Our narrative lectionary reading was 2 Samuel 7:1-17
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had
given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet
Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in
a tent.” Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the
Lord is with you.”
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go
and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a
house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the
people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent
and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel,
did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded
to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of
cedar?” Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the
Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be
prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and
have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great
name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place
for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own
place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as
formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I
will give you rest from all your enemies.
Moreover the Lord declares to you
that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie
down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall
come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a
house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I
will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity,
I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human
beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul,
whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure
forever before me; your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with
all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
We had some church swapping on this Sunday so I ended up at
St James and St Matthew’s where they use the revised common lectionary. I preached on our second reading:
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and
the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me
the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me
on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his
appearing. At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me.
May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me
strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the
Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will
rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him
be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The summary
I focused on our second reading, Paul’s second letter to
Timothy. Honestly I only talked about the few short sentences “I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. These words were shared towards the end of Paul’s life. Paul was in
prison and is the end of his ministry and mission of sharing the Gospel. He has escaped many times before and leveraged
his Roman citizenship to be set free but this will be it.
I have shared these words many times at the graveside of
people who have gone before us in faith. With sadness, comfort and hope I have
the chance to remind those gathered there that their loved one fought the good
fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. Here in this community, we can
say that Christ Lutheran, St Phillips, and St Luke’s Lutheran Churches have all
fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.
In his letters, Paul occasional turns to this metaphor of a
race or an athletic competition. I am
not not much of a runner (but I do have two stories)
First, I Grew up in Brooklyn a few blocks from where the nyc
marathon route passes after crossing the bridge from Staten Island. I never had
much interest in watching it but one year my brother and I went down to see
what was happening. I was surprised by the
number of people, there to watch, to cheer on loved ones, or just to cheer on everyone.
People were clapping and encouraging the runners. This was only mile 2 or 3 of more than 26. I wondered “they had 22 plus miles to go, do
they really need encouragement now”. As I thought about it, I realized people
need encouragement at all stages of the race (and of life). We as church, need encouragement as we run
the race of faith.
We receive that encouragement in many ways.
In Baptism when we are killed to sin and first claimed by
God. We can go back to this moment, to God’s promises in that water, whenever
we need.
In the gift of Holy Communion, our sacred meal, where we
come to experience God’s presence with
us with.
In the big holidays. In Christmas when Christ is born and we
see that God is in the world, In Easter,
Christ’s death and resurrection, when we
see our sins are forgiven and that there is something better God has prepared
for us
My Second story is also from a long time ago, going back to
JHS (or elementary school, I don’t really remember). We had our gym class and were getting ready
for a citywide track and field competition.
Most of us had no idea what events made up real track and field. I ended up trying hurdles and had the best
time in class and was selected for the competition. As the day approached, I stayed after school
and practiced jumping over the hurdles.
I was getting faster and stronger each day. When the competition day arrived, we took the
bus to another school and I went to the hurdles area. Things were not right though. The hurdles they set up were closer together
and higher than the ones I did all that practice with, than the ones I was comfortable
with. I did terrible and got the insignificant medal for showing up. It turns
out I wasn’t preparing for the competition, I was only preparing to jump the
familiar hurdles at my school.
This is a reminder that as people of God we are invited to
be open to God’s spirit and call, the work may not always be what we expect. As
we fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith, we need to remember
things change. We focus on what does
not, on God’s word and God’s gifts. No
matter where we are, our work is the same, to go and tell the others God cares
for them, God forgives them and God saves them.
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