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<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>God's
Patience<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Robert
Ingersoll, that great agnostic of a day gone by, once said to a contemporary,
"I will give God five minutes to strike me dead for the things I have
said." After five minutes and nothing had happened, Ingersoll's friend
remarked, "Did you think you could exhaust God's patience in just five
minutes?"<br>
<br>
Jerry L. Schmalenberger, When Christians Quarrel, CSS Publishing Co., Inc., <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>_____________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>The Vineyard
Belongs to God<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>A friend told
me about an announcement in her church's weekly newsletter saying that next
Sunday the church would celebrate the Lord's Supper. A new Christian with no
church background saw the notice and called up my friend. "I have two
questions," she said. "It's about this supper thing. Am I invited and
how much will it cost?"<br>
<br>
The world is still asking these questions. Can we come? And how much will this
supper cost? The way we answer these questions will determine the kind of
tenants we are. We still have much work to do. We keep reminding one another
that the table is not ours. We just work here. The vineyard belongs to God.<br>
<br>
Roger Lovette, Dinner Reservations, article in The Christian Century, September
20, 2005, p. 21.<br>
_______________________________________<br>
<br>
Timebomb Parables<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Eugene
Peterson once suggested that parables are narrative time-bombs. These
simple-looking stories lodged inside people's hearts and imaginations, slowly
tick-tick-ticking away until finally, BOOM, they exploded into a new awareness
when the real meaning behind Jesus' homely stories about farmers and seeds and
sheep and bread-making finally sunk in. Well, if all of the parables were like
narrative time-bombs, then I think it's fair to say the Parable of the Tenants
was like a proximity-fuse grenade! In this case, it did not take very long
before this parable blew up in the faces of those listening to Jesus. In the
end we are told that the Pharisees and other religious leaders in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jerusalem</st1:place></st1:City> that day knew
at once that "Jesus was speaking against them." It made them furious
and they were ready, right then and there, to arrest him and be done with this
meddlesome Nazarene once and for all. Clearly Jesus got their attention!<br>
<br>
Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations<br>
_____________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>The
Psychological Tricks We Play on Ourselves<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><br>
In Tom Wolfe's book about the first astronauts, The Right Stuff, he says that
the corps of young test pilots from which the first astronauts were drawn spent
a lot of time going to the funerals of comrades who were killed in the planes
they were testing. Going home from those funerals, they didn't face the reality
that testing experimental aircraft is an inherently dangerous line of work.
Rather, they told themselves that the difference between them-selves and the
man they had just buried was that they had the right stuff and he didn't. So
also, we tell ourselves: Why should I fasten my seat belt? I haven't even
scraped a bumper in 20 years. What are the chances that I am going to be in a
car accident this afternoon?<br>
<br>
We understand these psychological tricks we play on ourselves. Well, let me put
it this way: we understand these psychological tricks other people play on
themselves. We seldom understand the psychological tricks we play on ourselves
-- if we did, we wouldn't play them.<br>
<br>
Roger G. Talbott, Good News for the Heard of Hearing, CSS Publishing Company <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>____________________________<br>
<br>
The Rejected Stone<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Jesus quoted
the words of the Psalmist: "The very stone which the builders rejected has
become the head of the corner..." (Ps. 118:22) Later Simon Peter would
quote these words to the rulers and the elders in testimony concerning the good
news of Christ. (Acts 4:11) Later he would cite those words again in his
epistles. (I Pet. 2:7)<br>
<br>
There was a legend that was well known in New Testament times that in the
building of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">temple</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Solomon</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> most of the
stones were of the same size and shape. One stone arrived, however, that was
different from the others. The builders took one look at it and said,
"This will not do," and sent it rolling down into the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">valley</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Kedron</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> below. The years passed and the
great temple was nearing completion, and the builders sent a message to the
stonecutters to send the chief cornerstone that the structure might be
complete. The cutters replied that they had sent the stone years before. Then
someone remembered the stone that was different than all the rest that somehow
did not seem to belong. They realized that they had thrown away the
cornerstone. They hurried into the valley to retrieve it. Finally under vines
and debris they recovered it and with great effort rolled it up the hill and
put it in place so that the great temple would be complete. The stone that had
been rejected had become the chief cornerstone. Jesus, who had been rejected
now reigns at the right hand of the Father. From rejection to rejoicing.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>King Duncan,
>From Rejection to Rejoicing, www.Sermons.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Refusing to
Share: Remember We Are God's Guests<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>One time
there was a little village in the mountains of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> where the people grew grapes.
The mountain sides were covered with vineyards and each family in the community
contributed to the making of wine. It was some of the finest wine in the world.
Each village had a number of different recipes. Each family would bring their
wine to the center of town and pour it into one large keg. As a result, the
wine was a mixture of many recipes which made it very unique.<br>
<br>
One particular year the weather did not cooperate and the vineyards did not
produce an abundance of grapes. One of the wine makers decided that since
things would be tight that year he would sell his wine elsewhere. He then
filled his barrel with water and poured it into the town keg, thinking that one
barrel of water in the gigantic keg would go unnoticed and not impact the
outcome of the wine.<br>
<br>
The wine in the keg aged for seven years. At the end of seven years the
villagers all gathered around that particular keg to sell their wine to
merchants who had come from all over the world. The entire community depended
on the sale of their wine to provide for them until the next season. The
villagers gathered around the giant keg and it was tapped. A pitcher was placed
at the tap and out came nothing but pure water. It seemed that everyone in the
village that year had the same idea and none had put in wine. Since everyone
held back there was no wine to sell.<br>
<br>
The villagers refused to share their wine with their neighbors and consequently
no one ended up with anything. The parable of the vineyard is not unlike the
villagers in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
The servants were to reap the fruits of the vineyard for the landowner but were
denied that opportunity by the tenants. The tenants refused to share their
grapes with others. They even went so far as to mistreat the servants and even
kill the landowner's son.<br>
<br>
Jesus uses the parable of the vineyard to describe the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">kingdom</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">God</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>.
It reminds us that we are here temporarily on earth and that we are God's
guests. God wants us to be grateful for all that we have and to share what we
have been given.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Keith Wagner,
Guests at the Table<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>______________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Producing
Fruit<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Shouldn't we
also consider a corporate sense of "producing fruit," i.e., what the
church is doing; besides the individual sense, i.e., what I am doing? In recent
weeks the corporate sense of "bearing fruit" has been discussed
concerning the hurricane and flooding in the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Gulf States</st1:place></st1:State>. What responsibilities does the
city, state, and federal government have to protect citizens from natural disasters?
To relocate and support the evacuees? To do what is necessary to rebuild the
city? Besides these secular bodies, what about churches and denominations? Is
not the way we deal with those needy people an indication of the fruit we are
producing?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Brian
Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>_____________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>Shall I Sound
the Eviction Notice? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>There is a
fable about the Angel Gabriel who has just come from surveying the earth and
its inhabitants when he reports to God. "Lord, it's my duty to inform you
that you're the possessor of a choice piece of real estate known as planet
earth. But the tenants you've leased it out to are destroying it. In another
few years, it won't be fit to live in. They have polluted your rivers. The air
is fouled with the stench of their over-consumerism. They frequently kill one
another, and all the prophets you've sent to them calling for an accounting
have met with violence. By any rule of sound management, Lord, you've got but
one option." Then raising his trumpet to his lips, Gabriel asked,
"Shall I sound the eviction notice now, sir?"<br>
<br>
And God said...<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>The
conclusion to this list and for many additional illustrations and sermons for
Proper 22 can be accessed at www.Sermons.com.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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