Sermon
22nd September 2019 – 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Text:
1 Timothy 2:1-7 – One mediator
I
listened to an interview with Australian swimmer Susie O’Niell.
She
was affectionately known as Madam Butterfly as she dominated the pool with her
butterfly swim style.
Leading
up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics she was the champion of the 200m butterfly.
She
held the world record and was about to swim in front of her home crowd.
She
felt couldn’t lose – but she came in second.
In
the interview she re-watched that race.
She
entered the 200m butterfly final as the defending Olympic champion who hadn’t
been beaten for six years.
She
broke the event’s 19-year-old world record during the selection trials.
If
you were a gambler you would have put everything on O’Neill walking away with
her second gold medal of the games.
She
qualified fastest for the final.
But
to everyone’s surprise she came in 2nd.
As
she watched the replay during her interview she broke down and saw herself as a
failure.
2nd
fastest in the world but she didn’t see it that way as there was only first
place that was considered as successful.
My
heart went out to her because she is not a failure.
No
one is a failure.
Just
because we sometimes don’t achieve what we hope to achieve doesn’t mean we’re
failures.
And,
to me, that’s the wonderful thing about having faith in God.
That
no matter what happens in life that we have a God who loves us and has prepared
a home in heaven for us which is our goal in life.
A
goal which has been achieved for us by Jesus.
Sadly
we have placed grand expectations on ourselves to achieve in this lifetime.
And
sadly those expectations are not always met.
How
comforting to know that when our expectations are not met that God never sees
us as a failure.
We
might see ourselves as failures at times.
The
world might judge us as failures at times.
But
God does not.
St
Paul says today – God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth.
The
truth that God loves the world so much and for all people to be saved through
Jesus Christ.
God’s
desire is to have everyone live with him in heaven and that makes us all
winners in the eyes of God.
We
live in a world where we feel we need to measure up.
But
not before God, as Jesus Christ has measured up for us.
We
don’t have to achieve anything.
We
don’t have to come first – or make the top 10.
No,
Jesus has run the race and won the crown of glory for us.
And
that’s why Paul says - there is one God; there is also one mediator between God
and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all.
Only
Jesus has won the victory that assures us of eternal life.
Sometimes
the Christian faith can seem exclusive because we claim that Jesus is the only
way to assure our salvation.
But
it is in fact the very opposite of that because it claims that all people are
loved by God and that God’s desire all people to be saved.
That
is at the very heart of our belief – that God loved the world so much that he
sent his one and only Son so that WHOEVER believes in him has eternal life.
Yes
it sounds exclusive at times when he hear teachings like this one that says
there is only one mediator between God and humankind.
Or
when the book of Acts says - There is salvation in no one else! God has given
no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Or
in fact by Jesus himself who says: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me.
But
what some might say is exclusive is actually inclusive because all people are
given access through Jesus Christ and guaranteed the path to eternal life.
Whoever
calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved.
There
is so much assurance because there is no confusion as to the path to salvation.
It
is not by good works – otherwise how would we ever know whether we’ve done
enough.
I’m
sure that if I had to rely on my good works for eternal life I would completely
fail.
It’s
not by other religions – how could we ever be sure if we’ve chosen the right
one.
But,
as Paul says – Jesus has paid the ransom to obtain us freedom.
Even
as a Christian I sometimes feel as if I’ve failed but then I’m reminded through
my Baptism that Jesus has paid for my failure by his own life.
To
many people his death seemed failure but we know that his death ended in his
resurrection.
And
so we see that success to God is not measured in human terms.
And
so we need to be careful we don’t measure the church by worldly success models.
To
many the church looks like it is failing because it is being measured by
earthly standards.
Finances.
Attendances.
The
amount of programs being run.
Its
acceptance of various ethical issues being pushed by society so it doesn’t seem
out of step with modern society.
But
none of that matters to God because there is only one mediator between us and
God – Jesus Christ.
The
wonderful thing about this type of understanding of our salvation is that it
frees us completely to not worry about what happens in life.
Whether
we succeed or fail in the eyes and standards of the world we know differently.
We
know that our life has been written for us and that we live each day knowing a
different future to those who have written and rely on their own future.
And
what that does it that it allows us to live life for others.
And
that’s why Paul urges that prayers and
thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high
positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
dignity.
So
when I see people who are struggling in life I pray for them.
And
by doing that we remember that God is at work in all things.
That
God is actually in charge and in control of what happens in all of life because
God is working hard to achieve his desire to have all people saved and to come
to a knowledge of the truth.,
When
we see life from that perspective – that it is God who takes charge of the
future then does it matter if we are a small struggling church or a booming
mega church?
Doing
the work that God has asked us to do – whether it’s 2 or 3 or 2 or 3 thousand –
when we believe it is God and not us who are in control then we see life from a
different perspective.
Maybe
that sounds unrealistic, especially when the church feels so much smaller, so
much more powerless today.
Regardless
of how unrealistic it might seem Christians are vital for today’s society for
our prayers.
Not
just the rulers deserve our prayers, but everyone does.
Why
are our prayers vital?
Because
God desires that every single person will be saved and so we pray for them.
No
one is worthless, no one is a failure, no one is beyond God's love or the reach
of God's mercy.
It
isn't my God against your God, but our one God who loves everyone.
Paul
didn’t think or worry about the mammoth task before him including opposition
that the people he was witnessing to were not worth it.
Paul
himself had to make the case over and over that his mission to the Gentiles was
legitimate and ordained by God, in spite of opposition and condemnation by
those who felt God was just for the people of Israel.
The
hope of God that all will be saved is supported with the hope that all will
"come to the knowledge of the truth," that is, the truth of the
gospel. – that there is only one mediator between us and God – Jesus Christ.
And
our challenge is that there is growing resistance against Christianity not only
by unbelievers but by so many people today who say they are "spiritual,
but not religious” and thereby reject Jesus as the only way to salvation.
And
so they are seeking a path to God and to salvation without Jesus.
But,
as Paul said, there is only one mediator between God and humanity – Jesus
Christ.
The
letter by Paul provides an important reminder that there is one God and that
God loves every single person and doesn't want to lose a single one as we heard
in last week's reading about lost coins and sheep and, in every case, pray
always for people to come to know Jesus as their Saviour, who is looking for
them.
So
we are to pray not just for ourselves and our own families and friends but for
all of God's creation to come to a knowledge of the truth.
And
Jesus is the way, the truth and life and we come to the father through him.
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