Sermon - Rev. Judith Perry

Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote this second letter to Timothy. But just suppose that he was writing a similar letter to you, the people who worship in the old church called Saint Matthew’s.

I am using just the portion of the letter that John read this morning.

And so it goes like:

Dear People of your church community in the heart of the growing metropolis of Halifax. This letter comes from me. Paul, as an ambassador of Christ Jesus,

I believe that I have been chosen by God and that in Christ Jesus life has been promised to everyone. By welcoming absolutely everyone into your congregation, you are fulfilling this promise of new life for all.

I greet you as my beloved congregation and wish you all the best: God’s love and peace and extravagant generosity.

I am so grateful that I am a Jew, but I am also so sure that I am now doing my God’s will. I also feel incredibly grateful when I think of you as I do in my prayers, both day and night.

I remember our last tearful farewell, and I am desperately looking forward to being in your church again with all of you. I have great memories of your very real and down-to-earth faith.

This quality has run through your history. It has been alive in your church throughout the generations before you. And it is alive in you, too.

That is why I want to remind you to keep fuelling the fire of the gift that God gives you when you come together each Sunday and share this marvellous life in Christ.

After all, God did not intend that we should be timid about our gifts. Instead, God gave them to us to be used with courage, love and self-discipline.

So then, don’t be embarrassed about the stories of our Lord Jesus, or about me being locked up for him. Trust God’s power to be there for you and join me in putting your life on the line for the message of God’s all-embracing love.

God rescued us from a living death and called us to live for God alone.
We had not earned this; it was simply God’s plan, carried out with great generosity.

Even before time began, God’s extravagant generosity was ready for us;
a gift prepared for us in Christ Jesus here together in this old church on Barrington

Now it is out in the open, lit up for all to see, Christ Jesus has appeared as our lifesaver, wiping out death and announcing the fabulous message
of a life that death cannot touch.

You and I have been given the job of broadcasting this message; of being ambassadors for it, and teachers of it.

The trouble I have been suffering, being imprisoned here in Rome, comes as a consequence of the job, but I have no regrets.

I’d do it all again, because I have entrusted myself to Christ and come to know him, and I have every confidence in his ability to see me through to the day when everything will be completed.

So remember all I have taught you – it is solid and trustworthy and will guide you in living out the faith and love which are grounded in Christ Jesus.

With the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us, take good care of the wonderful gift that God has entrusted to you there in Halifax in the heart of the city.

With blessings to all, Paul

Paul was later executed and buried outside the city walls.

Whenever you are in Rome, you can go outside the walls to this very place. There never seems a crowd there, you can just walk in.

Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura

Saint Paul outside the Walls.