To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Transcription

1 FIRST (SCOTS) SERMONS YOU KNOW WE LL HAVE A GOOD TIME THEN Scripture Lessons: Deuteronomy 6:1-8; 2 Timothy 1:1-7 This sermon was preached by Dr. L. Holton Siegling, Jr. on Sunday, October 8, 2017 at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina. 2 Timothy 1:1-7 (NRSV) Salutation 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Thanksgiving and Encouragement 3 I am grateful to God whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. 6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Leader: This is the Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God Let us pray Almighty and Everlasting God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be pleasing, acceptable, and even joyful in your sight, for you are our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. My memories of growing up in Charleston would simply be incomplete without the genre of music known as the Oldies. For me, my exposure to that music came in the form of 8 track tapes - do you remember those? I had five to choose from as a child. The first could aptly be described as beach music and it was the Beach Boys Greatest Hits. I knew every song by heart, and, at the time, I could hit every high note Brian Wilson threw in my direction. Another 8 track exposed me to the Prince of Rock 'n Roll -- none other than Little Richard. As a boy, I would jump in the shower and grab my shampoo microphone and sing at the top of my lungs such songs like: Tootie Frutie, Good Golly Miss Molly, Lucille Rip it Up! There was also a two-volume set entitled 50 Golden Oldies that exposed me to a much wider range of oldies from Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons to the Four Tops. 1

2 Now if you are counting to yourself, you know that there is one more 8 track that I haven t mentioned. It was the one which influenced me more than all the others. To be clear, as much as I liked Little Richard, there is a reason he was called the Prince of Rock n Roll, and that is because the title of King had already been taken. Elvis Aron Presley, to this day, is my favorite singer of all time. It came to pass that my closest friends also listened to Oldies, though not all of them favored Elvis...some of them favored that British group that came on the scene at about that same time. I soon learned that the rivalry between Elvis and the Beatles is, in some circles, the musical equivalent to Clemson vs. Carolina. I still love that genre of music. This week I was thinking back on some of my favorites, and one song in particular came to mind. It doesn t fit as neatly into the Oldies category as others because it was released in 1974 I suppose it would be more of a classic. It s a song by Harry Chapin and it s called, The Cats in the Cradle. My child arrived just the other day He came to the world in the usual way But there were planes to catch and bills to pay He learned to walk while I was away And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew He'd say "I'm gonna be like you Dad You know I'm gonna be like you The second verse demonstrates just how quickly time flies... My son turned ten just the other day He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok" And he walked away but his smile never dimmed And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah You know I'm gonna be like him And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon Little boy blue and the man on the moon When you comin' home Dad? I don't know when, but we'll get together then son You know we'll have a good time then If you know that song, then you know that there never was a good time then, because then never got around to happening. The father never made time turns out the child never made time either! Listen to the last verse 2

3 I ve long since retire and son s moved away I called him up just the other day I said, I d like to see you if you don t mind He said, I d love to dad, if I could find the time You see, my new job is a hassle and the kids got the flu But it s sure nice talkin to you, dad It s been sure nice talkin to you And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me He d grown up just like me My boy was just like me. The Cats in the Cradle is a terribly sad song in many ways, and the worst part of it all it s true. Simply put, the people we love and care about will be profoundly influenced by what happens, or, in this case, by what doesn t happen. Do you think I would remember having listened to the Oldies as a child had I never listened to Oldies as a child? Of course not! This is, for me, one of life s toughest lessons to learn because neither our children, our grandchildren, nor the children of our church; indeed, none of us will be able to remember or value the things that never happened. In our New Testament lesson this morning, the Apostle Paul makes a beautifully simple statement, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. The implication is that there has been a kind of apostolic succession of the faith within Timothy s household. The faith of Lois and Eunice was not something that was kept from Timothy. The faith of his mother and grandmother, it happened - it lived and it breathed, and, by God s grace, it breathed life into Timothy. My favorite passage in the Bible is from Paul s second letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16. It says, All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. When we read that verse within the context of Paul s broader letter to Timothy, we realize that the Scripture about which Paul speaks, the sacred writings that he references earlier, they especially include the cannon of the Old Testament. And the words contained therein -- the full breadth and scope of those words -- they were the very backbone of Lois and Eunice s faith. They were life s most important lessons and some of them, probably many of them, they were not only kept in their hearts, but they were recited to their children; they were talked about when they were at home and when they were away. In many a Jewish home, you would find the words of the Shema, which Matt Spath/David Ward read this morning from Deuteronomy chapter 6 you will find them in what is called a Mezuzah a metal or wooden decorative case which is placed in the doorframe at the entrance of one s home. 3

4 My mother remembers, as a child, moving into a home in Nashville, Tennessee which had been previously owned by a Jewish family. As they approached the home for the first time she saw a mezuzah and inside the case was a scroll and on it was written these very words Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. As they walked into the house for the first time, my mother remembers my grandmother gently placing her hand over the mezuzah and saying: As for me and my house we shall serve the Lord. Now, if the truth be known, our own children would not likely have had the opportunity to see Martha Ann place a mezuzah on the door of our home in Mt. Pleasant, had my grandmother not made a similar moment sacred in my mom s memory had not some Jewish family in Nashville many years before made it a priority in theirs! Those of you who follow baseball know that we re kind of in a post season now, and there s a famous catcher for the New York Yankees, Yogi Berra. There was a time when he was moved from catcher to left field, perhaps to extend his career. As we might imagine, there is a noticeable difference between playing left field and playing catcher; and, on afternoon games, at least at the old Yankee stadium, the sun used to set in the outfield well before home plate. Yogi said that when he was a catcher that it stayed light longer, because home plate was the last place for the shadows to fall. Actually, what Yogi Berra really said was this: It sure gets late early out there. And, oh, how true that is! We barely have time to blink and our children outgrow the children s choir. I wonder, after the massacre in Las Vegas, how many people are there who presently find themselves wishing that they could have just one more day with someone they love to do the things they never did to say the things they never said! Friends, if we think there is something important for those we love to remember about us, then we must make that memory. And what are to say of Christ s Church? Oh, if it really means something to us to be active and involved in the life and work here at (First) Scots, then we need to live and act and give and pray and sing in such a way that it actually means something to us. In the end, if we don t demonstrate that something is important, did it really mean anything at all? Oh, but there s hope there s always hope! You know we ll have a good time then can happen it can happen in each of our lives and in ways that are unique to us, but only if it happens. In other words, it is incumbent upon us to do the things that matter. Individually, and collectively as the church called forth, we do this when we pass along our faith like Lois and Eunice before us and we do it when we fix such a spiritual heritage on our homes 4

5 and in our hearts. But pray we do it, because, at the end of the day, people will only be able to remember the things that actually happened. Let us pray Gracious and Loving God, by your Spirit grow in us the very joy of our faith; that it would flourish in real and tangible ways; that it would be for us a way of life. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we pray, Amen. 5