Matthew 5:1-12 1-29-2023 (As built, Amite #530)
- Saved…
- My friends in Christ it’s the early nineteen thirties and I got to tell you there are a lot of things about Alex… but none greater then his intellect… but his family is that way… he’s born in Scotland that’s true… he moves to Canada that’s true… ends up in Boston Massachusites… equally true… him and his family… a small family but I got to tell you if there is a pick of the litter it is Alex… he’s kind of like in a way he’s just got that Mensa IQ …people come to him and he’s twelve… man he’s twelve years of age and people are coming to him to solve problems… that’s all Alex really cared about… he loved kind of saving the day if you will… he said he just likes helping… so a guy comes to him and says I have a farm I’ve got massive amounts of wheat I have no laborers… but I’ve got to get it shucked… I’ve got to get it clean… I’ve got to get it to the market… he gets with Alex… he’s twelve… and they come up with kind of another version of the cotton gin… which had paddles… had nails… and it’s ability to shuck the corn… the wheat as well… get it to the market much faster… much quicker and works great… he’s twelve y’all… man no sooner he couldn’t have been fourteen years of age when a neighbor comes to his dad and says look my daughter would love to learn how to play the piano… and he says why don’t you get with Alex… and Alex said man I don’t know how to play the piano… he says well you help him Alex… well he did learn because he could learn by just through his ear… so he teaches through that for the young lady to learn how to play the piano… it get’s even better… there’s someone down the street that’s a deaf person… man she comes to his dad and says man we can’t communicate with the neighbors…we can’t communicate at work… he said man get with Alex… he’s fourteen… Alex comes up with sign language… my brothers and sisters in Christ the guy is brilliant… man then about maybe fifteen years later he gets a visit from a friend that’s now working for the Navy and he says look I’ve got a problem… the Navy wants us to build boats… and they want it to be able to get up over fifty miles an hour… and Alex says you’re not going to make it fifty miles an hour on the water… you’ve got to get the boat out of the water… the friction of the water gets the hull and you won’t make it the way we’re going… the motor would be way too big… and he said so what do you suggest… he said well we’re going to take the motor off the back… we’re going to put it in the middle of the boat… we’re going to lift the boat up out of the water and put like a pontoon so we can cut down the volume of the boat that’s in the water… yeah you and I call it a hydrofoil today… well man he called it the HD4… the Navy comes a out and they are all in… and they said why did you call it HD4… he said well the first three sank… true story… he said that’s why it’s HD4 …next thing you know he saves his best invention for last… his friend is an electrician about to go broke he says man I just can’t do it I’m not good at wiring houses… I’m not good at doing this that and the other… he said man you’ve got to think bigger then that Alex told him… you’ve got to be able to do more than just run electricity and turn on the light… he said what are you saying… he said you’ve got to be able to talk to people… so he said man he runs the wires… he puts him on one end of the house and he says man Watson come here… who am I… okay there are no taxes for this side of the congregation right here let me tell you… that’s right… Alexander Graham Bell…
- My brothers and sisters in Christ it’s about the point of saving people about being saved… that’s that Gospel… remember this if you forget everything else… if they ask you Catholics are you saved… I was… the crucifixion.., I am as I sit here and talk to you today… for the last words off of my lips to his ears is him… and then I hope to be… I was… I am… I hope to be… because you and I have free will… that’s what you need to remember… my brothers and sisters in Christ… once saved always saved unfortunately and regrettably it’s a popular myth… it’s a lie… my brothers and sisters in Christ remember this… when you and I speak… we speak in past tense… present tense and future tense… so when you read scripture… you need to make sure you read it in the right way… the good Lord did not speak in English… he spoke to his Apostles in Aramaic… he spoke to some people in Latin if you’re in a major city… and to others he spoke in Greek… here’s the issue… the Greek word for saved is Sozo… if he was speaking past tense… he would have used like somewhere around Matthew 10… he would have also used Romans 10… he would use Acts 4… in other words I proclaimed Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior and if you say it on your lips… you believe it in your heart it is true… that is present tense… my brothers and sisters in Christ if he said you talked about no other name would be saved other than the one who died for us Jesus Christ he was speaking Past tense… every time the good Lord spoke in future tense of being saved… which is like Mark 16… somewhere up in there Matthew 10… my brothers and sisters in Christ listen to what I’m telling you… every time he said you must persevere to the very end… listen to what I’m telling you… you must finish once you get started… the Ten Commandments are commandments they are not sticky notes… they are not guidelines or suggestions… my brothers and sisters in Christ this is why he’s telling you… think for a second… Judas carried his money… proclaimed him to be the savior of the world… actually walked with him and pointed him out as the anointed one… and the last three things our savior says to him… been better you’d never been born… you’re the son of perdition… and Satan entered him… what chances do you think he made heaven if his last comment to him was it would’ve been better you never been born… that would be like you taking a test and walking in and the teacher telling you… you know it would’ve been better you never took that test… you think you passed… he’s two words away from being St. Judas… I’m sorry… my brothers and sisters in Christ what makes the good thief make it to paradise… the garden of Eden… the garden of paradise… this day you will be with me in paradise… can’t be heaven because the good Lord doesn’t ascend into Heaven until day fifty which is Pentecost… my brothers in Christ why do I tell you this… because once saved always saved can’t be true because that means you can do what you want to do… you know you can’t sleep around.. you can cheat… you can do wrong by people and you honestly think you can break the ten suggestions and still go to heaven… my brothers and sisters in Christ regrettably last night my mom was here… so that whole comment about sleeping around did not go well last night can I tell you… it chewed up our whole NCIS show while we were visiting… my brothers and sisters in Christ what I’m telling you is you can’t break the commandments and don’t think there is a price to pay… that if you want to be saved you got to finish what they got started… why does he tell the good thief this day you’re with me in paradise… why doesn’t he tell the other thief… because he doesn’t make it… my brothers and sisters in Christ you’ve got to finish what they started… that’s the whole point… I was… I am… and I hope to be… my brothers and sisters in Christ what you need to understand is at the end of the day you and I are accountable for our actions… Saint Paul says it to the Corinthians… you will stand before me and I will judge you… everything you did with your body… both good and evil… the Catechism of the Catholic Church… on the day of our death… the nano second that you and I pass… there is no more mercy… only judgment remains… this is why I warned you…my brothers and sisters in Christ it’s how you live on the day you come into the world to the day you go home… it’s nothing more than one big test… you and I have to follow the seven signs… look the good Lord said man it is so easy… I’m going to give you a road map… all you’ve got to do is follow the seven signs… from redemption to salvation… they are not the same thing… they are not spelled the same way… they do not mean the same thing… Redemption is the crucifixion… salvation is the pearly gates… how do you and I get from the crucifixion to the pearly gates… just follow the seven signs… you get on the interstate and I got to tell you what a beautiful interstate he built for you and I… it’s so easy… you get on the on-ramp… that’s baptism… you go a few steps further and there’s confirmation like a toll bridge… you confirm what your parents said is true… that you believe she is ever virgin… you believe the Eucharist is true… you believe in the teachings of Mother Church and guess what… as soon as you go through the toll bridge say you get sick… well man pull over in the emergency lane and allow me to visit with you … man say you want to get married well get in the carpool lane… maybe you want to get in my lane the bike lane… think before you do that… then there’s call boxes along the way you can stop and talk to a priest and go to confession whenever you want… the whole thing is built on top of massive pillars called the Eucharist… and guess what… you get on at Baptism and right before you get to the pearly gates i’m going to anoint you… my brothers and sisters in Christ all you’ve got to do is follow the seven signs… this is why once saved always saved is a lie… do you know the average tenure… of a Protestant in a church… the average tenure they stay in the church… about a year and a half to two years maximum… why would that be… because once saved always saved… therefor I don’t need to go to service because I’m already saved… I don’t need to pay you ten percent for you to tell me yet again i’m saved… my brothers and sisters in Christ this is why you and I have the sacraments to make sure we stay on the road… this is why we have confession to make sure you get back on the road… this is why we have communion to let you know that you’re built on the right foundation… this is why he said if I’m not in you and you’re not in me you do not have eternal life… he didn’t say it with a caveat… all you got to do is spell my name… all you got to do is say my words… all you got to do is acknowledge I’m the savior of the world… if I am not in you and you are not in me you do not have eternal life… the only way that happens is the Eucharist… the foundation of the bridge that he built between redemption and salvation… my brothers and sisters in Christ I’m telling you the best way to make sure you make it… is humility… humility will win the day… it will drive you to your knees as Lincoln once said for I have nowhere else to go…
- I’ll tell you what… let’s do this… let’s take a test… yes I think we should… beings that I don’t have to take it and you do that’s the best part about this… so… there are ten questions you have to get eight out of ten right… this is Louisiana five out of ten is usually passing I know that… six out of ten you’re an honor student… seven you skip college and go right to your job that’s correct… so my brothers and sisters in Christ here we go… now remember when I was you the question Rhetorically you have to say eighty percent of the time that is true… for it to be true… and you have to get eight out of ten right… let us begin… are we humble enough not to complain when someone else is recognized for our efforts… okay you’re going to take that one I know you are okay I get you… are you humble my brothers and sisters in Christ or do you argue every time because you must win every argument… yes or no… don’t give yourself credit for that come on now… do you have to have the last word every time… I mean it may be a scream it may be a curse it may be a look or a gesture… it may be a grunt… there you go see what I’m talking about… are you humble enough to turn the other cheek… how often do you complain… do you complain more than you say thank you… man I don’t know including myself I don’t know who lands in that category… when we give money do you do so without letting other people know… do you not blow your own horn… do you give excuses for anything and everything when things get messed up… are you humble enough to just stop offering excuses and just take the hit… do you say when somebody congratulates you do you say thank you or thank God… are you humble enough to say you’re sorry instead of giving that left-handed compliment I’m sorry you feel that way… that’s a sin in of itself… are you humble enough not to offer your opinion even when it’s asked for… and last but not least… are you humble enough to say you’re sorry even when it’s not your fault… my brothers and sisters in Christ I don’t know where you ended up but I know this… Lincoln made a great statement one time… the war had come to an end… and his council had gathered around him and when they started out I don’t know if you know this but they told Lincoln that he looked like an ape and that they thought he was the village idiot… those were their words not mine… at the end of his tenure this is like a week before Ford’s theater… they sit around and every one around the table said something so positive… they’d say you know Mr. Lincoln if it hadn’t been for you we hadn’t won the war.. next one came up… if it hadn’t been for you Mr. Lincoln man we would have never got rid of slavery… you know if it hadn’t been for you Mr. Lincoln our country would have been torn in two… you know Mr. Lincoln if it hadn’t been for you man we would not have a national currency anymore we would have two separate currencies… you know Mr. Lincoln if it hadn’t been for you… and he said stop… why do you say that… and they started to say something and he said no you need to listen… he said none of that is true… he said the only reason we were successful is because of our Lord God in heaven… more importantly I was driven to my knees for I had nowhere else to go… my brothers and sisters in Christ this is important to me that you understand that… that it is about humility…
- On a lighter note I leave you with this… I understand my brother priest Father Mitch… and it’s a regrettable story and it’s a terrible rumor started by somebody who actually saw it happen… the whole cool whip thing first of all… the can was only half full my brothers and sisters in Christ… true story… Father Mitch and I have decided… that we’ve had enough of one day… so I go to Mitch and say we need to skip class… okay stop get past all that okay I’m telling you I’m forty something years old and the average age is twenty-five… I’m sitting in a philosophy class… come on now… at some I love y’all but we got to go… so I catch Father Mitch before the bell rings for the class and I said man Mitch let’s go get a beer… he says man I… I said Mitch this isn’t the time for that… I said it’s a beer Mitch okay… so we had this elaborate scheme… sneak out the back… go around the building… get through the fence… go over another fence… oh yes… because you don’t want to get caught… like y’all don’t know I mean really… I know most of you already okay… so man we’re sneaking… low and behold there’s a little pub so we’re just going to get another beer… there is no traffic… none… until the minute we break out between the bushes… it’s one of the nuns… we’re walking across the street and I’m just thinking… it’s a million to one shot… and Mitch… he’s pretending like he don’t even know me… he’s saying should we run… should we go… let’s go back… I said Mitch… we’re already busted at least have the beer brother… let’s just finish… but it looks like I’m talking to myself because Mitch keeps walking… so we get our beers… true story… next day announcements come out at about noon… speaker comes on… such and such got to remember a mass… so and so you’re serving… so and so this… and Seminarian Beard I need you to see the dean of students… and that was it… and I look at Mitch… ain’t nobody said Seminarian Mitch you need to go see the dean of students… like he’s invisible… man I go to the dean of students… true story… he walks in and he says man I need to talk to you… I said okay look stop… what do you want to know… he said man you skipped class… and I said Father I did… and I have to tell you I needed a beer… I can’t stand philosophy… we spent a whole hour talking about the word being… the fact that you paid a man to teach this is beyond me… but I can’t take it anymore… it’s the end of the semester… I’m tired… I have a headache… I needed a beer… and he says well the problem is sister caught you… and I said I know… and I said wait a minute I’m sorry you said what now… he said she caught you… and I’m thinking I’m going to go down and Mitch is laughing… so I get up and he said seminarian Beard do me a favor… just don’t get caught… as I’m walking out… and he’d whispers to me… and tell Mitch too… true story…
- Amen...
