The
Old Testament reading we heard from Jeremiah earlier in today’s service talks
about the destruction of Judah and the pain and suffering felt by its people. The
destruction was caused by the sins of the people. Jeremiah identified with the
people and their pain and suffering. We as Christians must also identify with
people and their struggles and pain, especially when they sin. That doesn’t
mean that we join them if they sin. For example, we can pray for certain
Canadian senators who cheated on their expenses, but that does not mean that we
have to join them by cheating on our income taxes or our employers. We have to
open our hearts to the people we serve. When we do, we show God’s love.
All
of us need comfort at some point in our lives. There’s no such thing as a
pain-free life. God allows pain and suffering because they draw us closer to him.
Our pain creates a need for God. God is the “balm in Gilead” that Jeremiah
refers to.
One
of the ways we can show God’s love for people and therefore identify with them
in their suffering is to pray for them. For example, in the Prayers of the
People we pray for the victims of all conditions of mankind-war, sickness,
poverty, death and so on. Praying in faith gives us power. How does this
happen? It happens because we tap into the greatest power known to
mankind-God’s power to change things.
God
wants us to be a prayerful people, but he also wants us to pray for people.
When we pray for others, we are following the instructions Paul gave to Timothy
in 1 Timothy 2:1-7. All blessings from God are conveyed through mediation from
various agents, including the prayers offered by his children. The chief
blessing of our salvation comes from the intercession and mediation of Jesus
when we believe in him in faith. If we pray for everyone, we believe that God
loves everyone and that Jesus died for everyone. In order to pray for everyone,
we must enter into active relationships with them. It doesn’t matter if they
are friends, enemies or total strangers. God wants everyone to be saved, and
Christ gave himself as a ransom for everyone.
Jesus
is the only mediator between us and God. This fulfills Old Testament
prophecies. Jesus fulfilled God’s desire for all people to be saved and to know
the truth of God’s love. We fulfill these same desires when we share the
Gospel. Part of that process includes continually learning Biblical truths and
growing closer to God. For example, every time I prepare a homily, my research
helps me discover more truths about what is written in the Bible.
It
was God’s grace and desire to save lost humanity which saw Jesus born in a
stable in Bethlehem. It was God’s wish to bring all mankind to the knowledge of
the truth which motivated Jesus during his earthly ministry. It was God’s goal
to save everyone from an eternity in hell that motivated Jesus to remain silent
during his trials, suffer without complaint when he was tortured, and offer
words of forgiveness to those who nailed him to the cross. Jesus’ rescue
mission show how God was committed to saving us, and it is a rescue mission
that we have been asked to share with a lost and dying world.
One
group of people that Paul tells us to pray for is our leaders. God is
responsible for the appointing of people to positions of authority. We must
seek his counsel as revealed in Scripture. We must talk to God about men before
we talk to men about God. We do this through prayer. We pray for our leaders so
we may live in peace, quietness, godliness and dignity. This is often hard to
do because of the situation our world is in today. There are wars and rumours
of wars all around us. Look at the current situation in Syria for example.
When
we are in fellowship with God, his love enters us and remains in us. When we
show kindness to others, his love is revealed through us. Love in this sense
benefits both the giver and the receiver. It allows us to become happy people.
We show this love when we pray for others.
Our prayers are for our own benefit as well. Prayers from other
Christians encourage us. Prayer is our expression of faith and dependence on
God. When we pray, we serve Christ instead of ourselves. This goes against our
carnal, selfish nature with its emphasis on self instead of on Christ. When we
pray, we discern God’s will for our lives.
Whether
he knew it or not, the shrewd money manager Jesus talks about in Luke 16:1-13
was faithful because he was generous to his master’s debtors. This might not
make sense at first glance because the manager was being dismissed for being
dishonest but by reducing the amount each debtor owed, the manager was being
generous. Faithful people are generous when they don’t have anything to give.
The
manager was a good example of Paul’s statement that the love of money is the
root of all evil. The manager loved money so much that he charged interest on
the money his boss loaned to people. Jewish law prohibited the charging of
interest, but the manager was able to get around that law by increasing the
amount of the debt owed. For example, if a debtor owed 50 chickens, the manager
increased that amount to 100 chickens and pocketed the difference. When the
manager reduced the debts, he looked good in the eyes of both the debtors and
his boss.
There
are five principles in which God will test us and bless us, just like he tested
and blessed the manager.
1.
God gives to
generous people. When we are generous, we are like God. When the manager was
generous by forgiving part of the debtors’ loans, he was being generous. He was
following the part of the Lord’s Prayer where we ask God to “forgive our debts
like we forgive our debtors”.
2.
Obeying God’s vision brings God’s provision.
When the manager reduced the amounts of the debtors’ loans, he gained their
friendship, and that friendship would be needed after the manager was
dismissed. In other words, God provided for the manager’s future when the
manager obeyed God’s will be reducing the debts.
3. When we do all
that God tells us to do, he does what we can’t do. When the manager obeyed
God’s will by reducing the debts, the manager’s boss was pleased. God changed
the heart of the manager’s boss.
4. When we have a
need in our lives, we are to sow that need as a seed, and it will come back to
us. The manager needed the help of the debtors, and he planted that seed of need
by reducing their debts.
5. There is always a
delay between sowing and reaping. In the case of the manager, we do not know
when the people whose debts he reduced helped him, but we do know that he
received praise from his boss as soon as the boss found out what happened. The
delay between sowing and reaping was a test of faith, and the delay when we sow
a seed of need and the time when we can reap the harvest is also a test of our
faith.
We
can’t put our security in money because money is not as safe and secure as we
think it is. Look at the current worldwide economic situation for example.
People are losing their jobs. The prices of oil and gas are going through the
roof. The world’s future is uncertain, but we can have the certainty of a sure
future because we have a sure faith in God.
If
we are faithful in the small things God gives us, he will trust us with bigger
and better things. If we are faithful where God plants us, he will work through
us. We need to be wise as we do God’s work in our world. By doing so we will be
the masters of our money, time, and talents instead of letting them master us. If
we use our wealth and resources to serve God, we will be welcomed into God’s
kingdom.
We are never too important to help with menial tasks. In fact, God will never let us avoid menial tasks. Doing small tasks shows that we have a big heart. Big things often disguise themselves in small tasks. Integrity shows up in the stuff no one sees or the events that happen behind the scenes.
If
we are faithful in the small things, God will give us more and better
opportunities to serve him. This sounds like something preachers of the
Prosperity Gospel would support, and I can tell you from experience that this
is true. My own ministry in this parish started out by reading lessons during
worship and has increased to the point where I lead worship services. I have
also served the church at the Regional level by assisting with the Lay Ministry
course that was put on last fall, and I also served at the Diocesan level by
designing the pages of the Leap of Faith donor book. God gives us more and more
trust based on how we use our God-given resources. We reap what we sow.
Like
the shrewd manager, we have to make decisions about our future, especially our
eternal future. We are called upon daily to account for how we have used what
we have been given, especially how what we have been given has been used for
God’s service. The people of Judah were called upon to account for how they
used the relationship God had with them, and they were punished by the
destruction of Judah. Paul instructed Timothy on how to use his faith to relate
to the people he dealt with on a daily basis, and the result was that Timothy
became one of Paul’s most trusted and faithful followers. Jesus calls on us to
use our God-given gifts, including prayer, to further our faith and God’s work
in this world. If we are successful, we will receive the help we need to cope
with life’s challenges. What is more important though is that we will receive
the greatest reward God can possibly give us-eternal life with him in heaven.
1.
Demarest,
G.W. , & Ogilvie, L.J.: The
Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 32: 1,2 Thessalonians/1,2 Timothy/ Titus (Nashville,
TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.: 1984)
11. Stanley, C.F.: The
Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NASV (Nashville, TN: Thomas
Nelson Publishing; 2009)
13. Larson, B., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 26: Luke (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1983)
19. Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, 23rd
Sunday, Year C”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org
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