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Sermon: Uniquely Blessed to Uniquely Serve

Sermon: Uniquely Blessed to Uniquely Serve

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 Text: 1 Timothy 2:1–15 | Liturgical Date: Pentecost 15, Proper 20 C | Location: Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church in Door County | Preacher: Rev Dr. Christopher D. Jackson Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church serves Sturgeon Bay and other areas in Door County. One thing I’m very thankful for as a pastor is that I’ve had pretty long pastorates. My first call was about eight years. I’m now about—let me think here—eleven and a half years here at St. John’s and St. Peter’s. And I thank the Lord for this. You know, I think that’s an indication that, all in all, things are going well, and together we are making progress for the Lord here in northeast Wisconsin. A Humorous Failure: My Shortest Job But not every job I’ve had has been a success. Actually, my worst record in a job? One day, one shift. I did so terribly that I decided to fire myself before they had the chance to fire me. Your pastor—the worst waiter in the world. In one shift, I think I made every single mistake a waiter could. You can ask my family about this. I get frustrated and can barely handle it when they’re asking me to put in orders at a drive-thru. Doesn’t work. Imagine a whole table putting their orders in for me, right? Didn’t work. I’m good at focusing on one thing, and I could focus on that one thing hyper-intensely for a long period of time. In college, I could stay up until three in the morning studying my Greek, and I was really good at that. But at three in the morning on that shift at Steak ‘n Shake? No good. Unique Individuals Called to Serve The Lord has made us all unique individuals, and the Lord calls us to serve Him in ways that reflect that. That’s a big part of what we’re going to be talking about today—that we are to use our unique blessings to bless others uniquely. This is tied to a very particular Christian teaching. I’ve been hitting this time and time again from the pulpit, especially at funerals. For those of you in our funeral meal train, you’ve heard this a few times already, but I think it bears repeating. Christian teaching is unique in how it deals with us as unique individuals. Contrasting Worldviews: Atheism and Eastern Religions Think about some of the most popular viewpoints out there with regards to a view of the world. Atheism—what do the atheists teach about us? They teach that we are an accident. We just happened to come to be. Time and matter are in this big box, shaking all around, and we just happened to jumble together and fall out of that box. That’s what the atheists teach. And they teach something pretty similar about what happens when we die—time and matter just take us apart and throw us back into that box to jumble together into something else. The Eastern religions, very popular these days—my goodness, these are some of the most whitewashed ideas out there. People don’t understand what they actually look like when you get up close and personal. Hinduism, Buddhism—very popular. People think they’re entirely unproblematic, but they actually teach something even darker about us humans. Atheism teaches that we’re an accident. The Eastern religions teach that we’re a mistake. Essentially, they teach that our individual existence is a problem to be overcome. Salvation for them is us as individuals ceasing to exist. They come at it from slightly different directions, but that theme is the same. Christian Teaching: Beloved Creations of a Loving God But Christian teaching is this: we are beloved creations of a loving God. And that God is a creator not just in general, but especially in particular. Psalm 139: “For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Great are your works. My soul knows this very well. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” More on that a little later in the sermon. “You wove me together in the depths of the earth before a day of my life came to be. You knew it all together. All my days were written in your book, oh God.” I’m paraphrasing a good bit here, but that’s what Psalm 139 teaches. The eternal triune God, out of that eternal love, created us each as beloved, particular individuals. Created, Redeemed, and Sanctified Individually God has created us individually, and God has redeemed us individually. Jesus did not just die for the whole world in general. Jesus died for every person in particular. Jesus died for you to take away your sins. And that has been fully and wholly accomplished. His righteous life was lived for you, and in His precious, atoning death, He died for you. God has created you individually, He has redeemed you individually, and He has sanctified you individually. Understanding Sanctification Now, sanctification has two parts. What is sanctification? It comes from the Latin word sanctus—we sing the Sanctus a little later in the liturgy. It means holy. Sanctification is when the holiness of God is applied to us individually. That holiness of God was applied to us in the waters of holy ...
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