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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, Jun 2, 2018 6:23 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 4B- “Listening to God” or “Good Morning, Lord!”<br>
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<div 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></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Listening to God” or
“Good Morning, Lord!” and deals with the Old Testament lesson (1<sup>st</sup>Samuel
(3: 1-10).<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Here it is: </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">This morning, we heard the ancient story of the call of the child
Samuel- the story that we probably heard in Sunday school many years ago,
unless you’re a child and you heard it this morning.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In Sunday school they didn’t tell you the
whole story.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Actually, our Bible lesson
didn’t tell the whole story, but if you listen- you will hear the whole story
right now.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Samuel was the only child of
Hannah- born late in life after she had long since given up on the idea that
she would have a child.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>She was so thankful
to God for hearing her prayers that she dedicated her infant son to the Lord’s
service.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As soon as Samuel was old
enough, he went to the sanctuary at Shiloh (kind of a temple) to serve Eli, the
chief priest.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is where our story
picks up.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We heard how Samuel was asleep
after working all day, and how he heard a voice call his name: “Samuel,
Samuel.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As you recall, he assumed Eli
had called him, but when he went to check, Eli had said not a thing, so Samuel
went back to bed.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Again he heard the voice
calling his name, and again he ran in to Eli, but again the old priest had not
called.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When Samuel heard the voice call
his name the third time, Eli realized something significant was happening, so
he told Samuel to say, “I’m listening, Lord.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>What do you want me to do?”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When
Samuel did as Eli suggested, God answered and told Samuel what to do.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do you know what God said?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>God told Samuel that Eli’s sons would not
succeed him as the chief priest at Shiloh, because they were misusing their
privileges.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It was almost as if they
were the first corrupt evangelists.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They
were imitating the surrounding culture and were trying to turn the sanctuary at
Shiloh into a brothel for prostitution like all the pagan temples around.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>So God said, enough is enough- Eli, train
Samuel; he’ll be next priest in charge.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>That’s what happened.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Samuel had
trouble hearing God’s voice, and many times so do we.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">Did you hear the story of the Sunday school teacher who was trying to
help her little children learn to listen to Jesus, so she asked, “Where is
Jesus?”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One sweet little boy said that
Jesus was in heaven.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Another smart
little girl proclaimed that Jesus was in her heart.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Finally little Johnny raised his hand and
said, “Teacher, they’re all wrong.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I
know exactly where Jesus is!”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Where?”
asked the teacher, wondering what in the world he would say.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“He’s in our bathroom!” answered Johnny with
a sense of certainty.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“In your
bathroom?!” responded the teacher.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Why
in the world would you think Jesus is in your bathroom, Johnny?”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“Well,” said Johnny, “every morning, my
father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and</font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">yells, ‘Good Lord, are you still in there?!’”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We laugh, but are you close enough to God to
recognize his voice?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Let’s look at what
gets in the way.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What interferes in your
life so you have trouble hearing God’s voice and recognizing God’s call when
you hear it? </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">THEREFORE, WHAT INTERFERES WITH OUR ABILITY TO LISTEN WHEN GOD CALLS?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>OUR SINFUL SELFISH NATURES.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do you remember this conch shell?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I last showed it to you back in June, 2016.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As you know, we’re not talking about the
sound of the ocean, we’re talking about the voice of God, but the process has
similarities.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Has anyone ever done
this?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I have.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Do you remember what we’re really
hearing?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It’s not the sound of the
ocean.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When all outside sounds are
muffled by the shell, what we hear is the rush and beat of our own blood- which
sounds like the ocean.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Something like
this sometimes happens when we try to listen to God.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We are so full of ourselves that instead of
listening, we take to bossing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We tell
God what we want instead of asking what God wants.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Our culture teaches us that we can do
anything we want to. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How many people do
you know like this?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Where does that kind
of attitude lead?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sure, it leads to sin
and confusion and pain and life-diminishing consequences.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Eli’s sons were so busy trying to turn Shiloh
into a modern temple full of prostitutes that they didn’t listen to what God
wanted.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In Paul’s time, Corinth had a
temple to the pagan god Aphrodite with 1,000 slaves as prostitutes- both male
and female.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Anybody who was anybody went
to that temple and did their thing every time they wanted a baby or a fertile
field.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When you make your decisions,
when you make your choices, whose voice are you listening to- God’s or your
own?</font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">WHAT INTERFERES?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>SIN THAT KEEPS
US FROM CHURCH AND GETTING CLOSER TO GOD.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Sometimes it’s past sin.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We’ve
done some terrible things in our lives, and we just don’t feel worthy to come
to church.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Remember Paul? <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>He considered himself among the worst of
sinners, because he persecuted the church of Christ.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Yet, he became one of the greatest missionary
bishops who ever lived.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Your past is
just the college of life; God can use your past sins to touch present lives.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Perhaps it’s not past sin- maybe it’s present
sin.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You’ve got sin right now in your
life, and you don’t really want to give it up.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Tell me, how will you ever get the courage to get your life on track
without the Lord?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Don’t wait until
you’re perfect. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Listen to the words of
that old song, “Just as I Am,” and come as you are.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Then see what God does with you over time.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>No pressure; no promises- just start or renew
that relationship with God.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">WHAT INTERFERES?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A BITTER,
POISONED SPIRIT.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Why do you think Jesus
reminds us in the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us our sins AS (i.e. the same way) we
forgive those who sin against us”?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A
poisoned spirit blocks the wires, the message can’t get through.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Forgive anybody you’re mad at.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Your anger doesn’t hurt them, it only hurts
you by poisoning your spirit and blocking your access to God.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What if The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
had allowed the evil people he encountered to poison his spirit?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Our nation would not even approach being “the
land of the free and the home of the brave,” much less “one nation under God.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We probably would never have had Barack Obama
as our first Black president.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">WHAT INTERFERES?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>BUSYNESS!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Did you notice when it was that God spoke to
Samuel?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sure, in the middle of the
night.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Maybe Samuel was so busy waiting
on Eli and doing his chores, that night was the only time God could get
through.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Think of the shell again.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What’s the first thing you must do if you
want to hear the ocean in the shell?<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Sure, stop and be still and really focus and then wait and listen.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>No matter how busy your life is, if you want
God as your daily companion, if you want the power, if you want the peace, if
you want to do anything but rush through life- experience by experience, you’ve
simply got to find a time to stop and focus and say your prayers and read
something from the Word, and confess your sins and listen to him as you
organize your priorities for the day.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You
know how some people force themselves awake, stumble out of bed, and mutter,
“Good Lord, it’s morning.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Don’t you be
that way.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When you open your eyes, don’t
say, “Good Lord, it’s morning!”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Instead,
say “Good morning, Lord.”<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Then shut off
the radio, shut off the TV, shut off your cell and games, SAY YOUR PRAYERS AND
GIVE GOD YOUR DAY.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>You’ll notice the
difference.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman">May God bless us all as we plan our lives to listen to God before we
get going on our own agendas.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Amen.</font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div 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 target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><u><font color="#0000ff"></font></u></a><u><font color="#0000ff"><a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org" target="_blank">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</a></font></u><font color="#000000"> .</font></font></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style="margin: 0px; font-size: 11pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman"> </font></span></div>
<div 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></div>
<div 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></div>
<div 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></div>
<div 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></div>
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