September 29, 2024
I Timothy 1:12-17
Introduction
A young preacher starts at a new church and preaches his first sermon filled with exultations of Jesus and his love and the people’s call to share it. After the service the preacher stands at the door to greet folks, and the people share many a compliment on the fine sermon.
The following Sunday the new preacher gets up to preach and preaches the same sermon from the week before—a sermon filled with exultation of Jesus and his love and the people’s call to share it. Giving him the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he is nervous in this new pastorate, the people don’t say a word about the obvious gaff, and again greet the pastor with compliments on the fine sermon.
Week three rolls around and the new preacher gets up and preaches the same sermon again—again filled with exultation of Jesus and his love and the people’s call to share it. Now the congregation is starting to wonder if their new preacher is ok, is something wrong, has he bitten off more than he can chew. But still, on their way out they again greet the pastor with compliments on the fine sermon.
Week four arrives, and the people can hardly stand it when once again the new preacher preaches the same sermon about Jesus and his love and the people’s call to share it. And though they are annoyed and even angry, the people once again greet the pastor with compliments on the fine sermon. But this time they decide (probably in the parking lot) something needs to be done, something needs to be said. So they rally together—and make the Elders talk to the preacher. So the Elders talk to the preacher, and kindly, but firmly, inform the young preacher that a new sermon is expected each Sunday.
The next Sunday rolls around, and it’s time for the sermon—and low and behold the preacher preaches…the same sermon! Filled with exultations about Jesus and his love and the people’s call to share it. Well, the people are incredulous and at the end of the sermon one man had had enough and stood up and said, “Rev, you’ve been preaching the same sermon for a month, and I’m mad as you know where! When are you going to preach a new sermon!?”
The young preacher calmly replied, “I’ll preach a new sermon…just as soon as you start living out this one.”
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Oh, I love that joke! And I hope you all know it’s a joke, and not a dig at you. And I further hope you will take it in the spirit that I can give as good as I get!
I use this joke today because I want to grease the wheels with a little jocularity so that you’ll hopefully receive the rest of the sermon in good faith, starting with this little quip…
Theologian, professor, preacher, and author Lovett Weems of Wesley Theological Seminary and the Lewis Leadership Center said, “We (the mainline Protestant Church) have an approach to the Gospel that really matters. We have an approach to the Gospel that would reach 21st century people. We have a great approach to the Gospel that will make a difference—if we could only remember it.”
I share this quote with you, again, intentionally, because it is an imperative that we, the mainline Protestant Church, understand this truth. It’s an imperative because if we don’t then we can’t fulfill our mission which is to share and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. And we do that by emulating what Jesus himself did. And the one who did so most exuberantly was the Apostle Paul. And if you know Paul, then you know how God will often call the most unlikely people to share and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Move 1
I bring this up again, in the light of today’s text, because of five words in particular. Those words being: “Appointed me to his service” (v. 12). Paul has a job. And his “job” is to serve Christ—appointed by Christ Jesus to serve as the presence of Christ Jesus. And Paul serves by writing letters, traveling, speaking to people, and being a spokesperson for this new movement. He addresses the poor as well as the rich, the humble as well as the proud, servants as well as kings. He visits homes, synagogues and palaces. He even gets to spend time—on numerous occasions—in jail.
He does it all because he was appointed to serve—by Christ Jesus to serve as the presence of Christ Jesus. Yet it wasn’t always that way for Paul.
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As we know Paul wasn’t appointed to serve because he was always faithful and pious and “Christian.” In truth, Paul was the last guy in the world you’d predict would be appointed to serve. No one would have foretold that Saul, as he was known back in the day, would embrace the radical teachings of a controversial Jewish subversive who was executed by the Romans, because before his conversion, Saul was no candidate for “Christian of the Year.”
If Saul were among the applicants for the job of being an “example to those who would come to serve Christ Jesus” he wouldn’t get an interview or even a “thanks for applying but we went another direction” letter. And he admits as much, saying, I was a “blasphemer, a persecutor and a man of violence.”
No one in their right mind would appoint this guy to do anything involving sharing and spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. No one, of course, except God. And why? Because God has an uncanny history of appointing the least likely candidate to serve God and God’s children.
Move 2
So the question becomes… If God can transform a “Saul” into a “Paul”, if God can “appoint to service” a mean-spirited, blaspheming man of violence like Saul—what can God do with a group of people who already proclaim to be followers of Christ? What can God do with a group of people who are already committed to a Christ-like way of life? What can God do with a group of people who willingly gather in Christ’s name to give thanks and praise to God? What can God do? What will God do?
These are questions we need to ask because they are questions that will help us remember what our job is. These questions will help us remember our approach to the Gospel that will reach, and have an impact upon 21st Century people.
Move 3
Now I tell you this, again, for two main reasons.
One, we are at the end of September, and we have begun a new programming year of the church where we are back to our normal schedule and routine—music ministries have begun again, Christian Education and Youth ministries are back at it, committees and teams are meeting again, and so forth. It’s important we take time to intentionally refocus—even on the obvious—so we have this imperative at the forefront of our hearts, minds, and spirits as we begin.
And two, I tell you this because it is critical for us to remember we have been called and appointed by Christ Jesus to serve as the presence of Christ Jesus in our broken and fragmented world, so that by emulating Jesus and sharing his Good News, others can come to know and embrace the grace, mercy, and love of Christ.
That’s our job— we, like Paul, are made into examples to those who would come to believe in Christ Jesus for eternal life. We all know Jesus hung out in the synagogues with the religious leaders and teachers from time to time—but even when he did he challenged their approach to faith in God. But we all know, also, most of the time Jesus went searching and seeking the lost—the sinners, the outcasts, the broken, the infirmed, those who had been pushed to the margin—and he said to them, “Good news…you have been found. You are loved. You are a holy and beloved child of God.”
And we all know it’s this approach to the Gospel we need to remember and then share with the lost who are searching and seeking.
Conclusion
“We (the mainline Protestant Church) have an approach to the Gospel that really matters. We have an approach to the Gospel that would reach 21st century people. We have a great approach to the Gospel that will make a difference—if we could only remember it.”
No, I didn’t repeat that quote to get my word count up. I repeated it because we the Church needs to remember the deep truth in this statement. But I am willing to make a deal…
I will promise you a new sermon next Sunday. I’ll even aim to make it shorter!
But I need you to make a promise too… Not to me, but to God. I need all of us to make a promise to God… check that… The lost and the searching and the seeking need all of us to make a promise to God that we will remember our approach to the Gospel, and that we will remember we have been appointed by Christ Jesus to serve as the presence of Christ Jesus in our broken and fragmented world so that others would come to find and know the grace, mercy, and love of Christ.
And we can do this by emulating Jesus in all aspects of our daily lives. We can do this by being open to the needs of those around us—to listen to others and offer the ministry of presence. We can do this by flipping the script of hopelessness we of often hear by responding with a message of what keeps our hope alive in these trying times. We can do this by seizing the opportunity when presented to invite someone to church, or to find us online. We can do this by sharing the truth that Christians aren’t perfect, that God calls the most unlikely to serve, and that there is always room enough at the Lord’s Table for one more. We can do this by always remembering our approach to the Gospel, because each of us has been appointed to serve Christ Jesus each and every day. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, September 29, 2024
Gracious God, meet us in this sacred place and fill us with your Holy Spirit that we would be reminded through such a blessing of who we are, and we follow and who we are called to serve each day.
Fill us again with focus on being the church you have called us to be—a church that strives to meet your children where they are in life with welcoming and loving arms.
Fill us again with generosity for the opportunity to stretch out our hands and offer your presence to those in need, those searching, those who long to be loved.
Deepen our faith in each new week, in each meeting, in each rehearsal, in each handshake and hug—increasing our understanding, enlarging our dreams, and furthering our commitment to be your faithful people in this place, but more importantly, beyond these walls.
This is our prayer O God, for we know the world around us continues to know episodes of violence and destructive behavior. The level of anxiety and apprehension for many is great; all making for a world in need of hearing and seeing and experiencing the Good News of your Son Jesus.
And that is what we pray to be as a church—a place where others can encounter you in ways that will transform their life for the better.
We want to be a church that will embrace our call to be your servants not just in the church, but in all places where the lost and searching are lost and searching.
We want to be a church that will hear well your call for us, in this time and place so that with you leading us we expand our ministries in ways that will have a life changing impact and make our world a more faithful reflection of your kingdom.
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We pray you will listen now to the individual prayers deep within our spirits as we offer them in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of Christ Jesus who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”