God's Approval

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

October 24, 2004

Text: II Timothy 2:11-15a

  In the passage we read this morning Paul quoted from a liturgy probably used in services of baptism: If we have died with (Christ), we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.   I want to talk about what Paul meant. What did he mean when he said: “ If we have died with him, we will also live with him” ? Paul was saying basically the same thing when he wrote in the 6 th chapter of Romans: 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ... 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.   We sense what Paul meant. In talking about dying with Christ, Paul not only meant our physical death but also our death of sin, our death of self-centeredness and selfishness. This is not some grim ordeal we suffer through. It is more like what members of a championship basketball team experience. They happily give up the ego trip of hogging the ball and taking all the shots for the sake of the joy of teamwork and winning. Our replacing self-centeredness with Christ-centeredness is not a burdensome way of living. It is the way to fulfillment. It is a way of living that sets us free to experience the joy and the peace that comes from living in harmony with God. We are able to live in harmony with God when we stop living like the little children I mentioned in last Sunday's sermon -- the ones who clutch their toys tightly and walk around declaring: “Mine!” can we live in harmony with the grace of God.

When we live in harmony with God, we understand life is a gift; we see our abilities and opportunities as gifts; we understand all we are and have is a gift. This is why we are able to sing “This is my Father's world ...” and really mean it. When we are in harmony with God, we alive with Christ and able to sing: “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee,” and so mean what we are singing we can also sing with integrity: “Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect, and use every power as thou shalt choose.” This is not sung with grudgingly, but with joy. When we are in harmony with God and alive with Christ, singing such lyrics in an expression of joyful gratitude. This is what Paul was pointing toward when he wrote: If we have died with (Christ), we will also live with him.   Paul then went on to affirm that “if we endure, we will also reign with (Christ).” Or to say this in other words, if we are persistent in our striving to live Christ-centered lives rather than self-centered lives, we will not be defeated by life -- not even when we have to deal with crucifixions. We will be able to deal with even the worst that can happen, because we are confident the grace of God will see us through in this life and the next. To reign with Christ means that just as life and the cross could not defeat Jesus, whatever we must endure need not defeat us. To reign with Christ is to live as Christ lived, trusting God. When we live our lives confidently trusting God, we are able to face whatever must be faced and have the ability to move on with hope. When we alive with Christ -- not merely holding some beliefs in our head but actually being alive with Christ – we reign with Christ, regardless of our circumstances.

Paul went on to express the other side of the coin also: “If we deny Christ, he will also deny us.” There are consequences. If we live self-centered lives, it will be impossible for us to experience life as God intended life to be experienced. As long as we are wandering through life clutching all have and childishly declaring it to be “Mine,” it will be impossible for us to experience life as God intended. When we declare our lives and all we have as “Mine,” deep and profound gratitude to God becomes impossibile for us to experience. When in our self-centeredness we are unable to recognize the amazing generosity of God, we are simply unable to experience the most profound of human joys -- deep gratitude to God. There are consequences that come from living self-centered, selfish lives.

If in our self-centeredness we deny Christ, we cut ourselves off from Christ, and we are unable to receive what Christ offers. This is what Paul was pointing toward when he wrote: “if we deny Christ, he will also deny us.”

Of course this does not mean our sin (our selfishness and self-centeredness) has the power to control God and God's love. Our sin does not stop God from loving us, any more than a child's disobedience stops the parent from loving the child. Our behavior does not control God's ability to love. God loves us regardless. As the passage we read states: “If we are faithless, God-in Christ remains faithful because God cannot stop being who God is.” And as is stated in the First Letter of John: “God is love.” God loves us, regardless. It is just that when we are living self-centered lives, rather than Christ-centered lives, we are unable to receive the richest gifts of grace God is offering. God continues to offer grace; but as long as we go through life tightly clutching all we have declaring “Mine!” we will be unable to receive all that God is offering. Our sin does not destroy God's ability to love us; our sin simply and profoundly cuts us off from God. But God remains faithful to who God is, regardless; and because of this, there is always hope for us.

In the passage we read this morning, Paul was instructing Timothy, to remind the people of all this. “Warn them,” Paul wrote, “warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, and simply get on with living in such a way that their lives receive God's approval.”

How easy it is to try to avoid the truth of God by wrangling over words. We can become so involved in what I call “religious nit picking” that we miss the main thing. On days such as this, it is easy for us to miss the main thing and become enmeshed in wrangling over words. “What do you mean by a tithe?” “Is that before or after taxes?” “Now what is the amount I am expected to give?” “Just exactly, what is my fair share?” You know the sort of questions we wrangle over on days such as this.

But this sort of word wrangling does not deal with the fundamental issue facing us.

And deep within us, we know that. Perhaps that is why we do so much word wrangling; it is a way to avoid or postpone dealing with the basic issue. The basic issue we are facing has to do with our basic view of life and our basic values and priorities. Most of us would rather wrangle about words and formulas and definitions used in a campaign about financial stewardship than face questions about our fundamental commitments.

“Warn them,” Paul wrote Timothy; “Warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only undermines trust, confidence, faith.

Focus on being worthy of God's approval, on being workers with nothing to be ashamed of.”

  God, help us do that. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:
God, thank you for your various gifts of grace -- for the abilities and opportunities we have been given. Thank you for material blessings that not only help make our lives more pleasant but also enable us to experience the joy of sharing with others. Forgive us when we forget that all we have is a gift and drift away from you and into a life of selfishness and self-indulgence. When we pause to think, we really know better. We are especially grateful for the Church and for this special congregation. We thank you for the opportunities of worship, the times we focus on your presence in our lives and receive your gifts of grace that renew our faith and deepen our commitment. We thank you for the joy and fulfillment that comes through opportunities to serve others in meaningful ways. We thank you for the fellowship that enriches our joys and supports us in times of trial. We thank you for opportunities of study and prayer that increase our sensitivity to your presence and motivate us to be your servants in your world. Most of all we thank you for the gift of your son, through whom we have discovered who you are and who we are meant to be. Enable us to live the prayer he taught us. “Our Father ...”

  The New Revised Standard Version , ( Nashville , TN : Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989. “Take My Life, And Let It Be” The United Methodist Hymnal, #399 See I John 4:16