<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body><div>Forwarded: </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div id="composer_signature"><div style="font-size:85%;color:#575757" dir="auto">Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device</div></div><div><br></div><div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><!-- originalMessage --><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org> </div><div>Date: 7/8/17 5:58 PM (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org> </div><div>Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 9A: “Give All Your Problems to God- He’ll Be Up All Night Anyway!” </div><div><br></div></div><div dir="ltr">
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Dear
Friends,</font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">This
Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Give All Your Problems to God- He’ll Be Up All
Night Anyway!” and deals with the Gospel (Matthew 11: 25-30).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Here it is:</font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">Are you tired?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Are you on overload?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do you sometimes feel like one more thing
will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back- and you’re the camel?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If you are, you know you’re not alone.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>From the advertisements on television and the
spam I get in my email on my computer, half the population must be tired and
the rest must have heartburn or bad breath or need Viagra (but maybe that’s
just a symptom of being tired!).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If
you’re tired, or maybe sick and tired, the Serta counting sheep won’t cut it,
but this Gospel lesson will- it’s for you!<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></font></font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Did you hear Jesus
proclaim, “If you’re tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I’ll
give you rest.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Take the yoke I give
you.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Put it on your shoulders and learn
from me.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I’m gentle and humble, and you
will find rest.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This yoke is easy to
bear and this burden is light” (Matthew 11: 28-30).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What burdens are simply too much right
now?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I’d bet something on this list will
touch you.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How about money- not enough
of it, or too much work, or endless responsibilities?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How about a job you hate or no job at
all?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Maybe it’s sin- a habit you simply
haven’t been able to break or friends who lead you down the wrong path.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Maybe friends or family have been disloyal-
walked out on you or chosen someone else.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Maybe people you love are ensnared in some of the things I’ve mentioned,
and it’s breaking your heart.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Maybe some
mistake you made years ago is still haunting you, making your life miserable.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Perhaps it’s illness- yours or the illness of
someone you love.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Maybe you’ve lost
someone very dear to you. Those burdens can really get to you!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They can get to me!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If this is your situation this morning, Jesus
has relief!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It’s called his yoke.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>His what?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>You heard me right- his yoke!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Let
me tell you about it.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">A yoke is that solid
harness, usually made of wood.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It
fastens over the shoulders of two oxen or other working animals, so together
they can pull a heavy load better than either could separately.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Joseph probably taught Jesus how to make
yokes in their carpenter shop at Nazareth.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Making them takes a lot of skill- not just anyone can do it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The animal must be measured, and the yoke
must fit exactly correctly.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Just like a
shoe that fits wrong will wear a blister on your foot and even sometimes cause
an infection, the same is true of a yoke.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>It can’t rub or have a sharp piece jutting out even just a bit.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Why did farmers in Jesus
time hook up animals using a yoke?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
benefit of yoking is that it shares the load.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Two animals yoked together pull evenly, so they can manage a much
heavier load than both could just in a harness.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Another benefit- you can yoke a strong animal with a weaker animal to
help out the weaker animal and still allow the load to be pulled.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sometimes farmers would yoke a wise old
animal with a young, untrained animal so the inexperienced one could learn from
his or her elder.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Now that you know a
little more about yokes and how they were used, especially in Jesus’ day, you
can see what Jesus is offering.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">When Jesus said to take
his yoke, what he is offering is to be your yoke-mate; to shoulder the load
with you.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And now that you know how
yokes were used, you can see the wonderful blessings this yoking offers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When we have a heavy load, yoked with Jesus-
he’ll carry the heaviest part.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When we
are in a confusing situation, yoked with Jesus, he’ll be the wiser one to teach
us.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When Paul said, “I can do all things
through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), this is what he meant.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">The nice thing about
yoking is: we are not only yoked with Jesus; we are also yoked with each
other.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Remember how Paul says (1st
Corinthians 12) “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Yoking is a technique used, not only by
farmers in Jesus’ day, but used by God today.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Look how God teaches us to support each other.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Look how often God arranges a stronger
person’s life to interact with a weaker person- just at the perfect time- the
time when that weaker person most needs a friend.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Have you noticed how often the weaker person
gets stronger, and before you know it- God has that person befriending someone
else?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>That’s what Jesus meant when he
said, “Learn from me.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The Aramaic word
“learn” really means “be apprenticed” to me.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>The purpose of being an apprentice is so the inexperienced person can
eventually do the same job as the master.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>An apprentice plumber doesn’t just learn about plumbing; he or she
learns to be a plumber.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When we are
yoked to Jesus, often through a stronger, more experienced Christian friend, we
don’t just learn about Christianity; we learn how to be a Christian.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Finally, this
stole.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do you know what it
represents?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It stands for the yoke of
Christ.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As your priest when I put on my
stole- I am representing you; and we are all putting on the yoke of
Christ.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>My friends- we’re all in this
Christian walk together, but yoked to Christ and each other- we shall
overcome!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Amen.</font></span></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">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 href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><u><font color="#0000ff">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</font></u></a></font><font color="#000000" size="3">
.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Blessed
preaching,</font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Judy
Boli</font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">St.
Paul's Episcopal Church</font></p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Saginaw,
Michigan</font></p>
</div>
<p></p>
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