Stoked

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

October 6, 2013

Stoked

2 Timothy 1:1-7

It’s a great word: stoked.

A word created by the young for the young.

It’s not a new word, though.

Those of us old enough

to have grown up listening to the music of the Beach Boys

know that the word came out of

the surfing scene back in the 50s and 60s.

In fact, if you were to dig up a copy of the

Beach Boys’ Surfin’ USA album

you’d find the fourth track is a song entitled, “Stoked,”

recorded back in 1963.

When a person is stoked

he’s fired up,

filled with energy,

excited,

ready to go,

pumped.

It may sound far-fetched,

but what Paul was writing to Timothy,

his young protégé,

were words to encourage the young Christian

to stay stoked, stoked in his faith.

I’m not sure Paul would have gone so far as

to have said to Timothy,

“Dude, you should be stoked,”

but that was the essence of his message.

Timothy’s faith had been built on a good foundation:

nurtured by his grandmother and his mother,

and then fanned to full flame by Paul.

Still, Timothy was struggling with his faith,

as young people often do,

as all people often do.

He was discouraged by what he saw all around him:

The Jews and Greeks mocked and

condemned followers of Christ;

Romans persecuted them;

false teachers claiming to know the gospel

better than anyone else were everywhere;

and Paul, Timothy’s own teacher, was in jail,

imprisoned for his faith.

Timothy saw a world around him filled with

unrighteousness, injustice,

violence, greed, faithlessness.

He could have made the prophet Habakkuk’s words his own:

“O Lord, how long shall l I cry for help,

and you will not listen?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

and you will not save?

Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise….

justice never prevails.

The wicked surround the righteous.”

(Habakkuk 1:1-4)

These are words each of us could often make our own.

It is easy to get discouraged as a follower of Jesus Christ.

We are called to be peacemakers in a world

that seems to have grown numb to violence and war.

We are called to be concerned for the poor and the outcast,

in a world where the rich grow richer,

and the poor grow more numerous;

even as they are condemned as lazy, dependent takers.

We are called to live selflessly and humbly in a world

that trumpets the self, the celebrity.

We are called to live compassionately and charitably

in a world that so often seems cold and callous.

Paul’s words of encouragement to Timothy

are words of encouragement to you and me as well:

“God did not give us a spirit of cowardice,

but rather a spirit of power

and of love and of self-discipline.”

We’ve got the power of the Holy Spirit within us

by the grace of God.

Power to grace us with courage and determination

even when we are discouraged,

even when we are wondering

whether we might be happier sleeping in on Sunday

and having the day to ourselves.

It is our own “Timothy” generation that has opened our eyes,

as they have asked how can they live their faith,

faith nurtured by grandparents and parents,

not only in a tumultuous world,

but also when they see churches of all denominations

filled with voices quick to condemn, quick to judge,

two billions followers of one Christ, one God

split into thousands of factions,

disagreements among denominations rampant,

more time spent arguing,                                    

than in working together

to build the beginnings of the Kingdom of God.

It is astonishing to remember that it has

only been in the last 10 or so years

that denominations within the Reformed tradition

have broken down the barriers that kept them apart

at the Lord’s Table.

World Communion Sunday had been a global celebration

around distinctly separate tables.

Paul’s response to Timothy is also his response to us:

He’d say, “Don’t get discouraged.

I am in prison for my faith

and I am still stoked,

and you should be, too,

even in the face of discouragement,

setbacks,

frustrations.”

As Paul concluded his letter to Timothy,

He urged him on, even in the face of struggle:

“Pursue righteousness,

godliness,

faith,

love,

endurance, gentleness…

Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

(1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:1)

This is good counsel for us, as well

even two thousand years later

as we live our lives in faith,

live them often in the midst of struggle,

disagreement, conflict all around us.

Timothy, Paul, any follower of Jesus Christ –

we may well feel like we are swimming upstream,

against the current,

or like Sisyphus,

the character from Greek mythology

who forever kept rolling a boulder up a steep slope

only to have it roll back down

each time he approached the crest.

Still, as Paul teaches us,

God has given us the spirit of power,

and of love,

and of self-discipline.

We are to use these gifts to persevere:

to teach love and mercy

when the world seems intent on teaching

hate and intolerance;

to teach compassion and charity

when the world seems intent on teaching

selfishness and self-indulgence;

to teach peace and reconciliation

when the world seems intent on teaching violence and conflict;

to teach, “let the one who is without sin cast the first stone,”

even as the world teaches judgment;

to nurture the faith of another generation

all of us confident in the future.

And when we do feel worn and tired,

we know we have only to respond to

the invitation from our Lord to come to his Table.

There we will find nourishment,

renewal, and refreshment.

Our Lord, ever the ready host,

stands at this Table

stands at every Table,

calling all his followers together in community,

reminding us that we are brothers and sisters in Christ,

calling us to pass the bread of life around,

calling us to pass the cup of salvation around,

calling us to feed one another, friend and stranger alike,

even as we are being fed.

And then, fed, renewed, refreshed,

filled with the spirit of power,

we are to go back out into the world to serve,

to teach,

to nurture faith.

We are to go back out stoked with the spirit of courage,

the spirit of hope,

out to “Pursue righteousness,

godliness,

faith,

love,

endurance, gentleness…

all of us together,

strong in the grace given us by God in Jesus Christ.

AMEN