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<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial><A
href="http://www.proclaimsermons.com/illustration.asp">http://www.proclaimsermons.com/illustration.asp</A></FONT>
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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px"><STRONG>No
Place for NIMBY</STRONG></P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px; MARGIN-LEFT: 3px"> In
one community, a social service agency had acquired a home on a residential
street where they planned to house a few mentally impaired adults, who would be
there with caregivers. They had selected people who could function in society
and who were not a threat to anyone. Some of the neighbors objected, though,
claiming fear for safety and loss of property value. Others, also in the
neighborhood, felt that they should support the project, and not a few cited the
Christian value of loving one's neighbor. The resulting argument was a bit of
brouhaha, but the notion of NIMBY ... Not In My Back Yard ... was challenged by
the Christian concept of what it means to be a neighbor and the realization that
we cannot be Christians if we just look after ourselves. The great Russian
Christian and writer, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, put it this way, “Mankind’s sole
salvation lies in everybody making everything his business.” And that goes
especially for Christians.</P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px; MARGIN-LEFT: 3px"> </P><FONT
size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="COLOR: #9400d3; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><STRONG><A
href="http://www.proclaimsermons.com/viewSermon.asp?title=Parables%20for%20Our%20Times">http://www.proclaimsermons.com/viewSermon.asp?title=Parables%20for%20Our%20Times</A></STRONG></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="COLOR: #9400d3; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><STRONG></STRONG></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="COLOR: #9400d3; FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><STRONG>Proclaim Sermon for this
Week</STRONG></SPAN></DIV>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px; MARGIN-LEFT: 3px"><BR> </P>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><STRONG><EM>Parables
for Our Times</EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><SPAN
style="COLOR: #696969; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><STRONG>June 17,
2012</STRONG></SPAN></DIV>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px; MARGIN-LEFT: 3px"><BR> </P>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 8pt"><STRONG>Mark 4:
26 - 34</STRONG><BR><EM>Proper 6 / Ordinary 11</EM></DIV>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px; MARGIN-LEFT: 3px"><BR> </P>
<DIV
style="COLOR: #9400d3; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><EM><STRONG>Summary</STRONG></EM></DIV>
<DIV style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><EM>The kingdom of God is as
up to date as the current political scene, but it is a slow, generally
unspectacular miracle, one in which we work with God.</EM></DIV>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px; MARGIN-LEFT: 3px"><BR> </P>
<DIV style="COLOR: #9400d3; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><STRONG>Excerpt</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana', ' Geneva', ' Arial', ' Helvetica', ' sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">More
than 19 centuries have gone by since Jesus lived on our planet, but we still
speak of him as one of the greatest, if not the greatest teacher that ever
lived. This title comes not simply from those of us who call ourselves
Christians and who are therefore his followers; it is said just as frequently by
persons who are not necessarily religious, and even by some who are openly
antagonistic to religion.</DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana', ' Geneva', ' Arial', ' Helvetica', ' sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">This
is at least partly because what Jesus said 19 centuries ago is just as true
today as it was then. Sometimes it seems even truer today, almost as if Jesus
said it this week instead of centuries ago.</DIV>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 6px; MARGIN-LEFT: 3px"><BR> </P>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana', ' Geneva', ' Arial', ' Helvetica', ' sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><STRONG>The
kingdom parables</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana', ' Geneva', ' Arial', ' Helvetica', ' sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Jesus
taught especially about his kingdom. He began his ministry by announcing that
people should change their ways because the kingdom of God was at hand. He
described what it would be like once his kingdom had come. And he did this
preaching and teaching about the kingdom mostly by telling parables. But Jesus
never said when his kingdom would come; he never set any dates. Again and again
his disciples pressed him for a specific time and he gave them no answer.</DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana', ' Geneva', ' Arial', ' Helvetica', ' sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">One
thing you and I know for sure: Jesus' kingdom hasn't come yet! We're still
waiting for it. The generation that knew Jesus face-to-face and that heard his
parables from his own voice - all of them died without seeing God's kingdom
come. And since then, more than 19 centuries of Jesus' followers have come and
gone, and still his kingdom has not come to pass. Furthermore, Jesus wrote this
kingdom into his prayer, the prayer his believers call the "Our Father," or "The
Lord's Prayer." The first petition in that prayer is this: "Your kingdom come, /
your will be done, / on earth as it is in heaven." Human beings have offered
that prayer to God literally billions of times, probably trillions. After all,
it's likely that it will be said by individuals and in morning prayers and
Masses several million times this very day, in hundreds of languages around the
world - this prayer for the kingdom of God to come upon the earth.</DIV>
<DIV
style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana', ' Geneva', ' Arial', ' Helvetica', ' sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Today,
as we meet for worship, this kingdom is the subject of our scripture lesson. It
comes to us in parables - and I want to talk with you about it. Why? Well,
partly because it is the lectionary reading for today. And especially because it
is timely. The parables in this lesson are parables for our
times....(approximately 1,172 words remaining.)</DIV>
<DIV
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