“Our Mediator”

Meditation on I Timothy 2:1-7

Sept. 22, 2013

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      “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and human beings, Christ Jesus, himself a human being, who gave himself a ransom for all—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (I Timothy 2:1-7)

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      “The words were printed in large letters on bright fluorescent colored signs: Frost Heaves.  They looked like placards from a low-budget political campaign stuck in the snow.  Some guys named Frost and Heaves were running for national office.

       “People who live in northern New England,” continues Jim Van Yperen in his book, Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict, “know that frost heaves are not the names of politicians or a type of ice cream.  The two words describe what happens to our roads in March and April.  They freeze and they heave.

       “Frost heaves are caused during winter by thawing daytime temperatures followed by freezing nighttime temperatures.  When water that has collected in pockets underneath the road surface freezes, the expanding ice forces the road upward, often cracking open the surface an inch or two at the peak.

      “Frost heaves can cause roads to rise as much as six inches and they usually damage road surfaces permanently.  Driving a vehicle too fast over a frost heave can damage your shocks and shock your nerves.

      “One nine-mile stretch of road between our home and the next town must be one of the world’s worst roads for frost heaves.  In some sections of the roads, drivers who hit the heave just right can serve dinner, view an in-flight movie, and earn five hundred frequent flier miles before landing on the other side.  Well, so it seems.

       “People complain a lot about the roads and those who crew them.  But the real problem,” Van Yperen writes, “is underneath.  And that’s the way it is in most churches.  The real conflict lies below the surface. 

       “What is presented as the ‘problem’ is usually a symptom of what lies underneath.  As long as we treat the symptom, not the underlying problem, the conflict will always return.  It may lie dormant for a time, but it always comes back.  Always.”

       Van Yperen’s book was one of about a dozen I read for a class I took at Bethel Seminary in July.  The class was called “Understanding and Managing Conflict.”

       I can honestly say that when I registered for the one-week intensive course last spring, I wasn’t thrilled about it. The thought of conflict brought to mind angry people, drawing lines in the sand, insisting on their way or the highway.  I wasn’t convinced that a class about conflict would prevent conflicts or help me to better handle them.

     Still, I went to the class with hope, wanting to learn to be the peacemaker God has called me to be. As followers of Christ, we are all called to pursue lives of peace and godliness, as we learn in today’s reading in I Timothy, as well as other Scripture, such as Hebrews 12:14, which admonishes, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

      Encouragement from an older, more experienced colleague in ministry helped strengthen my resolve to learn more about handling conflict.

      Sister Donna Wermus, formerly of Holy Redeemer parish, said the class sounded very practical.

     “Conflict,” she said, “is something from which we never escape.” 

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       In our epistle today, Paul also encourages a younger colleague in ministry when he writes to Timothy at the church in Ephesus.

        Paul emphasizes, first and foremost, the need for prayer.  Pray for everyone, he says!  “On behalf of all people—on behalf of kings, and all who hold high office, so that we may lead a tranquil and peaceful life, in all godliness and holiness.”

        But what should we be praying for? 

        Not just peace and tranquility.  Pray for all to be saved!

For “God our Savior … wants all people to be saved and to come to know the truth!”  And the truth is that “there is one God and also one mediator between God and human beings—Christ Jesus, himself a human being.”

        Friends, without faith in Jesus Christ, we don’t have peace with God!  And we cannot pursue a life of peace and godliness if we neglect prayer and simply focus on good works and trying to help people in need. The promise of peace is there for all who daily pursue the Lord Jesus, our mediator, in prayer and seek to walk with Him.

       And this next part might be the hardest for those who are shy about sharing their faith.  If we want to pursue a life of peace and godliness, according to Paul, we must also look for opportunities to lead others to the Lord. Listen to what may be his strongest argument for universal salvation.  God wants “all people to be saved and to come to know the truth!”  Jesus “gave himself as a ransom for all!”  It’s as if Paul is saying, “What are you waiting for?  God wants everyone to be saved! So pray for everyone and get out there and share the gospel with the entire world!”

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           Well, the summer class turned out to be amazing.  The Holy Spirit ministered to me through my classmates and instructor.  The class was small and intimate. The best part was when people openly shared about their struggles in ministry; even the teacher shared from his experiences.  

         We laughed.  We cried. And we prayed.

         When the week was over, I wasn’t ready for the class to end. I felt that I still had more to learn about understanding and managing conflict. But I had learned at least one very important thing; we must first deal with the conflict within ourselves before we can begin to address the conflicts going on all around us.  We must first look inside ourselves for our own brokenness, hurt, and sin—and then seek the Lord, our mediator, the one who has made peace between God and human beings, for His healing.

         I didn’t realize how broken I was until I took the time away from my ministry and caring for others.  I find it much easier, at times, to pray for the needs of other people, than to ask for the Lord’s help with my own needs.  My needs are small compared to someone who is struggling with cancer, recovering from surgery, or mourning the loss of a loved one. I forget sometimes that God is equally concerned about all our needs—and that we all need Him just the same.

       I know that there are other people here, like me, who enjoy caring for other people—and praying for other people—but sometimes you, too, may be reluctant to seek the Lord’s help for your own needs—for your own healing and wholeness.  You might even feel guilty about bothering God for help with a need so small.  And yet the need is a real need—something that causes emotional hurt or physical pain and keeps you from living the way the Lord wants you to live.  Maybe it’s just a sin that you are reluctant to confess because you don’t want to even think about it. And yet our gracious God longs to forgive you and reassure you of His love.

         Like Van Yperen says in his discussion of frost heaves, what lies beneath the surface of a conflict is the real problem.  The root is a spiritual problem, a deep down brokenness that only prayer, confession, and the Holy Spirit can repair.

         As a follow-up to my summer class, I am required to engage in a project that will apply my learning to my ministry. The first part of my project was a sermon series on the Epistle of James, whose church struggled with conflict and whose message is still relevant and inspiring to Christians today.  In a couple of weeks, I will begin the second part of my project when I will offer 5 or 6 classes in personal peacemaking for adults. It is my prayer that God will use this group of peacemakers as examples to others and so that others may be encouraged to be peacemakers, too.

       My hope for us all is that the Spirit empowers us to do as the Apostle Paul teaches—that we pursue a life of peace and godliness.  That we pray for all and share the gospel with all.

          Because God our Savior “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

          “For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and human beings, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

Let us pray.

     God, our Savior, thank you for Christ Jesus, who is our mediator, the one who reconciled us with you when He died on the cross for our sins.  Forgive us when we forget how much we need You and we don’t pray enough.  Forgive us when we have neglected to seek You for help with our own needs because we think you don’t need to be bothered with such small things.  Forgive us for not understanding how much you love us—and how you are always waiting to graciously and mercifully forgive us through Jesus Christ. Thank you for your desire that all the world be saved. Please help us to be bold in sharing the gospel and to be peacemakers like your Son, the one who gave his life as a ransom for all.  In His name we pray.  Amen.