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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 <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Sat, Oct 22, 2016 8:56 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 25C<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 color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “The Pharisee and the
Tax Collector” and deals with all the gospel (Luke 18: 9-14).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here it is: </font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Today we heard another of
Jesus’ parables- this time the one about the Pharisee and the tax
collector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s so very easy to put down
the Pharisee in this story, yet he really was a very good and religious
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he was in many ways more
faithful to his religion than we are to ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Listen to his list: he isn’t greedy; doesn’t lie or cheat or steal; and
isn’t unfaithful to his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even
goes beyond the rules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He only has to
fast once a year (on the Day of Atonement), but he fasts twice a WEEK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gives one-tenth of everything he earns,
not just one-tenth of his produce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
goes to the temple twice a DAY to pray (9
AM and 3 PM).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are the positives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does your faithfulness match his?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does mine?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not too well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now the negatives- did you hear his prayer- 6 “I’s” in it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s almost as if he is telling God how lucky
God is to have him on his team!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On top
of that, he compares himself with the tax collector and thanks God that he is
not like that unfortunate person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
way, that probably came very naturally, because Jewish men prayed daily from
the time they were little boys thanking God that they weren’t born a dog or a
Gentile or a woman.</font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The tax collector, on the other hand, was really telling
the truth about himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He reminds me
of an old, old story I heard (JokesWareHouse.com) about an encounter between
the pope and past-President Bill Clinton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The meeting that was supposed to be short lasted for two days. Finally,
a weary President Clinton emerged to face the waiting news media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The president was smiling and announced the
summit was a resounding success. He said he and the pope agreed on 80% of the
matters they discussed. Then Mr. Clinton declared he was going home to be with
his family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few minutes later, the
pope came out to make his statement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
looked tired, and discouraged, and was practically in tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly he announced his meeting with the
President was a failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incredulous,
one reporter asked, “But your Holiness, President Clinton just announced the
summit was a great success and the two of you agreed on 80% of the items
discussed.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exasperated, the pope
answered, “Yes, but we were talking about the Ten Commandments.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tax collector would have been on the side
of Mr. Clinton, because he understood sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He had been a truly evil person- lying, cheating and stealing from his
fellow Jews, a traitor to his country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus ends the parable stating that only the tax collector went home
justified, which must have really surprised the people who were listening.</font></font></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">What
was Jesus trying to teach us from this important parable?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What changes do we need to make in our
lives?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check these out:</font></span></div>
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</font><ol type="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" start="1"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our culture is not an excuse for our
behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the prayer that
the Pharisee was taught to pray daily from his mother’s knee- thanking God
that he wasn’t born a dog or a Gentile or a woman?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That didn’t excuse him; and our cultural
brainwashing won’t excuse us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
summary of the law- “Love God; love neighbor” and Jesus’ commandment,
“Love one another as much as I have loved you,” is the measure by which we
will be judged.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Strive for excellence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t the excellence of the
Pharisee’s commitment to trying to follow God that messed him up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was his motivation- he did what he
did to prove how great he was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
behavior wasn’t coming from his heart.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t be selfish in your prayer
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t just pray for yourself
and those you love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a
little girl who told her mother she didn’t need to say her bedtime
prayers- didn’t need anything tonight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don’t be like that child!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Widen your prayer life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Praise God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Confess your sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pray for others, including those you do
not know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A friend noticed that her
husband changed his prayer life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
used to read the Bible and pray every morning as soon as he got up while
he was drinking his coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now he
watched the news first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When asked,
he said that he needed to watch TV to see who he should pray for, then he
could do his devotions as God intended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Very wise!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, inform
yourself, watch the news or read the paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, ask God to heal and bless those
nearest and dearest to you.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-vertical-align-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t compare yourself to other people-
compare yourself to the best that you can be, and compare yourself to
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we do this, we won’t
find ourselves saying that we didn’t sin today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stephen Covey, author of the popular
book “Seven Habits of Successful People,” tells of riding a subway in New
York City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the passengers were
reading or sleeping or sitting quietly until a man got on with several children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children were unruly beyond
measure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were fighting and
throwing things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the
children grabbed a newspaper from the hands of one of the passengers!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The father was doing absolutely
nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the children ran
wild, the father was just sat there staring off into space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Covey knew his own children would never
have acted like that, so he finally decided to take action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went to the father and said, “Sir, we
need your help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your children are
bothering people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could you do
something about it?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man awoke
as if from a daze and said, “You're right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I guess I should do something about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We've just left the hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their mother just died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really don't know what to think, and I
guess they're not handling it too well either.”- OUCH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Been there; done that.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><li style="line-height: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So, copy the Pharisee’s faithfulness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Copy the tax collector’s humility
(facing reality).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be the best that
you can be and confess your sins when you are not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Compare yourself to Jesus, not those
behind you in your spiritual walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(In other words, focus on where you’re going, not where you’ve
been.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of all, be lenient with
other people and reasonably tough on yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Understand and forgive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May God bless us as we try to live what
we believe.</span></li><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
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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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