The 17^th Sunday after Trinity

SERMON

INI

Text: 1 Timothy 2:1-6

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

In Christ Jesus, who urges us to remember our neighbors’ greatest needs, dear fellow redeemed:

In your bulletins today you will find the fourth article in a series of articles on the “Christian Citizen.” The purpose of the articles is to encourage all of us to be good citizens, to exercise our right and responsibility to vote, and to identify various biblical principles with which to evaluate both the issues and the candidates in the upcoming election. We exercise our right to vote, however, only one or two days each year, if that often. How ought faithful Christians exercise their concern for their country on all the other days? In reality there are many way—from leading honest and productive lives, to keeping informed on the issues, to participating in neighborhood watch groups, to volunteering our time for charities. In all of these ways we fulfill our Savior’s will by loving our neighbors as ourselves (cf. Matthew 22:39).

In our text the apostle Paul speaks of two things that we can do on a regular basis to help meet our neighbors’ greatest needs. Let us listen to PAUL’S INSTRUCTIONS TO CONCERNED CHRISTIAN CITIZENS! What does Paul tell us to do? He tells us, first of all, to pray for all people! He tells us, secondly, to proclaim Christ to all people!

I.

Paul’s first letter to Timothy is filled with general instructions for Timothy, a young pastor, and the members of his congregations. He says in the opening verses of our text, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”

Dear friends—dear fellow concerned Christian citizens, Paul here urges us to pray for all people, but especially for those who govern us. How often do we do this? How often do we pray for people other than ourselves, the members of our immediate families, and our friends? Have we prayed for the people in Florida, who have endured four hurricanes in eight week? Have we remembered to include in our prayers those people along the Gulf coast and eastern seaboard, who lost their homes and businesses to tornadoes and flooding rivers in the aftermath of those hurricanes? Have we looked beyond out own country and prayed that the Lord might comfort the grieving parents of Beslan in Chechnya, whose children lost their lives in a terrorist attack upon their school some weeks ago? Have we appealed to the Lord’s mercy to bring to an end the oppression of the Christian population in the Sudan where extremists and mercenaries are guilty of genocide? I must confess for myself that while these people, who are surely included in Paul’s reference to “all men,” enter my thoughts from time to time when I read about them in the newspaper or hear about them on the radio, it is very seldom that I fall to my knees in supplication for them. How about you? May God forgive our lack of love!

Paul mentions in particular “kings and all who are in authority” stating that we should take special care to keep them in our prayers. His goal is that the Lord, who assures us that “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16), will indeed respond to our prayers with His blessing and enable us to lead a “quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” While we do not have a king, we certainly have a President and Vice-President. We have Senators and Representative, Supreme Court Justices, and other magistrates. We have governors, mayors, and city council members. We have police and fire personnel. We have county and city workers. Do we pray for them, as often as we complain about them? Are we all too quick to criticize our public officials and workers when things go wrong, but ever so slow to intercede with God on their behalf so that things will go right? I believe that I am. How about you? Could it be that our society is not as “quiet and peaceable” as it might be, because we have not taken its concern to our Lord in prayer? May God forgive our failure faithfully to uphold in prayer those whom we have chosen to serve our public interest!

My dear friends, while we must with sorrow confess our many sins in this area, we can be uplifted by the knowledge that God will forgive us our failures as we confess them. He sent His Son Jesus to die for all sins and has promised to cleanse of all sins as we indeed confess them (cf. 1 John 1:9). Let us, however, determine from this moment on to take the time and make the effort to pray for our public officials. Surely our President needs our prayers, whether you and I personally support or oppose his policies. Pray that the Lord would give him and his advisors wisdom as they carry out their duties. Let us pray for all of this year’s candidates, that the Lord would grant them honesty and integrity, that the Lord would move them to have as their highest goal the service of our country and its citizens. Let us remember the members of our Armed Services, who are placing themselves at risk in order to preserve for us that “quiet and peaceable life” Paul mentions in our text. Let us remember their families as well and pray that the Lord might comfort them in the midst of their separation. Our Savior promises, “Ask, and it will be give to you” (Matthew 7:7). Let us take our Savior at His word. Let us listen to PAUL’S INSTRUCTIONS TO CONCERNED CHRISTIAN CITIZENS! Let us pray for all people!

II.

Let us proclaim Christ to all people! The apostle writes, “It is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” As we pray for all people, may we remember to pray for their soul’s salvation. God loved the world and sent His Son to die in order to remove the sins of the world (cf. John 3:16). Jesus’ death, however, does not guarantee that all people will be saved, for the blessings of Jesus’ redemptive work are received only as people place their faith in Jesus as their Savior. The Scriptures tell us, after all, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Let us pray that all people “come to the knowledge of the truth” as we share it with them!

We are in the midst of a war on terror. Those promoting the terror in our world today are for the most part members of extremist Muslim sects. While these terrorists are our enemies, and we must be prepared to defend ourselves from them, let us always remember Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). How often have we prayed for the conversion of Osama bin Laden or any of the other terrorists? I must confess that I do not often do so. How about you? It is so hard to do that, is it not, yet this is the task our Savior places before us, and He shows us the way. He died for a world, which has rejected Him, yet He prayed for them as the nails were driven through His hands. He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). He was crying out for our forgiveness and for the forgiveness of all men—those who collectively are responsible for His death by virtue of their sin.

Let us defend our country from our enemies, but let us also as the Lord gives us opportunity proclaim Christ to our enemies. Jesus Christ, not Muhammed, is the “one Mediator between God and man.” Jesus is “the Word” through which God has spoken to us in these New Testament times (cf. John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:2). Let us tell everyone how by nature they are prisoners of Satan in view of their sin, but that Jesus Christ has freed them through His blood and thereby reconciled them to their God.

Paul says that this gospel message is “to be testified in due time.” That “due time” was then and the apostle Paul proclaimed Christ throughout the Roman Empire. That “due time” is now and we are to proclaim Christ here in Mankato, throughout our United States, and then throughout the world as the Lord gives us opportunity. We do not know how much time is left for this world of ours, but we do know that this world will come to an end. We do know that God has commissioned us to be His witnesses and to proclaim the gospel to every creature (cf. Acts 1:9; Mark 16:15).

This we can do right here in Mankato each and every day. I was visiting with one of our senior members this past week, and he mentioned that each morning he prays that the Lord would give him just the right words to speak to others about his Savior, should he have that opportunity. The very morning of the day we visited, he was able to speak to two young men working, I believe, on his utilities and share with them the message of Christ. As we pray for all men, may we pray for opportunities to share our faith—to bring to people truths revealed by God, which can and will instill life to souls by nature dead in sin.

In two weeks we will be celebrating our fall Mission Festival. The letters you have been reading in recent weeks from Pastor Ohlmann and Missionary Koenig have informed you of all of the exciting opportunities God is providing us as a church to spread the gospel. You and I may never see the shores of India, yet one is seven people in our world today live in that land. Our support of the efforts of our Indian brothers and our fellow Christians throughout the world help us do what the apostle Paul encourages us to do—proclaim Christ to all people!

How does proclaiming Christ relate to being a concerned Christian citizen? There is no better way to promote the welfare of our country than by sharing our faith and leading others to Christ. The Bible tells us, after all, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 33:12). Hearts that have been won by the love of Christ will love in turn, serve others, and sacrifice their own desires to the public welfare. May we then be led to be good citizens every day and in every way, but especially by praying for our fellow citizens and proclaiming to them the precious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting