A sermon preached by The Reverend Scott D. Nowack on July 24, 2011

at the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore, Texas.

 

“Teach, Equip and Inspire”

II Timothy 3:16-17

 

            This morning not only is the sermon based on Scripture, but it is also about Scripture; about what it says to those who have come before us; it’s about what it says to us in our present time; it’s about where we are going in the future. 

Every time we read Scripture, the Word of God, many things happen to us.  Today I’m going to focus on three of them.  Scripture teaches us, equips us and inspires us.  Let’s look at the first one.

            Scripture teaches us.  I am amazed and dumbfounded when I hear people say how the Bible is irrelevant to our lives.  I have heard it said that the Bible has nothing to teach us and we have nothing to learn from it.  There are other Christians who dismiss the Bible when discussing issues to which the Bible speaks.  The Bible teaches us many things.

            The Bible teaches us who God is through the life, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.  We read in the first chapter of John’s Gospel that, “The Word became flesh and lived among us.”  The Word of God, Jesus Christ, came down to earth to live with us as a human being.  We see and hear the Word of God through the teachings of Jesus on earth such as the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus used parables, healings and his everyday conduct to teach us who God is and what God expects of us as his children.

            What kind of God goes through all this trouble for us?  Our God is a relational God who is compassionate and loving toward his creation.  The Bible teaches us that the God of all creation wants to know us and love us.  We read in Genesis the story of God creating the world and everything in it in relationship to Him.  It started in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with God and creation until they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge and were forced out of the garden.  There was Noah and the ark where God flooded the earth and redeemed all creation.    Then God called Abram to move his family from the Fertile Crescent to the Promised Land where his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.  Through Genesis and the entire Old Testament, we witness God’s relationship with humanity through his many descendants: from Isaac to Moses; from Joshua to Solomon.  In good times and in bad, through victory and defeat, God is always with his people.  The genealogy is written out in the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.  Scripture alone teaches us who God is through his relationship with us through his son Jesus Christ.

            Scripture also equips us in several ways.  Scripture equips us with wisdom and knowledge as revealed in such books as Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and Job.  The unknown author of Ecclesiastes writes repeatedly, “There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their work.  This is a gift from God”. 

Proverbs is filled with sage advice including:

“The simple believe everything, but the clever consider their steps.  The wise are cautious and turn away from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless”. (Proverbs 14:15-16) 

“Like a dog that returns to its vomit, is a fool who reverts to his folly.” (Proverbs 26:11)

“Let another praise you and not your own mouth – a stranger, and not your own lips”. (Proverbs 27:2)

These sayings equip us with wisdom and knowledge for living life to the fullest.  Scripture equips us to live the life God calls us to live.  Paul writes about it in Romans chapter 8, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…and those whom he predestined he also called and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified”. (8:28-30)  The Bible also equips us to live for God that in “whatever we do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”(Colossians 3:17)  We live the life of Christ by doing all things we say and do in his name and with our Lord in the forefront of our thoughts.  Scripture equips us to witness to others about the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.  The book of Acts describes the spread of early Church.  We read about great wonders such as the appearance of the Holy Spirit as tongues of fire and Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus.  We also read about great, God-fearing individuals such as Stephen, Peter and Silas spreading the faith throughout the known world.  And they paid the ultimate price for their beliefs: martyrdom.  Their faith, their courage, their hope and their strength teach us what it takes to be a disciple of Christ; the difficulties of living it out each day and the consequences, both good and bad, of sharing the good news with an unbelieving world.  Scripture equips us with wisdom and knowledge to live the life God has called us to live and to be a witness to the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus.

            Scripture teaches us, equips us and lastly it inspires us.  The first value is to be faithful.  Hebrews 11:1 gives us a definition of faith: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  We read in Scripture great examples of faith through Abraham, Moses and David.  One of my favorite stories of faithfulness is from chapter three in the book of Daniel.  It is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They lived in Babylon during the Exile under King Nebuchadnezzar.  The king decreed that all his subjects will worship a golden statue he made.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to follow the King’s order.  The result: they are put in the fiery furnace.  While in the furnace, a fourth person appeared with them in the fire.  All four men were not harmed.  The king called them out of the furnace and praised God for delivering them from the flames.  What a tremendous display of faith;   these three men demonstrated and unwavering faith in God because they trusted in God for all their needs.  Scripture inspires us to be faithful.

            The second value Scripture inspires in us is to be hopeful.  Hope is everywhere in scripture, from the days of the Israelites wandering in the desert to the writings of Isaiah to the promises of the New Testament.  One passage that continues to inspire hope in my heart is from Revelation.  It is written to the church in Philadelphia: “I know your works.  Look, I have set before you and open door, which no one is able to shut.  I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” (3:8)  The God we worship and serve is a God of hope.

            The third value Scripture inspires in us is to love ourselves and one another.  1 John says it simply, “God is love.”  When we love ourselves and one another, we are demonstrating what God is all about.  God in scripture commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength.  And through Jesus, we hear a second commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves.  We are instructed to love God, ourselves and our neighbor.

            Scripture inspires us to be faithful and hopeful; to love one another, ourselves and God.

            The Word of God brings us out of our present existence and into a new place of great possibilities.  The 20^th century theologian Karl Barth, in his book, “The Word of God and the Word of Man” writes these very vivid,

            There is a river in the Bible that carries us away, once we have entrusted our destiny to it…it drives us out beyond ourselves and invites us, without regard to our worthiness or unworthiness, to reach for the last highest answer in which all is said that can be said, although we can hardly understand and only stammeringly express it.  And that answer is: a new world, the world of God.” (Barth)

            Scripture teaches us, equips us and inspires us to move out of our present existence and into a new realm of understanding and possibilities with God which we struggle to fully understand.  It is as if, according to Barth, there is a river that is a journey that runs through the Bible that indeed carries us along to our God.  It is the questions that drive us out to seek God who created us and our world.  And one day we will reach the last highest answer. 

            “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face.  Now I know only in part; then we will see face to face.  Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (I Cor. 13:12)