Telling the Same Story
Notes
Transcript
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
To Timothy, my true child in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Scripture: 1 Timothy 1:1-17
Text: 1 Timothy 1:15-16
Sermon: Telling the Same Story
This evening, I am returning to the first sermon I ever preached; at least that is what I thought earlier this week. But as the week has gone on, quite a bit has changed—not just the structure or a few of the words, but the major themes and ideas have been majorly overhauled, and I cannot say you are hearing the same message I preached halfway through my first year in seminary, but the text is pretty close to the original. Our passage is the opening charge that Paul gave to a friend and younger pastor, Timothy, who he mentored and encouraged while serving the church in Ephesus. Paul was instrumental in bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to that city several years before, and now he has “traded pulpits,” we might say, with Timothy who previously been in Macedonia. As we approach God’s word tonight, our main focus will be the “trustworthy saying” in verse 15. There are five of these trustworthy sayings in the pastoral letters; this one has played a major role in helping me discern and understand my calling.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I am sure many of us have found ourselves in situations where either we are telling someone an interesting story or a friend or colleague shares an exciting memory of their own—and at some point the listener thinks, and maybe interrupts to say, “I have already heard that story.” Whether it is because we are forgetful or simply proud of our experiences, we are prone to repeat ourselves, to tell the same stories. When we are caught, maybe we are a little embarrassed, maybe we laugh it off, or as one sitcom describe this when it pertains to a husband and wife—if you have heard all of your partner’s stories, you are an “old married couple.”
When it comes to Paul and Timothy’s relationship, a ministry and mentoring relationship that is close to that of a father and a son, Paul shared a two-part story that was to form the core of Timothy’s ministry. Paul writes to him, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.” Those words captivate our attention; it is as if he is saying, “Listen close! If you want to be successful in your calling, here it is.” He continues, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” and it is in saving Paul, “the worst of sinners,” that Christ has exemplified his unlimited patience to give eternal life to any who will believe in him. Timothy has heard this story before; not only that, but he himself has told the same story to others. Paul knows that, yet he has no problem telling the same story again. I think when this letter reached Timothy, he had no problem with hearing this one again. As we hear the trustworthy saying again this evening, we are going to follow its meaning, first, for Timothy and his fellow leaders, second, what it means for preachers today, and third, why we all need to hear and to tell this story.
We begin with what did this message mean for Timothy and the Ephesian church leaders? If you have your Bibles open still, I invite you to look at verses 3 through 7; these verses gives us a good idea of what struggles Timothy faced as a leader here. Some men were teaching false or different doctrines, some were devoting themselves to myths and genealogies. Paul writes that those who make these things primary will lead to “controversy” rather than the activity of God’s work in and through the body. Timothy had people in his congregation who made too much of the minor things in Scripture and maybe in addition to Scripture at the expense of the major things.
Paul is not rebuking all scholarly study and research, but these are men whose study has wandered over to subjects that are meaningless. Ultimately, anything that is confusing or distracting from what the revelation of God sets forth is unhelpful to the building up of Christ’s church. There are some difficult teachings in Scripture that deserve deeper learning, but at the core is God’s saving work, that should have the heaviest, the weightiest bearing on peoples’ lives. Timothy’s primary responsibility is to rein these men back in for their own good but also so that they do not lead others astray. Timothy might have been dealing with academics, some theologians, but it is also possible that these certain men are a group of Pharisees who had traveled this great distance from Jerusalem, and were trying to stir up things among the Gentile converts. Whatever the exact case was, this is something that Timothy should not sit back on.
The message of the gospel is intricately linked to Timothy’s role as a pastor. He is to shepherd the part of God’s flock that is under his care. He is called to lead the sheep, guide the sheep, and protect the sheep. He might take care of the administrative duties and the appropriate teaching of the Word, but he and his fellow leaders must also make sure that no one and nothing is luring the people away. The motivation for confronting these teachings and their teachers is not to put others down, not to give certain men a bad name, but rather these correctives are done out of “love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
The gospel and Timothy’s calling are linked because it is only through a belief and a trust in the gospel that a confrontation like this can take place. If there is one truth in life to fully accept, to fully buy-in and own, it is that “Christ Jesus came to save sinners.” He came to save people that are lost, that make mistakes, that are prone to wander and let talking points and controversies lead them astray from the truth that matters so much more. It is the love that he has shown to us that we can know what love is, and furthermore have his love be the pattern for our loving him and loving others. Christ’s saving love is that which leads and guides our hearts to the truth in him. If his love is for us and in us, then it will have an effect; love’s effect gives us pure hearts, good consciences, and sincere faith. It is God’s work that transforms our emotions, our thinking minds, and the beliefs we live by so that how we interact and live with others is different.
The good news, the truth of the gospel of salvation through Jesus alone, impacts why and how we approach other believers and other people in general. We approach them to show and help them towards change. Paul teaches Timothy that pastors in particular should be looking to guide those who have gone astray by standing upon what is true and understood with certainty. Understanding and study must be based in faith; thus, we must take care that study and pursuing knowledge does not lead away from believing in God and the greatest truth of his saving grace.
These are values that Timothy needed to grasp, and they remain true for all believers still today. We turn now to what else this passage has to say, and specifically the trustworthy saying, for pastors today. Certainly, my fellow pastors and I are called to continue to lead, preach, and guard the flocks under are care. But what I think this passage speaks specifically is who we are as pastors and who our flocks are made up of. Pastors need to recognize themselves and those they minister to as the object of God’s saving grace—we are sinners.
Jesus came into the world to save, not the righteous, but the rebels. If anyone thinks he or she is perfect, not in need of a Savior, and lives life just wanting Jesus to be their “friend,” pastors must be willing to proclaim the truth that not one of us is perfect. We need to proclaim that the greatest gift of all can only come to those who recognize how great they are in need. When we read through that list in verses 9 through 11, these are not just horrible people out there, people that we might label and look at as those who we think will never enter a church or confess the faith that we confess. Brothers and sisters, I truly believe that Paul is describing himself and everyone who has ever lived, including us. We are among the ungodly, the unholy, the irreligious, even the adulterers and perverts. The law is useful for showing us and all people the error in our ways; it is to be used not as a measuring stick of our goodness but rather a measure of how much we need Jesus to save us! It is by his coming into this world and showing the mercy that he alone has to offer that our identity as sinners can be put in the past, that our place among those awful descriptions in verses 9 through 11 is wiped away. For pastors, it is a reminder that in the living, dying, coming back to life, and ascending to heaven of Jesus God offers us the gift of faith. We get to work alongside the Spirt to tell about God and to nurture faith, but it is by God alone that anyone becomes a believer and possessor of eternal life.
The message of grace through faith in Christ alone is the foundation for my life and the foundation for my calling to preach and proclaim. I am a sinner, but Christ saved me. Early in my life someone told me the same story Paul told to Timothy, and then many others told it to me after that. The Spirit worked through these men and women, these Sunday school, catechism, and day school teachers, these family members and family friends—and the Spirit continues to work in my heart to convict me of this greatest treasure. In calling me to full-time ministry, the Spirit reveals that the treasure is not mine alone to hoard, but I am to share it with God’s church.
This story has planted deep roots in my soul to form truth faith. I pray that when I come and when all faithful pastors come to the pulpit and speak about how God’s word bears on daily living, on relationships, on interacting with authorities and serving the needs of others, on pointing to eternal life, even describing the character of God—I pray that we trust our words come from God. We need to stay so close to his word in our personal lives and in our calling, so we would know what truth is and what is trustworthy to speak, “that which conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God.”
The trustworthy saying that we find in this passage is not just an opportunity for an altar call as a pastor, but rather this is a fundamental lesson that if I or anyone else puts their trust in the works of humanity, the teachings of philosophy or theology, we will fall. Anything less than accepting that “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners,” any distraction from that, and we are in jeopardy of leading his people astray, of misrepresenting the greatest gift God gives to humanity. It is so simple; it is wonderful! This is all that matters in life, and it should be the joyful obligation of ministers to tell this same story clearly week in and week out.
The third thing I invite us to consider tonight is why we all need to hear it again. I have three reasons for why we as both young and mature believers need to hear the same story again and again. The first reason is that this is the greatest comfort for we who live in a world that is so messed up, and whose lives are often more broken than we might like to admit. This is the truth that shines through the first answer to our Catechism; our only comfort in life and in death is that we belong body and soul to Jesus Christ, our Savior who has fully paid for all of our sins and set us free from the tyranny of the devil with his precious blood. The work he did when he—God, came into the world and died on a cross is what gives us life and hope. Not only did he die, but he is raised and living and he continually intercedes for us! What a great comfort!
The second reason we need to be reminded of this regularly is because trustworthy reminders prompt us to greater commitment. This statement is deserving of full acceptance by all, because it reminds us that this is a treasure to guard and protect in our lives and wherever our sphere of influence goes. If God’s word or his name is under attack, and we have the opportunity to do something about it, may we not sit back. We have been redeemed; we have been shown mercy. God sent his Son into the world to save sinners, to save people who for thousands of years before and thousands of years following would continue to fail what he had intended for his creation. But God offers an opportunity through his Son, and he remains patient. May his patience be that which we lean on as unlimited and perfect and extravagant! We can consider his patience unlimited in time as long as we or anyone else is living, but also patient in how many and how horrible one’s sins might be. May this truth excite our commitment to him.
Finally, the third reason we need to hear this again is because it should prompt us to convert by telling the same story. If faith dwells in us, then not only should offer God praise and thanks by voice, but with our lives communicate our thankfulness to him including telling others of this wonderful truth. Paul told Timothy, this is “trustworthy” and “deserves full acceptance.” It is as if he was saying, “This is what you are to tell others. You already know it, but I will say it again, ‘Jesus came into this world—the world we live in—to save sinners, and he will wait for all who will believe in him!’” This is the same story that has been told across centuries and millennia. This truth has been repeated across borders and oceans. It is the truth that exists despite wars and crusades, divisions and heresies. “Christ Jesus came to save sinners.” May this good news rest not only in the mouths of pulpit preachers, but in the voices of all who believe! We are called to convert.
The gospel I preach and I trust Pastor George will continue to bring among you is not a story that we have penned, that we sign our names as the author to, but it is solely the good news and saving work which our eternal, holy, and loving God can offer and signs his name to. This is the gospel to which we cling, and I pray each of you do as well! May we not worry about repeating it or thinking it is pointless for others to hear it repeated. Brothers and sisters, whoever has been given ears to hear, let them to be open to hearing the gospel and receiving it, that the Spirit might bring it to our hearts and our minds. It is so simple; let nothing get in its way. May this church and the church universal never stop telling the same story. Amen.