PENTECOST 5C
July 1, 2007
SCRIPTURES
-Galatians, often called the Magna Carter of Christian Freedom
-the gifts are what God has given us to work with, and the fruits are what God would like to see at work in our lives as a result
-Freedom of religion is freedom from religion
-We cannot be free for something until we are free from certain things. Fulton Sheen
-We could exchange one form of slavery for another
-The Gospel is our Emancipation Proclamation
-Basic test of freedom is less what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do. REALITY
- Freedom is never free
-God makes man, man makes slaves. Freedom
-To serve God is the highest freedom.
-Why use freedom to do something that will make you a slave. *
-As you come to our Lord’s table today you will symbolically partake of His body and blood of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not suffer, die, and rise from the dead so that you can do whatever you want regardless of the consequences. At our Lord’s table you will not find here unbridled license, you will find love—unconditional acceptance and generous grace. Take that love that your Lord gives you today. Share that love with others. Be free through Jesus Christ our Lord. William G.Davidson
- Fourth of July sermon thought.The very fact that we worship a God who called a people out of slavery, to prepare for the gift of Jesus, the constant call to discipleship based on grace and freedom rather then violence or the Law
-Freedom is not license. I like the hymn: "Make me a Captive,Lord, and then I shall be free" Sometimes under the guise of freedom we let "things" or "passions" or "pursuits" have dominion over us.
-I am wondering if the works of the flesh are what WE do and the fruits of the Spirit are what GOD does through us
-"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Quite a challenge, in this "free society."
-we must be careful that we don't define the freedoms we enjoy so much solely as 'freedom from' -- forgetting that the real test of freedom's value is how we use our 'freedom to or for'" The freedom to truly serve Christ.
-Christ has set us free, NOT to be independent, but precisely to BE dependent (on God), and inter-dependent (responsible to and for each other).
-Oh, how I wish the desires of the flesh were limited to fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolotry, and sorcery! THESE I can avoid. I can avoid drunkenness and carousing, too, come to think of it. I don't know if I can avoid enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, and envy - and things like those. But to use Paul's list as a prescription for good behavior is to miss the point ... RATHER, be filled with the Spirit, and live by the Spirit and be guided by the Spirit
-This is the beginning of the road to Jerusalem, as Jesus sets his face and the pace to go there, knowing full well what it will mean for him. Much of the rest of Luke finds us on this journey to Jerusalem with Jesus. He will finally reach it in 19:28. Each story after this is seen in this light.
-Now it would be easier to get to Jerusalem to go through Samaria. But most
Jews avoided this as they felt it made them unclean. But not Jesus. In fact,
he apparently sent some of his disciples ahead, as he would do in regard to
preparing for the Passover. Because Samaritans hated Jews as much as Jews hated Samaritans, no lodging was
was granted. James and John, ever the sons of thunder, are ready to call down lightning
and destruction on these people. But Jesus will not allow such attitudes or actions. In fact, he rebukes his disciples for even thinking such a thing. What follows are stories from Galilee, which probably means the group had to turn back and re-route around Samaria).
This is not the way of Christ, and his disciples had yet to learn it (us included). This kind of love is the one that Paul is writing about above. Bass Mitchel
-Basically, Jesus' mind is set, already, on where he is ultimately headed. He knows, even as he is teaching and traveling, his physical and spiritual destination. On what is your face set, and how does it influence how you live your life each day? Beth Quick
- we pray for strength, we
ask for forgiveness when we fail, and renew our determination to walk the way
with him.
And the good news is, we journey not alone. Willimon
-In spite of other claims on his time, Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem,” though to do so meant certain death. He was clear on his calling and purpose. His decisions came from his center and he acted with clarity and courage.
- Follow your bliss.
Joseph Campbell
-Christians have been known to plot against people who reject our Lord. There
have been terrible Crusades during the Dark Ages of the church. Even today, in
Africa there are Christians who are in armed conflict against those who have
murdered their fellow Christians
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Radical discipleship--The problem is that becoming a Christian, a true Christian, often presents us with new problems. It is not
easy to follow Christ. I mean, look where it leads - to a cross!
-Three men toying with discipleship but not fully committed
- The word surrender in the NT does not mean defeated. Instead it means surrendered to: God's will.
-"I heard him call , "Come and follow" and that was all. My gold grew dim; my soul rose up to follow Him. Who wouldn't follow if they heard that call? "
-John Bunyon in his book Pilgrim’s Progress has a character called “Mr. Facing-both-ways.”
-Fear conquers faith in some; faith conquers fear in others.
-'let the spiritually dead bury those who are physically dead'.
-Most people have a book shelve approach to God. Most people believe in God but they place him on the shelf to admire or to refer to in the proper company.
-“BUT, follow me anyway; follow me while doing those things; follow me in a way that makes you do those things in a new way. Follow me forever: no ‘BUT FIRSTs;’ no ‘insteads;’ no ‘YES AND’—not ‘either/or.’ Instead: ‘both/and.’” It's not about what you are doing or not doing; it is instead about what and who you are being. Following Jesus is 24/7, it doesn't mean not doing everything else, it means doing everything else with your face set toward Jerusalem. Dr. Greg Rickel
-A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. M. Luther.
-Go to any book store and you'll find lots of items pushing the warm fuzzies of the faith but little about the hard challenges of living out the Christian faith in a fallen world
-We are the choices we have made
- They take their Christianity like cream in their coffee – just a little something added to life to make it interesting.
-“Half of success is just showing up.”
- Religion is like Patriotism in that both begin with happy emotions but eventually both expect something in return.
- Let's not be insipidly neutral.
-Here I come ready or not! In that case, Lord, I think I'll hide a little longer and maybe you could count to a thousand before you holler, "Ready or not, here I come!" I'm really not ready yet.
QUOTES
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HUMOR
-"Before I begin the sermon, I have something important to say"
-Little boy defined Christian: "Christians are mild, weak, quiet, people who never fight or talk back." Then he added, "Daddy is a Christian but Mother isn't."
-Only responsibility some get is passing the buck, pushing their luck, jumping to conclusions, carrying on about problems.
-Parody on “Foot prints in the sand”. One night I had a wondrous dream. One set of foot prints there were seen. The foot prints of my precious Lord but mine were not along the shore. But then some stranger prints appeared. I asked the Lord, “What have we here?” These prints are large and round and neat but Lord, they are too big for feet. My child he said in somber tones. For miles I carried you alone. I challenged you to walk in faith but you refused and made me wait. You disobeyed, you would not grow; the walk of faith you would not know. So I got tired, I got fed up and there I dropped you on your butt. Because in life there comes a time when one must fight and one must climb. When one must rise and take a stand…or leave your butt prints in the sand.
-The police were trying to get the man to turn, lean over and put his hands on the hood of his car. The man was screaming, "Hey... I'm an American and I live in America and that means nobody can tell me what to do!" One of the frustrated, but somewhat amused officers replied, "Yea, sure buddy... If you can spell American, I'll let you go." The drunk, offended by the reflection on his sobriety yelled back, "Don't make fun of me sir... I can spell it borwards and fackwards!"
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran theologian, wrote a series of reflections on the Sermon on the Mount entitled The Cost of Discipleship, in which he maintained that discipleship requires us to make a fundamental decision to follow Jesus and to accept the conseuences of that decision. His own religious convictions led him to stand up to the tyranny of Nazi Germany and to participate in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The plot was uncovered, Bonhoeffer was apprehended, and the ultimate “cost” of discipleship was exacted of him. He was hanged by the Nazis on April 9, 1945.
2. Those of you who served in the armed forces know what it means when the drill sergeant calls out, "Fall in!" That means it is time to drop everything immediately, assemble and come to attention. That's what Jesus did when he set out for Jerusalem and the crowds were watching as though spectators. Jesus called out, "Fall in!"
3. Composer Giacomo
Puccini wrote a number of famous operas. In 1922 he was suddenly stricken by
cancer while working on his last opera, "Turandot," which many now consider his
best. Puccini said to his students, "If I don't finish 'Turandot,' I want you to
finish it for me." Shortly afterwards he died. Puccini's students studied opera
carefully and soon completed it. In 1926 the world premiere of "Turandot" was
performed in Milan with Puccini's favorite student, Arturo Toscanini, directing.
Everything went beautifully until the opera reached the point where Puccini had
been forced to put down his pen. Tears ran down Toscanini's face. He stopped the
music, put down his baton, turned to the audience and cried out, "Thus far the
Master wrote, but he died." A vast silence filled the opera house. Toscanini
picked up the baton again, smiled through his tears and exclaimed, "But his
disciples finished his work." When "Turandot" ended, the audience broke into
thunderous applause. No one at the premiere performance ever forgot that moment.
CHILDREN
- Are you free from or free for?
-A Native American Grandfather was sharing with his grandson how he felt about life. He said, "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other is the loving compassionate one." The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?" The grandfather answered, "The one I feed."
PRAYER PHRASES
-...... keep me on the narrow way. You alone can do it. When I want to go some other way, keep me, at whatever cost, keep me with you and constantly fit me for service, for work with you in your wonderful world. Amen.