<html><body><div>Here we go again -the moderator's black hole has struck again!</div><div><br></div><div>Bob</div><div><br></div><div>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>1 SAMUEL 8:4-20; 11:14-15 <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>PROPER 5 b</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>2 CORINTHIANS 4:13 – 5:1<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>PSALM 138 </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>MARK 3:2-35<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>10<sup>th</sup>
JUNE, 2018</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>“The sins of the
fathers….”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What a mess humans can
inflict! But what on earth was going on in the history of the people of Israel,
around the time described in this week’s first reading from Scripture.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Last week we heard of
the downfall of Eli, mainly because of his weakness in dealing with his sons.
Samuel came out of that smelling like a rose. This week it seems that the
tables have turned and Samuel is accused of <b><u>HIS</u></b> children being
out of control.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What was happening?
Was it something in the water? Or was it the age-old story of greed, of
self-stupidity, of a lack of compassion for those around? Or all of the above?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We have to be quite
clear up front, though. There <b><u>IS</u></b> a difference between what was
going on last week and what’s described this week. Several differences, in
fact.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>First, Samuel didn’t
hesitate to pray to God about this.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Now you and I know
that Samuel knew that God already knew about what was going on. That is part of
our belief about who God is. We believe, as the old hymn puts it, that God is
all-wise, all-knowing; so God, by definition, was aware of what the people were
up to when they started to yank Samuel’s chain. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>God knows what you and I are thinking, what makes you and me anxious,
what makes you and me really excited and happy before our brains can even start
to process what’s going on. But here’s the important thing. God wants us to
realise that when we react, either out loud or internally; when we react and
start to say, “This really ticks me off.” Or, “I can’t believe how happy this
makes me.” Or, “What on earth am I going to do now?”; when we start to
formulate this in our minds, God is aware that we ourselves are trying to come
to terms with whatever is happening, and we are also admitting that we feel
that we can’t deal with the situation appropriately or to the maximum benefit
of everyone if we don’t seek God’s help.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Samuel, like us on
many an occasion; Samuel was taking his anger, his frustration, his
apprehension and his sadness and laying it before God, saying, “God, what a
bunch of ingrates, such self-centred people this nation is!” And God sighed and
said, “I know! But it’s not your fault. You’ve done as much as I could probably
have wished.”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; line-height: normal;"><span style='margin: 0px; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></p>
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