Sermon – 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church

September 16, 2007

Will you pray with me? Holy Spirit be with us today as we worship God and study His word. Help us to understand what God is saying to us in scripture and revealing to us in the world around. We thank you and praise use in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Six years ago I was in driving from Northern Virginia into Maryland on a sales call. As I drove on 495 the major freeway circling Washington DC I heard a radio report about a building on fire in New York City. A plane had crashed into it. A few minutes later I heard a reporter from the Pentagon say that they had no idea what was happening. Then there was a loud explosion. Another plane had struck the Pentagon. When I reached my office I saw on a small b&w television the fall of the first World Trade Tower. And as I drove home I could see the smoke billowing up from the Pentagon, and the radio announced that yet another plane was missing and possibly coming toward us. So I went home and locked the door. Last week the man responsible for this act, Osama bin Laden, sent us a message. In it he invited us to embrace Islam.

Jeremiah spoke of day when Middle East terrorist threaten Jerusalem. Babylon was coming and Judah was doomed. The cities would be destroyed and the farmland would become a waste land. There was no place to hide. But even in this bleak picture God stood as a beacon of hope. This would not be the end of God’s people.

The use of violence by religious fanatics is nothing new. A first century Pharisee named Saul was the most notorious persecutor of Christians of his time. He was present and approved of the stoning to death of Stephen. He stormed into houses to drag out and arrest women and men who belonged to a sect of Judaism that worshiped their resurrected leader. And when the organization called the Way was completely routed in Jerusalem Saul heard about a group that had fled to Damascus which he was determined to pursue arrest and bring to justice. For Christians in the first century Saul was despised and feared. Saul was his Aramaic name. We know him better by his Roman name, Paul.

Of course Paul went on to become the greatest of all Christian evangelists. Through his efforts churches were planted throughout the region around the Mediterranean. His letters, collected in the New Testament, are essential to our understanding of the Christian faith. How is it that a religious terrorist like Paul could be used by Christ to grow his church? Paul’s transformation from terrorist to evangelist came about from his encounter with the risen Jesus Christ. On the road to Damascus Paul was overcome by a great light and the presence of Jesus. Remember that coming into the presence of God is always a transformative event. Jesus told Paul the good news that Paul was to proclaim to the world. This encounter with Jesus was so transformative to Paul he realized that the good new he heard just had to be true and began proclaiming it throughout the Roman world as if his life depended on it, which indeed it did.

Paul explained the good new that he had received from Christ Jesus to Timothy, his young associate. Timothy, you remember, helped Paul to write the letter to Philemon that we read last week. Later he was sent to Ephesus to help a troubled church. Since being started by Paul the church was now plagued by false teaching. This included wild stories and myths based on the Old Testament. This false teaching had to be stopped and replaced by the true good news which had been receive by Paul directly from the risen Lord. So what was that good news which Timothy was to proclaim? Paul told Timothy to use the testimony of Paul’s own experience of transformation as the basis for the good news he was to proclaim. Paul said,

“1 Timothy 1:12-17 ¹² I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, ¹³ even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

The good news that Paul wants Timothy to proclaim to the church at Ephesus is the message of the grace of God. According to Paul, Christ graciously strengthens us in faith so that we can be of service to others. This is a gift for which we should be extremely grateful. But many of us believe that we are not worthy to receive such a gift. Maybe our faith is not strong enough. Or our behavior is not pure enough. Or possibly our knowledge about Christ or Christian morality and ethics is insufficient. We may have acted in ignorance or unbelief. How could Christ possibly use someone like us? The good news is that Christ can use us because his grace is like a giant tsunami washing away whatever it is we have done in the past. Our sins are washed clear.

But grace is far more than just the washing away of our shameful past. The tsunami of grace leaves behind an abundance of other gifts from God, faith and love. I once thought that faith was something I do, namely believe in God. And love was how I should treat my neighbor. But Paul’s good news is that faith and love do not originate in us. They are not something that we have to find, or purchase, or make. Rather faith and love comes to us as a gift from God.

This means that faith in the “full acceptance that Christ can into the world to save sinners,” is not a matter of our intelligence or education or will but and act of God. God puts faith into us. Our ability to know God, see God in the world around us, and love God comes from God. It is a gift for us to enjoy. Paul’s education had prepared him to reject the Christian message. But by the grace of God who put faith into Paul as a free gift, Paul was able to proclaim the message of Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. Paul realized that he could have never done this on his own. He needed help. And God was there with an offer he could not refuse.

This also means that our ability to love our neighbors is not a matter of our own compassion or ability. Rather it too is a gift from God. Our ability to focus on the needs of others rather than ourselves could never be generated internally. We are all too self-centered for that. Paul’s intense anger and violent temper prevented him from seeing the humanity of the people he persecuted. But by the grace of God who put love into Paul as a free gift, Paul was able to love Jews and Gentiles alike thus making them receptive to his message of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Why would Christ Jesus use a man like Paul to spread his good news? After all Paul was the Osama bin Laden of his day. No one was hated more by Christians? No one was more despised. But Christ had a reason to use Paul for his display of grace. Paul was so bad, so awful, that Christ knew his transformation would be spectacular. Everyone would notice how much Paul had changed. It would be obvious that God had acted because no other explanation would be possible. And since Paul was the biggest sinner of them all it would be obvious that God grace was so powerful that even the most terrible sinners could be redeemed.

Jesus explained to us why God want awful people to be redeemed. Its like if you have a keepsake or memento which is extremely valuable to you. Maybe it holds for you a memory that just can’t be replaced. And you lose it. You don’t know where it is. You search for it all over the house. You obsess over it until it is found. I have a little glass bell that I bought in Venice Italy and gave to my mother shortly before she died. I packed it carefully hoping that it would not break during our move from Pasadena to Eagle Rock. After we unpacked it was missing. I searched everywhere thinking about it all the time. Then last Wednesday I found it, right there in the box, wrapped in a towel just where I put it. That is the way God thinks about sinners. He wants to find the lost sinner more than anything else. He searches until he finds each one. And God rejoices whenever a sinner returns.

Osama bin Laden is still singing the old song of terror and violence. He has yet to experience the grace of God and the abundance of faith and love which comes with it. Sadly he still believes in a dead faith that does little to transform. Just as God searched for a lost sheep like Paul, so too does he search out lost terrorist sheep. We know that it is impossible for Osama to transform himself. But by the grace of God anything is possible. Even against overwhelming odds the people of God in Jeremiah’s day held on and preserved a remnant that continued worship. They were sustained by God’s grace and his faith and love. So pray for the day when all people in the world experience the transforming power of Christ Jesus and God’s grace overwhelms each person with an abundance of faith and love. When that day happens, all glory and honor will be given to our God through Christ Jesus our Lord.

So it doesn’t matter how much you have sinned. It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past. God’s tidal wave of grace is washing over you today bringing with it an abundance of faith and love which strengthens you for service to Christ. And here is the really good news. When we receive this wonderful gift of faith and love enabling us to serve Christ we begin to realize that just as Christ was resurrected from the dead so too will we be resurrected to eternal life. The faith and love that comes us as God’s gracious gift will never end. We will always experience God’s faith and God’s love.

The message for us today is that God searching for us. We are not to emulate Paul’s behavior or become a terrorist because God already knows what we have done in our lives. God is looking for us wherever we are and regardless or what we have done. He sent Jesus to save us. And when God finds us he has a gift waiting. God’s gift is an abundance of faith and love. If God can salvage a wreck like Paul what do you think he can do with you and me? When we receive this grace all the honor and glory go to God.

Lord Jesus we thank you this day for the good news that you have given us though Paul. We accept your gracious gift of faith and love. Help us to use these gifts to love God and our neighbor. Amen.