1 Timothy 2:1-7

A sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

1 Timothy 2:1-7 is one of the tough texts. I will repeat two verses to show you why. On the one hand, 1 Timothy 2:4 states: “God our Savior who desires all to be saved.“ On the other hand, 1 Timothy 2:5 states there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

There are other places in the New Testament that say all are saved. In Romans 5:18: “Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all.” This is repeated in a different way in Romans 11:32: “For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.” 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

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A Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 15:1-24

The leader of a very small denomination made the prediction that he would not die before the end of the world comes. But then he did die. The following Sunday the people wondered what the local pastor would say. He opened his Bible to Exodus 32: “God has changed his mind.” The people of Israel had turned to worship a golden calf and the Lord said: “I’m going to destroy them all and start over with you, Moses.” Moses begs him not to do this, and the Lord not only changes his mind, he repents! (Exodus 32:19)

In the following chapter it says: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19). In a similar way in Isaiah 55:8-9, God says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

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A Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Philemon 1:1-21; Luke 14:25-33

What does it mean to be practical? Realistic? Use common sense in the Christian life? The example given us today is slavery. If you look it up, you find out that there are about 40 million slaves today. We tend to have a Hollywood view of slavery as something long gone. Hollywood doesn’t tell us that there are more slaves today, even accounting for the increase in population, than in the early centuries. (Hollywood also doesn’t tell us that more Christians have died for their faith in the past hundred years than in all the years before that.)

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A sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Galatians 6:14-16

You may be surprised that we’re singing a Lenten hymn, “Come to Calvary’s High Mountain,” but it goes with Galatians 6:14-16: “Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Finally here at the end of Galatians there’s a rule, something to go by, something that tells us what to do.

Someone has said: “Theology bakes no bread. What’s the use of it? What’s important is how you live, what you do. We have to be practical. All of this other stuff doesn’t do anything. Just tell me what to do.” Here at the end of Galatians Paul says: “Peace and mercy upon those who live by this rule.”

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A sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Galatians 3:23-4:9

When you hear “Maverick,” what do you think of? Many will think of the wildly popular movie, “Top Gun: Maverick.” This movie was just released in May 2022, and it has already grossed globally over $1.3 billion. The lead character is Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a US Navy pilot, and he is a maverick, a person with a stubborn streak of independence. The story is loosely based on a real Navy pilot, Duke Cunningham and his accomplishments during the Vietnam War.

Older people among us may remember the TV show “Maverick,” from the early 1980’s, starring James Gardner, about a professional poker player in the Old West. This series was itself a revival of a similar Western from the 1950’s.

“Maverick” is a moniker used far beyond the movies. Ford Motor Company has a Maverick pick-up truck. There are Maverick thermometers, Maverick boats, Maverick flying cars. Maverick concerts. Maverick mountain bikes. Maverick chocolates.

When we read the letters of Paul, it becomes apparent that Paul was a maverick. He was considered an oddball by other apostles. What was the problem? He said: Not by the law. “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything” (Gal 6:15).

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