Parting Words - Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

2nd Timothy 1:1-14

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, a beloved son:Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did,as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, 5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

I am not ashamed to admit I learned a lot from my mother and grandmother; my mother taught me how to ride a bike, do a front handspring, pray, and read the Bible. I remember sitting at the kitchen table reading Galatians 2:20. I remember visiting my grandparents during the Summer. Grandma Hargrave in Chicago would take us to Maple Park United Methodist Church, and Grandma Bruce would take us to St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Freeport, Illinois. My mother and grandmother have been influential in my life and development. 

In his acclaimed book, Mama Made the Difference: Life Lessons My Mother Taught Me, Bishop T. J. Jakes says:

"Mamas Teach Us to Believe in God," he comments: "So much in our lives begins with believing—love, peace, growth, change, destiny—I am so thankful that my mother always taught me to believe. She taught me to believe in God … and she taught me to believe in myself.… The strong Tide of my mama's many lessons flow out of the currents of these two streams." 

We see the influence of a mother and grandmother in scripture in 2nd Timothy 1. Timothy is Eunice's son and Lois's grandson, both Jewish women. Acts 16 tells us that Timothy's father was Greek, and we are not sure if he was a believer or not. 

The year is A.D. 67. He's doing jail time in Rome for the second time under Nero, an emperor whose days are also ending. Nero would die about a year after Paul in A.D. 68. Nero had been emperor since A.D. 54, and it had not been a smooth ride. The Great Fire occurred in A.D. 64

At least 70 percent of the city burned down, and the people blamed the Christian for their city burning down. Can you imagine blaming a community for a disaster without any proof? Can you imagine abusing a group of people because of their race, ethnicity, or religion because something happened that damaged your town or economy?  The Christians were an easy target for abuse because people wanted to blame outsiders or foreigners for the catastrophe.

Church tradition says that the apostle Peter was a victim of this outrage and was crucified head down. Later, Paul was beheaded, and within three to four years, the young church had lost its two foremost apostles, including its most eloquent and learned voice — apologist and theologian, the apostle Paul.

However, the church was not without leaders. Although Peter and Paul were gone, the second generation of pastors was ready to carry the torch. One of these was Timothy, arguably Paul's favorite and most devoted disciple. It is Timothy to whom Paul addresses his parting words. Paul knew Timothy's mother and grandmother, and he mentored Timothy in the fundamentals of the faith. Timothy served with him in Ephesus for about three years and was undoubtedly with him on many of Paul's travels, including Troas, Philippi, and Corinth.

Paul is sharing parting words to the young man who was a trainee, an intern, and then a co-worker with the apostle. His advice to Timothy was that he should not forget what he was taught, what was deposited into him over his life. Paul wants to reassure Timothy, remember Timothy's tears, request Timothy, and remind Timothy that he has been redeemed.

Faith is deposited like a treasure; we must put something into it to get something out. If I haven't been putting money into a bank account, then when I need to make a withdrawal, there won't be any money there to withdraw. If you haven't made any faith deposits, if you haven't spent any time praying, reading your Bible, fasting, tithing, going to church, or building up your faith, then when your faith is tested, you won't have much faith to draw on when you need to use faith.

I was discussing with some younger preachers who were badmouthing seminaries. Now I joke about seminary all the time, but I appreciate the growth I gained from earning a Master's in Divinity and would like to pursue a doctorate soon. However, the other preachers were upset that they knew some people who graduated from seminary and didn't know any more Bible than when they started school. I said that it is because you don't go to seminary to learn the Bible; you go to seminary to learn about the Bible. You learn the languages; you learn the history and customs. You learn research methods in seminary and how to write papers. If faith was not in you before you went to seminary, the seminary would only expose that. 

I know that pressure can do at least two things; bust a pipe or make a diamond. 

If the faith wasn't in you to begin with, then it's going to be hard to call up something that wasn't there to begin with.

Reassure

Paul wants to encourage and reassure Timothy by letting Timothy know that he prays for him every day. Paul resorts to prayer a lot; and Paul worships God with a clear conscience, and Paul prays day and night. What have we wanted bad enough to be willing to let it consume our prayer lives?  

The motivational speaker, E.T. the Hip-Hop Preacher, tells a story about a student who wants to be successful. In the story, a student asks a teacher to teach him how to be successful, and the teacher says follow me. The teacher walks out into the ocean, and the student follows the teacher until the water covers the student's face, and almost drowns. The teacher and the student go back to the beach, and the teacher asks the student, when he almost drowned, what he wanted most. The student said he wanted to breathe, and the teacher told him you would never be successful until you wanted to accomplish your goal as badly as you wanted to breathe. Work on it day and night, Paul had something to pray about all the time, night and day, and he kept praying. If we want something to reach God, we should at least be able to pray about it and pray about it all the time, bombard heaven with that request until God says I'm sick of hearing about here, take it. 

Remember

Paul remembers Timothy's tears, sees them and lets Timothy know they mean something. Recalling your tears will lead to joy. Paul says I know you cried for a long time, I also know that the Bible says weeping may endure for a night, but joy shall come in the morning. Remember what you used to cry over and rejoice that you aren't crying over it now. I remember your tears and realize you are much stronger now; you are much wiser now; what used to knock you down doesn't even phase you anymore. 

Request

Paul requests Timothy to rekindle his gift. To "rekindle the gift" means to stir up the grace and faith, and love that we have received, and we stir them up by putting them into practice. 

Don't spend so much time getting mad at others for what we think they should or should not be doing; we can only focus on our actions and responses. 

It is so easy to lose sight of God's gifts. The most important thing to do is stir up the gifts of grace, mercy, and love.  - 

God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, a more apt translation is a spirit of cowardice, but of power, love, and a strong mind, more accurately translated to self-discipline. Therefore, armed with this spirit, Timothy shouldn't be ashamed of what happened to Jesus (his martyrdom) or what's happening to Paul (his imprisonment). Instead, because Timothy has the spirit of God's power, he should embrace his portion of suffering that comes along with the good news of God. In this letter's view, all who follow God in Christ will be persecuted (3:12), and Timothy is no exception.

That is not something everyone would be walking around with proudly. But you can put aside the shame and fear when you understand it is not about you but the one in you. Paul can worship with a clear conscience because he knows he has been redeemed.

Redeemed

Paul knows that his time is almost up but that he serves an on-time God. We are saved, not by works but by grace. We can trust in Christ Jesus because he has already done the job of saving us. We are washed in the blood of the crucified lamb; we are all that God says we are.

The Bare Essentials - Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

I spend a lot of time thinking about money; I want to know how much something costs, how much it costs to make, and how much it can be resold. I get fascinated with entire systems, not just one or two parts, and I assume that is a byproduct of earning a business degree. I also know that even though I think about money and have no problems talking about money, talking about money is uncomfortable. 

All this is true. But we can't live without money, can we? After all, we need a paycheck, and we need to put food on our TV trays. No argument. We came into the world empty-handed and shall leave life empty-handed, but we can't survive empty-handed in the interim. We need to cultivate the skills necessary to survive.

Men in early societies were taught at a young age to hunt, use an axe, fish, farm, or yoke a pair of oxen. Women learned to skin the hides, erect shelters, cook the food, gather herbs, bring in a harvest and bear another generation of workers. Now we pretty much hunt and sew as a hobby instead of survival. 

As urban life emerged, shopkeepers, cobblers, tinsmiths, artisans, bookkeepers, autocrats, politicians, writers, philosophers, and others plied their trades. Some professions were more lucrative than others.

As this was happening, spiritual leaders, including the apostle Paul, realized that the need to earn a living was fraught with potential problems:

• If one was too wealthy, others might covet your possessions and even steal what they could.

• Envy might cause some souls to work harder than necessary.

• Those who were employers might prefer to see their employees starve rather than give them a decent wage.

• Careers are sometimes judged based on their earnings when they ought to be evaluated in terms of the service they offer. A teacher, one could argue, has more intrinsic value to society than a football player.

• Most would agree that some professions are simply wrong: Prostitutes, drug pushers, jewel thieves, crooks, etc. No reasonable person would consider these activities as bona fide "professions."

The author gives Timothy some final instructions on being a pastor. Paul understood what kind of environment Timothy was about to start pastoring in, trying to bring people to Christ. During this time, other religions encouraged paying for contentment, paying this god for crops, pay this god for rain. Paul wants Timothy to avoid prosperity preaching. People will use part of verse 10 to speak ill of wealthy people, but Paul is not speaking ill of rich people; wealthy people were supporting the New Testament churches. Paul just wants people to have the right priorities regarding wealth. If you have to use part but not the whole scripture to make an argument, your argument is not very sound. 

People have demonized the rich, and others have deified the rich; what we should do is put wealth in its place. The reality is that there will always be someone wealthier than you, and countless millions are poorer than you.

Do we need a $450 million yacht like Jeff Bezos? No, but we might not be able to live without spending $4,500 on a pontoon fishing boat!

Do we need a boat? Maybe we do. It's all relative. If you make $14,500, are you poor? Not if you live in India, where the per capita income is just north of $2,000. But in the United States, you are living in abject poverty if you're making $14,500 per annum. According to the "Remember the Poor" website,

• If you made $1,500 last year, you're in the top 20 percent of the world's income earners.

• If you have sufficient food, decent clothes, live in a house or apartment, and have a reasonably reliable means of transportation, you are among the top 15 percent of the world's wealthy.

• Have $61,000 in assets? You're among the wealthiest 10 percent of the adults in the world.

• If you have any money saved, a hobby that requires some equipment or supplies, a variety of clothes in your closet, two cars (in any condition), and live in your own home, you are in the top 5 percent of the world's wealth.

• If you have more than $500,000 in assets, you're part of the richest 1 percent of the world.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture of outrage and discontent. It's challenging to be at peace with ourselves and content with what we have. Sometimes, it's hard to feel blessed.

Paul wants Timothy and us, for that matter, to focus on godly things, not just money. We have to put our focus on eternal life, and eternal life starts now. Actually, eternal life began when Christ rose from the dead. When Jesus said I come that you have life and life more abundantly, that was not a call for us to wait until we got to Heaven; that was a call for us to have Heaven here on Earth. 

In other words, eternal life is not something we look forward to; it is something that has arrived because Christ has arrived and has brought eternity into our midst.  

There are things we can do to make life better for us on our own. The word translated as "contentment" (autarkeias) also means "self-sufficiency. "  

Be humble: You had luck, privilege, advantages, options, and opportunities that millions can only dream of — even if you worked your tail off to get to where you are. Humility goes a long way. The Bible says, "As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty" (v. 17). 

Be realistic: There are no guarantees. The market may crash tomorrow. Who could have predicted the coronavirus and measured its economic impact? If you practiced a policy of contentment, you were in a better position to weather this storm and any that may come in the future. Your peace and stability are not tied to your financial situation. Money is fleeting, and you will never have enough. Someone will always have more than you.

Be generous: We live in a sharing economy. Be a part of it. Join forces with local charities. Be creative in how you can generously distribute your assets among those who need a helping hand. Yes, we should still share; the pastor is going to talk about money, but I talk about money to help the people. Giving is a spiritual discipline, like fasting, praying, reading the Bible, and attending church. They all help you be a better Christian. Be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.

Be faithful: God's will takes priority over catering to our self-interests. Watch for any signs that you are starting to love money. Loving money is the root of everything that can go wrong in your life (v. 10). Instead of lusting after riches, grow your thirst for righteousness: "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness" (v. 11).

Paul would say that putting wealth (and other potential idols) into proper perspective is vitally important. Take hold of the life that is life, Paul would say. Do not get stuck on money, nation, CNN, church growth, or … anything else. "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness" (1 Tim. 6:11).  

Fight the good fight.

Be not dismayed whate'er betide, God will take care of you;

Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.

Refrain:

God will take care of you, Through every day, o'er all the way;

He will take care of you, God will take care of you.

Through days of toil when heart doth fail, God will take care of you;

When dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you.

All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you;

Nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you.

No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you;

Lean, weary one, upon His breast, God will take care of you.

Time is filled with swift transition,

Naught of earth unmoved can stand,

Build your hopes on things eternal,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

Refrain:

Hold to God’s unchanging hand,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand;

Build your hopes on things eternal,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

The Best Mediator - Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

I wanted to be and still want to be a mediator; I feel some of my most significant accomplishments came from bringing people together in the same room to accomplish a goal. A mediator stands between two people estranged from one another to facilitate communication between them. If there's a power differential between them, the mediator is duty-bound to protect the interests of the weaker party. I’m told in many assessments that I have a strong since of justice and want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. We all have some sense of justice, if we did not care about our fellow brothers and sisters I believe the world would be in a worse place, I am not saying everything is perfect, but I am saying that things are better and they get better when people are willing to help others and not just help themselves. 

1st Timothy is considered a Deutero-Pauline letter, a pastoral epistle probably written around 100CE. Paul was doing hybrid ministry before COVID; Paul pastored churches, visited churches in person, and sent letters to other churches. Paul's involvement in the churches was not an either/or situation but a both/and situation. What the Galatian church did, didn't stop the Corinthian church, the Corinthian church didn't stop the Ephesian church, the Ephesian church didn't stop the Philippians church, the Philippians, the Philippians didn't stop the Thessalonians, the Thessalonians didn't stop the Colossians, they all had work to do for the Kingdom of God, so they did the work.

1st Timothy is different from other Pauline letters; Paul usually thanks God for the person to whom Paul is writing the letter. This time Paul thanks God for what God has done for Paul. Paul is happy about Timothy but happier about what God brought him through. Paul is thankful that God saw fit to save him even though he violently persecuted the church. Because Paul is thankful, Paul is also prayerful. 

Prayer is a duty and a privilege. God wants us to pray for everyone. We should pray for everyone, and everyone should pray. There are not many instructions or mechanics around it; Paul says we should just pray. Prayer is for all things and all people. Paul doesn't lay out some complicated plan; he just says pray. Paul says to pray for everything and everybody. Paul doesn't have a bunch of steps to prayer; he says just to pray. 

Isaiah 55:6 (NKJV)

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NKJV)

17 pray without ceasing,

 

Matthew 7:7 (NKJV)

7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

 

Mark 11:23 (NKJV)

23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

 

Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We can pray because we have the best mediator and intercessor operating on our behalf.

The word "intercession," de ē seis, is derived from a verb with the meaning "to have the good fortune to be admitted to an audience [with a king]. " 

Once a year in the Old Testament, the High Priest was allowed to go into the inner section of the temple to make a sacrifice for the sins of all the people. The High Priest was a mediator for all the believers to God. Usually, no one was allowed into the Holy of Holies, and going in without being worthy meant instant death. They did one time a year for the people's sins for that year. 

Paul says in today's reading: "there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all." Jesus does not fear stepping through the curtain blocking the Holy of Holies, for he, the second person of the Trinity, is the same as God and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is our mediator; in this case, Jesus is going in on our behalf. Jesus is willing to save us no matter how bad we were in the past. The God who desires salvation for all, whose son gave himself as a ransom for all, is the same God who appointed Paul a teacher of the Gentiles. If God can save Paul, God can save anyone. God looks beyond our faults and satisfies our needs. God loves us and there is nothing that can separate us from that love. We just have to be willing to take what we need to Jesus. Pray, and keep praying, after you are done, pray some more.

Have A Little Talk With Jesus

Have a little talk with Jesus 

Tell him all about our troubles 

Hear our fainted cry, answer by and by 

Feel a little prayer wheel turning 

Know a little fire is burning 

Find a little talk with Jesus makes it right.

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

I Know the Lord Will Make a Way

I have a Savior who I can tell all my troubles to

When I'm burdened and don't know what to do

I can go to Him in secret prayer

And I can leave all my burdens there

I know the Lord will make a way

Somehow yes he will

God Wants it All - Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

Luke 14:25-33

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

I am a joiner; I like to join organizations, especially if those organizations help me accomplish the goals I set for my personal development. I have joined the Masonic Order, I have joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, and I look at different social clubs, networking organizations, community groups, and the like to see if I would be a good fit for them or if being involved with them is a good use of my time. There are still some organizations I would like to join during my lifetime; however, I must consider some things before I go further. Before entering any new group or organization, I at least want to know, what it takes to join the group, and how much it is going to cost. The cost of organizations varies; I am in one organization that has yearly dues that cost as much as a lifetime membership for another organization. 

There are exclusive clubs in this world. Certain country clubs come to mind, demanding six-figure initiation fees. The wealthier members can presumably afford it. But what club requires everything of its members? The church of Jesus Christ. We find Jesus talking about the membership fee in the Gospel According to Luke, chapter 14. Jesus is addressing the crowd in this passage. 

One of the essential characters in the Gospel According to Luke, is the crowd. I like the Gospel according to John because John always says, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and I can put my name in that place. Luke is growing on me because he has a trait where he mentions the crowds. Luke wants the readers to know that this man named Jesus is not just going around performing parlor tricks in private, that Jesus is doing things for the world to see. 

Cost is what we give up to acquire, accomplish, maintain, or produce something. It involves a measure of sacrifice and perhaps loss or penalty in gaining something. Cost requires effort and resources.  The process of discipleship takes time and has false starts and modest successes, and nothing of worth is accomplished overnight. 

At the heart of discipleship is transformation. The cost of discipleship is not just becoming accumulators of new information about life and living it fully or changing our behavior in regard to Jesus' teachings. The cost is engaging in a profoundly radical shift toward the ethics of Jesus with every fiber of our beings. 

Jesus lets his disciples know that the road he is walking is not without its sacrifices; to follow Jesus is not without its heavy demands; to carry the cross is not without its tangible consequences. We must be willing to endure these consequences if we ever hope to experience the promised rewards of following Jesus' way. 

You must become a disciple with your eyes wide open, counting the cost of this decision. Jesus is telling us to read the fine print. When the text says hate the, it does not mean hate as we use it today, some things get lost in translation (we are reading about a Hebrew who spoke Aramaic, had his words written in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, etc. until we got it in English). Jesus means that we should place anything above God in order of priority. God comes first.  

When Jesus says consider the cost to avoid embarrassment, he means that people will have something to say if you don't plan out something and it fails, regardless of whether they could do a better job or even know how to do it. 

On a hillside above the town of Oban, Scotland, there is a gray granite structure known as McCaig's Tower. It has an alternate name: McCaig's Folly. Passengers waiting to board the ferry to the sacred Isle of Iona can look and see this circular stone wall looming over them. It vaguely resembles the ancient Roman Colosseum, but you can see nothing but sky through its gaping windows, and it's nothing but a shell.

This massive stone monument was never finished. John Stuart McCaig, a wealthy banker, was the man who conceived the project. You do have to say this, on old McCaig's behalf: he did count the cost before the first stone was laid. The tower was supposed to cost 5,000 pounds sterling, nearly $1 million in today's money.

Work began in 1897 and continued until 1902 when Mr. McCaig died of a heart attack. Part of his purpose had been to give off-season work to local stonemasons. The project indeed fulfilled that purpose for as long as it lasted. Even though McCaig had made provision in his will for the tower to be completed, his heirs disagreed. They saw the project as too costly. The heirs went to court and successfully challenged Mr. McCaig's will, stopped construction work, and to this day, McCaig's Folly stands as a monument to a dream never realized.

Mr. McCaig had grand visions for his tower; he wanted a lasting monument to his family; it was to include a museum and art gallery: a real showplace for the little town of Oban. A central tower would display heroic statues of McCaig, his siblings, and their parents. 

But that's not how people remember it today. They don't remember the dream, only the disappointing reality. When tourists ask what's that up on the hillside, the locals point at the gaping windows and lack of a roof. They reply, "That's McCaig's Folly."

What do you suppose those we leave behind will say of our Christian lives after we've gone on to our reward? Will they say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? Or will they sigh and say, "What a folly!"?

Working out our discipleship in terms of what we give away and keep for ourselves is no small issue. What we own can come to own us, posing a serious threat to our spiritual welfare.  Working out our discipleship requires a costly, challenging, and lengthy process. 

When I was driving to Seminary in Dallas, there was a peach store along the way on Interstate 45; when I had time, I would stop there because they had some excellent peaches and sold peach preserves. The process of canning preserves ensures the food is edible and flavorful for a long time. You must endure the process because a misstep in the process will harm the taste and quality of the food. Preserves taste good and last long, but you must surrender the desire to eat the food right away; you can't have the peaches right off the tree; you have to take them through the process. 

We want and receive radical grace from God. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God still loves us; well, this radical grace we receive also comes with some costly discipleship. Discipleship is not for the faint of heart; we have to deny ourselves, carry a cross, focus on the eternal, and use the gifts that God gave us for God's glory in our daily lives. We have to place our commitment to God above everything else. 

Jesus wants to save us, to be sure. That's what he's all about and why we call him "Savior." It turns out that what he most wants to save us from is ourselves. Jesus has no problem asking people to give something up for the Kingdom of God because he will give it all up for all creation.

Fresh vs. Stale Water - Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

Jeremiah 2:4-13 

4 Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel.

5 This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.

8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.

9 “Therefore I bring charges against you again,” declares the Lord. “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.

10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like this:

11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols.

12 Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with great horror,” declares the Lord.

13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

As an elected official, I have learned more about water in the past few months than I ever thought. I am learning about treatment plants, flood planes, floodways, dredging, drainage, ditch grades, and a whole bunch of other water-related topics. I had the opportunity to visit a cistern on a field trip recently. A massive structure that could hold 15 million gallons of water when filled, they decommissioned it in 2007. The city found a better way to store and process water, so they moved on to that. I think we all think about water; we need it to survive, prepare food, clean ourselves, and clean our places; water is essential to us. Water is vital to the people of the Bible as well. 

In By Water and By Spirit

"Water provides the central symbolism for baptism. The richness of its meaning for the Christian community is suggested in the baptismal liturgy, which speaks of the waters of creation and the flood, the liberation of God's people by passage through the sea, the gift of water in the wilderness, and the passage through the Jordan River to the promised land. In baptism, we identify ourselves with this people of God and join the community's journey toward God. The use of water in baptism also symbolizes cleansing from sin, death to old life, and rising to begin new life in Christ. In United Methodist tradition, the water of baptism may be administered by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. However it is administered, water should be utilized with enough generosity to enhance our appreciation of its symbolic meanings."

We see a passage about water here in Jeremiah. 

Jeremiah the prophet spoke on behalf of God for an incredibly long and anguished number of years, from the time of King Josiah (640 to 609 B.C.) through the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon (586 B.C.) and beyond. Despite tremendous opposition, including plots against him, he persisted in speaking this divine word, which compelled him from within to speak (20:9). Prophets don't always say what you want to hear; they will tell you what you need to hear.

Jeremiah 2-3 reads like a lawsuit, and God has summoned the House of Jacob. The people of God got used to success and left while the getting was good. God led the people through all kinds of disasters, and they still left God. 

The chosen people of God have chosen other gods; they shunned God's purposes, even if it meant shunning God's provision. Now whatever provision they have made for themselves ran out. Jeremiah called out everybody, priests, prophets, politicians, and everyday people. There were people in all camps that had turned away. God wants to know, "what did I do wrong that made you all turn away?"

The people went looking for something other than the Almighty, and that, Jeremiah says, is precisely what they have: gods who are no gods. Gods who cannot hear or answer prayer, who cannot save them, now that calamity is upon them, and trouble has come their way. Change and chance can happen to us all, and everything we thought was worth something could be worthless in the blink of an eye.

At the time of the writing, Babylon is either just about to take Israel over or has already done so. When the opposing army tries to take over a city, they cut off communication to other places, they cut off supplies, and they cut off water. The town has no more connection to running water, but that is ok because they still have cisterns with water they saved.

Cisterns were a big part of daily life in the ancient Middle East, this was a desert climate, and there was no such thing as indoor plumbing. A cistern is an underground storage tank that collects runoff from the roof in the rainy season. In the height of summer, the cisterns offered their accumulated supply through many thirsty days. Cistern water didn't taste the best; water from a stream or brook was far preferable—but it could still sustain life.

One attraction of the self-devised cisterns we construct to sustain our lives is that we feel we can control them. We like to control what is around us; even if we aren't in control, we want to feel like we are in control. The people lost their access to moving water, so they depended on the cisterns; the cisterns are going empty and are cracked, and now you need fresh water again. 

What is truly an abomination to the Lord? What in our behaviors is an abomination to the Lord? We tend to look for "abomination" in our neighbor's behaviors or foreign behavior. The speck in our neighbor's eye keeps us from seeing the beam in our own. The people thought they could survive and thrive without God and look where it got them.

Remember God's track record

God brought them out of Egypt, God had them cross the sea on dry land, God kept them in the wilderness, made sure they had something to eat, and God brought them into the promised land. God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore and the God that did all of that is the God that is with them in their troubles. God has a track record and proof of performance; if you stick with him, he will provide for your needs. 

Return to God

It is never too late to return to God. Call on his name, confess your sins, turn it all over to God, and he will take you back. The text says what God wants us to say, look at what God has done for you. He has done it before and will do it again. You are in the family, God loves you, and there is nothing you can do about it. 

Run to the Living Water

Living in an active relationship with the life-giving God of the Scriptures brings obligations: the patient work of worship and prayer, acting compassionately and working for justice. It is when we participate in the redemptive work of God—keeping promises, welcoming strangers, forgiving debts—that we drink from the fountain of the living God and discover a quality of life both sustaining and sustainable. 

Jesus at the well with the woman of Samaria

John 4:13-14

13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Be not dismayed whate'er betide,

God will take care of you;

Beneath his wings of love abide,

God will take care of you.

God will take care of you

Through everyday o'er all the way

He will care for you

God will take care of you

Through days of toil when heart doth fail

God will take care of you

When dangers fierce your path assail

God will take care of you

God will take care of you

Through everyday o'er all the way

He will care for you

God will take care of you

The Original Cloud - Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

July 1976 felt like a momentous time for the people of the United States. That month, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and its inspired American Revolution. During that same time, another event happened. This event didn't make the newspapers, and most Americans had no idea it was happening. But it would change their lives forever.

At a meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club of Palo Alto, California, a 25-year-old electronic engineer named Steve Wozniak unveiled a new computer. He and his business partner, Steve Jobs, had just invented it. Its plastic keyboard poked up through an opening in a wooden case. They called it the Apple I. It was the first commercially successful personal computer. In 2021 an Apple I computer sold at an auction for $400,000. The collector who bought it wanted an Apple I because it was a piece of history.

It's hard to imagine our lives without personal computers, including desktops, laptops, tablets, or those powerful smartphones we carry in our pockets or purses. When computers first came out, the computer room would be as big as this sanctuary, and now you can fit some inside a breath mint box. When computers first came out, storage was a problem; hard drives and disk space took up a lot of space; now, we can save our data to the cloud. The internet and the World Wide Web arrived and connected us in ways we couldn't have imagined just a few years before. Everything syncs to the cloud automatically. You don't have to worry about losing your family photos or documents. They're out there, safely stored away in the cloud!

But cloud computing, on which so many depend, is not the original cloud. That distinction belongs to another cloud — one that's equally invisible, more mysterious, and harder to wrap our minds around. We read about it in Hebrews 12:1: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses …."

A great cloud of witnesses surrounds us, says this anonymous apostle. And who are these witnesses, this vast cloud of people who surround us on every side? The preceding verses lay it all out for us.

The author writes to us about the faith held by Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Joseph, Moses and the whole company of wandering Israelites, and even Rahab.

There's a list of other, unnamed faithful ones as well: people who suffered mightily to keep the faith. Some "suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were sawn in two, killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented — of whom the world was not worthy" (11:36-38).

Many of us see our nation as the home of rugged individualists: the lone cowboy, strong and self-sufficient. Our homes are our castles. Our idea is to make our way in the world, to rely on others for nothing. Far too many distrust yearning for the community as a sign of weakness.

Sociologist Robert D. Putnam has spent much of his life studying this hyper-individualistic national trait of ours. In a recent book, The Upswing, he mentions the research of social psychologist James Pennebaker on how our preferred pronouns reveal our deepest values as we talk with others.

Pennebaker has analyzed how often people use "I" instead of "we." He has found that people in the strongest marriages use "we" more often than those with strained relationships. He has also found that the most deeply self-confident people are generous in their use of "we"; it's insecure who favor "I." Moreover, frequent use of "I" is correlated with the risk of depression or suicide, and it's a more reliable marker for depression than words like "sad."

We must understand that we are in this together, and our faith connects us. The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We exercise faith all the time, even outside of our religious habits. We go to bed and wake up in a house we didn't build, eat food many of us didn't grow, drive cars we didn't engineer, on roads we didn't make, with other drivers we didn't train. We go to doctors and take medicine we didn't make and trust other professionals when provided with little to no information. 

Faith allowed the people of Israel to walk on dry land when Pharaoh's army chased them. Faith allowed the people to walk around the walls of Jericho until they fell. Faith is why Rahab helped the people of God take the promised land. Faith helped Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Over and over again, the Bible gives us stories of people who won because they had faith, faith to conquer kingdoms, received promises, and survive in a lion's den. Faith helped heal the sick, raise the dead, put out fires, and scare armies into running away. Faith gave the people victory. Some had names; some did not. These were not perfect people, but they had a heart for God and faith. Faith can lead to some amazing results, and faith can lead to courage in rough situations.

The text lets us know that faith isn't only for the good times, but faith also held the people together during the bad times. Faith held people while they suffered mocking, flogging, and prison. Faith kept the people while they were wandering in the desert, and faith kept the people while they were destitute, persecuted, and tormented. Faith is not just for bright days and fun nights; faith is what we hold on to when the doctor tells us they have bad news, faith is what we hold on to when money is low and bills are due; faith is all we have when it seems like everyone around us is gone. When you have fake friends, you still have faith; when you have real enemies, you still have faith. 

Faith has a long memory and profits from the experiences of those who came before us. Faith can be understood within the bigger picture. Trusting God is the best approach for everyday people, every time and every place. 

The same God that was with the people who succeeded and was with the people who were suffering is with you during your trials and tribulations. 

We can do it because we can look to Christ. After all, Christ was willing to endure for greater glory. Jesus was a pioneer and perfecter of our faith, and Jesus gives us what we need to run the race with perseverance. 

When running a race, joy isn't found in something other than the race; instead, it's located at the end of the race for those who complete it. In chapter 10, the author says Christ came to do the will of God (10:9), which included perfection through suffering, even the suffering of death (2:10; 5:9). Consequently, he endured the cross knowing that joy lay beyond the act of completing the will of his Father.

Having completed this race, Jesus now sits on the right hand of God, referring to Psalm 110:1, which is evoked throughout the letter (1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12). Jesus, then, is the prime example of faithfulness. He endured a horrible death and attained an unparalleled position of honor. The author turns to Christ as the climax of all his examples of faith to encourage the audience to stay steadfast until they complete their race. 

He is enduringly strong; He is immortally graceful.

He supplies strength to the weak. He's available for the tempted and 

the tried. He sympathizes, and He saves. He is our guard, and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent, and He beautifies the meek. 

Jesus is Mary's baby. 

He was born in someone else's cradle, rode to town on someone else's donkey, gave himself up for someone else's sins, and was placed in someone else's tomb, but got up on the third day with all power in his hand. 

The Need for Clean - Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.

17 Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;

20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

I have noticed cleaning technology has changed. I remember growing up and washing dishes by hand; now, I enjoy the benefits of a dishwasher and a washer machine that I don't have to run and add fabric softener in at the right time. In dealing with the pandemic, I have seen all kinds of new devices that keep people and things clean to prevent us from spreading germs. 

Today you have washing machines you can program and connect to the internet and robotic vacuum cleaners that sweep floors without you even getting off the couch. Some computers and applications will tell you the status of the cleaning device and if any parts need repair. We have come a long way from scrubbing clothes on washboards and running them through a wringer. No matter how much cleaning technology has changed, we still need to clean things. 

Speaking through Isaiah, God has opinions about his people and how they need cleaning.  Isaiah's name means Yahweh is deliverance, Yahweh will save, or Yahweh has saved. Isaiah is considered a major prophet and the first book of the major prophets because Isaiah lived around 150 years before Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Isaiah had a vision from God. Isaiah wrote to a people around a political expansion, the cities became more urban, and the gap between the wealthy and the poor increased. 

People turned from God, things got bad, then things got worse, and Isaiah is begging the people to turn back toward God, truly turn back toward him and not for play. Israel was conquered and oppressed during this time, and even though people were oppressed, they still found a way to oppress others. When I say they turned from God, it did not look like they turned away to an outsider. These people still gathered for worship and did all the ceremonial tasks of a believer; they just didn't live a life for God outside of the church. They came to church, could recite all the liturgy in the hymnal, and sing the songs without cracking open the book. They could recite scripture at the drop of a dime and go as long as you wanted them to. The people had the right actions, just not the right intention. If you take those same people out of the church, you would not even know they were saved. 

The people had empty worship, and God hated it. God said they were like Sodom and Gomorrah; this phrase was synonymous with destruction back then. Mentioning those cities by name became another word for disaster. For example, if someone were to say a town got Hurricane Harvey'd, now most of us in the Gulf Coast of Texas wouldn't need further explanation. 

People like to think that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for a specific sin and that sin was around sexuality; however (Ezekiel 16:49) tells us that the cities were not destroyed because of sexuality; they were destroyed for greed and injustice. 

49 "'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

When these sacrifices were made, the person making the sacrifice was supposed to do the action with faith, believing that through their obedience, the wrath of God against sin would be mitigated. One of the problems was that people got more focused on the ritual and the patterns than the relationship with God. God is tired of the emptiness of rituals, sacrifices, and burnt offerings. God told the people don't act like you genuinely love or obey me; you just go through the motions. I hate it and don't want it anymore. We have to do more than talk about it. Isaiah is telling us to take action. We cannot just sit around and talk about what needs to be cleaned; we have to clean it. 

STOP doing evil

Isaiah tells the people to wash, make themselves clean, remove the evil doings, and stop doing evil. What does it mean to stop doing evil? I think it starts with caring about more than yourself. I would learn in history classes about the evil things people would do to others, enslave people, pillage, and take whatever and whoever they wanted. One common thread with all that behavior was that the oppressors didn't see the people they oppressed as human. They only cared about themselves and nothing else. We are all created in God's image, and if we want to stop treating people horribly, we first have to think about more than ourselves and see the other side as someone created in God's image.

LEARN to do good

It is never too late to learn to do good. No matter your age or academic aptitude, there is always time to learn to do good things. The adage says the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now. We can always find time to do something new. You learn new things by getting exposure to new things and new people. If we hang around the same people, doing the same thing, we will get the same results. God wants us to learn how to do the good stuff, not just do the same things. 

SEEK justice, DEFEND others

Theologian James Cone said that God is on the side of the oppressed. We cannot be Christians outside of community, and we cannot take social justice out of the Bible. The Bible is full of instructions to defend the widow and the orphan, to welcome the stranger, and to take care of people who need help taking care of themselves. If you can't see that in the Bible, it might be because you have lived your life as pharaoh instead of the people calling for freedom, you have been the Babylonians instead of the people in captivity, or the Roman empire instead of the people following the way. God has been there with the people at their lowest, helping them to get out, and that is what we are called to do as believers. 

The good news is that even though we are dirty now, Isaiah tells us how to get clean; it's not too late to get clean. The text says that they will be like the snow. The people have been handling bloody things, and God wants to make them like the snow. They shall be like wool. We get wool from sheep and young sheep, lambs. 

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.