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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">Sermons for Proper 27 </span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">Matthew 25: 1-13 - "The Tragedy of the Unprepared Life" <br>
Matthew 25: 1-13 - "Life Is Yours" by Leonard Sweet</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">Matthew 25 <font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">- </font></font>the sermon title “The Tragedy of the Unprepared Life” <br>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">There's
a true story that comes from the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened
woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into
the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed,
so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast
off. She was granted three minutes or they would leave without her.<br>
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She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle.
She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled
to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed
aside her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she
reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She
quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in.<br>
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Now that seems incredible because thirty minutes earlier she would not
have chosen a crate of oranges over the smallest diamond. But death had
boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all
values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless.
Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred
three small oranges to a crate of diamonds.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">There
are events in life, which have the power to transform the way we look
at the world. Jesus' parable about the ten virgins offers one of these
types of events, for the parable is about the Second Coming of Christ.
But Jesus doesn't come right out and say this. Rather, he lets the story
describe it for him. The woman on the sinking Titanic understood, in
the light of her current circumstances, that she must make preparations
for living on a lifeboat. Diamonds would not suffice, only the precious
resources of an orange were good enough. Likewise, in this world where
Christ may return at any moment, the parable warns, we must be ready.<br>
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Weddings are one of these kinds of events. And every time I have a
wedding, I admonish those in the wedding to be ready, to make a special
effort to be ready on the day of the ceremony. I plead with them to
arrive early and be dressed and ready to go. Sometimes it works out and
sometimes it doesn’t. </span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">Jesus’
parable about a wedding, is told not from the vantage point of the
bride and groom, but of the ten young maidens who had been invited to
the happy occasion, five of them were foolish, said Jesus, five of them
were wise. What was the measure of their wisdom? In a word, their
readiness to be a part of the event. All of the young women had oil in
their lamps, but five had an additional supply.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">This
is, of course, foreign to our concepts of weddings today. Weddings in
our society are announced for a specific time and place, and if things
are late in getting started, those invited guests begin to fidget a bit.
But in first century Palestine, a wedding could happen anytime within
several days. The uncertainty was considered a part of the excitement of
the wedding. The bridegroom hoped to catch some of the bridal party
napping. But fairness required that some announcement be made, so just
before the big event a messenger was sent through the streets shouting:
Behold the bridegroom commeth.” The alert ones in the wedding party
would respond, and the others would be left behind.</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">In
Jesus parable, the cry came at midnight. This was often the case; most
bridegrooms chose to come late at night. The sleeping attendants were
awakened. It was then that they realized that they did not have enough
oil in their lamps to get through the night. Panicked, they attempted to
borrow some from the other bridesmaids. But they responded, “If we give
you our oil, there won’t be enough for us. Hurry out to the dealers and
buy some yourself.” So the five foolish maidens hurried out, but by the
time they returned the door had already been closed. They knocked on
the door and pleaded to be a part of the festivities, but the groom
said: “If you belonged at this event you would already have been
present.” Jesus concluded: Watch therefore, for you know neither the day
nor the hour.<br>
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What is this parable suggesting to us? I would like to make a few suggestions… <br>
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1. Some things cannot be borrowed. <br>
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2. Some things cannot be put off. <br>
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3. We can miss out on great opportunities. <br>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by joining <a target="_blank" __removedlink__1708524026__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8GBwIFCAZUCkkDCQJKDAtXUVw%3D">http://www.sermons.com/signup</a></span></div>
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Sermon Opener – Life Is Yours by Leonard Sweet – Matthew 25:1-13 <br>
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“If it bleeds, it leads.” Have you heard that before? “If it bleeds, it
leads” has long been the mantra determining the biggest news stories on
any given day. The more gory, gruesome, or grizzly a tale to tell, the
better chance of it grabbing our attention and keeping us tuned in. Bad
news, dour predictions, impending disaster, keep us riveted. <br>
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As Samuel Johnson famously noted, “Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging.” One’s own, especially. <br>
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So it is little wonder that “risk management” has given us all sorts of
“disaster preparedness” plans—-personal, community, state, and national.
<br>
<br>
We get flu shots. <br>
We get pneumonia shots. <br>
We make a family “escape plan” for getting out of the house if it catches fire. <br>
We keep an emergency roadside kit in the trunk of our car.<br>
We participate in “fire drills” and “emergency evacuations.” Some of us
are “prepared” enough to stockpile bottled water, canned foods,
prescriptions medications, batteries and blankets. We buy new snow
boots, jackets and gloves for the kids before the first snowfall. We lay
in another cord of wood. We semi-seriously consider that this year we
will get that generator. <br>
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During the height of the Cold War, the most prepared-for-the-worst built
bunkers, underground nuclear bomb shelters, and stocked them for a
decade of undercover existence. <br>
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Preparing for disaster is something . . . we are prepared for. <br>
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What about being prepared for . . . . joy? <br>
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What about being prepared for . . . . pleasure? <br>
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What about being prepared for . . . . blessings? <br>
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The traditional Boy Scout motto of “Be prepared” taught generations of
kids lots of useful skills. But those “skills” were put into practice by
going fishing, rock climbing, toasting marshmallows over a campfire . .
.fun stuff! They were preparing for good times, not just bad. <br>
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As Christians we are called to “be prepared”—-but not just for all those “trials and tribulations” that grab the headlines. <br>
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Today’s gospel text tells us in parable form how Jesus wants us to be “prepared,” so that we can . . . what? </span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">Are you prepared to party? </span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">Are you planning for gloomy-doomy scenarios? Or are you full of great expectations? </span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">Prepared
to party is not the usual version or vision painted by the church
across the centuries. In every generation of the faithful, it seems,
there have been those whose mission has been to spread the message of
fast approaching doom and gloom. The end of the world. The final
judgment. The apocalypse. Armageddon. The bouncing up and (more
frighteningly impressive) dismal dropping down of souls as we anticipate
Christ’s imminent arrival has always been a motivating force in
Christian disaster “preparedness.”</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman"><br>
For the rest of Leonard Sweet’s sermon click here: <a target="_blank" __removedlink__1708524026__href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/lt.php?id=Kk8GBwIFCAZUCUkDCQJKDAtXUVw%3D">http://www.sermons.com/signup</a> <br>
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<div><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;Times New Roman">__________________________________ <br>
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To Be Found Doing My Duty <br>
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During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his
speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the
Connecticut House of Representatives in 1789. One day, the sky of
Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing
out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for
immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is
either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for
adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I
wish that candles be brought." <br>
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Traditional </span></div>
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Would We Be Ready? <br>
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In our day, it's more likely than ever that some folks who live around
us will raise eyebrows to think that we look for something on the other
side of death. So what! Some folks have always raised their eyebrows
about anything which called for taking a faith leap. But consider the
alternative! I'd rather be prepared to go to dinner with a host who
might forget to come, than sleep through everything and wake up in the
dark, or find myself hoofing it down to K-Mart for an oil-flask-refill,
trying to hedge my bets, while the host arrived and closed the door
without me. <br>
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The pastor of one Florida congregation, who has made an outreach program
famous, uses one question which offends some people by its tone. He
asks: "If you should die tonight, why should God let you into his
heaven?"<br>
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The question is worth asking. For those of us who live in the grace of
God, who celebrate his "Yes!" to us each day we live, a better-focused
version of the question might be, "If we knew we'd die tonight, could we
be ready to face God?"<br>
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Michael L. Sherer, And God Said...Yes!, Michael L. Sherer, CSS Publishing Company,<font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><br>
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