C, Post-Pentecost 14 Proper 19 - 1 Timothy 1:15-16 "Jesus' Perfect Patience"

1 Timothy 1:15–16 (ESV) 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.

Saint Paul’s ministry was one of patience!  Jesus had to be perfectly patient with Paul as an example to those who were to believe Jesus for eternal life.

We might think the patience needed, is what was required of Paul to perform his ministry.  He definitely was taught to be patient, but this was only secondary to Jesus’ perfect patience with him. 

After his conversion on the road to Damascus, you might expect, there was preaching to do, and people to seek, now that Saul the persecutor of Christ and his church had become Paul the proselyte of this fledgeling movement centred on Jesus’ life and death, resurrection and ascension.

However, if Saint Paul’s ministry, or any ministry is to be effective in the Lord, God’s patience needs to be demonstrated with us who share the gospel, whether we are pastors, lay leaders in congregations, youth leaders, parents and grandparents praying for their prodigals to return, or young kids telling their friends about Jesus in the playground.

When God was handing out patience, I reckon I must have been away that day!  I, like so many in our society today, desire immediate results, or I get impatient.

As I get older the need to –go, go, go– is slowing, physically!  But mentally and emotionally my patience is slowing too.  Or my impatience is growing proportionally to the years I live or the hairs that are getting greyer.  The slower I go, the slower I am at being patient.  Or the quicker I run out of puff, the quicker I expect others to pick up their act and get going.

The old Adam in us, our human spirit, turns its expectation into a god.  Unfortunately, sin has rewired our brains and hearts this way.  But the Holy Spirit leads us back to Christ’s overflowing love. 

When the god of our expectations is not met, we get frustrated and impassioned with each other.  In our minds we become impatient and secretly judge, “I expected so much more from you!  Or, I didn’t expect you to do something like that!”  Our expectations can be idols in our lives that cause us to sin against others and God.

After Saint Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, at the least, he spent fourteen years away from Jerusalem in Arabia, Syria, and Cilicia.  God was patiently preparing Paul for his ministry, and no doubt Paul too was learning patience having been shown patience.  It’s believed during these fourteen years; God was patiently preparing him as an apostle.  Saul the Pharisee who knew the Law was being patiently revealed by the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is the only fulfiller of the Law.

Sometime later Paul confesses to young pastor Timothy, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

What a way to start off!  Confession that he is not just a sinner but the prototype of sinners!  Only through Jesus’ perfect patience does someone learn this, and, have the willingness to confess it.

Paul prefaces his confession as the prototype sinner stating, “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.” (1 Timothy 1:15 ESV)

He confesses to Timothy that Jesus Christ, this Saviour of sinners, and his sinfulness, is proclaimed in faith and this deserves Timothy’s full reception.  Paul wants Timothy to perfectly understand what he is saying here! 

In naming himself a sinner, Paul does a number of things.  He’s no longer ignorant in his unbelief.  He now has faith that he’s a sinner.  His sinful being is now covered by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  His former sinful deeds are also covered by Jesus’ forgiveness.  He’s no longer a servant of his sinfulness, but rather a servant of sinners needing the same forgiveness as him.

Paul places himself under the authority of God’s word.  One might think that he was already doing this since he was a Pharisee.  However, Paul was using the Law of God to justify himself and his position.  This made him guilty of blasphemy and idolatry.   As a ruthless Pharisee he was worshipping a graven image, not made with his hands, but with his mind.  And in breathing murderous threats against the followers of Christ, he was blaspheming God the Son.  

From Pauls legal background as an Old Testament Lawyer, he knew very well that God is impartial.  And so, with sound teaching in the Law and knowledge of Jesus’ overflowing grace he knew God had to continue being patient with him because his human nature would still strive to be partial to wrongly justify or condemn those with whom God is perfectly patient. 

It was no longer about his Law or justification, but about Jesus’ fulfilment of the Law through his righteousness and our justification through his sacrificial death on the cross.  And this wasn’t done to Paul’s timeframe but in the fullness of God’s time it was finished by Jesus Christ.   This perfection continues to be finished by the power of the Holy Spirit, who seeks to bring the human spirit to the fullness of Jesus’ perfect patience.

Paul goes out of his way to embellish just who he is to Timothy, so Timothy does not place an expectation on Paul that makes Paul a god in Timothy’s eyes.  And so, Timothy does not make himself an impatient presumptuous super apostle to those to whom God calls him.

Patience goes hand in hand with forgiveness!  So too, impatience and frustration go hand in hand with unforgiveness.  Patience grows out of our judgement!  Judge one way and we forgive, judge the other way we don’t forgive.   However, Jesus’ perfect patience with Paul is an enduring lesson in love.

In his letter to the Romans Paul speaks of Jesus’ all-encompassing love.  But before he does, he speaks about the all-encompassing debased love of each human for themselves.  (Romans 1:21-32)

He says, “For there is no distinction:  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 3:22–24 ESV)

Impatience goes hand in hand with presumption.  Paul knew this too well when he acted with zealous fervour in ignorance under the Law.  He says, “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”  (Romans 2:3–4 ESV)

Paul was acutely aware of Jesus’ perfect patience of him in his ministry.  There was no presumption he was any better than those he taught regardless of them being Jew or Greek, young or old, pastor or parishioner.  They all needed Jesus’ perfect patience, as did he!

Jesus’ perfect patience not only manifested itself in love at the cross.  But also, in his sending of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the helper of sinners who trust in Jesus Christ.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, “we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,  so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11–12 ESV)

The writer goes on to cite Abraham as one who inherits through patience.  Abraham was patient but the greater weight of patience was from God who not only witnessed Abraham and Sarah’s disastrous affairs with Hagar and Ishmael, but also the nation that grew out of him all the way down to Paul.

Peter says in his second Epistle, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

Jesus’ perfect patience is also a perfect faithfulness too.  Not only does he send the Holy Spirit to give us faith, but he also remains faithful to us as well.  Rather than expectation, he serves with example and is patient with us.

He gives us the fullness of time as he peels back the layers of our sinfulness while bringing this sinfulness into the light of his revelation and his forgiveness of our sin. 

We’re all on different parts of God’s road to salvation.  Some are more mature in the faith.  Like Saint Paul, we are called to recognise with ever increasing clarity the weakness in which we walk.  But at the same time learn with increasing knowledge the overflowing grace that shows its perfection in Jesus’ patience. 

The fullness of time will come for us all.  Only then will we know who has believed they’re sinners and who trusted Jesus’ perfect patience.  Till then let us, in the complete knowledge and acceptance of our weakness, walk together sharing with each other the perfect patience of Jesus Christ, who walks in our midst as our forgiving Saviour God, and gathers us together in him with the Holy Spirit.

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever.  Amen.  (1 Timothy 1:17 ESV)

B, Pentecost 16 Proper 19 - Mark 8:27-38 "Jesus' Love and Death of Peter"

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”  And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”  And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”  And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. (Mark 8:27b–30 ESV)

Why did Jesus charge the disciples to tell no one about him?  This seems to go against the proclamation of the Gospel.  He came to be the Christ and now that they had learnt enough to know Jesus was the Christ, they are not allowed to tell anyone. 

This is peculiar.  Here in the Gospel of Mark it’s the first mention of Jesus being recognised as “the Christ”.  So why does Jesus immediately seek to shut down word getting out that he is the Christ?

Jesus’ language recorded here in Mark is a strong rebuke.  It’s not just a casual suggestion but a stern warning not to speak. In the same way Mark reports Jesus rebuking the demons in Mark chapter one, he admonishes the disciples not to tell anyone he was the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ!  Why?

The answer reveals itself in what happens next. 

“And he (Jesus) began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.  And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’” (Mark 8:31–33 ESV)

First Jesus rebukes them not to tell anyone about him. Now he rebukes Peter in the harshest way calling Satan, literally the accuser, to get behind.  How could Peter proclaim Jesus as the Christ when he was influenced by Satan to accuse Jesus’ explanation of the Christ as being wrong?  After Jesus says not to tell anyone about him being the Christ, Peter rebukes Jesus speaking of his anointing through suffering, rejection, death and then resurrection.

There was nothing inside of Peter that could have prepared him for that kind of Christ.  All the ideals and presumptions Peter had of the Christ were wrong.  Not only did they come from his human spirit as well as the expectations of a Jewish community in waiting; but as Jesus reveals, it came from Satan himself!

There is only one place from where true faith and understanding can come!  And this is from God himself.  It must come from the divine holy work of God! 

It was God the Father who provided Jesus so he could be the Christ.  It was Jesus, Son of God, and Son of Mary, who would do, and has done, the passive work of being anointed as the Christ.  And it’s God the Holy Spirit proceeding from God the Father and God the Son who reveals the Christ to us and within us as he opens the word to us and within us.

All tongues need to be silenced, and Jesus needed to send the Holy Spirit to reveal and teach before anyone could proclaim the Christ. The generations from Adam to Abraham, from Moses to Malachi, time and time again proved that following God by one’s own effort was not doable. Peter was no different, nor were the disciples, and even today we need to be taught why Jesus needs to be the Christ that he is. And we the Christian chuch he needs us to be.

Jesus’ love for Peter required Peter’s death.  Peter didn’t understand this; nor did he understand what Jesus being “the Christ” entailed.

This picture of Peter stands in stark contrast to the same Peter of many jokes who stands guard and meets people on their arrival at the pearly gates of heaven.  Unfortunately, most of these jokes portray the wrong idea of what it is to be a Christian and therefore represent a Christ that is not what Jesus Christ is all about. The following seems to do the same but with a twist at the end.

There was a man who died and went to heaven and met Peter at the pearly gates.  Peter says to the man, “This is the deal.  You need to acquire one hundred points to get into heaven.”  The man thinks then says, “I went to church regularly.” Peter replies “Ok that’s two points.” “Oh” says the man, “that’s not many! Then he says, “I was faithful to my wife for fifty-two years”, thinking, “that should get me a few brownie points.”  “That’s another two points”, replied Peter.  “Well, I tithed and volunteered every week of my life”, the man expectantly says hoping for a big addition to his score.  “That’s another point”, says Peter.  “What!  At this rate it will be only by the grace of God that I get into heaven”, the man retorts in exasperation!  “Spot on sir”, says Peter, “That’s one hundred points!  Come on in!”

A silly joke yes!  But it captures the essence of what it is to be a Christian and what it isn’t.  Also, it points to something other than our works that allow us entry into heaven.  And it helps us focus on the function of the Christ; what Jesus allowed happen to him for him to be the Christ; that the generations before and since are not able to do.

The grace of God sent Jesus to the cross.  The grace of God raised Jesus from the grave. And by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit comes revealing, through the cross and death, Jesus as the Christ.  Jesus is the only one anointed to be the Messiah, the Rescuer of humanity.  And to this end he reveals in his word through the Holy Spirit what it is to be a Christian. 

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he (Jesus) said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?  For what can a man give in return for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’” (Mark 8:27–38 ESV)

I imagine the crowd not having much of a clue to what Jesus was referring when he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  They knew the cross to be a barbaric punishment of death meted out by the Romans and they also knew from the Law in the book of Deuteronomy that anyone hung on a tree was cursed (Deut 21:22-23).  However, they did not know this was to be the way the Christ was to redeem humanity, beginning with the Jews.

But we do!  And still, we like Peter, those before him, and many since, still fail to grasp just what the Christ is and therefore, who we are as Christians.

Enter 2020 and Covid-19 and our inability to worship the way we use to.  Perhaps we have been spoilt or even deceived in the past believing we need our ideals of community and friendships to be church. 

The reality of the Christian Church is that we are community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ, alone.  Jesus rebukes all community based on anything other than him. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, martyred by the Nazis at the end of World War Two wrote: 

Just as surely God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great general disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. (Life Together: 26,27)

What does this mean?  Regardless of how good our intentions might be, if our community is based on yours or my desire, it’s a wish dream.  And like Jesus putting Peter’s desire to death, he calls us to the same death, by saying to us, “Get behind me, Satan.”   And he does so because so often what we believe to be church is not what Jesus knows as church.

The good news in this is Jesus’ death and resurrection! In him putting Satan behind us, the Holy Spirit puts Christ before us!  Indeed, within us!  He did it in baptism and he continues to renew us in him daily as we allow the death of sin within though confession, and Holy Spirited belief we are forgiven.  This is forgiveness realised by faith in the word of God where God reveals his promises to us.

Perhaps in this time of isolation you might be led into a deeper sense of community in your time alone with Jesus Christ in his Word. 

Jesus’ love of Peter required Peter’s death.  Jesus Christ’s love for the church requires the death and resurrection of the church in him.  Jesus love for you and me requires his death, and our death, so we can pick up our cross and follow him.  Our love for others requires our death to self so we can pick up our cross and lead others to Jesus the Christ. Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father send you Holy Spirit into our hearts so we can deny ourselves, pick up our cross, follow Jesus the Christ, and be his messengers of forgiveness and love even in these days of lockdown and isolation. Amen.