First Reading:
18Then Jesus told them a parable
about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said,
In a certain city there was a judge who neither
feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city
there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant
me justice against my opponent.’ 4For a while he
refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear
of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this
widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may
not wear me out by continually coming.’
6And
the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge
says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones
who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping
them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to
them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on
earth?
Second Reading:
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and
firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15and
how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able
to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. 16All scripture is inspired by God and is useful
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, 17so that everyone who belongs to God may
be proficient, equipped for every good work.
4In the presence of God and of
Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view
of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge
you: 2proclaim the message; be persistent whether the
time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage,
with the utmost patience in teaching. 3For the time is
coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having
itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit
their own desires, 4and will turn away from listening to
the truth and wander away to myths. 5As for you, always
be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out
your ministry fully.
Carry out your ministry fully. That's the exhortation of this passage.
They say that the gospel is only ever one generation from dying out… And for the better part of three chapters, the author has been trying to ensure that Timothy is going to carry on the faith when he's gone; that Timothy's going to teach rightly and that he's going to remember Christ Jesus raised from the dead as the source of his ministry. In this passage, the author stays on the same train of thought, but it's like he intensifies the appeal… all of a sudden there's this long and impressive list of imperatives: Continue in what you learned, proclaim the message, convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience. Do the work of an evangelist. Carry out your ministry fully… Be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable. Sometimes when I read the bible I'm struck by a phrase here or there that seems like it might just be written for us…
Be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable is one of those phrases… and make no mistake about it, we live in an unfavorable time. Our culture has become at best tolerant of religion in general, and sometimes downright hostile. It's true that of the organized faith groups in America, Christians still hold a favored position, but even that's not on solid ground. Every major study that I'm aware of points to the fact that mainline Christianity is on the decline in America. Each of the last five generations is less interested in religion than the previous one. There are many who say that we're at a pivotal time in the history of Christianity in this country and we may very well be… But there are deep needs that are part of the human condition that can be met by Christ and the church as the body of Christ…
People may be less interested in religion, but they are very interested in the experience of the divine, they're very interested in connecting with other people and they're very interested in claiming a sense of meaning and purpose for their lives. Of course in our market driven economy, a multitude of options have emerged to meet that need. It can't possibly be what the author meant, but it's easy to imagine our cultural context as the time mentioned in the passage… as a time when people have itching ears and accumulate teachers to suit their own desires. There are many who would teach. The self-help section of any bookstore is almost always the largest section in the store… it's impossible to count, let alone to read all of the latest and greatest books that exist to save us: to save us from ourselves, to save us from feeling alone in this world and to save us from an existence that too often seems empty or meaningless.
It may be an unfavorable time but to my mind that only serves to make
the imperatives all the more urgent… After all, we can't forget
that it was an unfavorable time when the letter was written too. It
was written from prison by someone who was put there because they
refused to let their faith become irrelevant to their life. So as for
you… he wrote, continue in what you have learned… and
remember where you learned it.
That's the foundation for the
ministry you're called to and the good news you bear to the world. He
continues The sacred writings are able to instruct you in what
actually can save you… that's faith in Jesus Christ.
Scripture, he writes, is inspired by God.
The word inspired is
the same word that's used for breathing… Just like at the
beginning of creation when God breathed life into every living being,
God breathed life into the scriptures… and when we read them
they can breathe new life into us as well.
A. J. Jacobs
wrote The Year of Living
Biblically as a humorous look at biblical interpretation in
21st century New York… it's not really meant to be a
theological exposition but I think that he was right on when he wrote
that Studying the Bible is not like studying Sumo wrestling in
Japan… it's more like [actually] wrestling. It's sometimes
beautiful, sometimes cruel, sometimes ancient and sometimes crazily
relevant.
He said, I can't get a handle on it… [when I
read scripture] I'm outmatched.
We all are. Reading the Bible
presents a whole host of challenges. Sometimes it's a challenge to
understand what's going on other times it's a challenge because we see
ourselves reflected in the stories and we may not like what we see.
But in spite of those challenges, or perhaps because of them, reading
scripture is an indispensable part of carrying out ministry fully.
Reading scripture helps to bring us into right perspective of our
relationship with God and it's also where the picture is painted of
what our ministry can look like.
The prodigal son welcomed home after squandering his inheritance, the woman caught in adultery who is not stoned, the tax collector who promises to make amends and to be fair with the people. And those are just a couple examples of what Jesus did with people and for people and in people to bring about transformation and to enable them to connect with the living God.
Now it's true, we aren't Jesus. No matter how hard we try I'm confident that none of us are going to be able to walk on water… if you decide to try it, let me know I'll come watch. No matter how hard we try I'm confident that none of us are going to be able to raise someone from the dead, make a blind person see or turn water into wine… though again on that last one, if you figure it out let me know. We won't be Jesus… we can't do what Jesus did… but that's OK because we aren't asked to be Jesus and we aren't asked to do what Jesus did. I'm asked to be Dan… you're asked to be you… and we're each asked to do what we can to bear the good news to those who need it—and in case you're wondering those who need it… that's everyone. The letter says do the work of an evangelist and so I ask, what is the good news that you carry within you that's longing to be translated into action? Because that just might be a clue to what your ministry is even in this unfavorable time.
And if we take the life of Jesus seriously as our model for what it means to do the work of an evangelist, we'll see that the good news looks different to different people… to those who were comfortable and secure, Jesus offered challenges… go sell everything you have and give it to the poor. To those who were holier than though, Jesus offered rebuke… you brood of vipers, how can anything good possibly come out of your mouths because the mouth speaks what the heart overflows. To those who were broken or lame he offered wholeness and restoration…Go your faith has made you well. To those who follow him he offered teaching… by your love for one another they will know you are Christians. And through it all, the goal was that people would come to know God and to be part of what God's doing in the world. So through it all there's a constant invitation: come.
And on this world communion Sunday we're reminded that Christians across the globe are invited once again to come to the table… to make the life and ministry of Christ central to our lives: to be fed, to be nourished and to be sent out into the world to proclaim the good news and to be the good news. None of us can do everything that Jesus did, but all of us have a part to play in the fullness of ministry that we're called to, and all of us have a place at the table.
The foregoing sermon was given by Rev. Dan Holland at the United Parish of Bowie on October 3, 2010.
© 2010 Daniel Holland
