Grace be with you and peace from God our father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Let us pray
What inner “voices” motivate, lead and inspire us in life? What makes us think and act in the way that we do? There are many different answers to this question. For today, I would like to concentrate on four of many other “voices” that lead people in the way that they think and act in different phases and decisions of their life. I will mention three for now –
- The voice of habit – I think and do certain things in a certain way, because that has the way it is always been done and so I will do so too.
- The voice of logic and understanding – I “think” about the situation, try to understand it and act appropriately using my logical abilities. This is not a very effective method, as we are not purely logical beings, but it is a voice than many listen to…..and thirdly:
- The voice of fear –Fear as a gut feeling. Something that is constantly warning us against possible dangers.
Fear as a feeling is not necessarily a bad thing. It can function as a good warning system. Fear can prevent me driving home at 200 Km per hour and jump in front of a speeding car at an intersection. It can protect me. However, excessive fear can also take all the joy from my life and prevent me from really living and experiencing our true potential in life. This can happen to individuals, congregations, churches and even populations. For many people in our country and congregations this is the case right now. They live and are motivated by fear – by negative things that could happen. One just has to listen to many discussions at braai fires, dinners or after a church service to realize this. In many ways, we South-Africans are a nation gripped by fear and this motivates so many of our thoughts and actions.
The voice of habit, the voice of logic and understanding, the voice of fear. I said earlier that there is a fourth voice that wants to express itself in our lives. This voice is mentioned in our sermon passage for today. I read from the second letter to Timothy, chapter 2, the verses 7 to 10:
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Timothy, a timid, fearful young man, who represented many like him then and today. Timothy, whose life was determined by fear. He had given his life to God. His Grandmother and mother were Christians. He knew what he believed and he had become a leader in the congregation. He however also knew that his faith meant strife and conflict from within and without the congregation. Paul had proclaimed the gospel and that had meant prison for him. The Roman Empire saw Christianity as a threat and within the church there was strife and many different opinions about what the Christian faith meant. In Timothy, this caused the reaction of fear. A fear that threatened to lay him and his work for Christ lame.
Pauls warns Timothy against allowing himself to be determined by fear. He does this by mentioning the fourth voice that can determine our actions – the voice of the Holy Spirit.
I find it important that Timothy is not told to “man –up.” His fear is acknowledged. A few verses before our sermon passage Paul writes that he sees his tears. He acknowledges where Timothy is. Christians are not people without fear. They need not deny who they are and hide behind a mask of confidence. Christians, who are led by the Spirit, are people, who do fear and are weak, but trust God to give them guidance and take their timidity from them. We do not have to pretend to be what we are not by nature. We need not have all the answers. We need not always be confident, but we have the privilege of trusting God and knowing that he has answers. We have the privilege of proclaiming hope in the one who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. We may proclaim a new message of hope to an often-hopeless world.
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
The Spirit of God gives us power. I
In the beginning of the letter to the Romans Paul makes clear where this power comes from. In Romans 1, verse 16 he writes: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” There is only one place where we receive our power as Christians and that is in Jesus Christ. He gives us power. A power that has lasted over 2000 years in times where other power systems have come and gone.
The Greek word for power is dynamis, which has to do with dynamic. Having God’s power means being dynamic, which means moving in our time and in our situation? Fear makes us stand still. It lets us withdraw behind protective walls be it as individuals or as a church. We hide behind our electric fences. We hide behind our insecurities and we hide behind a church that builds up walls of protection around it. God’s Spirit wants to give us the courage to move – to try new ways and to proclaim hope. In a country and world that is often hopeless and leamed by fear, we are called to be dynamic and proclaim a message of hope.
The Spirit of God gives us power…and the Spirit of God gives us love writes Paul Fear and love exclude each other. I cannot love someone or something I fear. I can obey him or her and I can serve but I cannot really love. True love and fear do not belong together.
I cannot truly love someone I am afraid of and generally, I cannot really give love if I have not received it. Paul has experienced this in his life, where he prosecuted the Christian Church with all the zeal and power that he had and in doing so, he realized that he was persecuting the son of God, who came to earth to proclaim the love of God for all humanity. In his letter to Timothy he therefore mentions the love that we received and therefore can give – “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”
God’s love is unconditional. He accepts us through his son, not because we deserve it, but because he wants it – through his grace.
A few days ago, I read about the visit of the US pastor Steven Anderson, who is coming to South Africa soon. After the shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, this year, Anderson published a video on YouTube in which he stated: "The good news is that there's 50 less paedophiles in this world, because, you know, these homosexuals are a bunch of disgusting perverts and paedophiles." And, in December 2014, Anderson preached to followers: "...if you executed the homos like God recommends, you wouldn't have all this Aids running rampant." While reading the article I was once again reminded how important it is that power and love, as gifts of the Holy Spirit are mentioned together as the voice of the Spirit in today’s passage, regardless of what your viewpoint is on the issue of homosexuality and many other important issues. After reading the article, I watched an interview with him on the internet. Anderson spoke with so much conviction and power in the interview. It was clear that he was utterly convinced of his views. He had power and was definitely not timid. That was clear to me. Equally clear was that he had no love. Just as the bombers, who kill innocent people all over the world in the name of God. While timid love without power is often ineffective, power without love is hard and dangerous. They belong together and are both gifts of the Spirit.
The Spirit of God gives us power…and the Spirit of God gives us love writes Paul. He then mentions the third aspect of the Holy Spirit. The Sprit gives us self-discipline.
God’s Spirit gives self-discipline. Under self-discipline, I understand the use of my logic to understand my actions before I act too hastily. Self-discipline allows me to stand back and ask myself “Are my words and actions determined by the Spirit of love and from the power of the gospel or am I reacting out of fear, self- interest or habit. Self-discipline allows me to examine the facts before acting too hastily. Through it, I can speak to others and try to understand their viewpoint. Self- discipline allows me to stand back and not to act purely out of my emotions. I can consider various options and ask the question “How would Jesus Christ, the God of love and truthfulness react in this situation.
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord...”
What “voices” do we listen to in our lives? The voice of habit, the voice of reason, the voice of fear or the voice of the Holy Spirit that promises us power, love and self-discipline. This is the question God’s word asks each one of us today.
Amen.
May the grace of God that is beyond all human understanding, bless and preserve you now and unto eternal life. Amen.
