<font color='black' size='4' face='Times New Roman, Times, serif'>Forwarded: <br>
<br>
<br>
<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, Nov 18, 2017 5:16 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermonj for Proper 28A: “Use It or Lose It” or “Spiritual Gifts”<br>
<br>
<div id="AOLMsgPart_1.2_dcfba11e-34af-4397-b0e8-4b5f6ea59b72">
<div class="aolReplacedBody">
<div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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 “Use It or Lose It”
or “Spiritual Gifts” and deals with the gospel (Matthew 25:14-15, 19-30).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here it is: </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">This morning we heard the
parable Jesus told of the three servants and how they took care of their
master’s money while he was away on a long trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the master “knew what each servant
could do” he knew their potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
master gave one servant 5 talents; another 2 talents; and to the last he gave 1
talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can hear you now- “That
doesn’t sound like much; how much is a talent?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, a denarius was the amount you got paid for a full day’s manual
labor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many days in a year?
(365)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if you did hard manual labor
every single day for a year, you’d be paid 365 denarii.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if you worked straight doing hard manual
labor every single day for 15 years (and saved every last bit), how much would
you have then?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(365 X 15 [forget about
the leap years] = 38, 325 denarii or 1 talent)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s right... 15 solid years of hard manual labor would earn you (if
you lived then) one talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you see,
the master invested a lot of money in each of his servants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the servant who only got one talent was
given a lot of money to take care of for his lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then you recall, when the master returned he
demanded an accounting of his servants?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He must have said something like, “What have you done with the talents I
gave you?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you recall, the first and
second servants had doubled the master’s money, and the master was extremely
pleased with their stewardship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
with the third servant that the master was angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you remember what he did?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He buried the money- did nothing with it, so
he could give it back safe and sound to the master.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you recall how the master reacted?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The master was furious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took the talent from the third servant and
gave it to the first servant, basically saying that the unproductive servant
would be outside looking in, and that he would gnash his teeth at the
opportunity he had lost!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, that’s
Jesus’ parable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s it to us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">I’d like us to use this
parable to understand our spiritual gifts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is a spiritual gift?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does
anyone know how much you weighed when you were born?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Take answers.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bet you were a cute baby!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more important than cute- you know one
thing that’s was true about you at that time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You were born with incredible potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Any baby we look at might be potentially gifted as a musician or carpenter
or speaker or scientist or cook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, there are as many possibilities for giftedness as there are people
born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What makes a gift a “spiritual”
gift?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not what it is, but how it’s
used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look- I have a gift for talking-
any of my friends will tell you that I’m good at talking (in fact, sometimes
too good at talking).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I am only
talking to boost myself up, my talking is a gift, but not a spiritual
gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If, however, I talk to preach and
teach God’s word, encourage people, welcome people, be a peacemaker- than my
talking builds the Kingdom and now is a spiritual gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s another example: do you sing or play
an instrument?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s your gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now if you are willing to use your voice or
your instrument in God’s service, it becomes a spiritual gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s still another example: are you a
cook?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you only cook for yourself or
to make yourself look good, your cooking is a gift, but you are wasting it
spiritually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you begin to use your
cooking to reach out to others- then it is a gift in God’s service and it is a
spiritual gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you can see, we have
a double job- first: accept the gift (as did all of the servants- no one turned
it down), and then second: use the gift for God’s work- and that’s where the
doubling comes in (2 talents to 4 talents and 5 talents to 10 talents).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the talents as spiritual gifts is what
made the master so delighted with the first two servants and makes God
delighted with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not using the talent
as a spiritual gift is what made the master so infuriated.</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">I have a question for you:
what if we don’t like the gifts God gave us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What if we have friends (like in the Psalm) who are proud and conceited
and verbally abusive?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if we get
teased each time we open our mouths to sing; or what if we are female and get
called names if we let our intelligence show in school?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me tell you about a teacher who taught
first grade in the school where I first started teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was considered a master teacher, and other
teachers advised me to watch her and learn from her, and since her room was
directly across from mine- it was easy for me to do just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the springtime since all her little first
graders loved her, they brought her the only present within their reach-
dandelions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day after day, week after
week- here came these cute little 6 year-olds with their teeth missing and
their hands clutching dandelions for their beloved teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you know what she did?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She stood by the door with the waste basket;
and each time a child held up his or her offering of flowers for the teacher,
she said- “Drop those ugly weeds in this wastebasket!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I watched their faces and I felt their
pain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did I learn anything from her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I surely did- I accept all gifts, because
every gift has a bit of the giver in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To reject the gift is to reject the giver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you rejected God lately?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What gifts has God given you that you are
sitting on?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are the excuses I
hear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tell me which one do you think
will work for God?</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’m too busy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have time to use my giftedness to
serve God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(To think about: how many
hours do you have in a day?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Ask
around.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s strange- we all seem to
have the same amount of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you
should look at how you use the time God has given you.)</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My gift is different from everyone else’s
gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Of course it is- how many cooks
can God use? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the Rev. Lynn
Collins (our Absalom Jones preacher many years ago) made the following neat
statement: “Our God must love diversity- he made so much of it!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God intended for all of our gifts to be put
together into a package for the Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This means if each of us uses our giftedness spiritually, St. Paul’s
will have everything we need for wonderful worship; a beautiful building with
lovely grounds; and all we need for discipling our own members; mentoring our
youth; and reaching out to others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you hold back, God’s Kingdom loses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How
can you tell if someone is holding back on God by not using gifts as spiritual
gifts?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever is missing represents someone who is
holding back on God.)</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My life is too full now- I’ll do it
later.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Did you notice the advice St.
Paul gave to the Thessalonian church?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be
ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t know the time or the
hour when God will take you home, whether it’s at the second coming or whether
it’s at your own death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do it now- there
may be no tomorrow for you.)</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman">And if we don’t, what
then?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look at the thought for the week; “Use it or
lose it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sounds extremely harsh,
but isn’t that exactly what happened to the third servant who buried (or sat
on) his gift?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s life- we use our
talents or they’re gone.</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worse yet, did you notice verse 30 when the
master says: “You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the
dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can hear you now- Rev. Judy, would God
really do that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps not, but we
might do it to ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Picture
yourself the second after you die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
is there with open arms and He asks you, “What have you done with the talents I
gave you?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, with his arm around you
he shows you all the people who needed your help or encouragement- but you
didn’t have time; all the evil or pollution or pain or ignorance in his beloved
planet that he specifically gifted you to heal, but you didn’t want to be
bothered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then you see the tears in his
eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Won’t you feel like running away
to a dark place where you can hide; won’t you feel like grinding your teeth and
screaming at yourself for the opportunity you missed?</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal; tab-stops: center 3.0in right 6.0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">My friends, I’ve got
nothing else to say, except please, please, please develop every single area of
giftedness with which God has blessed you and then use those gifts for God, for
St. Paul’s church, for the multiplication of good and the diminishment of evil,
and for the spread of God’s blessed Kingdom.</font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<div style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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" rel="noopener noreferrer" 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>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font>
<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>
<font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font></div>
<div></div>
-- <br>
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Propertalk" group.<br>
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:propertalk.topic+unsubscribe@ecunet.org">propertalk.topic+unsubscribe@ecunet.org</a>.<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</font>