Pastor Ralph Douglas West - AWOL: Absent Without Leave - 2 Timothy 4:10

0:19 We rejoice and we're glad in it. Put your Bibles down. Put your hands together. Give God praise today. Think of the Lord's goodness, his mercy. Think of his grace and give God praise today. Hallelujah. What a joy. What a joy. Yeah. It's good to know you can shout if you go all the way. Yeah, that's the truth. Some of us, we shout because we get a car.

1:22 That's good to shout about our house. And that's good, our raise, our promotion. But the reality is, can you shout when you say, I'm going all the way. All the way. Hallelujah. And I'm going to say this anyway. I like to have fun. Melanie over there, shout.

1:56 And this is for all of you that think that you can't shout or you can't stand. Melanie is a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University and a Baylor graduate. but I'm just glad to know that I don't have to let my credentials get in the way of my praise. You know what I'm saying. I just thought I'd throw that in there.

2:24 I used to love to say that to Sylvester Turner when he would get excited and worship. I would tell him, sit down, sly. You're a Harvard man. He'd get louder, you know. I should have did it to Melanie so we never would have got straight, you know. But don't let your achievements or your accomplishments get in the way of your praise. You know, don't do that. Yeah, don't do that.

2:55 Well, let's see if we can shout some more. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10 is one line of scripture who introduces to some of us a biblical character that we don't talk much about. and yet he made his way into the Bible. and he serves as a kind of mirror for our personal introspection of where we stand with the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 4 beginning, well, verse 10. For Demas has forsaken me Having loved this present world And has departed for Thessalonica This is the word of God You may be seated Over the years, you ought to be careful as a pastor not to give away too many of your habits.

4:18 But here I go again, telling too much about myself. I love to look at forensic files. um It would be different if Forensic Files was presenting new cases. But I'm looking at the same cases and the same reruns year after year.

4:58 And periodically, when you miss some of these runs, you come across one case that intrigues you. As a preacher, one of the things that I have to do is, how do you take God's Word, put it in a way where people can listen to it for 30 minutes without tipping out? and forensic files helps me.

5:32 Friday, they had a forensic file under the caption, the ghost machine. It's the story of two lovers who are exchanging emails. As a result, the woman dies by her own hand, but there's suspicion surrounded but no evidence to prove that that is the case until they brought in a computer forensics who specialize in finding fragments of emails to attach to emails to determine the origin of the email and thus who the senders are. This forensic expert inside of the computer, don't ask me what I'm talking about.

6:32 found a fragment and was able to draw up a sketch and a plot of what happened to lead to this death by hands turned to be a homicide, a murder case. a murder case. I said, that's exactly what I do every Sunday, trying to find a fragment to draw a story to help the congregation to see clearer the way that God works in their life and in the life of the world.

7:20 I asked you to read with me this morning one line from 2 Timothy chapter 10. Demas. Who is he? Why is he important? And how did he get into this series about service? Well, like the forensic, the computer forensic or the forensic computer expert, you trace his name and you find him in one or two other places. One in Philemon. where Paul is writing a letter on behalf of Onesimus. And in Philemon, that's a book in the Bible, verse 24, you read these words.

8:09 Demas and Luke, my physician. My coworkers are my fellow workers in the faith. Demas and Luke my physician Co-workers in the faith Then his name appears in Colossians 4 Where it simply reads in verse 14 Luke the physician and Demas One of the joys of preaching to a congregation like this Is that you brought a friend And they're saying what's the big deal Said you didn't see the switch In Philemon Demas starts the list Demas and Luke the physician In Colossians Luke the physician Demas In Philemon Demas is described as a co-worker with Paul and one who serves God.

9:24 In Colossians, it's just an honorable mention. How far do you have to drop from having the description, co-worker, to only the mentioning of your name? In music, they would say, how do you move from a high note to a low note? I don't know anything about music. I love it. I love listening to it. But I think that you can squeeze these words into it is that the beginning of the life of Demas starts on a high note. But by the time you get to 2 Timothy 4 and 10, he hits a low note. Remember, it's not how you start. is how you finish.

10:17 those words will one day mean a lot to you as you maneuver through life is not how you start the journey it's how you finish it when demas is first mentioned he is called a co-worker for those who are not familiar with the apostle paul apostle is that he, number one, is someone who is sent by God on a specific mission for God and for the church and the world. Paul has gotten some real bad rap over the years because of positions that he take, but Paul is not about, it's not about Paul today. Demas is a companion to Paul. One of the things that we know about Paul, he's a missionary. He takes God's word into the world. Beyond that, he's an evangelist. He proclaims not his message, but the message of the Lord Jesus Christ.

11:18 And beyond that, he's a pastor. One of the real joys to have is when you read Paul, and you're reading his life as a pastor, and you listen to how agitated he gets with the congregation. That's where I get that stuff from. I got to back up from reading Paul right into Corinthians, because for 16 chapters, he's been out of shape. and damas is a companion of paul a co-worker so we can conclude he gets into the bible the right way because when god starts a work god works with that work until he finishes it and that's Philippians 1 and 6, that being confident of this one thing, that God who begins to work his inauguration will continue that work, his continuation until the day of Jesus Christ, his consummation. God, whatever he inaugurates, he's always working until he consummated. That is, you this morning are work in God's progress. God's working on you whether you know it or not.

12:34 That is, if you're staying in the work. So the question remains, how do you move from Demas, high note, co-worker. to Demas to 2 Timothy 4 Demas forsook me This is called the gospel of a good start. that we start well depending on how we calculate our life. We say, this is a good start. I'm abandoning all the other environmental, sociological studies so you can save your email. I understand all of those factors. I'm speaking now of the gospel of a good start.

13:30 What do you do with the life that God has given to you? That is, what are you doing right now with the life that God has given to you to live? The gospel of a good start. High schoolers every year, they're given a reading list when they come into their studies. And one of the novels is the American tragic story of Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Frisero sets that story in The Roaring Twenties, The Opulence of the Jazz Age. And in doing so, he tells the story of a self-made millionaire, one, Jay Gatsby, who rises out of poverty to wealth and opulence himself. And then his life comes to a tragic end when he is distracted by a love that cannot be a reciprocity of Daisy Buchanan.

14:34 And his life ends in destruction and then death. The theme of that book, the great beginning arrests us when we think about somebody like Demas. That's where you ask yourself what am I doing now with the life that God has given to me to live? How shall I live that life? How shall I live it in the world? How will I be remembered?

15:08 The younger you are the less you think about it and the older you get the more you think about how do I want people to remember me on that day when I have come to my end how did Demas move from Demas and Luke my co-workers Demas Demas has forsaken me I want a lot of things said about me don't you fool yourself all that business talking about I don't want a long funeral I'm not going to have a long one for you but I'm going to have a long one I'm going to torment all of y'all y'all going to be in this Lord have mercy and then all this about you know I love it I hear y'all say these things Pastor West don't care about these things I'm telling you, that's all they got to say about me today?

16:11 How do you want to be remembered? What do you want people to say about your life when you come to that moment? Can I just say one thing, and I'm almost done this morning. Luke is the companion to Demas. Luke is the evangelist who writes the gospel and its compendium called Acts, Luke, Acts. The theme of those two gospels are gospel and narrative is the beginning of what and the continuation of all that Jesus began to do and to teach. those of you who write and those of you who have to read contextually then you know that many writers are thinking about certain people in their mind when they're writing about certain people there are certain people that get into the story that's what it said about Tennessee Williams and his writing that many of the people in the song that he wrote about were actual people that he met along the way.

17:27 That's how most of us write and think. We're thinking about people. I don't know if this is how it happened, but it could be a possibility that when Luke is writing his gospel and he's telling Jesus' story about the parable of the sower and the seed falling on good soil, he may have had in mind Demas. That initially Demas receives the seed of God's word. It doesn't have deep roots, but it sprouts out. Unfortunately, under the heat of the sun, it burns it out. Or could it be that when he's telling that same parable, he's thinking about Demas when he talks about a different type of soil in which the seed falls into the weeds and the weeds grow and choke the life out because it is distracted by the cares and the anxieties of the world.

18:28 I don't know. It's a probability. And what about the story that Luke writes about Jesus when he says, and those of you who want to build a house, a home, a family, a business before you venture out into doing that how about you sit down first and count up the cost don't get so excited that you just start without sitting down thinking about what the cost of the material is going to be how the people who work have to be compensated for who goes to war are. without calculating the cost. your superpower blowing up a 12 foot boat It doesn't take much imagination to do that.

19:36 and then maybe when Luke is writing in his gospel this story where he says one man came to Jesus and said master I'll follow you I'm gonna join the church and I'm gonna follow you and Jesus said look foxes have holes birds of the air have nests but the son of man have nowhere to lay his head lord i'll follow you but first let me go and bear my father see you're already mixing priorities if you're gonna follow me let the dead bury the dead lord i'll follow you but let me say farewell to my family and kindred he said you too have it all turned upside down first seek the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you i don't know i do not know but there is the possibility that when luke is writing these different stories that he has in his thinking Luke and Demas one final thing in this is that when God starts a work God always finishes that work you have never seen God do anything half way have you ever seen half of a sunrise Have you ever observed half of a sunset?

21:27 How about this? Have you ever seen half of a raindrop? a half of a snowflake? What about half of a mountain? If God can create with completion, God can work with you until the day of your redemption. Preach, Pastor West. It's a process, it's a work, but God works on us. And let me close now. that's the second time I've said that. to this last word in chapter 4 of 2 Timothy. Here's the setting.

22:14 Paul is coming to the end of his ministry. Paul, at that day, he's an aged pastor. He's writing to his apprentice, his son in the faith named Timothy. Timothy is the pastor of the church in Ephesus Paul is writing from prison and Paul is asking for some things while in prison he acts with urgency when you read this is to be read with urgency he's not just asking but in the ninth verse when he said, be diligent. It is said, come to me urgently because the weather is changing and it's cold and damp in this prison.

23:09 Bring my coat. I'm old now. My preaching is less standing up in the synagogues. Now it's in prison. But let me write what I want to talk about now. Let me write it down. He said, bring my books. I need them for my research I want to validate that what I'm saying can be Substantiated by other people who live in this world Bring my pen Bring my paper And let me write Because one day there's a church that's going to be in Houston And they're going to need some biblical faith and foundation And I want to write to them to remind them that they can stay with it and God will stay with them. I want them to understand what endurance and faithfulness looks like.

24:04 And so bring me my paper and my pen so I can write it. Timothy is gathering things. And in between verse nine, be diligent, and verse 11 following, bring my coat, my parchment and pen, verse 10 just sticks out. Thank you. For Demas has forsook me let me say something to you church there are a lot of things I do want said about me don't you forget I said it But the one thing I don't want said is that Wes forsook. Not there. that under the pressure, Wes abandoned us, that when things were not the way they used to be, he stopped being energetic and enthusiastic and excited.

25:13 I want somebody to say, in the face of everything changing, it never changed him of being faithful to teach us and preach to us and encourage us and lift us. In the middle of it, he said to Demas, Demas forsook me. Why? You see karma? You see what's on the other side?

25:46 Having loved this present age, having loved this world, Lost識 disadvantages are around the prison. And somewhere, Demas got distracted. was it the distraction of the theater the gymnasium the athletic arena i don't know I know Barbara Jean ain't here this morning because she was in Las Vegas last night at the Jackson State Grambling game.

26:46 You know Barra gonna get me for that. And by the way, Your distractions don't have to be evil. almost every time you talk about forsaking for the cause of Christ, we say, oh, as bad as his evil. No, it could be something as innocent as entertainment.

27:20 Nothing wrong with the theater. Nothing wrong with going to the athletic arena. Kind of God you think you worship and serve. Someone who's trying to pull the jaws of life from me He said, no, that's not what he said He said, Demas forsook me Having loved this present age you remember this other line that Luke writes when he says this he says take up your cross you remember that for those of you who knew in the faith there's a scripture say take up your cross and follow me Jesus speaking and what Jesus is really getting to is simply this whether it's relational or vocational or educational or familial don't let any love you have for anything eclipse your love that you have for me I never told you you could not love I just said don't let that love eclipse your love for me I'm done having loved this present age.

28:39 Maybe it was the university or philosophy or theology or new religions or curious, I don't know, stoicism, epicurianism, all of it's on the rise. He's just simply again saying, your distractions were because of other attractions. And your attractions for this world distracted you from what was significant and important. Demas forsook me having loved this present present age you see you have to be careful that when you get what you got you don't lose it on the getaway Thank you.

29:39 I promise I love preaching in this church. It's nothing like preaching in a room that people know how to listen, I tell you. A couple of weeks ago, a week ago, you probably heard that the Louvre was robbed. The world famous museum, the Louvre of Paris, France. The house of Mona Lisa. Oh, it wasn't robbed on the weekend when the doors are closed. Or late at night. Broke in, brought daylight full of people, stole the crown jewels, and got away. And on the getaway, somebody dropped the jewels.

30:49 Look, if you're gonna risk everything to get the jewels, don't drop them on your way out. Come here, I'm going somewhere. And you know how these two of them have been found?

31:12 Forensics. somebody in losing the diamonds apparently throws the mask and has just a fragment of DNA that traced that person, their identity.

31:32 A fragment, a minuscule, I mean just a dot and say, oh, we can find them. They got one at the apartment, the other one had booked a flight to get out of Dodge, and they got that rascal too. All because of the DNA. This morning, you and I are leaving DNA spiritually in everything that we do, in all of our services, and the day will come where God will sweep where we have been. And he will test the samples to see if we have been faithful or not. and this morning when God gets through, the one thing I want the Lord to say, Wes didn't get it right all the time, but I can tell you this much, he was faithful until the end. You can put your name in that now.

32:27 You can write your name and I say, I may not be all of what I ought to be, but I've been faithful to the end. That happened in 2003 with Jessica Lynch. Jessica was a 19 year old first class private in the army and her barracks were bombarded in the Iraqi war and she was accosted and beaten and several people in her troop were wounded and murdered. In fact, she talked about that. She said nine days and she described them in two words.

33:19 She said silence and suffering. and at the end of the ordeal she is vindicated and here's what she said under that pressure I never abandon my post under that pressure I never abandoned when I took an oath to protect under that pressure I never one time contemplated walking away from what I gave my life to this morning you and I need a commitment and a cause to a God that's bigger than anything else we've done, that under pressure, when everybody else is running, we know how to stand.

34:16 When they are fleeing, we are staying firm. God wants that out of you. God wants that out of me. And at the end of it all, the story changes on one hinge. We can't say it for Demas, but we can say it for us. You have been faithful over a few things. Now, come on up and let me make you a ruler over many things. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. You ought to shout on that. Amen. That's your story.

35:07 That's my story. that's my story come on let's pray together gracious God our Father we thank you for a hard word in many ways, but certainly a challenging word, to remind us that life is based off our faithfulness of endurance. Thank you for Demas.

35:35 Thank you for his life. Hopefully before it all ended, he got it right. But this morning that we're here, you give us an opportunity to get it right. Even when we think about how many people used to be committed to you and they let the distractions of the world distract them. May today be a day that we say, I return in my faith and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, thanking him for being my rock and my redeemer. There are those who are here today, Lord, when they came here, they were just fulfilling something they said they were going to do for the weekend. And you met them this morning.

36:29 Now we pray in that meeting that they would make a commitment to you to say my life story will be different. It will not read. Jane or John forsook but that I was faithful until the end. Thank you for what you have done and what you continue to do. In the strong name of Jesus we pray. All God's people say amen. Give God praise the day before you break out. Come on, the door of the church is open. Choir is singing. Those of you who are here, you get up from that seat. Come down the aisle and say, this is my day to say that I do not forsake, but I follow. We're waiting on you and we're going to rejoice as you make your way this way. Praise God for you. What a real joy for you.

37:21 We're waiting on you.