Last week, here in worship we looked at the very beginning of this letter written in Paul’s name to Timothy, that struggling young pastor of a small church community near Ephesus in modern day Turkey. You may remember that those verses were a personal confession of sorts, and we concluded that their purpose was to establish the author’s credibility, so that Pastor Timothy and his congregation would give him their full attention.
Since this letter was most likely written several generations into the life of the early church, we know that modern scholars believe that Paul himself did not write the letter, but rather the real author used Paul’s name because Paul was a well-respected leader and scholar that people would listen to.
We learned that such a practice of using a pseudonym or ghost name was very common in antiquity and does not diminish the authenticity of the letter. Almost two thousand years later, the words to Timothy still speak to our church in a deeply meaningful and profound way.
This week, now that the author’s credibility is established, we will focus on a nitty gritty detail of the letter, which is the protocol for worship, in particular how and why we pray. But first, let’s figure out the historical context of this letter, which is important because the author had a particular group of people at a particular time in mind - and knowing that setting will shed some light on how we might interpret the author’s advice.
UCC pastor Kate Huey tells us that “If this letter to Timothy was written in Paul's name late in the first century, a generation or two of early Christians had passed from the scene. Jesus had not returned as expected before the apostles themselves died, and persecutions and trials and resistance, including expulsion from the synagogues (remember that many of these early followers of Jesus still considered themselves to be Jewish), had been part of the Christian experience for many years.
Even when the emperors weren't actively persecuting and executing Christians as Nero and others did, they were nevertheless pagans, and the Roman Empire itself was thoroughly pagan. It was clear, too, just who was in charge of earthly affairs, with troops, money, and power of every kind in the hands of those pagans.”
Pastor Timothy’s house church struggled to survive in the midst of a mighty non-Christian empire where money talked and military power threw its ample weight around, getting its own way through coercion and fear. No wonder he struggled to bring hope and a viable path forward to his congregation.
And yet, the author of this letter reminds Pastor Timothy of something very important – in Rev. Kate Huey’s words, Pastor Timothy needs to reaffirm “just who was really in charge of everything. In such an age, not unlike our own, earthly rulers might have been awed by their own power and might, and their subjects might have cowered, too, and wondered where to place their trust.
(The author) writes to his beloved colleague clarifying things. (Timothy, he seems to say, remember that) there is only one God, not a bunch of competing ones, and there is such a thing as truth, and you can count on it because we have received it from the One true mediator, Jesus Christ.”
And in the meantime, the in between time, before this truth of Jesus, this Gospel Message, supersedes the political messages of the day, the author of this letter instructs the congregation in Timothy’s care (and us as well, I would submit) to pray.
Pray always, and pray for everyone – not just for our friends and family, not just for those living with cancer and other health concerns, not just for those we personally know who are facing challenging financial times, but everyone – including kings and rulers, premiers and presidents – even if we do not agree with their policies.
God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
We in the moderate church have always been a bit leery about praying for our leaders, about bringing the political into the religious, about melding Capitol Hill with the Church. Oh, on Inauguration Day, it is alright to pray as Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson did in the prayer we just heard – but on an everyday basis, that gets a little dicey because if we pray in that way, we open ourselves and our churches to embracing politics with its undeniably messy reputation. When we begin praying for our rulers and kings, premiers and presidents, church is no longer about us and our needs and our personal relationship with our savior, but it is about something else – and that something else can get very uncomfortable at times.
And yet, if religion and politics do not confront each other here in the church, then I believe that something is desperately and pathetically wrong. As Presbyterian pastor, John Wilkinson wrote, “When someone tells you that we should not get involved in politics (and) that we should stick to religion, that's often a good indication that the particular moral issue on the table - from war to education to poverty - is in fact precisely the kind of political and ethical issue that calls for a religious response.” It is not a new idea. Another Presbyterian pastor and peace activist, William Sloan Coffin, noted that the confrontation between religion and politics dates back as far as when Moses asked Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go – and Pharaoh said no.
And the mission of Jesus is no less politically neutral. The Gospel message of compassion and reconciliation, of standing with the victims of this world, of taking the side of the least of these is a powerful political tool. In fact, I believe that it is the ONLY political tool that in the end will remake our world.
Yet, for the Gospel to be truly transformative, we in the church must act upon its potential and its power. You see, Jesus’ message was never meant to be domesticated and confined to the synagogues. It was never meant to be only about families and friends. It was never meant to be a neutral message. In contrast, it challenges each one of us to strive to stand with those God stands with.
How do we know that? We look to Jesus – the mediator, the truth which the author of this letter to Timothy alludes to. And when we do, what do we find?
First and foremost, we find that Jesus did things that might make us uncomfortable – like not just preaching about social justice, but mixing it up with tax collectors and Pharisees and deliberately putting himself in harms way by taking on the political power of Rome itself.
It is in light of all those disagreeable parts of Jesus’ legacy that the author of this letter we read tells Pastor Timothy to get his congregation praying – praying even politically, praying for kings and rulers, premiers and presidents, even those they despise.
And so it is for us. As seminary professor and elder of the Free Methodist church, Rob Wall, notes: “The public prayers of the Christian community (should) hardly reflect a program of social domestication…but (rather) a Christian mission that boldly evangelizes…It's perhaps another way of being leaven, (of making a difference), no matter how small and seemingly powerless you may be.”
So – I implore you to take the author’s advice to Pastor Timothy seriously and pray. Pray often:
Pray very hardy. Pray for republicans. Pray for democrats and for those without a party
Pray for the vain ones. Pray for the weak. Pray for the bold ones and for those who seem quite meek.
Pray for the old, for the young, and in between. Pray for the kind and even for the mean.
Pray for happy. Pray for the sad. Pray for the angry, the confused and the glad.
Pray for the healthy. Pray for the sick. Pray for the slow. Pray for the quick.
Pray for the quiet ones. Pray for the talkers. Pray for the runners and the skippers and the walkers.
Pray for the big ones. Pray for the small. Pray for the hairy and for those whose heads are bald.
Pray for the curly. Pray for the straight. Pray for the early and for those always late.
Pray for the rude and for those who say please. Pray for the proud or those who pray on their knees.
Pray for Americans. Pray for Caucasians. Pray for all colors, Indians, Africans, and Asians.
Pray for the athletes. Pray for the artists. Pray for the talented, the dullest, and the smartest.
Pray for the hardy. Pray for the faint. Pray for the atheist, the sinner, and the saint.
Pray for the he’s. Pray for the she’s. Pray for the picky and those who are pleased.
Pray for all people even those who disagree with our standards and our morals or beliefs that we decree.
Each one is God’s creation. Judging’s not what we’re about. Just pray and love them all and let God sort them out.
And who knows, if we do, then as Kate Huey mused, “perhaps it won't be so hard to get along with one another, and with our rulers and kings (and presidents and premiers) as we make our way toward the truth” – the truth of Jesus, the truth of the Gospel.
…..And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace. Amen.
Rev. Nancy Foran is pastor of the Raymond Village Community Church, Raymond, Maine
http://www.rvccme.org/
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