Wingham United Church

October 19, 2025

Making Better Christians

Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34

Psalm 119:97-104

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Luke 18:1-8

Years ago, when I was still a naïve, idealistic student minister, I had an idea. Instead of the usual, boring, evening confirmation classes we were all used to, I would ask potential confirmands to attend church one Sunday per month for 6 months. These worship services would be focused on the topics we would normally cover in confirmation classes, so that not only would the young confirmands learn the material, but the rest of the congregation would also learn or be reminded of the ideals that make The United Church of Canada what it is.

          I took the idea to the Official Board who had their reservations. Could we really expect these young people to come to church? I argued that if one Sunday a month was too much to ask, why were they joining the church in the first place? The Board hesitantly approved my plan, and I sent the information out to all the potential confirmands.

          I soon had a visit from the grandmother of one of those young people who was irate that I would have the nerve to expect her grandchild to come to church before becoming a member of the church. The whole idea went up in smoke, and I joined with some other ministers, and we worked together to provide a more traditional series of weekly confirmation classes, went through the motions of Confirmation Sunday, and I’m sure none of those young people have seen the inside of a church since. But everyone was happy that we had added some new names to the official role.

          Something about that encounter with that grandmother though has always stuck with me. “You don’t have to go to church to be a good person!” she stated quite emphatically. At the time I agreed, and I still do. I know lots of good people who don’t go to church.

          But we are not here to make good people. We are here to make good Christians, and while not all good people are Christians, all true Christians are good people. The truth is, in this day and age, being a good person is difficult. There are an infinite variety of distractions and temptations that try to draw us away from that goal every day of our lives. And being a good Christian is even harder.

          Being a good Christian takes work. It takes effort. Coming to church on Sunday morning is only the beginning. Every week has 168 hours. Worship consumes only one. A good Christian is also a Christian for the other 167. If you are fortunate enough to get eight hours of sleep each night, then it is relatively easy to be good for another 56 hours. That still leaves us with 111 hours of temptations, distractions, and difficult decisions to make each and every week. So, what hope is there for any of us to truly measure up to the standard of being a good Christian.

          Well, fortunately, we have a guide. We all know what we need to do. God wrote the instructions in our hearts. Despite all the things in the world around us that would lead us down the wrong path, God has shown us the right way and gifted us with a road map imprinted into our very being. That should make it easy, right?

          But the influences of the world around us, and our own natural tendencies to take the easy, more comfortable way lead us astray. Paul wrote to Timothy that

“a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”

That time has come. Our ears itch when we don’t like what we hear, even when we know it’s the truth. We go chasing after the easy answers, taking the lazy way out. We need to be constantly reminded to listen to that still, small voice within that guides us when difficult decisions need to be made.

          The Psalmist knew this. He loves God’s instruction and guidance but knows that he must think about them all day long and follow them with dogged determination. Even when his elders and teachers are led astray, his meditation on God’s commandments keeps him on the right path.

          Sometimes, it’s easy to know what is right, but it’s a great challenge to act in accordance with that knowledge. It takes great faith to stay true to God’s guidance, and that is where the good Christian has the advantage over the good person. When the tough decisions need to be made, we know where to look for the answers we need. The Christian does not have to face the forces of evil on their own. We have backup.

          That’s why the good Christian, or anyone wishing to become one, needs to be in church. Here we are not only reminded of God’s Commandments, but here we find the fellowship and support we need when following those Commandments put us at odds with the world around us. We need a Community of Faith to hold us accountable when we go astray, and to lovingly help us back onto the right path. We need this hour together to assure us that we do not fight this battle alone. We are in this together, and only together will we ever have strength to overcome the voices that lead us in the wrong direction.

          My apologies to those who are watching this from home, but if you are able, you need to be here, among the faithful. This is not meant to be entertainment. This hour of worship is more than hearing the sermon I prepared. Perhaps that’s why we have been struggling with so many technical issues in recent weeks. If you want the full benefit of being part of a Community of Faith, you need to be part of that community.     You need your church, and your church needs you.

          There’s another aspect of the Good Christian life that I have not yet touched upon, but today’s lection does not forget. It’s the need to pray. Not just to pray, but to pray always and never give up. The little story that Jesus told makes it sound as though we can nag God into giving us whatever we want, but we all know that isn’t the lesson here. We know it because it is written within us, like a computer search engine when you enter the right “key word”.

          Jesus points out that even an unjust and uncaring judge can be pushed into doing the right thing if we persist in seeking justice. How much more can we rely on a loving, merciful, gracious God to provide what we need? Therein, however, lies the hidden gem of this story. There is a difference between asking God for what we want and asking God for what is right.

          Sometimes, when we pray, we find the answers to our questions already present within us. We just need to pray for guidance to discover and understand how to take what we know and turn it into action. At other times, as we pray, we realize that we are not praying for the right thing. This, too, is a revelation of God’s instruction, written on our hearts.

          It’s like a large book with hundreds of pages of information. We need help to find the right bit of information at the right time. The Holy Spirit guides us to those revelations when we pray and meditate on the Word of God already written within us.

          To stay true to God’s instruction, we not only need to study and meditate on God’s Word, but we also need to stay in touch with the Spirit, which we do through prayer. And if you aren’t sure what you should pray, Jesus gave us an answer for that problem too. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. We all know it. That, too, has been written in our hearts so that we always have it when we need it.

          We are not here to entertain you. We are here to enlighten you. And we are not here to make good people out of you. We are here to make better Christians.

          May the Spirit guide us on our quest.

Rev. Colin Snyder, MDiv