Sermon - 2 Timothy 1 - Pass it On!

2Timothy 1.1-14
Criteria for Success
We often wish each other Success and Happiness when starting a new job, moving to a new home or country, taking on a new responsibility etc.
What does success look like in these situations? What would YOU hope for, for yourself or for a friend?
(elicit…) to be comfortable, secure, confident, valued, respected, healthy, financially well-off, surrounded by loyal friends etc.
(Reading comes here)
NOW let’s look at PAUL’s situation when he wrote 2Timothy…
• He’s in prison (1.8)
• Worse, he’s on ‘Death Row’ (4.6)
• His friends have mostly deserted him (1.15, 4.10,16)
• His ministry has included lots of suffering and persecution (3.11-12)
• Early Church tradition is that Paul was beheaded by Roman authorities in about 65AD
HOW was he doing against our criteria for success? Apparently a complete failure!
Famous Last Words
2Tim is almost certainly P’s last letter to the outside world, his ‘famous last words’ to his son in the faith, his loyal apprentice. You might expect him to be warning Timothy:-
‘Don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made, go and get a proper job. There’s no future in this preaching the gospel – look where it got me! I’m sorry I’ve wasted my life and led so many other people astray as well. What a mess I’ve made of things. God help me!
What Paul actually wrote to Timothy is quite different:-
• ‘I am not ashamed’ (of being in prison for being a follower of Jesus (1.12)
• He also urges Timothy not to be ashamed of Paul or his example (1.8)
• He suggests Timothy should teach the same things (1.13)
• And join Paul in suffering for the gospel (1.8)
• Paul must have been crazy. So must Timothy because he did what Paul asked, with the same result. Church History records that he became first bishop of Ephesus and around 97AD he was killed by pagans because of his opposition to their drunken orgies for goddess Diana. The fact that 2Tim is in the Bible is further evidence that Timothy followed Paul and Jesus faithfully all the way to his death.
WERE Paul and Timothy deluded or mentally ill? If so, the letter is surprising. 2Tim is clear and well reasoned. Underlying it there is a calm, unshakeable confidence and peace and lots of sensible, practical advice.
Paul’s Confidence
What is P’s confidence based on?
The EXAMPLE of Jesus – who had taken the nature of a slave, emptied himself of privilege and lived a life of total obedience to God. This included explaining and promoting the values of God’s kingdom against the selfish and aggressive values of human society. Following the example of Jesus was central to P’s understanding of his own place and purpose and that of all Christians.
The SALVATION of Jesus – From the Damascus Road turning point (Acts 9.3) – Remember Paul as Saul had been a Pharisee and a violent opponent of the Christian ‘Way’ - Paul was convinced that death had been defeated (2Tim 1.10) and no longer something to fear. He wasn’t eager to die, but he wasn’t afraid to die. He knew that all he had committed to Christ’s care – his life – was in safe hands (1.12). This truth freed him to live completely for God and others. He
The COMMISSION of Jesus – Paul knew he was called by God to the work of an Apostle (1.1) from the beginning of time (1.9), not because Paul himself was anything special but because it was God’s will and purpose (1.9). He was certain that God would complete what he had started. He saw Tim as equally gifted and set apart through ordination/confirmation for the same work.
Paul’s Priority
In these final moments of Paul’s life what does he see as the most important priority? He hints at it at the start of the letter
1.3 I am grateful to God whom I worship… as my ancestors did
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 also.
1.14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you.
In the next chapter he states it clearly:
2.2 and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.
As Paul sees it, the key task of the Church is to PASS IT ON to the next generation of Christian disciples, followers of Jesus. This is because the Christian gospel is God’s plan for the rescue of the whole world.
The Gospel is to be shared in word and deed, wholeheartedly, with all people.
So how can we be a success?
The task can seem so big that it is hard to know where to start. How can we get the balance right, especially in a society which is multi-faith, mainly secular and in which Christianity is regarded with suspicion and associated with a dark and abusive past?
Let’s concentrate on the advice Paul gives in 1.6-7
Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
From this:-
1. We need to use the abilities and spiritual gifts God has given us for the purpose of building up the church and blessing others. They will be no use unless ‘fanned into flame’. Gifts need to be identified, trained and used. Prayerful discernment and the help of a pastor or spiritual guide can help.
2. Power or Courage. Our natural timidity, caution or cowardice needs to be replaced with a boldness and confidence in God’s ability to work through us. Our Christian ‘muscles’ will get stronger as we use them and see the results. (Rugby – go into a tackle hard and you won’t get hurt. Or if you do it will have been worth it!). Worship can help us develop our awareness of and openness to God’s power.
3. Love. Power is no good without love – as Paul explains in 1Corinthians 13.1-3. Unless genuine love of others motivates all that we do, it will be empty and worthless and will not serve God’s purposes.
4. Self-discipline and Wisdom are also necessary – journaling can help, also prayerfully thinking things through with trusted friends.
I recently came across an interesting quote from a Catholic activist which is very similar to what Paul is saying:

Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But the one who has love, courage and wisdom moves the world. (Ammon Hennacy 1893-1970)

That quote is on the inside cover of a book I’m reading at the moment ‘The Irresistible Revolution’ by Shane Claiborne, a young Christian leader following in the footsteps of Paul and Timothy. On p64 he writes ‘we decided to stop complaining about the church we saw, and we set our hearts on becoming the church we dreamed of.’
Seems like a good idea!