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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: Sun, Mar 22, 2020 6:12 pm<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] If I were preaching (and posted on our church website: a sermon for Lent 4A, 3-22-2020 entitled “The Egg, the Carrot, and the Coffee” or “Once I Was Blind, but Now I See”<br>
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<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">HERE WE GO AGAIN, ANOTHER WEEK OF MEETING GOD HALF WAY
IN OVERCOMING THIS VIRUS BY STAYING ISOLATED SO IT CAN'T SPREAD FROM OR TO US!<span style=""> </span>Here is the sermon I would have preached if
we were not home sacrificing by not spreading or getting the virus:<b></b></span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">“The Egg, the Carrot, and the Coffee”
or “Once I Was Blind, but Now I See”</span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">(Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A: 3-22-2020)</span></b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">When the prophet
Isaiah quoted God as saying, “My ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are
not your thoughts,” his words really describe today’s Bible lessons.<span style=""> </span>In each one, we find God choosing someone to
do His work- someone we probably wouldn’t dream of choosing.<span style=""> </span>In the Old Testament lesson (1<sup>st</sup>
Samuel 16: 1-13), we listen as Jesse shows off all of his sons to the prophet
Samuel- actually ALMOST all of his sons.<span style="">
</span>One by one, they paraded before the prophet, and one by one- Samuel
said- “No, this isn’t the person God has chosen to be king.”<span style=""> </span>Remember, it was only when pressed that Jesse
“remembered” one more son- just a kid.<span style="">
</span>That kid grew to be the mighty King David, the greatest king Israel had
ever seen; the root from whom the messiah, Jesus, developed.</span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">Did you hear the true
story of the lady and the blind man (sent in to Ann Landers and published in
the Washington Post October 13, 1998)?<span style="">
</span>Mrs. Smith was stark-naked and just about to step into the shower when
the doorbell rang. She hollered, “Who is it?” He shouted back, “It's the blind
man.” She figured it was safe, so she opened the door. He looked at her in
shock and asked, “Where do you want me to hang these blinds, lady?”</span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">Then there was the
blind man in today’s gospel (John 9: 1-38) - not a man hired to hang window
shades, but a person with the handicapping condition of blindness.<span style=""> </span>Everyone knew a blind man was useless, yet he
was the person who taught the learned Pharisees a thing or two.<span style=""> </span>When he said in verse 25: “Once I was blind,
but now I see,” his wisdom in recognizing who Jesus was put the ignorance of
the Pharisees to shame.</span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">Finally there was
Paul, who wrote the wise advice to the Ephesian Church (Ephesians 5:15-16)
reminding them to “act like people with good sense and not like fools. <span style=""> </span>These are evil times, so make every minute
count.”<span style=""> </span>Who was Paul to tell anyone what
to do?<span style=""> </span>As you recall, he was a mass murderer.<span style=""> </span>He had as many Christians as possible
executed.<span style=""> </span>In fact, he was the one who
held the coats while Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to
death.<span style=""> </span>He reminds me of another person
who wrote something- actually one of our favorite hymns- John Newton, the
author of “Amazing Grace.”<span style=""> </span>As Paul was a
murderer, so was John Newton.<span style=""> </span>He
captained slave ships, throwing sick and dying Africans overboard so they
wouldn’t inconvenience his sailors.<span style=""> </span>He
later was converted and became a priest in England in our own Anglican
Communion.<span style=""> </span>His friendship was one of the
influences that converted William Wilberforce and then convinced him as a
Christian man to work in the English government to abolish the slave
trade.<span style=""> </span>Wilberforce was the prime person
to get the slave trade stopped.</span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">Why am I telling you
about these people?<span style=""> </span>Because each one
speaks to us about how God can use everyone.<span style="">
</span>Perhaps you are (or you know) a discouraged David- someone whose family
disrespects them over and over, someone whose self-concept is down around their
knees.<span style=""> </span>Tell them (or yourself) that out
of little acorns, mighty oak trees grow, so forget about what other people say
and be all that you can be.</span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">Or perhaps you have a
handicapping condition.<span style=""> </span>Maybe you (or
someone you love) are too fat, thin, crippled, slow in school, old, young,
etc.<span style=""> </span>Recall how the blind man taught the
Pharisees a thing or two and remember that God doesn’t make junk.<span style=""> </span>Don’t worry about what you can’t do.<span style=""> </span>Focus on what you can do for the Lord.</span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">Or perhaps you (or
someone you love) are a Paul or a John Newton.<span style="">
</span>You’ve done some heavy sinning and think God can’t use a sinner like
you.<span style=""> </span>You may even have heard people say
they’re too sinful to set foot in church.<span style="">
</span>Remember that John Newton didn’t stop captaining slave ships as soon as
he was converted.<span style=""> </span>His awareness of sin
grew on him until he gave his whole life to Jesus, was ordained, wrote “Amazing
Grace,” and discipled William Wilberforce to overcome slavery in the British
Isles.</span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">In closing, I’m going
to remind you of a story I’ve told a number of times. A daughter complained to
her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. Maybe she was
like David and not respected by her family.<span style="">
</span>Maybe she was like the blind man and had a handicapping condition of
some sort.<span style=""> </span>Perhaps she had made some bad
choices and was now living through the consequences of her behavior.<span style=""> </span>Whatever- she told him that she did not know
how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting
and struggling. It seemed as soon as one problem was solved, a new one
arose.<span style=""> </span>She had decided that her fate was
to lead a disappointing life and that her lot in life was to never succeed at
anything.<span style=""> </span>Her father, a chef, took her
to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed a carrot, in the second he
placed an egg, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them boil
for about twenty minutes, then fished everything out of the boiling water.<span style=""> </span>Turning to her he asked. "Darling, what
do you see?"<span style=""> </span>"Carrots, eggs,
and coffee," she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the
carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an
egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled
egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. She smiled as she tasted it and
smelled its rich aroma. She humbly asked. "What does it mean
Father?"<span style=""> </span>He explained that each of
them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently.
The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to
the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its
thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting through
the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were
unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the
water. </span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;"><span style=""> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;">Like the carrot, do
adverse circumstances weaken you, make you lose your commitment to God, and
give up?<span style=""> </span>Or like the egg, do adverse
circumstances harden you and make you unloving and evil?<span style=""> </span>I hope not.<span style="">
</span>I hope you are like the coffee beans.<span style="">
</span>I hope your faith and love and commitment enrich those adverse
circumstances by the power of the Spirit until they are transformed into a
sweet-smelling gift to our Lord. </span></div>
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