Sinning Like a Christian, the 7 Deadly Sins

Why, oh, Why did I say yes I would preach on the 7 Deadly sins for Lent? Here I am on the sin of Greed, and just stuck, its not making much sense for my people who are poor anyway, on fixed incomes, don't necessarily have a greedy bone in their body. I am the one with the greedy bone. Came by it naturally, my dad had to have more and more. He came by it by trying to fill up the hole left from the depression. But he is dead, and gone are all his possessions. He died buying more things, looking through mail order catalogues, trying to figure out what he was going to buy. I think the day after he died something he had ordered came in the mail.

When I went on a mission trip to Pass Christian, Miss. I was struck by how everything was gone, where once there was beautiful homes. I was walking around thinking, I have too much stuff. I was going to come home and go through it, and get rid of it, simplify. Ha, that's too much like work. When I have gone to China and been in the homes out in the rural areas or in the Hatungs, and see how little they have in such a little space, all I can say is I am a greedy individual.

I find myself wanting an IPOD just cause its the latest hitech thing. I haven't bought it yet, trying to hold off. I have even tried to hold myself from buying something by waiting 10 days (read that somewhere). I can't seem to make it past day 5 or 7. God, truly forgive me for I am a sinner, have sinned and probably will sin again. Okay, Okay, I just wrote some of my sermon.

But here's the deal, this 7 deadly sin thing was started by my Bishop, Will Willimon who wrote a new book "Sinning Like a Christian". He then went around to the different districts doing discussion sessions on the book. He drew a lot of crowds. He got my intrigue up and the intrigue of the lay person who went with me.

Now I didn't grow up knowing about the 7 deadly sins, knew the 10 Commandments. I have had to read and study up for this series, and ask my husband, and a church member, both former Catholics to help me out with this thing. Plus, the series was interupted by our trip to China for 3rd child, (thank you very much). I'd appreciate any help anyone can give. In other words can anybody help a poor former Baptist girl out here?