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| Liam and me on summit of Slide (4180') |
I will comment on your comments later today- hopefully during nap time (Joseph's not mine! No rest for the wicked!)
Today we continue with Paul's advice for Timothy as he again reminds Timothy to be strong (v 1). Paul reminds and tells Timothy over 25 times in these two letters to be strong! Timothy is facing false teachings that are drawing people away from the church; the elders think he is too young to be a church leader; he is alone with no in-person mentor. We have all faced similar problems- and we too need to remember to be strong in God. God provides the strength- if we accept it! Paul then presents a model to Timothy: teach the faithful and then they can go and teach others (v 2). What a great model of discipleship and leading/ Do we do that in our churches? Are people taught well enough to go and teach?
Paul reminds Timothy (and us) that preaching/leading is like being a soldier. When you sign up for the armed forces- you know there will be hardships; you have an idea that life isn't going to be super easy. Ministry and the church is like that - hardships and difficulties are there. the goal of a good soldier is to work hard and please the commanding officers (v 4); God is our commanding officer and our goal should be to work hard and please God. Paul continues using symbols and metaphors: athletes and farmers. Paul uses sports analogies often; we will see this again later in this book. Training for an athletic competition is hard work and many hours of endurance. The reward, when you win the competition, is a crown of laurel or some other plant; the symbol here is the crown of righteousness (and Paul will refer to that in a few more chapters). Farming is hard, daily, dirty, tedious, exhausting work-- there is no glamour in it; the rewards are the fruits and grains that nourish people. Paul says that the farmer should also be nourished by these fruits. Timothy is providing spiritual nourishment for the congregation- but Paul reminds him that he also must be spiritually nourished. We rely on our pastors to spiritually nourish us, do we spiritually nourish them?
Paul goes on to remind Timothy the essence of the Gospel- the promise of resurrection. Teaching that will be tough- not all people will accept that and Paul is in prison for that. Bound in chains- awaiting his execution! This is what Timothy should expect- the difficulties that arise from teaching an "unpopular" theology- the theology of grace and love! We aren't bound in chains and executed in this country for our religious beliefs- but others may be. Would that risk stop us? Paul does it and willingly accepts the punishment, because God chose Paul to do the work (v 10) and Paul knows the rewards of salvation and eternal life that will follow!
Paul then writes a brief hymn to praise God and lists the promises that God has made to us: resurrection and eternal life with Christ (v 11); continual reign with God in God's kingdom (v 12); constant faithfulness from God (v 13). All available to us if we accept God as the one and only. These words are beautiful words that I need to be reminded of!
Timothy is reminded o continue teaching the congregation and be faithful to them (v 14). We are to continually remind the church of the Gospel message and not get side tracked or caught up in other things. There is so much in our world that can draw us away, that we need to stay focused and alert. Does the church do a good job of that- keeping you focused? There will be people and things that pull others away and tell false stories (Hymenaus and Philetus, v 17); they may have even been good and faithful people; however, they may get disenfranchised from the church and tell false prophesies. The two people Paul mentions say that Christ had already come and the people that are left did not "make the cut" so there is no sense or bother in being good anymore! Do we have "false prophets" in our midst that try to pull people away from the church? Our goal as pastors and disciples, is to keep the truth in teaching and alert people to the falsehoods being propagated. Does the church do that?
Paul talks about "a large house" (the church) with vessels of gold, silver, wood, and clay. The people that make up the church are all different types- some are "upper class" and some are "lower class", but all are equal and worthy as they have important jobs to do (v 20). We all have important jobs to do for the benefit of the whole congregation. All people will eventually be holy of they stay as good as possible.
I love the closing words of this chapter and they are words we need to keep in mind- we have talked before about being a busy body and gossiping. It just causes trouble and stirs up the pot! Try hard to be good, be faithful, be loving, be kind. When we hear this- is it too hard? Why is it so hard to do these things? There will be evil and wicked and nay-sayers, but we should try to talk with them and then maybe God will help them change their hearts (v 25). We are to continue to work for God and to continue to try and get the Gospel message out to the public.
This whole last section was about being a worker pleasing to God. When I think of myself- I do wonder- at times- if I am pleasing to God. I know there are things in my life that need to be changed and I wonder what God sees when God looks down on me. Am I pleasing to God? Am I doing what God desires? Can I be the person God wants me to be? Can you?
I loved the words Paul wrote to Timothy here in this chapter. I think these are all things that we can learn from and listen to. It is hard reading a personal letter to someone, but I feel that this could be a letter written to each of us too (not just Timothy)!
Thank you for the grace as I try to figure out my new life here as Grandpa! I am trying to get my schedule rearranged so that I can be better at responding and writing. Please be patient.
Shalom+
Pastor Paul
Pastor Paul
Looks like a great hike with your nephew. glad you were able to spend time together.
ReplyDeletePaul continues to encourage Timothy ou can feel his love for the young man.He tells him to be strong and endure. God will help him thru his trials.
He tells him not to listen to foolish conversations as they can lead to godless behavior. He tells that people keep their good silver for special occasions I know when i was young my mom had good silver and dishes for company and we had everyday theings for our daily use as well as good clothes for church etc and everyday cothes for daily I guess that meant from Paul that the better was in preparation for the master.
He ends in telling Timothy most of all to be kind and loving to others in his teaching and by doing that he may change the hearts of even the non believers.
Treating people kindly is great advice w
What the old saying you catch more with honey than vinegar.
Such a great day with Liam! This is the nephew that graduated from ESF and knew your grad-daughter!
DeleteDo we get caught up with foolish and idle chatter that draws us away from God? The gossip and the Town talk is always there to pull us away!
Good analogy with the dishes you got form Mom. We always had good clothes and play clothes!
If people could just be more kind! Why cant' we??
Good thoughts!
I cannot imagine how Paul feels - knowing that his beloved Timothy will suffer all kinds of things - from verbal to physical - and Paul will not be there to help him through it. That, in itself, must have been torture for Paul. But Paul's faith is so strong that he knows Jesus Christ will be there for Timothy if he continues to "fight the good fight of faith." In my translation vs. 19 starts with "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal..." what seal? I think it is sad that we are not tortured - verbally or physically - for our faith or for trying to spread our faith and yet so few of us do it - me included! I do wonder what God thinks of me - sometimes I wonder - instead of Jesus asking the question who do you say I am - I wonder who Jesus says I am? A good and faithful servant? I hope so!
ReplyDeleteLoved the pics of your hike
IT pains me when I am not around to help my kids go through things- I can only imagine how Paul must feel! I do know, like Paul, that God is there, but sometimes that just seems like words!!
DeleteThe firm foundation is probably a reference to the Torah; the "seal" might be a reference to Timothy's ordination- being sealed (approved) by God as a king might seal a letter with wax. Couldn't really find too much on that...sorry.
Odd comment- sad that we are not tortured- but I see what your're saying! We have the freedom to teach and spread the Gospel message- yet we don't! While others that may be killed for doing it fight for that freedom. I guess that relates to all our freedoms- we forget what we have!
Well done my good and faithful servant!
Good (and tough) thoughts Donna!
It seems like this chapter is pretty straightforward. Another chapter where Paul instructed Timothy in being Godly. Be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ. Turn away from wickedness. Do not quarrel and argue. Take yourself out of bad situations.
ReplyDeleteVery true- honest and straight forward!
Delete4180' (snicker, snicker)!!! We have ant hills higher than that here. Nasty, but I couldn't resist. Sorry. The mountains are breathtaking here. The ride from Helena to Great Falls is beautiful. I had the pleasure of taking it in winter as the sun was getting low in the sky. With snow on the mountains, it was fantastic. Scenery we don't have in New York.
ReplyDeleteIt must have pained Paul greatly to have to mentor Timothy from a jail cell. For Timothy as well, as Paul could give him encouragement, Paul couldn't be there to explain to the skeptics in the crowd (of which there were many, or so it appears. Communications in those days had to be very slow. Who knows how long a letter would take to get from Paul to Timothy. It could have been that the prison guards were slow to get letters to and from prisoners moving, so it could have been a very long time for Paul and Timothy to communicate. In our times of instant communications, it is difficult to think of taking more the a few seconds to send a message to somebody. It is hard for me to imagine how long it would have taken for mail to arrive and this would have made it very difficult for Paul to mentor Timothy.
I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for Paul to keep his spirits up during imprisonment, especially when you know what the outcome will be. I don't care how much faith you have in God and the Trinity, there are times when you have to be depressed. It is human nature. While Paul was strong, it had to be tough sitting in a jail cell waiting to hear from people.
I know you are enjoying having Joseph with you, even though he is messing up your schedule. Getting the work done is one thing, but it is far more important for you to enjoy your grandson while he is with you. I hope Chris and Lauren can find work and stay near you, but look what happened to my kids. They all left town to find better opportunities. So enjoy Joseph while you can. Next week, he could be in Montana.
Hahahaha! Oh Jack! Touche!
ReplyDeleteRight- I did't think of the time difference between writing and receiving! Great point!
Paul had to be strong! There is no way I cold survive- knowing that I was to be executed! I know his faith was strong, but yikes!
Lauren has had a few interviews- primarily Albany area- but we are patiently waiting! As long as they are closer than 3 hours away!
Thanks for your thoughts Jack!