Here is my Sermon from Sunday 8/26.
Choices of not staying current on this site!!
Oh Lord, may the words from my mouth, be from your inspiration to my heart, Amen.
While I was struggling with today lessons and Gospel, it finally occurred to me what I have been teaching and telling my kids all along, life is about choices. What choice you make today, will affect you the rest of your life. And that is exactly what we hear both in the Old Testament lesson and the Gospel, chose what you are going to do.
We hear that the prophet Joshua give the Israelites their choice, follow the Lord God or those other gods from Egypt and the land of the Amorites. It didn’t take them long to realize that the same God who delivered them out of slavery and given them a place to call home, was the God for them. How many of us would be able to answer just that quick, but before you answer that, we need to look at the current gods that are out there, wanting to take control of our lives! Seems that the gods of old; Isis, Ra, Anubis from Egypt and SIN and Amurru from the Amorites that the Israelites had to deal with have been replaced with today’s “gods”; like ones cell phone, computer, and what about visa, discover card, or dinners club. Things that some people, cannot function without! Yes, the current gods, taking up our time, causing us to occupy our minds on earthly things and not on things from above.
Keeping our minds occupied on what the will of man thinks is more important than the will of the one true God. The will of man, or should I say, will of huperson, so I don’t offend anyone. The will of huperson is that which this so called, intelligent society, says, do what you want, when you want, with whom ever or whatever you want, and call yourself whatever you want, because who needs to listen to all that old stuff and that which restricts of from enjoying this earthly life. In other words, if it feels good, do it and if feels wrong, who cares!
Truth be told, I know I spend way to much time on my phone, nook book, and computer, yet all three have a Bible app and ways to get to the resources I use to prepare for times like today, yet all the other information sites keep calling, hey looky here, so yes, I to spend to much time on the will of huperson, but I can still hear Jesus softly and tenderly, calling me. Calling me to come home, to stay focused on the will of God and to attempt to do what my Faith tells me is right. And that Faith tells me, as for me and mine, we will follow the Lord.
Well enough about which God we’ll follow, because we are here, Worshiping and Praising God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for all that they do for us. But, let’s move on to the Gospel choice Jesus gave to his followers. That choice that some of his followers thought Jesus teaching were too difficult and can’t accept it. Those who though that Jesus was being literally when saying, eat of my flesh and drink of his blood. That I’m guessing that they thought that Jesus was going to cut a piece of his body off, collect the blood, and then make them eat and drink. Now if you look back into history, there were some people who actually though that being a follower of Jesus meant that you where a cannibal. Huh, the will of huperson all the way back in Jesus’ time! For, do we not hear Jesus say again, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” That if God the Father didn’t give those who couldn’t understand what Jesus was saying, understanding, then I’m pretty sure I would not be following these teachings either, but, once again I can here Jesus softly and tenderly calling. And yes, when we do come up to the Altar to receive the true gift from Heaven, it is the body and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. For if we truly understand and truly believe the words spoken, “this is my body, given for you and this is my blood, shed for you, do this as often as you can in remembrance if me, do this for the remission of your sins”, then for that very brief moment, we are sinless, but being hupersons, we are a sinful lot and it is in our nature to sin. So as we depart from the Altar, we can smile and rejoice knowing that Jesus is with us because we are with him and we can say just like, 68Simon Peter, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
So, as we do come up to the Altar for Holy Communion, we have made our second choice of the day, to be followers of Jesus Christ.
As we are talking about the will of huperson, listen again to the words Paul wrote to the Ephesians; 10Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Doesn’t this sound like what is going on here and now? The rulers, those in “authority, and the cosmic powers, saying this is the will of huperson speaking.
And here is what Paul says we should all do;
13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Now with the armor of God, fully dressed, are you ready to stand firm to what your Faith is telling you?
18Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. In other words, stand ready to defend what you believe in, for there are some who want to take away what our Faith has told to be true. That the will of God is outdated and that there is no room for it in the here and now. Well I hate to tell those who feel this way, because I’m not living for the here and now, for I know that there is something better to come, because I know that my Redeemer lives and though I am getting more and more tired and weary, I know that when it’s time to go, I will go home!
Praise be to God, Amen