Poured Out

Scripture Lessons: Acts 7: 54-58 and 2nd Timothy 4: 6-18 Sermon Title: Poured Out Preached on October 27, 2019 As you may have read on your bulletin cover or noticed based on who wrote our first two hymns, today is Reformation Sunday. This is an annual event when we are invited to remember that moment in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to a church door in Whittenburg, Germany. These 95 Thesis were his 95 complaints or issues with the Roman Catholic Church. He judged many priests in the hierarchy, all the way up to the Pope in Rome to be to be self-serving, manipulative, and corrupt. He believed that a tradition of buying indulgences, or tickets into heaven (while maybe good for the Annual Stewardship Campaign) made a mockery of the Gospel. And he was tiered of worship services that used too much Latin rather than the language that people actually spoke and could understand. Of course, the choir sang that beautiful anthem in Latin today, which was incredible! But can you imagine if everything we did in here was in Latin? The result of Martin Luther nailing such complaints on a piece of paper to a church door, was no small thing. It resulted in the formation of the Lutheran and Presbyterian Churches, then the Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist, and all the other protestants and nondenominationals. It inspired new forms of worship, widespread democracy, the first Bibles written in languages that most people actually spoke, and nearly cost Martin Luther his life as he was persecuted for heresy. Because Martin Luther changed the course of his life, stepping out in faith in an act of protest and defiance, risking his reputation and veering from the course he thought his life would take, the whole world changed and is still changing. The author Eric Metaxas recently wrote a biography of Martin Luther, titled, “The Man who rediscovered God and changed the world,” which begins with this introduction: In 1934, an African American pastor from Georgia made the trip of a lifetime, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, through the gates of Gibraltar, and across the Mediterranean Sea to the Holy Land. After this pilgrimage, he traveled to Berlin, attending an international conference of Baptist pastors. While in Germany, this man became so impressed with what he learned about the reformer Martin Luther that he decided to do something dramatic. He offered the ultimate tribute to the man’s memory by changing his own name… not long after the boy’s father changed his own name, he decided to change his [young] son’s name too, and Michael King Jr. became known to the world as Martin Luther King Jr. Reformation Sunday is today. As we remember what is called the Great Reformation, know that what we celebrate is not just an important event in the past, for just this word, “reformation,” inspires us to remember today the reality that change must happen, and sometimes change can even be good. That our lives and our society must be reformed, and also always reforming. That’s an important message, because oftentimes we want everything to go according to plan. We get an idea in our head, that life will move steadily from one milestone to the next, and that if we stay the course we’ll be rewarded. That’s not always true, so today let us remember that faithfulness is well exhibited the disruptions. Not in Pharisees who upheld time tested traditions with reverence and discipline, but in Christ who toppled the tables set in the Temple. Not in the Priests who recited their Latin Masses to the people though they didn’t understand, but in Martin Luther who returned the Gospel to the hands of the people. Not in those protestors and police officers who fought to maintain segregation, but in Luther’s namesake, Martin Luther King Jr., who preached and preached until segregation ended. These are examples to be remembered as all of us step into the future, that we be, not confined to routine but led by the Spirit. From the New Testament book, 2nd Timothy, we find encouragement to do just that in the example of the Apostle Paul. We’ve read in our Second Scripture Lesson a letter to a young man from a more experienced one who knows a thing or two about changing course. As Paul, the author, nears the end of his life on earth he writes: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. These claims he makes about his life are the same claims we all want to make. We all want to run our race well, but at some point, it feels good to stop running or at least, it becomes a little less exiting to take the next step. I remember being a teenager and every next step was so exciting. It seemed like everyone wanted to know: “Do you have your learner’s permit?” “Where are you going to college?” “How is your resume looking?” Ours is a society that asks about these things, excited about the beginning phases of life. Unfortunately, then we often get fearful about what comes after that. Just consider, when’s the last time you heard someone ask an older person with that same level of excitement: “Are you looking forward to giving up your driver’s license?” “Have you decided on a retirement home?” “Have you worked on your will?” While it is commonplace to be excited about steps towards adulthood, in this letter Paul shines a light on the truth, that with faith we might also be joyful in taking steps beyond it: 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. Sometimes we read these words at the funeral, when it’s too late for the departed to reap the full benefit of Paul’s example. He shows us by his example, that we can’t just be thinking about change in the first half of our lives. With faith, Paul shows us that we can look forward to every step. His example shows that reformation and change is a continual process, that does not come to full fruition until we breathe our last and receive the crown. So, while it’s so good to consider how we’ll fill our days up, how can we also pour ourselves out? What will we do once we’ve filled up our lives with events, choices, careers, relationships, and furniture? Some downsize and try to give their stuff to their children. Problem is, their kids don’t want it. Recognizing that, my grandmother threatened my mother once: “Cathy, when I die, don’t you dare have a yard sale. Don’t you dare bring my stuff out of the house and into the front yard for strangers to pick over. If you do, I’ll haunt you for the rest of your life!” Isn’t a terrifying thing to imagine your life spread out on a front lawn for strangers to pick through. Still, that’s what happens sometimes. We welcome change and newness for several years, but then the expectation becomes that we settle in. Stay the same. Maintain life as it is, but that is not faith, for God is always leading us beyond where we are to where we might be should we be brave enough to keep running the race. Many do, others just put everything off until it’s too late. That’s a sad way to go. Old and bitter in an empty house full of regrets. I know people like that. Paul’s not immune to bitterness either. The strangest details are left for us in the section that an editor of your Bible may have titled, “Personal Instructions.” In verses 9-18, the Apostle Paul says a lot. At the end of his life he lists his grievances: Demas deserted me. Crescens and Titus are gone too. I hope Alexander the Coppersmith gets what’s coming to him. Only Luke is with me, but Paul doesn’t have anything good to say about him. Mark might be useful, so Paul asks Timothy to bring him when he comes to visit, as well as the cloak that he left with Carpus at Troas. This detail about the cloak reminded me of the first time Paul is mentioned in Scripture. He was called Saul then, and he was different. In our First Scripture Lesson from the book of Acts, we read of one of the lowest points in this account of the history of the Early Church. A Disciple named Stephen was stoned. He was the first martyr, and when they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While tragic, there’s something wonderful about remembering this memory when considering the end of Paul’s life. There’s something wonderful here, in this simple reminder. That in light of all his glory we might also look back and see Paul the Apostle when he was young and stupid. When we’re tempted to venerate him, we can see again that even the Apostle Paul, who has more churches named for him than even Martin Luther, was once an accomplice in something horrible. That even he had to be changed by Christ and then, had to keep on changing. Life is this great process of reformation, and the best stories we can hear are of those who are still growing up, still making mistakes and learning from them. For don’t you remember what it was like in 5th Grade when it seemed like no one would ever forget that you got caught picking your nose in Ms. Cook’s Class? (I’m not speaking from personal experience or anything.) Regardless of your phase of life, can’t you see that it’s only just the beginning. We must keep growing and changing until we have poured out what we’ve filled our lives with and breathe our last to receive the crown. That’s what Paul was able to tell Timothy. That’s what Paul is telling us. Keep the faith, through every phase of life. Don’t stop changing or growing, for every step in life requires that we walk alongside the Lord who leads us through life and beyond it. Yesterday our own Larissa Dukes quoted a passage read in some Jewish circles in a time of morning: When I die give what’s left of me away. Love doesn’t die, people do. So, when all that’s left of me is love, Give me away. That’s how Paul did. I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come, he said. And while surely, he was afraid, having following Christ all his days, he’s ready to follow him down the path just a little bit further. Are you?