Do you know who this man is? (Show picture of Hu Jintao.) According to the March 2011 edition of US Forbes magazine, he’s the most powerful person in the world. This is the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, ruler over one-fifth of the world’s population. Jintao has been described by the magazine as a person who “unlike Western counterparts, can divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents, and censor the internet without meddling from pesky courts.” The second most powerful man in the world according to the magazine is U.S. President Obama, while Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, ranks as the most powerful woman and comes in sixth overall. What place do you suppose you would come in? Would any of us even crack the top one million most powerful people in the world? I doubt it.
Having said that, you’re no wimp either. Our sermon text on this Trinity Sunday teaches that God the Father has infused you with a spirit of power. God the Son has made you indestructible. And God the Holy Spirit is your personal bodyguard. Of course Forbes magazine could care less about these facts and still wouldn’t rank you in the top ten. But the truth is you are more powerful than most think. Let’s find out what this means for our day-to-day lives.
Our text is taken from the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Timothy was a fellow pastor and protégé of Paul. Unlike Paul, however, Timothy seemed to have a timid disposition. And so Paul wrote the following to encourage Timothy: “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:7, 8).
Although Jesus did say that Christians are to be meek and peace-loving, this does not mean he has made us to be doormats. On the contrary, God the Father has infused Christians with a spirit of power. And so Timothy was not to be ashamed of “testifying” about Jesus, and neither are we. Of course testifying about Jesus means pointing out to others that they can’t get to heaven on their own. They may be friendly neighbors. They may be faithful co-workers. They may be dedicated to serving their family. But whenever they lose their temper, whenever they speak disparagingly of those in authority, they are sinners in need of forgiveness. Don’t be timid in pointing out these sins. God has given you a spirit of power. Of course this doesn’t mean we condemn others in a self-righteous manner as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were good at doing. Did you hear what else Paul said God has given to us in addition to a spirit of power? He has given us a spirit of love as well (2 Timothy 1:7). We boldly point out sin in others because we love them and don’t want them to suffer the eternal consequences of their sins.
Ah, but how are we to know what is a sin and what isn’t? We live in changing times. Certainly, morality has changed too, hasn’t it? What our grandparents frowned on: short skirts, loud music, intimate relationships outside of marriage are generally accepted by everyone today. Why should we Christians hold ourselves to a different standard? Because, Paul reminds us, the words that he spoke to Timothy were a “pattern of sound teaching” to be guarded and followed. Paul said: “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:13, 14).
Loud music in and of itself is not sinful but claiming that your body belongs to you and you can do with it whatever you want, is not God-pleasing. There is a right and wrong way to believe about issues like abortion, sex, and the roles of men and women to name a few hot button topics. The pattern of right teaching regarding these issues is found in the Bible. If your life doesn’t conform to that pattern, God will do with you what the seamstress does with fabric that hasn’t been cut according to the pattern: throw it out.
But none of us conforms to the pattern of right living expressed in the Bible. Not even the Apostle Paul did. So are we all bound for God’s trash heap? No. Listen to what else Paul wrote: “[Jesus] has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10b).
The second reason you’re no wimp is because through faith in Jesus you are indestructible and are not bound for God’s trash heap. Jesus won this immortality for you when he himself defeated death and forgave your sins. Let me try to put into perspective Jesus’ work of salvation. The last time I used a sewing machine was in 8th grade when I made something that resembled an apron. I blame this on the sewing machine. It kept jamming. Of course that may have had something to do with how I fed too much fabric through it at once. At least I knew enough not to feed anything like a piece of metal through the sewing machine. Had I done that, the sewing machine needle would have been ruined. Well that’s the effect that Jesus had on death. He ruined it when he dove head first into its jaws. Oh it’s true that death will one day swallow us but just as fabric fed through a sewing machine without a needle will come out the other end without any marks on it, when Jesus raises us from the dead on Judgment Day, our bodies will not have a mark of decay on it. There will be no deadly tumors hiding away. There will be no more arthritic joints. Eyes that now squint to see clearly will see, as if in high definition, the glories of heaven...and loved ones that have been awaiting our arrival there!
How can we be certain of this when I just got done saying we don’t conform to the pattern God set down for those who want to wear heaven’s uniform? Paul tells us. “[God] has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9). Do you see how this passage strengthens the case that you’re no wimp? Satan may accuse you of that. He knows all the sins we have committed. He knows our spiritual weaknesses and likes to exploit these and remind us why we don’t deserve to go to heaven. No, we don’t deserve heaven but that’s not why anyone ends up there. It’s only by God’s grace, his undeserved love that we’ll get to heaven. Any why did God choose us? Not because of anything we have done. Indeed, he chose us before he even created the world. Can you imagine the Oilers choosing their draft picks before they were born? How would they know they were going to be any good until they could see them in action? Of course God can see into the future and see what kind of people we would be. That makes his choice all the more amazing. When God looked into the future he saw just what good sinners we would all be. Yet in spite of that he chose us to be his.
God presented us an unparalleled treasure when he gave us faith in Jesus. But isn’t that like giving a toddler a diamond ring to hold? A toddler doesn’t understand just how precious that ring is. Sure, it might interest her for a little while but sooner or later she’ll drop it for something else that catches her fancy. We would do the same if it weren’t for God the Holy Spirit. Paul said to Timothy: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Timothy 1:12b-14).
Paul was not about to try to hold on to salvation on his own. In that regard Paul knew that he was a wimp. He was all too aware of his spiritual weakness and so he had entrusted his faith to God for safe-keeping. Thankfully that’s what God the Holy Spirit is interested in doing for us. He’s our personal bodyguard, or should I say “soul-guard” who is always working to strengthen our faith in Jesus.
But while the Holy Spirit lives in us, he isn’t joined to us at the hip. What I mean is that through our carelessness we can cause the Holy Spirit to take flight. That’s why I’m so pleased to see you bring Easton to be baptized, Mehala and Lee. Through the water and the Word, the Holy Spirit has now made his home in your son. But he won’t stay there if Easton’s faith doesn’t continue to be fed. The Holy Spirit is more like an electric current than a house guest. Some house guests are reluctant to leave no matter how clearly you make it known to them that you really don’t want them there. An electric current, on the other hand, stops flowing as soon as the connection is cut. Don’t cut the connection you have hooked up here today. Faithfully lead your family in home devotions and then bring your boys to hear God’s Word with God’s people. We all need this encouragement because without the Holy Spirit as our personal bodyguard, we will lose the treasure of faith and therefore eternal life.
Hu Jintao may have the power to divert rivers, but you, dear Christian, are no wimp either. Christians have the power to divert people from hell to heaven. This power isn’t really ours for it comes from the Holy Spirit but it does come through us whenever we testify about Jesus. So testify boldly about him, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because God the Father has given you a spirit of power. Testify that everyone who puts their faith in Jesus is indestructible and is therefore no wimp no matter what the rest of the world may think. Amen.
