October 16, 2016 Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Dear Friends in Christ,
It was quiet in the Ardennes on Sunday, Dec. 16, 1944. People were preparing for their first free Christmas since the Nazis had been driven out. That’s when hundreds of German artillery pieces opened up on American positions. By Dec. 20, American troops under the command of General A.C. McAuliffe were surrounded. Two days later, the Germans called for his surrender. History famously records his reply: “Nuts.”
Meanwhile, history has ignored the words of a private from the South. He was incredibly calm even as the Germans had them surrounded. His sergeant asked, “You do realize the Krauts have us surrounded?” “Yup,” the private answered. “How do you feel about that?” asked the sergeant. The private drawled, “Well, Sarge, I feel sorry for them dirty dawgs.” The sergeant interrupted, “What do you mean them dirty dogs, we are the ones surrounded.” The private explained, “True enough, Sarge, but if’n I understand kirrectly, this is the first time in this war we kin attack the enemy any direction we want.”
Today, in a different war, a spiritual war, Christians find themselves agreeing with that private. As Jesus’ followers we are able to say: “If we understand correctly, we can attack the enemy in any direction we want.” Saddened to make such a statement, we are not surprised. St. Paul said this day would come when the Savior’s people and the message of salvation would be under attack. Knowing we will be attacked for our faith, we learn from this Epistle that we are really also on the attack, that we . . .
“SHARE GOD’S WORD IN EVERY DIRECTION”
The Holy Spirit described what this day would look like. People will not endure sound teaching but will look to teachers who teach what they want. People will not listen to truth but will be taken in by myths. Paul seems pretty accurate. What do you think? Unbelief in our generation is larger, stronger, better organized than it has been in the past. But the thinking that man can do better than God has never gone out of style.
Adam and Eve thought they could do better. The builders of Babel challenged God’s authority. The children of Israel complained and criticized as they wandered. Other civilizations have taken shots against God, but they usually do so with some degree of hesitation.
Our age is different. People gladly denigrate God’s grace and His hand in the affairs of men. Today it’s fashionable and trendy to say there’s no God. They spout their lies with a smirk and a boast. Colleges founded by Christians no longer feel shackled by the old-time Bible “myths.”
Countries founded by Christians and whose stability, success, and legal system were based on the Holy Bible now find it politically correct to keep their distance from the Redeemer and His Word. TV shows, books, movies, and magazines make big money by disrespecting the Deity. With itching ears, the general public awaits the newest chapter in the Lord’s denunciation. Enthusiastically, they repeat the most recent criticism of the Christ that has, thanks to the devil’s hand, been moved from fiction to reality.
Today, bold revisers of history break out their erasers to remove all references to the Savior and the positive things the Church has done. The denials make the front page of the paper or scientific journal or the History Channel. Gullible souls, intrigued by the lies, “turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (4:4)
We have people called “Reverend” who don’t preach Christ and Him crucified. They hesitate to tell the truth that only Christian believers are saved. “Is Jesus the only way,” they question from the stage and in their books.
The time Paul spoke about in our text has arrived. People want teachers who tell them what they want…and what they want is not God’s inspired, inerrant Word. Or put another way, “If I understand correctly this is the first time in this war we can attack the enemy any direction we want.”
Still, I wonder, is attacking the enemy what the Lord wants his people to do? Why not just coexist, know what we believe, even if nobody else agrees? A few years ago was a cartoon with a rough-looking fellow walking the streets of Sodom and Gomorrah. He carried a sign, “Repent, the end is near.” A man asked him why he had carried the sign for twenty years and it hadn’t made a difference. The last panel showed his reply, “For the first nineteen years, I carried the sign in hopes that I would change them; now I carry it in hopes they won’t change me.”
That cartoon explains what we Christians are to do. This church, this pulpit, is here so we can tell the sinful world just how much God cares for them. We exist so the Holy Spirit can use us to reach them with the good news and great joy that has come into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. We come together so we can go out together and tell people that no matter their sin, their itching ears, their turning from the truth of God’s Word, if they turn from these myths, the Risen Redeemer will forgive and save and strengthen them. We have been rescued from punishment and given new life. Satan, or sin, or death no longer controls us.
Attack in any direction? No, our job is to share the Good News of salvation in every direction. We hear: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove; rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” Share God’s Word so the world might be changed. Share God’s Word so the world doesn’t change you.
We need to stand fast as those deserting continue to gain in number. We share God’s truth to counter the devil’s lies. It is who we are. It is what we do. By God’s grace, may it always be so.
Amen.