Timothy-November 10, 2007
Jeremiah 14: (1-6) 7-10, 19-22; Ps.84; 2 Tim.4:6-8,16-18; Luke 18: 9-14
How about those Red Sox?! Talk about fighting the good fight! Pretty impressive. But unlike the apostle Paul, they have won the race…..
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, the end of which we heard today, Paul is preparing for his death. He says he has fought the good fight. He says he has finished the race…notice he did not say he had won the race. He goes on to say that he has kept the faith. kept the faith…. Paul was in such close relationship with God through Jesus Christ that God, the Holy Spirit, was able to give him the GIFT of FAITH. In other words, it was not Paul’s own personal faith in Christ, but rather the faith of the Son of God implanted in him. So it was no longer Paul having faith in his faith, but Paul having and keeping the faith of Jesus. Paul was given the spiritual gift of faith that can only come from the Holy Spirit. That gift of faith is a far cry from having faith in ourselves and in our own beliefs.
Jesus makes that abundantly clear in today’s Gospel. Jesus, as we see in much of Luke’s gospel, is speaking to the Pharisee’s who were very strict in the observance of their beliefs, and, therefore, they saw them selves as very righteous, indeed. In fact, they had become so sure of their convictions, so sure that they were righteous, that they held everyone who did not do or believe as they did in contempt. If this sounds familiar it is because we all have the tendency to do the same thing.
In the parable, two men come to the temple to pray…to worship. One was a self-righteous Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. A tax collector was considered one of the worst sinners and was banned from Jewish religious and social life. In first century Palestine the responsibility of collecting Roman taxes was usually given to either Gentile or Jewish agents who could and often did charge any tax rate they wished as long as the gov’t received its due. So the tax collectors often became quite wealthy. The reason that tax collectors were so shunned by devout Jews was because they regarded the paying of taxes to a foreign power as treason against God. So, therefore, a Jewish tax collector was considered a collaborator of the worst sort.
These two men both come to the temple to worship, each bringing something different. The Pharisee is so sure that he is righteous before God, that he thanks God that he is not like other people who do or think or say the “wrong” things. What he brings to worship is his self-righteousness, putting HIMSELF on the throne instead of God. He is more impressed with his own holiness than he is with God’s holiness.
The tax collector, on the other hand, enters the temple and is so aware of God’s holiness and glory that he can only beg for mercy. The tax collector brings to worship a broken and contrite heart. He puts God on the throne instead of himself.
Have you ever thought about what we, (you, me) bring to worship? Do we come to church or to Timothy pleased with ourselves because we have made the effort to come? Are we here because we think we are being “good” Anglicans? Or are we here in body, but not in spirit, because we are distracted by the cares of this world that we bring with us? Are we so imbedded in the issues of ecclesiology that are affecting the Anglican Communion that we are not able to bow down before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Do we fail to recognize the glory of God in this place, in the world or in our lives and the lives of others, because we are so impressed with our opinions, beliefs, attitudes and certainties. Do we see where other people are failing and then turn that discernment into comments of ridicule and criticism instead of praying for them? What do we bring to worship? And by worship I mean everything we think, say, and do as Christians. Whom do we exalt? Ourselves or the God who created us?
The Pharisee came to worship, exalting himself because he was so certain in his beliefs. And, my brothers and sisters, we tend to do the same thing and may not even be aware of it. We MUST beware! Otherwise, we could end up not really believing in God, only in our own belief about him.
We humans are not comfortable with uncertainty. We do not like or feel safe with ambiguity. We really want to forecast what will happen next. Look at all those polls about the presidential election that is over a year away! Our commonsense tells us that certainty is a virtue, but the real mark of the spiritual life is uncertainty. We may be uncertain of the next step, but if we put God on the throne of our lives, instead of ourselves and our need to always vindicate ourselves, then God can work in us his glorious will. When God is on the throne of our lives, then we are in right relationship with him, and our lives will be full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.
The Pharisee came before God with a triumphal heart. The tax collector, on the other hand came before God with a penitent heart. Because he was penitent, the tax collector was open to a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. He was open to repentance and thus accountability. The Pharisee, in his triumphant attitude, left no room for God. No room for reflection or correction. No possibility of deepening his relationship with God, and thus no room for any kind growth or amendment of life. As theologian Jim Wallis says: “Real faith leads to deeper reflection and not—not ever—to the thing we as humans so very much want… CERTAINTY”
The question for us today is: Do we come to this gathering or to any meetings of Timothy with the attitude of the Pharisee or do we come with the attitude of the tax collector. Do we come with triumphal hearts or penitent hearts? Do we come because we desire, long for, a deeper, more intimate relationship with God? Or do we come feeling triumphant, so sure, so certain that we have got it “right” that there is no room for God in our hearts and lives, and relationships? Let alone room for reflection or correction. If we come with triumphant hearts, then you can be sure that there will be no possibility of deepening our relationship with God, and, therefore, no room for any kind spiritual formation. The Pharisee came with a triumphant heart that was brimming over with spiritual pride, not with the joy of the Lord.
Timothy has been in existence for three or more years. It has established itself as a viable worshipping community. Now it is time to reflect on who we are, how we are doing, and how can we be more effectively on mission. We need to re-evaluate our Vision and our Mission. The first step in that is repentance. We need to come before the Lord with repentant hearts, not triumphal ones. We need to ask the Lord to identify those places where spiritual pride is a stumbling block to our relationship with Jesus, both individually and corporately. This so important because, with such a stumbling block in place, spiritual formation and growth is not possible. Why? Because the Holy Spirit can not speak to us or guide us or edify us. So the first step in re-evaluating or vision and mission is repentence.
Next we need to articulate our vision, our invitation, in such a way that others will know what we are for, not what we are against. Recently, Dwight, Kathy and I went to Bp. Bill Murdoch’s investiture at All Saints in Amesbury, MA. It was a glorious celebration. The presence of the Holy Spirit was palpable. In the program, the vision and mission of All Saints is very clearly stated in positive, compelling ways:
Our Vision is : To grow in the Way of Jesus
Our Mission is: To follow Jesus-
Reaching out with the transforming love of Christ,
Ever learning the Truth of His Word,
Being formed by His presence in community and sacrament,
Serving His people and the world,
So that all people will come to know Him as Savior, and follow Him as Lord.
There is nothing negative, judgmental, or triumphal. Instead, the emphasis of their vision and mission is on spiritual formation and mission.
To be clear on our vision and mission requires it us to commit to real spiritual formation. Spiritual formation means for each of us, individually and corporately, to grow in love and knowledge of God in Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You cannot have one without the other. One of the problems of the “emerging paradigm” or progressive theology, as the “new” theology is referred to, is that, although it believes in God as Creator, but Jesus is no more than a great teacher thus there is no credence given to the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Trinity does not exist for them.
We must always remember that God the Creator broke through the confines of time and space, coming to live among us, Jesus, God the Son. He came to die so that our sins could be forgiven and he was (bodily) resurrected so that God, the Holy Spirit, could come and be with us forever. Theologian Eugene Peterson says that the Resurrection is at the center of our spiritual formation. ( Living the Resurrection (2006), p.30)
Never forget that the GOOD NEWS is that through God the HOLY SPIRIT that we are brought back into relationship with God and with each other. We are made children of god. ROMANS 8:14 reminds us that “for all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear but you have the spirit of adoption. When we cry “Abba” Father! It is that very spirit bearing witness to with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ”
The SPIRIT gives us access to God, bringing us into a relationship with him that is deep and intimate. The Holy Spirit reveals to us those things we could not understand when we were walking on other paths. And overtime, the Holy Spirit develops in us what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.3:22) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control....A far cry from the triumphal attitude of the Pharisee!
It is the Trinity that makes being a Christian so unique. All religions strive to bring us closer to God... we often hear it said that there are many paths to God...But it seems to me that those paths only lead us three quarters of the way across the bridge...it is only Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that leads us the rest of the way into relationship with our Creator... Christianity is more than a religion, it is a relationship and that is what makes it unique! It is our relationship with God in Christ that draws us into the family of God and thus into unity with all of our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world...In Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, reconciliation, peace, justice, and unity are possible. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to go out and work for the transformation of society..for justice for everyone, not just a few...Through the Power of the Holy Spirit we are able to transcend that cosmic loneliness that keeps us walking aimlessly on searching for meaning, love, fulfillment..
And the Good News is that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is available to everyone…without exception....all we need to do is to turn to Jesus and ask... Ask Jesus to fill us like a sponge with his Holy Spirit and when we feel ourselves drying out, we ask again!
It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to approach this ministry like the tax collector. The tax collector was so aware of the presence of God, and thus his own unworthiness, that he could not even hold his head up. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that the awareness of and the desire for the presence of God in his life that makes the tax collector and us capable of far more effective ministry in God’s name.
In her book, Desperate for His Presence (Bethany House), Rhonda Hughey says the following:
"The pursuit of God's Presence is not a means to an end. It is the end! What we are talking about is not a formula for how to be more effective in ministry. It is the core of our existence and the purpose of our life. We exist to know Him, to worship Him, and to reflect His beauty to the world around us!
God is waiting and longing for us to experience an awareness of His Presence. Knowing His Presence in theory but not in experience is not biblical faith. It is religion only. We have the privilege as believers to know and experience the tangible Presence of God.
In "The Pursuit of God", A.W.Tozer makes a contrast between being in the Presence of God positionally and experiencing His Presence actually. He goes on to say that, as a result of settling for the positional Presence of God only, contentment takes the place of burning hearts and fervent zeal for the Lord. 'The church then settles for only an intellectual knowledge of God and remains unconcerned about the absence of personal experience' "
For Timothy to be a light on a hill, we must always be our guard that we do not become like the Pharisee. It is a new day. For us to acquire and sustain the burning hearts and fervent zeal for the Lord that inspired the founding of this community of faith, we need to continue to pray without ceasing, read the Scriptures, letting God’s Word speak to our hearts, and we need to commit to meeting together for encouragement, accountability, discernment, and love. Most of all, we need to repent, turn around and ask God to renew a right spirit within us.
So let us rejoice that a new day has begun. May God help us to fight the good the fight with all our might so that through Christ Jesus, God may be served and glorified through the work God has given us to do.
In Jesus name, Amen
The Rev. Marnie Keator
