FANNING THE FLAME: OUR GRATITUDE

JOE KUTTER

OCTOBER 14, 2007

Our text for this series of sermons is II Timothy 1:6.  ”Fan into flame the gift of God.”  We began a week ago when our own pyromaniac Matt Sturtevant dramatically described the process of finding old embers from the night before and gently blowing on them until a new fire was nursed into a full flame.

Can’t you see it?  It is early morning and Matt stumbles into the back yard where the remains of the old fire have been reduced to ashes. He stirs the gray and black ashes around until he see a glow. He feeds it with little twigs and pieces of paper until something catches and then, with gentle blowing breath and carefully chosen fuel, he brings last night’s fire back for the morning coffee.

For Paul, the ember, the still living ember is the gift from God, the gift of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. “Fan it”, he says, blow on it and fuel it and bring it back to full flame.

This morning, I want to lift up one paragraph from the second chapter as we talk about fanning the flame of the gift of God.

2 Timothy 2:8-10 (NIV)

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

To fan the flame, REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST, RAISED FROM THE DEAD.  For Paul and for those who followed him, this would have certainly included Paul’s first personal experience with Jesus. They would have remembered the road of Damascus and Paul’s mission to persecute the Christians in Damascus. They would have remembered the blinding light and the voice that spoke into Paul’s darkness, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me.”  They would have remembered the question, “Who are you Lord?” And they would remember with great gladness in the heart the answer, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” 

Jesus, raised from the dead was not for Paul a theological assertion. Jesus, raised from the dead was a personal experience. Paul experienced Jesus!

And this we know from two millennia of Christian testimony, Jesus continues to be a personal experience. The living Christ still speaks to our hearts and he will forever speak to the human heart until that day, some day, when he returns to make all things new.

Do you remember the first time that you suspected or you wondered if it was Jesus who was speaking to you? Something was happening within and you just had to wonder if it was Jesus. In this secular and scientific world, you may have had a hard time believing it but you just had to wonder. Do you remember when Jesus became a personal experience for you?  

I remember the days in church camp when I finally made a profession of faith in Jesus. I remember college days, struggling with the call to ministry. I remember my parents’ struggles and their faith and a testimony from Dad when he said to my Mom, “I know that it is going to be all right.”  Do you remember the first time or any time when Jesus became a living experience for you?  Remember it and use that memory to fan the ember of faith into flame.

To fan the flame, MAKE IT PERSONAL.  Paul writes that this is my gospel….”  For Paul, this was not a belief to be argued. It was an experience to be shared. He had taken it and absorbed it, internalized and integrated it into his life and it belonged to him.

It all begins here. Jesus tells us that God loves us and wants us to love God back. That is what Jesus’ life and ministry, his death and resurrection are all about, that God loves you and wants you to love God back. Let God love you and love God back and you will fan the flame of God’s gift into royal bonfire. Simply absorbing God’s love for you changes everything. The way that you know yourself and the way that you know the world and every soul in it is transformed and in that transformation, you discover the salvation that God has for you. Fan it into a flame.

Fan it into flame by PUTTING YOURSELF ON THE LINE. Paul wrote to Timothy that he was chained like a criminal but that the word of God is not chained. For Paul, the wonder and power and grace of God’s amazing love was simply worth more than any other thing in this world and if that meant going to jail, so be it. It was worth the price. We in Kansas seldom are called on to pay that price and that is a good thing. But there are times when in word and deed, we are called upon to bear witness to the love of God and what that means in the course of daily living.

But take note of his faith. “THE WORD OF GOD IS NOT CHAINED.”  He sits in jail fully believing that God’s word cannot be stopped. I do not know if he knew John’s Gospel but I cannot help but remember the first chapter. John is clear that Jesus is the word of God and the whole point of Jesus’ resurrection is that Jesus cannot be chained. His love and his truth will make itself known. With that trust in Jesus’ resurrection, fan the flame of God’s gift.

Fan the flame with A PURPOSE . He says that he endures everything so that others will know the salvation that is offered in Jesus Christ. Nothing causes the embers of faith to flame quite like a compelling purpose.

We have this remarkable gift from God. It is the gift of God’s love and power, the gift of God’s salvation.  And it is ours to share. Fan it into flame.

Finally, this is implied in the text but not explicit. Fan it into flame with gratitude. Learn to look to God every day and say “thank you.”

Jesus once met a group of 10 men afflicted with leprosy. They asked to be healed and Jesus obliged. Go to the temple, he told them, and as they went, they were healed. One of the men was a Samaritan. He alone turned back to say “thank you.” And Jesus asked where are the other nine? 

Let me be clear about this, faith without gratitude will turn stone-cold. The ember of faith may burn but it will never break out in flame.

Dr. Robert Emmons, reported this study entitled, “Gratitude and Quality of Life in Transplant Patients.”  “The patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group kept routine daily notes about medication side-effects, how they felt about life overall, how connected they were to others and how they felt about the upcoming day. Patients in the other group answered the same questions but were also asked to list five things or people they were grateful for each day and why they were grateful for them. They were asked to reflect on what they wrote as well.

“After 21 days, mental health and general wellbeing scores had risen for patients in the gratitude group but declined for those in the control group. Patients in the control group also reported a loss of vitality, while the grateful patients experienced no change.” (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/printerfriendlynews.php?newsid=79849)

As a simple psychological phenomenon, the daily practice of gratitude makes life better. And there appears to be some evidence that it helps you to live longer.  As a personal observation, it makes you a better person to live with!

And when this gratitude is a part of your daily walk with God, it causes faith to burn hot and hotter until it breaks out into flame. The song sings, “Give thanks with a grateful heart.”  Over and over again, the Psalms sing of thanksgiving. 

What a magnificent gift we have been given, Jesus Christ. We have been given the gift of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ.  We have been invited to experience God’s love, to absorb it, to, internalize it, to integrate it into everything that we do.

God loves you and wants you to love God back. Fan it into a flame. Make it your own. Make it your purpose. Say “thank you” every day. It is a gift of immeasurable worth. God loves you. God loves you. God loves you. Love Him back and say “thank you.”