Pastor
Steve Geiger New Year’s Eve
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2 Timothy 4:5-8
5 But you, keep your head in all situations,
endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your
ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink
offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store
for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will
award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for
his appearing.
Times
Will Change 2 Timothy 4:5-8
1.
The struggle is now
2.
The victory is coming
Times
will change.
Would
such a promise bring to your heart such peace and relief?
2004
has been a year full of challenge.
Count the news stories that could make the strongest heart quiver—flu
vaccine shortage, ongoing terrorist opposition, nations pursuing nuclear weapons,
a tsunami whose victims are climbing over 100,000.
Times
will change.
Can
the ending of a year produce a moment of hope?
Perhaps 2005 will be better.
What
if tonight we were all to agree that 2005 was going to be bad too? 2006 as well. 2007 full of death and pain.
2008 . . . Happy New Year!
How
strange that would sound.
Are
you ready for the Lord to tell you that 2005 will be a wonderful year, as the
Lord continues to keep his promises, protects you from all evil, and ensures
that everything works for your eternal good?
It will be.
Also be ready for the Lord to tell you that
2005 will be hard. Full of
struggle. A battle. It will be.
Every year that remains for you on this earth will be a challenge.
But
times one day will change. The struggle
is now. The victory is coming.
Paul
had a tough 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004.
Don’t misunderstand. He had
learned the secret of being content. He
rejoiced in his struggles. But he had
struggles. As he wrote this letter,
Paul had been arrested and appeared about to face execution. A rough year.
As
he writes to his dear younger friend Timothy, he speaks of challenges Timothy
too would face. That he be ready to
endure evil. That he be prepared for
hardship. That he be prepared for
enemies who would mishandle God’s words of truth. He warned Timothy about the evil desires of youth inside
himself. That terrible times there
would be in the last days.
Struggle. Struggle.
Struggle.
Living
with your flesh, living in a world where many don’t love the Lord . . . does
your life feel like a struggle?
What
temptations can face us as we experience a life full of struggle?
Do
you have difficulty keeping a clear head?
When things seem so overwhelming and life is confusing, we long for a
clear head. In times of struggle we
long to escape thoughts that torture us.
Is there a temptation in struggle to find a human way of escape? “Clearing” our head with sinful pleasure? Drowning out our thoughts with chemicals
that cloud thinking? Keeping ourselves
busy with distraction so we don’t have to think about what’s bothering us? In struggle do we sometimes look for escape
instead of turning to the Scriptures for gentle rebuke, for comfort, for
guidance?
In
a challenging world God encourages us to endure evil. As you look back on this year, were there times when you were
being mistreated, and it didn’t seem like there was any God-pleasing option but
to endure it for a time, but somewhere in the middle of that time you lost your
patience and responded to evil with evil instead of with good?
In
a world full of struggle God wants us to do the work of a good news
announcer. Can we ever be led to think
that there isn’t much good news to announce?
We see all that is going wrong, and that’s all we see. Perhaps we see
challenges in our congregation. We see
our own sinful flesh getting the best of us at times. We see people we love drifting from the Lord. We become discouraged and feel that certain
circumstances can arise which will persuade us that we no longer have reason to
rejoice. Jesus and forgiveness just
don’t feel to us like enough anymore.
In
the hard race of life God wants us to bring to fullness our specific ministry,
to do all you can in the role that God has given you, to use your gifts to your
fullest, to see the short time of life that remains as the opportunity to max
out your skills, your time, your talents.
Can we ever look at ourselves and grow content with mediocrity? Because when we compare ourselves to others
we think, “Well, I’m doing more than that person anyway.” Instead of seeing our lives as constant
opportunities to grow, we may feel at a certain point that we’ve given God
enough.
Life
is a struggle. Does the fact that life
is a struggle sometimes trick us into drifting from God’s will for us in
struggle?
For
us to see that in the year 2004 we haven’t always handled the struggle in a
God-pleasing way is to confess our sins to the Lord. Dear Lord, I’ve been tempted to look at life as if it shouldn’t
be a struggle. When it has felt that
way, I have grown discouraged. I
haven’t turned to your word for clear thinking. I’ve responded to evil with evil. I’ve allowed myself to become convinced that Jesus and
forgiveness aren’t news good enough to overcome my pains. I’ve grown comfortable with something less
than enthusiastic service to you.
A
good thing, confession. A certain
danger can come next. To see our sin
can be such a short step from lasting discouragement. Satan wishes to use the struggle and the sins that can follow to separate
us from the God who loves us. Satan
wishes to persuade us that it’s too late.
How can God love someone like me?
Getting us to despair of God, Satan wishes to see God not as Savior but
as enemy, to think little of Jesus, to bring us to eternal destruction.
Satan
has intentions when life gets hard.
Satan
is a liar.
While
we are tempted to grow discouraged in our struggle, to think that struggle can
only be a totally bad thing, look at how Paul describes the struggle. “I have fought the good fight.” Literally, I have struggled the beautiful
struggle.
The
beautiful struggle?
2005
will be a struggle. How can the
struggle be beautiful? Because Paul
knew he was winning. Paul knew that a
victory was coming. But how can one
know that a victory is coming when one sees so clearly that one has fallen?
Like
Paul. He had fallen too.
Look
at his confidence. There is laid up for
a me a crown of righteousness which the Master will give as the fulfillment of
an obligation, or expectation. The
righteous Judge will give this.
Obviously,
with Paul, with us, this righteous judge judges not based on human action. We’d never get a crown. No, this is a crown of righteousness that is
given, awarded, not because of any righteous things we had done but because of
his mercy. Righteousness that is ours
at this moment. Righteousness that will
be given to us in every respect as we die knowing that our struggle is
beautiful, longing for our Lord’s appearing.
Because
Jesus has taken all the moments we’ve melted in the heat of struggle and made
them his, facing the righteous judge and suffering so that when we face the
righteous judge, we may know that all the suffering necessary was
experienced. The Lord’s death has dealt
with the consequences of your guilt. Your
guilt, Paul’s guilt, gone!
That
was the good news. That’s why Paul
could tell Timothy to be a good news announcer, and there were no
qualifications. “There’s good news to
share if . . . there isn’t a war in Iraq.
There’s good news to share if . . . there aren’t any tsunamis. There’s good news to share if . . . there
isn’t anyone close to you who dies.”
No. There is good news to share. Period.
You have victory in the struggle.
You are forgiven in Christ.
You
now long for his appearing. You can’t
wait to see the finish line. You can’t
wait to see victory. It’s coming. For now, you will struggle while you wait
for the race to be completed. But it is
a beautiful struggle because you know that times are changing. Victory is coming. A moment when you will be able to breathe a permanent sigh of
relief.
Know,
then, that your goal in struggle now is not always to be looking around the
corner, hoping that someday while on this earth the struggle might let up for a
moment. Your goal in the struggle is to
keep running. Your goal in 2005 is to
be clear thinking, making a study of the word a regular part of your life. Your goal in 2005 is to endure evil,
responding to unkindness with kindness.
Your goal in 2005 is to pass along your eternal optimism to all you can,
announcing good news. Your goal in 2005
is to max out your gifts, doing all you are able joyfully to seek first God’s
kingdom.
Your
goal is to keep the faith. To keep your
eye on all that God has promised.
Who
knows what challenges will face you in the coming year? Who needs to know when through anything,
even through facing ones own death, you know that victory is coming.
Times
will change.
Amen.