Truth: Know, Teach, Repeat

October 20, 2013

Jeremiah 31:27-34 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Luke 18:1-8

Have you ever read the directions on your shampoo bottle? It seems a little silly sometimes to have to read them, but even if you do read them, they still seem a little silly. Pour shampoo, apply, lather, rinse, repeat. Shampooing your hair so simple that it seems odd to need directions, and the directions are so simple that they seem odd themselves. The thing is, handling the truth of scripture is often just as simple. We worry ourselves to death over getting it right and we hesitate because we think that only specially trained theologians are equipped to handle truth properly. The way we treat biblical truth you would think that we were asked to handle plutonium. The way we act you would think we needed special suits and protective gear but the reality is that handling the truth of scripture looks far more like lather, rinse, repeat than specially trained technicians in space suits. It used to be more difficult. Remember when all new bicycles came in a big box and dads everywhere had to put them together instead of just buying a whole bike already assembled at Wal-Mart or Toys-R-Us? Like that, okay, not really like that, but the truth of scripture used to be harder. Before the arrival of Jesus Christ there were a lot of rules and following God meant that you had to learn all of the rules and then try to obey them all. It was difficult and more than a little confusing, but then, through the prophet Jeremiah, God told his people that he was going to make a change (Jeremiah 31:27-34)
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The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days people will no longer say, The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the childrens teeth are set on edge.
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Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapestheir own teeth will be set on edge.

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The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. 33 This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. 1

I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. In the days of Jeremiah the system was more difficult and more complicated. Because of the way that the system worked, there were times when people said that the children were cursed because of the actions of their parents. The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the childrens teeth are set on edge. This is very much like the situation we have in our government right now, our children will be paying the debt that an earlier generation has accumulated, except that in the biblical case they were talking about a debt of sin. Instead of this sad state of affairs, God says that he is going to write a new covenant (which can also be translated as a new testament) that will be simpler for us to understand. Under the new covenant, God will write his law in the hearts and minds of his people so that everyone will be able to understand. Under the new system, God will live among his people and not in a far away temple and forgiveness will not require travel and sacrifice but only a repentant heart and simple prayer. God says that he is making the truth known to everyone. All that will be required will be to believe it and put it to use. But how will we put it to use once we have it? In his second letter to Timothy, Paul says this (Timothy 3:14 4:5)
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But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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In 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: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encouragewith great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people 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. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul reminds Timothy that even though the birth of Jesus Christ has changed the way we think about forgiveness and salvation, we dont need to throw away the scriptures that we inherited. All scripture remains useful for teaching, training and learning how to live a life of righteousness. The assignment that Paul gives to Timothy is to use the knowledge that he has been given. Dont just leave the scriptures sitting on a shelf, but use them to teach, to train, to correct and to encourage. Too often and too soon, Paul says, people will only want to hear the things that they want to hear. Paul tells Timothy to discharge all the duties of his ministry, and that message applies to each one of us. Not everyone will be called to do what Timothy did. Timothy left home and became the leader and teacher of a congregation of believers, but every believer has been given a ministry that God commands us to perform. Each of us is to do the work of ministry that God has given to us. Each of us should 2

be able to teach, instruct, correct and encourage others, even if those others are just a few friends and family that are near to us. Each of us should be able to handle the simple truth that we have been given. Finally, while we are in ministry to the world around us, in Luke 18:1-8, Jesus teaches us to remember something else. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, Grant me justice against my adversary.
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For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, Even though I dont fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she wont eventually come and attack me!
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And the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? The judge in the story is described as a man who cares neither for God nor for what people think. He cared little for justice, but even so, the persistence of the widow caused him to take up her case and help her. God is entirely the opposite of this man. We know that God is the author and creator of justice and righteousness and we know that God loves and cares for all of his children. Jesus says, if the persistence of the widow was such that it could win over this unjust judge who cared nothing for people or for justice, how much more will God answer our prayers when we are faithful and persistent? And so, now that we have all the pieces, let us fit them together. We know the truth. We know the story of Jesus and how he came to earth to save us. Each one of us knows what Jesus has done for us in our own lives, what he has meant to us and how he has changed us. Our mission is to share that truth and that story with the people around us, to learn and to teach the truth of scripture and to be persistent in learning, persistent in teaching, and persistent in prayer for one another and for those around us. It is simple and very much like the instructions on the back of your shampoo. Apply, Lather, Rinse, Repeat except in our case it should be: Learn, Teach, Pray, Repeat.

You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Trinity United Methodist Church, 3757 Lincoln Way E., Massillon, Ohio 44646. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at subscribe@trinityperryheights.org. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge. All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.