THE SECOND SUNDAY OF PENTECOST - JUNE 5&6, 1999

St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church - Watertown, WI

MORE SOLID THAN THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR 2 Peter 2:19-26

When I purchase a car or some other big ticket item, I want something that is solid and it will last a good long time. I want something that has been around for a while and has a proven track record regarding quality and service. Have you ever noticed that most companies try and have a symbol that indicates stability and longevity? The Prudential Insurance company picked the rock of Gibraltar as the symbol for their insurance company because it has been there for thousands and thousands of years. It is over 1,300 feet high on the southern tip of Spain and marks the straits of Gibraltar which is a 36 mile long waterway between Spain and northern Africa which connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. That symbol reminds people of something that is sturdy and long lasting. Many would be more likely to buy insurance from this company identified with the Rock than from a company that was just founded in 1997. I am more apt to buy from some company that has been in existence since the early 1900's than from a company that says, "We've been here since 1985. How do I know that this new company will last? They don't have a long track record as far as sales or service. But even companies which have been in existence for generations can fail and go out of business.

However, there is one institution that has been in existence since the creation of the world and will never go out of existence. It will continue even after this present world has been destroyed. What is that? It is the church of Jesus Christ. The Christian church came into existence at the creation of the first two human beings and it will continue into eternity. It is MORE SOLID THAN THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR. The creator and chief executive officer of the Christian Church I) Knows His People and II) God's People Are Different.

THE LORD KNOWS HIS PEOPLE

Are you known where you work? Or do you feel that no one knows who you are? Don't you like to be called by name? Doesn't it make you feel good when someone notices that you are missing or comments on the work that you have done? So often in our fast paced world, we seem to be merely considered as numbers on a sheet of paper. No one seems to care about our feelings, our ideas, our thoughts. In our large congregation, that can often be the case too.

However, there is someone who knows you personally. In fact, he knows you better than you know yourself. That someone is the head of the Christian Church. He is the Lord your God and Savior. In the time that this letter was written during the first century, the Christian church was being torn apart by people who were teaching and preaching lies and their own ideas. Timothy, a young pastor maybe about forty years old was facing these problems. People were leaving the church. They were following the teachings of men who said that the resurrection had already taken place. This was causing divisions and quarrels within the congregation. Naturally, Timothy was concerned and upset by what was happening. Paul who is in prison facing his own death soon, writes to encourage and comfort Timothy and us. Paul's encouragement is this truth. "God's solid foundation stands firm" The Christian church will never perish from this earth. As Jesus had told Peter when Peter confessed that he believed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God; "on this (confession, this truth) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not overcome it." (Matthew 19:18) God's church had not been overcome. Oh, the false teachers and the liars are still here. They are still spouting their ideas and their lies, yet they have not been able to destroy the truth of God's Word. The devil has employed entire nations and governments to attempt to stamp out the Christian church. In Timothy and Paul's day it was the pagan Roman government. That empire fell and no longer exists, yet the Church of Jesus Christ is still here one thousand eight hundred years later. In 1917 the communists took over Russia. For 71 years they attempted to destroy the Christian church. In 1989 the iron curtain crumbled and the communist regime lost their power. The Christian church? It is still strong and vibrant in spite of the persecution. In our nation today we see the continual attacks on the truth of God's Word by government agencies, the media and other groups with influence and power. We also see it happening within many churches in our land where the Word of God has been set aside as merely someone's outmoded and out of date ideas. Yet in spite of the persecution from without and within the church of Jesus Christ will continue. For the Lord knows those who are his. And as Jesus tells us and we read in our Gospel reading for today, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:27-28)

What comfort and peace we have in the truth that the Lord knows us. He knows your fears and needs. He knows the struggles that you are going through right now and he not only knows, but he cares and he is able to help you and see you through them. He knows what we need and he supplies those needs at just the right time. At times of trouble or death, well meaning people may come to us and say, "I know how you feel." "I know what you are going through.". But they haven't the foggiest idea because they are not you. They don't know what thoughts are racing through your mind. They don't know the pain and agony, the sorrow and despair. But the Lord does. Jesus understands. He knows you intimately. He knows what you are really like and he is able to supply you with the strength and help you will need at just the right time. He is able to see you through this great change in your life.

GOD'S PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT

This wonderful and comforting truth that we are known by our Lord, Creator and Savior has an impact on our lives. It changes us. Our lifestyle changes and so does the manner in which we deal with those who oppose us and don't believe or live the same way that we do. The second inscription on the pillar of Christ's church reads, "Let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness." (v. 19c)

As people who confess that we trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, we try to live differently than those people who deny Jesus and reject him as their Savior and Lord. We attempt to turn away from wickedness. And that is a continual struggle for everyone of us. As Paul writes in another of his letters, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:12) In fact, as Christians everyone of us recognizes the struggle that we have everyday. Paul put it this way in his letter to the believers in Rome, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:18-19,24-25) Paul notes that our attempt to live differently is filled with daily battles and often we lose the battle. But thank God, we don't lose the war. God forgives us for our failures and disobedience. The blood of Jesus Christ erases everyone of those sins. Because of God's forgiving and forgetting everyone of our failures, we continue to strive with his help to improve and correct our lives.

Paul now uses a comparison of what is found in the visible church on earth. He writes, "In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter (ignoble), he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." (vv. 20-21) Within a house there are various articles and instruments that are made of gold and silver and they are valuable and precious and used for special things. There are also items made from wood and pottery. They are not as special nor as precious. Nor are they used for important and special events. Paul says we are to be like the gold and silver items. For when we are, we are prepared to do works that are acceptable and good in the eyes of God.

Paul now encourages us in being gold and silver items within the church of Jesus Christ. He says, "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (v. 22) Paul warns Timothy and us to avoid the evil desires of youth. What are those desires? They can be sexual lusts and desires; greed and materialism; egotism and self-centeredness Paul then focuses on the virtues that we should be pursuing. They are righteousness. We need to be concerned about doing what is morally right and true. This has become extremely difficult as our culture now condones lying and falsehood. We are also to pursue faith, that is faith in the promises of God. So many today have put their trust in themselves, their abilities, wealth and power rather than in the promises of God. Why? Because you can't see God nor his promises as well as you can see what you have accumulated and what is before your eyes in this world. Another characteristic that needs to shine in our lives is love. This has nothing to do with our feelings, but rather with our actions. It is the kindness, patience and understanding that we show toward others. Finally Paul closes with peace. The harmony that should exist between us as we live together. Paul concludes here how as God's people we are different.

The last section of this portion of his letter, Paul addresses how we as followers of Jesus Christ are to deal with those who oppose us, don't believe as we do and don't attempt to live lives which bring glory and praise to God. Listen to Paul's instructions. "Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." (vv. 23-26) Put simply, don't argue about religion with anyone. All it does it result in fights and quarrels. But that does not mean that we keep silent either when false teachings and lies are being spread as God's Word. Paul tells us to be patient. We are to gently instruct such people and point out their errors on the basis of God's Word, the Bible. But then we must also remember it is only God who can bring these people to repentance and change their hearts. You and I cannot convert or change anyone's mind. Only the Lord can do that and he does it through us using and proclaiming the truth of His Word. So we gently work with those who have been captured by the devil's lies and falsehoods and pray that the Lord would bring them to their senses to know the truth and be saved.

The church on this side of heaven is in continual warfare and it will be until Jesus returns at the end of time. But the comfort we draw in the face of every battle we encounter, "God's foundation stands firm." (v.19a) The church of Jesus Christ will never be destroyed from this earth.

Amen