"We are All Beggars"

Luke 18:9-14, 2 Timothy 4:1-8

Rev. Everett L. Miller

The end is near for Paul. It seems that he has been sentenced to death or he expects to be soon, so he is writing to the one he has called his spiritual son, Timothy. Some scholars say that Paul did not write this letter, for one reason because it does not make the same type of theological points that his letters usually do. Those who say he did write it make the point that he was near death when he wrote it so he was not so much concerned with writing a theological treatise as he was with encouraging Timothy and coming to terms with his own impending death.

You all know that my Granny died a little over two years ago. Well, because she had donated her body for medical research, we just received her ashes about two weeks ago. Last Saturday a bunch of us met outside of Hunter, Oklahoma, on the old farm place and spread her ashes in an old orchard where she used to bird-watch. This got me to thinking about how much I miss her and how my Granny was one of the smartest and most philosophical people I’ve ever known. She was also never short of advice. But the last few times I saw her before she died, and I am convinced she sensed the end was coming a couple of months before it happened, she gave me a generous gift of money for Danielle and me, she insisted that I borrow an incredibly ugly and feminine fleece jacket because it was a cold morning, she told me she was proud of me, and she stood at the door and waved as I pulled out of the parking spot. She did not get philosophical. She simply did what had been most important to her; she did her best to use her meager resources to provide for her grandkids, to protect me from the cold even though I was 26 years old, and she encouraged me. This memory gives me perspective on what really matters in life.

Today is Reformation Sunday, celebrating the fact that on October 31, 1517, a German Catholic monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church door. That was only the beginning, however. Martin Luther wrote volume after volume of theological works. He was one of the bravest and most talented thinkers in history. He is a giant among the framers of modern Christianity and Western Civilization as a whole, but the night he died he took a piece of paper and scribbled some words on it, the last words being: “We are all beggars, this is true.” They found it on his nightstand after he had died. With all of that important theology and doctrine within him, what was most important to him at the end was the fact that we are all beggars of God’s mercy and forgiveness, as well as the mercy and forgiveness of others. We are all, ultimately dependent on grace. Luther’s final words also help to put life in proper perspective.

Today's lectionary passage from Luke’s gospel tells us that one day Jesus was talking to some people who were too confident of themselves and looked down on others. He told them a parable of 2 men who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, who everyone would assume was righteous; the other was a tax collector who everyone would have assumed was a scoundrel and sinner. But the Pharisee prayed these words: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a 10th of all I get.” Then the tax collector bows his head, beats his chest and says—“God, have mercy on me—a sinner.”

Here is how Jesus sums it up. “I tell you this man, rather than the other went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus does not say that the Pharisee would have been better off as a robber, evildoer, or adulterer or that he shouldn’t fast or give his ten percent tithe of his income. But this parable is about proper perspective, which Jesus’ story shows is similar to Luther’s last words. “We are all beggars. This is true.” The Tax Collector understands that; the Pharisee does not.

So when Paul senses that his fight is almost over, that his race is nearly finished, it is not more doctrine that is needed, as important as it is, but proper perspective that he offers Timothy. And his proper perspective is this: don’t let what other people are doing deter you from doing what God has called you to do. Other people may drift away to versions of the gospel that are really just what is easy and what they want to hear. But as for you, Timothy, continue preaching the Word, keep your head, be willing to endure hardship, and keep bringing others to faith in Christ.

There is no great treatise on justification and sanctification, no long meditations on the end times. Paul simply lays things out for Timothy. Paul only has time for what really matters; death is near. He is “already being poured out like a drink offering.” He says this to allude to the fact that Jewish priests, when they are performing a sacrifice at the temple, would pour out a cup of wine on the altar to complete the sacrifice. Paul says he is like that wine being poured on the altar signifying the completion of the sacrifice that has been his life since the risen Jesus appeared to him some 30 years earlier.

In 2 Corinthians he says, “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”

He’d traveled all over the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Mediterranean, and he may have even been as far west as Spain. All of those sacrifices in his life for the gospel and as he nears the end it comes down to this: encouragement for Timothy and this statement, “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award me on that day—and not only me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” There is no bragging about where he had been and what he had done. He doesn’t even call himself righteous; it is the Lord who is righteous and who can award the crown of righteousness. Paul even makes the point of saying that this isn’t something special for him but for everyone who has faith in Jesus.

We are all ultimately dependent on God’s grace, on God’s mercy and forgiveness. We are all beggars, each and every one of us. This is proper perspective. Isn’t that so much of what faith in God and living as a disciple of Jesus Christ is about: having proper perspective, knowing that we need God and we need others, knowing that we are in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness, and in turn others are in need of our mercy and forgiveness. Isn’t so much of faith knowing that we are all beggars before God, like that tax collector beating his breast and beseeching, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” like Martin Luther on his death bed, like Paul who looks forward to his crown of righteousness not because he is righteous but because he has faith in Jesus and it is Jesus who is righteous.

It has been said that sharing your faith in Christ with others is really just one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread. We are all beggars and it is Jesus who is the bread of mercy and forgiveness, for which we all hunger. That is why the Lord’s Supper is so extremely important to Sunday worship, because it acts out this truth. To know that you are reliant upon God’s grace and to put your faith in the one who embodies that grace, our Lord Jesus Christ, and to re-orient everything in your life in light of that, now that is proper perspective.

Preached @ Southwestern College, Winfield, KS

"Sweeter than Honey to My Mouth"

Psalm 119:97-104

Rev. Everett L. Miller

When I was in the fourth or fifth grade, I discovered a book that made something magical happen between the words on the page and the imagination within me. It was the book that unlocked my imagination. I assume that I bought it at the much anticipated Scholastic Book Fair. Do you remember the Scholastic Book Fairs in elementary school? They would wheel all of those shiny metal bookshelves into the library and form them into a semi-circle and they’d set out the racks of bookmarks with tassels and pictures of kittens or racecars on them. Then each class would get a turn to walk through to look at the books about sports, exotic animals and kid detectives like Encyclopedia Brown. This was before there were Barnes and Nobles and Borders everywhere and before you could just get on the Internet and have a book over-nighted to you from Amazon.Com.

This particular time I picked out a book called A Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop. On the cover was an illustration of a young boy the same age as me in front of a miniature castle and holding a little figure of a knight as though it was alive. I made the purchase with my hard earned allowance money and began to read it that night. When I would have usually been outside playing basketball or football with other neighborhood kids I was sitting on the top bunk in my room reading this amazing book in which a little boy named William receives an old play castle from his British nanny who is getting ready to move away. The castle comes with only one figure, a knight. At first he is disappointed with only having one figure but then he opens the box holding it and finds that the little knight is alive. It was kind of The Indian in the Cupboard meets The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

I don’t have time to tell you any more of the plot but this book convinced me that two worlds, the world of William and the world of the castle and the knight, can overlap. It opened my mind to think that just maybe there is something more magical and alive to those things which we might otherwise look at as being inconsequential. As I stay up late, under my covers reading that book with a flashlight, arguing with my stepbrother on the bottom bunk who kept telling me to shut it off and go to sleep, the relationship between words and imagination was born for me. Words came to life.

Later in life I discovered another book that did much the same thing for me, but on a grander scale, a life-transforming scale. I bought my first very own Bible when I was sixteen. Well, after I made that purchase I sat for what seemed like hours but may have only been minutes reading the Scriptures, reading the stories of Jesus, reading of the children of Israel, and the beautiful poetry of the Psalms, and even the strange visions of Revelation. And I remember it like it was the beginning of a relationship. I didn’t know if I liked it or not. Sometimes I wanted to sleep with it in my arms and at other times I wanted to throw it out the back door. I didn’t understand it but at the same time I wanted to learn everything there was to know about it. And at first maybe it was just words on a page but thirteen years later I can look back on it and see that one of the things that was happening in me that I couldn’t understand was that the relationship between holy words and a holy imagination was being born within me. Words were coming to life and this book started to convince me that two worlds, the world of my everyday existence and the world of God’s dream for creation can overlap. It opened my mind to think that just maybe there is something more mysterious, delightful and alive to those things which we might otherwise look at as being inconsequential. I was, in a manner of speaking, falling in love.

In Psalm 119, the poet declares, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” This isn’t like, “I love pepperoni pizza” or “I love watching My Name is Earl on Thursdays.” The Hebrew word used here for love is the same word that is used over and over again in the Song of Solomon, as in “Have you seen the one my heart loves?” This is true love, not just finding it interesting, not just memorizing it so you can regurgitate it later, this is being in love with the law of God, being in love with the Scriptures in a similar way to the way you love another person. “Oh, how I love your law.” How can this be?

When I was a senior at Oklahoma State University, I started to hang around with a cute freshman girl. We sort of dated and sort of didn’t. We were friends, then we were dating, then we hated each other, then we were friends, then we were dating, and so on. Maybe you can relate. I was about to graduate from college and she was just getting started so there was no way in the world that I was going to let this get serious and to fall in love with her. But then after I had done some really stupid stuff and almost lost her then something started to change. I stopped imagining what life might be like if I was to graduate and move off by myself to some big city and pursue a career in writing and I started to imagine what life might be like with both of us in the picture. When I began to fall in love with this girl who became my wife I knew that things had changed from interest or even infatuation to true love when I started to imagine our life together and I thought about it what seemed like all day long and it hurt when I wasn’t with her. In fact it still does. This is the kind of imagination that doesn’t just take place in your mind, but also takes place in your heart, your soul, that deep down core of who you are. This is where imagination and love intertwine. And the poet proclaims, “Oh, how I love your law!”

Do you think of love and imagination when you think of the Bible? Is it just words on the page like an encyclopedia? Is it just a bunch of hard names to pronounce and terrible stories of violence and silly stories of miracles and lists of things you can’t do because life might be too fun if you did them? If that is the case for you, I ask you to pray to God that your imagination might be opened.

In fact, I want us to pray for that right now. Repeat after me:

Loving God, explode my imagination with your love.

Explode my imagination with your Spirit.

Explode my imagination with your Word.

Amen.

When you are open to the working of God in your life, the Scriptures can begin to open up your imagination and an entirely new reality breaks in on you.

You begin to imagine an existence in which there is a creator God who not only formed everything in creation but also loves you and everybody else. You begin to imagine an existence in which in some strange, mysterious, and holy way God came to walk among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. You begin to imagine an existence in which a Holy Spirit from God begins to tear down walls between people. You begin to imagine an existence that is in turmoil but is not hopeless, instead it is on its way to being made whole again and that you get to participate in it by loving others and the world through acts of justice, kindness, and mercy. You begin to imagine an existence, your personal existence, that matters in the cosmic scheme of things.

And you know what happens when you start to really imagine these things? You start to notice that something has changed from interest or even infatuation to true love when you start to imagine a life together with God and you think about it what seems like all day long and it hurts when you are not walking with God. This is the kind of imagination that doesn’t just take place in your mind, but also takes place in your heart, your soul, that deep down core of who you are. This is where imagination and love intertwine. And you find that you are falling in love with God through falling in love with the Scriptures and you just might burst out with some ridiculous words like, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.”

And as you fall in love with God through falling in love with God’s Word you begin to see that the world of your everyday existence and the world of God’s dream for creation begin to overlap.

And you find that you begin to become what Paul tells Timothy is being “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

And you see that the Bible isn’t there to simply answer your questions, but instead it questions you. It might ask you:

Are you willing to imagine the way that God wants things to be and are you willing to bring that imagination into being with the help of God’s Spirit?

Are you willing to stop loving stuff and start loving your God and the people God created and the creation God formed as an artist?

Are you willing to be “thoroughly equipped for every good work?”

Are you willing to have your imagination explode, to live beyond your imagination, and to have your life transformed?

Are you willing to fall in love with God?

And you thought it was just words on a page!

And the poet declares, “O how I love your law… Your words are sweet to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” Amen.

"Set an Example: A Confirmation Sermon"

1 Timothy 4:12

Rev. Everett L. Miller

When I was sixteen I used money from my summer job at the grain elevators in Enid to go to Ruth’s Christian Bookstore in the Oakwood Mall to buy my first very own Bible. And one of the first verses that I highlighted was 1 Timothy 4:12—“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” That was a very important bit of encouragement for a sixteen year old who had just made a profession of faith. It is also a wonderful bit of encouragement for the two thirteen year olds who are making their profession of faith today. And it is still very important to me at the age of twenty-nine because although our confirmands may think that I am old as dirt, in the vocation I have chosen, I feel that sometimes I am looked down on because I am young (relatively speaking). I would imagine, though, that we could replace the word “young” with a lot of other adjectives and this verse would still make sense. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are “older,” because you are “different in some other way,” "because you can't afford expensive clothes," just go about your business of being a faithful example for others.

But today we are going to talk specifically about young people, and I think if we were all honest with ourselves we would admit that at least from time to time we make the mistake of looking down on people simply because they are young. "Oh, that’s just what teenagers are like. That’s just a typical teenage point of view." We may assume the only subjects they care about are clothes, sports, video games, and the opposite sex. "Someday they’ll grow up," we say. We are sometimes too hard on them (and sometimes too easy on them). But the truth of the matter is that it is often difficult to be a teenager and it is just as often difficult to raise a teenager. And I don’t know if you have thought about this at all but it can also be difficult to be a church family to teenagers, trying to keep them interested in their spirituality, trying to relate to them when we live in a different world than they do.

Being young in 2007 is not the same as it was for many of you who grew up in different eras, not even in this little town. I was thirteen in 1991 and it may not seem that long ago to us but think about this: I had never heard of the Internet and only millionaires had wireless phones. The world of the teenager is much different now than it was even for me. It is probably more difficult to be young these days even though life may seem easier with the Internet, satellite TV, video games, etc.

Often both parents work. All that Internet, TV, and video games comes with all kinds of images of sex, and much worse than that—violence. Girls are pressured to be dangerously thin and willing to do whatever will get a boy to like them. Boys are pressured to be tough, maybe even violent, and taught to treat girls as conquests. You have to wear certain clothes or play a certain sport. You’re pressured to drink and smoke and try drugs at younger ages. Reality television teaches you to succeed no matter who you have to deceive or hurt. I would venture to say that never has it been as important and at the same time as difficult to be a teenager who cares about faith and lives a life of faithfulness. Also, it has probably never been as difficult for a teenager to enjoy spending time with their family and to actually enjoy participating in the life of a faith community.

There are so many obstacles standing between today’s teenagers and having a living, strong faith in Jesus Christ. For the most part it is our very own American culture that erects the biggest wall between a young person’s heart and God. When I was in seminary I took a class in youth ministry in which we did a great deal of research into the motives behind much of our modern American way of life. This is what we found in a huge number of sources: The companies that make TV shows, clothes and music for young people want to separate teenagers from their families, from their church families, and from their local community. They want teenagers to only hang out with kids their own age and they want them to all want to look alike and act alike. They want thirteen year olds in Newkirk to be just like thirteen year olds in New York and Seattle and Des Moines, Iowa and Naples, Florida. They want our confirmands to be just like everybody else because if they can get all the thirteen year olds to want to be just like each other then they can sell them what they need to achieve that and they make tons of money. Who cares if the teenageers lose any sense of uniqueness? Who cares if they start to think of their parents and family as simply getting in the way? Who cares if they don’t have any sort of faith and hope? The companies don’t care. But God cares. And those of us in this congregation better care.

Today our confirmands are professing their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and in doing that they are telling everyone here that they are Christians. In days past that may not have been that big of a deal, but these days for a young person to say that, mean it, and to live it out is an extraordinarily counter-cultural thing to do. When we become professing Christians, if we take it seriously, we often find that we are at odds with our own culture. We find that we have to fight the temptation to buy more and more stuff, because now that we are Christians we know that our value lies with God not in how much fun junk we can accumulate. We find that now that we are Christians we can’t put up with racism or sexism because we now know that we are all created in God’s image and loved equally by God. We find that now that we are Christians that it does matter how we treat the people that nobody else seems to like because we now know that Jesus came to the poor, the weak, and the outcast and sends us to those same people. We find that now that we are Christians we cannot give into the idea that what we really need to do with our lives is to make a bunch of money and get famous because we now know that God calls us to a ministry of some sort. And we find that now that we are Christians we cannot allow ourselves to give into our culture that says that Sunday is just like any other day, because we now know that Christ was resurrected on Sunday and it is a day of worship, of devotion, and rest and that is all.

When we are Christians, younger or older, because of our faith in Jesus Christ we have to stand up to the destructive parts of our own culture. And Paul’s words to Timothy speak to this fact. Although Paul knew nothing of MTV, Myspace, XBOX 360, or I-phones, his advice to Timothy rings true with young people (and all of us) today. He begins, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” Youth and the energy and creativity that come with it are gifts. But on the other side of this, you can’t use your youth as an excuse either. As of today our confirmands are full members of this congregation, which means that they now have as much responsibility and the same vote as a member who is 40 or 60 or 80 years old.

Paul’s words could also be addressed to the rest of us—Don’t look down our confirmands because they are young. Just don’t do it. They can do just as much wonderful work for God’s kingdom as anyone else in this room or anyone else in the worldwide church. They are beginning the journey of faith and that is holy business. We cannot look at them and think they are just silly teenagers and what could they know. God just might work through these young people to inspire the rest of us to have a more vital and joyous faith. God just might choose to challenge the rest of us through their examples.

Paul tells Timothy that instead of letting other people look down on him because he is young, he should actually set an example for everyone else by how he lives his life. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” People should be able to listen to Timothy speak and know that he believes in Jesus Christ. Can people listen to us talking and know that we have faith and peace and joy from God? People should be able to watch Timothy live his life and know that he is a disciple of Jesus. What do our lifestyles tell about us? Are we generous? Do we refrain from judging others? Do we worship and study and pray? Then Paul tells Timothy that people should be able to see him loving other people and God. People should look at the way he interacts with other people and know that there is something different about him, that he is more loving than he would be if he wasn’t a Christian. Paul tells Timothy that his faith should shine through in all that he does. And finally, Paul tells Timothy to stay pure—meaning sexual purity. Don’t give into that temptation, Paul tells Timothy.

We should all strive to live into this level of faith and character, but on this Confirmation Sunday I especially challenge our confirmands to consider this form of lifestyle which they are putting on today. May everyone at school listen to you speak and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone watch your lifestyle and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone see how you love other people, especially those who are rejected by others, and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone be able to tell that although your faith may be new to you that you are serious about your faith in Jesus Christ and that it makes a difference in your life and gives you joy and hope. And may everyone be able to tell by how you show respect for the opposite sex and by how you respect your own body and the bodies of others that you believe in Jesus Christ.

Let me say this just to our confirmands (although it goes for all of us): both of you are made in the image of God. I know that you don’t really know exactly what that means. That’s okay because none of us really knows exactly what that means. But it means at least these things—you are beautiful inside and out, you are loved by God more than you can ever imagine, you have the capacity for wonderful imagination and creativity, and you have the urge to love other people. You are not just future adults. You are God’s beloved children right now at the age of 13. And that is who you are supposed to be—a 13 year old boy and a 13 year old girl. You are two 13 year old disciples of Jesus Christ. You are not just called to do something great someday. You are called to do great things now.

Don’t just be consumers. Change the world by embodying Christ’s love. Change the world by being peacemakers. Change the world by helping others to come to relationship with God. Change the world. Going to church on Sundays will not cut it by itself. Confirmation is not a graduation or an ending. Confirmation is just the very beginning of your journey of faith. Sunday School and worship attendance is extremely important, however. When you are confirmed, you promise that you will be an active part of this congregation. If you decide in a year or two that you are too busy or too cool to come to church any more you will have broken that promise and as long as I’m here, I will call you on that because we as disciples of Jesus Christ are to be people who keep our promises to God and to each other.

Set an example for the rest of us in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Set an example for the rest of us by inviting people to come to Sunday school and worship with you. Set an example for the rest of us by having new and creative ideas for worship and ministry and acting upon them. Set an example for the rest of us by falling in love with God through falling in love with the Scriptures. Set an example for the rest of us by rejecting racism and sexism, by living in a manner that reminds all of us that we belong to God.

Today is a joyous day in heaven and on earth. Two young people will declare their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Two young people will take on more responsibility in this community of faith. Two young people who were baptized as young children are taking the faith of their parents and of this congregation and making it their own. Two young people are beginning the journey of walking the way with Jesus. And to our confirmands: as you walk this way with the rest of us, “Don’t let [any of us] look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"The Best Christian Education in the World"

2 Timothy 1:1-7

Rev. Everett L. Miller

I’ve told you before that for many years of my childhood my family attended a great church called Yeaman’s Park Presbyterian Church in Hanahan, South Carolina. When all of us kids were at home my parents were very adamant about the family attending Sunday School and worship. I am glad that my parents made a point of doing that, as I later looked back on that congregation and remembered that the pastor had tried to help our family through some very difficult times. The memory of his witness helped me make my decision to become a pastor. But there was quite a disconnect between what we did on Sunday mornings and what we did as a family the rest of the week. We may have said grace; I don’t remember. But never did we discuss what we learned on Sunday morning. Never did we talk about faith. Never did we crack open a Bible. As a child growing up in the church I don’t think that I ever actually owned a Bible. If I did, I certainly didn’t keep it in my room. I cannot venture to say what was really taking place in my parents' hearts in those years but looking back on it I think we probably went to church on Sunday because that’s what respectable families do on Sunday in South Carolina. But faith never really came home with us.

One of my professors in seminary once told our class that everyone wants for the church to be like a big family, but Christians often forget that the family should also be like a little church. The best Christian Education in the world, he said, takes place not in Sunday School but at home. Faith has to come home with us, he said.

A long time ago, a very important prophet by the name of Moses had a habit of saying similar things:

"Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them." (Deut. 4:9)

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deut. 6:4)

The great Apostle Peter, on the very day that the Holy Spirit came down as though it was tongues of fire, also said something similar:

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. (Acts 2:38-39)

And finally, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul commands, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Faith has to come home with us. After all, as we will see from Paul’s words to Timothy, our faith does not live at 201 South Walnut; it lives within us.

Paul begins his letter to the young pastor Timothy by building him up. He calls him “my beloved child,” which must be a wonderful thing to hear from your spiritual teacher. Paul recalls a time when Timothy broke down in tears, maybe when Paul and Timothy parted ways. He tells Timothy that when he sees him again he will be filled with joy. Then he talks about Timothy’s faith. Paul could have said, “I am reminded of your sincere faith that lives in you.” But he didn’t; he chose to trace that faith back through the channels through which it came, like tracing a river back to its tributaries. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.” This faith came from grandma, from mom, and now lives within Timothy. Who knows why it doesn’t mention dad and grandpa? Maybe they weren’t around. Maybe they never became believers. Who knows? But what we do know is that if it wasn’t for the fact that Lois and Eunice wouldn’t let their faith stay on Sunday mornings or where they met for worship, if it wasn’t for the fact that Lois and Eunice brought their faith home with them and shared it with little Timmy, then that faith may have never come to live within Timothy. It appears that the home, which Lois and Eunice provided for the family, was like a little church.

Lois and Eunice must have known that if we do not raise our children to love the Lord, to study the scriptures, to spend time in prayer, then we should not be surprised if when they grow up they want nothing to do with faith or the church, because it will have no value for them. Granny Lois and Momma Eunice must have known this and they did the holy work of passing on the faith. Paul later had even more compliments for Timothy's family: "But as for you [Timothy], continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have know the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation thorugh faith in Christ Jesus." Faith came home with them and the results are wonderful.

You might want to say, “Well Everett, your parents didn’t bring faith home for you and look, you ended up as a pastor. So it’s not that important.” Although now is not the time for my full testimony about what brought me to my knees and what brought me to the realization that I just can’t go on living without Jesus Christ in my life, but I will tell you enough so you can get the point that it does matter if faith comes home.

During my four years of high school I lived with a different family each year. Before entering my senior year in high school I was once again looking for a place to live. I didn’t feel like I could go back to my parents’ house. My grandfather was in the final stages of lung cancer so I couldn’t move back in with them. So the family of one of my good friends set up a trundle bed in his room and although I was never officially adopted I became one of their children. They were the youth pastors at the Baptist Church and they brought their faith home with them. They talked about what God was doing in their lives. They prayed a lot. They studied the scriptures at home. Faith mattered to them. My new family loved Jesus and I got to see it in action. As my professor said, the best Christian Education in the world takes place not in Sunday School but at home. Faith has to come home with us, as it did in Timothy’s family with his grandma Lois and his mom Eunice.

Life is busy, too busy for many of us. We do and do and do. We don’t see our families as much as we’d like. There’s always noise from the TV or the radio. Even though I’m a pastor, don’t for a second think that I live some sort of monastic existence where all I have to do is pray and read the Bible. I live in the same world you do. Phone calls. Paperwork. Deadlines. Meetings.

But if our faith is truly going to live within us, as Paul says of Timothy’s faith, then we must talk about what God is doing in lives at home, we must pray as a family and for our families, we must spend time in God’s Word, we must live in a way that our children and grandchildren can look at us and have no doubt in their minds that we do believe in Jesus Christ, that faith does matter.

Our faith cannot only live at 201 South Walnut, because if it does only live here then what happens when we are not at 201 South Walnut? It is as I quoted this past Wednesday night, “Sometimes you have to see somebody love Jesus before you can love him yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.” Who better to show the way than mom and dad, than grandma and grandpa, than husband or wife?

I say, "Thank God for Lois and Eunice."

I say, "Thank God for my best friend’s family."

I say, "Thank God for all who take their faith home with them."

And finally I say, "Thank God for a faith that lives within us instead of in this building."

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.