<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Forwarded: </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div id="composer_signature" dir="auto"><div style="font-size:85%;color:#575757" dir="auto">Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.</div></div><div><br></div><div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000" dir="auto"><!-- originalMessage --><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Judy <judy_boli@ecunet.org> </div><div>Date: 19/10/2019 9:03 pm (GMT-04:00) </div><div>To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic@ecunet.org> </div><div>Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 24C: “Never Give Up” or “What’s Tattooed on Your Heart?” </div><div><br></div></div><div dir="ltr">
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal"> </span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal">This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Never Give Up” or
“What’s Tattooed on Your Heart?” and is based on all the lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here it is: <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal"> </span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal">Today we heard Jesus
tell the story of a poor widow facing down a powerful judge.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As you know- in those days (as often in our
own time), widows were usually among the poorest and most vulnerable people in
town.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>No matter how rich their husbands
were, widows in the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day did not inherit property.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The common practice was for the widow to
become the wife of the oldest brother of her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If he would not have her or this was not
possible, she would be taken in the household of her father or another male
relative.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If no male would take her in,
she could prostitute or steal or beg or sell herself and her children into
slavery or starve to death.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Well- apparently
someone owed this widow money, but the judge wouldn’t listen to her.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Perhaps he only heard cases of those who had
a large enough bribe to make it worth his while.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We heard what the widow did.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Every day- cold or hot, wet or dry, she
appeared and repeated her claim.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Finally
he became so sick and tired of her nagging that he did the right thing and
granted justice to her.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Let’s look at
this parable to see what Jesus intends us to learn about how to live our lives
successfully as his beloved children.</p>
<p style="line-height:normal"> </p>
<p style="line-height:normal">FIRST- NEVER GIVE UP
ON YOURSELF.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Widows in that culture were
frequently scorned and abused.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>People
usually figured either the widow or her husband or both were responsible for
the misfortune that had caused the husband’s death.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In fact, many religious leaders of the time
taught that tragedies were the punishments from a righteous God and were proof
that the sufferers were terrible sinners.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>So you see, she could have believed all the negatives she had heard from
the time she was born and just assumed she was a huge nothing, a zero.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Instead, she wrestled with that judge like
Jacob wrestled with the angel; and as the angel blessed Jacob, so the judge
blessed the widow.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The famous minister-
the late Norman Vincent Peale (who wrote <i>The Power of Positive Thinking</i>)
once traveled to Hong Kong. As he passed a local tattoo shop, he noticed some
of the designs people could have tattooed on their bodies - a flag, a dagger,
and various slogans. One slogan especially caught his eye: “Born to Lose.” He
was curious and went inside to ask about it. “Do people really ask for that
tattoo?” he asked. “Yes,” the owner replied.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Someone that very day had just asked for it, in fact. “Why in the
world,” asked Dr. Peale, “would anyone want to be branded with a saying like
that?”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The old man shrugged and said,
“Before the tattoo is needled into the body, that tattoo is already branded on
the mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Use the widow as a role
model, and don’t give up on yourself.</p>
<p style="line-height:normal"> </p>
<p style="line-height:normal">SECOND- DON’T GIVE UP
ON OTHERS.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That widow could easily have
given up on that judge, but her persistence paid off and he finally did do the
right thing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God could easily have given
up on sneaky, lying Jacob, but God’s persistence with Jacob produced the father
of the Israelites.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Rev. Richard
Donovan tells the story of another minister, the Rev. George Mueller who
pastored in the last century.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Rev.
Donovan says, “Early in his ministry, Mueller began to pray for five people by
name.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He prayed for them every day
without exception. Sick or well -- at home or abroad -- he prayed for them
every day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After eighteen months, one of
the five became a Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Eighteen
months- that’s a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Mueller kept
praying.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Five years later, one more
became a Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Five years- that’s a
long time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Six more years passed, and a
third became a Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That means
that Mueller had prayed every day for twelve years, and only three of the five
became Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Mueller kept praying
for the other two, but then he died without seeing his prayers answered.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But then, more than fifty years after Mueller
began his prayers, the other two finally became Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Mueller did not live to see it, but his
prayers were answered.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As the widow didn’t
give up on the judge, as God didn’t give up on Jacob, as Rev. Mueller didn’t
give up on his people- don’t give up on others.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"> </p>
<p style="line-height:normal">THIRD- DON’T GIVE UP
ON GOD.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When our hearts are breaking or
our needs are great, this is sometimes the hardest of Jesus’ lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At the end of the parable, we hear Jesus ask,
“When the Son of Man comes, will he find anyone on earth with faith?”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our culture teaches us to expect quick
results.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You’ve got a headache?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Take a pill for instant relief.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Come home hungry?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Pop something in the microwave.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We’ve even got a name for restaurants that
meet our need for instant relief from hunger- fast food!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Friends, God doesn’t work like that.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God’s ways are not our ways and his timing is
certainly not our timing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We sometimes
act as if our prayers are like the dollar we put in the candy machine- send
your prayer up to God and get your answer back right now.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Some people treat God like a super-genie:
make your wish and rub the bottle, but this time our wish is a prayer and we
get to skip rubbing the bottle.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All
those wishes…all those prayers…what if they were all answered?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What if every team won?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What if no one got sick and died?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What if we never had to wait for something,
struggle with something?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Remember, God
is our coach.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>His purpose for us is to
shape and sharpen us up so we become more and more in the image of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The most important thing prayer changes is
ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our perspective changes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We see life more and more through God’s
eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Often while God is in process of
changing us, he’s using us to change the world.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Dr. Tony Evans (of the Urban Alternatives Ministry) says, “It’s worth it
to wait on God, because when He moves, He moves well.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I’m going to close with an old story of how
God moves in surprising ways.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Once upon
a time there was a good lady who lived next door to a bully. Everyday, when the
lady prayed, the bully could hear her. He thought to himself, ‘She sure is
crazy, praying all the time like that. Doesn't she know God’s not going to pay
attention to the likes of her?’ Many times while she was praying, he would go
to her house and harass her, saying, ‘Lady, why do you pray all the time? Don't
you know God’s not going to pay attention to a nothing person like you?’ But
she kept on praying.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One day, she had a
really serious situation, because she ran out of groceries. As usual, she was
praying to the Lord explaining her situation and thanking Him for what He was
going to do. As usual, the bully heard her praying and thought to himself,
‘Humph...I'll fix her!’<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He went to the
grocery store, bought a whole bunch of groceries, took them to her house,
dropped them off on the front porch, rang the door bell and then hid in the
bushes to see what she would do. When she opened the door and saw the
groceries, she began to praise the Lord with all her heart, jumping, singing,
and shouting everywhere!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The bully then
jumped out of the bushes and told her, ‘You crazy old lady. God didn't buy you
those groceries, I bought those groceries!’ Well, she broke out and started
running down the street, shouting and praising the Lord even more. When he
finally caught her, he asked what her problem was. She said ‘I knew the Lord
would provide me with some groceries, but I never guessed he’d make the devil
himself get them for me.’”</p>
<p style="line-height:normal"> </p>
<p style="line-height:normal">Don’t give up on
yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Don’t give up on others.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And, most important- don’t give up on
God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Amen.</p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal"> </span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;tab-stops:.25in;
mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal">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: <a href="http://www.stpaulsepisag.org/"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:
none;text-underline:none">http://www.stpaulsepisag.org</span></a> .</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal"> </span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal">Blessed preaching,</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal">Judy Boli</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal">St. Paul's Episcopal Church</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal">Saginaw, Michigan</span></strong></p>
</div>
<p></p>
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