24 September 2019 SELC District Eastern Circuit Pastors
Conference
Christ the King Retreat Center,
Greenwich, NY
“Preach the Word”
Text:
Luke 22:24-30; 2 Timothy 4; Isaiah 61:1-3
In
the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preach the Word!
Ready or not, Paul says. 10 am, 10 pm, or 3 am. Preach the Word. That’s
what you’re given to do. That’s what you’re given to say. Sometimes people will
want to hear it, sometimes not. Doesn’t matter. You’ll
get tired and impatient. Frustrated and flummoxed. Some days
you’ll want to, some days you won’t. No matter. Preach the Word.
The Word made flesh. Give ‘em Jesus.
That’s what Paul told
Timothy. That’s what Paul himself did. He practiced what he preached. Paul, greatest missionary of all time. . . .
Hold on - I’m not so sure. His congregations actually were a mess. The
Galatians - how quickly they were turning to another
Gospel. The Corinthians - they had problems all over the place! The Romans -
how many times does Paul say: don’t you know? Like he’s
banging his head against the wall. (But you don’t know what that feels
like, do you?)
Maybe that’s why when
Paul wrote to Timothy, he threw in these word too: Preach
the Word . . . with complete patience and teaching. I actually like how
the NIV puts it: with great patience and careful instruction.
Or in other words, don’t expect them to get it the first time you say it. Or
even the 100th time. Just keep saying it, preaching it. Preaching
Him. Preach the Word. Preach Jesus. Give ‘em Jesus.
And that’s what you
do. All of you. God has called and ordained you, put
you where you are, and gave you the same charge. Give ‘em
Jesus.
And sometimes you nail
it! Right? We heard that in one of the videos
yesterday. You have those Sundays when it all just comes together. The Law, the
Gospel, your delivery. You connected. You had the people. Best sermon ever.
Just great! Step down from the pulpit feelin’ good. . . . And then, after the service, not a peep. From
anyone. Not even your wife. No: great sermon Pastor! No: thanks
for that word, Pastor, just what I needed to hear. Nothing.
And then the questions and doubts come. Satan whispers in your ear: failure.
You disappointment. Or, maybe you even get
stung with criticism. Because you touched a sore spot.
Because you didn’t say what their itching ears wanted to hear.
So Paul told Timothy: be
sober-minded, clearheaded - don’t get too high or too low. Endure
suffering - because you will. Do the work of an evangelist
- because preaching the Gospel, preaching Jesus, is hard work. Fulfill
your ministry - diakonia the flock you’ve
been given to diakonia. Just give ‘em Jesus. That’s what they need. That’s what you
need.
That’s what the disciples
needed. The disciples who, like two seconds after Jesus put His Body and
Blood into their mouths, were arguing about who was the greatest. (Which, you think, would make Jesus take His turn
banging His head against the wall.) Greatest? Greatest? Yeah, you’re all the greatest. The greatest
messes! Just look around this table. Here you have the greatest betrayer, the
greatest denier, the greatest doubter, the greatest open-mouth-insert-foot-er, the greatest hardhead . . . Each one, all of them
around that table, each of you sitting here, the greatest like this, in some
way. But look where you are now, Jesus says! At My Table, being served by Me.
Eating My Body, drinking My Blood, receiving My
forgiveness, life, and salvation. You’ve made yourselves great in sin. I make
you great as sons.
And then Jesus got up,
and instead of banging His head against the wall, had a crown of thorns banged
into it, and then had His head banged against the cross. O Sacred Head, Now Wounded. For me. The greatest for the least.
And while Jesus was on
that cross, Satan didn’t whisper into His ear, but shouted in His face through
those mocking Him: failure! You disappointment.
And Paul, in Rome, imprisoned for proclaiming Jesus, at his first defense
no one stood by him; all deserted him. Think the whispers
started then for him? Failure. You disappointment.
But, he says, the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so
that the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
The Lord who preached even from the cross, stood by
Paul and preached through him, and now through you. Every time you step into
the pulpit, every time you dip your hand into some water, every time you stand
at the altar, every time you place your hand on a bowed head - you are not
alone. The Lord you preach stands by you, speaks through you, and fulfills His
diakonia through your diakonia.
When you speak, He speaks. What you do, He does. What you give, He gives. That’s
His promise, for all of us the same.
And
His promise for you today. Jesus absolved you
today. Of all your greatest sins. I don’t know what
sins you confessed earlier, but this I know: they’re gone. As far as the east is from the west. I know, because I heard
Jesus say: I forgive you all your sins. And they are. Remember your
baptism? Because Jesus remembers it. He washed you
then, He washed you now. And you are. Squeaky clean.
And Jesus spoke to
you today. I don’t know what you’re struggling with right now, but this
I know: you’re not alone. The Jesus who speaks through your diakonia also diakonia-ed
you here, spoke to you. I know, because I heard: This is the Word of the
Lord. And it really is. Him speaking, not Dan.
And now, Jesus feeds
you. I don’t know how weak you feel right now, how frustrated, how tired, how
close to just quitting. But this I know: the food that sustained Moses
for 40 days and 40 nights on Mt. Sinai, the food that sustained Elijah for 40
days and 40 nights after Mt. Carmel, the food that sustained Paul in his dark
nights, is now given to you. I know, because I hear Jesus say: This is My
Body, This is My Blood. And it is. Food, to strengthen
you. To Jesus you.
And so with Jesus’ diakonia, Paul’s confidence is your confidence, for
you and for the people you serve: the Lord will
rescue [you] from every evil deed and
bring [you] safely into his heavenly
kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever.
So thank you, brothers,
for all that you do, your faithful diakonia. I
know it’s not easy. Thank you for preaching the Word, ready or not. For the early mornings and the late nights. To the grateful and the ungrateful. For
giving Jesus. Fight the good fight, finish the race, keep
the faith.
But remember this, too,
which is so easy to forget: the Jesus you give is the Jesus for you, too.
And there is laid up for [you] the crown of righteousness, that
is not only for Paul, but that Jesus Himself will place on your battered
head. And in the end, you can’t get any greater than that.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.