GOD IS NOT STUCK 2 Timothy 2:8-10 January 27, 2013 Pastor Joyce Reed/Crossroads, La Paz, Mexico

Transcription

1 1 GOD IS NOT STUCK 2 Timothy 2:8-10 January 27, 2013 Pastor Joyce Reed/Crossroads, La Paz, Mexico The New Testament in our Bibles is comprised of many letters by the Apostle Paul, a converted Jew whom Jesus sent to evangelize to the Gentiles. While most of his letters are addressed to specific churches & their given situations at the time, he also wrote several letters to individuals. The most noted of these are 1 & 2 Timothy. When Paul first met Timothy, Timothy was living in Lystra in the Roman province of Galatia (modern Turkey). He was the child of a mixed marriage. Timothy s father was a Gentile and his mother was Jewish. We re told that his mother s name was Eunice and his grandmother s Lois. It assumed that Timothy, his mother, and grandmother were converted to Christianity during what is now known as Paul s first missionary journey described in Acts 14. When Paul revisited that area 1-2 years later, Timothy had matured as a Christian and the local church recommended him to Paul as a traveling companion (Acts 16:2). From this point on, Timothy seems to be connected to Paul s ministry in one way or another. In Paul s letter to the Romans, Corinthians, Philippians and Thessalonians, Paul refers to Timothy as a co-worker. Timothy collaborated in the writing of 6 of Paul s letters: 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon. He was Paul s trusted representative on 4 different mission journeys. But Timothy was more than a colleague. Paul refers to him as a beloved friend, my son whom I love, and one who is faithful to the Lord. And as 2 Timothy opens, Paul is reflecting on this relationship. This letter is probably the last one Paul ever wrote. He is an old man now, in prison again, deserted by his friends, and facing death. Paul is writing to Timothy, imploring him to come and be with him in the waning days of his life. He wants Timothy by his side again. Even more so, he wants to pass on the torch of his ministry to Timothy. As Paul writes this letter, it is a crucial time for the churches in Europe and Asia. Rome has now turned against Christianity. Nero seems bent on destroying the church. In Asia, there was wide spread apostasy. In many ways, Christianity

2 2 trembled on the verge of annihilation. And there was little Paul could do at this point. He can no longer race across the empire, putting out fires, correcting errors in church doctrine, establishing order. He is chained in a dank, dark prison. He is lonely, and perhaps wondering if all his life s work is about to be discredited. And he longs for Timothy. Someone who is like a son to him, who can encourage him. But what is fascinating, that in the midst of these dire circumstances, Paul has not lost hope. Everything may be out of his control: anti-christian government, false teachers in the churches, desertion of devoted followers but his steadfast belief in Jesus and the message of the Gospel does not waver. i And this leads me to our text today: 2 Timothy 2:8-10. Turn with me in your Bibles. Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God s word is not chained. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. Paul is telling Timothy not to forget who Jesus is... both divine (as proved by the resurrection) and human (as proved by his lineage through David), the one who tied their ancestral past to their glorious future... the Messiah who came to save humanity s sins. This is Paul s Gospel: Jesus, human and divine, who lived with us, died for us, and rose from the dead so that we might have eternal life. The essence of the Gospel message. This is why Paul is suffering, why he is in chains. He, a Roman Citizen, who has never committed a crime, but is now imprisoned because he preaches Jesus. And he endures all of this, all this pain and suffering, so that the elect the people who will choose and accept Jesus so that they may obtain salvation. If his suffering, his example, his steadfastness in the faith, allows one more person to enter God s Kingdom, then it is worth it. But tucked away in the middle of these 3 verses is an amazing, astounding truth that we often skip over, we often forget about, we often ignore:

3 3 But God s Word Is Not Chained. Paul may be chained to a wall. Paul may be in a cell where sunlight barely filters in. Paul may be cold, hungry, and alone. Paul may no longer be able to travel, to preach & teach in person. Paul may no longer be able to correct false teachings being espoused in the churches. Paul may no longer be able to confront government leaders who spread lies about Christianity. But it doesn t matter. GOD S WORD IS NOT CHAINED! GOD S WORD IS NOT BOUND! GOD S WORD IS NOT LIMITED! Paul may be stuck in prison, hindered and limited by what he can do. But God is not stuck there with him. Did you hear that? This is your Good News this morning: GOD IS NEVER STUCK! You may be in the worst case scenario of your life, the bottom is dropping out, you see no way out of your situation, all options appear to lead to dead ends, and you have no idea what s going to happen next. Let me assure you of this: God is NOT STUCK with you! God sees options, has solutions, will direct you to exit strategies if you re willing to listen. But how do we usually respond in these situations? I m stuck; therefore, God must be stuck. Oh, we might not say it like that, but that s what we mean when we say: 1. I prayed about that and nothing happened. God must have abandoned me. 2. My spouse left me despite everything I did, God. Obviously you don t care about me. 3. Every day in the news I hear about another person going on a rampage, killing people. You could stop this God! I m severing our relationship.

4 4 4. I used to go to church until someone hurt and betrayed me, spread lies about me. I m angry! If this is what Christianity is all about, I don t want it. 5. I did what you told me to do, God, and then everything went wrong. What s that about? If this is how you treat your followers, then I m outta here! Life happens. Situations that cause us pain and grief. Mysteries that can t be explained. Questions that are never answered. And we get stuck. Our faith gets stuck. And Satan sits down beside us, puts a comforting arm around our shoulder, and begins to whisper this lie in our ears: Why isn t God doing something about this, for you? If God really loved you, then your circumstances would be different. And in our vulnerable state of confusion, despair, and hopelessness, we fall into the trap of believing the lie. We believe that God can t really solve our problem otherwise things would be different and we begin to build a wall in our hearts between ourselves and God. And we believe that not only are we stuck, but God is stuck too. But this verse in 2 Timothy defies that lie: God s Word is Never Bound! So, if God is never stuck, why do we sometimes believe that He is? What happens to us that lets us get caught up in the lie? There are many reasons, but I m going to focus on just four this morning. 1. God s Time Is Not Our Time. Four years ago the Baptist Convention of Southern Baja which sponsors Crossroads as a mission, wanted us to organize as an official church. Now, what this means to them, is that we present our doctrine before representatives of all the other churches, we answer any questions they ask us, we our financially stable, we participate in their anniversary services, annual meetings, etc. So, while we told them we couldn t look exactly like a Baptist Church because we are an ecumenical body, we did start having meetings about church doctrine, how to organize as a Civil Association, how do we address membership, and after more than a year of addressing these types of questions... it all fell apart. The leadership decided we weren t ready for this step, yet. And I have to admit it left David and I feeling frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. David especially had poured hours into trying to get us all organized, and it all fell flat. So, what was that about, God? Was that a total waste of time? And many of us felt stuck. Would Crossroads ever pull

5 5 together and become responsible for its organization and legal status in Mexico? Honestly, for the next three years, it didn t seem like anything was moving in regards to this question. But then, last year, our present leadership rallied, and our Civil Association was obtained last October. Many of the details are still being finalized, but the process is now formally in motion. God s time was not our time. Even though we couldn t see it, God was moving in people s hearts, changing their perspectives, moving them to a maturity in order to take this step. God was never stuck. Are we willing to wait for the timing of God s answer? 2. God s Solutions Often Require Sacrifice. We noted earlier that Paul was willing to go anywhere, to suffer anything, in order to share the Gospel with one more person. His desire that one more person might know the saving grace of Jesus Christ was his passion. Can you and I say the same? When God asks us to do something...to participate in or even start a ministry...to go somewhere we ve never gone... do we say, Yes! Or do we drag our heels, give excuses, let the momentum slow down until we re stuck hoping against hope that God might change his mind, might give us a new directive? Canadian Pastor Henry Blackaby shares about how a need arose in one of their mission churches 40 miles away. He asked the church to pray that God would call someone to move to that community to serve as the lay pastor of the mission. A young couple responded. But Pastor Henry was concerned because the husband was a student at the university and they had very little money. He knew that if this couple moved to pastor this church, this young man would be commuting 80 miles a day to get to school. He knew they couldn t afford to do it. He told them, No, I can t let you do that. And he named several reasons why it would not be fair. However, this couple was deeply grateful to God for how he had saved them and changed their lives. The young man said to Pastor Henry, Pastor, don t deny me the opportunity to sacrifice for my Lord. Pastor Henry was humbled by his response and moved to tears. He knew what a high price this couple was willing to pay. He said, The church had prayed for God to call a lay pastor, so I needed to be open to God s answering our prayers in an unexpected way. So the church affirmed the call of this young couple and,

6 6 in ways that the congregation could not even foresee then, God also provided for their gas money and other financial needs. What are willing to sacrifice so that the Gospel is preached? 3. The Trap of Complacent Religiosity. As human beings we naturally gravitate to status quo and being comfortable with the way things are. So, while we might take a risk, as quickly as possible, we like to transform that risk into something safe and predictable so we don t have to venture too far outside familiar boundaries. Complacency creeps up on us. You can recognize it in comments like this, I ve served my time. Let someone else do that now. This church would grow if we focused on evangelism. But you continue to watch football every Sunday afternoon from the comfort of your berk-a-lounger instead of welcoming three new families that moved onto your street. Jesus is what it s all about. But the last time you actually talked to someone about your faith was fifteen years ago when you flew from Boston to LA on a non-stop flight and were seated next to an atheist who wouldn t stop talking. Complacent religiosity is when we stop moving forward as a Christian, and decide to rest on our laurels. We decide that we ve arrived. That we know all there is to know. That the Bible has nothing new to teach us. And we could certainly change the world if someone would bother to listen to what we ve learned over the years. So, how do we snap out of it? How do we even recognize it in ourselves? I suggest you start somewhere small. For those of you who have been attending Crossroads for at least 2 weeks or more, do you ever wonder about one of the following: a. Who cleans these plastic chairs? Is there a chair-cleaning committee? b. Who makes the coffee every week? Who sets up & takes down the coffee hour table? Does this person need help? Have I ever thanked him/her? c. Who takes care of the potted plants on the patio? Looks like some of them could be re-potted? Who does that? d. I seem to notice that the same person walks out with the kids every week for Children s Church. Why doesn t someone help her?

7 7 e. I heard that Ciudad de Los Ninos is looking for English Buddies to help the kids learn English. I wonder if they got enough people to volunteer? If God presents a need to you, allows you to become aware of a need right in front of you, and you choose to ignore it, to do nothing about it, no matter how small, then you might be stuck in complacent religiosity. Because complacency just isn t about not responding to issues of justice, it s also about all the little things where God might be calling you to be faithful. Are we willing to become uncomfortable for Jesus? 4. Fear Overwhelms Us. Sometimes I believe we get stuck because we re just plain afraid. We re overwhelmed by our circumstances. We become paralyzed. And we choose to be stuck. It s easier to not move, to stay where we re at, because at least that s familiar ground. To move, to change, means going somewhere we ve never gone before. And that can be terrifying. When we moved to La Paz 12 years ago, our sons were 6 & 8. We had come with the plan of enrolling them in a private, local school similar to one we d found in Cuernavaca when we were in language school. However, after investigating the school options in La Paz, we just couldn t find one that seemed to match the needs of our kids. So, instead, we decided to homeschool. We d done a little bit of homeschooling with Ian in MA before we moved to Mexico, so it wasn t totally new to us, but still, the idea of schooling my children to 12 th grade seemed daunting. And, here was Aaron, starting first grade, and I had to teach him how to read. I had a program, but I was terrified. What if he never learned to read correctly? I could doom my child s future before it even got off the ground. And David said to me, Just follow the program. Do it one day at a time. It will happen. And it did. But every day was a challenge. Some days I woke up and prayed, Jesus, I don t know how I m going to do this. I don t understand Calculus. Never have. Help me! But I kept trying, I kept trusting that God would give me strength when my strength was gone. If I wanted to see my kids finish high school, then I had to wake up every morning and figure out a way to make it work. (Postscript to this story: Both my children are now in college, consistently on the dean s list, and I m still very close with both of them due to all the time we spent together home-schooling.)

8 8 Sometimes fear can paralyze an entire group of people. A large group of people can be stuck. But I ve learned that it s during those times, if you re willing to pay attention, that God often sends you someone to present an option you can not see. A tribe of Indians in a remote part of the Brazilian jungle lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention. A contagious disease was ravaging the population. People were dying daily. A hospital was not too far away across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed the river was inhabited by evil spirits. And to enter its water would mean certain death. A missionary had recently come to live among them, and he explained how he d crossed the river & was unharmed. But they were not impressed. He then took them to the bank & placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn t go in. He walked into the water up to his waist & splashed water on his face. It didn t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river. Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He raised a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water & escaped. It was then that the Indians broke into a cheer & followed him across. ii Where do you need to let go of fear so you can move forward? Conclusion I don t know where you re stuck this morning. I don t know what s keeping you stuck. It may have been one of these 4 areas I ve suggested, or something else entirely. But what I want you to focus on this morning is that verse in 2 Timothy 2:9... The Word of God is Not Bound. Are you willing to allow yourself to believe that God does have a solution for you? That God is leading you towards a promise and a hope, EVEN IF you can t tell yet? Can you believe that God loves you so much that he would never abandon you, never forsake you, never leave you without an option? This morning we are going to celebrate communion. We are invited to a table where Jesus asks us to remember. Remember how much I love you.

9 9 Remember this bread, my body, given for you. Remember this cup, my blood, shed for you. Remember that sin no longer has power in your life because of my death on the cross. Remember that in me, you are made new. Remember that I do no leave you as orphans; I will come to you through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Remember that if you love me, then my Father in heaven loves you too. Remember that my joy is in you and thus your joy will be complete. Remember to love one another and in this way the world will know that you are my disciples. Remember. It is often in the act of remembering, that we find solutions. In the act of remembering, the mountain begins to move. In the act of remembering, creative inspiration comes. The possibilities of God flow into us and the impossibilities disappear. God is Never Stuck. Come to the Table and Be Set Free. Let s Pray. i Leadership: Passing the Torch. Serendipity Bible Study on 1 & 2 Timothy. Littleton, CO, Pages 6-9/ ii Lucado, Max. Six Hours One Friday.