“THE CURE FOR ITCHY EARS”
II TIMOTHY 3:14-4:8
14 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 man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
4:1 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 encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.
3 For 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.
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.
6 For I am already being poured out
like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
7 I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Now there is in store for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to
all who have longed for his appearing.
They say the
truth often hurts.
An elderly woman was reminded
of that one Sunday morning when she went to visit a church for the first time. When
she walked into the sanctuary she told one of the ushers that she wanted to sit up front in the pew closest to the pulpit. The usher shook his head and told the elderly woman that he didn’t think that
was a very good idea. When she asked him why he didn’t think it was a very
good idea the usher whispered, “Well, to tell you the truth, the pastor’s sermons are really boring.” `“Young
man,” the elderly woman said very indignantly, “do you know who I am?”
When the usher answered “no” the elderly woman said in a loud voice, “I am the pastor’s mother!” “Oh,” the usher said, “and do YOU
know who I am?” When the
elderly woman answered “no” the usher said in a loud voice, “Good” and quickly disappeared.
Yes, it’s true. The truth often hurts. So, here’s
a question for you. How do you react when you’re on the receiving end of a little truth that makes you cringe? Do you get angry? Do you get defensive? Do you make excuses? Do you ignore it?
If you don’t like truth
that makes you cringe then you’re probably not going to like the words that the Apostle Paul wrote to his good friend
Timothy. In his letter, Paul uses a lot of words like correct and rebuke and
train. In his letter, Paul also talks about a Jesus who, when he comes back,
is going to judge the every single one of us.
What do you think about that?
Is there room in your faith for a Jesus who is going to judge you from time to time?
Or would you rather have a Jesus who is going to be there to hug you, hold you, help you and heal you?
A while
ago I received an email that celebrated that warm and fuzzy Jesus. It did that
with some new words to the old hymn “Jesus Loves Me This I know.” I
guess you could say it was a senior citizens’ version of the hymn. It goes
like this:
Jesus
loves me, this I know…Though my hair is white as snow.
Though
my sight is growing dim…Still He bids me trust in Him.
Though my steps are oh, so slow…With my hand in His I'll
go,
On through
life, let come what may…He'll be there to lead the way.
When my
work on earth is done…And life's victories have been won.
He will
take me home above…Then I'll understand His love
I don’t
know about you, but I want a faith that has room in it for the Jesus who’s always going to be there to hug me and hold
me, help me and heal me when that’s what I really need. But, I also want a faith that has room in it for the Jesus who
is going to criticize me and chastise me and challenge me when that’s what I really need.
I want a faith
that has room in it for a Jesus who’s going to say to me, “I’m sorry but that pledge you made isn’t
good enough. I know you can do better than that.” I want a faith that has room in it for a Jesus who’s going to say to me, “You better stop taking
your family for granted and show them that you really love them.” I want
a Jesus who’s going to say to me, “You were wrong when you lost your temper the other day. All your excuses sound great, but you were wrong and you need to apologize.” I want a Jesus who’s going to say to me, “I don’t care what all the politicians and the
economists and the scientists are saying about the War in Iraq, global warming, capital punishment,
abortion and all those other issues that people argue about today. The only opinion
that really counts is what God thinks and what God want you to think and do and if that means letting go of a long held believe
then let it go.”
You know, the Apostle Paul
has a catchy phrase in his letter to describe people who don’t a Jesus who is going to criticize them or chastise them
or challenge them. He said that people like that have itchy ears. Instead of listening to the truth that makes them cringe a little they look for people who will tell them
what they want to hear.
Billy Sunday found himself
dealing with people like that many years ago during one of his crusades. Billy
Sunday was an evangelist back in the early 1900’s. One day he preached
a sermon that was critical of the labor conditions in the city where he was preaching.
After the service several prominent businessmen sent a message to the well known evangelist. They told him in no uncertain terms to focus on saving people’s souls and stop telling them how to
run their businesses. The message ended with the words, “You’re rubbing
the fur the wrong way.” Billy Sunday sent a message back to the businessmen
that was equally blunt. In his message he wrote, “If I’m rubbing
the fur the wrong way, then tell the cats to turn around.”
Is there room in your faith
for a Jesus who is going to criticize you and chastise you and challenge you when that’s what you really need? The other day I said to our Wednesday morning Bible Study that if you haven’t
had a really uncomfortable moment in your relationship with Jesus during the last five years, then something is seriously
wrong. As soon as I said that someone smiled and suggested, “How about
we make it the last six years?”
If you want a faith that
is strong, there needs to be room for both the Jesus who hugs you and holds you, helps you and heals you AND the Jesus who, at times, is going to criticize you and chastise you and challenge you when that’s what
you really need.
If you don’t have room
for that Jesus then you’re going to end up with a faith that isn’t going to do you or anyone else much good. A kindergarten teacher saw an example of that kind of faith one day when she gave
the children a special assignment for “Show and Tell.” The teacher
asked each child to bring something in to show the class that was symbolic of their faith.
The next day when the time for “Show and Tell” arrived the first child stood up and said, “My name
is Benjamin. I’m Jewish and this is a Star of David.” The teacher smiled and thanked Benjamin for sharing. The second child stood up and said, “My name
is Mary. I’m Catholic and this is a rosary.” The teacher smiled and thanked Mary for sharing. The third child stood up and said, “My name is Tommy. I’m Methodist and this is a casserole.”
The teacher didn’t know what to say.
I want a faith
that is strong which is why I keep telling myself that I need to make room in my faith for a Jesus who is going to criticize
me and chastise me and challenge me when that’s what I really need. Now
I don’t want that Jesus because I’m a glutton for punishment. I don’t
want that Jesus because I have a little bit of a masochistic streak in me. I
don’t want that Jesus because I enjoy being miserable. I want that Jesus
so that I can be the person God created me to be; so I can be like Jesus and
love like Jesus and live my life like Jesus and be a blessing to others the way Jesus blessed the lives of others.
I also want that Jesus who
is going to criticize me and chastise me and challenge me when that’s what I really need because I don’t want
the minister who does my funeral to end up looking foolish. You see I want the
minister who does my funeral to be able to read with conviction those words that Paul wrote to Timothy at the end of his letter.
“…the time of
my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for
his appearing.”
You’re going to be
a lot better off if there’s room in your faith for the Jesus who is going to speak the truth to you in love. When every thing is said and done that’s a lot better than going through like with itchy ears.
Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes
October 14, 2007
