Drawing Closer to God

Worship - I Stand In Front of You

 

This morning, I got out of my chair, walked to this point, to stand here in front of you.  Apart from the obvious truth of that statement, there is a metaphorical truth which runs deeper.  I have never thought of myself as special; as separate from you.  I have always considered myself to be integrated into this congregation.  I do not wear robes to mark me as holier.  I do not wear my collar backwards as a mark of separateness.  I use no titles.  I am not Pastor Tim, or Father Stidham, or the Right Reverend Highest Holiness, as much as I might like the sound of that.  I got out of my chair amongst you, as one of you, to preach to… us. 

 

And yet, there is a distance between us.  I attempt to minimize this distance by wondering around in the front, instead preaching from the pulpit.  But the metaphorical reality is… there is still a distance between me, as "The Preacher", and you, as "The Congregation".  I often feel this distance.  In preparing sermons I think… what do I need to hear.  But more importantly, I have to ask, what do you need to hear?  The very act of me standing here creates this distance.

 

2 Timothy 4:1&2 shows this distance in a charge to all who would preach.

 

2 Timothy 4:1-2 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:  Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction.

 

I am commissioned to preach the Word.  This is a commission I take very seriously.  But, it creates this distance between us. 

 

I am charged with being ready, all time, to correct.  Preachers must take the responsibility to rebuke.  Correcting/Rebuking creates distance.

 

 But I am also called to encourage.  Perhaps, that closes the distance, some.  But, even as an encourager, I must stand beside you to cheer you on.

 

So, I got out of my chair as one of you, to stand in front of you, as not one of you.

 

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Even as I stand here in front of you, I really shouldn't be here… because it is hard to follow the instructions of 1 Timothy 4:12&13.

 

1 Timothy 4:12-13 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, (Or I might add old) but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.  ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching…

 

I am to devote myself to preaching.  I am to give myself wholeheartedly to preaching the message of God.  But, if verse 12 is a prerequisite to verse 13, then I have a problem.  I wish I could set an example in speech, life, love, faith and purity.  But as one who has gotten out of my chair among you, I doubt that I am a whole heck of a lot purer than you. 

- Do I say things I later regret?  Yes.

-Is my life an example of discipline and frugality and dedication?  Hardly.

-Do I love more deeply than you?  I doubt it.

-Is my faith without doubts?  The creepy crawlies come, from time to time.

-Purity?  I am glad you can't read my mind.

 

But, I have come to believe that my averageness is my greatest tool as a preacher.  I can correct because I know what needs correcting.  I can rebuke because I need the rebuking.  I can encourage with great patience because I need to be encouraged.   It is in my being average which allow my sermons to be real.

 

And teaches me to appreciate the grace of God.

 

Ephesians 3:7-8 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power.  Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ… 

 

It is in my averageness, that I am able to know the gift of God's grace.  It is in being just like you, where I see the working of his power in preaching.  It is all by grace that I am able to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ!

 

So, I rose from my chair to stand before you as a sinner - just like you - and, and… as one who has been given grace to speak of the riches of Christ!

 

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To get out of my chair to stand in front of you, to speak for God, requires a great deal of audacity.  There's a word for you… audacity; boldness or daring, especially with confident or arrogant disregard for personal safety or conventional thought.

 

 It is audacious to think that I speak for God.  Who am I to speak for God?  As you know I am not all that smart.

 

But, my audacity is based in listening.  I attempt to listen to the Spirit.  Each week I am careful, as I begin to write each sermon to be open to where God wants the sermon to go.  Whether in the shower; in reading a paragraph from a book; in a few words spoken by one of you; or a trigger from some "random" TV show; or a variety of other sources; I believe God pokes me in the right direction as I speak for him. 

 

I certainly don't claim any inspiration in a Biblical sense, but I do believe in the promise of 2 Corinthians 4:5-7.

 

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

 

God's light is placed in a not too smart jar of clay, to show that the power of his preaching is not from us!

 

This is also the reason why the preacher rises from the pew and then stands in front of the people to preach.  The preacher comes from God's people and thus is not outside the people or above them.  But the preacher stands in front of the people because what the preacher is about to do is not of the people's own making or, despite all the work of sermon preparation, of the preacher's own making.  It comes from their God, in whose name they speak and act.  After all, the commissioned and commissioning community does not want to listen to itself and project its own image of itself; it wants to hear Christ's voice, celebrate his fellowship, and have the assurance of his commission.  - Thomas G. Long-

 

We want to hear a message from God.  Each time I preach you want to hear the word of the Lord! 

 

Romans 10:14-15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

 

That is the wonderful reality.  I can speak of the good news.  We are a congregation who seeks God.  We are a people who do want to hear from God.  God calls us into being, as his church, and speaks to us through preaching! 

 

With my audacity, I get out my chair, as a clay jar filled with the Spirit, to stand before you and speak for God. 

 

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However, when you think about it, me, standing before you, is kind of silly.

 

It is silly to think that a few words thrown together and called a sermon, could possibly make any difference in someone else's life.  My second law says, "Nobody wants your advice."  Why do I stand before you thinking this sermon could make any difference, whatsoever?

 

This is sermon number 914 of the sermons I have preached in Los Alamos.  Yet, I wonder, have those 914 sermons made much difference?  Those of you who have been here for most of those sermons are you really any better in life or love or faith or purity?  How do I even tell if I am making a difference?

 

 I have a romantic notion of our community.  I see us as being this great church.  I see us in sync with the will of God, alive with the Spirit, as we spread the message of Jesus to everyone we encounter.  And I know the nitty-gritty reality of who we actually are.  The difference between the ideal and reality gives me job security.  It will take at least another 914 sermons for us to get it right.  "Sermons making a difference; come on that's silly."

 

But God is kind of silly, this way.  God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to change hearts.

 

1 Corinthians 1:21-23 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, (Americans want pizzazz) but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.

 

The foolishness of preaching is how God's wisdom is revealed.  That is amazing.  God uses preachers, like me, to change the hearts of people.

 

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

 

Acts 14:21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples.

 

Titus 1:3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.

 

As a preacher I love the story of Jonah.

 

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."  Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city-- a visit required three days.  On the first day, Jonah started into the city.  He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."  The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth…    ¹⁰ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

 

The power of preaching turned an entire city!  God uses the foolishness of preaching to change the hearts of men!  It is not just words… it is the power of God.

 

So, I get out of my chair to stand before you, a little bit silly… speaking the wisdom of God in power.

 

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It is an odd thing that you would sit there and listen to me, anyway.

 

 Last week we went and saw the movie "Cowboys & Aliens".  It was pretty good.  It had Cowboys and Indians and Outlaws and Aliens and lots of explosions.  Steven Spielberg spent $100 million making that movie.  It is hard to imagine $100 million for a 2 hour presentation.  Yet, you come to hear me this morning and I only spent a few hours, no money to speak of, making this movie/sermon and there are no explosions. 

 

You came to get something more than "Cowboys and Aliens".  You came to hear a message from God.  You came to hear the word of the Lord.  That is why preaching works.  For this preaching thing to work there must be faith, in its power, on your end.  You come to hear the word of the Lord… in faith!

 

Hebrews 4:1-2 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.  For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

 

William Willimon has insisted that the church in worship, "withdraws to the real world where we are given eyes to see and ears to hear the advent of the Kingdom that the world has taught us to regard as only fantasy."  That is why this preaching thing works.  It is the church's expectation of seeing into the real world; into the advent of the Kingdom, which allows preaching to change hearts.  It is your faith connecting to the real world which is the power of preaching.  The message from God, received in faith, is more powerful than cowboys or aliens.  

 

I am able to stand before you not because of my faith, but because of your faith in the Word of God! 

 

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Let me get to the end of this.

 

One of the ways we draw closer to God in worship is preaching. 

 

So, I get out of my chair, each Sunday…

                -as one of you, speaking as not one of you.

                -speaking from my averageness, by the grace of God.

                -to speak from the audacity of a jar of clay filled with the Spirit.

                -preaching  the silliness of God's wisdom.

                -without any explosions, to connect your faith to the Word of God.

 

Peter summaries what I've said in 1 Peter 1:24&25.

 

1 Peter 1:24-25 For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever."  And this is the word that was preached to you.

 

Tim Stidham

Los Alamos Church of Christ

August 14, 2011