The Lutheran Hour
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"The Gift of a Sudden Gratitude"
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Text: Text: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
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I want my listeners to know right up front, that today’s message is geared toward a particular kind of person, who is feeling a particular kind of experience in his or her life.
I’m thinking of the person who understands the importance of living well, and of living well as a Christian. The lives that God gives us are important, our choices matter. You have the opportunity to be a blessing to your friends, your family, even people that you just meet during the day. Simply stated: there is important work for us to do, and it matters.
The world around us, in so many ways, is not living well. It’s not hard to see: dishonesty, cheating, slander. Holy things like marriage and the keeping of other promises are not important, it seems, to many people. To use the common word, sin is a huge problem and a challenge for us. There is sin around us, and sin within us. So, we see even more clearly then that God has a job for us Christians to do and it is vitally important that we work hard at it. We need to teach our children. We need to encourage each other, to resist false evil ideas that go against God’s truth as the Scriptures reveal that truth. Even inside the organized church itself, and it has always been this way, there are problems. There is work to be done, and God has called me and He has called every one of my Christian listeners to be hard at work, faithfully living and trying to get the job done for Christ.
Now let me tell you why the reading from 1 Timothy 1:12-17 made me think of you. This epistle lesson assigned for this Sunday is sort of “plunked down” right in the middle of Paul’s opening words to Timothy. Paul is leaving Ephesus. He’s left young Timothy in charge of the work in and around that great ancient city. When we read Paul’s words in the whole chapter here, it’s clear that there’s work to be done, and a lot of it! There are false teachers who misunderstand how God’s Law works and who distract believers with foolish discussions about things that don’t really matter; Timothy has to lead the charge against these troublemakers. It’s an urgent matter for Timothy to put things in order for these congregations of young Christians. Paul urges Timothy himself to remain faithful to his calling as a pastor and overseer of other pastors. Timothy must hold fast to sound, healthy teaching that comes from Christ Jesus. The situation is serious, the work is important. Paul is concerned and busy, and Timothy will be as well. They needed to live their lives and their callings well and faithfully, just as we need to do so today.
Now, here is the danger in all of that, both in the first century and in the 21st century. This urgency of living faithful and holy lives, as true as it is, the urgency can become too great, too heavy, too much to handle. It seems odd to say it this way, but the more we believe the truth about our calling to live as God wants us to, the greater is this danger. The danger is that we will begin to feel the burden, begin to think that because there are so many things that need to happen, that many or most of these things depend solely on us. And that’s where the fatigue can set in, or the discouragement, or even the surrender. But the crazy thing about this is that our lives and our choices do matter for God! We can’t give in, and we can’t pretend that there is no battle to be fought, and it’s so very important that we live our lives faithfully and well. So, how can we live well and not get sucked down into the pit of discouragement?
Right in the middle of this chapter about living well and working hard, is our lesson for today. And I like to think of these verses as a kind of interruption; a sudden change, in fact, as a kind of “sudden gratitude.” In verse 11, Paul is talking about working hard, about teaching properly about sin and truth (and now come his words) “in accordance with the glorious Gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.” Then, sort of out of the blue, as if his own words “the glorious Gospel” reminded him of something, his tone changes. It is as if, in mid paragraph, Paul himself is struck by a gift, a gift of a sudden gratitude. Suddenly, it’s not about the need to live well. Paul says, verse 12, “I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He judged me faithful, appointing me to His service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.” Right in the middle of the urgency of living well, Paul says, “I thank God, I thank my Lord Jesus Christ.” Why does he say that? Breaking through the hard work of life come these words: “But I received mercy.” Those words, dear friends, can be your words and mine, the words of a sudden gratitude that I pray God will give to you today and every day that stretches out before you. These can be your words, “But I received mercy.”
Even though he had violently opposed the cause of Christ, Paul was spared from what he had deserved. That’s what mercy is; Paul didn’t get what he deserved from God. And then he says, “The grace of our Lord overflowed for me.” If mercy means that Paul didn’t get what he deserved, then grace means that Paul gets what he did not earn or deserve. And Paul says grace overflowed. God’s love, God’s rescue, was so much bigger and stronger than Paul’s sin and Paul’s rebellion.
How does he know this? What is the foundation of Paul’s sudden gratitude? What demonstrated for him, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he received mercy and overflowing grace? He goes on, in verse 15: “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.” In a single sentence, there are two stories, two true stories, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Paul is gripped by a sudden gratitude because he remembers two true stories.
The first is his own story, the story of the chief of sinners. You see, even though God had wiped out Paul’s sins and God didn’t remember them, Paul could remember. He knew what he had been, left to his own wisdom and his own plans. He had become a blasphemer, someone who by his choices spits in the face of God. Paul had been so sure that he was right – he had been so arrogant. That was Paul’s story. He calls himself the “foremost sinner.”
But there is another true story. Christ Jesus came into the world for a purpose, to save sinners. God’s own Son had become a human being, Jesus of Nazareth, the chosen one, God’s anointed Jesus, God’s Christ. Christ Jesus came into the world and He had something to do, a reason for coming; He wanted to save sinners. He wanted to show them mercy, so they would not receive the punishment and rejection they deserved. Christ Jesus wanted to offer an overflowing love and grace, so that sinners could be rescued from hell and from their own choices. Mercy and grace. Two gifts joined together and shaped like a cross. That’s where mercy and grace come from. Jesus’ death for Paul, and Jesus’ resurrection for Paul. Paul knows that there is serious work to be done in life, but a sudden gratitude breaks in and brings joy and a new perspective. Paul is not just someone who has to work hard. He is someone who has received mercy, and overflowing grace. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, to save Paul.
He doesn’t actually stop there, though it would be enough, I suppose. In verse 16 he says it again, “But I received mercy.” The first time he explains what that means. This time he explains why he received mercy: “So that in me, as foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as a pattern for those who are about to believe in Him for eternal life.” Paul holds himself up as an example. But not as an example of how to live well or faithfully, though he does that at other places in his letters. No, Paul is a living example of how amazingly patient Jesus Christ is with sinners. This example is for those who were to believe in Jesus for eternal life. So, echoing down the centuries, for us who believe today, is this example. Paul receives mercy. And in the middle of writing about and living a life of dedicated service to Christ, he is gripped by a sudden gratitude. It makes him glad.
Dear friends in Christ, Paul is an example and a pattern for me and for you. In the middle of all that he and Timothy had to do, this Good News just intrudes, it pushes its way in and refreshes Paul’s heart and reminds him, very simply, of mercy and overflowing grace. In these words from Paul may our God give to you today and every day, the gift of a sudden gratitude. We received mercy! Remember the two, true stories. Your details might be different from Paul’s or from mine, but the main “plot” would be the same; never forget that the plot is the same for us all. Left to yourself, you would be a complete rebel against God, choosing your ways and not His ways, spitting in His face by our selfishness and foolishness and love for ourselves. Paul is the example and the pattern. He needed mercy and overflowing grace. So do I. So do you. You and I would perish forever, rejected by God, if He had left us to ourselves.
But there’s another story, a true story. You received mercy! Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners! And there is grace overflowing, pouring over the top of your sin and covering it over like a flood, like a flood that streams from Jesus’ side as He dies on the cross for you and for me. Perhaps at times you have lost sight of that mercy and that grace. Perhaps there’s someone listening to me who has never really known about that mercy, and that undeserved gift and kindness. But it is for me, and it is for you. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and He has saved you. We simply acknowledge, yes, that this is who we are, and this Good News is for us. Jesus Christ is for you. You may depend on that.
Let this Good News break into your life, into your work, your job, your family, your fears, your concerns. In the midst of it all, you have received mercy! Paul said, “I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord.” Make his words your words as well. I thank Him, Jesus Christ our Lord. In the middle of it all, grace overflowed for you, God’s gifts of forgiveness, and acceptance, and a life with God as His dear child now and on the Judgment Day when He comes in power, and on into eternal life.
Then, filled with this sudden gratitude, in verse 18 Paul gets back to work, and so does Timothy and so will we. Back to the calling that God has given you. But different now, and living in a different way. I’m not just a worker. My life and my choices are important, yes, but they are not the key. They do not define who you are. You received mercy. The grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, has overflowed for me and for you. Right before he gets back to work then, Paul’s words can be our words; let them be your words: “To the king of kings, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Lutheran Hour Mailbox (Questions & Answers) for September 26, 2004 Topic: God Can’t Stand Sin
ANNOUNCER: And now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to a listener’s questions. I’m Mark Eischer. Today, Pastor, two rather tough questions. First, “How can Jesus be in my heart when I’m a sinner and God cannot stand to be in the presence of sin?” Number two, “What will happen when I have to stand before God some day, and He asks me about my works?”
KLAUS: You know, Mark, that’s really only one question. One question asked from two different perspectives. They boil down to, “How can God stand me if I’m a sinner?” One says “How can God stand me if I’m a sinner right now?” The other says, “How can God stand me if I’m a sinner on Judgment Day?” Let me begin by telling you I have a friend in Minnesota. I won’t mention that Jerry Vilmain is his name. At any rate, this fellow practices what are sometimes called “random acts of kindness.” People who practice random acts of kindness do nice things for other people, quite unexpectedly. For example, they might pay your fee on the toll road, or send some flowers – these kinds of things. Now the people who are the beneficiaries of these random acts of kindness didn’t do anything to deserve them. It’s just BAM! Clear out of the blue somebody does something nice for them. In one respect, that is what God does for us. Although we never deserved it, God decided to do something unbelievably, unexpectedly kind for us. He saw us, caught in our sin. He knew we couldn’t get out by our own power, so He sent His Son into this world. As Luther said it, “Jesus has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature; purchased and won me from sin, death, and the power of the devil.” Jesus came for us, lived for us, suffered for us, died for us, rose for us. Even now, He speaks to the Father on behalf of sinners like you and me.
ANNOUNCER: But God’s salvation gift of grace wasn’t a random act of kindness.
KLAUS: No, you’re absolutely right. It was unexpected and undeserved, but that’s where the similarity ends. Before time ever began, the Lord knew He was going to send His Son to save us.
ANNOUNCER: Now how does this all relate to our listener’s question?
KLAUS: In this way, Mark, the questioner is right. God’s perfection, His holiness, cannot abide sin. He can’t tolerate it – today, tomorrow, on Judgment Day, at any time.
ANNOUNCER: So, what’s your answer?
KLAUS: Let me ask it this way. Are you a sinner?
ANNOUNCER: Yes sir.
KLAUS: Me, too, like everybody. Now let me ask you another question. How long does it take God to forgive your sins? Will it take days, weeks, months, hours, minutes, years, eons? How long?
ANNOUNCER: I always thought he forgave them 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross for me and everyone else.
KLAUS: Good answer. In truth, those who believe in Jesus received the benefits of His sacrifice. They now live in a state of forgiveness. St. Paul said it this way, in Second Corinthians (5:17-19) “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” Now in that passage, there are a couple of important points.
ANNOUNCER: First, I heard you say we are now “new creatures.”
KLAUS: That’s right. In baptism, our old Adam was drowned and we are connected to Christ’s death and resurrection. We’re born again through water and the Word, to begin a new life of daily repentance and trust in the Savior.
ANNOUNCER: So are you saying even though we sin, it’s not counted against us?
KLAUS: Yes.
ANNOUNCER: Would that be like getting a whole drawer full of traffic tickets, and then finding out the points haven’t been recorded against your driver’s license?
KLAUS: Yes, something like that. And remind me not to drive with you. Our sins are gone. They were laid upon Christ and His righteousness is credited to us. That’s what the Apostle John wrote in his first Epistle (1 John 1:7), “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
ANNOUNCER: So, on Judgment Day, when God looks at us, He won’t see our sin?
KLAUS: No, He will see that Jesus has washed away our sins and saved us.
ANNOUNCER: That’s pretty important. KLAUS: Mark, it’s all-important. This caller, through faith in Jesus, is acceptable in God’s sight. St. Paul tells us that in Romans (5:1), “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ….”
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.