We’ve heard a lot of bad news this past week. Of course, for this congregation, Marilyn’s death hits us hard because she has been such a steadfast part of the life of this congregation. She will be missed. But that’s not the only bad news we’ve heard this week. That’s because once again, gun violence is in the news. The most talked-about act of violence was the murder of political activist Charlie Kirk in Utah. That same day, a student walked into a school in Colorado and wounded two classmates and then killed himself. Then I read the news of a father in Port Huron, who shot and killed his seventeen-year-old son and wounded his other two children. This kind of news, which seems increasingly more common, ends up numbing us to the ongoing violence in our world. People wonder where God is present in all of this. The word we hear this morning from 1 Timothy speaks of God’s mercy that strengthens us as we navigate this world we inhabit.
There is, of course, another word spoken this morning that reminds us that sometimes we frustrate God with our actions. That is the word we hear from the prophet Jeremiah. When I started working with these passages earlier in the week, I felt like Jeremiah might be a bit too judgmental. Fortunately, the reading from 1 Timothy offered a more hopeful message. We need that message, but perhaps in light of the events of this past week, we also need to hear this word from Jeremiah. Maybe we are foolish people who don’t understand the ways of God.
Now, no one likes to be called foolish and stupid, but Jeremiah delivered this message to the people on God’s behalf. Not only did he tell them that they were foolish and stupid, but he told them they would suffer the consequences of their actions. In the case of the citizens of Jerusalem, those consequences involved the destruction of the city and their beloved temple by the Babylonians. Many of the leading members of society, including the king, were carted off into exile. In other words, there isn’t a lot of grace or mercy in Jeremiah’s message. But he told the people the truth.
When we read a passage like this one from Jeremiah, it serves as a wake-up call. It invites us to consider whether we are on the right path. With this world seemingly spinning into further disarray, Jeremiah invites us to consider whether we are contributing to the problems.
While Jeremiah pokes at us, prodding us to consider whether we are prone to straying from God’s path, this letter addressed to a young pastor named Timothy speaks of God’s grace and mercy. We need to hear this word as well because it offers us hope for the future.
The supposed author of this first letter to Timothy is Paul, the Apostle. However, most scholars believe that this letter was written in Paul’s name after his death. Nevertheless, despite the question of authorship, the word we hear this morning does represent Paul’s own sense of gratitude for God’s mercy, which allowed him to be of service to God. It is God’s grace that redeemed Paul even though he had once persecuted the followers of Jesus, making him the worst of all sinners. But, due to that mercy, the trajectory of Paul’s life completely changed. In this word, there is hope for us as well as we navigate a world that seems rather in disarray.
Our letter writer reminds us that even though Paul had once been a blasphemer, a persecutor of Jesus’ followers, and a man of violence, God showed mercy on him. Why? Because he acted in ignorance and unbelief. Or as Jeremiah might say, he was foolish and stupid because he didn’t truly know God and the ways of God. In fact, when he acted as this man of violence, he believed he was doing the right thing. He thought he was doing God’s work, but God thought otherwise. Nevertheless, due to God’s mercy, Paul discovered a different path in life.
One of the most beloved hymns of the church is “Amazing Grace,” which we will close the service with this morning. The writer of that hymn, John Newton, had been the captain of a slave ship before his conversion. That’s why he wrote these well-known words:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
Yes, it was through God’s amazing grace that one such as John Newton, who once was lost, could be found by God.
Jeremiah reminds us that sometimes we encounter passages of Scripture that speak of God’s frustration with humanity due to our penchant for engaging in evil deeds. The scriptures also speak of God’s persistent desire to restore broken relationships by showing mercy to us. We see this persistence play out in today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke. In Luke 15, Jesus tells two parables. One parable deals with a shepherd who leaves behind his flock to find the one that wandered off. The other parable speaks of a woman who lost a silver coin but then went to great lengths to find the coin. When she found her lost coin, she threw a party to celebrate.
As we read these two parables, doesn’t that reveal something important about God, who graciously goes to great lengths to find and reclaim lost things, including someone like Paul, who was a man of violence? If God can reclaim Paul, as our reading from 1 Timothy suggests, by showing mercy on him, then surely God can reclaim us!
I am grateful to God, because I know God to be full of love and mercy. That love and mercy is revealed to us, as the letter to Timothy suggests, in the person of Jesus. For “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am foremost.”
From what we know of Paul, he would make that claim because he did violently pursue the followers of Jesus, believing he was doing the right thing. Instead, he discovered that though he was the greatest of sinners, God’s mercy was sufficient to restore him to a right relationship with Jesus and his followers. Why did God show mercy on him? According to this letter, it was so that “Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.” Not only that, but due to God’s mercy, which not only strengthened Paul, it allowed God to appoint him to God’s service. What was true of Paul is true for all of us.
I want to say one more thing about this letter, which is part of a collection known as the Pastoral Epistles. These three letters, two directed to Timothy and one to Titus, give directions to young pastors. Perhaps the reason why this letter opens with a word about divine mercy is that this young pastor might have wondered about his own past and whether he was worthy of this calling to serve. I think this is something most pastors wonder about. I have, and I’m sure Pastor Dan has had the same questions at one point or another. These are probably questions that many of us ask of ourselves, whether or not we’re pastors. We may wonder whether we are worthy of God’s mercy. We may end up suffering the consequences of our actions, but in the end, we can put our trust in God’s mercy, which was revealed to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. What I take from both this reading from 1 Timothy and the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin in Luke 15, is that no one is beyond God’s reach, even if, as Jeremiah reminds us, God can at times lose patience with us.
Having heard this good news about God’s love and mercy, which is revealed to us in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we can offer to God a word of praise and thanksgiving, declaring: “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.” That is the word we proclaimed in our opening hymn. In the opening stanza of the hymn, we sing of the Immortal and Invisible God, “in light inaccessible hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.” Then in the final verse, we sing: “Thou reignest in glory; thou dwellest in light. Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight. All praise we would render; O help us to see ‘tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.”
So, with the words of this hymn, which reflect the closing words of our passage from 1 Timothy, we hear an invitation to join together in worship because God has shown mercy on us, transforming our lives. Therefore, the God whom we know through the person of Jesus is worthy of praise and thanksgiving! So, “To God be the glory; great things he has done.”
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
Troy, MI
September 14, 2025
Pentecost 14C
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