Fighting the Good Fight

2 Tim 6-8, 16-18

            He was only thirty nine years old when he was killed in a German concentration camp. Already famous in Christian circles for his profound writing, which included The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in America when Nazi Germany declared war on Europe and Britain. He could have stayed in the United States, but he chose to return to Germany. Hitler had ordered the Jews expulsed from Germany and this meant that Jesus’ teachings would also be banned.  Indeed, Hitler ordered that the Church would become an agency of the state. Bonhoeffer returned to Germany where he worked underground to preserve the church. He helped to write the Barmen Declaration, one of the confessions of our church today. That declaration asserted that the Christian church could never become subject to the rule of any human government and that it answers only to Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer lived his life…and ultimately gave it…for his belief in Christ and the church.

In the book of Numbers [28: 24], we find God instructing Moses on how and on what occasions to make public offerings. Such practices included drink offerings. These offerings were made daily as well as on special occasions. The drink offerings were wine and were used in conjunction with meat offerings. They were designed to remind God’s people that they owed their lives and livelihoods to him.

          In the book of Philippians [2: 17], we find the apostle Paul writing a very upbeat letter to his friends in the church there. He is most probably in Rome and under house arrest. He refers to himself in a sacrificial manner, saying that even if he may be poured out like a drink offering upon the sacrificial altar of their faith, he will do so gladly and rejoicing.

          The book of Second Timothy finds Paul much closer to the end of his life and he seems well aware of it. There is no more “even if” in his language. He is still in prison, but no longer under house arrest. He is in a prison cell and soon he will be martyred for the cause of Jesus. Now he says “I am already being poured out as a drink offering [4: 6]. Paul’s time has come.

Drink offerings offer us a vivid image of the meaning of sacrifice. In the time of Moses, they were used to sweeten the savory aroma of the best meat of bulls and rams brought to the altar to sacrifice to God. The first and best fruits were regularly offered to God as a sign of reverence and loyalty and trust. The best wine was poured over these sacrifices as a drink offering to complete the gift.

Paul uses this custom to describe his impending martyrdom. Twice in scripture, Paul refers to being “poured out.” The image is one of generosity, of a covering, of saturation. His offering is that of himself, poured out like so much more wine as an act of loyalty to God. It is not lost on us that the blood of Paul would remind us of the wine of an Old Testament drink offering. It is also not lost on us that Paul is not unhappy. Nor does he appear afraid. If anything, he seems almost eager for the next step.

Why did Dietrich Bonhoeffer return to Germany? Why did Paul continue to preach the gospel and get run out of city after city? Why do people intentionally put themselves in harm’s way? The answer is not complicated. We do so because we believe in the cause for which we sacrifice. We do so because we love. We do so because the reason for the sacrifice outweighs the sacrifice itself. Sometimes we do what we do as a pattern, like Bonhoeffer and the apostle Paul. Sometimes we do so out of reflex, like Mike Landsberry did last week in a Nevada middle school. He stepped into the path of a semiautomatic weapon wielded by a troubled teenager and it cost him his life. He was just another middle school math teacher until fate dealt him a choice. He could save himself…or he could stand in the gap. He chose honor. He chose sacrifice. He believed in the cause for which he made his sacrifice. He acted in love. Children’s lives were saved.

Psychiatrists tell us that people who lead the fullest lives seem to fear death least. Certainly the examples here would qualify in that respect. That includes Mike Landsberry, who had served two tours in Afghanistan as a Marine. Mike had no chance to think. He just acted out of reflex developed long before this particular event. He knew what he needed to do. He lived his life in such a way that when he was in a position to make a difference, he didn’t hesitate.

Paul has had plenty of time to contemplate and yet the result is the same.  He acts out his faith. In his advice to Timothy, he uses athletic metaphors to describe his fate. He has fought the good fight. He has finished the race. He has kept the faith, played by the rules, stood his post to the end. Paul’s life has been full. He has no regrets. He has lived the slogan he coined in Philippians: “to live is Christ; to die is gain.”

There is an old adage that says: to the victor go the spoils. Paul now claims his reward. He says that from here on there is reserved for him a crown of righteousness to be awarded to him by the Lord. Like the victorious athlete at the end of a contest, Paul looks forward to the crown, the trophy. Interestingly, Paul points toward a crown of righteousness as though he has not yet received it. Does that mean that Paul is not yet righteous? Does that mean that Paul is partially righteous; that in his death, he will cross over to full righteousness? It may even mean both. If we may compare Paul’s teachings on sanctification to this comment on righteousness, it would seem that in his earthly death, Paul will be elevated to a state of true righteousness that can only be achieved in his unity with God. Our earthly walk is a process of sanctification that is completed in our death and resurrection, for indeed, we will be resurrected. We have God’s promise on that.

In Paul’s final thoughts in this passage, he forgives those who have deserted him in much the same way that Christ forgives his persecutors while hanging from the Cross. Paul then gives credit to God for the numerous times that Paul has been rescued in order to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. Then Paul talks about his final rescue, where God will deliver him from every evil deed and bring him safely into his heavenly kingdom. It is a remarkable tribute. It is also a faith statement. Paul knows full well that his end is very close. He also knows that it will be painful. He fully expects to be executed and soon. And yet, Paul’s statements ring of optimism and faith of the highest order. Death holds no power over Paul.  On the contrary, he looks forward to his deliverance to God. He pays homage to God and gives God the glory for all that will happen. 

This is what we as Christians need to hear. This is what we as Christians need to be about. Like Paul and the heroes we have mentioned today, we need to fill our lives with all things good and righteous. We need to experience what it is to work for God, to commune with God. We need to train ourselves so that our reflexes will not betray us when we are tested. We need to remember that Paul’s life, while a great role model, is not unique. It is repeated daily by countless disciples of Christ all over God’s creation. The real question is whether you and I can be counted in that number.

Fill your life with the right things. Don’t wait for that moment when you might be asked to offer the ultimate sacrifice. Start now. Become an arm or a hand for your Savior. Extend yourself. Pour yourself out like a rich drink offering so that your love and your belief can be seen and heard by all those around you. 

The true fullness of God’s kingdom must wait for that day when we meet God in heaven, but the taste of it is here and now. Fight the good fight. Run the race. That crown of righteousness is for all who believe, so live…and live for Christ.

Let us pray.

10/27/13

What Will He Find?

Luke 18: 1-8

            Seventy six years. That’s a long time to wait. Seventy six years from birth to becoming a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the first democratically elected President of the government of South Africa. Along the way, Nelson Mandela spent twenty eight of those years in prison. He didn’t commit a crime as we understand crime. His crime was that he wanted to effect change. We could call him a civil rights activist and we would be right, as long as we understand that Mandela stood not for dominance by any particular ethnic group, but rather for freedom based upon fairness and equality, not race. Twenty eight years in prison is a rather strange way to train for political office. It’s an awfully long time not to lose heart.

          In a life that spanned seventy nine years, Mahatma Gandhi found his most effective witness in fasting. Imprisoned numerous times, this well educated man used peaceful civil disobedience as his most effective weapon against injustice, but in a lifetime of protests, he was still misunderstood by many and assassinated in 1948. He spent his life leading others to understand the consequences of commitment; that faith holds the hand of persistence or holds nothing at all.

In Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable about a widow seeking justice. It’s not the easiest thing in the Bible to understand, but it carries a valuable lesson. It is another of those “how much more” stories that Luke likes to tell about Jesus. Remember back in Luke 11 when Jesus directs us to ask, seek and knock? That too was a story of persistence, as the man knocked on his neighbor’s door until the neighbor finally gave in. Remember how we see sinful people giving good gifts to their children, and Jesus reminding us how much more our heavenly Father, who knows no sin, can do for us.  Luke employs the “how much more” device to illustrate how much more God can do than we humans can do, even in the best of our efforts.

A widow goes to court. More accurately, a widow goes before a magistrate. This is not a Jewish court or a Jewish judge. In Jewish civil court, there would have been three judges: one picked by the plaintiff, one picked by the defendant and one picked by the two judges. This was instead a civil proceeding before a civil authority. It was a one judge panel, probably a magistrate. The scenario that Luke describes here is one where money and power will buy you the justice you seek. If you don’t have one of these, you are out of court before you even start. Nevertheless, the widow keeps coming back. She won’t quit seeking justice. The very fact that she is a widow implies that she is powerless, but she won’t go away. Like the Mandelas and the Gandhis of our time, the widow is persistent. She doesn’t lose heart. The judge finally relents, not out of any sense of fairness, but rather because she is an inconvenience to him and he wants to be rid of her.

So how can this story have anything to do with Christian faith? The unrighteous judge finally renders justice just to get shed of the pesky widow. Even those who do no more than persist will ultimately have some reward. Is that the lesson? Only in the sense that God wants us to not lose heart. This is a lesson of both comparison and contrast. We compare our persistence to that of the widow. God wants us not to lose heart, to keep coming back just like the widow. We contrast the magistrate’s justice and attention to that of God. If a sorry unrighteous judge can eventually mete out justice, how much more can God do for those in his flock! We who believe should never lose heart in our God and Savior. He loves us and takes care of us.

The danger, of course, for the people of God is that too often we fail to remember whose rulebook we play by. God has no watch, no calendar, no orbit. God is not even BC or AD. God is! His name means “I Am.” There is no past, no future. God has only one tense: “I Am.” Our telescopes can now see outside our galaxy, the Milky Way. It has taken us thousands of years to build a telescope powerful enough to see that far, and that is only one galaxy. God is not of this galaxy. God is not from another galaxy. God is outside ALL the galaxies. He is out there. He is right here. God is not confined, not defined. He is both Lord of the cosmos and Shepherd of our souls. He is the great “I Am.” So when we try to describe time, we come up with words like “wait.” What does that mean to “I Am’? God must chuckle at our attempts to define and limit him who is by definition without limits. 

And Jesus says to his disciples that God’s people cry to him both day and night, that God will not delay, but rather give justice to them speedily. We are God’s people. Are you crying to him? Is he answering you? Do you think he is speedy? Do you think he is fair? Do you think he is just?

I cry to him. He answers me, too. I don’t doubt that he is speedy. I just don’t know how to define that in human terms. I know he is just. I know he is fair. I know what that means for me and so I thank him for sending his Son to even up my ledger. If it weren’t for that, I would want God’s justice postponed forever.  But because of Jesus, I can believe and not fear. I am saved.

But then, after promising us that God hears and God gives justice, Jesus asks this haunting question. For all that God has done, for all that God will do, what will the Son of Man find when he returns? When I return, says Jesus, What will I find? Will I find faith on earth? Later in the chapter, Jesus muses that people may find their own justification, that they may find and define their own brand of righteousness.

Jesus’ question still haunts us. He put that question not to just anyone, but to his disciples. He is asking the faithful. He is asking us. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? If he came today, he would find both faith and the lack of it. If he came today, he would find both righteousness and idolatry.

If Jesus comes today, where will he find you? Will you have persisted? Will you have kept the faith? Will he find you his faithful disciple or will he find you trusting in yourself? We are all sinners saved by grace. Not one of us is righteous. If Jesus comes today, where will he find you? Let each of us pray always and not lose heart. Let him find us waiting, worshipping, prepared for his coming. Let him find us all doing as the tax collector in the next parable of Luke 18, standing head bowed, saying ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

Let us pray.

10/20/13

Strengthened By the Grace

2 Timothy 2: 1-15

In 1848, about twelve miles east of Rocky Creek, a preaching point took root. John Graham and some like minded friends built a little chapel in which to worship. Some thirty five years passed before a frame house was erected three miles east of that site and church services were held there.  Over the course of the next hundred or so years, the Rocky Creek church became part of three yoked congregations. McBee withdrew from that union in 1974 and in 2007, the downtown Jefferson church also became independent, leaving Rocky Creek Presbyterian on its own. Along the way, many men and women joined together to keep this church alive and moving along in God’s will. Each generation passed its toil, triumphs and tithes to the next, and the cemetery adjoining the church reflects that the church has survived, and even thrived, for a considerable time and a number of generations. Mothers and fathers have bequeathed not only their property and fortunes to their children, but have also entrusted to them the perpetuation of this church and its service to God. Their legacy became our responsibility.

Second Timothy is such a thoughtful epistle. It is one of the three Pastoral Letters of the New Testament, the others being First Timothy and Titus. Their title reflects their content; they are letters from the “Pastor” to his students…his closest disciples. Second Timothy is probably the last of the three, indeed the last letter that the great Apostle Paul wrote. It was almost certainly written while he was in prison. He wrote a very personal letter to his favorite, his “son” in the faith. He gave Timothy advice about what to do when Paul was no longer there to ask. His advice, while very personal, reaches out to us as though he might have been writing to us as well.

Be strengthened by the grace of Christ, says Paul. Entrust what you have heard from me to faithful men who will carry it to others. Share in suffering as a good Christian soldier must. Remember Jesus, for he brought salvation to those who believe. Remind them, charge them, and you: you do your best to present yourself before God as one approved, God’s worker.

Thank God for Timothy. He was Paul’s personal helper for many years of Paul’s ministry. He is given credit by Paul as a co-author of six of Paul’s letters. He is known as the Bishop of Ephesus and he is one of the great first century missionaries and disciples of Christ.  But Timothy should be remembered most of all for one simple thing. He didn’t drop the baton.

One of the most signal characteristics of Jesus’ ministry is that at the end of the day, he picked out a handful of devoted followers and entrusted them with his gospel. They didn’t let him down. Peter, James, John and company, later joined by Paul, spread the gospel fearlessly and relentlessly for the rest of their lives. They martyred themselves for our Savior and his message. Timothy, Silas, Titus, Stephen and many other unnamed disciples witnessed to the truth of Jesus’ message as taught to them by the apostles. They took the baton from their teachers and passed it forward.

I don’t know the history of this region very well, but it seems to me that the Sand hills of South Carolina are not the easiest place to carve out a living. Nevertheless, some very hardy and stubborn families tamed this area many years ago and found ways to make the land yield up its resources. Along the way, they started churches like this one. Like Paul to Timothy, they entrusted family and friends to carry on that work. No doubt they had their share of suffering, but they persevered.

The seeds that were planted over a hundred and fifty years ago continue to yield their harvest today.

Paul, speaking from a prison cell near the end of his life, encourages Timothy to be strengthened by the grace of Christ. He has heard the word from Paul and he has heard it in the presence of other Christians for whom he has respect. So the grace of Jesus strengthens Timothy… and those who come after… to receive the Word. But receiving the Word is not enough. Paul exhorts his disciple to entrust the Word to others, to faithful men who will pass it on. After we receive the Word, we have a duty to transmit it. We need to witness that which we believe. You can almost hear Jesus in the background, saying, go…teach…baptize! God’s legacy comes in many forms, but it is always very personal.

Where would Rocky Creek Presbyterian Church be today if faithful men and women of God had not toiled and labored to not only give it life, but keep it vital in its sustained ministry these many years? Where would the Christian Church be today but for the martyrs of the faith? The church is only as strong as those who support its work and carry that baton. The race is not won. When we fail to witness to our faith, the buildings and steeples that dot our landscape will become little more than monuments to a world that used to be, to a faith that should have been,  rather than to the sanctuaries of both saints and sinners of today.

As we celebrate another anniversary in the history of our church in this community, let us give pause to think of that which we properly enshrine. It is not the church building, though it is a wonderful place to gather and worship. It is not the fellowship hall, though that is a perfect spot to break bread with one another. As we celebrate homecoming, let us give thanks for lives well lived, for men and women who faithfully served our Lord and left an indelible witness for us to emulate. We have a great heritage at this church, but the legacy is one of witness born of sacrifice, hard work, faith and God’s grace. Any track coach will tell you that in a relay race, it takes two to pass the baton. Drop it and your race is over. You forfeit. The race to salvation is like that. We must follow in the footsteps of Paul and Timothy and so many more through the ages who have been “strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Why do we teach? Why do we share in suffering? Why do we work and witness? We do so because we remember. We remember Jesus Christ. We endure not only for ourselves, but for the sake of those who will follow us. Paul passed the torch to Timothy. Timothy passed it to others. So it is with the Christian life. We teach and suffer and endure because we are part of a long line of keepers of the promise, the promise of salvation that lies in Christ Jesus.

Millstones and Mulberries

Luke 17-1-10

            Ever wish the Bible were longer? I certainly do. I feel that way especially when I read Luke and Acts. Luke is a great reporter, but sometimes I just wish I had more than the bare bones. Such is the nature of the first ten verses of Luke 17. There are four separate pieces of instruction here, each apparently independent of one another. Luke shoots them out to us rapid fire. Bang, bang! Do this. Do that. Beware this. Beware that. Then, just like that, Jesus is on to other things. Together, these instructions constitute what could be called Jesus’ expectations of his followers about faith and faithfulness. But it’s all meat with no garnishment. Pay attention or you’ll miss it. Beware, first of your example and last, of your pride. Learn how to forgive and find your faith in God’s power. Those are Jesus’ instructions.

          Ever been a teacher or a coach? Almost everyone here has. Even if you don’t know it, you are teaching. If you have children or grandchildren, you’re teaching. If you go through a grocery checkout line, you’re a teacher. If you’re a softball or baseball coach, you’re a teacher. Sometimes, you even get to teach the game, but often, that’s not what your students are learning. They’re watching to see if you will remain patient. They’re waiting for you to curse. They’re wondering if you know their name. They’re guessing who your favorites are. Everything you say, everything you express with your body language, teaches them who you are, whether you care and whether they care to learn from you.

          Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and a date with the Cross. He knows it but his disciples don’t. I can almost see him walking up the road and as he walks, he starts teaching, not so much with long lessons, but with bullets. A coach says to a base runner: get a good lead. Jesus says just as cryptically to his disciples: don’t be the cause of someone’s sin! Don’t lead someone the wrong way. It would be better for you to hang a boulder on a chain around your neck and throw you overboard than it would to misguide a little one. Little ones are not just children. They are also those who are new and tender in the faith. Don’t lead them astray. Don’t be an offending brother.

          Jesus walks on up the road. He turns again and says: “Pay attention to yourselves.” Instruction number two. What if your brother offends you?  How far must you forgive as a Christian? If you were a Rabbi and forgave someone three times, it was said that you were a perfect man. What does Jesus say? Seven times, not three and if I read it correctly, Jesus is really saying to forgive as long as your brother repents. Forgive as much as it takes for as long as it takes, no matter how much that is.

          That woke the apostles up. They say to Jesus: “Increase our faith!” In other words, they don’t have that measure of faith. They don’t have a well of forgiveness that deep. And in this third instruction, Jesus answers not about how to find more faith, but rather how to understand what faith really is. His illustration is in the extreme. If you had enough faith as might be found in the smallest seed around, that would be enough to successfully root a mulberry tree in the ocean. Jesus is saying that it’s not the degree of faith that moves mountains; it’s the power of God that does it and faith is the key to unleashing that mighty power. A little faith goes a long way.

          Jesus resumes walking up the road. He’s probably walking “up” the road as opposed to “down” the road because the road from Galilee to Jerusalem is an ascent to higher ground. As he walks, he has one more lesson for his disciples. He warns them to beware of pride. He talks about servants who put in a good day’s work on the job, but who know better than to quit just because they have come in from the fields. There is always work to do. Jesus warns us not to sit on our assets. We can’t outwork God. We can’t earn God’s grace. The song doesn’t read “How Great I Art,” does it? 

Dean Smith, the hall of fame basketball coach at North Carolina for thirty six years, will be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year. You have to do more than be a great coach to receive such an honor. Smith coached young men to be better human beings and used the game of basketball as his venue. Once, when he was still an assistant coach and before the restaurants at Chapel Hill were integrated, Smith was asked to join his pastor and a black student at lunch in a local eatery. Smith accepted and the trio was seated without incident, though that was far from a foregone conclusion when he accepted his pastor’s invitation. Actions such as this have earned suggestions that Smith was a civil rights pioneer. Smith never would have any of it. His response when questioned along these lines was as pointed as that of Jesus in Luke 17. “You should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do it,” said Smith.

          Jesus warns us to be aware of seeking praise for that which we were bound to do in the first place. Why should we get puffed up over doing the job we were sent to do? When we serve God, are we not doing that which we are supposed to do? We are given the gift of being able to serve he who has made us. There is no room for pride in that equation.

When you step back and look at what Jesus asks of us as his disciples, these four apparently disconnected instructions are actually steps to discipleship. Beware of wrong teaching and tempting. Forgive until it hurts, then forgive some more. Unleash the faith you have and watch it grow. And beware of the power of pride or you will find yourself an unworthy servant in God’s army. Just a few nuggets from the Master on the way to the Cross. Imagine what else was on his mind that day! Imagine how many other things were running through his mind to tell his disciples while there was still time. But Jesus knew that they could absorb only so much at a time, and so he gave them just enough to chew on for a while. Have you ever noticed that he does that to you and me in our walk with him? He never gives us more than we can handle. We may sometimes feel overcome or overwhelmed, but when we think it through, it’s never a result of the demands of Christianity. Those demands, difficult as they sometimes are, release us rather than restrict us, to do God’s work. As Jesus’ disciples were to learn at Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit can release ordinary men and women to great things. That is still as true today as it was on the road to Jerusalem with Jesus.

          The next story in Luke will find Jesus encountering ten lepers on the border territory between Samaria and Galilee. This will be a new lesson for the disciples. Ten believe. Ten are cleansed, but only one is made whole and he is a Samaritan, a half breed. Jesus is planting the mulberry tree in the ocean, and it WILL grow.

          “The Apostles said to the Lord: Increase our faith.” And he said to them: you don’t need more faith. You need to use what God has already given you. He will do the rest.