2 Timothy 1:1-14 (NIV)
My Grandmother Smith was a wonderful Christian lady. As I grew up watching her, I saw what it meant to live out your faith. She taught Sunday School for years and years, even after she became legally blind. She was a member and officer in the Wo-men’s Missionary Union, the Baptist equivalent of the UMW. She always had time for people, especially if someone was under the weather or having a difficult time. I can remember her making homemade chicken soup for other residents in her apartment building when they were sick. But she had no time for people who were really not that bad off but who complained all the time about minor problems or issues. I re-member one day she made some remark about all the “old people” in her building; at the time, she was the oldest resident, at 92!
My grandmother, or Mom as we called her, not only gave me a great example to follow, but she also was a great dispenser of good advice. When I got ready to go off to college, I remember she took my face in her hands, looked me square in the eye, and said, “Remember who you are!” Those words kept me out of trouble more than once in the next four years! I didn’t want to have to face my grandmother if I forgot who I was, or where I came from, even once.
What my grandmother was really telling me was to remember how I had been raised, what I had been taught about how to behave, to remember my manners and my morals. In other words, to remember that I was also a wonderful Christian lady! In this letter from Paul to Timothy, I hear Paul saying to this young pastor, “Remember who you are!” He wanted Timothy to remember the things that he had been taught, by his mother and his grandmother, and by Paul. Timothy knew the right way to live and to serve. He just needed to be encouraged to do it!
When Paul wrote this letter, he was in prison in Rome. He knew that his time on this earth was limited, but he took great strength from his faith, and he wanted to be sure that Timothy knew that he could find the same strength in his own faith. This letter was really Paul’s farewell to Timothy, and Paul wanted to say the important things that he felt needed to be said. Timothy had been placed in Ephesus, where he was sure to have to battle against heresies that would threaten the church there. He was a young man and he had a very hard task in front of him. And so to encourage Timothy, Paul reminded him of some very important things.
First, Paul reminded Timothy that he had a strong family tradition to follow. Both his grandmother and his mother had been women of great faith, and Paul was sure that this same faith also lived in Timothy. Probably most of us learned about God and about Jesus first from our families. We had Bible story books or sang “Jesus Loves Me.” Like me, maybe you had a grandmother whose example of Christian faith made a big impression on you. Timothy had two women from whom he could seek counsel and encouragement in his own faith journey. They would have been a great resource for him to draw on when things got stressful or difficult.
Second, Paul reminded Timothy that he had been set apart for his role as pastor. Paul had laid hands on him, dedicating him to this work because he had a gift for it. And now he needed to “fan into flame” that gift, to really let it shine. I am sure that Timothy must have remembered the day of his ordination into ministry. I certainly remember mine. I was first ordained by my home church, Fernwood Baptist Church, on November 25, 1984. I was home on Thanksgiving break from seminary. It was a wonderful worship service, with hymns that I had been allowed to choose. There were several ordained ministers who participated: Dr. William L. Ball, Jr., the founding pastor of the church, who had been there during my growing up years and had baptized me; Rev. Charlie Walls, who was the youth director when I was in high school; the pastor of the church, Dr. Randy Wright, who is still a good friend and colleague and pastor; two hospital chaplains; and the campus minister at a local college. After they laid hands on me, all the ordained deacons in the church were invited to come. And finally, anyone else who wanted to participate was invited to come forward. As I knelt there, one by one these men and women who had meant so much and been such an incredible influence in my life, came forward, laid hands on my head, and whispered in my ear, scripture verses or prayers or words of encouragement. It was one of the most significant moments in my life. And I’m sure that Timothy felt the power of that day when he remembered it. It must have helped him feel strengthened for the tasks that were in front of him.
Third, Paul reminded Timothy that he had not been given a spirit of timidity; he should have courage. He had been given a spirit of power, and love, and self-discipline. The courage that Timothy could draw on came from the presence of Jesus Christ in his life. And the knowledge of that presence would give him power, power to cope with anything that came up, power to shoulder the burden, power to take a stand when necessary. It would give him love, love for the congregation. And it would give him self-discipline, the ability to maintain control over himself.
Fourth, Paul reminded Timothy to never be ashamed to testify about Jesus. Timothy had been loyal to Paul, even after Paul was regarded as a criminal, locked in a prison cell in Rome. And perhaps Paul was afraid that Timothy would be overly cautious because of his association with Paul. Instead, Timothy should be thinking of his loyalty to Christ and his commitment to proclaim the good news about Jesus.
Fifth, Paul reminded Timothy that God saved us and called us to a holy life. It is important to note, as William Barclay points out in his commentary, that “God did not call us because we are holy; he called us to make us holy.” We are able to live holy lives, not because of anything we could ever do on our own, but because of the grace of God. God loves us and has a holy purpose for our lives. To live a holy life doesn’t mean that we are prissy little goody-two-shoes. To the contrary, living a holy life requires a tough, sturdy faith, a willingness to go against the culture around us, and the commitment to sharing the gospel with others. We have an incredible message of good news: Christ destroyed death and brought us life and immortality. How can we not share it?
Finally, Paul told Timothy that he was not ashamed because he knew whom he had believed, and he was convinced that God would be able to guard what he had entrusted to him. The word used here is “paratheke,” which means a deposit committed to someone’s trust; something you leave for safekeeping with someone. Paul had entrusted his life and his ministry into the hands of God, and he was sure that in life and death he was safe because he knew that he believed in God. Barclay pointed out that “Paul does not say that he knew what he believed. His certainty did not come from the intellectual knowledge of a creed or a theology; it came from a personal knowledge of God.” When we have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we have a certainty and a confidence that carries us through life and even to death.
Paul used that same word when he told Timothy to guard what had been entrusted to him, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Timothy is to safeguard the trust that God put in him. God had entrusted the church in Ephesus to Timothy as their pastor. He was to fulfill his obligation by offering the church sound teaching, and with faith and love in Christ Jesus. He must keep the faith and never slack off in demonstrating love.
In the early 2000s, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted a survey. They interviewed 35,000 people in the United States about their faith. Some 44% of them said that they had left the religious tradition that they grew up in. Some people left in order to shop around for a new religious or spiritual home. Others said they had left because of relocating to another place. And sometimes the change was due to marrying someone of another faith or denomination. But whatever the reason, many people are not “keeping the faith” in terms of their church affiliation.
But what is of more concern to me is that many are leaving the church they were brought up in and not joining any other church at all. If we look around, we see mostly grey heads in most of our churches. We have lost generations of people. And sometimes there seems to be no good reason. These men and women were brought up in the faith, going to church regularly, encouraged by parents and grandparents. But they have dropped out of an organization that they feel is irrelevant, outdated, and worse. Perhaps your children or grandchildren are in this category. How did this happen? We ask ourselves and have no good answer. Part of it is the times we live in; church attendance is no longer a priority for the majority of Americans. There was a time when it was just assumed that people went to church, or synagogue, or mosque. But no more.
It does no good to wring our hands and wish for the good old days. We who have kept the faith must find ways to communicate with younger generations the good news of Jesus Christ in such a way that they will want to know more and want to come to church to find it. Churches that have not changed the way they do things in over 50 years must re-evaluate programs, attitudes, priorities, and how they reach out to their communities. There are no easy answers or quick fixes. But I believe that many people are just waiting and watching for the right opportunity to return to a church home of one kind or another. Those who were brought up in the faith often return to it.
Today we recognize the global nature of the Christian Church on World Communion Sunday. A part of being a worldwide church is that there have been many adaptations made as churches were started in various kinds of nations and cultural settings. Christians worship in many different ways, with many different kinds of music, and many different ways of praying, and many different ways of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. While it is, on the one hand, sad that the church is so divided, it also means that there are so many varieties of worshiping communities that they appeal to many different kinds of people. There is a niche for everyone! And so we celebrate this day and remember that, even though we are many different denominations and expressions of faith, we all worship the same Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us. When we gather around the table of Christ, we are one in the Spirit. That is a gift and a reminder of our calling to live holy lives and to keep the faith.
