Rev. Doug Floyd

Advent 2, 2025
Rev. Doug Floyd
Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72, Romans 15:1-13, Matthew 3:1-12

This week and next week, our Gospel readings focus on John the Baptist. He is the herald of the coming Messiah. Alongside John the Baptist, we are waiting for the coming of the king.

We are waiting for the coming of Jesus the Christ.

Our psalm today comes to us as the last psalm of David. Did he write it for his son Solomon? Or did his write it for the generations of kings in his line who would sit on the throne of David?

King Solomon ascended the throne in great pomp and glory. He oversaw the construction of the first Temple. Workers spent seven years building this house of worship. Over 180,000 men worked on this project. The walls and ceiling were lined in cedar wood and then covered in gold.  It was sight to behold and visual image of Solomon’s great wisdom.

The dedication of the Temple lasted 14 days.  As all of Israel gathered for a time of feasting and rejoicing. Solomon prayed a great prayer acknowledging God’s mighty outstretched arm on behalf of His people and he concluded with the following words,

““And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.” (2 Chronicles 6:41, ESV)

“As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.” (2 Chronicles 7:1–2, ESV)

Solomon was the golden son, destined to be the Prince of Peace. Though he was wiser than all people, he ultimately failed his people. He brought idols into the land, and he set a course that would split the kingdom in two and give birth to two nations that would struggle with one another and with unfaithfulness to God. Nonetheless, there were a few great kings in the line of David like Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Hezekiah, and Josiah, but none of them lived up to the prayer of Psalm 72.

The sin and idolatry of the people led to judgment. The kingdom eventually collapsed, and the people were taken into captivity. The house of David fell like tree chopped down and rotting in the woods.

And yet,

The Lord was and is faithful to His promises. He had promised to David, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”” (2 Samuel 7:16, ESV)

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19, ESV)

 He did not abandon David. In the words of Isaiah, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1, ESV) The stump would burst forth in new life, and God would restore the tree, the house of David. Though Solomon was wise, this coming king would be wiser. This king would be just and true, and he would delight in the fear of the Lord. He would reign with righteousness and faithfulness.

The words of Isaiah are similar to the prayer of David in Psalm 72. This king, this Messiah would bring stability to the kingdom of Israel and to all the world. He would vindicate the good, the poor, and the oppressed. He would judge evildoers and oppressors. In this kingdom, the poor and the oppressed and the widow and the fatherless would be protected. The stranger and the sojourner would be welcomed. This king would bring true shalom to the world. True peace and harmony.

The land would be blessed. The creatures would be blessed. The people would be blessed. Ancient enmities would dissolve: the wolf would dwell with the lamb, the leopard would lie down with the goat, the vulnerable calf would rest alongside the lion. And get this…a little child would lead them all. The kingdom of the Messiah would be a peaceable kingdom. The world would reflect the good that God spoke at creation. And the people would care for the creation in love and gentleness, and this world would be very good.

Just after our Isaiah reading today, verse 11 says,

“In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.” (Isaiah 11:11, ESV)

Then later in Isaiah 49:6, it says,

 “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”” (Isaiah 49:6, ESV)

The true king of Israel would restore his people and as he did, he would restore the lost peoples of the world, that is the Gentiles. Under his reign, all peoples and tribes of the earth would live in harmony.

The Jews waited and cried out for this king. For this Messiah. But many could not see him when he came. He did not look and act like the king they expected.

When Jesus came, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:2–3, ESV)

The great and mighty God was so great that he could come in humility and gentleness. The great and mighty God came as surprise and comes again as surprise. As Rowan Williams writes in his poem Advent Calendar:

He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed trees to bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.

He will come like the frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.

He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.

He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.

Once again, we are watching and waiting for the coming of the King. He is the same king revealed to us in the Gospels: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

As we look for the coming of the Lord, we are crying out in our distress. In our sweet and loving community, there is still suffering: health challenges, relational challenges, financial challenges and more. Christ has not abandoned us in our struggles. Even as we wait for the coming of Christ at the end of time, we wait for His coming into our lives, our families, our struggles.

When He comes, we don’t always recognize Him. Many times, we see the hand of God in retrospect. We remember. We look back. We realize some of the ways He was present right in the middle of the struggle.

Jesus will come and fulfill the cry of his people. And yet, as always, he will come as surprise. We’ve heard the prayer of Psalm 72, the prophecy of Isaiah. At last, let us hear the vision of the king from John in the Revelation.

Jesus is the faithful witness.
He is the image the Father.
Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead.
The ruler of the kings of the earth.
He loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.
Jesus is the Alpha and Omega
He is the beginning and the End.
He is and was and is to come.
His face shines like the sun in full strength.
Jesus is the first and the last, the living one. He died, and behold He is alive forevermore, and He has the keys of Death and Hades.
Jesus opens the door that no one will close, closes, door that no one will open
He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power
He created all things, and by His will they existed and were created.
Jesus is the Lamb that was slain.

All tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”” (Revelation 7:9–12, ESV)

“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”” (Revelation 15:3–4, ESV)

We are longing for the Marriage supper of the Lamb:
We don’t fully grasp it and yet we long for it. The communion of all things in Christ.

Today, we bring our sorrows, our pain, our failure, our sickness, our loss to him.

He comes to dwell with us in the midst of us.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” (Revelation 21:3–4, ESV)

Behold, Jesus makes all things new.”

“The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (Revelation 22:17, ESV)

O come let us adore Him.

Rev. Doug Floyd

Advent 1 2025
Rev. Doug Floyd
Psalm 118, Matthew 20:1-15

Today we begin the Advent watch. We are looking for the coming of the Lord. Our season begins with a focus on the second coming of Jesus Christ. We watch for the return of Christ.  Gradually, it transitions to the first coming of Jesus. We enter into the hopes and prayers of the ancient Hebrews for the coming Messiah. We are watching. We are waiting.

As we looking for the second coming of Christ today, we read the Gospel story for Palm Sunday. Jesus comes to Jerusalem as the humble King. His entrance begins the movement toward the Passion, Holy Week. By Friday of that week, Jesus will be crucified. This seems like an odd juxtaposition: Advent focuses on the future coming of Christ and we meditate upon the Triumphal Entry that leads directly to Calvary.

Today’s Gospel reading is actually from the 1928 Prayer Book Lectionary. Fr. Les requested this reading as he hoped to preach on the Triumphal Entry. He was unable to be here today, so together we will pause over this story and ultimately seek to consider it in light of the Advent watch.

This story is filled with unresolved tensions that I want to explore. It will be hard to develop all the streams here and it will be hard for all of us to remember what I even say this morning, including me. A helpful Advent practice this week might be to sit with our readings this morning. You might also add Psalm 118 to your meditations. Then ask, “How am I to wait for the coming of the Lord?”

When Fr. Les asked me to preach, he sent me a page of notes he had made. The first note caught my attention, and I’ve tried to sit with this all week. He writes, “Hosanna is a prayer. It means: Help us, Lord. Save us. Intervene and rescue us.”

What a prayer! We could pray this for ourselves in our own struggles. We could pray this for friends and family who are struggling in the swirl of life challenges, health challenges, and job challenges. Everywhere I turn, I meet people who are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, who feel stuck in the valley of the shadow of death, or bear the scars and memories of this valley. Life is hard. Problems are real. Yet Christ is faithful.

In today’s Gospel story, Jesus enters Jerusalem. The rest of Matthew is set in Jerusalem as all the action is pointing toward the Passion, that is the crucifixion of Jesus. We read and act out this story every year on Palm Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Week. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis explains it this way, “the present text begins to shift the emphasis of the narrative from Jesus’ teaching and miracles to events, actions, and gestures laden with profound and mysterious symbolism. The text of the Gospel, we might say, becomes less didactic and more sacramental, less bent on conveying a message and more eager to show the substance of God’s love for the world as it became visible in Jesus’ flesh and blood during the drama of the Passion.”[1] We are beholding a mystery. The revealing of the Lamb of God.

Jesus comes as the king clothed in humility. He enters into Zecheriah’s picture of the coming king,

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9, ESV)

As we talked about last week, Jesus models a power that upsets the earthly picture of power. He humbles himself and enters into our weakness, but He comes with healing in his wings.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem, the crowds line the streets and spread their clothes across his path. They wave palm branches are and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”” (Matthew 21:9, ESV)

This should be familiar. Part of our response during the Eucharist is “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” This is adapted from Psalm 118, which is part of the Hallel or praise psalms sung during the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is a fall festival. It was celebrated earlier this year from the sundown of October 6 to the sundown of October 13.

During the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews look back to their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land. They build temporary booths throughout Jerusalem and cover them with foliage. It is a fun festival with special foods and rituals and time spent with family and friends. If possible, the people sleep in the booths. They eat, welcome guests, study, and remember God’s provision during their journey across the wilderness.

Music fills the air in day and night. At night, oil-filled bowls are lit and the city glows in the soft light. People play instruments and sing songs of rejoicing. They are not only rejoicing in the journey through the wilderness, but they are also giving thanks for God’s provision in the last year. They seek the Lord’s blessing on the land and the people for the coming year. Over time, this festival takes on an eschatological significance as well. They are looking for the coming of the King, the Messiah. Who will bring justice to the land and people, who will vindicate them before their enemies, who will purify the Temple and the land.

I want to focus on one specific ritual. Each morning, the priests process from the Temple to the Pool of Siloam. This pool was constructed during the reign of King Hezekiah as a reservoir to provide the people with water during the siege of the Assyrians. The pool itself carries the memory of provision during difficult times.

The priests fill golden bowls with water and process back to the Temple. After the sacrifices are offered on the altar, the priests pour water and wine at the same time over the altar. The crowds sing psalms of praise and prayers for salvation during the ceremony. At the end of the seven days, the people march around the altar seven times praying the “Hoshana Rabbah,” which is from Psalm 118:25-26:

“Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.” (Psalm 118:25–26, ESV)

In the New Testament, this prayer becomes, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”” (Matthew 21:9, ESV)

The original meaning of Hosanna is “Save us, we pray.” There are two kinds of salvation in ancient Israel. One is a rescue like the story of rescue from Egypt. The Lord comes and takes His people out of Egypt and ends up drowning Pharoah and the army as they pursue the people through the Red Sea.

Hosanna refers to a different kind of salvation. The Lord comes to His people in the midst of their struggle, their threat, their pain. He comes and brings grace so that they might walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Over time, Hosanna also comes to mean “Praise.” It is a praise to our faithful Lord.

When we pray and sing this song in the Eucharist, we are both crying out for salvation and rejoicing in the salvation God has given us in Jesus Christ. Now one more aspect of this image, and we’ll return to Advent.

This celebration and proclamation normally associated with the Feast of Tabernacles is being sung and shouted as the Gospel moves toward Passover. As Jesus enters the city, the people are crying out to the coming Messiah, the King of Israel. What they cannot see is that Jesus is riding to His death.

The cross is at the heart of His coming. His rule and reign cannot be understand outside of the cross. When the eschatological moment or the coming salvation arrives, it looks nothing like what they expected. God’s redeeming grace looks like a bloody and brutal death. How can this be?

God truly comes in the midst. He doesn’t take His people out of this world like the ancient Hebrews being rescued from Egypt. He comes in the midst of our broken lives and broken world. He enters into every bit of brokenness in our world, for He is redeeming the world and reconciling the world to Himself.

Now at the beginning of Advent and during the Eucharist, we cry out, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

We are bringing all our brokenness, the brokenness of friends and family, the brokenness of our world and all our joy, all our thanks, and all our longing for the coming of the Lord in this prayer. This is a cry and a praise that brings together joy and grief. Here we see the cross: both a grief and the unspeakable joy of a people who will not be abandoned by of our God.

As we watch and wait for the coming of the Lord, we don’t seek an artificial joy and a superficial spirituality. We come as we are. Broken yet hopeful. Joyful yet aware of the pain in our world.

We are looking for Jesus to come into our sorrow, our pain, the valleys of our friends, our family, our world. We follow Jesus in the way of laying down our lives for one another. And we long for the coming of our Savior to dwell with us and we with him.

[1] Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Chapters 1–25, vol. 3 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996–2012), 323.

Rev. Doug Floyd

Christ the King 2025
Rev. Doug Floyd
Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 46, Colossians 1:11-20, Luke 23:35-43

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah” (Psalm 46:1–3, ESV)

The mountains are tumbling down. The earth is collapsing. The sea is swallowing the land. All the world is in turmoil, chaos, terror, destruction. Psalm 46 carries the memory of the flood and the dread of the sea. The flood story in Genesis 6 gives us a horrific description of the coming flood.

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:11–13, ESV)

The foundations of the earth collapse under the weight of sin even as the flood waters cover the surface of all things. How do we begin the grasp the magnitude of this deluge. In 2004, a 9.2 earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused tsunami to envelope parts of Thailand and surrounding nations. The waves reached 100 feet high. In the end, over 227 thousand people died and over a million were displaced. The pain and grief and fear of that event still impacts the people there.

“On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene caused massive and catastrophic flash flooding in the lower Appalachian Region, leveling towns and forever altering much of the landscape.”[1] Water is life. We must have water to live. This same source of life can become terror that brings death and destruction, leaving a trail of chaos behind.

These images in Psalm 46, Genesis 6, and our own history help us to see and feel the dread of collapse. As W.B. Yeats, wrote after World War 1,

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst   
Are full of passionate intensity.[2]

Psalm 46 expresses the intensity of this destruction firsthand. It can be a flood. It can be war. It can be the collapse in true leaders. It can be family crisis or even a health crisis. In Jeremiah 23, we see the failure of religious and political leaders,

““Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:1–2, ESV)

Then in our Gospel reading, we see the agony of the cross alongside, the mockery of humanity.

“And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”” (Luke 23:35–39, ESV)

If we are ever to understand the story of Christ the King, we must face the terrifying mystery of Christ the crucified King. He suffers and dies under of tumult human sin and corruption.

Our conceptions of kings, leaders, and power fall short. We see these kings all through Scripture. When Israel cries out for a king, the Lord directs Samuel to give them a king. But he warns them,

“He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,” (1 Samuel 8:11–19, ESV)

The King will take your sons. He will take your daughters. He will take your fields, your orchards, your vineyards. He will take your servants. He will take your animals. Because of the king, you will cry out to God, but the Lord will not answer.

Even King David, the man after God’s own heart. Takes Bathsheba and has her husband killed in battle. Is it any wonder when we see narcissists running businesses, governments, churches, and even homes? Human understanding of power is corrupt and leads to chaos and destruction.

Jesus reveals a power rooted in humility, in self-offering, in death, in love. We still struggle to grasp this power. Even as we follow Jesus, we tend to follow in the way of human strength and power. Look at the disciples. James and John are ready to call down fire on a people who reject Jesus. Peter cuts the ear off a soldier coming to apprehend Jesus.

And we long for the fire from heaven that Elijah called down.

Jesus calls us to follow him in the way of the cross. In his way, we discover a path of peace and grace even in the midst of a world collapsing under the weight of its own sin. Our vision of the chaos all around changes, and we see beauty in the midst of struggle and strife.

In today’s Psalm we read,

“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.” (Psalm 46:4–5, ESV)

The city of Zion will be a place of peace where all nations stream to learn the wisdom of God revealed in Christ. In fact, we are part of that stream. We gather here to worship the one true king of Israel.

Even as Jeremiah prophecies about the unfaithful shepherds, he sees a true shepherd who is coming.

“Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23:3–6, ESV)

Jesus is mocked by humanity as He hangs upon the cross. He looks at the jeering crowds and pronounces judgment as king.

“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34, ESV)

Then He responds to the cry of the thief.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”” (Luke 23:42–43, ESV)

This is what a true king looks like. On this Christ the King Sunday, we are invited to see this world with new eyes. In the place of pain and struggle and collapse, we see glimpses, hints of His glory and love. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien came through the same World War that caused so many to lose faith, that cause Yeats to proclaim, “The center cannot hold.”

They came to see something else. Through the vision of Christ, they eventually tell stories of struggle and strife and fears of the end, and yet they find hope. A hope that emanates from Christ Jesus.

Our Psalmist today sings out, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1, ESV). In the final stanza of his song, he proclaims,

“Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah” (Psalm 46:8–11, ESV)

Our second lesson today fills us with this glorious vision of Christ Jesus,

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:16–20, ESV)

St. Maximus the Confessor said that the vision of Christ heals us and restores our vision of creation. All things become translucent to the glory of the God.

“For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” (Psalm 36:9, ESV)

““The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,” (Matthew 6:22, ESV)

With this vision of Christ, we see hope where others see dread. We see joy and beauty where others see encroaching darkness. Let us rejoice in the goodness of God in Christ which surrounds us in all things.

As I thought of today’s sermon, I kept thinking of Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (Kam A Ka V Vo Le). He combines two beloved songs to give us a vision of hope and beauty, and I would suggest this vision comes as we behold the goodness of God in Christ.

[1] Quoted from the Journal of Appalachian Health < https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11552676/>.

[2] “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats, The Poetry Foundation < https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43290/the-second-coming>

Rev. Dr. Les Martin

Pentecost+23
Rev. Dr. Les Martin
Luke 21:5-19

By your endurance you will gain your lives. – Luke 21:19 NET

In the Name of the Living God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When I was a kid, I would always get to the movies early to see the previews. They meant so much to me in fact, that the day was kind of ruined if I missed them.  I don’t go to the movies all that often anymore, but I do know that they still have previews- often more than a half an hour of them.  Maybe I’ve changed, or maybe the sheer volume of them has become a kind of overkill, or maybe they’re just not as good, but it all seems different somehow. Those few, select previews of my childhood, for movies I so wanted to see, and cut in such a way that they didn’t just give the plot away seemed somehow more monumental, more magical.

Coming attractions. The end of the church year is all about coming attractions. From All Saints Sunday onwards through the last Sundays of the church year and right through the season of Advent, the focus of our lectionary readings turns to what is to come. Our gospel reading today from Luke 21 is no exception. What is coming? It almost plays like some Hollywood thriller.

At the more global level, verses 5 and 6 point to the future destruction of the temple, the religious and cultural center of the Jewish nation. Verses 7 and 8 describe all the false Christs, coming to lead the people of God astray. In verses 9 through 11 we hear of war and worldwide sociopolitical turbulence.  Then, versus 12 to 19 take a more personal turn for the Christian community, describing the persecution and hatred that individual Christians will face in this coming time.  I suppose it might make a good movie, or a poor mass-market series of apocalyptic novels, but as a description of what is coming for the church- thus, for you and me- it is perhaps less thriller and more horror show.

As such, it can provoke fear in our hearts. We feel it in our culture, don’t we? That pervasive anxiety, that sense that things are out of control, not, right? Cultural commentators Peter Thiel and Paul Kingsnorth are both spending a good bit of time musing on the coming of the antichrist these days, although one ironically thinks antichrist will keep us away from a promised AI paradise, while the other thinks that AI is the antichrist.  That’s the thing about end-time anxiety- it is vague and diffuse. We have the sense that something’s going very wrong, but we’re not really sure who the heroes and villains are.  We aren’t often correct, but that doesn’t stop us trying-  we read the tea leaves, consult the political pundits, and dust off the ancient apocalyptic, all in the attempt to gain some measure of understanding, if not control.

Absent such understanding or control, our fear and anxiety may just cause us to give up on the whole project of the future. To surrender ourselves to some form of pleasurable numbing in order to get by. This is the old and yet always new answer found in our human nature. Both Isaiah 22:13 and First Corinthians 15:32 quote the old maxim “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  Glance around- many are facing the uncertainty of this age by taking this route as well.

Our lessons today suggest a third option in the face of what is to come.  Instead of giving in to the endless conspiracy theories, end-time speculations and the bottomless anxiety they provoke; instead of drowning our sorrows beneath food and libations and online distractions, Scripture suggests enduring as the most profitable response to what the future may hold.  Not as a works-based way of salvation for believers, but rather as a practice-based focus that will keep us from getting lost in the fear and confusion of both this present age and the age to come.  Lives built on the fruit of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23)- lives centered both on the practices of Christian living and our own particular vocations, this is what is commended today as an antidote to the fear, uncertainty and yes, suffering- of both our present reality and the coming days.

In the Gospel, we see that the followers of Jesus are to keep their hearts fixed on their one main purpose, which is to testify and to trust in Jesus, both for what they will say, and for their own long-term salvation. What Jesus invites us to is a kind of single-mindedness in our vocation as Christians. This same strategy is what is recommended by 2 Thessalonians, as well. The letters to the Thessalonians suggest that they, like the disciples in Luke, are tempted to waste their time and energy prognosticating about the future. Paul, like Jesus, is clear: It is all about getting on with their daily work. Instead of trying to second-guess God, or even persuade him to do what they want, the call is to patiently and faithfully continue with their lives in Christ. Our Malachi reading suggests that following such an ordinary way of life has an extraordinary outcome. It may look undramatic—even, at times, unfaithful—simply to get on with working, praying and testifying when the world around is in chaos, but Malachi suggests living this way allows you to see things differently. For the ‘arrogant’ and the ‘evildoers’, the presence of God burns like fire. Their lives have been built on straw and so they burn like straw. But to God’s own people, who have accustomed themselves, faithfully, day by day, to his nature and his will, his presence is like the sun, bringing warmth, healing and life.

Disciples are instructed to follow Jesus under all circumstances, never allowing themselves to be distracted, whatever is going on around them.

Beloved, the truth is this:  the end of all things is not our end, Christ is. In our own strange and anxious times, we are called to endure in our work and walk as Christians.  To live as he died- faithful and obedient, no matter what hell may be breaking out all around us.  As our friends in Alcoholics Anonymous remind us, when in doubt, all that is required of us is “To do the next right thing.” Endurance in our Christian discipleship looks like that as well.

This kind of endurance requires of us one other thing: to willfully and deliberately turn our eyes away from the cultural hype and sensationalism and terror marketed by our current coming attractions reel.  To make it an effort of our mind and wills and attention to pay no heed to the chaos-industrial complex that is the true pandemic of our age.  Rather, as Hebrews 12:2 encourages, we should be “keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame.” (HCSB). Seeing him, we see our future, despite what the fear mongers whisper, no matter what happens in or to this world.  As legend has it, when Martin Luther was asked what he would do if he learned the world were coming to an end, he said, “If tomorrow is the Day of Judgment, then today I want to plant an apple tree.”  This, friends, is to pay the fear and chaos no mind, and to endure in the hope that is ours as daughters and sons adopted in Baptism.  Such hope and endurance speaks the truth we need to remember:  Christ and his kingdom are the real coming attractions and we are alive in them already.

Rev. Doug Floyd

Pentecost +22 2025
Rev. Doug Floyd
Job 29:23-27a, 2 Thessalonians 2:13–3:5, Luke 20:27-38

Jesus says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (Revelation 1:17-19)

Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”” (John 11:25–26, ESV)

I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. (The Apostles Creed)

We are journeying together from resurrection to resurrection, from glory to glory. This does not mean we won’t struggle, or we won’t lose jobs, or we won’t suffer heartbreak, or face serious health problems. It does not mean life will be sunny side up all the time. But it does mean that we have been adopted into the family of God, and he will lead us into the fullness of His love and glory. We are not alone.

Consider Job. He feels alone. He feels abandoned by God and condemned by his friends.

He is physically suffering, mentally broken, and emotionally exhausted. In this state of turmoil, he cries out for a kinsman-redeemer, that is a close family member to defend his cause and stand for him.

Job has been judged and accused by his friends of hiding some secret sin for this struggle in his life. But he believes he has been wrongly condemned. We see this same anguish in some of the Psalms as the writer cries out for vindication. “Oh God remember me.”

He cries out,

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another. [1]

He fully expects to die with all his problems, but he wants a kinsman-redeemer to stand up for him even in death to a declare his innocence. He says, “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God….” It is possible that he sees God as his Kinsman Redeemer. He wants God will stand on the earth and vindicate him.

What Job couldn’t see from this angle is that God would address him personally while he was still alive. He would learn how little he understood of God’s great creation, and at the same time, God would call him to intercede for his friends. God would recognize his covenant with Job, and Job would be vindicated. Throughout church history, the people of God read Job’s words and see Jesus.

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

Here’s an odd twist: Jesus is the kinsman redeemer but at the same time, he like Job, suffers the curse and must be vindicated. He dies on the cross as a cursed one. In three days, the Father calls, the Spirit breathes, and the Son rises in power and victory. When the Son rises, he is vindicated and all creation is transformed: the beginning of a new heavens and new earth. Jesus calls us to himself, and we rise with him. Even now we are being raised up from glory to glory. But we will also rise from the grave, the Sons of the Resurrection.

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

The Sadducees have come to Jesus with a trick question about a man who dies, and his brother takes his wife to provide for her an inheritance, but he dies. And this keeps happening until seven brothers have married her and died before providing the inheritance of children.

When we hear this passage, it is easy to get caught up in the first part of Jesus’ answer. When he says, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,” (Luke 20:34–35, ESV)

But the point of Jesus’s answer is not to be found here. People either debate this meaning or struggle with questions about the afterlife. We won’t be married anymore? We won’t recognize our loves ones? What is this resurrection life? Will we even like it?

Trust me. We will like it. Joy unspeakable. We are not capable of understanding now what we will be then. But listen as Jesus continues,

“for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”” (Luke 20:36–38, ESV)

In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, those who trust in Jesus are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

This is a lot to unpack. More than we could do today. It is mind-boggling, and it’s too bad that this phrase is often lost behind the phrase that we will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

Now to be clear: sons of God is not about men alone. Jesus is talking about men and women: we are sons of God; we are sons of the resurrection. As He looks to His own death and resurrection, He looks to our resurrection in him, our adoption as Sons of God.

Consider what Paul says in Galatians, “So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:24–28, ESV)

In Christ, we are born again into the family of God. We grow up into Christ. Think of a baby in the family. At first, it cannot walk, it cannot talk. It is totally dependent. Though it seems helpless, the baby models for us a way of complete trust. Oh, that we could trust our Father in heaven the way that baby trusts it’s family to provide.

The baby grows up. She learns to speak. She learns to walk. She runs. She plays. She laughs. Yes, she makes mistakes, but she learns over time. She doesn’t question if the family will kick her out. She is safe.

We are safe in the arms of the Father. He will not leave us; he will not forsake us.

When the baby grows up, she becomes of image of her family. We bear the image of our Father in heaven.

This whole story of our adoption as sons of God and sons of the resurrection is rooted in the death and resurrection of Christ. It is the only way. Hans Urs Von Balthasar speaks of the Last Supper as Jesus is preparing to die. He says, “It is an hour which cannot be transcended, and to which men must return time and again (as the formulation of the command repeatedly to ‘do this’ indicates). For beyond it there is nothing, save the bringing to completion of what it freely inaugurates: dying. Yet it is itself eschatological, in that it goes eis telos, to the final end of love (John 13:1).”[2]

Every week we return to Jesus pouring out His life completely and feeding us with His body and blood, His very life. People are amazed by the story of the feeding of the five thousand, but for over two thousand years Jesus has been feeding the multitudes with His body and blood.

He is the food, the feast of resurrection life. As we partake in the body and blood of Christ, we are being prepared to go forth as the sons of resurrection. To go forth pouring out our lives in love.

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:4–7, ESV)

This is the way that love is.

As Rowan Williams reflects on this wonder of Christ’s death and resurrection, he uses the language of “unbounded world.” The new creation is breaking in, in and through us, and we cannot grasp the glory of this unfolding in Christ. But we can celebrate it and anticipate it.

As Paul says in Romans 8, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19, ESV)

Now this is being revealed now even as we look in hope for the full unveiling. Even now, Christ works in and through His children to make known the good news, to bear the good news in our feet of peace, our hands of service, our mouths of grace. Though we are sons of resurrection, we still age. Our bodies grow weak, our limbs fail us, and at some point, we die.

Now, when we hear these kinds of things, it’s hard for us to really imagine the glory we walk in day by day. Day by day, it feels mundane. We go to work, or we sit at home or go to a coffee shop or meet with people. Whatever we do. It feels like we’re just repeating mundane activities. It does not feel like a life filled with glory. It doesn’t feel like some missionary on the mission field being threatened with their life and eventually being killed.

And yet, Soren Kierkegaard said, that’s what it means to be a knight of faith. To get up. and live your life unto the Lord, whether you’re a plumber, car washer, a coffee drinker, or whatever it is you do. That’s the knight of faith, because you are living in hope of the resurrection and in the mystery of God, Christ is working his glory in and through you. So let us rejoice in the goodness of our God in Christ. Let us serve and lay down our lives, let us reveal His redeeming grace in word indeed. Let us look with hope for the complete unveiling of His glory in us. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Job 19:25–27.

[2] Hans Urs von Balthasar, Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter, trans. Aidan Nichols (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005), 96–97.

Rev. Doug Floyd

All Saints Day 2025
Rev. Doug Floyd

In the early fifth century, St. John Chrsysotom delivers a sermon on the holy martyrs. He says,

What can I say, and of what should I speak?
I skip and am driven out of my mind at this great chastity.
I fly and dance and am in the clouds and am as drunk by this spiritual pleasure.
What can I say, and of what should I speak?
Of the strength of the martyrs?
Of the readiness of the city?
Of the zeal of the Queen of Cities?
Of the gathering of the rulers?
Of the shaming of the devil?
Of the defeat of the demons?
Of the goodness of the Church?
Of the strength of the Cross?
Of the miracles of the Crucified One?
Of the glory of the Father?
Of the grace of the Spirit?[1]

He goes on to compare his joy to that of King David when he welcomed the Ark of the Covenant back into the Tabernacle in Jerusalem. He is rejoicing in the holy relics of the martyrs being moved into the Hagia Sophia. Though it seems a little odd to us, it is a recognition that those who followed Christ into death were not abandoned but shine out in glory. As I read about the honoring of these relics, I kept thinking about the Old Testament story of Elisha’s bones in 2 Kings 13.

A man was being buried when a marauding band of Moabites appeared. The body was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and the person immediately came back to life. The early church saw this story as a picture of how even the bones of God’s holy people were full of glory.

Chrysostom delivers many sermons on the martyrs a week after Pentecost, and it appears the Eastern church began celebrating a feast of Holy Martyrs or All Saints a week after Pentecost. And they continue to celebrate All Saints Sunday a week after Pentecost today.

Feasts like this appear throughout the empire on May 13. The Western church formally began recognized this feast in early seventh century. Then, in the early eighth century Pope Gregory III celebrated a feast “of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors, of all the just made perfect who are at rest throughout the world” on November 1. From then on, the West has celebrated All Saints Day on November 1.[2]

The Western church considered these saints as people who reached perfection before they died. They developed a process of recognizing saints through a formal canonization process that required that the saint had performed miracles. In some ways, both the Eastern celebration of martyrs, and the Western celebration of saints are forms of celebrating the risen Christ. Saints and saint stories are rehearsing the story of Christ and the work of Christ in His people. In fact, the liturgy reflected the Easter liturgy.

Today is November 2, All Soul’s Day.  This was a day set aside to pray for those believers who are in purgatory. The formal doctrine of purgatory emerged in the 12th century as theologians were grappling with the intermediate state of souls who not perfected before death. The Eastern Orthodox church and the Reformers (including the Anglican church) rejected the doctrine of purgatory.

I lightly explained the Roman Catholic understanding of saints: those who achieved perfection in this life as demonstrated first by a life of holiness. After interviews, the church designates the person a “Servant of God.” Then the church looks for evidence of “heroic virtue.” If approved by Pope, the person is called “Venerable.” Finally, the church looks for at least two verified miracles. If found, the person is recognized formally as a Saint.

This process is very different from the Orthodox and Reformers view of saints. Originally, the Orthodox called martyrs saints. If we read St. John Chrysostom’s sermons on saints, we will see that he refers to them as “friends of God.” I want to come back to this in a moment.

The Reformers, including the Anglicans, follow Paul’s pattern where he refers to believers as saints. Such as, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.”[3] In sense the people of God are called saints and are becoming saints. But then there is the image of God’s people being perfected. The writer of Jude says, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24–25, ESV)

We are the righteousness of God in Christ, and we will be presented as righteous, as blameless, and perfect. We are being changed from glory to glory. Joseph Ratzinger spoke of purgatory in his General Audience on January 12, 2011.[4] Drawing upon Catherine of Genoa he suggests purgatory is part of this life as the believer and is sanctified by the work of Christ. This is much closer to the view of the Reformers.

When we say “saint,” we are referring to members of the community of Christ both present and those who have already died. Markus Barth has said something like, “Christ is Christing Us Christward.” Christ is raising us up into the great communion. We are being changed and when we see Him we will be as He is. When I address God’s people, I like to use the word saints to remember of God’s call upon our lives.

We remember those who Christians who were part of our lives and communities as well as those Christians who were martyred and who lived in ages before us. We are all part of one communion.

With this in mind, let me say a few more words about the Orthodox idea of “friends of God.” The chief image often used is Abraham, a friend of God. This is one of my favorite people in Scripture, and if you’ve heard me talk about him in the past, please forgive any repetition.

Abraham is called out by God. “Go ye forth.” Leave behind your world, your father’s house, your people, your land. I will show you the place where you are going. And Abraham goes. Hans Urs Von Balthasar has suggested this is how we might define the experience of God. It is a going forth. Rather than simply an ecstatic experience (which it can be) it is a call to go forth.

If you are here, I would suggest Christ has gathered you. God has called you to Himself. At some point, in childhood or adulthood, you heard the Gospel of Christ and you responded. Dumitru Staniloae says that within the call of God is the grace to respond to that call. You hear the word of Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit you awake to the truth, you respond.

In a land of idols, Abraham is called into communion with the one true God. He follows. He leaves the past behind. To some degree, all of us leave the past behind. It may be painful things we leave behind. Then again it may be success that we leave behind. Paul left behind accolades, reputation, power and embraced struggle, suffering and eventful death to follow Christ.

The disciples hear the call of Jesus and follow. After following him for three years, he prepares them for His coming crucifixion. He says, ““This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:12–15, ESV)

Jesus presents an image of friendship that is rooted in love, a love that lays down its life. He calls them to love God by obeying this command and to love one another with a self-sacrificing love.  This is the call Paul gives the disciples at Philippi.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:3–8, ESV)

A friend of God follows Christ in the path of love, in the path of humility. We are becoming friends, shaped in this way of life.

Abraham follows this call. He will be called to rest on the promise of a coming son though he and his wife are barren. Eventually, he sees the child Isaac, a gift of God to him and Sarah. But we know the story, he must be ready to let go of the child. He must let go of the future and trust God. Of course, Isaac is not sacrificed, but Abraham must live as a man without past or future in naked trust.

He must live in the eternal now with the Eternal Now. He is becoming like God who is Present. All moments are eternally present in God. Abraham must live and walk in the present with His God, not grieving for a past or regretting a past that is gone, nor living in hope of something that has not come.

What does he do in the present? Wherever he goes, he builds altars and digs wells. He worships God in all things, at all times, and in all places. He provides waters of blessing to all around him. Abraham bears witness to the one true God through worship and blessing.

The friend of God gives thanks in all things and becomes a source of life to those around them. He cares for his nephew Lot and even gives him the choice land. He rescues Lot and all of Lot’s community when they are in trouble. He cares for the whole community traveling with him: humans and animals. This sounds like sabbath:

““ ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12–15, ESV)

Reformers speak of three covenants in Adam’s life: a covenant with God, a covenant with people (starting with Eve), and a covenant with creation (guarding the land and creatures). We see all three covenants taking shape in Abraham’s life. As friend of God, we also follow in the path of trusting God, loving humans and caring for creation.

Finally, we see Abraham showing hospitality to the three visitors. The Angel of God comes to brig judgment to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham intercedes for the people in this land. But then he must entrust it all to God.

Abraham gives us a picture of a saint, a friend of God. He calls us by name and we follow. At first, following may simply be getting baptized and joining a community of faith. We cultivate the pattern of giving thanks in all things. This life of thanksgiving overflows to the weary world around us. He may call us to serve specific people or even go to specific places. We follow. We learn to hear and obey His voice in the community of God’s people.

All the while we are learning to love. Some people are easy to love. Some are not. We pray for our enemies or at least those who have hurt us or offended us. We want to see them blessed and redeemed.

By His grace we are becoming a people who live in naked faith, that is in the present with no demands. The three young men about to be cast into the fire for not worshipping the king say, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”” (Daniel 3:16–18, ESV)

We follow the call of love, the call to lay down our lives, to love and pray for friends and enemies alike. We are called saints of God and we are becoming saints God. We are friends of God and we are becoming friends of God.

Today we seek to follow in the call of God, we rejoice in all the friends who have gone before us and prepared the way for our steps.

[1] “Homily of St. John Chrysostom on the Relics of the Holy Martyrs” < https://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2011/10/homily-of-st-john-chrysostom-on-relics.html>

[2] See F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford;  New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 42.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eph 1:1.

[4] See “GENERAL AUDIENCE, Paul VI Audience Hall, Wednesday, 12 January 2011”

 < https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20110112.html>

Rev. Doug Floyd

Pentecost+20 2025
Rev. Doug Floyd
2 Timothy 4:6-18

It’s almost time for Paul to depart. He sits in prison now, but he anticipates his coming execution. As we close the letter of 2 Timothy, our focus shifts from Timothy to Paul’s life poured out as a drink offering. Paul focuses his hope upon promise in Christ. At the same time, he expresses his longing for friends in this final season of life. Today I want to pause briefly over these two thoughts: Paul’s hope in Christ and Paul’s longing for friends.

First, let’s consider Paul’s hope in Christ. He views his upcoming death as a form of worship and is already offering himself to God. “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.” (2 Timothy 4:6)

Paul has exhorted believers to live our lives in such a way that we can give thanks at all times and in all places. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, he writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Even as we face the end of our lives, we can offer praise and worship. In this final season of life, Paul is giving his life to God in praise.

Now Paul recounts his life and ministry, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7–8, ESV)

First notice that Paul does not say, “I have planted many churches.” Or “I have written letters to churches all across the empire.” He measures the “good fight” by recalling that he has “kept the faith.” As his time dwindles on earth, he assesses his life by the fact that he still believes in Christ Jesus his Savior.

This makes me think of a song that helped me in a rough period. Starting in fall of 1986 to fall of 1987, I was plunged into a darkness of the soul. It seemed as if God had left. The world seemed empty. In the darkness, I would pour everything out in this black Pentecostal church that used to be here in Maryville. I would spin and shout and jump and cry out with everything in me. You can get away with that in a black Pentecostal church.

During that time, a song by The Call that came out. The Call was an intense band that sounded to me like the Old Testament prophets. Michael Been wails out the song “I Still Believe.”

There’s a lot on my back out at sea
Hopin’ these waves don’t cover me
I’m turned and tossed upon the waves
When the darkness comes, I feel the grave.

Then he belts out the chorus,

But I still believe, I still believe
Through the pain and through the grief
Through the lies, through the storms
Through the cries and through the wars
Oh, I still believe![1]

This was my anthem that year and, in some ways, has been my anthem all through the struggles and pain in life. I came to realize during that dark, stormy year “I still believed” because of the grace of God. His Spirit held onto me all through the agony. That year ultimately immersed me more deeply in the faithful love of God.

By the grace of God, Paul still believes. Through the stonings and beatings, Paul still believes. Though some of his churches turn against him, Paul still believes. Though at some points he despairs unto death, Paul still believes. Though at times his whole ministry may seem like a failure, Paul still believes. We remember Paul as foundational leader of the early church, but we can see through his letters that he suffered, he was rejected, abandoned, left for dead, the least of the Apostles. But in God’s great grace, Paul fought the fight, he never abandoned his faith.

He awaits a crown of righteousness. This is not some reward for his incredible ministry, but rather it is the crowning gift of God to His children as they pass from this life to the next. Paul was, is and will be, crowned with the righteousness of God in Christ. Hallelujah! What cause for joy no matter what we face. God is faithful. He has adopted us in Christ and His grip of love will hold sure.

I know firsthand the feelings of failure in ministry and in life. In 2009, I looked back over my life as a bi-vocational minister. Our church had burned in 2008 and some folks abandoned us. We slowly became something different. At the same time, the company I worked for cut most of our department, and I couldn’t find work. In 2009, I told Kelly, everything I’ve done in life has failed. Even then, I could hear the refrain of Michael Been crying out,

I still believe, I still believe
Through the pain and through the grief
Through the lies, through the storms
Through the cries and through the wars
Oh, I still believe![2]

Over the last few years, I see people online say that they are deconstructing their faith. They call themselves x-Christian. I don’t know their specific situations, but I pray that in their suffering and loss of faith, they might encounter Jesus. Here’s the key, Paul did encounter Jesus.

He was against the church, seeking to have Christians jailed. Then Jesus shined his light into Paul’s life and it literally knocked Paul off his horse. This light exposed Paul’s sin and Paul’s only true hope. In his love, Jesus Christ exposed Paul’s errors and led him to the truth.

Christ is shining his light in our world. Hidden things are exposed in our government, in our churches, in our lives. Our brokenness is being revealed. Just as I read that letter from Bishop Foley this week, I think of all the times the sin and brokenness of Christian leaders have been revealed. We all need a spirit of humility and a desire for Christ to shine his light even in us.

To encounter Christ is to be transformed. As I thought about this passage this week, I thought how there is a difference between following Christ and encountering Christ. I was baptized at 4 years old. I have no idea what prompted me to seek this public expression of faith. The memories faded. In fact, so much so that I was baptized two more times.

Think about babies baptized into the church. They have no memory, but the community of faith remembers, and over time we pray that faith in Christ will take root in their lives. Now I fully believe I was converted when I was baptized at four years old. At the same time, I also know for certain that I had an encounter with Christ in college that changed the course of my life.

Not everyone has had this encounter. This does not mean their faith is not real, but I would hope and pray that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17–19, ESV)

I have a friend who is a jeweler. He is not a preacher. Yet, when I am around him, I meet Jesus so intensely that I want to get saved all over again. This promise of knowing a love beyond knowledge is for all of us. I would pray that we all might know our sweet Jesus in a profoundly personal way.

Now we could stop here, but I think it is important that we consider Paul’s unshakeable faith in light of his very human struggle. Paul has personally encountered the love of God and knows that Christ holds him and will glorify him. Yet, at the moment he writes this letter, he is hurting. He is lonely, he is struggling. He felt abandoned by friends at his trial. Demas has deserted him and returned to the world. Some followers have turned against the Gospel and are attacking Paul and his message. Luke alone has remained faithful.

Paul longs to see Timothy. He asks Timothy to try and come see him soon, to bring his cloak, to get his books, and above all to get his parchments. He also asks Timothy to bring Mark. Paul needs his friends. Christ is faithful. Paul’s faith has held firm, and yet, Paul needs his friends.

Sometimes, the role of friendship has been undervalued in the church. The lone warrior of faith battling through to the end. I’ve always felt that Canterbury Tales was a better picture of the walk of faith. It is a group of people on journey together telling stories. Not all the stories are super spiritual. Some are funny, some are even bawdy, but these pilgrims keep sharing stories and walking toward Canterbury, that is the holy city. The truth be told they are walking to Zion.

We’re marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful, Zion:
We’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.[3]

We need friends. We need to tell our stories. For almost forty years, I have tried to gather various folks together to tell our stories, to laugh, to eat, to pray, to encounter Jesus. I can say without question, I have encountered Jesus often in a small group of people simply telling stories, sitting with one another and sometimes praying together. He shows up and it’s always a glorious surprise. In the words of Wesley, “our hearts are strangely warmed.”

Just as Paul needed Timothy and Mark and Luke, we need one another. We need friends. Even as Jesus holds us fast in faith, he often reveals his warm Spirit of love in the sweet communion of deep companionship. St. Augustine and Aelred of Rievaulx both wrote about the importance of friendship. Here are two quotes from Augustine on friendship. Both of these come from sermons:

“The first thing a baby sees when opening its eyes are its parents, and life begins with their friendship.”

“In this world two things are essential: a healthy life and friendship. God created humans so that they might exist and live: this is life. But if they are not to remain solitary, there must be friendship.”

I pray that we all might be rich in the love and light of Christ, and that we might grow deeply into the love of true friends.

[1] “I Still Believe” from the album Reconciled by the Call. https://www.the-call-band.com/faq/lyrics.html

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://gccsatx.com/hymns/were-marching-to-zion/

Rev. Dr. Les Martin

Pentecost+19 2025
Rev. Dr. Les Martin
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed…be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. – II Timothy  3:14a and  4:5b

In the Name of the Living God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is a sense in which the four chapters of 2 Timothy say the same thing over and over, but with a slightly different focus each time. Today in our reading, Paul is urging Timothy to continue in the faith he has learned and firmly believed and locates it in three primary sources for his spiritual son.  In order of importance there is first, in Chapter 4 verse 1, “the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,” next there is the proclamation of Jesus by other believers, when Paul says in 3:14 that Timothy knows “from whom you learned it”- a reference to Paul, Lois, Eunice and the church as whole. Lastly, there are “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation… breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

Therefore, in our reading Paul is suggesting that the Word of God- revealed, proclaimed, and written- is what Timothy should cling to to fulfill his ministry in the face of people who would seek different path of wisdom and hope, more suitable to their own self-centered desires.

In our current context, you and I are likely to equate the term “the Word of God” with the Bible.  That’s true enough as far as it goes, but it is not the whole picture.  Rather, the church has always understood that the Word of God comes to us in three ways:  first and foremost, Jesus himself, next the proclamation- or Gospel- concerning this Jesus, both historical and contemporary, and then also the Sacred Scriptures which we think of as the Word of God.  As the Rev. Dr. Paul Van Buren writes:

There is but one Word of God, but that Word is to be met and has been known in three forms within the life of the church.

I want to consider all three today, for if they are a firm foundation of St Timothy in his life and ministry, surely they serve as such for us as well.

First, there is Jesus.  He is the true and primary expression of the Word of God, the Logos, or ordering principle of all creation.  As the prologue to the Gospel of John teaches:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life… (John 1:1-4a, NET)

The Word who is fully God, who creates and gives life to all creation.  The one whose name is Emmanuel and Jesus– the God who is with us, the God who saves.  The Word does not just create and give life:  when creation was subject to futility, and humanity lost to sin, this Word of God came to be with us, to be sacrificed on our behalf, to restore our fellowship with God.  There can be no true proclamation of the Word, no proper understanding of Scripture that does not rest on this fact.  Our faith is in the living and active God who is Jesus, not in whatever we may hear preached to us here and there, nor on various interpretations of what we find in the Bible.  The Word of God is always first and foremost Jesus- an individual person, uniquely both God and man- not merely a teaching, sermon or a book.

Next, as we see in the pages of the Bible, the Word of God is a proclamation.  It is the Gospel, good news, the Message about Jesus. It is the message that Lois and Eunice and Paul told Timothy.  In 1 John 1:3 we read:

We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (NLT)

That’s how it worked:  those who had seen and heard the Lord extended fellowship to those yet to believe through the proclamation of Jesus to them.  Fellowship with them, and with God.  The church throughout the world and throughout time, grounding our speech in that original proclamation, has been doing the same by extension ever since.

What is the proclamation?  In the words of theologian Robert Jenson, the most basic form is this: “the God of Israel raised the Servant Jesus from the dead.” Many implications abound in this simple sentence, don’t they?  For today, I would only add: “And he wants to do the same to you not only in at the end of your life, but every single day of your life.”

The God of Israel raised the Servant Jesus from the dead, and he wants to do the same to you not only at the end of your life, but every single day of your life.  This is the Word of God as proclamation, on which Timothy’s faith- and ours- rests.

Lastly, we need to talk about Scripture.  Scripture, when it rests upon Jesus and the proclamation of the Church concerning him is indeed the Word of God written for us, useful teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.  It helps to form us as people made in and by the truth of Jesus.  Paul uses the phrase “inspired by God,” literally “God-breathed.” In the Genesis creation account, God breathes life into humankind; so too God breathes life into his word. We must not smother it. We have to let it breathe. It is the word of God, and it is not only inspired but inspiring—it can breathe new life into us.

However, when it is divorced from Jesus- when it becomes a set of principles, life-hacks and morals, a philosophy or political agenda- well, the Bible is still what is, but our use of it has gone awry.  It is not a  fortune-telling book, a science book, or an instruction manual.  It is a testament to the revelation of Christ and work of God with his people.  When we forget that, for us as Christians, the purpose of the Bible is to point us to Jesus and his way, but instead indulge in private interpretations or hit ourselves or others over the head with some form of moralism drawn from its’ pages, we are committing spiritual malpractice.

Jesus, the Gospel, and the Scriptures- the three forms of the Word of God.  So what?  Why is Paul so keen to have Timothy understand this?  What are the lessons for us today?  Paul urges Timothy to “continue” in our first verse today, and in “fulfill” his ministry in the last.  The task is the same for us- to continue in the teaching and fellowship of the church and fulfill our ministry.  All of this, in the midst of a people with itching ears, who prefer their own teachings and beliefs to those we have received. The three forms of the word of God are given to us that we might continue in the truth and fulfill our ministry.

Think of them like a triangle. A triangle is sturdy and coherent because all three sides support each other. Take one out, and the whole thing falls apart. When we separate Jesus from the proclamation about him and the Scriptures that bear witness to God’s mind, he becomes a self-help guru, or maybe an ancient alien, or worst of all a “bless-me” idol made in our own image. It is inevitable. What he can no longer be in our hearts and imaginations is Emmanuel Jesus, the living and active God outside of us and for us.

Separate the proclamation from both scriptures and Jesus, and you have what Paul is warning about explicitly: a myriad of teachers and theologies designed not to express the truth, but to give permission and license to the disordered passions fallen humanity seeks to satisfy their cravings. I mean, have you seen what’s preached out there on the Internet these days? 

When we take up scripture apart from Jesus and the faithful proclamation about him, it quickly becomes a treasure-trove of legalism, conspiracies, and man-made schemes that testifies not to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, but to whatever pet theory may be rattling around in our brains.

Scripture is the Word of God, but it cannot be so apart from the other Words of God- Christ himself and the faithful proclamation of who he is.  This is why there simply can be no such thing as faithful private interpretation of Holy Scripture.  The Bible simply wasn’t designed to work that way.  Paul Van Buren again:

“… reading Scripture and hearing what is to be heard there is not a matter of private interpretation, but can only take place in the same context which led to its writing, namely, in faith, on the basis of promise, and in the company of the church.”

Today, Paul is saying to Timothy that both his ministry and the church will endure if he remains rooted in the Word of God: in the presence of Jesus, the Christ; in the living and active proclamation of Jesus by his faithful witnesses; and in the sacred scriptures. This is because Jesus himself reaches out to Timothy to aid and strengthen him, and he reaches out to him as well through the preaching and teaching of the church, and through the scriptures that testify to his mighty acts.  Held up by Christ, with the voices of Paul and Lois and Eunice, and all the great crowd of witnesses in his ears, with the word of God, written in his hands, he will endure. So will we.  For the truth remains what it always has been:

The God of Israel raised the Servant Jesus from the dead, and he wants to do the same to you not only at the end of your life, but every single day of your life.

Rev. Doug Floyd

Pentecost+18 2025
Rev. Doug Floyd
2 Timothy 2:1-15

In the early 1970s, Richard Wurmbrand came to speak at our church in New Jersey. As many of you know, he spent 15 years in a Romanian prison, persecuted as a minister of the Gospel by the communist regime. I was six or seven years old. He told stories of the torture he endured. I decided then and there that I never wanted to be a minister especially a missionary. I was terrified.

Church history is filled with stories of Christians dying on the mission field and sometimes with no apparent success. My family kept a copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs on hand, I guess to remind us about all the Protestants that suffered at the hands of Roman Catholics. A few years ago, I discovered a book by historian Brad Gregory called, Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe. He recounts how Protestants, Anabaptists, and Roman Catholics all kept books of how their community was tortured and killed by the other Christian communities during the 30-year war. Sadly, even Christians have a bad track record of being cruel to one another.

Last week, Fr. Les talked about Timothy’s fear and shame. I totally get it. This is why I was convinced that God had not called me to preach but to make movies. Something odd happened on my way to Hollywood, the Spirit of God touched me so profoundly I could only think of becoming a minister. In fact, I wanted to go behind the Iron Curtain and face the dangers with the Gospel. My and my friends were convinced we would be martyrs for the Gospel of Christ.

As it turns out, the passion of youth changes over time. The routine of laying down of lives became a “long obedience in the same direction” to quote Eugene Peterson who was quoting Friedrich Nietzsche.  Faithfulness in our callings and our relationships can be difficult. I’ve watched ministers leave the ministry. I have had dear friends suffer in divorce. Life is hard. Suffering is real. And sometimes, people, callings and relationships are caught in the struggle.

As Fr. Les shared last week, Timothy is caught in this struggle. In 2 Timothy 2, Paul is encouraging Timothy to remain faithful. Just think, we are here because of the faithfulness of our fathers and mothers who passed the Gospel down to us over countless generations.

Paul begins chapter two, by reviewing the various forms of faithfulness in soldiers, athletes, and farmers. It takes shape in different ways. The soldier submits to his commander. His focus is on obedience, and he does not allow the distractions of life keep him from obeying. The athlete disciplines his body. He sets his sight on the goal ahead and trains his body, competing according to the rules of the sport. The farmer works hard day and night, all through the year, and year after year. His faithful discipline is repaid with a harvest that both he and many others will enjoy.

These images of faithfulness are common Roman tropes used in arguments like Paul’s exhortation. Timothy would probably have been familiar with these types of arguments. Paul encourages Timothy to meditate upon these examples and let the Lord use them to encourage him.

Then Paul shifts the argument. He writes, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.”[1]

Remember Jesus Christ.

This is the focus on Paul’s arguments throughout the letter. Last week, Fr. Les reflected on the opening blessing of 2 Timothy, “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” [2]

This week, Paul opens chapter two with the words, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”[3] He reiterates this grace, this gift that proceeds from Jesus and is revealed by the Holy Spirit. In the second clause, Paul’s tells Timothy to remember what he has heard Paul proclaim and entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others.

Remembering. So many stories in the Bible warn about forgetting and focus on remembering.

Some writers believe Paul is exhorting Timothy, because he has prepared Timothy to take over his ministry after he dies. Timothy has traveled with Paul, assisted Paul, been sent on various missions with Paul. In fact, it is not clear where Timothy is at the time of this letter. In 1 Timothy, he is helping pastor the community at Ephesus. In 2 Timothy 4:11-13, Paul says, “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.”[4] It appears that Timothy is no longer at Ephesus. He is on another mission.

Paul is giving Timothy specific instructions for his return. Timothy has been in training to lead for many years. He has walked with Paul through difficult situations, and after Paul dies, he will face many more difficult situations. It may be that Timothy’s eventual martyrdom is not as big a threat as facing the false teachers.

Paul is preparing him to be a faithful leader. The center is this faithfulness is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul tells Timothy to remember Jesus Christ. What is he to remember? The Gospel Paul preached particularly that Jesus is risen from the dead and that he is the offspring of David. In other words, Jesus is the King of Israel eternally. He is king of God’s chosen people: Jews and Gentiles. Jesus is not simply the model of faithfulness; he is absolute faithfulness. No one else has risen from the dead. No one else reigns in the house of David eternally. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ is beyond measure, and all our faithfulness is rooted in his faithfulness.

Paul roots Timothy and us in this faithful love. He offers a “trustworthy saying.”

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself. [5]

Notice there are two pairs. One positive and one negative. If we die, we will live; if we endure, we will reign. And if we deny him, he will deny us; if we are faithless, remains faithful. I’m going to start with the third line because this is the one that will throw people off. Some people’s eyes will jump right to that third one and become obsessed. I know because I was one of those people.

“If we deny him, he also will deny us.”

Yipes. When I was young, I would think that what happens if someday, somehow I deny him? Oh no! I’m in danger of hell fire now! Jesus says this in Matthew 10:33:

“Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”[6]

I have this one committed to memory because after we moved to Tennessee, we attended a hell fire and damnation church. The pastor could preach a whole sermon on this verse. And he did so regularly. “If someone pointed a gun to your head and told you to deny Jesus, would you do it?” Then Jesus would deny you.

My childhood fears of torture overseas was now coupled with the possibility that someone will hold a gun to my head and force me to deny Jesus. Consider this fear in light of Peter. Peter denied Jesus. Three times. Yet, Jesus restored him.

What’s going on here? What does it mean to deny Jesus Consider 1 John 2:22-23. John writes,

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.[7]

Some people that started out in John’s community of faith were leaving the community and denying Jesus Christ. They claimed to be offering a better gospel. They were actively trying to seduce people away from faith in Jesus Christ. John calls these people antichrists. Timothy will have to deal with people like this. Some are confused teaching wrong things, but others are actively trying to discredit the Gospel. If they don’t repent, they will face the judgment.

Now back to the other three, if we die with Christ, we will live in Christ; if we endure, we will reign with Christ. These promises are rooted in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Finally, if we are faithless, he will be faithful. Jesus is, was, and will be faithful because that is who he is.

Yet we will be faithful sometimes, discouraged other times, distracted many times, weary other times, and so on. We are faithful on some days or maybe only some moments. He is faithful all times, and by His grace, we are becoming faithful in Christ. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”[8] He is faithful to the end and will present us blameless before the Father.

By God’s grace, Timothy remained faithful and died as a martyr.

Now as we look back over the history of our faith, we rejoice in the faithful people who passed on the Gospel. At the same time, we rejoice in Jesus because He remains faithful even when His people have been faithless. He has preserved the witness of the Gospel from age to age, and He has done so through people who were weak and faltering but who ultimately become faithful witnesses to the Gospel.

If you feel weak and weary and unsure of yourself, look to Jesus. He is sure. He is trustworthy. And he will lead you into the purpose for which He called you.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ti 2:8.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ti 1:2.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ti 2:1–2.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ti 4:11–13.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ti 2:11–13.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 10:33.

[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 2:22–24.

[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Php 1:6.

Rev. Doug Floyd

Pentecost+16 – The Mystery of Godliness
Rev. Doug Floyd
1 Timothy 6:2b-19

The other night I dreamed Kelly and I were driving on the interstate through Asheville, and there was a great storm like we saw last year. Water was rushing over the highway and washing down in a river on the side of the road. We saw a flock of sheep trapped in the onslaught. Kelly and I jumped out of our car and were calling for people to help rescue these sheep. As we were running alongside the highway, we were running up and down steps for some reason. People were everywhere, but no one paid attention to our cries to help. We turned around and headed back toward the sheep, and suddenly, we were able to rescue a single sheep. We led it back to the car, and then I thought, “How are we getting this in the car?” And, “Where are we going to keep it? In the backyard? Its hooves might scuff up our floors.”

I told Kelly the dream when I woke up. She said, “Well that’s the parable of the shepherd leaving the 99 to rescue the one.” When the one is rescued, it is still a bit messy and challenging.

In that sense, each of us are that one sheep Jesus gathered to Himself. It’s clear that Paul saw himself this way. In1 Timothy 1:12-14, Paul writes,

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”[1]

Paul is writing Timothy exhorting him in his ministry. Though Paul’s ministry has been filled with public disputes, arrests, endless travel, beatings, stonings, and more, he is exhorting Timothy to pastor a community where the people pray for their rulers so that they “may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”[2] As our good and gracious Lord takes hold of us, he leads and shapes us in in different ways: for some it is a quiet and dignified life and for others like Paul and Richard Wurmbrand it is being shaped in beatings and imprisonment.

In all lives, he is calling us to godliness. This like takes shape through faith in love. Paul writes, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”[3]

We are sheep becoming lovers through faith in Christ Jesus. Our lives are marked by godliness. As Paul writes,

[G]odliness with contentment is great gain.[4]

[T]rain yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.[5]

Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.[6]

The Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains defines godliness as religion. That is, the devout practice and appropriate beliefs of God.[7] The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament defines godliness as piety. That is conduct in relation to God, to self, and to others.[8]

The Apostle Paul writes,

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.[9]

We must start with the mystery of godliness, which is the action of God In Jesus Christ. It is the shepherd who pursues the sheep that is in danger. If we read the letter of I Timothy through the lens of the unveiling of Jesus Christ, we begin to see how our conduct in relation to God, to self, and to others springs from the person and work of Christ. We are united to Christ and he is working in and through us. In this sense, 1 Timothy is an unfolding of the mystery of godliness in Christ.

In chapter 1, Paul writes, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. [10]

In the revelation of Jesus Christ, we receive God’s mercy, we believe in Him for eternal life, and we are caught up in worship of Jesus. Revelation of Jesus leads to redemption and doxology.

In chapter 2, Paul urges us to pray for all people that they may receive this revelation of Jesus Christ.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.[11]”

In chapter 3, Paul speaks of the mystery of godliness, which is Jesus Christ.

16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory. [12]

In chapter 4, Paul reminds us that, “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, or it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”[13] Everywhere we look in this world we see God’s hand of blessing. And if we have eyes to see, we see God’s redeeming grace at work. With the vision of God’s grace and godliness revealed in Christ, we train ourselves for godliness. “[T]rain yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 1For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” [14]

With hope in Christ, we act out the reality of His redeeming love with loved ones and those outside the faith. Finally, in chapter 6, Paul speaks of an epiphany of Jesus Christ. He writes,

“Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. [15]

We are straining toward Jesus in prayer, in Scripture, in reflection on this glorious creation, in thanksgiving. We are surrounded by distractions of our world such as the pursuit of wealth, endless theological disputes, and more. Every day there are distractions that can weary us, discourage us, seduce us, anger us, and divide us. Thus, every day we are turning toward Him in the midst of these distractions.

We are turning in simple thanks for the new day, for the hot coffee, for the pleasures he has afforded us, for friends and family, for the beauty that surrounds. Once we start seeing His hand of grace all around us, we are overwhelmed by how good he is to us. As we turn to our Savior, the mystery of godliness, we ourselves begin to step into this mystery by His power and grace. We lay down our lives for one another. We lay down our lives for those in need. We become agents of redeeming grace who continue to proclaim His goodness in word and deed.

In and through Christ, we can welcome those lost sheep into our lives.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 1:12–14.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 2:2.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 2 Ti 1:13.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 6:6.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 4:7–8.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 6:11.

[7] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

[8] Werner Foerster, “Σέβομαι, Σεβάζομαι, Σέβασμα, Σεβαστός, Εὐσεβής, Εὐσέβεια, Εὐσεβέω, Ἀσεβής, Ἀσέβεια, Ἀσεβέω, Σεμνός, Σεμνότης,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–), 183.

[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 3:16.

[10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 1:15–17.

[11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 2:1–6.

[12] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 3:16.

[13] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 4:4–5.

[14] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 4:7–10.

[15] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 6:11–16.