All!
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
Series I, Cycle C
"I pray that we will not become too introverted."
My good friend Hal Warlick quotes the country comedian of another age, Charlie Weaver, when he spoke of his uncle. It seems that Charlie's uncle knew his numbers, but did not know his letters. So, he always knew how fast he was going but he did not know where he was going or where he was when he got there. Well, there is no doubt that we all are traveling pretty fast, but I wonder sometimes if we know where we are going or if we will know where we are when we get there. I wonder if this could be true especially in light of the horrific events of September 11, 2001, events that changed our world, the way we look at life and ourselves, forever. It is my prayer that we will not become too introverted. I am not talking about the personality trait that is the direct opposite of an extrovert. I am talking about a way of and perspective toward life that is centered upon and turned in upon ourselves.
I am afraid, however, that there were some indicators implying such a trend even before September 11. Some today see the home as a "hiding place." We close the door to the outside world with home schools, home births, even home churches. We drag in wearily from a long day, grab the remote and easy chair or the mouse, and insulate ourselves from all that is going on out there! We build high our property fences and activate our security systems. We turn on our answering machines and caller I.D. to filter our calls and to shield us from talking to anyone with whom we do not wish to speak. It is what Faith Popcorn, Leonard Sweet, and others have termed reality retreat, hyper-nesting, cocooning, or the cave syndrome.
Not only is it true in the personal arena, but it has some implications for the life of the church as well. Some say that those who come to church in the future may not come to the church at all. Phyllis Tickle spoke to our congregation recently and noted that in the next twenty years as much as thirty percent of our worshipers may get their religious experience off the Internet. She went on to add that smart churches will soon call ministers for the Internet. Robert Nash, Jr., author of An 8-Track Church in a CD World also at the conference, whole-heartedly agreed.
Another expression of the church turning in on itself could be a diminishing desire for evangelism and missions. Some, even today, see their church experience as a retreat or escape from the outside world and are more interested in maintaining the status quo than intentionally facing the future. "To heck with the future, let's get on with the past!" It is my prayer that our current renewed emphasis upon the soul will be balanced with an equal interest in social concern. I pray that our Bible reading would be as much transformational as informational.
I write this on the day after Halloween. Just today, when leaving the mall, a spokesperson begged me, "Preach Sunday that people need to get out and go shopping." She went on to express that "no one was at the mall on Halloween for fear that something might happen." Can you blame anyone for fleeing from any kind of exposure to anthrax or terrorism? Lilly Tomlin expressed the opinion of many when she said, "We all are in this alone."
I repeat, I pray that we will not become too introverted, especially in light of September 11 and subsequent events. I pray that we do not evolve or fall prey to a self-centered protectionism that is concerned with only me, myself, and mine.
My first year in seminary I worked at a state mental hospital where once a co-worker asked me for a ride home on a Saturday afternoon. A sharp young man and a self-avowed atheist, he asked me to stop when we passed a bar. As he got out of the car and started toward the tavern, he then turned around and said, "There has to be more to life than this!" With that he entered the pub.
He was right! There has to be more to life than me, myself, and what I can acquire, amass, and accumulate. I personally think that scripture can call us to broaden our horizon, to widen our scope and to expand our vision. As we are tempted to retreat into our own "cave thinking," God challenges us to see the world as he does.
In fact, in our text today, Paul challenges Timothy and us to broaden the scope of our prayer life to include everyone. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (vv. 1-4 NIV).
God is pleased when we live lives that are peaceful, quiet, and filled with godliness and holiness. He is delighted when our personal and inner lives are in order. But as he goes on to iterate later in the passage, he also desires that our inner spiritual growth be balanced with an outward expression of our faith. Our time with God should be balanced with time lived for God. In this, God is pleased.
I am aware that when I begin to speak about pleasing God, there are all those present who feel God cannot be pleased. Some feel, as did the young Martin Luther, that God was a perfection-demanding heavenly ogre who grew weary of our meager efforts to please him. There also may be those who feel that they have displeased God either by something they have done or something they have failed to do. Either way, the best place to begin is with prayer. Are we ever more close to pleasing God than when we pray?
Paul encourages Timothy to pray for everyone, especially those in places of authority and leadership. Paul is not saying that we have to swallow everything they say, hook, line, and sinker, but we can pray for them whether we agree with their policies or not. We can pray for them even if we disagree with them. We can pray for them especially if we disagree with them, for this will be good practice for when we pray for our enemies.
Fred Craddock relates an experience he had while attending a worship service during the Gulf War. The minister asked for prayer concerns and one mentioned that they should pray for the innocent women and children who could be killed by the following day's bombings. After the prayer, the individual was accosted by an irate complainer, "Are you for Saddam?"
"Well, no," the person replied. "I was just concerned about the innocent women and children."
"Well, you prayed for the wrong people!" was the hasty retort.
How can you pray for the wrong people? Paul says to pray for all -- even Saddam Hussein or Bin Ladin.
We are to pray for all at all times, because we never know how God may use our prayers, even for long-term effects and influence. When my high school football team was playing for the county championship, I could not participate because of a broken arm. I asked Coach Gene Holcomb, who was not a Christian, if I could lead the team in prayer before the game, a practice that the team usually did not follow. He graciously consented. I prayed such an inspirational prayer that, in a real nail biter, we lost the game 38 to 0. But the story continued.
Coach Holcomb, also our basketball coach, came up to me as we were about to take the court for the District Tournament. With moisture in his eye, he asked me to lead the team in prayer. True to form, proving the effectiveness of my prayer life, we lost that one as well, a game we were highly favored to win. But the story continued.
At our thirtieth high school reunion, Coach Holcomb, now a dedicated Christian, asked me as the president of the class, "Gary, are we going to have the blessing for the meal now or when we get to the school lunch room?" Now I am not saying that my prayers had something significant to do with Coach becoming a Christian! But I am not going to say that they did not help! We never know the far-reaching results of when we pray with or for someone. So we pray for all.
Paul continues by listing several reasons why we should pray for all. We pray for all because God "wants all persons to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (v. 4). Jesus said, "It is not my will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." This is the God that we worship. The God that we worship had nothing to do with the tragic events of September 11 and certainly would not reward with heaven the evil doers who committed the acts. He will seek to use even this unspeakable evil for good where possible for all concerned. So, we pray for all because God is concerned for all.
Also, we are to pray for all because Jesus died for all. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men -- the testimony given in its proper time" (vv. 5-6 NIV). Jesus died for all of us and for each one of us. I have heard my father-in-law, Kress Davis, preach a dozen times that if he were the only lost person in the world, Jesus still would have died for him. He is the good shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in the field and risks his life to go after the one that is lost. Jesus died for all because all have sinned.
An altar boy came to the altar and in his nervousness he dropped the container of wine. Tragedy! In an impulse of anger, the priest slapped the altar boy and said, "That is a sacrilege! Don't you ever come back again!" And the altar boy did not. His name was Tito, the communist leader.
In almost the same area of the world at about the same time another altar boy came to the altar and he, too, believe it or not, dropped the chalice and spilled the wine. The priest looked down at him and with a twinkle in his eye, whispered, "You're going to be a priest." That altar boy's name was Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. We all have sinned. We all have dropped the responsibility. Some were slapped with continued rejection or chose to remain in their sins, while others responded to the all-embracing forgiveness made possible by Jesus' death upon the cross.
So we pray for all because Jesus died for all because he loves all. The first Bible verse which I remember memorizing says it best. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NIV). We pray for all because he loves all.
Then Paul challenges Timothy, and us, to go to all with the Good News. "And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle -- I am telling the truth, I am not lying -- and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles" (v. 7 NIV). Eric Ritz tells the story of an individual who was fortunate enough to meet Mother Teresa in one of her final visits to the United States. He became so enamored with her and her ministry that he wanted to fly back with her to India from California. "Do you have the money for such a plane ticket?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "In fact I happen to have the cash with me in my pocket."
"Good," she replied. "Take the money and give it to a shelter for the homeless right here. Then involve yourself with the shelter. By doing that, you will learn more about missions and doing God's work than by anything I could tell you on the plane or by helping me in Calcutta."
Sometimes to go to all means that we start right where we are. Our journey toward Christ-likeness must always be for the sake of others.
Amid the ruin and rubble of war-torn Germany, a group of Quakers were feeding people in the hollowed-out shell of a half-burned building. A desperate and half-starved Polish woman stumbled up to the efforts to minister amid the humiliation and horrors of war.
She asked the Quakers, "Do you feed everybody?"
"Yes," was the reply.
"Poles?"
"Yes."
"Germans?"
"Yes."
"Russians?"
"Yes."
"Jews?"
"Yes."
"How about atheists?"
"Yes."
The woman drew a deep sigh and said, "I knew there ought to be people like that in the world, but I didn't know where they were."
We know where they are -- these people who are concerned for all. They have a name. That name is -- the church.
My good friend Hal Warlick quotes the country comedian of another age, Charlie Weaver, when he spoke of his uncle. It seems that Charlie's uncle knew his numbers, but did not know his letters. So, he always knew how fast he was going but he did not know where he was going or where he was when he got there. Well, there is no doubt that we all are traveling pretty fast, but I wonder sometimes if we know where we are going or if we will know where we are when we get there. I wonder if this could be true especially in light of the horrific events of September 11, 2001, events that changed our world, the way we look at life and ourselves, forever. It is my prayer that we will not become too introverted. I am not talking about the personality trait that is the direct opposite of an extrovert. I am talking about a way of and perspective toward life that is centered upon and turned in upon ourselves.
I am afraid, however, that there were some indicators implying such a trend even before September 11. Some today see the home as a "hiding place." We close the door to the outside world with home schools, home births, even home churches. We drag in wearily from a long day, grab the remote and easy chair or the mouse, and insulate ourselves from all that is going on out there! We build high our property fences and activate our security systems. We turn on our answering machines and caller I.D. to filter our calls and to shield us from talking to anyone with whom we do not wish to speak. It is what Faith Popcorn, Leonard Sweet, and others have termed reality retreat, hyper-nesting, cocooning, or the cave syndrome.
Not only is it true in the personal arena, but it has some implications for the life of the church as well. Some say that those who come to church in the future may not come to the church at all. Phyllis Tickle spoke to our congregation recently and noted that in the next twenty years as much as thirty percent of our worshipers may get their religious experience off the Internet. She went on to add that smart churches will soon call ministers for the Internet. Robert Nash, Jr., author of An 8-Track Church in a CD World also at the conference, whole-heartedly agreed.
Another expression of the church turning in on itself could be a diminishing desire for evangelism and missions. Some, even today, see their church experience as a retreat or escape from the outside world and are more interested in maintaining the status quo than intentionally facing the future. "To heck with the future, let's get on with the past!" It is my prayer that our current renewed emphasis upon the soul will be balanced with an equal interest in social concern. I pray that our Bible reading would be as much transformational as informational.
I write this on the day after Halloween. Just today, when leaving the mall, a spokesperson begged me, "Preach Sunday that people need to get out and go shopping." She went on to express that "no one was at the mall on Halloween for fear that something might happen." Can you blame anyone for fleeing from any kind of exposure to anthrax or terrorism? Lilly Tomlin expressed the opinion of many when she said, "We all are in this alone."
I repeat, I pray that we will not become too introverted, especially in light of September 11 and subsequent events. I pray that we do not evolve or fall prey to a self-centered protectionism that is concerned with only me, myself, and mine.
My first year in seminary I worked at a state mental hospital where once a co-worker asked me for a ride home on a Saturday afternoon. A sharp young man and a self-avowed atheist, he asked me to stop when we passed a bar. As he got out of the car and started toward the tavern, he then turned around and said, "There has to be more to life than this!" With that he entered the pub.
He was right! There has to be more to life than me, myself, and what I can acquire, amass, and accumulate. I personally think that scripture can call us to broaden our horizon, to widen our scope and to expand our vision. As we are tempted to retreat into our own "cave thinking," God challenges us to see the world as he does.
In fact, in our text today, Paul challenges Timothy and us to broaden the scope of our prayer life to include everyone. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (vv. 1-4 NIV).
God is pleased when we live lives that are peaceful, quiet, and filled with godliness and holiness. He is delighted when our personal and inner lives are in order. But as he goes on to iterate later in the passage, he also desires that our inner spiritual growth be balanced with an outward expression of our faith. Our time with God should be balanced with time lived for God. In this, God is pleased.
I am aware that when I begin to speak about pleasing God, there are all those present who feel God cannot be pleased. Some feel, as did the young Martin Luther, that God was a perfection-demanding heavenly ogre who grew weary of our meager efforts to please him. There also may be those who feel that they have displeased God either by something they have done or something they have failed to do. Either way, the best place to begin is with prayer. Are we ever more close to pleasing God than when we pray?
Paul encourages Timothy to pray for everyone, especially those in places of authority and leadership. Paul is not saying that we have to swallow everything they say, hook, line, and sinker, but we can pray for them whether we agree with their policies or not. We can pray for them even if we disagree with them. We can pray for them especially if we disagree with them, for this will be good practice for when we pray for our enemies.
Fred Craddock relates an experience he had while attending a worship service during the Gulf War. The minister asked for prayer concerns and one mentioned that they should pray for the innocent women and children who could be killed by the following day's bombings. After the prayer, the individual was accosted by an irate complainer, "Are you for Saddam?"
"Well, no," the person replied. "I was just concerned about the innocent women and children."
"Well, you prayed for the wrong people!" was the hasty retort.
How can you pray for the wrong people? Paul says to pray for all -- even Saddam Hussein or Bin Ladin.
We are to pray for all at all times, because we never know how God may use our prayers, even for long-term effects and influence. When my high school football team was playing for the county championship, I could not participate because of a broken arm. I asked Coach Gene Holcomb, who was not a Christian, if I could lead the team in prayer before the game, a practice that the team usually did not follow. He graciously consented. I prayed such an inspirational prayer that, in a real nail biter, we lost the game 38 to 0. But the story continued.
Coach Holcomb, also our basketball coach, came up to me as we were about to take the court for the District Tournament. With moisture in his eye, he asked me to lead the team in prayer. True to form, proving the effectiveness of my prayer life, we lost that one as well, a game we were highly favored to win. But the story continued.
At our thirtieth high school reunion, Coach Holcomb, now a dedicated Christian, asked me as the president of the class, "Gary, are we going to have the blessing for the meal now or when we get to the school lunch room?" Now I am not saying that my prayers had something significant to do with Coach becoming a Christian! But I am not going to say that they did not help! We never know the far-reaching results of when we pray with or for someone. So we pray for all.
Paul continues by listing several reasons why we should pray for all. We pray for all because God "wants all persons to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (v. 4). Jesus said, "It is not my will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." This is the God that we worship. The God that we worship had nothing to do with the tragic events of September 11 and certainly would not reward with heaven the evil doers who committed the acts. He will seek to use even this unspeakable evil for good where possible for all concerned. So, we pray for all because God is concerned for all.
Also, we are to pray for all because Jesus died for all. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men -- the testimony given in its proper time" (vv. 5-6 NIV). Jesus died for all of us and for each one of us. I have heard my father-in-law, Kress Davis, preach a dozen times that if he were the only lost person in the world, Jesus still would have died for him. He is the good shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in the field and risks his life to go after the one that is lost. Jesus died for all because all have sinned.
An altar boy came to the altar and in his nervousness he dropped the container of wine. Tragedy! In an impulse of anger, the priest slapped the altar boy and said, "That is a sacrilege! Don't you ever come back again!" And the altar boy did not. His name was Tito, the communist leader.
In almost the same area of the world at about the same time another altar boy came to the altar and he, too, believe it or not, dropped the chalice and spilled the wine. The priest looked down at him and with a twinkle in his eye, whispered, "You're going to be a priest." That altar boy's name was Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. We all have sinned. We all have dropped the responsibility. Some were slapped with continued rejection or chose to remain in their sins, while others responded to the all-embracing forgiveness made possible by Jesus' death upon the cross.
So we pray for all because Jesus died for all because he loves all. The first Bible verse which I remember memorizing says it best. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NIV). We pray for all because he loves all.
Then Paul challenges Timothy, and us, to go to all with the Good News. "And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle -- I am telling the truth, I am not lying -- and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles" (v. 7 NIV). Eric Ritz tells the story of an individual who was fortunate enough to meet Mother Teresa in one of her final visits to the United States. He became so enamored with her and her ministry that he wanted to fly back with her to India from California. "Do you have the money for such a plane ticket?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "In fact I happen to have the cash with me in my pocket."
"Good," she replied. "Take the money and give it to a shelter for the homeless right here. Then involve yourself with the shelter. By doing that, you will learn more about missions and doing God's work than by anything I could tell you on the plane or by helping me in Calcutta."
Sometimes to go to all means that we start right where we are. Our journey toward Christ-likeness must always be for the sake of others.
Amid the ruin and rubble of war-torn Germany, a group of Quakers were feeding people in the hollowed-out shell of a half-burned building. A desperate and half-starved Polish woman stumbled up to the efforts to minister amid the humiliation and horrors of war.
She asked the Quakers, "Do you feed everybody?"
"Yes," was the reply.
"Poles?"
"Yes."
"Germans?"
"Yes."
"Russians?"
"Yes."
"Jews?"
"Yes."
"How about atheists?"
"Yes."
The woman drew a deep sigh and said, "I knew there ought to be people like that in the world, but I didn't know where they were."
We know where they are -- these people who are concerned for all. They have a name. That name is -- the church.
