June 23 2024 sermon

2 Cor. 6:1-13

2 Corinthians 6:1–13 NIV

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

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2 Corinthians 6:1–2 NIV

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

—> God is offering us grace

—> that grace came in the form of Jesus and his death on the cross.

—> Paul is urgent in telling them about the grace of God

—>YouWho big summer blowout!

2 Corinthians 6:3–10 NIV

We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

—> When I first read this passage nearly a month ago now these verses are what jumped out at me as why I am still passionate about the Church of the Nazarene.

—> The saying you don’t know what you’ve got until its gone is so true.

—> Other denominations aren’t like us.

2 Corinthians 6:6–8 NIV

in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;

—> The Church of the Nazarene was formed out the desire and calling of a Methodist preacher to be better.

Is there still a special niche for the Church of the Nazarene?

While doing deputation during one of our home assignment times, a discouraged pastor asked me: "Has the Church of the Nazarene outlived its usefulness? Do we still have a clear reason to continue as a separate movement?"

Good question. Most Protestant denominations resulted from the Holy Spirit's spiritual revival and renewal action at specific times and places. Sometimes, a movement's message, methods, and structures are closely tied to a specific cultural and historical context. With the changes in that context brought by the passage of time, the movement starts to seem disconnected and irrelevant. As it seems increasingly less able to project a prophetic voice to the surrounding society and act as a viable force for change, that movement retreats into a protective shell or else morphs into a generic group indistinguishable from others.

My pastor friend was wondering if something like that would happen to the Church of the Nazarene. Honestly, there were very personal reasons for his questions. His little congregation appeared to sliding into oblivion. On top of that, his children had contemptuously turned their backs on the church. Frustrated at his church's impotence in reaching not only the community where he was ministering but also his own family, my friend had fallen prey to doubt and discouragement.

The Church of the Nazarene was born to meet pressing, definable needs. In addition to other things, Phineas F. Bresee said, "God has called us to help Christianize Christianity." More than a century has passed since the organization called the Church of the Nazarene was formed.

Today, we are one of many groups seeking to evangelize lost people. We are having success in planting new churches around the world and in evangelizing ethnic minorities. But . . . beyond that, is there a specific need that our theological and historical heritage has uniquely prepared us to meet?

Recently, I've been reminded that the original objective of "Christianizing Christianity" is more valid than ever. In a book on religion in America written several years ago, pollster George Gallup said, "Religion is growing in importance among Americans, but morality is losing ground." It would appear that American Christianity is still a long way from being Christianized. Clearly, time has not erased the need for a movement whose constitution asks its members to evidence their commitment to God "by avoiding evil of every kind." Our niche has been and can continue to be the fearless proclamation of a holy lifestyle, of radical commitment, of "dying out to sin" (to use older wording). That message needs to be heard by Christians of every denominational stripe.

Raymond Bakke reported to the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization the results of his meetings with church leaders in more than sixty major cities of the world. He concluded that one primary hindrance to urban evangelism was that Christians usually had "no ethical superiority" over nonChristians.

The preamble to the Church of the Nazarene constitution speaks of our hope "that we may cooperate effectually with other branches of the Church of Jesus Christ in advancing God's kingdom." We must help those involved in urban evangelism see that the godly walk and vital piety to which our Manual calls Nazarenes is not a narrow-minded peculiarity of a holier-than-thou club. Rather, such a holy lifestyle is a key ingredient to successful urban outreach. Believers in other movements may never embrace the exact wording of every one of our Articles of Faith. But they cannot argue with the idea that complete devotion to God and the holy obedience of love made perfect may offer the best hope for evangelizing the world's cities.

Some time ago, Christianity Today reported on a survey of church-going families. Forty-two percent of the children interviewed in the survey said their families never discuss religious topics. Don't these families need to hear from a group whose "Covenant of Christian Conduct" specifically emphasizes the need for holiness teaching in the home?

In their quadrennial address to a denominational General Assembly, the Board of General Superintendents reminded Nazarenes that their central purpose was the "propagation of Christian holiness." This may be narrowly defined as teaching and preaching holiness only to those persons converted in our own churches. However, I like to think that this "propagating" is aimed at a much larger audience: believers in all evangelical movements.

Occasionally, I meet Nazarenes who fear being thought of as "pushing our doctrine." Such defensiveness is unwarranted. In full respect of Christians in other evangelical movements, we must believe that the Holy Spirit has entrusted us with a precious treasure that must be shared with the whole Christian world. In kindly, brotherly love, we can bear witness to the message of the cleansing and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Once in a while, we get drawn into debates. That's not all bad. Sometimes, a debate will help clarify definitions. But we must remember that our primary concern is spreading the biblical message of holiness, not debating it.

Jesus' fervent prayer in John 17 for the sanctification of believers was meant for all Christians. One of the reasons for our existence as a movement is to help believers in other traditions embrace the cleansing and power available to them (even if they prefer to talk about it a little differently than we do).

I sympathize with my discouraged pastor friend. He is carrying some heavy burdens. But he has no reason to fear that we're an outmoded movement stalled inside a time frame of the past.

The Church of the Nazarene is uniquely qualified to occupy an important niche in the Christian world. Let's preach, teach, testify to, and live the key ingredient that so many Christians seem to lack: a life of Christian holiness.

2 Corinthians 6:11–13 NIV

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

—> We aren’t guaranteed a harvest

—> We can do all the right things and people will still be people and say “NO”

—> That doesn’t mean we stop making the offer

—> Because God never stops making the offer