"A Quiet
and Peaceable Life"
a condensed version of the
sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, September 23, 2007 at Union Congregational Church in Somonauk, Illinois.
PODCAST of "A Quiet and Peaceable Life"
|
Praying for everyone
This week’s Bible reading from 1 Timothy 2:1-7 has a ‘First of all’ instruction. It sounds like something to pay attention to.
I wonder what we can do with a little context? This "pray for kings and all who are in high positions" part is often used with Romans 13:1 "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities" to convince Christians to follow the "party line" when it comes to supporting governmental leaders. Our support is to be unwavering unless, of course, we disagree with our leaders, and then we are to lambaste them and warn of God’s wrath on our nations because we have such wicked leaders, right?
I’ve seen it from both sides and I’m sure I’ve been guilty of leader-bashing when I am at odds with something our leaders do.
And I think this week’s reading is addressing people who are in a similar – though not exactly the same – situation. The readers of this letter endured persecution at the hands of the government – yet the instructions in the letter are not to lambaste, but to pray for all – that all might have peace.
Here’s a letter written at a time of persecution – and instead of the a call to arms or a call for a war on whatever ill there was – there’s a call to pray for all – that all might have peace.
Who are we at odds with? Is it our governmental leaders? Is it leaders of other nations? Is it local leaders? Neighbors? Teachers? Is it leaders of other movements? Is it other churches? Is it anyone at all?
I think the call on us from this Bible passage is to pray for all – not just the ones that we like.
And I don’t think the call is to pray something like "Please, God, make the evil people stop being evil and make them think like we do." I think the prayers are to ask God for the wisdom and the love to live in peace with all. I think the prayers are to ask God for ways to make God’s love evident to all.
Listen to how ‘The Message’, a Bible paraphrase by Eugene Peterson, explains these verses about praying for everyone:
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
And that brings us to the second part of this morning’s reading.
This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, {4} who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. {5} For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, {6} who gave himself a ransom for all --this was attested at the right time. {7} For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
I don’t know what you’ve noticed in these three verses, but here’s what I see bubbling under (or is it right at?) the surface
Let me bunch up the first three there.
If the one God wants all to be saved – and Jesus is the mediator between God and us – and God always gets done what God wants – then everyone will be saved, right? Wouldn’t any less be a failure? And I don’t think God fails – what do you think?
I know – you think, "This just got too deep – I don’t think that way because it just ends up starting arguments with people who don’t think that way and then people start fighting and then nothing good ever happens."
Well, maybe you didn’t think that exactly – but I think some of you were thinking something very similar.
Here’s a suggestion – Pray for everyone. Really pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.
Listen to how "The Message" explains the second part:
God wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.
Then there’s that little part at the end.
I am telling the truth, I am not lying.
(‘The Message’ didn’t think it was significant in the way I hear it.)
Could it be that the writer was dealing with some issues of trust from the readers? Maybe some of the readers didn’t trust that the words of the writer were trustworthy?
I wonder if it is at all like today. A December 2006 Gallup Poll shows that clergy are trusted by about 58% of the people. Nurses are at the top with about 84%. Teachers and police officers are trusted about the same as clergy. Lawyers and politicians are near the bottom with about a 20% trust rate.
I wonder what the trust rate was when this letter was written. Most scholars think it was written about a hundred years after Paul wrote – even though his name is on the letter. That part probably wouldn’t have made a trust issue – letters written in the name of great teachers were common – and tried to adhere to the teachings of the teacher instead of discrediting them.
There might have been some trust issues then – just like there are relating to clergy today. I don’t have any clear answer to that one – but I do find it interesting.
I hope you find this interesting -- and trust it, too.
I think the whole point of this morning’s passage is to encourage the readers to put aside differences in favor of treating each other with respect. I think its point is to encourage all to pray so that the desire to lash out and to fight is weaker than the desire to act with love for God and one another.
So here’s a simple challenge for this week.
"The first (and maybe only) thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live."
A quiet and peaceable life.
© 2007 Union Congregational Church, All Rights Reserved