<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Part 1 of 2 - 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 dir="auto"><br></div><div><br></div><div style="font-size:100%;color:#000000" dir="auto"><!-- originalMessage --><div><strong style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family:"12",serif;font-weight:normal">This Sunday’s sermon is
entitled “Jubilee” or “Claim Your Freedom!” and is based on the gospel (Matthew
11:2-11). Here it is: </span></strong></div></div><div dir="ltr">
<p style="line-height:normal;mso-mirror-indents:yes"><strong><span style="font-family:"12",serif;font-weight:normal"> </span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"12",serif">Did
you hear the story of the teen-age boy who had just gotten his driving permit?
He asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss the use of the
car. His father took him to his study and said to him, “I'll make a deal with
you. You bring your grades up, study your Bible a little and get your hair cut
and we'll talk about it.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After about a
month the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss use of
the car. They again went to the father's study where his father said, “Son,
I've been real proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you've studied
your Bible diligently, but you didn't get your hair cut!”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The young man waited a moment and replied,
“You know Dad, I've been thinking about that. John the Baptist had long hair;
Moses had long hair; Noah had long hair; and even Jesus had long hair....”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To which his father replied, “Yes, and they
walked everywhere they went!”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Well, when
we meet John the Baptist this morning, he’s not walking anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He’s in prison fighting his doubts and
fears.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>While he languished in his cage
of a prison, he wondered and worried more and more about if his second cousin
Jesus really was the Messiah.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He
wondered because Jesus wasn’t behaving the way John (and most other people)
expected the Messiah to act.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>John was
watching for a gathering army, led by Jesus, to wipe out evil and evildoers,
specifically the Roman army and unrepentant Jews.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>John was expecting the apocalypse- maybe even
fire from heaven, terror.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God only knows
what he expected.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Whatever it was, what
he heard about his cousin wasn’t cutting it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>So John sent his own disciples to check out the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You heard it- when John’s disciples asked
Jesus if he really was the Messiah, did you notice- Jesus didn’t give a direct
answer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Instead, he quoted the prophet
Isaiah’s description of what the Messiah would do.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He said to go back and tell John- not what he
said, but what he was doing: the blind can see, the lame can walk, the deaf can
hear, the dead are raised to life, and the poor have the good news preached to
them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have to believe that John died a
happy man, because Jesus basically said, “Actions speak louder than words.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My actions are Jubilee actions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">God</st1:placename></st1:place>,
the Jubilee, is here!”</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">Jubilee- what is Jubilee?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You know how the fourth commandment says
“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Well, the Jubilee- as explained in Leviticus 25 among other places, was
a very special Sabbath YEAR of Sabbath YEARS.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Every seventh year was a special Sabbath year- the ground was to lie
fallow to get a rest the way humans were to rest every Sabbath day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Every seven Sabbath years (remember their way
of counting time meant the beginning year was “one”, not “zero”), which would
have been every fifty years (1 year + 7 times 7 years) was the Jubilee
year.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At that time, a ram’s horn would
be blown and a fresh start was declared.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Property reverted back to its original owner and slaves were freed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This meant that if you or your family had
suffered severe misfortune and had lost your house or land because you couldn’t
pay your bills, you got it all back.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If
you had been forced to sell yourself or your children into slavery as the only
way to avoid starvation, when that ram’s horn sounded to proclaim the start of
the Jubilee year, you were free.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was
God’s way of giving every generation a fresh start.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So when Jesus told what he was doing,
especially the part about “the poor are hearing the Good News,” he was
basically saying, “God’s Kingdom is here; the Jubilee is here.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">As we just heard when
we lit out Advent candles, the theme for the third Sunday of Advent is
JOY.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Jesus coming brings joy because
Jesus’ birth inaugurates Jubilee.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My
question to you (and to myself) is, since Jesus has already been born in your
heart, and since he is present in an even more powerful way every Sunday after
you receive Holy Communion, are you living Jubilee?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Are you claiming your freedom in Christ
through the power of the Spirit, or are you letting our society brainwash you
and lull you into just plodding along day after day wasting your life?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth,
and the life,” he meant it!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I am so
tired of watching Christian people get enslaved to devil traps that start out
looking so exciting and end up sucking the lifeblood out of them!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif"> </span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">What am I talking
about?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What percentage of church people
do you think are addicted to something?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>What early experiences threaten to diminish (or even ruin) your present
life?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When times are hard for you, what
do you do to escape?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How do you avoid
life?</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">1.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Chemical substances (alcohol, cigarettes,
hard drugs, prescription drugs misused)- often start out with great pleasure,
but before you know it, you’re using them to avoid the unpleasant effects of
withdrawal.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And look at the cost- heart
disease; lung cancer, liver damage, diminished mental capacity, estrangement
from those you love- in other words, the devil gets just what he wants, which
is you out of commission to work for the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Claim your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">2.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Maybe you wouldn’t touch any of those
substances, but maybe you are secretly gambling your family into the poorhouse
with numbers or the lottery or the cassino.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Maybe you find yourself gambling to pay off old gambling debts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What started out as a rush of excitement is
quickly deteriorating into frantic worry and fear.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Claim your freedom.</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">3.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Maybe you don’t do any of these things, but
what about video games, computer chat rooms, or simply your television
set?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How many hours a day do you watch
TV?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How many movies or soap operas have
you glued to the TV, watching others live instead of living yourself?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How many hours of football or basketball or
boxing or wrestling do you watch?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Claim
your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">4.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What about promiscuous sex?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“No one will go out with me if I don’t make
myself sexually available.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You’re
better off with no one than with someone who only wants to use you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>You’re a child of God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Don’t sell yourself for friendship.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Claim your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">5.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How long do you sleep?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When the going gets hard, do you simply sleep
your life away?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That’s a great way to
escape- the trouble is, when you wake up- nothing has changed, except maybe you
now have a headache on top of it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Claim
your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">6.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Maybe you really look down on people who do
these things- wouldn’t think of doing them yourself, but what about
eating?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When your life gets difficult-
do you head for the carbohydrates to make yourself feel better?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Much of this and you’ll find yourself heading
for the refrigerator and away from the scale.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>Claim your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">7.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What about shopping- “I have to have it; or-
worse yet- I deserve it!”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If I don’t
have the money, I can always use my credit card.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Where your money goes, your life will follow.
Your cards are maxed, your monthly payments barely pay the interest, and it’s
like you’ll never get them paid off. Claim your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"12",serif">8.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What about negative friends, gossiping
friends, friends who are not on your level?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>I can hear it now- “If I break with these friends, I won’t have
anyone.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Yes you will.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Pray about it, get out of the house into
positive environments, reach out and help others, and God will provide you with
more friends than you can imagine.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Claim
your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="margin-left:.25in;mso-add-space:auto;
text-indent:-.25in;line-height:normal;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .25in;mso-layout-grid-align:auto;mso-vertical-align-alt:
auto"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif;mso-fareast-font-family:12;mso-bidi-font-family:
12"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">9.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif">I’m running out of things- help me......(maybe
shoplifting- is that addictive?)<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Claim
your freedom!</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:
11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"12",serif"> (Continued in Part 2 of 2)</span></p>
<p style="line-height:normal">The Rev. Judy Boli, St. Paul's Church, Saginaw, MI</p></div>
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