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October 7, 2001
Pentecost 18
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Pastor Joel Zank

Pray for Everyone!

(1 Timothy 2:1-7) I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

In Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all, dear fellow redeemed,

"Dear God, bless me and my wife, my son, John and his wife-us four and no more. Amen." That sounds like a pretty selfish prayer doesn't it? It's hard to imagine that anyone could really utter such words. But as ridiculous as they sound, I wonder if they don't capture the spirit of our own prayers more often than we realize. When you pray, whom do you pray for? Do you have quite a few people on your prayer list? Does that list include people outside of your family? Regardless of how long our prayer list is at present, today the Apostle Paul is out to expand our prayer horizons. For Paul says to us today, Pray for Everyone! And what should we pray for everyone? Paul shows us that too: Pray that we may share God's truth with all; and pray that all my know God's truth with us.

When Paul urges us to pray, he does so as the inspired spokesman of God. This is what God wants, "...that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone" (1 Timothy 2:1). When God's people bend the need in humble, reverent prayer, they want to do so in spirit of thankfulness, recognizing the goodness God has shown them in the past. Such thankfulness not only honors God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, but at the same time it inspires confidence in the Christian. With God's wondrous track record of blessings in mind, our grateful hearts won't be timid about asking for more of God's blessings not only for ourselves, but for everyone.

For everyone-how can we possibly pray for everyone? Paul says we can start by praying "for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness" (1 Timothy 2:2). It should not surprise us that God wants us to pray for our government. After all the Bible says that every governing authority "...is God's servant to do you good" (Romans 13:4). In other words, the concept of government in every form that it appears throughout our world has been established by God, put in place by him so that through government God might hold sin in check through the power of the sword and at the same time bless people with gifts like peace and tranquility. But doesn't Paul's encouragement to pray for government lead us right back to a rather selfish goal: "...that we may live peaceful and quiet lives..." (v.2). This is a very timely question. Many of us have thought to pray for our leaders in the aftermath of our national tragedy. But if the focus of our prayers is simply a desire to get life back to the way it was before September 11th, when our investments were making more money for us and life was a good deal more carefree, then yes, our prayers reflect an extremely sinful and selfish spirit.

Please notice that when Paul urges us to pray for our leaders, he qualifies the goal of such prayers with a very important phrase, "...that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness" (v.2). Paul isn't teaching us to pray for the good life here on earth as if it were the be all and end all of our existence. He's teaching us to pray for the kind of life that gives us the best opportunity to share the truth of God's Word with all people. So we pray first and foremost for a government that grants us the freedom of worshiping the Triune God and sharing his saving news with everyone. We pray for prosperity under our governing authorities so that we may have money and resources to fund the disciple-making mission of the church here in this place and everywhere. We pray for a peaceful life so that we are not tempted to silence the gospel's message out of fear for our safety. We pray for a quiet life so that our time and energy may be devoted to the work of God's kingdom rather than consumed by the worries of this world. These are the kinds of prayers that come from Christians who realize that their sole purpose for being on earth is to witness to all people the truth about Jesus Christ. As Paul says, "This is good, and pleases God our Savior..."

But praying that we may share God's truth with all people is only half our prayer. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not simply to be spoken. It is to be believed. For this reason we pray that as we share God's truth with all, all may know God's truth with us.

No one is to be left out of such a prayer, not even the most violent criminal on earth. For God has not left one individual out of his plan to save the world. Paul says that our prayers for the salvation of every human being are pleasing to God "who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).

Knowledge of the truth is critical to salvation. For without the truth no one can get into heaven. This is why our prayers are needed. Because the truth is not always pleasant to our human ears. The truth is that we were all born sinners in a state of rebellion against God. We were born wanting the opposite of what he wants and doing the opposite of what he demands. God demands that we human beings love him above all things and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. By nature, sinners cannot and do not want to meet this demand. By nature sinners are self-absorbed creatures who have no love for anyone but themselves. You know this is true. Think of how this selfishness shows itself in our lives to this very day, spoiling even our acts of worship like prayer. When you and I turn prayer into a private wish-list of blessings that we only want for ourselves and those closest to us, this is not simply a small character flaw on our part. This is the deepest, darkest side of our sinful nature exerting its influence, reminding us it's alive and well. When sin makes its way into our worship, as it always does, we must confess with the Prophet Isaiah: "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).

As you might imagine, filthy rags don't get us anywhere with God, and yet they are all that we have to offer him. There is a huge gap between what God demands of us and what we can actually do for him. That gap represents the distance between God's perfection and our sin. That gap is immeasurable. We can't begin to conceive how wide it is, but we know this from Scripture, the gap is filled with eternal damnation. If we try to leap across this span on the legs of our righteous acts, we will plunge headlong into hell. So how do we bridge the gap? The truth is we can't.

But know this: God can and he has bridged the gap, for as Paul says, "there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men" (1 Timothy 2:5-6). What we could not do for ourselves, God did for us, for everyone in the most amazing way! He became man in the person of Jesus so that he could mediate, that is, bridge the gap between Holy God and sinful mankind. With his holy life, Jesus satisfied God's demand for our perfection by living that perfect life as the personal representative of every human being. And then having lived as our proxy, he willingly offered up his perfect life to death as a sacrifice to God, first taking to his flesh and blood every sin that has been and will ever be committed by every human being from Adam and Eve to the last child that will be born before Judgment Day. Jesus took your place as sin's hostage. His life was the ransom that freed you and me and all people from the awful weight of sin's guilt and the terrible curse of its punishment. Now when we die, we will pass safely over eternal punishment on the bridge of our Risen Savior's cross.

In his grace, through Word and sacrament, God has brought us to the knowledge of this truth. Through the faith he has worked in us, we believe the promise of his full and free forgiveness. He does not count our sin against us. Not even the selfishness of our prayers causes God to turn a deaf ear to them. Instead he pardons our selfishness and purifies our prayers and every act of worship through the holy blood of Jesus, our only Mediator with God.

Grateful as we are for the knowledge of our salvation in Christ, we will want to thank God for this blessing by praying that all people may come to know God's truth with us. It is right for us to pray this prayer for everyone, for people of every race and culture, for there is only one God, not many god's offering different ways of salvation to different people. There is one God and only one Mediator between God and sinners. Which means that there isn't anyone on earth who is going to get to heaven in any way except through the blood of Christ. And there is isn't anyone on earth who will come to know of and believe in Christ's blood-bought forgiveness except through the testimony that was given in its proper time, that is the good news of the Bible, the only means on earth by which the Holy Spirit works faith in the sinner's heart. As further proof that this gospel is intended for people everywhere, Paul, a Jewish man, points to the ministry that God gave him to the Gentiles: "...for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles" (1 Timothy 2:7).

As a believer in Jesus Christ, dear friend, you too have been appointed by the Savior to make disciples of all nations. Let this mission of yours begin each day with prayer. Pray for the leaders of this world. Pray that under their authority we may have a time of peace on earth so that we can proclaim him who is the Prince of Peace between heaven and earth. Pray that all people may believe your message and share in the joy that you have, the joy that comes from knowing that their sins are forgiven and that eternal life is theirs in Jesus. Pray these things for yourself, for your family, for everyone. Pray with confidence because your prayers on behalf of all will be heard and answered by Jesus who gave his life as a ransom for all. Amen.