Proper 19 Year C 9/14/2025
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
There are moments in time where we pause…
We reflect…
We contemplate…
The political tensions of our own time…
Fully heightened by the 24/7 media machine…
The violence…
The hatred…
The lack of decency in human engagement.
We can certainly point to the times we live in and truly wonder where our times are heading…
In these moments…
I like to reflect on the great authors that have come before us…
Many of them have lived through terrible times…
In some cases, much more stressful than our own.
Their words, speaking to the moments in their own time, have a way of becoming prophetic and speaking to the moments we have in our time.
One of those authors…
One of my favorites…
Is a professor from Oxford…
He fought in World War I and lived through World War II.
He studied ancient languages…
And wrote myths…
He and his wife were married for 55 years, having four children.
His name is J. R. R. Tolkien.
He of course is famous for writing the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings.
If you aren’t familiar with this writing…
It is a story about a great evil that was overtaking the world…
And a fellowship comprised of different personalities whose mission was to destroy a ring that would defeat the great evil.
It is a wonderful adventure with depth of meaning and great trials.
A story of friendship…
And overcoming challenging times.
In the first book, the adventurers find themselves at their wits end.
The lead character Frodo is distraught and tells the great leader named Gandalf his worries and regrets.
Tolkien writes:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf,
“and so do all who live to see such times.
But that is not for them to decide.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
It’s a powerful line and moment in the book.
Especially as we reflect on the author Tolkien, and his own trials of life with war.
No matter our political persuasion…
We grieve the political violence and overwhelming tension and narrative of our time.
And yet this is the time that has been given to us.
This week I have been focused on the second reading today from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy.
And in my studies, I was struck by commentator Thomas Oden’s insight.
You see our reading begins with verse 12.
As it should, because it seems to be a fresh thought in the letter.
But Dr. Oden makes a keen insight.
He writes about verse 12 and this fresh thought:
A sudden burst of praise splashes across the page, as if the thought of the “glorious gospel of the blessed God” (in v. 11) made him recall his own experience of that blessedness, mercifully given to him who among sinners had to be counted chief.
You see before we get to our text St. Paul mentions in verse 11:
…the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
The gospel.
The good news of Jesus Christ.
The message that death, hell, and the grave have been defeated.
That sin no longer has an unending hold on us.
The good news that Jesus Christ is victorious in his death on the cross and that his resurrection is the first of many resurrections from the dead.
The gospel…
The news that we can be forgiven from our sins…
Redeemed by the blood of the lamb… the sacrifice of Jesus…
That we through faith become children of God…
Coheirs with Christ Jesus.
And Paul who knew this gospel in such a mighty way was overcome with joy and gratitude…
Reflecting on his own story he writes:
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.
Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.
The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Paul gives just a glimpse of his past here…
Noting that he was a blasphemer, persecutor and a violent man.
Other places give more detail…
Such as Acts 8.3 where Luke wrote:
…[he] began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.
Paul wasn’t worthy of the Gospel or the ministry that he was called into.
But he was shown mercy by Jesus…
And he writes:
The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
And this is what has been with me this week in this verse:
The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly…
Grace is gift…
It is not something we earn…
Or deserve…
Or work toward…
Or work to keep…
Grace is given…
And by faith we receive it.
By faith we receive the salvation of our Lord Jesus…
The work he accomplished on the cross and in the resurrection…
We don’t earn it…
We by faith receive the grace that has been given…
And not just given…
It is poured out on us in abundance.
When I think of the gospel and the grace that I have received it brings me to praise and gratitude…
Because if I reflect on my own life…
If I was to share the details of my life…
Especially before my conversion…
I am certain many of you wouldn’t like me.
For I was a blasphemer…
I had violent fits…
I would try to deceive the faithful…
And yet, by the grace of God, he has called me and led me to be who I am today.
And I know I am in good company.
Nobody in here is perfect…
We have a past…
We have things that are contrary to the will of God…
Contrary to his goodness and love…
We have things tucked back in our life…
But by the grace of God…
Here we are!
Worshipping God together on this second Sunday in September.
All of this made possible by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That’s why we are here…
Our nationality doesn’t bring us together today… on this Sunday.
Our ethnicity or race doesn’t bring us together today.
Our politics sure don’t bring us together today.
But the gospel of Jesus Christ brings us together to worship the Almighty Living God, the Creator of all things in heaven and earth.
What brings us together is Jesus Christ…
Who by his grace rescues us from the bondage of sin and death…
And empowers us through the Holy Spirit present in each disciple of our Lord.
As Tolkien pointed out…
We don’t get to decide the times that we are given….
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
And when we have been given such an abundance of God’s grace…
With the precious message of the Gospel of Jesus…
What we do now matters.
How we respond to the myriad of things that happen in our life, in our nation, in our world… reflect what we think about the goodness of Jesus and the precious gospel that we have been given to share.
I am so thankful…
That God has rescued me from my former life…
That he has given to me as the psalmist says in the 40th Psalm:
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
I am so thankful that he has rescued you…
Brought you here today…
Brought you to worship God here at St. Edward’s…
That we gathered together can sing the praises of our Lord.
In such a time as this.
May you be strengthened in your faith today.
May you be filled with the Spirit of God.
May you receive the spiritual grace in the sacrament of communion.
And may you be empowered to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in both word and in deed to a world that so needs the message of our Lord.
Amen.
