The Pillar and Buttress of the Truth

1 Tim 3:14-15

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Some of you know the feeling of being in over your heads. Some of you know the feeling of having a project handed off to you. And if you know how that feels, I wonder if that’s how Timothy felt at this point in the letter

You see, the Apostle Paul had a deeper relationship with the church in Ephesus

●    Paul went on the mission journey, Paul gathered the people

●    Paul plan pastored the church for two years

●    Paul stood up during the riot over Artemis

●    Paul stayed in touch, Paul wrote Ephesians, Paul loved

●    And now Paul is handing the baton to Timothy to take over and fix these problems

Is that really such a good idea? I mean, Timothy is being called to do some difficult things in this letter

●    Confront and oppose false teachers

●    Champion prayer for political leaders, get men praying

●    Fight for modesty in the church, men to lead in preaching and teaching

●    Finally, he needs to ensure leaders are qualified

This is a tall order, and probably the point in the letter where Timothy would have a knot in his stomach

So since Paul did all of these things, wouldn’t more sense to hand baton back to Paul? Paul says right here “I hope to come to you soon”. Great! Why can’t Timothy just wait for him to get there.

Well, Paul continues. “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth”

You catch that? “I want to come to you soon Timothy, but if I’m late, these are things that have to happen. Today. Now”.

Why is it so critical that Timothy address these things that Paul is telling him to do? Because the church is two things: (1) the household of God, and (2) a pillar and buttress of the truth.

The church is the household of God and a pillar and buttress of the truth. That’s why this is so important, because

●    The church won’t fully live into its identity as a household of God if people are spreading divisive myths.

●    Identity as a pillar and buttress of the truth if deacons are double-tongued

And so because the church is these two things, that’s why Timothy can’t just kick back and wait for Paul. He has to get in there and implement these changes.

You see, the church IS the household of God, and it IS a pillar and buttress of the truth. It needs to lean in to these two identities

But the problem is that we don’t actually believe that in our culture.

Two years ago In their book The Great Dechurching, Pastor Jim Davis and political scientist Ryan Burge document how over the last 25 years more than 40 million people have dropped out of the church

●    Even with recent and extremely promising trends on younger generations coming back

●    About ⅓-½ of people in the US wake up every Sunday, and they’re not coming here

●    But you know this. You can picture their faces, can’t you?

And why did they leave? Well, this pastor and political scientist took a nationwide survey of people who have stopped attending church, and the top reasons given for leaving are:

1.  No longer believed what the congregation believed (politics, faith)

2.  Didn’t fit in with the congregation

        The church is the household of God and the pillar and buttress of the truth, but for 40 million people, that’s a joke. For most people in our culture, the church is irrelevant at best

●    It doesn’t have answers. It isn’t a real family.

●    And because of those things, it’s not worth waking up early to get there on Sunday.

        And so today, we need to dive deeply into those two aspects of the church. You need real answers on how this group of people around you IS the household of God and a pillar and buttress of the truth. Not just for our sake, but for the sake of people you know.

So let’s dive in. First of all, the church is the household of God. You and I are the household of God! How do we know that? Well first of all, because God says so

●    Matthew 12 “While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother”

●    What is the will of our heavenly Father? Jesus said it in the Gospel of John: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). If you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are his family.

But it gets better than that. If you are part of Jesus’ family, and someone else is part of Jesus’ family, then you two are also related. And that relationship is deeper, and more mysterious, and more lasting than what we usually think about. I mean, look around. These are the faces of the people you will see forever

Now for some of you, this might be a great feeling. Maybe not for others. Because although God calls the church to be His household, and although that’s true and unshakeable, and although one day it will be as obvious before your face as anything else you see, we don’t always live out fully what we’re called to be in the moment

40 million people have left the church over the last 25 years, and one of the top reasons they gave is that they “didn’t fit in”. Why?

Partly, it’s a generational divide. And you could explore that through a variety of means, but let’s just stick with politics. This is painting with a wide brush, but generally speaking, older Christians tend to see a strong association between their politics and their faith. Younger Christians, not so much.

●    And in an uncharitable spirit, older Christians could look at younger Christians as “wishy-washy” in their faith

●    Younger Christians could look at older Christians as rigid and inflexible

What is the calling to both groups?

●    Col 3:13 “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive”

●    Gal 6:2 “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2)

●    Rom 15:1 (from Bible study today) “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves”

●    John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”

What are we to do? We are to love one another. We are to put up with one another. You are to forgive one another even when they hurt you

I remember there was a Christian conference I went to back in college. It was a time in my life where I was trying to figure out where God wanted me after graduation. And as I’m wrestling through this with another person, this older gentleman

But even if you feel like you’re similar enough to everyone else here, you might still feel like you’re not really part of this family. You might feel like a wallflower. And that’s where the other way to understand “bear one another’s burdens” comes in: serving. If you feel invisible in this church, are you serving? We heard last week that 20% of the church does about 80% of the work

God has ordained it that we find our joy in being served by the church and in serving the church. There are 59 separate “one anothers” in the Bible. You just heard: we are to bear one another’s burdens. We are to look to each other’s interests and “count each other more important than ourselves” (Phil 2:3).

Take a look at that wall of bricks over there. Does any brick in particular stick out to you? You might feel like you’re invisible, but if one of those bricks was missing, you’d notice it

What do you call a strewn pile of bricks out in a field? You don’t call it a building. You call it a tragedy

God’s will for you is that you would find joy in serving and being served. In effect, that you’d be like those middle bricks: relying on others and having others rely on you.

There’s a woman in this church who lives at a nursing home. Nursing homes are depressing places. They’re lonely. The days can start to blend together

And I remember a few weeks back going to visit this woman. And as I came around the corner and saw her sitting alone in her wheelchair row, I was struck with this joy that’s so hard to put into words. Because I knew that what I was about to do was going to deeply matter to her in a way that caretakers wouldn’t

When was the last time you did something that you felt mattered, deeply in your soul? Serving will give you that joy, joy your heavenly Father wants you to experience.

Now for some of you, you feel like those bottom bricks. You’re holding up the load. And maybe you started serving years ago out of joy. Your service for the church was rewarding and life-giving. But over the years the work has piled up, and now you feel like you’re close to burning out.

God doesn’t want you to be a bottom brick. There is only one bottom brick. “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11).

So if you feel burdened, rest. Rest in Jesus. Rest in the service of other people. And if you feel invisible, serve. Experience that joy

The church is the family of God. And we are to rely on each other, bearing with one another. And here at Immanuel, that’s what we do. But more on that later

Because the church is also something else: it’s “a pillar and buttress of the truth”. Now I have to be honest with you: I didn’t know what a buttress was before I started preparing for this sermon. It turns out that both the Greek words used for “pillar” and “buttress” denote the idea of support

And we the church, collectively (like living stones) are supporting and holding up the Truth of the Gospel

●    For each other, and for a cynical and unbelieving world

●    And this “truth” isn’t some abstract set of “answers” to questions no one cares about, but do you remember Jesus’ words? “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32)

●    If you don’t know the Truth, you aren’t free

There are so many people enslaved out there, aren’t there?

●    False teachings, passions of their own flesh, most of all to themselves

●    1 Pet 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”

Who are the ones usually being devoured by the Devil? It’s usually those who have left the church. Time and time again, study after study confirms that those who belong in the church

●    Not just those who can answer some trivia questions about Jesus

●    Not just those who sit pretty for a sermon one hour a week, they are the ones with the highest mental health

We need each other to stand firm in our faith. Listen to this: you need each other to stand firm in your faith. I need you to stand firm in my faith.

●    We live in a day and age where you can log onto YouTube and get a million sermons in a single search

●    Watch them with nobody else around

●    God has ordained it that you will hear Him most reliably when you’re studying His Word with other people who love Him

So the church is the household of God, and it’s a pillar and buttress of the truth. And we’ve just seen some ways those might play out in the local church. But what are some ways they’re happening here at Immanuel?

First of all, Immanuel is a pillar and buttress of the truth. We live in a day and age where about 90% of all churches do zero outreach, and certainly not regular outreach.

●    But you have gone out on Harvest Rhythms. Some of you went out to Corn Hill with me last year to pray for people. And some of you have gone to a whole different continent so that the ends of the earth might hear the Good News of the Gospel. And although there’s always room for improvement, you Immanuel are being a pillar and buttress of the truth

You want a clear picture of Immanuel being a pillar and buttress of the truth? Look at our youth. I’ve heard stories about a young man from this church who went to college and has gathered a group of teammates for Bible study. He drives them to church, and through this young man, guys are hearing about Jesus and coming to know Jesus. They are hearing the truth, and the Truth is setting them free. You should be proud of our youth.

So how is Immanuel leaning into its identity as the household of God? I already spoke about that woman in the nursing home (and there are others), but truthfully, I can talk from my own experience

As many of you know, I’m currently in seminary studying to be a pastor. I’m actually coming up on the end here, year ⅚

●    There’s going to come a day when I make an official announcement (this is not that day) that a church has called me to serve

●    That day will be a day of great joy, and bitter because you have been our family

How?

●    You helped us move out of apartment into 1st home

●    …

I’m so glad we haven’t just been wallflowers. Let’s pray

Father, thank you that you have knit us together as a church…