Scripture Text (NRSV)
1 Timothy 1:12-17
1:12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened
me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,
1:13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a
man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly
in unbelief,
1:14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and
love that are in Christ Jesus.
1:15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the foremost.
1:16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as
the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making
me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal
life.
1:17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only
God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Comments:
The letters to Timothy are called the pastoral epistles because they
contain advice especially intended for leaders in the church. Here the
mercy shown to Paul, who once persecuted the church, is cited as
evidence that even the most unworthy may become witnesses to the grace
of God.
One who speaks of forgiveness through Christ has so much more
credibility when s/he has "been there."
What about the rest of us whose wild days were comparatively tame?
Sally in GA
Hi Sally in GA,
Compared to the Righteousness required by the law, our boring, tame
sin is - in my opinion - the same as the most wretched sin. Don't fall
into the false belief that sin is ranked. Sin is sin.
I think.
Pastor Bill in NCNYConference
Though 1 Timothy was probably written by a disciple of Paul after
Paul's death, these verses in chapter one remind us of Paul's dramatic
religious life before his conversion (Acts 9:1f "Meanwhile Saul, still
breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord...").
When the writer of 1 Timothy speaks of Paul as a former blasphemer,
persecutor and man of violence, we may very well have a hard time
relating to these words of overt negative, aggressive power. If we've
never gone through a time of "breathing threats and murder against the
disciples of the Lord" we may feel as if they have nothing to do with
us. But blasphemy, persecution and violence can come wrapped in a
variety of packages and it may not be what we have done, but what we
have left undone that exposes our violent nature.
The writer of 1 Timothy says that Paul acted as he did ignorantly in
unbelief. Now it wasn't that before conversion Paul didn't believe in
anything. Saul was a zealous believer in the righteousness found in
the law. In Philippians 3:4-6 he says, "If anyone else has reason to
be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day;
a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor
of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless." Our own
religious pedigrees may not provoke us to go on persecuting rampages
as Paul did, but protecting our positions in the right families, the
right schools, the right jobs and appointments may just as effectively
preoccupy us so that we forget to trust our Lord.
Though the story of Saul's conversion in Acts doesn't say anything
about a horse, he does fall to the ground on the road to Damascus. A
blinding light and a voice from heaven demand an accounting by Saul.
Though we may believe our religious pedigrees are impeccable and our
zeal without parallel, God is still the One who makes the final
judgment (v. 12) about our lives and the significance or
insignificance of our thoughts, actions, and status.
How long-suffering is our God that, even and most especially, at those
moments when we most deserve to be abandoned, our Lord comes to us on
our own Damascus roads and leads us by his own mercy and love. In
Christ, God willingly gave himself that we might not stay mired in our
own conceits, but live with new sight, new understanding and new
compassion for the world that can only come from Him.
"The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost," says
the writer of 1 Timothy (v. 15). We can be sure and accept without
reservation that God through the mercy of Jesus Christ has saved us
(wherever we may rank on the sinner spectrum, "foremost" or not).
We have been judged faithful and appointed to His service (v. 12) so
that we need not impress others with our worthiness. Instead, we can
rejoice and be open about the reality that we, with all our faults,
can be examples to others of how merciful and patient our Lord is.
("Look," we can say, "he even saved somebody like me!")
As Paul was, as the writer of 1 Timothy was, as the saints throughout
time have been, we too are examples "to those who would come to
believe in [Jesus Christ] for eternal life" (v. 16).
Thanks be to the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God
(v. 17). All honor and glory are yours now and forever. Amen
Robin Morgan
In this reading Paul knows that he has received undeserved mercy. He
may have acted out of ignorance, but he knows himself to be a sinner.
The good news is that like a shepherd searching for a lost sheep and a
woman a lost coin, God, in Jesus, is in the very business of saving
sinners!
I'm working the lectionary for 2 services - one Saturday night the
other for Sunday Worship. I wanted to use Timothy for Saturday and end
with an Altar Call, which I've never done before (small UM church in
NE PA). Lots of ideas floating, just inexperience bugging me. Any
thoughts? - preacher_g
vs 14 gave me the great idea for a sermon title, "When it rains, it
pours," However, i want to make a shift in people's thinking of this
phrase, because usually its used in association with negative events
of our lives Where as in this passage it is God's grace overflows,
hence, "when it rains, it pours"
Our God is incrediblly generous
Just some early thoughts
Pastor Dave in BC Canada, eh!
