Year C. Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost September 23, 2001
Title: “We give up hope on no one.” 1Timothy 2: 1-7
Paul always taught sound doctrine that guides individuals, right conduct, the “is,” what is from God’s side, forms the basis for the “ought,” what ought to be from the human side. In the text before us he spells out what right conduct looks like when the doctrine of “God wills the salvation of all” is applied to prayer, to rulers, and to conduct at worship. One’s conduct must flow from the truth, morals from doctrine.
In verse one, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone.” This may mean first in a sequence or first in importance. Since what is first in a sequence is also usually first in importance, this phrase should be taken to mean both.
“Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings.” The first three words are various terms for prayers of petition. The nuances of meaning should not be pressed here. The point is that prayer is paramount. In the settled atmosphere of a Church at relative peace with the civil authorities, missionary effort and zeal take the form of praying for those not yet saved. Of course, the good example of Christians has its effect on non-believers, but prayer is essential to keep the proper perspective. The author reminds his audience not to neglect thanksgiving for petitions granted. Both types of prayer should be present in any formal session with God.
“Be made for everyone.” “All” or “everyone” appears frequently in this passage, perhaps to counteract the error that salvation is for but a few elite.
In verse two, “for kings and all who are in high positions,” in Rome the emperor was called only “Emperor” or “Lord” but not “King.” In the provinces, however, “king” was a common term for him and even for lesser authorities. The British still use this type of language. The Pastoral Epistles take a passive position on civil authorities and government. They do not counsel interfering with or trying to influence public policy by means of organized pressure. They know Christians are sojourners. All they ask of civil authority is for the Church to live in peace and function freely. Yet, Christians are to pray for the king’s and lesser authorities’ personal salvation. Whatever public good order civil authorities can maintain contribute to the benefit of the spread and practice of a now rather settled-down Christian religion.
“So that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” In effect, Christians are counseled to ignore public policy as such and concentrate on living a life consistent with Christian principles, a life likely to attract others to the faith. “Quiet” translates the Greek eremos, from which we get “hermit.” The word here does not stress “solitary” but “untroubled from without.” If the Romans can produce external peace, the Christians should take advantage of it to experience internal peace. If external peace, and Roman roads, allows the ministry of the word to be spread, internal peace allows the word to be deeply embedded. “Tranquil” translates the Greek hesuchios, “quiet” and bolsters the meaning of eremos.
In all devotion and dignity: “Devotion” translates the Greek eusebeia, a term well known in secular Greek and frequently used in the Pastoral Epistles. It expresses all that is implied and applied from fear and respect and awe of the Lord or any other god. It can be translated as “religion” or “godliness.” The author is saying that the goal of the Christian is to live a godly life and that is made at least externally possible by civil government that establishes and ensures good order. “Dignity” translates the Greek semnotes, “high standards and practices of morality.”
In verse three, “This is right and is acceptable in , the sight of God our Savior,” Paul himself never referred to God as savior, only Christ. Now the two are so merged in the Christian mind that they are interchangeable.
In verse four, “who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Some folks, later called “Gnostics,” believed that only a special few, initiated into the mysterious knowledge of truth, were candidates for salvation. The masses were not clean enough, intelligent enough or educated enough to be saved. The author is making clear where true Christianity stands.
“Knowledge of the truth,” the kind of knowledge or truth necessary for salvation is within the grasp of all, not reserved for a select few, for it is personal knowledge and truth rather than merely intellectual. This knowledge results in conversion to Christ, not aversion to the masses.
In verse five, “For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human. The author uses these two facts to say, in effect, that his point is self-evident. The one God is God of all; the one mediator is mediator for all, no exceptions, not even pagan rulers. This sounds and looks like an early credal formula that the author is quoting. It has been called the Christian equivalent of the Jewish Shema: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.”
In verse six, “who gave himself a ransom for all
--this was attested at the right time.” This statement is difficult to interpret. If verse five is indeed a credal statement, “the testimony” would refer to reciting it or quoting it “at times proper,” such as when questioned or challenged or even at the liturgy. By itself, out of context, it could refer to Christ’s actual giving of himself as the testimony par excellence. Its precise meaning here is unclear but not that especially significant.
In verse seven, “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.
The author is invoking the authority of Paul for what he is saying. “For this” refers to spreading the word of salvation wrought by Christ and spreading it to all, Gentile and Jew alike. Christ works through the gospel and Paul and those who succeed him was appointed to it. If Christ bears the testimony, Paul and his successors proclaim or preach that same testimony.
I am speaking the truth, I am not lying: In Romans 9:1 and to a lesser extent in 2Cor 11:31 Paul himself used this language to bolster his argument. The author restates it here to perhaps reinforce his own authority derived from Paul. He may also be trying to bring more life to his rather prosaic style. If so, the attempt fails.
In verse eight, in every place the men should pray, Women will be addressed in the next verses. Here the author addresses men only. He will say the same thing to both- conduct matters, not appearance- but use different admonitions that pertain more to one group than another. It is clear that the author is speaking here about behavior at liturgies. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, the author is saying that external appearance, postures and rubrics are secondary to internal disposition of heart. “In every place” here refers to every church, house church or Christian assembly. In other words, “When you are gathered for common worship, wherever that is…”
lifting up holy hands, Just about everybody, Jews and Gentiles, prayed by lifting up their hands. The author adds “holy” to indicate interior disposition as opposed to mere external position.
Without anger or argument, The author is admonishing men to settle their differences and resolve their angers and conflicts before coming to prayer meetings as in Matthew 5: 22-24, and, indeed, before all formal prayer. Authentic prayer proceeds from internal forgiveness. Attitude is what matters, not posture or costume, as the next verses will spell out.
Sermon
Prayer, that is, communication, direct communication, with God, the Lord, God’s Spirit, is the most powerful tool we have. It gives us access to grace, which is the very presence of God come alive in us. Prayer keeps open the channels of communication between this world and the world of eternity, making “all things are possible for God” a reality on earth and in our personal lives. Prayer lets us spend time, concentrated time in God’s, the Lord’s and the Spirit’s divine presence, and lets us discover in each encounter, just how intensely interested in us God truly is. That is what the author means by “the knowledge of the truth.” Prayer also lets us in on God’s will, God’s thinking and even allows us to “think the thoughts of God,” to think after God. This immediately adjusts our attitude, lifts our spirits, if not our feelings, into the very realm of God, the realm where God’s will is done easily and without question or reservation. This is what the Lord means in his prayer when he says “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Prayer prompts us to praise God and then to take that “truth” into our lives and praise others, praise God’s truth, goodness and beauty found in the most unexpected places. Prayer motivates us to thank God and then to take that “truth” into our lives and thank others, be thankful for God’s truth, goodness and beauty found in them. Prayer keeps our memory green that God has gratuitously forgiven us and that “truth” gives us courage to ask for forgiveness again and again and the power to gratuitously forgive others and restore the truth, goodness and beauty we once found in them. Finally, prayer makes us aware of precisely how God graces and blesses us with his incomparable favor and mercy. That “truth” not only encourages us to continue asking for his mercy, but motivates us to show that same mercy to, to do favors for, others. Prayer is the activity, “good and pleasing to God our savior,” that is the conduit of grace fueling us to “lead a quiet life in all devotion and dignity.
If salvation is for everyone, then there is no one unworthy of mention in our prayer. Indeed, prayer is the main form that missionary effort takes in the lives of those Christians who lead a more or less “quiet and tranquil life.” Such prayer supports the more obvious missionary efforts of preachers and apostles-to-the-unbelievers. World leaders, worldly leaders, Christian, non-Christian, and anti-Christian alike, are mentioned in our formal sessions of prayer- private and liturgical- that they also may be saved by the same grace that saved us. This is now the main way we are missionaries. While we take the message to a hostile world, especially by the example of our loving behavior, we also take the hostile, profane world into the sacred, loving presence of God when we pray for it and for those in it, even its recognized leaders, “for kings and for all in authority”. It is clear to Christians that salvation is not merely for the baptized, but for the unbaptized, as well, all of them, bar none. We write no one off. That is for them to do. We give up hope on no one. That’s’ for them to do, if they so choose.
We come to realize that the “knowledge of the truth,” of which the author speaks, is a personal knowledge of God, knowing God, rather than merely knowing about God. What God reveals to us in prayer is Himself, first of all, and only secondarily does he reveal things about Himself. His will is himself, much more than a detailed list of dos and do nots. One does not need to be superiorly intelligent or highly educated in order to have personal knowledge of someone else. It requires openness and love, not intellectual ability or academic study. There is no room for elitism in Christianity. One does not even have to know how to read in order to “read” the Word of God. One can simply listen and learn to recognize His voice. That is not an academic skill, but a personal ability that anyone can exercise, regardless of native intelligence or education. While there is nothing wrong with studying theology and religion, indeed, it is to be highly recommended, such behavior will not save us as such. No, it is constant prayer, prayer that flows into loving behavior that will save us because it is God’s grace. Yes, prayer is grace in action. It can be intensely private and personal or it can be liturgical and communal. It can be formal or informal. But, always, it must be authentic and it is only such when it recognizes that it is conversation with God and that He is the main speaker, not the one who prays. Real prayer is more listening than speaking, more attentiveness to who is present than trying to get the attention of someone we imagine is not there.
We can “dare” to pray for all people because we pray “in Christ, who represents us all before his Father.
Because we are “in Christ” we “care” for all people and wants all to be saved, even our enemies or the enemies of Christ.
Our knowledge of God, Christ and his Spirit, is more like personal knowledge of another person than factual knowledge about another.
Prayer puts us in conscious contact and intimate union and communion with God or Christ or Spirit.
Christ is the mediator between God and humans and prayer is the way Christ mediates.
Prayer as Mission: Those of us who lived rather settled lives “quiet and tranquil,” participate in the missionary activity of the church by praying for all others, saved and not yet saved. It is our share in the apostolic life of the church. Such prayer alerts us to other ways, maybe more subtle but nonetheless vital, that we can help bring others to Christ and Christ to others. Such missionary prayer also teaches us how to “pray for” others. Sometimes when a person promises to “pray for” someone else that person really means they will ask God to change his mind and grant a specific favor, a favor that may not, in fact, be consistent with God’s will. We know that God wills the salvation of all. So when we pray for the salvation of another we are sure we are in harmony with God’s will. If, however, we pray that God “save” a person of a specific day in a specific way, then we are merely trying to control God and that is not real prayer. Missionary prayer helps us to avoid the slippery slope of using prayer as a pretext to get our way, no matter how “good” that way may seem to us. If, by our all too specific prayers, we deny God the freedom to be God, the leeway to do what he knows is best, then we are in danger of insulting God. Our prayer “intentions” may seem good on the surface, but if they cover up a controlling attitude, then we are pretending humility before God, when really we are proudly flaunting our manipulating abilities. That never works with God. Of course, he is not fooled by feigned deprecation. But, when we are in the “pray for” mode, praying for this or that or this one or that one, we need to keep in mind that God knows better than we do what we or anyone else needs and when we or they need it. All such “intentions,” praying for, must be oriented toward salvation, not comfort or convenience.
Praying for Government Officials, When the author says that we should “pray for” kings and all in authority, he means we should pray for their personal salvation, not necessarily that they do the Christian thing or that their policies be Christian. This may seem shocking at first. However, good it is to bring our Christian principles to bear on public policy, its formation and execution, it is not our main thing. The position of the Pastoral Epistles is that Christians have here no lasting city and that the main function of government as far as Christians are concerned is the maintenance of good order, public law and order. This enables us Christians to live in relative external peace, not be persecuted for practicing their faith or inhibited from attracting converts. Christians should know that morality, that is, morality, as Christians understand it, as gratitude for salvation given, cannot be legislated either by pagan or Christina rulers or leaders. Those who think so miss the whole point of Christ’s approach to religion. No, the Pastoral Epistles recommend a hands-off policy regarding civil government. They do recommend that we be good citizens, recognizing nonetheless that we are here only briefly. However, reducing Christian principles of living to laws enforced on all is not the way to go about bringing salvation to all. If an individual Christina gets involved in government that is an individual decision to be a good citizen in a specific way. It is not really every Christian’s duty to do so. There are other ways to be a good citizen and, at the same time, live a “quiet and tranquil life.” We pray for all, including government officials, not that they do our bidding, but that they be saved. The focus is on their personal, eternal welfare, not on their public policies. Amen.
