I started reading a book this week that has brought words to my feelings as I struggled with what I believe God wanted me to say today.
“Preacher pastors often hesitate before they speak. The stakes are high. For words “name worlds,” worlds that can bind or set free, worlds that can build up or tear down. Little wonder that preacher pastors pause before preaching.”
Preacher pastors feel this way because sometimes the words that must come out of their mouths are words not from him or her but from God. They are words that are designed to move people to decision and commitment to God. They are not easy words to speak. In speaking to you this day, I do so to set free and build up not bind and tear down.
I feel today like the prophet Jeremiah, who said in Jeremiah 20:9 “If I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in!”
Now I know what some of you are thinking, “Oh, boy, here it comes! One of those sermons! Pastor’s on the soap box again!” Let me say this, “I speak to no one person this morning, I speak to all of us this morning.” Do you understand what I am saying?
As I read through Romans 13 and 14, in preparation for this morning, I was again made aware of the tension of living, as I said last Sunday, between two worlds. A tension that many of us are feeling as we attempt to understand and accept the teachings of our faith in regard to those who do evil and the very understandable desire to do evil to them. In fact, if you read the newspaper this past week, you probably read of our congressman’s struggle with this issue as one who is trying to follow God in this matter.
On the one hand there are the opening verses of chapter 13 in which Paul urges the believers in Rome to obey, respect, and honor government. Now that is quite a statement to make in light of the treatment of Christians by Rome. To say, “Jesus is Lord” not “Caesar Is Lord” and mean it, could sentence one to prison or even death.
What are we to do with this segment of scripture? Christians, of varying political beliefs, have strong disagreements with our government. Some even wish there was no government. But, we have to assume that Paul was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he said, “Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God.”
On the other hand then, there is verse 17 in chapter 14 that says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” What does this mean today? How are we to live for God in these moments of our history – not just our national history, but human history?
Jesus was challenged on this point of loyalty, as we read in Luke 20:22-25 “Now tell us-is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not? He saw through their trickery and said, “Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title is stamped on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. “Well them,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God.”
The events of these past two weeks are causing us to sift through our loyalties, our values and our priorities. People throughout our country are taking a long hard look at their lives. Some are changing jobs, some are change careers, and some are simply taking a long hard look at their lives.
I am reminded of the story of the discussion at church camp for children where one of the counselors was leading a discussion on the purpose of God has for all of his creation.
They began to find good reasons for the clouds and trees and rocks and rivers and animals and just about everything else in nature.
Finally, one of the children asked, “If God has a good purpose for everything, then why did He create poison ivy?” This made the discussion leader gulp and, as he struggled with the question, one of the other children piped up, “The reason God made poison ivy is that He wanted us to know that there are certain things we should keep our cotton-pickin’ hands off of!”
In light of the events that have and are taking place as a result of September 11, 2001 we must ask ourselves, “What do we have to take our cotton-pickin’ hands off of and what do we need to put them on so that we become the followers and children of God that Scripture commands us to be?”
A recent broadcast on ESPN, the sports cable channel, highlighted the life of Johnny Unitas, quarterback for the then Baltimore Colts. In 1958, the Colts and the New York Giants played for the NFL championship game.
Unitas, led the Colts down the field to tie the game in the closing minutes of the game. Then, in overtime, as I can best remember, he led them down the field to score the winning touchdown and the Colts won the championship that year.
As Unitas’ ability to move the Colts down the field in the closing minutes of the game were reflected on 40 years later, one sports commentator said something to the effect, “It was the start of the two-minute drill.”
The two-minute drill is one of football’s greatest moments because it makes some fans stand up in anticipation of a come from behind victory or in the hope of hanging on to the lead in the closing moments of the game.
Closely related to the two-minute drill is the two-minute warning in which a time-out is given for teams to plan for the final two minutes of action. If the game is close, then the decisions made are critical. If the game isn’t close, then the fans head for the exits.
But, one thing about the two-minute warning and the two-minute drill, is this, we know that the end of the game is coming.
The specter of war is on the horizon and while some are saying, “Bring it on!” others are saying, “Could this be the beginning of the end?”
In between these statements of the reality and God-ordained place of human government and the parallel reality of the Kingdom of God, are some statements to a group of people who were having disagreements about whether or not it was okay to eat meat offered to idols. Disagreements that all of us know often lead to conflict which leads to churches that split or at least held hostage and rendered ineffective. They are found in Romans 14: 11 and 12:
“For the scriptures say, ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow to me and every tongue confess allegiance to God.’ Yes, each one of us will have to give a personal account to God.”
In Romans 14, Paul addresses a conflict, a point of disagreement in the church that is causing problems among its members, one that calls for some new perspective and counsel.
Now Paul gives good and Godly counsel to them: In verse 1 he says, “Accept others where they are and stop arguing with them. In verses 3 and 4 he says, “stop looking down and condemning one another and respect each other instead.” In verses 7 and 8, and I am summarizing here “ we are God’s people no matter what!”
But, then Paul goes on to basically say that that all of this disagreement, all of this debate, is on things that really are unimportant, trivial, and insignificant in light of the reality of eternity and they really do not matter. Why? Because one day we will stand before God and have to answer to Him about our lives. And nothing else will matter at that point because the game will be over.
Could we be living in the final two minutes? Are we a step away from the end when Christ will return and He will judge every single human being that has ever lived? Have we been given the two-minute warning? I don’t know.
I drew the conclusion many years ago that I believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and that God the Father, as stated by Jesus in Acts chapter 1, only knows when that time will be. My job is to follow, obey, and trust God. And today, I stand before you and reclaim that mission all over again.
What about you? Are you ready for the game to be over? Are you prepared for the game to be over? Have you made your peace with God? Are you living in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ? And if you are, are you also living in a right relationship with your family, your church family, your friends, your boss, your co-workers, and your fellow students? You see we have to include verse 13 along with verses 11 and 12, “So don’t condemn each other anymore. Decide instead to live in a way that you will not put an obstacle in another Christian’s path.”
Perhaps you have noticed the message on our exterior signboard. It says, God Transform America. That was a deliberate doing on my part.
I believe that God wants to bless us. But, blessings come as we trust God, as we obey God, as we follow God; in other words without being transformed into the image of God through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, blessings are less likely to come our way.
Jeremiah basically said the same thing to his fellow Israelites many centuries ago: “Get right with God! Practice righteousness don’t just pay it lip service!”
This morning, we are going to close in a time of individual and corporate prayer. In a moment a song that I believe summarizes what I have tried to say this morning will be played. It is titled “When All Is Said and Done.” It is a song that reminds us that in the end there is just one thing that matters – are we living our life for God?
As the song plays, the altar is open for prayer. Come to the altar as you need to and spend some time in prayer before the Lord, no one will bother you. And let’s seek the Lord together this morning. Once the song concludes, I will lead us in prayer and benediction.
At the beginning of my remarks this morning I said that a preacher pastor’s words name worlds that can set us free and build us up or bind us and tear us down. The words that I say today are a 21st century paraphrase of Christ’s words in Luke 20: Give to America what belongs to America – our trust, our support, our prayers, our respect of all, and our good citizenship. But, give to God what is God’s – and that is everything, because without God, what would we ultimately have? And in the end only one thing will really matter. Does it matter to you? Amen.
