Christ United Presbyterian Church
September 22, 2013
Sermon: “Godliness”
I Timothy 2:1-8
The letter that we call I
Timothy has a lot of controversial things in it about “the household
code.” The “household code” was just
what the name implies: it’s a set of
suggestions or even rules about how to maintain a good and respectable
household, whether it is your personal household or the larger household called
the congregation.
One of the things that
intrigues me about some people’s faith is not what they think that scripture
can possible mean when it seems to say something that is hostile to our 21st
Century lifestyles. No. What intrigues me is what we simply choose to
ignore. What I ignore.
I have a confession to
make. Sometimes I have a hard time
praying for some people. It may be a
politician, a friend, or even a family member.
If I’m angry with someone or disappointed in what they have done or what
they stand for, I sometimes have a hard time praying for them. Now you may ask,
why is this an issue? Just don’t even
think about them when you say your prayers.
Some Bibles break up the second
chapter of I Timothy from verses 1-7
and 8-15. Verses 8 through 15 contain
some of the most contentious verses in the New Testament. We spent time on those verses this morning in
our 9:00 class. I’m not going to deal
with those verses from the pulpit, but I wanted to add verse 8 to our appointed
reading because I think it is the appropriate close to the first 7 verses.
The first 8 verses are about
prayer and its role in our lives. Not
about the concept of prayer. Paul
assumes that his disciple Timothy knows what prayer is. It’s about our obligation and duty to pray.
Our duty to pray for everyone. Friends,
foes, lovers, enemies, family members, elected officials, rulers, those who
love us and those who would destroy us:
everyone. In fact when addressing
the rules of the household code for the Christian community Paul says: “First of all, [got that, First
of all] …, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings be made for everyone….”
When you lived under Roman
rule you were supposed to accept the Roman religion, a religion that said that
the Caesar was god. If you lived in that
society you were supposed to recognize that Caesar was god and your prayers
were directed to Caesar.
Paul isn’t suggesting that we
pray to Caesar, or to our political leaders either. He’s pretty clear on that score: “For there
is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus,
himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all—this was attested at the
right time.” But he is saying that we
should pray FOR Caesar, among others.
We live in a modern
democracy, and even then I sometimes find it hard to pray for some of our
leaders. Imagine if you lived under a
dictator in a totally repressive society.
Why would you pray for such a leader or such a society?
Some people think that Paul
was saying “go along to get along.”
That’s not exactly what Paul was saying.
As with most things in the
Gospel, the reason that you do things is very important. Paul’s not calling on the people to pray for
the continued reign of corrupt officials or the dynastic extension of cruel
dictators. Paul’s whole reason for being
from the time of his conversion has been to preach the Gospel to all people
because it’s God’s will that everyone should learn of God’s plan of salvation
and “come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Paul wants us all to pray for
everyone, and even for political leaders, so that an environment may be created
that will make spreading the Gospel to everyone a greater possibility. When the world is at peace, the Gospel can be
spread more easily, more readily.
What Paul wants us to pray
for – in fact what he insists is foremost in the life of our congregation – is
the successful spread of the Gospel throughout all the world. It has always
been God’s intention through Jesus Christ that all the world – everyone –
should be brought to the knowledge of the truth and learn of God’s plan of
salvation. Our prayer for leaders and others is a prayer that their activities
will somehow allow the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel.
This is never a suggestion to
just go along. In fact if there were any
lingering doubt, Paul says that we are to live our lives in “godliness and dignity.” Those aren’t just two words meant to convey a
sense of placid acceptance of the status quo.
Those are two words by which Paul urges us to faithfully live our lives
as God’s children regardless of the political situation.
Pray that your leaders or
rulers will maintain an environment in which we can readily spread the Gospel
so that we can be about God’s business, publically and unhindered. But always we are to be about God’s business
regardless of the social and political environment.
At the start of this
meditation I spoke about my inability to pray for some people sometimes. I said I wanted verse 8 added to this
reading, and here’s the reason why. Just
as Jesus told us that if we have a grudge against someone – or vice-versa – we
should not come into worship until we have made peace with that person, so too
Paul reminds us that we must always approach prayer without anger or
argument. He says that we should “be
lifting up holy hands without anger or argument….”
“Holy hands” was a reference
to the ancient Jewish practice of cleansing your hands before approaching God
in prayer. Paul is telling us that we
need to cleanse our hands – not just wash them – of all anger. We need to cleanse our hearts of all anger
and resentment when we come to God in prayer.
We should pray always for all
people without resentment or anger in our hearts so that the Gospel of Jesus
Christ may find its way into the hearts and minds of all people. Our prayers are not about what we want to accomplish. Our prayers are not about defeating our
enemy. Our prayers are to be about what
God wants to accomplish. There’s no
judgment made about whether we like it or not.
Our prayers are to be about creating a world in which we prepare the way
for what God wants to accomplish for everyone in this world. Our role can only begin when we remove anger
and hatred and resentment from our hearts.
What Paul is urging is that
we must think clearly about God’s agenda for the world and God’s will for the
salvation of all mankind. He’s not
suggesting that we should be content with or even idolize our present political
situation and its leaders. He’s not suggesting that we be working to overthrow
it. He is suggesting that we live godly
lives, that is lives as God intended them to be. He is suggesting that we should pray –
without anger or hatred – for both our leaders and rulers and all the people around
the world and watch what God can do.
Watch even how God may change us as we align ourselves with God’s business
instead of our own.
Amen.
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