<font color='black' size='4' face='Times New Roman, Times, serif'><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Forwarded:</span><br style="font-size: large; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: large; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: large; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
<div style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Judy <<a href="mailto:judy_boli@ecunet.org" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">judy_boli@ecunet.org</a>><br>
To: Propertalk <<a href="mailto:propertalk.topic@ecunet.org" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">propertalk.topic@ecunet.org</a>><br>
Sent: Sat, Oct 24, 2015 8:18 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 25B </div>
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<div style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(Part 2 of 2)<br>
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<div dir="ltr"><h1 style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">KNOWING ALL OF THIS, WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR LIVES RIGHT NOW? </font><font color="#000000">After a person dies, the body is only a useless cast-off.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">The person isn’t in it any more.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">It’s like the chrysalis left behind after a butterfly that has struggled out of that chrysalis and has flown free.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">We treat it with respect because it used to house our beloved, but they’re not there anymore.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Therefore:</font></font></span></h1><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><font color="#000000" face="arial, helvetica" size="3"></font></span>
<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">1. </font><font color="#000000">Especially children- don’t be afraid of a dead body.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">There’s no magic, no power in it.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">It’s just the set of leftovers.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">2. </font><font color="#000000">Since the body represents the leftovers, think- what do you usually do with leftovers?</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">If you get a new winter coat and the old one is still sort of good, what would Jesus want you to do with it- throw it away?</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Absolutely not, Jesus would expect you to give it to someone who needs a coat.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">In one month and one day, we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">If we have more Thanksgiving leftovers than we can use, what would Jesus want us to do with them- put them down the disposal?</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Of course not- Jesus would want us to share with those who don’t have enough to eat.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Well then, if our loved ones die and no longer need their kidneys or their liver or their corneas, because they are getting new bodies from Jesus, what would Jesus want us to do with those kidneys or livers or corneas?</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">It’s obvious- give them to someone who needs a kidney to get off dialysis or a liver so they can live or corneas so they can see.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">And yet when nurses ask about organ donation, I can’t tell you how many families I’ve heard scream: “No!</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Don’t cut my baby!”</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Tell me, is their baby in that leftover body.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">No one ever said following Jesus would be easy, but what would Jesus want us to do? Therefore, sign to be an organ donor on your drivers’ license.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">3. </font><font color="#000000">Don’t waste money on funerals.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">A beautiful casket won’t make up for a life badly lived and an inexpensive casket won’t take away from a life lived for the Lord.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Don’t bury your money; use it to help those still alive and struggling in this life.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">4. </font><font color="#000000">Don’t preserve life here at all costs.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">What woman who is giving birth wants labor prolonged?</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">If your loved one is suffering, put yourself in that bed and do for them what you would want done for you.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Release your loved ones.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Let them go when their time comes.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">5. </font><font color="#000000">Before we die, what would Jesus want us to do?</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">He would want us to get ready; and to make life as easy as possible for those loved ones left behind.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Therefore, make out a medical power of attorney so someone can make decisions for you if you cannot speak for yourself.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Get life insurance if you possibly can, so your loved ones aren’t weighed down with debt from burying or cremating you.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">Someone once asked me if I would preach his funeral. </font></font><font color="#000000" size="3">The truth is- I’d be glad to, but what I say isn’t nearly as important as what we do.</font><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font><font color="#000000" size="3">We all preach our own funeral sermons by the lives we live.</font><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font><font color="#000000" size="3">Our lives’ summation statement is what we leave in people’s memories as well as what’s written on our tombstones (and I’m not talking about that Tombstone Pizza in the supermarket freezer case)!</font><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font><font color="#000000" size="3">Have you ever thought about what will be written on your tombstone when you die?</font><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font><font color="#000000" size="3">Have you ever wondered how you will be remembered?</font><font color="#000000" size="3"> </font><font color="#000000" size="3">Here are some actual epitaphs found on tombstones:</font></font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px 1em 21pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000">U<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></font></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">“Here lies my wife, here let her lie. </font><font color="#000000">She now has peace and so do I!”</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px 1em 21pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt;">U<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman">“Margaret Daniels: She always said her feet where killing her – now maybe someone will believe her.”</font></span></font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px 1em 21pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000">U<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></font></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">“Here lies the body of our dear Anna; done to death by a banana. </font><font color="#000000">It wasn’t the fruit that laid her low, but the skin of the thing that made her go!”</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px 1em 21pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt;">U<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman">Beneath this stone, a lump of clay, lies Arabella Young; who on the twenty-fourth of May, began to hold her tongue.”</font></span></font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px 1em 21pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 11pt;">U<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman">“Pause, stranger when you pass me by; for as you are- so once was I; as I am now- so you will be; live for your Lord, for you WILL follow me.”</font></span></font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#000000">You know the lights from the Jack-o-lanterns that shine through all those holes in the Halloween pumpkins? </font><font color="#000000">They’re fun, but they won’t guide us through anything!</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Jesus will guide us through life’s big “IFS” and everything else!</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">May God bless us as we allow the light of Jesus, the Son of God, to shine through our lives so we may be counted among the saints when he comes for us.</font><font color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000">Amen.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">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/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;"><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3"></font></u></a><u><font color="#0000ff" face="Times New Roman" size="3"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</a></font></u><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> .</font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Blessed preaching,</font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Judy Boli</font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</font></div>
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<div style="font-size: 13.3333px; font-family: arial, helvetica; margin: 1em 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Saginaw, Michigan</font></div>
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