A Faithful and Determined Servant of God
Scripture Text: II Timothy 4: 6-8
Good
morning once again brothers and sisters in Christ. I’m glad that amidst our
hectic schedules, amidst hardship, amidst chaos and problems, amidst our
situation that we are facing right now, and amidst the sleepless nights and
hardships to our Midlers and senior students, we are still here virtually to
unite ourselves to pray and worship Him, to reflect and be able to understand
His message.
Let us pray.
We
thank You dear God for this moment of Worship. We ask Your heavenly wisdom to
be with us as we reflect the message of Your Word. In Christ’s name. Amen.
This coming Sunday our church will
celebrate the Labor Sunday. What does it mean? My dear brethren every year we
celebrate this moment, but does this celebration give any meaning to the life
and work of our church? Can we still remember what Labor Sunday celebration is
all about based on our yearly reflection?
Actually, these are questions that can
be best applied not only to Labor Sunday celebration but for any celebration
which seems to me will always just come to pass in our memory, thus will never
be remembered afterwards. As a matter of
fact, this is the very reason why, I strive to make a sermon in such a way that
this sermon will remain in our hearts and minds because we understand what labor
day is all about. Maybe we can say, we bear fruit because we labor we reap
because we plant.
The text today which will serve as a
bases for our reflection was based on the 2nd letter of Paul to
Timothy, beginning from chapter 4: verses 6 and 8. In this context Paul was
imprison in Rome. Timothy on the other hand, was a faithful and determined
servant of Christian evangelization. In other words, Timothy was a young pastor
who was willing to sacrifice, willing to offer his life, willing to use
whatever he has, for the sake of Christ.
“For I am already on the point of being
sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
In this context, Paul demonstrated the kind of faith he has in order to survive. In his chaotic
experience, there was nothing left to him but faith. While in prison, he
experienced physical, emotional as well as mental destruction. But faith
remains in his heart. Faith gives him strength. Faith allowed him to continue.
Faith becomes his mighty armor. Faith guides him, and he was able to finish the
race of life.
As we celebrate this Labor day, the need
of looking back to the kind of faith we have in Jesus Christ is at hand. We
need to re-examine our relationship to God and to one another. We need to
review what we know about God and how we express our knowledge about Him. Do we
have an strong relationship to our God? Do we trust Him as sovereign Lord and
personal Savior? Do we respect, worship and offer whatever we have for Christ’
sake? Can we duplicate Paul?
And as we face the reality of life
today, the need to confronts all situations becomes necessary. The need to
consider the present situation and to understand the context in order to
continue and to survive becomes necessary. We cannot deny that temptation is
all around. Wherever we are, whatever we do and whenever we will be, we are
always confronted by temptations. And if we have little faith we lost. If we
have no faith we stop.
Brothers and sister in Christ, we are
here today because of faith, we unite ourselves in worship because of faith,
and this faith makes us therefore, laborers workers of Christ. For this faith
is nothing without labor, without works and without fruits. But what does it mean
to be laborers of Christ? What are our responsibilities as laborers in Christ
name? What would be our attitudes as laborers in the vineyard of Christ? Of
course all of us have our own answers to these questions. But let me share to
you some for today’s’ meditation.
1.
First: Our labor must
be for God’s sake and Glory. We are here in the service for God people in
whatever capacity we can not for our own glory and interests but of God. Our
working together as one body in Christ in a manifestations that we are working
for the God’s sake and glory.
Paul
in his letter to the church of Ephesus in Ephesians 2: 8-9 says,
“For
by Grace you have been saved through Faith; and this is not your own doing, it
is the gift of God, not because of good works, lest any man should boast”. Paul
is saying to us even today that if we really work and labor then it should not
be for our own but for the glory of our almighty God. Because apart from
working for God’s glory, man will always
boast himself or herself.
For me therefore brothers and sisters in
the Lord, this is one essence of this celebration. All of us are laborers and
workers in the Lord’s vineyard. And this means that we need to have respect to
one another’s view and opinions. We need to have respect to one another’s
sacrifice and labor especially if it is for God’s Kingdom.
Try to look at Paul and Timothy in the
early church. They work together as companions and brothers in the church. They
work and labor for the church one without reservations and jealousy to one
another. And more importantly they respect each other and listen to one’s
feelings and opinions. Brother and sisters,
How wonderful for us today, if this kind of relations that Paul and
Timothy have will happen not only this very church but also in the whole United
Church of Christ.
2.
Our labor must be for
unity and oneness. If we will try look back in Our history as United Church of
Christ is a rich history of ups and downs and even today we face the same. We
have experiences of victories and experiences of defeat which somehow enable us
to cling more to God and pray for unity. Our forefathers of faith taught on the
value of working together as one body in Christ. And I think this is the very reason that
amidst problems and divisions inside the church we, as children of God, are
still here to manifest our oneness.
Brothers
and sisters, we are therefore called and challenged by our faith as workers in
the vineyard of the Lord, to continuously work for God’s Glory manifesting that
we are really one and united in all the things we do. We are called and
challenged by the mercy of God to work hand in hand for the establishment of
His Kingdom here on earth.
This
means therefore, that this about time that we need to reflect our relationship
to God and to our fellow Christians. This is about time that we need to change
our perspective in the service of God. This is about time that we need to
accept new challenges in our present situation. This is about time that we need
to face new ideas and more importantly, this is about time to live out our
faith in Jesus Christ and understand our responsibilities as workers and
laborers of Christ Jesus.
Brothers
and sisters in Christ, as graduating students, we called and challenged to work
in His vineyard wholeheartedly and faithfully. We are now to face the reality
of life in the ministry. We are now to go out and leave the Seminary School. As
what Paul says “For I am already on the
point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”. My dear
Seniors, indeed we have finished the race here in the seminary, and I believe
that what strengthen us to survive is our Faith to God. Thus, we have to be
faithful and determined to serve His people. And of course I will never forget
to Thank you to all of the professors of the Divinity School who never give up
on us along the way of our Journey. Thank you so much for your patients and
considerations to us. God Bless us All!
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