<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body><div>Part 1 - Forwarded: </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: 9/2/17 4:15 PM (GMT-06:00) </div><div>To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org> </div><div>Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 17A: “Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me” or “It’s Not About You- Part 2” </div><div><br></div></div><div dir="ltr">
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Dear Friends,</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"><font face="Times New Roman">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Take Up Your Cross
and Follow Me” or “It’s Not About You- Part 2” and deals with the Old Testament
lesson (Exodus 15).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Here it is: <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">We just heard the end of an extremely painful
interaction between Peter and Jesus.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do
you remember last week’s gospel?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Jesus
asked his disciples what people were saying about him- who people were saying
he was.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The disciples answered that
people were saying Jesus was John the Baptist or maybe Elijah or Jeremiah or
else one of the other prophets.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So you
remember what happened next?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Jesus looked
right at them and said, “Who do YOU say that I am?”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I’m sure there was this huge, uncomfortable
silence; then Peter loudly and clearly, spoke up: “You are the Messiah, the Son
of the Living God.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Now we pick up on
this week’s gospel.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Jesus must have felt
extremely encouraged- at least one of them was getting it; so he went on to
explain what was going to happen to him- how he would suffer terribly and be
killed and after three days be brought back to life.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Peter took Jesus aside and tried to talk
sense into him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“No, Lord- you’ve got it
wrong.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You’re just having a bad
day.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>These things really aren’t going to
happen to you- God wouldn’t allow it.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Get yourself together.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Did you
notice how Jesus responded?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Get thee
behind me, Satan!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Don’t try to turn me
away from God’s calling.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Don’t try to
tempt me to take the easy way.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Then
Jesus turned to all the disciples and said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”</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">My brothers and sisters, I hate to tell you- Jesus
wasn’t just talking to the twelve.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Across the centuries, he is speaking to us.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So I have a question for you- that cross- the
one Jesus is telling you to carry.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How
are you doing?</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">Now before we go much further into thinking through
the implications of this Bible passage, we’d better get something perfectly
clear.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How many times have you heard
good Christian people talk about their arthritis or their children or their job
or even their husband (or wife) being their cross.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Not so.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>There’s a big difference between a cross and an affliction, and we
mustn’t get them confused.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>An affliction
is a negative that life throws at you.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>You don’t have any choice about an affliction- it’s just the luck of the
draw or the consequence of an earlier sin or foolish choice.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You didn’t choose your arthritis or your
children.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You found out about the
negatives after you got the job or the husband or wife or children.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>All those things are afflictions.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We suffer through them, give them to God, and
do our best to get something for the Kingdom out of them.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>If nothing else, we can usually get some
spiritual growth from most afflictions.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>But a cross is different.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You choose
a cross; and you choose it knowing the difficulties that carrying it will cause
for you.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Your children may be an
affliction, but your decision to be a loving parent in spite of their behavior
is a cross- a choice.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Your job may be an
affliction, but your decision to forgive those who wrong you is a choice,
therefore a cross.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So, how are you
doing?</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, “Take up your cross and follow me,”
how does it apply today in our society?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Before we go any further, it’s important to note that there are probably
as many crosses as there are people.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>It’s almost as if your particular cross is especially designed for you-
your contribution to God’s Kingdom.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>However, I’d like us to look at three very important categories of
crosses; because many of your own personal crosses will fit in these
categories.</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;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;">CATEGORY 1:
USE YOUR GIFTS FOR GOD, NOT JUST YOURSELF.</span></b><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Did you notice Moses in today’s
Old Testament reading?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>God had given
Moses the gift of leadership, and in today’s lesson we heard him struggling- would
he use it for God and for freedom for his people, or would he use it for
himself?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Since Moses was an Egyptian
prince, he could have gotten rich and famous using his leadership talents in
Egyptian politics.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Instead, he chose
to<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>put his life on the line for
God.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He chose to face down the Egyptian
king in the name of God.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He chose to let
God use his hands and feet and lips.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
result- freedom for God’s people and a mighty prototype for future freedom and
justice seekers.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What about you?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What talents do you have?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How did God gift you?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Don’t even try to say you’re not gifted- we
all are.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Each of us was born amazingly
gifted.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Some of us can explain anything
while others of us can fix anything.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Some of us can play a musical instrument or sing while others can paint
a picture or room or plant a garden or cook a meal.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>True- this giftedness must be developed into
talents, but that’s exactly one of the crosses God calls us to bear.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>And those skills- the cross we are called to
carry is to use those skills to build the church and reach out to God’s other children.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You know the excuses- “I’m too busy; I’m too
shy; I don’t want to get involved; someone may criticize my work; etc.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>True- that’s why using your giftedness for
the Lord is a cross.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How are you doing
with this cross?</span></font></font></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;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;">CATEGORY 2: LOVE</span></b><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;">.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>St. Paul
reminds us in today’s epistle that love is the essence of gospel.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Jesus told us to love one another as much as
he loved us.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How much is that.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The story is told of a man who asked Jesus
how much he loved him.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Jesus said, “This
much,” and he stretched out his arms and died...on a cross.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Most of us do fine with this until it becomes
a cross... until the person we are expected to love is unlovable; has crossed
us; talked about us; stolen from us; or in some other way misused or abused
us.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What then?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Remember, we’re not talking about love as a
feeling.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We’re talking about agape’,
Christian love, an action, choosing what’s best for the other person.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We’re talking about forgiving our enemies,
watching what we say, keeping hold of our temper.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We’re talking about reaching out to those who
need our help, friendship, love.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What if
we don’t especially like that person (or that kind of person)?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan answers
that.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What if the job God is calling us
to do isn’t something we like doing?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Jesus washing his disciples’ feet answers that.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How are you doing with this cross?</span></font></font></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;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;">CATEGORY 3:
LIFESTYLE.</span></b><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Did you notice the thought for the
week?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The poet Carl Sandburg said, “There
is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that
wants to wallow in the mud.” God expects us to soar like eagles, not wallow in
the mud like a hippopotamus.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>God expects
us to live a lifestyle worthy of his children.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>If you stop and think about it, we’re all children of the King, so that
makes us princes and princesses.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Paul
reminds us how God expects us to live so we don’t embarrass the family.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“10 No one who loves others will harm them.
So love is all that the Law demands… 13b Don't go to wild parties or get drunk
or be vulgar or indecent. Don't quarrel or be jealous.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>14 Let the LORD Jesus Christ be as near to
you as the clothes you wear. Then you won't try to satisfy your selfish desires.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do you love God enough to live as he
wants?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How are you doing with this
cross?</span></font></font></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">Do you remember the story of the little girl and the pearls?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The little girl was about six years old- just
started first grade that year and she had just lost her first tooth.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></font></span></p><p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;">(Continued in Part 2.)</p>
<p style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><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 color="#000000"> .</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">Blessed preaching,</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">Judy Boli</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">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</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">Saginaw, Michigan</font></span></p>
</div>
<p></p>
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