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.
No comments:
Post a Comment