Text: II Tim. 3:14-4:5 Title: Word Up
10/21/07 preached by Pastor Steve Estep – sent and printed with permission
We’ve all heard the saying “you are what you eat.” Fat greasy food will turn you into a fat, greasy dude. But that’s the kind of food we love. We’re a culture of junk-food junkies. The other day I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. When I was kid there was like 1 flavor – orange. It made you not want to eat an orange for about 6 months because it tasted terrible. Now it’s a whole new ball game. My hygienist Mary at Doctor Long’s office rattled off a list of flavors to choose from and I actually had (no lie) Mocha Latte! We can’t even get our teeth cleaned without the taste of candy! The things that taste good aren’t always the things that are good for us. Chocolate, pop, chips and ice cream taste good. The candy we’ll give away at the House of Hope is good. There’s a reason we give candy bars instead of broccoli spears. Candy good, broccoli bad! It’s not just the kids who enjoy it, I like I too J. That’s one of the reasons I run – so I can keep eating whatever I want!
What’s true of taste is true of sound. What sounds good isn’t always what’s good for us either. Sometimes what we want to hear and what we need to hear are two different things. When writing to the young preacher, Timothy, Paul said to him (to me & every other preacher or teacher) don’t be giving people junk food. Don’t give out ear candy, give the truth. Preach the Word. People need to be formed and informed, shaped and molded by the Word of God. We know that. We want that. None of us came here today to get ear candy. We came to be fed by the Word.
It happens every day in front of a studio audience and is broadcast to millions of viewers who watch from home. No topic is too personal, no subject too sacred, no laundry too dirty to air in front of a watching world. Husbands and wives, parents and teenagers, siblings and sometimes former friends allow themselves to become spectacles on shows where they share some their sorry stories. Pick up the TV guide. It’s a smorgasbord of dysfunctions, addictions, twisted actions and perverted motivations. In the end it just about always boils down to relationships and love or the lack of it. Love – longed for, scorned, distorted, betrayed or forgotten. Love that can’t quite seem to find the right expression. Unloved or unloving people subject themselves to public humiliation in hopes of getting some help from the gurus of talk-show TV. They put their trust in folks like Dr. Phil and Oprah, certain that their words of wisdom will make all the difference. Beliefs and behaviors are addressed. The goal is correction. Correct the false beliefs, correct the destructive behaviors. Sometimes I’m sure it helps. Good advice is offered. Insights for behavior modification are shared as viewers clap and cheer. Yet a thousand episodes of top notch talk shows don’t have the power to change a whole lot. There will be another show tomorrow, another season next year. It’s not that their words are bad, but they aren’t God-breathed. They may even be inspirational, but they are not inspired. Sooner or later it happens that the words from the host begin to taste a lot like junk-food. There’s a reason for that. There’s a big difference between a human word of correction and a Divine Word that has the power to bring about what it says to the unloved and the unloving.
I Corinthians 13:1-8a. 1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails
They were sitting at the kitchen table for a meal that was more likely to end in indigestion than satisfaction. Not because there was any problem with the spaghetti, but because of the hostile environment they were eating it in. The kids had been at each other since they got home from school. In fact, it started even before then with an argument about whose turn it was to sit in the front seat. It didn’t get any better when they got home. It was almost like they were looking for something to argue about, and if they didn’t find something, then they were going to make something up. I’m sure none of your kids have ever acted like that, but in this family, at least on this particular night, that’s what was going on. They couldn’t pass the salad dressing without a snide comment and the parents of these two kids were getting sick and tired of it. They had about all they could stand. After a couple of failed attempts at encouraging some better behavior, both parents jumped all over them. “What’s wrong with you guys?!” “That’s not how you’re supposed to act. If I see any more of this, in fact if I hear one more word or see one more look between the two of you, you are going to be sorry!” While they may have been motivational, these words were not “inspired” words. Under other circumstances this would have been enough to send the kids into a retreat, silencing the fighting and if not peace, at least bring some quiet to the meal. It didn’t happen… because the night before, the last thing these kids heard before they fell asleep was, the sound of their parents arguing with each other. Some of the same names they called and phrases they used at the dinner table weren’t learned at school. These were names, phrases, looks and attitudes that they had seen at home, exchanged between parents who were now rebuking their kids. While the kids still knew they had better straighten up if they knew what was good for them, the words from their parents were empty. As they continued to eat their spaghetti and salad the words of rebuke these kids were asked to eat along with it started tasting like junk food. The words might have been true. But there is a big difference between a word of rebuke from an inconsistent parent and a Divine Word of rebuke that somehow has the power to bring about what it says.
Matthew 12:33-37.
33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
In many ways it was more than a game. Football was his life. Although his playing days were long since over everything he learned, all the games he played in, even the friends he hung around with centered on his life in football. His wife would often tease him because it seemed as though he lived life based on the motivational speeches his coach used to give him. His coach was impressive. Every word from his mouth was like Scripture to the boys on his team. “Leave it all on the field! Never give up! Push through the pain! Don’t let them see you hurt! The goal line is the only goal!” yeah those words from the coach guided him through most of life. When he went to work he “left it all on the field” when he started dating his wife he “never gave up” any time an obstacle would come he would push through the pain His life was moved by the motivational words from a mountain of a man. That is until he faced a mountain in real life. The coach guided him through a game where the rules are set and the goals are clear, but life is not like that. There are few rules and plenty of surprises. Standing at the graveside of his first and only child those previously powerful words from his coach began to taste a lot like junk food. The words that were meant to encourage now could do nothing to chase away the discouragement, the fear, and the pain. There’s a reason for that. There’s a big difference between a human word of encouragement and a Divine word that can somehow do what it says.
Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk thru the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
There are some things only the Word of God can do. II Timothy 3: 14- 4:5
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 4 1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry
The correction of a talk show host can be a great thing. But it will never have the same power as the Word of God. This (Word) is our authority, and somehow it does more than just inform – it forms. It brings about the correction it calls for. The rebuke of a parent can be a powerful thing, but it will never have the same power as the Word of God. This (Word) is our authority, and somehow it does more than just inform, it forms. It brings about the rebuke it calls for. Encouraging words from a high school coach can be powerful. But it will never have the same power as the Word of God. This (Word) is our authority, and somehow it does more than just inform – it forms. It brings about the encouragement it calls for.
The Word. The Word written is the Scripture. The Word visible is the sacraments communion & baptism. Both the written and visible Word point to the Living Word who is Jesus Christ. We know who He is from the Written Word. We experience His presence (among other ways) through the visible Word of the sacraments. We are a people hungry to be formed and informed, shaped and molded by the Word. By the grace of God may we never settle for what sounds good; may we never settle for ear candy when we can be feasting on the life-giving, life-changing Word. Amen.
Benediction: By the grace of God may we go forth to be formed and informed, to learn, love and live out this God-breathed Word, Amen
