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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org><br>
To: propertalk.topic <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Sat, Mar 7, 2015 10:45 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Lent 3B<br>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Dear Friends,</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Let my Heart Be Broken by the Things that Break the Heart of God.” (Bob Pierce) and deals with all the lessons).</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Here it is: </font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">So far this Lent, we’ve looked at what the Bible says to us about temptation- how vulnerable we are to wanting anything we’re not supposed to have or to doing anything we’re not supposed to do.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">In fact one of the Communion hymns that is very appropriate in Lent is “Yield Not to Temptation for Yielding is Sin.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We’ve also considered one of our chief temptations- to avoid the cross that Jesus expects us to carry.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Remember, last week Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me”- and he wasn’t talking about jewelry on a gold chain; he was talking about a chosen sacrifice for him.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Today I’d like us to look at where yielding to temptation leads us- SIN!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Why do we yield?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Because we choose to, we want to.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Did you hear the story of the aged man who wanted to pass the family Bible on to his daughter?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">He wrapped it very carefully and took it to the post office.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">When the clerk took it from him and started filling out the form, she asked “Is there anything breakable in this package.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">“No,” answered the man, “nothing except the Ten Commandments.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We heard the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament Exodus Bible lesson- using God’s name in vain is not sin- it’s A sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Not coming to church on Sunday is not sin- it’s A sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Stealing is not sin- it’s A sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What is the difference between SIN and SINS?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Sins are the result of sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We sin because we are sinners- poisoned inside by original sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What’s original sin?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Answer this question and you’ll know.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What’s the middle letter of “SIN?”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Sure- “I” is the middle letter; and “I” represents what’s poisoned about the whole human race.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We care more about me, myself, and mine than we do about God and all of God’s other children.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">“I” reminds us that we’re by nature self-centered, and self-centeredness poisons everything we touch.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Those precious children who try to sneak a candy bar from a store without paying for it---why do they do it?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Because they want something.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Are they thinking about anyone else?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">No.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What about gossiping or committing adultery or being jealous of what someone else has?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">When we do those things, are we thinking about ourselves or someone else?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What about speeding or parking in a “no-parking zone”- who are we thinking about?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Sure- ourselves.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Committing those sins doesn’t make us sinners.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">No- we come out of the womb as self-centered sinners and that’s why we sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">That’s exactly what St. Paul is talking about in the Romans- chapter 7 Bible lesson “15 </font><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><font color="#000000">In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate...18 I know that my selfish desires won't let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">19 Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong....23 But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do....24 What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">25 Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.”</font></span></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">So, how can I tell if something is a sin?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">If it comes from my love of self at the expense of God and my neighbor, it’s a sin.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Let me ask you a question: Anger is one of the seven deadly sins.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Didn’t we just hear of Jesus being angry?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Well, I thought Jesus didn’t sin because his center was pure- not poisoned by original self-centered sin?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">How is it possible for him to have been angry?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Let’s look at the episode in today’s Gospel (John </font><font color="#000000">2:13</font><font color="#000000">-22), and you’ll see.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What happened?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">It was Passover, so Jews from all over the empire had traveled to </font><font color="#000000">Jerusalem</font><font color="#000000"> to pay their temple tithe and offer sacrifices for their sins.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Because they had traveled- mostly on foot- for days, they were exhausted by the time they got there.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">They had two problems.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">First, they were supposed to pay their temple tax, but they couldn’t pay it in defiled pagan Roman money.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">The temple authorities wouldn’t accept it.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">They had to pay their tithes in acceptable money.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We face the same situation today when we go to </font><font color="#000000">Canada</font><font color="#000000">.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">What’s the first thing we usually do after we enter </font><font color="#000000">Canada</font><font color="#000000">?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Sure, change our </font><font color="#000000">United States</font><font color="#000000"> money to Canadian money.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">If we do it right at the border, we usually get a fair exchange; but if we travel some distance into </font><font color="#000000">Canada-</font><font color="#000000"> some stores won’t give us a fair exchange at all.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">They know we’re stuck- it’s them or nobody.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">That’s what the money-changers on the temple porch did.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">They knew those travelers were stuck- so they made huge profits when they traded Roman coins for temple tax coins.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">There was a second rip-off.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Travelers coming all that distance couldn’t really bring the lamb or goat or cow they intended to offer as sacrifice, so they just assumed they could buy an animal when they got to Jerusalem, and they could- for a price- a huge price!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Just like when we go to </font><font color="#000000">Cedar</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Point-</font><font color="#000000"> we sometimes don’t want to be bothered carrying food, so we assume we’ll buy it there.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">When we get inside the gates, what do we find?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">How much does a simple hot dog and some pop cost?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Maybe five dollars, maybe more!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Why?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Because they know we’re stuck!</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">You want to make a guess how much the merchants charged for a lamb or goat or cow, so the traveler could make his sacrifice?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">A lot- because the traveler was stuck- they came all that way to sacrifice, so they had to have an animal.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">There was one more problem.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">The temple porch where all this buying and selling was going on (can you imagine the noise and the smell?) was the Court of the Gentiles- the only place where Gentile converts could pray at the temple.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Now, how were they supposed to enter into a spirit of prayer with all that noise and confusion?</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">Do you see why Jesus was angry?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">People, vulnerable people- exhausted travelers and Gentile worshippers- were being taking advantage of in God’s name- on God’s special property.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">“I” (self-centeredness) wasn’t at the center of Jesus’ anger.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Injustice, lack of compassion, cold-heartedness, all done in the name of Almighty God- these were the things that made Jesus angry.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">It was his love for other people that made him angry.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">There are a few other instances when we hear of Jesus getting angry.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">He was furious at the Pharisees who didn’t want the man with the withered hand to be healed on the Sabbath Day.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">He was angry when the disciples didn’t want the children to be allowed to come to him.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Both of these situations were similar- vulnerable people being taken advantage of in God’s name.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">Now you see the message for us this Lent.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">We are tempted to sin because we are self-centered sinners.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Taking anger as an example- when we are angry because of something that someone did to us or ours, it is sin because it is “I-focused.”</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">When we are angry at things that break the heart of God (racism, sexism, abuse of all kinds, hunger, etc.), it is not sin- it is holy anger.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">So, what breaks God’s heart in your family, your block, your neighborhood, city, country, world?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Do you care, really care, about God- his hopes, goals, dreams, desires?</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">If you really care, what are you going to do about it?</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">This Lent, may God grant us the wisdom to stand strong against temptation, to fight self-centeredness, and to be angry enough to begin to heal the things that break God’s heart.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font color="#000000"> </font></span><font color="#000000">Amen. </font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes; tab-stops: .25in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: </font><a target="_blank" href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman"></font></u></a><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org" target="_blank">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</a></font></u><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> .</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Blessed preaching,</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Judy Boli</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; mso-mirror-indents: yes;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Saginaw, Michigan</font></span></div>
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