Remember Whose You Are
a sermon
based 2 Timothy 2:8-15
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn
Did you hear that? “Remember Jesus Christ,
raised from the dead, descended from David” (2 Tim 2:8).
Remember.
Did you know that the word “remember” occurs in the Bible over 250
times? An important part of the Jewish faith – and our own – is to
remember.
o Remember who God is.
o Remember what God has done.
o Remember who you are.
o Remember the story.
o Remember the Sabbath.
o Remember. Remember. Remember.
Paul says “Remember Jesus Christ,” as if we might forget.
Paul has good reason to forget, I suppose. His claim to be a follower of
Jesus is what puts him in prison where he writes this letter. Many
people in similar circumstances might renounce their faith to simply
walk away free. Others might renounce their faith because God hadn’t
found a way to set them free already.
Instead Paul seems to be willing to forgive God for allowing him to be
imprisoned. Rather than telling Timothy to “forgive and forget,” he says
“be forgiven and remember.”
o Remember who you are.
o Remember who God is.
o Remember what God has done.
o Remember whose you are.
For the people of Israel, the way the story was remembered and passed on
from one generation to another was to live a life separate from the
world around them. When in exile from the land of their ancestors, for
instance, they lived in their own separate communities. Those separated
communities allowed them to maintain a distinct culture within society.
It also made them easily targeted victims during Hitler’s reign in
Europe; but for the most part those separated communities helped them
keep their identity.
They knew who they were. They knew who God is. They knew what God had
done for them in the past. It was easy to remember because everyone
around them was remembering with them.
The Christians, on the other hand, lived within society. They lived
among the Jews and among the Gentiles. They were Romans and they were
Medes. They were rich and they were poor. They were from all walks of
life.
To remember who they were was at once a more difficult task and a more
important task. In prison, Paul became keenly aware of the importance of
the task of remembering.
I’m not much of a sports fan, as some of you have figured out by now. I
can go and enjoy a good game, but I rarely follow any particular team.
What I know about players and coaches for the most part comes from
overheard conversations and occasional newspaper headlines rather than
from personal experience. My passions lie elsewhere, so I don’t very
often get too worked up about a win or a loss; nor does it affect me
when there is a season of winning or losing.
But I remember watching the playoffs a few years back when the Seattle
Mariners were playing the New York Yankees – a scene that was repeated
for several years in a row. Seattle had a few star players who were
later traded away, including Alex Rodriquez, who ended up wearing a
Yankee uniform. The next year I wondered what it was like for him to
play in Seattle as an opponent.
How often did “A-Rod” have to remind himself that he was no longer a
Mariner but was now a Yankee? How hard was it to face his old team
mates, people who had once been friends and colleagues? Did he ever wish
he had stayed in Seattle?
But in sports, people cannot play for two teams at the same time. They
can only wear one uniform at a time, so they must choose which one. Alex
Rodriquez wears the Yankee pinstripes. It is who he is now. And not only
does he need to remember that, so must the fans.
In the final exam for a police academy, a difficult question is posed.
It’s a question intended to help clarify what is important and what is
not important. The question begins with a scenario in which the police
officer happens upon a motor vehicle accident. In one car is a man
easily recognized as a well known and well loved politician. He appears
to be breathing, but is bleeding profusely and there is a strong smell
of alcohol in the vehicle. In the other car there is a well known and
well loved movie star who appears to be unconscious – and maybe even
dead.
At that moment, a man runs up and offers to help, but he is immediately
recognized as one of the FBI’s top ten fugitives. Then, across the
street a man yells that his wife is inside and about to deliver a baby.
He cries for immediate help.
What is the best course of action?
One bright young police cadet said he would take off his uniform and
blend in with the crowd [1].
I suppose there are times when we want to blend in with society, to be
like chameleons, to change from Christian to non-Christian depending
upon the circumstances as if faith were a piece of clothing. We want to
change from one team to another based on our current setting. At church,
we wear our “Christian” name tag. At work and at school, we are often
tempted to wear a different one.
And in those moments, I’m thankful for the promise Paul offers to
Timothy that “when we are faithless, [God] will remain faithful” (2 Tim
2:13).
You see, the good news is that God’s message does not rely upon us. We
will all fail. I will fail. You will fail. It is our nature to be
sinful. None of us are perfect.
But God will not fail. God’s message will not be stifled. God’s love
will continue to shine in the darkest of nights.
At the turn of the 4th Century, John Chrysostom preached from the same
text in 2 Timothy that we heard today. He reminded the people of Paul’s
statement that God’s word could not be chained (2 Tim 2:9). He explained
that concept using the metaphor of the sun’s rays. A ray of light cannot
be captured and put into a room. What scientists would later discover is
that even during the darkness of night the sun’s rays are shining; that
even in the coldest nights of the winter our planet is being warmed by
the sun’s rays. Not only can we not capture a ray of light in the room,
the darkness cannot stop it either!
In the same way, God’s love is not dimmed.
“Remember Jesus Christ.”
No matter how dark the circumstances of your life, no matter how dim the
future appears, no matter how little hope you think you have, the truth
is that God has not failed you. God is still here. God’s message is
still being proclaimed.
You belong to God. As Billy Graham said more than once this week, and
more than a thousand times in his ministry, Jesus died for you. You have
been bought with a price, and that price was the death of the son of
God. You now belong to God. The price has been paid.
Remember that, and you will live.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
_________________
