Date: 13 Sep 2001
Time: 17:35:58
I am preaching Jerry and Timothy. If ever there were a time for prayer, it is now. In 1995 after the Oklahoma bombing, Arab and Islamic citizens were subjected to harassment. We must remind people that many of the these people would not be welcome in their previous countries and are innocent until proven guilty. I have Presbyterian friends from Iran who lost everything when they came to the US. They came because it was not safe for them in Iran as Christians. They do not tell people that they are from Iran--too dangerous. Speak out that Christians SHOULD meet each person as an individual and not stereotype them as part of a group. My Islamic friend and retired elementary school principal said at a Citizens Against Racism meeting that the kindergarten child understands, "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." This is part of their culture and ours. Respect our Islamic and Arab people--encourage toleration. Rev. Sue in Cuba, KS
This will be an excellent Communion passage. "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly!" What a powerful image of forgiveness to sinners and empowerment to the believer. It is also a bold statement of Jesus's command to "Love your enemy". If God can love like this, love us like this, we too should strive to love our enemies and neighbors.
Kingdom DJ
This will be an excellent Communion passage. "The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly!" What a powerful image of forgiveness to sinners and empowerment to the believer. It is also a bold statement of Jesus's command to "Love your enemy". If God can love like this, love us like this, we too should strive to love our enemies and neighbors.
Kingdom DJ
Good Sunday to sing "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise."
Beth from MA
I thought I would deal with the idea of God using even a "sinner like me" to do God's work. The story of Paul is a powerful one, but I hoped to find good contemporary examples of folks whose lives had been changed by their encounters with God and who become speakers and doers of God's word. Any ideas?
peejaymo@aol.com
For peejaymo:
My friend, wouldn't we all like to have people right in our immediate community who would fit the description for whom you ask? But then, perhaps you do.
If not, or if you do and cannot point to them, let me suggest a contemporary fellow sojourner whose life stands as a beacon of hope for those who are completely engulfed in the prison of affluence -- Millard Fuller, a key founder of Habitat For Humanity. His continuing story is expressed across a multitude of literary works, however, in my opinion the best description of his life and focus of Habitat is found in "Love in the Mortar Joints - The Story of Habitat for Humanity" by Millard and Diane Scott. The ISBN is 0-8329-1444-4.
Shalom and may God richly bless your preparation.
Nail-Bender in NC
Paul rejoices in God's mercy to him, "the worst of sinners." Yet I think that we're naturally reluctant to do the same. We're pretty sure that we can identify the "worst of sinners." However, we're not sure they deserve God's gracious mercy. We hoard God's grace and naturally resent it in the lives of people like Eldridge Cleaver, Chuck Colson. That also spills over into the life of the church. Phil Yancey tells a powerful story relating to that in the first chapter of his book, What's So Amazing About Grace? I highly recommend the book, not just for its stimulating content, but also for its wealth of stories and illustrations of God's grace (and the way we sometimes hoard it). DB in MD
A contempory example of the "sinner like me" could be our own story. However, I'm not 100% convinced that it is appropriate in every situation. People tend to twist the testimonies of the saints and use them in harmful ways. The question is, What if I told you that I was once a drunkard, a racist, have a criminal record, am friends with drug users and dealers? I could go on and on, but the question is can this testimony and the example of a life now lead be a helpful witness to the grace of the Lord poured out on all of us in this particular time and this particular place? I could see myself bearing this witness, but it would also be more effective if other voices, contempory, within the community of believers, to also bear witness to the Love of God poured out in their lives.
We know Paul suffered consquences for sharing his past, chastiment and the such. Are we willing to to suffer for the sake of the Gospel? Will we be suffering for the sake of the Gospel or producing suffering in the name of the Gospel?
Kingdom DJ
Thank you, friends, for your helpful responses. I'll go in search of more about Millard Fuller, since we have several of our members who are quite involved with Habitat. Occasionally, I do tell some of my own story which surely can work for this sermon, but I had hoped to avoid that. It hasn't been very long since I used my life as a way of seeing how God's love can turn us around. What I am hoping is to stimulate some inward reflection on the part of those in the pews. We don't like to see ourselves as the worst of sinners, but surely we can see ourselves reflected in the Pharisees from the Gospel lesson, as we reject those we categorize as sinners. Pardon my ramble--I'm just thinking with my fingers.
Peejaymo@aol.com
Using this text provides a good opportunity to offer the congregation a definition of "sin." One that i find helpful is: "sin" is any attitude, action or inaction that comes between you and God. i often refer to this as a "working" definition; that is, one we can work with as we examine ourselvs in light of the scriptures. -das