Scripture Text (NRSV)
2 Timothy 1:1-14
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the
sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
1:2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God
the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
1:3 I am grateful to God--whom I worship with a clear conscience,
as my ancestors did--when I remember you constantly in my prayers
night and day.
1:4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled
with joy.
1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first
in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure,
lives in you.
1:6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that
is within you through the laying on of my hands;
1:7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a
spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
1:8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of
me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying
on the power of God,
1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace
was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
1:10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our
Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel.
1:11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a
teacher,
1:12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed,
for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he
is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.
1:13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard
from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
1:14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help
of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Comments:
Not the size of the faith (gospel lection), but perhaps the sincerety
of the faith (verse five). A lot can be done with the word "sincere",
which I understand comes from the Latin "sine cera", meaning "without
wax". To my knowlege, it refers to the use of wax by sculptors to
cover any mistakes made to the stone. A sculpture without wax (sine
cera) would be true, pure, with no coverups. In our town, we have an
original sculpture of the emperor Hadrian. As I look at it, I see many
small imperfections. These may have happened during transportation,
but I can't help but wonder if the statue was originally "cum cera"
(with wax). A faith without waxy coverups can surely accomplish much.
Mike in Louisiana
I see this passage (at least indirectly) as one hinting at a 'how to'
on encouragement. Paul is doing a great job of encouraging Timothy in
the faith and in his ministry.
Paul reminds Timothy of his faith, the faith of his family. He reminds
him of being a recipient of God's gift. It just seems to be a lesson
on how to cheer up, comfort or revitalize especially those suffering
from the inevitable fiery darts that comes from being in the ministry.
Couldn't we all use a Paul, with his arm around our shoulder,
whispering these kinds of words? Or better yet, couldn't someone need
us to be a Paul to them?
HW, thanks for being a Paul...
Rick in Va
And Rick, Thanks for being a Barnabus!
KenTucky
Two themes emerge for me in this passage. The first is the importance
of our forebearers in our own faith journeyl. Paul, Eunice, Lois --
passed to Timothy the example of their faith, but the grace of God and
the power of the Spirit gave the gift of that faith to Timothy.
The second is the idea of "rekindling the gift." The Proclamation
commentary on this passage tells of the Native American tradition that
gifts are to be "kept moving." That is, when one receives a gift, one
either passes that gift on to someone else or gives a gift of similar
value to someone. The gift may be given to the orignal donor (i.e. an
exchange) or to someone else. The point is not repayment but rather
that the very nature of a gift evokes more giving. At this point
(early on Wed. morning), I'm playing with the idea that the Spirit
gives us gifts in part so that we can keep them moving.
Would love to hear any of your insights and response regarding this
passage. Does anyone else struggle to preach from the epistles without
sounding "preachy?"
Levfish
I am focusing on the exhortation in this passage for Timothy not to be
intimidated. He reminds him of the gift that is in him (same as
Paul's) and affirms that God has not given us a spirit of cowardice.
The alternative to cowardice is faith, love and self discipline. I
think that as a pastor this is a shot in the arm for me not to be
intimidated by the human evil around me (in or out of the church). It
is interesting that most of the examples of human evil Paul speaks of
resides within the church. He's imprisoned by the Romans but his
deepest wounds have come from friends and brothers and sisters within
the community I agree that preaching from the epistles is hard. They
aren't stories and the point of the pericope can be kind of prickly. I
try to be gentle but I also fear dulling the sword to try to spare
myself and the congregation. Lewis
I am stuck on the two phrases: Rekindle the faith and guard the good
treasure entrusted to you. I think there might be the crux of my
sermon. How does this fit in if at all with the idea of World
Communion Sunday? It may not directly. This is also the feast of St.
Francis of Assisi, (Oct. 4th). I wonder if in him we can find from our
own tradition, like that of Eunice and Lois,an example of one who used
the gifts God gave him to bring the message of God's love to a hurting
world. Francis, a spoiled little rich kid, learned that the treasure
he was guarding was not the treasure that mattered.Instead he found
the strength and power in Christ to guard what mattered most... the
treasure of God's love. Sometimes we in the church need to be reminded
that our job is not to preserve our "tradition" as we have recieved
it. That the important treasures are not found in things but in
people. How do we take the tradition as we have received it from our
forebears and relate it in new ways to a hurting and dying world.
Perhaps there is a message for us in the picture of Francis kneeling
before the cross at St. Damiano chapel as God tells him, "Rebuild my
church". I had an experience a few years ago which taught me much
about guarding the treasure. I was sitting in the parsonage about
10:30 at night finishing up the book "I Francis" by Carlo Caretto.
There was a knock at the door and there stood a stranger, a migrant
worker from mexico looking for a place to stay.We had an agreement
with a hotle about 10 miles down the road, but he had no was to get
there as he was on foot and very tired. He wondered if I could'nt
drive him. I hesitated. It was dark and he was a stranger... I said
yes, and then I'm embarasses to say that I actually took out my wallet
and left it at home so that all I would have was my license. At least
that way they could identiofy my body if this guy ended up being a
killer (I'm Serious!. We proceeded down the road and he began to talk
in broken English... "What is your name" , I asked wondering what he
was carrying in his bag. 'My name of Franciso" he replied. My mother
named me after the great Saint, Do you kow him?" he asked? How little
was my faith...
I'm
"only in the musing" stage at this point (having taken Tuesday off
rather than Friday!) but am intrigued by the writers reference to the
faith of those who have gone before. "I worship (God) with a clear
conscience, as my ancestors did..." And refering to Timothy's legacy
of faith, "...a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and
your mother Eunice..." What was the substance of their faith? Surely
not pagens; not likely polytheists, would the author hold up as an
example to follow. No, evidently, that faith was Judaism. Not sure if
I'll wrestle (publicly) with this tacit endorsement of their faith and
"clear conscience" with a covenant faith founded in the likes of
Abraham, Moses and David but this would certainly take us beyond World
Communion Sunday to consider a radical ecumenism. I'll likely refer to
the legacy of faith we pass in daily life and in our witness of
worship and participation in the same, in the company of the coming
generations. Peter in CA
Where's Timothy's daddy and granddaddy in his Christian formation? Is
Christian education only for children and women? Just a couple of
questions for us to chew on. John in Ky.
We are in the midst of everyone's favorite fall event- the stewardship
drive. I am looking at this text in terms of stewardship of the word -
about what Timothy had received and his testimony to that without
shame.
Stewardship not about money. Should be interesting. I like the story
about St. Francis and the migrant worker. Thanks for the insight.
Jim in PA
To Lewis: You said "I agree that preaching from the epistles is hard.
They aren't stories and the point of the pericope can be kind of
prickly. I try to be gentle but I also fear dulling the sword to try
to spare myself and the congregation."
Don't be afraid to preach boldly, filled with God's grace and not just
your own. The Word is a 2 edged sword. If you dull one side God will
still cut with the other, if cutting is what He wills. you will just
be found like Timothy - in need of boosting for the next time - so
here's a boost! GO FOR IT whatever It is!
Jim in PA
To Levfish: Just a suggestion re: how to "not be Preachie" Checking
out the you Should, you must, you need and you ought to's from our
sermons help us to be part of what is being preached along with the
congregation. We can share ideas rather than setting ourselves up as
the ones with the answer for someone else. also using our own short
comings and struggles as examples can help eliminate the "preachy"
tone. I often say things like "These are my problems too how about
you, can any of you identify with this situation - boy I can etc. jmj
To the colleague who shared the story about St. Francis and the
migrant worker. Only the first couple of phrases of the story came
through to me for some reason.... Could you post again; I'm intrigued.
Thanks.
Levfish
Levfish Here's the basic story again. It was about 10 years ago and I
was reading "I Francis" by Carlo Carreto". I had become facinated with
the spiritual journey of the man of Assisi. About 10:30 or so, there
was a knock on the parsonage door. We lived next to the church on a
highway, so whenever there was a knock late at night I knew what it
was. There stood a man in worn clothes, asking for a place to stay. He
spoke broken English and was quite unkept. He was a migrant worker
from Mexico who had come looking for work to send money home for his
family. Our parish had a deal with a local Motel to accomodate people
who needed rooms, but it was 10-12 miles away and this man was on
foot. He asked if I could drive him. I was a little more than
cautious. I removed my wallet from my pants, and took only my license
with me. I remember only have joking to myself that this way when they
found my body on the side of the road, they would be able to let my
wife know what had happened. I proceeded to drive this man to the
motel, the whole time watching a bag he was carrying wondering what he
had in it. The man began a conversation with me in broken English.
"What is your name?" he asked. I responded. "My name is Francisico,"
he countered. " My mother named me after the saint, perhaps you have
heard of him?" I remember how my heart sank at that moment. I realized
that I had been reaeing about Francis, but it wasn't unitl that moment
that I understood. I had been guarding the wrong treasure.
Paul repeatedly urges Timothy not to be timid, ashamed...of
witnessing, of Paul, of suffering for the Gospel. He also urges him to
be full of confidence and how that confidence is grounded in
resurrection of Christ. I take this passage to be Paul's call to be
BOLD AND SOLD (my sermon title) on the faith. To help us be BOLD AND
SOLD, we have God's Spirit--of power, love and self-control; we have
the example and teaching of ancestors, such as Eunice and Lois; and
above all, we have the one in whom we have placed our trust, Jesus our
Saviour. Any comments?
Jeeva in Canada
I know this is off the subject. Please forgive. Does anyone know a
good source for children's sermons on the net. You can e-mail me at
JLongard@aol.com or post it here. Thanks! John in Ky.
I see the Paul's connection with Timothy as the glue that binds him
and the church. I move to the contacts that I know around the world
who will be observing world wide communion Sunday. I will focus on the
service today at Rockefellow Chapel here in Chicago that will bring
four groups in the Reformed tradition into "Full Communion". I will
conclude that our hands join Christians around the world in the Spirit
on this day. We also join Paul and Timothy in the ages past as members
of One Body, One Cup, One Spirit. MacPastor, Chicagoland
