October 21, 2012
An Audience of One - Proclaiming the Word
- 2 Timothy 4:1-5
- Rev. Jim Capps
This is the season of the year when a lot of people in the Midwest go deer hunting. For some, it’s a yearly ritual to which they look forward for months. Such was the case for three friends: a lawyer, a doctor, and a preacher.
Their first day out, the first day of hunting season, along came a huge buck with a great rack which had more points than they had ever seen. Each one of them quickly raised his gun and shot virtually at the same time. Immediately, the buck dropped to the ground and all three rushed up to see how big it actually was. They were amazed at its size.
But they soon realized they had a big problem. They weren’t certain who had really shot the biggest buck they had seen. Since the trophy buck would be the source of fame and many good stories for years to come, a heated argument broke out. Even though they were great friends, each one insisted that he was the one who had brought the buck down.
As they were embroiled in conversation, a game officer, with whom all of them were acquainted, came by and asked what the problem was. The doctor told him they were debating who shot the buck. The officer spent several moments examining the buck and then said with confidence, “The preacher shot the buck!”
They all wondered how he had come to that conclusion so quickly. The officer responded, “That’s easy. The bullet went in one ear and out the other. It had to be the preacher.”
Secretly, I was hoping that because of your experience, none of you would see the humor in the story. But it’s quite evident that you do.
Today in this final sermon on the subject of worship in a series we have called “An Audience of One,” we are to be looking together at preaching or the proclamation of the Word of God in our worship experiences. While the preached Word is the longest part of most worship services, it is meant to be a part of the whole experience of focusing our attention and gratitude on the Great Creator God to whom we have come to express our love and adoration.
If we understand that worship is about God, our Audience of One, and not the one proclaiming the Word, we are in concert with this whole idea. Too often through the centuries, we have raised high the messenger and not the One who sent the message.
Believing this to be true, more and more it’s seemed right to develop preaching teams. While I have been responsible for the proclamation of the Word, I have shared it with the other pastors on staff. We planned sermon series together and then I would preach only about 60% of the time. It allowed for the Word to be delivered through different voices.
At Southport, we had three other pastors besides me. Each of us had a very different and distinct view of the world. Our missions pastor always looked at life through a global lens. Our Pastor of spiritual formation and care viewed life more through the lens of psychology and inter-personal relationships. The third pastor, who had a PhD. in Old Testament, was a wonderful scholar and teacher. It was so much fun watching each of them grow and develop as they proclaimed the Word through their individual styles and personalities.
I once had an old time member of the church come to me and say that he wasn’t sure about that approach at the beginning. Then he began to realize that he really liked hearing four different voices. He went on to say that he had his preference, but it really wasn’t important any more.
I pray that the same thing might be true of us. It’s never about the messenger delivering the message, but always about the message itself. Therefore, we don’t publicize ahead of time who is going to be preaching on particular Sundays. Our Audience of One whom we have come to worship must be the central focus and not the one doing the major part of the speaking.
With all of this said, let’s stop talking about proclaiming the Word and let me begin doing it. Our scripture passage today comes to us from the last of Paul’s Prison Epistles or Letters. He has been incarcerated in Rome for the second time, this time in a cold, damp cell, unlike the first time when he was under house arrest.
He has served the Lord faithfully for 30 years. But now under the deranged Roman Emperor, Nero, who is trying to kill off Christians, Paul’s life is in grave jeopardy. In fact, as Paul dictates these words to Luke, it is probably only a matter of days later that he is beheaded.
Paul is writing to his beloved protégé, Timothy, whom he led to Jesus in the backwater town of Lystra. Then Paul mentored the bright young lad as he traveled with Paul from town to town on his missionary journeys.
In II Timothy 4:1-5, Paul has come to the end of his letter and is speaking what he considers to be the most important words to this young pastor of the Church of Ephesus. Like all pastors, Timothy always has more to do than is possible, so he must establish priorities. His spiritual father and mentor, Paul, is telling Timothy what must be his top priorities.
Let’s read Timothy’s mail, as I read II Timothy 4:1-5.
Prayer for Illumination
PAUL CHARGES TIMOTHY TO PREACH THE WORD.
It’s important to note that the Greek word for “charge” here is a legal term. It had the idea of the seriousness or impact of testifying under oath. It is dripping with feeling and passion.
The reason for this high level of emotion in this charge is that it is given in the presence of God and Christ, who will ultimately judge between the living and the dead. There is a sense of urgency believing that Jesus could “appear” or return at any moment. Likewise it is given great importance because it is charge given on behalf of the One who is the King of Kings. Do you see the way Paul is ramping up the passion as he writes these final words to his much-loved protégé?
The charge begins with the highest priority for Timothy in his ministry- Preach the Word! The Greek word here for “preach” comes from the root “kerygma.” It is the proclamation a herald would make in a marketplace when he would shout aloud, gaining everyone’s attention as he delivered an announcement on behalf of the king. So he is speaking not on the basis of his own authority, but on the basis of the One he represents. There also is a deep sense of urgency when the herald understands whose message he is delivering.
This word for preaching is the same one used for Jesus’ first activity of ministry in Matthew 4 after He has finished His temptation in the wilderness. His message was the same as John the Baptist who was incarcerated: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
What is to be the central focus of that proclamation? It is the “Word.” Did you notice that “Word” is capitalized? There is a sense in which Paul is talking about the Word of God, the “God-breathed” and authoritative “Scripture” which he just wrote about in verses 16-17 of the previous chapter.
As we worship our Audience of One, the Scriptures, the Bible must be the source of all preaching. If preaching is nothing more than my word or my stories, then I am leading you astray. Frankly, my word, or the word of any other preacher can never be enough to meet our deepest needs; to rebuke, correct and train in righteousness; to equip men and women of God for the doing of every good work.
We desperately need the Word of the Creator/Sustainer which will always stand the test of time. In the Old Testament, the prophets were called to speak the Word of the Lord to the people of Israel. So it must be for today’s preachers as we proclaim God’s Word to our world.
While it may not have been exactly what Paul was thinking when he wrote to Timothy, John called Jesus, the Word, God’s supreme means of communicating to our world. As Christ Followers, it is so important that when we preach, we give them Jesus.
The Christian vocalist, Fernando Ortega, captures this idea with his song, “Just Give Me Jesus.” Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, will be presenting a conference for women downtown at the Convention Center in April entitled, “Just Give Me Jesus.”
Every time we worship our Audience of One, we must give people Jesus.
AGAIN WITH GREAT URGENCY, PAUL CHARGES TIMOTHY TO BE PREPARED IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON.
In other words, Timothy, you must always be alert to buy up every opportunity which is placed before you. Timothy must be ready and willing to proclaim the Word in all times and seasons.
I really like the words of Philip Towner as he writes about this idea of constant readiness:
“It brings to mind the doctor on call in the emergency room or an obstetrician whose schedule must be determined by need, where readiness and availability might be the difference between life and death. It is available Christians who will be able to seize the moment and win people for Christ or come to the aid of struggling brothers and sisters in the church.”
Then Paul gives Timothy 3 tasks which he must do if he is going to be faithful in preaching the world in all seasons.
- · He must correct. Another translation has it as “convict,” or point out a person’s sin or wrong doing. We must love people enough to be honest with them about is right and wrong, using the Bible as our guide.
- · Closely aligned to correct, Timothy must rebuke. It’s a step past correcting or convicting. It’s like the Prophet Nathan when proclaimed to King David, “You are the man!”, when talking about his sin with Bathsheba, which he was trying to cover up.
It’s like the brilliant but spoiled Alcibiades, the darling of Athens, once said to the great philosopher, Socrates after Socrates had corrected and rebuked him, “Socrates, I hate you, because every time I meet you, you make me see what I am.”
I must admit that we preachers don’t like to correct and rebuke any more. We are afraid that people will think we are trying to be “holier than thou.” So for fear of being misunderstood or being rejected, we “water down,” at best, or fail altogether to correct and rebuke.
- · Paul next states that Timothy must encourage the people to whom he proclaims the Word. The Greek word here has the same root as the word “paraclete” which Jesus uses in John’s Gospel to talk about the Holy Spirit. It has the idea of one who is called alongside of another to bring comfort or counsel or encouragement.
Wow! Do you see how important that is in proclaiming the Word when the preacher is also correcting and rebuking? One writer says that encouragement here has the idea of very practical responses to the Scriptures. “This is what it says; let’s do it.”
Another writer puts it this way:
“No rebuke or conviction should ever be such that it drives a man to despair and takes the heart and hope out of him. Not only must men be rebuked, they also must be encouraged. Encouragement is at least as much a Christian duty as rebuke.”
Paul goes on to say that these 3 tasks should be wrapped in “patience and careful instruction.” It’s crucial that the words of the message and not impatience or self-righteousness which is conveyed.
Do you feel encouraged to make changes in your life when the Word is proclaimed with patience and careful instruction as you are corrected, rebuked, and/or encouraged? I wholeheartedly believe God wants to accomplish those tasks in our lives as the Word is proclaimed, hopefully, week after week.
PAUL NEXT PRESENTS A WARNING TO TIMOTHY.
Listen again to Paul’s passionate words of warning in verses 3 and 4:
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
The problem that Timothy faced in his contemporary culture is much like we face today. There would be those who, instead of correcting, rebuking and encouraging, would speak words which people wanted to hear. In Timothy’s day those teachers were easy to find. They were called “Sophists.” For financial gain, they would go from place to place speaking flattering words which tickled people’s ears.
William Barclay, Scottish biblical scholar described the sophists like this:
“Men in the days of Timothy were beset by false teachers hawking round a sham knowledge. Their deliberate policy was to find arguments and teaching whereby a man could justify for himself what he wanted to do.”
Does that not sound familiar? Would Paul speak the same words of warning to any preacher in our day and age?
In an obvious way, we think of the TV preachers who have pleaded for people’s money promising them prosperity and material blessing if they heed “God’s call.”
I’ll never forget sitting in my mother and step-father’s mobile home with them as they tuned into one of their favorite TV shows, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. This was after they had been exposed for their fraud and opulent lifestyle, yet, were still on the air. As they talked about the way they were being abused, my Mom said that they still sent them a little bit of money each month because they felt sorry for them. They were tickling people’s ears.
When I was a pastor in St. Louis, our church had become the largest in the presbytery. As I was chairing a campaign to raise money for new church development and redevelopment, with our church prepared to pledge three times more than any other church, the presbytery was discussing sending three overtures to the General Assembly which for me were problematic. They concerned an issue which I believed the Bible and the church had called clearly a sin.
When I got up to speak against the amendments, in an orchestrated plan, two seminary professors got up on either side of me, since the method for discussion was “pro-con-pro-con.” I admitted that I didn’t have a corner on the truth, but believed the Bible had spoken clearly on the issue. It was on the basis of biblical authority that I urged people to vote against the overtures. In a closing statement I said that if I had to choose between the Bible and a denomination, it would always be the Bible.
The professors on either side of me stated first that the Bible really didn’t say what the church through the centuries and I believed it did. Next, they tried to discredit me by saying that we are much better informed today and must move past the ancient ideas of the past. All three of the overtures passed and were sent to the General Assembly.
It seems to me that, like Timothy’s day and age, our contemporary culture has acquiesced to the desires of the people and has left behind the standards of morality I believe to be found in the Scriptures. We have “itching ears” and don’t want to hear words which would make us feel guilt or shame. As I have said before, a couple of years ago I heard the former academic dean of Princeton Seminary say, that after a year of study on the subject, he believed that our culture today is more like the First Century than any other since that time.
Lest we sit comfortably pointing our fingers at the culture out there, we are every bit as guilty and culpable. While we stand up against alternative lifestyles and some of the gross sins of “those people” out there, we, like the Israelites in the Book of Judges, have “done what is right in our own eyes,” while self-righteously pointing our fingers at “them.”
If we are going to be obedient to God and see a spiritual renewal in these United States, it must begin with you and me repenting, turning around, and moving back to God. The words of the old Negro Spiritual are true for us, “It’s not my brothers or my sisters, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”
APPLICATION
In verse 5, Paul completes his charge to his beloved protégé by saying:
- · “But you (in contrast to the sophists and any others who would seek gain by speaking to the itching ears of the people of your culture),
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- · keep your head in all situations.
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“ isx charge
- · “Endure hardships.” Preaching the Word by correcting, rebuking, encouraging, may be costly. People don’t want to hear words which cause them to feel guilt and shame. Paul, the writer, is a great example of enduring hardships as he writes from a prison cell, soon to be executed under a maniacal emperor.
- · “Do the work of an evangelist.” Keep preaching the Word, giving people the good news of Jesus, so that they can find forgiveness, joy, peace, and hope in a personal relationship with God.
- · “Discharge all the duties of your ministry.” In the midst of difficult times, Timothy is not to retreat into a shell of protection. When he soon would find out that Paul had been executed, Timothy must continue to preach, teach, and heal like Jesus and his beloved mentor, Paul, had done.
My dear friends, as we conclude this series of sermons and this service worshipping our Audience of One, I pray you and I would hear Paul’s final charge as if it were spoken to us. May every part of our worship, whether it’s the prayers, the music, the challenge, the Lord’s Supper, the baptisms, and the Word proclaimed, cause us to:
- · Keep our heads on straight, often in contrast to the world around us.
- · Endure hardships in a world and culture which is increasingly more secular and less godly.
- · Do the work of an evangelist, making disciples and releasing disciples into our world, following the example of Jesus.
- · Discharge the duties of our ministries, caring for people in every way possible with every opportunity that is placed before us.
If we keep our eyes on our Audience of One, I believe God will use ZPC to make a difference in our world in a significant way in the days to come.
If you have particular concerns or issues which you brought with you today, or, God has moved in your mind and heart and you would like to speak and pray with someone after the service, there will be people at the cross in the alcove to my right.