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<DIV><FONT size=4>This is one of the parables of urgency we will hear during the
summer: you have great opportunities, don’t blow them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.agreeley.com/hom07/aug12.htm">http://www.agreeley.com/hom07/aug12.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Andrew M. Greeley, 2007</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>They had driven about a half mile down the road when they saw
one of those little cars that parents give their kids for graduation (an Izuzu
Trooper actually) pulled over at the side of the road with a flat tire.
Melissa has a flat tire one of the kids shouted. Melissa was a teenager who had
babysat for the family. We should stop and help her, the mommy said. Mommies are
always saying things like that. We haven't got time, the Daddy said as he drove
on. We have to beat the traffic. Someone else will stop to help her. The car was
very silent the rest of the way home. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.agreeley.com/hom01/aug12.htm">http://www.agreeley.com/hom01/aug12.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Andrew M. Greeley, 2001</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Avoid over-attachment to “possessions” (v. 33) and share what
you have with the needy (“give alms”). Emphasize your relationship with God, not
material wealth; integrity with him lasts, but wealth ends with the grave.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/cpr19m.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/archive/cpr19m.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>12:35-38: Similar ideas are to be found in the Parable of the
Ten Bridesmaids: see Matthew 25:1-13. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/cpr19l.shtml">http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/cpr19l.shtml</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Chris Haslam </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...asserting God's unconditional grace is only one half of the
story. We are not only freed <I>from</I> anxiety regarding our relationship with
God. We are also freed <I>for</I> life in this world. This, also, is the heart
of the gospel promise. We are freed from fear of scarcity so that we can be
generous with others. We are freed from the fear of condemnation so that we can
forgive others. We are freed from the fear of falling short, of failing, of
being unacceptable so that we can live for our neighbors, sharing with others
the good news that God is pleased to give us – <I>all</I> of us – the
kingdom.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=385"><FONT
size=4>http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=385</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN id=ColumnistNameLbl><FONT size=4>David Lose</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT size=4></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT size=4>I worshiped recently at Reba Place Church in Evanston,
Illinois, a Mennonite congregation in an urban setting. Reba Place is closely
associated with an intentional community of the same name. Members of this
fellowship have sold possessions, moved into shared space, and practice economic
sharing and alms-giving. To worship with Reba Place is to begin to see what it
might be to hear and read scripture as a church, rather than as a collection of
individuals.<BR></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><A
href="http://theolog.org/2007/08/blogging-toward-sunday-fathers-pleasure.html"><FONT
size=4>http://theolog.org/2007/08/blogging-toward-sunday-fathers-pleasure.html</FONT></A></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT size=4></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN><FONT size=4>Stan Wilson, 2007 </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Because I am just a few years away from retirement, I keep a
close eye on the performance of my 401 K. I’ve heard horror stories of people
who live longer than their means of support, and I fear poverty and dependency
in old age. As Jesus says, my accumulation of treasure is revealing my ultimate
concerns and commitments, and my greatest fears. I fear want and dependency more
than I fear God. The judgments of the market mean more to me than the judgments
of a righteous God. So Jesus’ concluding warning about God coming upon us
unexpectedly holds little fear for me. In a way, my possessions are a means,
even if an unconscious means, of securing my life against the nocturnal
incursions of a God who threatens to rip off everything I’ve
got.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://theolog.org/2007/08/blogging-toward-sunday_06.html"><FONT
size=4>http://theolog.org/2007/08/blogging-toward-sunday_06.html</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William H. Willimon </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Our problem is not the occasional break in, but the constant
infiltration of those values which burgle the gospel and besiege the believer
with alternative value systems designed to sustain profit for the well off. Our
task is more like needing to be alert for the occasional apostle of justice and
humanity, to offer them hospitality and support in a world where all the subtle
and not so subtle messages are calling for more of the same, more for us and
less for them. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/LkPentecost11.htm"><FONT
size=4>http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/LkPentecost11.htm</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William Loader</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>
<P align=justify>At another congregation, the pastor wondered if the money given
for flowers that are thrown away might be better used. They established a "Good
Samaritan Fund" to which people could donate "in honor of" or "in memory of"
someone with it noted in the bulletin. Money from this fund is used to help the
needy among them. They do not have flowers on the altar. When they asked the
staffs about donating flowers to nursing homes and hospitals, the staffs did not
want the left over altar flowers. It meant more work for the them as they had to
rearrange the flowers.</P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke12x32.htm">http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke12x32.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Brian Stoffregen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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