“Esprit de Corps”
Original sermon given October 9, 2022, written and delivered by Pastor Gregg Ramirez at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church
Watch the sermon live here
“Esprit de Corps”
II Timothy 2.1-13
II Timothy 2.1-13
One of my great heroes of the faith is a man known as “the father of modern missions.” William Carey was born to a poor family of English weavers in 1761. With a zeal for the Christian faith, Carey was inspired by the exploits of American missionaries David Brainerd and Jonathan Edwards and began at age 31 to raise funds to travel to India as a pioneer missionary. It was a momentous undertaking and when his father heard the news, he pointed out that Willian had no academic qualifications for the job. Carey answered, “I can plod.”
And plod he did! This was his typical day:
o 5:45 – devotions and read a chapter in the Hebrew Bible
o 7:00 – led family in prayer in Bengali and read Scripture in Hindustani
o 9:00 – translated Sanskrit into English
o 10:00 – went to college to teach till 2:00 and translated Bengali until supper
o Afterwards he translated Sanskrit until he preached at 7:30PM
o At 9:00 he translated for 2 hours
o At 11:00 wrote a friend in England and read a chapter of the Greek New Testament
What a prodigious work schedule and I can only imagine the hardships and suffering of living in the spiritual darkness of idolatrous India, the heat and lack of creature comforts while founding Serampore College and University – first to award degrees in India. More than anyone Carey took the message of Christ to India and was instrumental in the abolishing of Sati—a practice where if a husband died first, a wife was required to throw herself into the fire.
What a level of ésprit de corps – of “all in” faith commitment and devotion! However, it finds its match with the exploits of the missionary in today’s lesson: the Apostle Paul, whose words we heard from his letter to his protégé, Timothy, and who, when it came to hardships and sufferings, far surpasses William Carey. As Paul wrote: iron prison chains were biting into his flesh, and how easy for his focus to be on the injustice of his situation. He’s a Roman citizen and what great crime has he committed? He could have chewed on his resentments and curled his lips being overwhelmed by self-pity. “My God, why?” In such circumstances it would have been natural to grow angry, frustrated, depressed, and hopeless – to let one’s heart be darkened by the darkness of his circumstances. But Paul never did. Out of his imprisonment came forth the light and life of the Word of God. He was called a desmios, a prisoner, but the desmios Paul, even in prison, was never bound. Even though chained, his words were never shackled. He knew that no chain could bind the will of God, as Paul’s words of God would minister to millions of lives throughout the ages.
Yes, though dwelling in a pit of darkness, Paul talks in our lesson about salvation and glory. He’s on death row but we find him giving a motivational pep talk to Timothy who would soon take over. It’s all aboutésprit de corps—semper fidelis, “go team!” as he enlightens Timothy and us concerning what should be the code of conduct, the character qualities that should permeate the culture of the church – the necessary high standards of morale so that the church might rise triumphant by making a positive difference in the world’s present darkness. In essence, he is providing us with a template concerning what it means to be a Christian disciple, as he presents three pictures or object lessons to help us conceptualize how we should direct our lives in service toward growing God’s Kingdom in this world. He uses the imagery of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.
I must tell you that for years, I glossed over these comparisons. Yet the more I study, the more I recognized that there’s a huge difference between a committed disciple and today’s average church member. Honestly, isn’t it for most church members today that you believe in Jesus as your Savior, you worship Him in church, and besides that, there’s some available options. You can go to Bible Class and choose to help the church operate through being on one of the boards, and you can volunteer to be in the choir, altar guild, work in the kitchen, or serve needy people lunches.
That’s what the church is about for most people. You schedule what you want to do – the commitment you want to make. Yet, have you noticed over the years that, yes, there’s those 10% who do a lot of the work in the church, but increasingly even those who used to go to church more often are now doing so more infrequently – and Covid has not helped the cause. It’s to the point that Matthew Harrison, our synodical president alluded to: the fact that the church has become more like a country club. You know how that works? You pay your dues and come when you feel like it. You get caught up with all the stuff of this world and the priorities of the church fall through the cracks. You become more non-committal, nonchalant.
I know that none of us like to think of the church being more like a country club, and I know that for most of you, I’m preaching to the choir. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t share this with you, because in truth, don’t we, like Timothy, need a pep talk from St. Paul to spur us on – a renewed vision of the standard of what our church culture should be in the light of God’s Word? St. Paul was no fool. He knew the tendency of the rise and fall of values of nations and their institutions. So, he reminds us, as well as Timothy back then, of essential Christian qualities through examples from daily life around us.
Regarding ésprit de corps, to spur us on in commitment Paul urges us to remember that we are to be not weekend warriors, but soldiers. Paul reminds us of the enemy: Satan is at war with you and me. We fight not flesh and blood but principalities and powers with whom there is no peaceful coexistence. We human beings are God’s principal soldiers in warfare between the unseen forces of good and evil. Jesus’ battles are our battles for precious souls. Soldiers are not to be entangled with worldly attachments, but it’s a huge challenge for us to keep the cause of the Kingdom of God as our main focus.
Then secondly, St. Paul pictures us as athletes. Here his focus is on striving with dedication—of holding fast to the way of a disciple committed to being transformed into the image of Christ through obedience to His Word. Athletes are known for their radical sacrifice and for us it may mean patiently listening to someone who is boring or irritating, or treating a troubled individual with extra charity that is not easy to muster. Yet for me even more important is the comparison from athletics as I think about teams. For teams to win against the opposition, how important is the “all in” dedication where you eat, drink and sleep your sport as the only way to victory.
Isn’t that the kind of team focus we need in the church? Such dedication leads to success and this relates to the third picture of a Christian –that of a persevering farmer, staying with it for the long haul as he holds out for the promise of blessing. As in the case of farming, God’s plan guarantees that the Kingdom advances at a slow tedious pace. Indeed, this perseverance is the quality that unites all three of St. Paul’s pictures of a Christian. Paul tells Timothy to share in suffering and for us it’s the call to self-sacrifice – to do the work of the Kingdom where there’s no promise of a rose garden. That’s because the battle against sin and the devil bring on endless troubles, and personally, I have to remember that it’s okay to have some sleepless nights, and struggle with temptations because the cause is all worth it – the salvation of souls, and the rewards of God’s grace in one’s life.
These three object lessons are so crucial for our lives of faith. Along with Timothy, St. Paul urges us to seriously contemplate them as the means of advancing God’s Kingdom over against the world’s present darkness. But again, how could this man wearing chains like a criminal talk about salvation and glory as he lay undelivered in a dungeon? In only one way: “Remember Christ Jesus,” – it’s the present imperative – continue to remember – and Paul was doing just that. Had he put his attention on the injustice of his situation, and the suffering that he was going through, on the biting of the iron on his flesh, he could not have given his pep talk. He got beyond the suffering only by remembering and looking at Jesus. In this way he realized that his painful chains were but pinpricks compared to the nail prints on Jesus’ flesh and the injustice of putting his Redeemer to the cruelest of deaths. He remembered that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross gained forgiveness for the world and through His resurrection there was the defeat of Satan, sin, and death.
Over the years there have been the cries, “Remember the Alamo”, “Remember Pearl Harbor”, “Remember 9/11”. Likewise, in our remembering the cross and the resurrection it’s Memorial Day every day! That’s where we attain to our ésprit de corps. Jesus’ passion and victory has enabled us to experience the blessings of daily strength and security in Christ. Our great cause of the Kingdom promises others the inheritance of a home in heaven while giving meaning and purpose to our lives. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we trust that the message of grace will never be chained. Yes, it’s in remembering not the negative but the ultimate victorious positive. Our faithful Savior is risen indeed!