to stand
beside her king.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Larry Powell, Blow The Silver Trumpets, CSS
Publishing Co.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">___________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">As Grace Opens Up</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I recall the first time I got a glimpse of the
pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. I made the van driver stop so
I could take a picture, but after a while as we got closer, I asked that he stop
again for another shot. Several times we went through the same process as the
three grand pyramids opened up before us.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Grace is like that. It opens up wider and
wider, more and more grand. Our first glimpse seems so small compared with
now.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jerry L. Schmalenberger, Lectionary Preaching
Workbook, Series VII, Year C, CSS Publishing</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">___________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Thou art my righteousness and I am thy
sin</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Martin Luther</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">___________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">A Kiss of Love</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The great pianist, Paderewski, had a friend
whose little girl was going to give a piano recital. Out of respect for his
friend, Paderewski accepted the girl's invitation to her recital. When she saw
the famous pianist in the audience, she got stage fright, forgot her piece, and
broke down in tears. At the close of the concert, Paderewski said nothing to her
but went up and tenderly kissed her on the forehead and left. If she had not
made the mistake and failed, she would not have received a kiss of love and
understanding from the master pianist. Likewise, it is when we stumble and fall
into sin and are complete failures that the mercy of God in Christ is
experienced in terms of forgiveness.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">John R. Brokhoff, Lent: A Time of Tears, CSS
Publishing Company</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Odor of Sanctity</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When you enter a synagogue or a church, you
know it is one that is prayed in, because it has the odor of sanctity about it.
You also can tell when you've entered a happy home -- there's something in the
atmosphere. If there has been continual fighting, even the smiles that are put
on for you won't fool you. And so the pain must be addressed.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as quoted in Colin
Greer, Without Memory, There Is No Healing; Without Forgiveness, There Is No
Future, Parade, January 11, 1998, 6.<BR><BR>____________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Cookie Thief<BR><BR>Today's gospel reminds
me of the story of the cookie thief. A woman at the airport waiting to catch her
flight bought herself a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge
and began to read her book. Suddenly she noticed the man beside her helping
himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a scene, she read on, ate cookies,
and watched the clock. As the daring "cookie thief" kept on eating the cookies
she got more irritated and said to herself, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken
his eye!" She wanted to move the cookies to her other side but she couldn’t
bring her self to do it. With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only
one was left, she wondered what he would do. Then with a smile on his face and a
nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">He offered her half, and he ate the other. She
snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother, this guy has some nerve, and he's
also so rude, why, he didn't even show any gratitude!" She sighed with relief
when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,
refusing to look at the ungrateful "thief." She boarded the plane and sank in
her seat, reached in her bag to get a book to read and forget about the
incident. Next to her book was her bag - of cookies.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The cookies they ate in the lounge were his not
hers. She had been the thief not him.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The cookie thief story reminds us, as we see in
today's gospel, that it often happens that the one pointing the accusing finger
turns out to be the guilty one, that the complainant sometimes turns out to be
the offending party. In the cookie story, the woman believed she was such a
wonderful person to put up with the rudeness and ingratitude of the man sitting
beside her. In the end she discovered that she was the rude and ungrateful one
and the man was wonderfully friendly. In the gospel the Pharisee thinks he is
the righteous one who is worthy to be in the company of Jesus and that the woman
was the sinful one unworthy to be seen with Jesus. In the end Jesus showed each
of them where they really belonged and the woman was seen as the one who was
righteous and more deserving of the company of Jesus than the self-righteous
Pharisee.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Brett Blair, <A
href="http://www.esermons.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.eSermons.com</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><BR>____________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Wrong Number but the Right Time</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Wallace D. Chappell tells that following one of
his sermons a little girl came to the front of the church to meet him. He was
the guest evangelist in the church for the week, so he did not know her nor her
older sister who stood close by. The older sister was encouraging her to tell
something to Chappell, the nature of which was not immediately clear. Finally,
after considerable coaxing, the little girl told that on the day before she had
received a telephone call from a lady who was visiting in the city from out of
state. The lady had dialed the wrong number. Although the little girl did not
know who the lady was, she began to talk to her. Reaching to make conversation,
as children often do, the girl remembered that there would be preaching at her
church that evening so she passed along that bit of information and invited the
lady to attend. The little girl, warming to her story as she told it, said, "The
lady said she hadn't been inside a church in 20 years."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Then, with excitement in her voice, the child
said, "She was at church tonight. I talked to her. And when you asked for people
to accept Jesus, she was one of those who came forward."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The lady was from out of state. She was in that
particular city for a particular purpose and had her own agenda. To go into a
strange church and hear a visiting evangelist preach was not a big item on her
list of things to do. It was not a good time. But something about the little
girl's invitation led her to take advantage of the opportunity. Probably a dozen
reasons why she could not go raced through her mind: the circumstances were not
right, she didn't have time; you can imagine the other reasons. At some point,
however, it came to her that although things were not as she would have arranged
them, it was an opportunity and she would seize it.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When you are waiting on the "right time" to
come to Christ or if you are delaying your commitment until circumstances are
"right," remember the woman in Luke's story who was so full of joy and gratitude
that she would take advantage of any opportunity to praise God for what he had
done for her through Christ Jesus her Lord! Those who are resolved will "catch
as catch can." Those who have no resolve will never catch up to just the right
opportunity. It will always be the wrong time.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Larry Powell, Blow The Silver Trumpets, CSS
Publishing Company, Inc.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">__________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Nothing Bad That I Do Is My Fault</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">That precocious little boy from the comics,
Calvin, walked into the living room where his father was sitting in a chair
reading. Calvin announces: "I've concluded that nothing bad that I do is my
fault."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Dad's curiosity is peaked, so Dad says,
"Oh?"</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Calvin continues: "Right! Being young and
impressionable, I'm the helpless victim of countless bad influences! An
unwholesome culture panders to my undeveloped values and pushes me to
malfeasance. I take no responsibility for my behavior! I'm an innocent pawn!
It's society's fault."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Dad is totally unimpressed and says…</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The conclusion to this illustration and for
many additional illustrations and sermons for the Proper 6 can be accessed at <A
title=http://www.sermons.com/ href="http://www.sermons.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.Sermons.com</FONT></A>.</DIV>
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