A Timely Message

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  February 5, 2023

Click here to listen to the service 
  
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1 – 12
 

This morning, our New Testament lesson comes again from Paul’s letter to the believers in the Corinthian church.  As you may recall from a couple of weeks ago, the Corinthians were struggling with how to live as Christians in the midst of a corrupt and chaotic society… and Paul’s letter was written for the purpose of giving them guidance and instruction.
 
It does not seem like a far stretch to say that the world the Corinthians found themselves living in has more than just a passing resemblance to the world in which we are living right now.  That is why I want to suggest that today’s New Testament lesson, really is A TIMELY MESSAGE.
 
With the exception of Luke, the Apostle Paul is credited with writing more of the New Testament than anyone else.  His words have inspired believers in Christ for generations and his writings are responsible for the Good News of Jesus Christ being shared around the world for centuries.
 
And yet, if we were to take a closer look into Paul’s background, we would find that at one point in his life, most people would have considered him to be the least likely suspect to spread the gospel and preach about salvation through Jesus the Christ.
 
You may already be familiar with the story of Paul, whose given name was Saul.  He was a Pharisee and a man on a mission to stop the spread of Christianity.  He requested and was granted permission to go out and capture Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem.  He witnessed and approved of the stoning of a man named Stephen… one of the first people to be martyred for the cause of Christ. 
 
And he did all of this with the firm belief that he was acting to protect Judaism from what he believed to be a dangerous movement… that movement which would come to be known as Christianity.
 
Saul’s story is proof positive that even when we operate with what we believe to be perfectly pure motives and intentions… we can still get things completely wrong… which is why the Lord had to stop Saul in his tracks on the road to Damascus.
 
That portion of Paul’s life is often referred to as his Damascus Road experience… because it was on that road that Paul met Jesus and, suffice it to say, his life was changed forever… and that change has created a ripple effect that continues to impact people to this day.
 
Now, one thing that I believe is worth noting about Paul is his sense of humility.  He was a brilliant man who studied under the greatest scholars of his day… but he made a point of not overwhelming his audiences with ten-dollar words that would have kept them (and us) from understanding the point he was trying to get across about Jesus and the path to salvation.
 
As Paul explains in our text, the truth about what God did for us through Jesus was a mystery that the rulers of Paul’s time did not understand… because if they had understood… they would have known that by crucifying Jesus they were actually fulfilling God’s plan… not thwarting it as they might have hoped… in fact that was the same hope Paul had when he was still known as Saul… “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1).
 
And, Paul was also a man who did not attempt to hide his flawed past… even going so far as to call himself the “worst of all sinners” in a letter to his young protégé, Timothy (see 1 Timothy 1:15 – 16).   Paul was not so much concerned about creating an image for himself as he was about using his life as an example for others… to give them hope that if God could use him… well, God can and will use anyone.
 
And that is why what we find in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is such A TIMELY MESSAGE for us…
 
Paul starts his message by taking the focus off of himself and placing it squarely on God and the power of the Holy Spirit.  He did this to ensure that those who heard his message would not rely on human wisdom as the basis for their faith… rather, he wanted their faith to rest solely in the power of God.
 
Whenever we seek to share the Good News about Jesus… we should be like Paul… never losing sight of the fact that it is not about us.  Even if we are sharing our own testimony with someone… it should not be about the things that we have said or done… but about what God has done for us, in us, and through us. 
 
Unfortunately, we live in a day and time when people can become so enthralled with the messenger that they totally miss the point of the message. 
 
We can get so swept up by personality and celebrity that we lose focus of the personal relationship with the only One worth celebrating… Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
 
That is why Paul’s message is such A TIMELY MESSAGE for us…
 
There is so much going on in the world that is competing for our attention.  And while it is not all negative… it does have the potential to distract us from what our primary mission should be… telling a dying world about a Living Savior.
 
So, we must be intentional and not let the circumstances that surround us become a deterrent to following Christ’s commands for our lives… as we seek to live out the Great Commission… loving God, loving the people of God, and making new disciples who will in turn do the same…
 
And that means even when our present circumstances involve challenges that may seem insurmountable and feel impossible to withstand… we still have a mission to carry out.
 
Keep in mind, Paul was no stranger to hardships in his own life.  He was lashed by the Jews (five times), beaten with rods by the Romans (three different times) … he was pelted with stones, and shipwrecked on more than one occasion… and he was faced with opposition from friend and foe alike (see 2 Corinthians 11:24 – 26) … not to mention even being imprisoned for substantial periods of time.
 
To say that Paul was a man well acquainted with what it means to live in the midst of hard times would be an understatement… and yet, he never let that discourage him from fulfilling his mission.  He never used his difficulties as an excuse to keep him from preaching the Gospel.
 
In fact, he even went so far as to write this to the Corinthians in a subsequent letter (2 Corinthians 12:6 – 10):

Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
 
Paul’s TIMELY MESSAGE to us is one of endurance, persistence, perseverance, and determination… even in the face of opposition.  It is a reminder that even in the wake of heartbreak and tragedy… we still have a responsibility… to proclaim the Good News and let others see the power of God at work in our lives.
 
This past week, I was moved by something that was said by RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols… the 29-year-old man who was murdered by five Memphis police officers… a man who was the father of a 4-year-old… a man who was savagely beaten, tased and pepper sprayed… a man to whom first responders refused to respond or render aid in a timely manner.
 
And what RowVaughn Wells, the mother of this young man, said was this:
 
I do know that he was a good person. And that all this – all the good in Tyre will come out and so that’s what keeps me going because I just feel like my son was sent here on assignment from God… His assignment is – was over. It’s over… And he was sent back home. And God is not gonna let any of his children’s names go in vain. So, when this is all over, it’s gonna be some good and some positive because my son was a good and positive person.
(https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/27/us/rowvaughn-wells-tyre-nichols-mother-interview/index.html)
  
Listening to RowVaughn Wells speak about the good that can and will come from the horrific death of her son calls to mind another Son who was beaten and killed without justification or provocation… a Son from whose death, good has and will continue to come for all eternity.
 
Now lest anyone think I am equating Tyre Nichols with Jesus, I am not… I did not know the young man… and I honestly do not know much about him outside of the news reports…
 
And that’s okay, because there is no one who could ever be equated with Jesus.  There is no one who will ever live up to the standard that He has set.
 
But what I will say is that finding the good that can come out of the most horrific and unimaginable situations is exactly what Jesus would have us to do… for even in His death we have the promise of the Resurrection and the gift of eternal life in the kingdom of God… and it cannot and does not get any better than that.
 
This becomes even more abundantly clear in Paul’s letter to the Romans, where we read in Romans 8 (28, 38-39):
 
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose… For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
And I want to suggest that this is the TIMELY MESSAGE that we are to pass on to others… that there is absolutely nothing… no thing… that can ever get between God’s love for us. 
 
Now, I will be the first to admit that there are days that I don’t feel all that loveable… I say and do things that I know would have been better left unsaid or undone… but I am human and I accept the fact that I do fall short.
 
And yet, Paul’s life bears witness to the fact that even when we are at our lowest, God’s love is still able to reach us… because there is no distance too far and no gap so wide that it will put us out of range of the love of God.  That means even on our worst days God still loves us and can still use us for His glory. 
 
So, the next time we are tempted to throw ourselves a pity party and decide that we have gone beyond the point where God would want us to do anything for Him… let us call to mind the man named Saul who God transformed to become the Apostle Paul… and let us remember how he brought A TIMELY MESSAGE  about God’s love and salvation which has been given to us through Jesus…
 
And then let us be willing to respond like Moses when God called to him from a burning bush (Exodus 3:4) … and like Samuel when God spoke to him when he was still a very young man (1 Samuel 3) … and like Isaiah when God asked whom He should send (Isaiah 6:8).
 
We, like those whom God has used throughout human history, have been blessed to be a blessing through the power of God’s Holy Spirit… what we choose to do with that blessing is up to us to decide.
 
I believe Paul’s TIMELY MESSAGE, found not just in today’s text, but throughout his writings is meant to encourage us and empower us to lift our voices and raise our hands and say with conviction, “Here I am, Lord” … use me. 
 
And if we are willing to make that commitment to let God use us for His glory, then I want to invite us to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Here I Am, Lord #452.
 

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