Finish ExtraChristy - Podcast
-
- Christianity
Finish Finish a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey DOWNLOAD A LIVE RECORDING Audio from worship at the 11 AM Worship Service October 9, 2022 via Zoom at Valley Presbyterian Church, Bishop,CA edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions all errors are mine. 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Sermons also available free on iTunes I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Fight, finish, and I’m going to go with fidelity because I can’t remember unless they all start with the same letter. So fight, faith, and fidelity. Those three things is what Paul lifted up. Or whoever wrote 2 Timothy. If you want to start an argument with anybody, just go up and say, “As Paul says in 2 Timothy.” Oh, my gosh, they all yell at you. Paul didn’t write 2 Timothy. That was somebody else, and the letter uses a totally different vocabulary I had one guy in seminary that said, “Well, you see, Paul had that shipwreck. And when he had a shipwreck, he hit his head. And when he hit his head, his whole vocabulary changed. And so that’s why 2 Timothy doesn’t match up with the rest of the letters.” I thought it was a stretch, but whatever. Whatever this was, this was somebody trying to say, or Paul saying, what Paul was like on the very last days, month of life. He had lost the first appeal. He had already been there. And it looks like where he’s sitting now he’s going to go off to be killed by empire for going against the king, going against – meddling with politics. Oh, my gosh. And so at this time he sort of looks back over his life, according to this author of 2 Timothy, and he says these three things. Instead of being upset or angry or depressed or giving up or regrets, instead he says three things: Fight, fidelity, finish. Now, you can say the good fight is that he did it according to the rules, that he had the umpire with him all the way, the officials said he was okay, he counted the mats, he didn’t cheat and all that. I don’t think so. I think the good fight is something worth fighting for. Something that is worth fighting for is a good fight. John Lewis, a politician and a great leader of our country, talked about getting in, not fighting, he talked about getting in good trouble. He talked about good trouble, to get in good trouble. You could always tell John Lewis because when everybody else was out marching ready to get beaten up, bloodied, and tear-gassed, and they were in their work clothes for getting beaten up, bloodied, and tear-gassed, John Lewis was the guy in the suit. He came, he was serious. And John Lewis was saying that if you see unfairness, if you see injustice, if you see someone being oppressed, you have a moral obligation to speak up, to walk, to shout, to call attention, to shout, to sit down, to demonstrate, all the things you can do to make that right, in fact, to get in good trouble. Good trouble. Trouble that is worthwhile for getting into. John Lewis, at the end, he had a book come out. And it kind of reminds me of 2 Timothy, you know, because it was a collection of his thoughts and essays. He’s supposed to have been involved, I don’t know much involved it was, at the very end of his life. And the last book came out, it said: “Carry On.” Carry on. And his idea was that he would have a book, the last book of his life, to pass the torch to the next people, maybe some sitting here, to work for the good of the people, good of the country. Carry on. Fight the good fight. Stand up, speak out, get in the way. Get in trouble. Good trouble. I think that’s what Paul got in. He got in some good trouble. I also want to talk about keeping the faith. Now, keeping the faith could be also, could be that you preserved, that you persevered through all your life, that you didn’t renounce Jesus, that you kept the faith. And, you know, kind of a personal inside yourself, all to yourself. But I like to think it’s more like fidelity, you know, kept th
Finish Finish a sermon by Rev. J. Christy Ramsey DOWNLOAD A LIVE RECORDING Audio from worship at the 11 AM Worship Service October 9, 2022 via Zoom at Valley Presbyterian Church, Bishop,CA edited from a flawless transcription made by edigitaltranscriptions all errors are mine. 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Sermons also available free on iTunes I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Fight, finish, and I’m going to go with fidelity because I can’t remember unless they all start with the same letter. So fight, faith, and fidelity. Those three things is what Paul lifted up. Or whoever wrote 2 Timothy. If you want to start an argument with anybody, just go up and say, “As Paul says in 2 Timothy.” Oh, my gosh, they all yell at you. Paul didn’t write 2 Timothy. That was somebody else, and the letter uses a totally different vocabulary I had one guy in seminary that said, “Well, you see, Paul had that shipwreck. And when he had a shipwreck, he hit his head. And when he hit his head, his whole vocabulary changed. And so that’s why 2 Timothy doesn’t match up with the rest of the letters.” I thought it was a stretch, but whatever. Whatever this was, this was somebody trying to say, or Paul saying, what Paul was like on the very last days, month of life. He had lost the first appeal. He had already been there. And it looks like where he’s sitting now he’s going to go off to be killed by empire for going against the king, going against – meddling with politics. Oh, my gosh. And so at this time he sort of looks back over his life, according to this author of 2 Timothy, and he says these three things. Instead of being upset or angry or depressed or giving up or regrets, instead he says three things: Fight, fidelity, finish. Now, you can say the good fight is that he did it according to the rules, that he had the umpire with him all the way, the officials said he was okay, he counted the mats, he didn’t cheat and all that. I don’t think so. I think the good fight is something worth fighting for. Something that is worth fighting for is a good fight. John Lewis, a politician and a great leader of our country, talked about getting in, not fighting, he talked about getting in good trouble. He talked about good trouble, to get in good trouble. You could always tell John Lewis because when everybody else was out marching ready to get beaten up, bloodied, and tear-gassed, and they were in their work clothes for getting beaten up, bloodied, and tear-gassed, John Lewis was the guy in the suit. He came, he was serious. And John Lewis was saying that if you see unfairness, if you see injustice, if you see someone being oppressed, you have a moral obligation to speak up, to walk, to shout, to call attention, to shout, to sit down, to demonstrate, all the things you can do to make that right, in fact, to get in good trouble. Good trouble. Trouble that is worthwhile for getting into. John Lewis, at the end, he had a book come out. And it kind of reminds me of 2 Timothy, you know, because it was a collection of his thoughts and essays. He’s supposed to have been involved, I don’t know much involved it was, at the very end of his life. And the last book came out, it said: “Carry On.” Carry on. And his idea was that he would have a book, the last book of his life, to pass the torch to the next people, maybe some sitting here, to work for the good of the people, good of the country. Carry on. Fight the good fight. Stand up, speak out, get in the way. Get in trouble. Good trouble. I think that’s what Paul got in. He got in some good trouble. I also want to talk about keeping the faith. Now, keeping the faith could be also, could be that you preserved, that you persevered through all your life, that you didn’t renounce Jesus, that you kept the faith. And, you know, kind of a personal inside yourself, all to yourself. But I like to think it’s more like fidelity, you know, kept th