“Some Things Never Change”

I Timothy 2:1-7

Paul’s letters to Timothy included a sort of manual of operations for the church in Ephesus, in other words, an early book of order. Part of what needed to be ordered was worship. The first instruction was to pray. Prayer was then, as it is now, the spiritual glue through which the Holy Spirit works to keep the church unified, faithful, and alive. Some things do not change – ever!

These prayers – of intercession, supplication, and thanksgiving are to be prayed for all people: rich and poor, highborn or lowly, kings and slaves, saved and unsaved. Why pray for all people, especially those who govern us? The first answer is pragmatic. All authority is derived from God, even when it is misused. Those who govern us are to be prayed for even when their governance is incompetent, corrupt, or sinful. The church in the First Century needed a government, in whatever form, to maintain a stable environment in the world around it. This is still true in the Twenty First Century. As an aside, our great Reformed ancestor John Calvin feared anarchy more than he did tyranny. The relationship between church and state is, of course, a topic for another whole sermon, or maybe even a sermon series.

Moving on: The prayers we pray are set within a much larger context than the relationship of church and state. We are called to pray for all people because it is God’s desire that everyone to be saved. Jesus Christ, the one and only Mediator between God and humankind, gave himself as a ransom for all. It is incumbent on us, then, to pray for all people: near and far, friends and enemies, the well known as well as stranger – people we like, people we don’t like, people who oppress us and wish us harm, even those who hate us enough to want to destroy us. All people, everywhere, are deserving of our prayers. Why? Because all people, everywhere, are loved by God. All people, everywhere, are people for whom our Lord Jesus died.

Praying for some people is hard; doing so goes against the grain of human nature. Loving them is even harder. Liking them is impossible. Be that as it may, we are still called to pray for them. And then, obeying the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to imitate the Apostle Paul in his missionary work. We are not Apostles, as such, but each of us, in his or her own way, is a herald for Christ, a proclaimer of God’s truth, and a living model of the Christian faith. We are all witnesses. We are all evangelists. Our primary calling as Christians is to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus meant it when he said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28)… [and]…you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1) That’s another one of those things that isn’t going to change – ever!

Several months ago I preached a sermon entitled “Have We Prayed About It?” With some modification that is one of those sermons I can preach to any congregation anywhere. Prayer isn’t an option. Nor is it an obligation. Through prayer we maintain an intimate relationship with God. By prayer we discern God’s will for our lives and the life of the church. With prayer we ask God to intercede in our lives and the lives of others. We cannot truly be a church at worship unless our worship includes prayer. Nor can we be a working church unless the work we do is prayerfully determined. If we are not a praying church, we cannot be a faithful church. Without prayer all of our planning, dreaming, and hoping will amount to nothing. An effective church is a praying church. That doesn’t change either – not ever!

Prayer has to come first in all that we do. It is not an after thought. It is not something to be quickly gotten out of the way so that we can move on to real business. Prayer is essential, and nowhere is it more essential than during the worship service. How could the praise team praise God without there being an element of prayer in all that it does? How can we be led by the choir to sing joyfully and confidently the great hymns of the church unless we – the choir and the congregation – consider each hymn a prayer? How can I preach God’s Word and how can you hear and understand that Word without prayer? How can we truly fellowship as the people of God unless we are praying together?

Prayer – everything begins and ends in prayer. Or more correctly, everything we do is wrapped in prayer. We are to pray without ceasing, but that doesn’t mean that we are not also to be working. All people are to be prayed for. All people are also to be witnessed to. We don’t want to fall into the trap of being so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good.

Some observations after a month on board here: This is a praying church, a church where people truly love Jesus, and it shows. This is a church that knows how to worship, not just joyfully but also competently. This is a working church, a hard working and busy church. This is a mission-minded church. The budget and various mission projects reflect that mindset. This is a church serious about God’s Word, a church where theology really does matter. It is also the most inclusive church with which I’ve ever dealt. There aren’t many places where the preacher can look out over the congregation and see Koreans, Filipinos, Pakastanis, Africans, African-Americans, and Anglo-Americans. It’s as if we’re living out that old Sunday school song from my childhood: “ Red and yellow, black and white; [we] are precious in His sight. Jesus loves [all the] children of the world.” Christ’s death as a ransom for all obviously taken seriously here.

By way of our own mission statement we also make it clear that this is an orthodox and evangelical church. Orthodox, evangelical, and inclusive: not a bad combination. Now come the questions, and these truly are questions and not observations: How often does our evangelical-ness translate into evangelism? How often do we see our service and outreach projects as vehicles for evangelism? Do we think of our worship services and education programs as tools for evangelism? Is our facility user-friendly in terms of evangelism? The same question needs to be asked about our bulletin.

In one way or another our prayer life, worship, Christian education, service projects, and mission support should ultimately lead us into evangelism. We are, after all, heralds of Christ and teachers of faith and truth to those outside the church. Jesus has told us to “go therefore.” He has made it clear that we are his witnesses. Sometimes in our dealings with the state our witness must be prophetic. At all times it must be evangelistic. And like everything else we do, our evangelism must be under girded by prayer.

Hear again some of the words of Paul to Timothy: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone… This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved… there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all… For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle… a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

None of that ever changed for Paul, or Timothy. Nor should it change for us – not now, not ever! Amen.