In
our story here this morning, we see how close Paul and Timothy are. Paul’s sharing
his life with Timothy; telling him all about his joys and struggles, his
purpose in life and the persecution he’s getting from living out his purpose of
bringing the gospel to everyone. He’s sharing his faith, way of life, and how
he’s learned the importance of patience, love and endurance. Paul’s life
centers on Jesus and he’s enjoying the blessings and enduring the struggles
that come with a Jesus-centered life. Paul’s sharing all of this with Timothy
in order to strengthen and encourage Timothy in his own life and ministry.
Paul
reminds Timothy that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Paul’s living this out, but Jesus also warns his
followers that if they choose him, they’ll face persecution. We always talk
about being unique, about living life our way, our culture even encourages
this, at least until your values become different from the culture’s, then
you’re told that your values don’t belong and you need to change to fit what
the majority accept as true and right. Be unique, but not too unique, is what
it comes down to. In most cultures, Jesus’ message and values are different
from the majority. Jesus embraces humility, self-sacrifice, responsibility,
extreme generosity, acceptance of those on the fringe and who don’t fit in, calling
us to accept God’s truth and way as our own, and Jesus calls us to be so much
more than we are right now.
Paul’s
encouraging Timothy to keep on living out what he believes and what he’s
been taught. I love how Paul tells Timothy that you embrace what you’ve been
taught because of the relationship you have with the people who have taught
you; his grandmother, his mother, Paul and others. These are people Timothy
trusts and loves and who love him back, they want the best for him. It’s true
even today, as your pastor I can tell you something, but if you hear it from
your grandparents or a favourite aunt or uncle, you’re much more willing to
trust them because of the relationship you have with them. These are the people
who’ve taught you about God and the wonder and specialness of the Bible as God’s
own words given to us as a gift.
Part
of the reason Paul’s writing Timothy is because Nero is the emperor and has
begun persecuting Christians. This distracted everyone from taking a closer
look at how evil, cruel and immoral he was. Romans were leaving their
traditional beliefs, including believing that Caesar was a god, and were
turning to other faiths, including following Jesus. Rulers back then, just as
today, will often identify a small group of people who are slightly different
than everyone else and then accuse them of all kinds of immoral things, of not
believing the right things, just to take the attention off of their own
behaviour. This often turns into mob rule, something we’re seeing way too often
today all over the world and we’re not immune to it.
In
these unsettled times, times filled with anxiety, uncertainty and fear, Paul
points Timothy to Scripture, reminding him that it’s
God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness. I hear echoes here back to Genesis 1 & 2 and how God created
us. He created order and beauty out of chaos, he took the earth itself and
formed a man, giving it life by breathing his breath, his Spirit into it to
give it life. This is what Scripture does, it brings life and hope, points us
to the one who gives new life: Jesus. Scriptures are the good news that show us
who God is, revealing Jesus as God’s Word made flesh.
Paul
reminds Timothy that the Scriptures are useful for teaching. They reveal what’s
true about life, pointing us to Jesus and his life and teaching. Jesus calls
himself the way, truth and life as he calls us
to follow him and place our hope in him for salvation. We are constantly being
told that there is no absolute truth, that we create our own truth. If we all
could create our own truth, what happens when our created truths contradict
each other, compete against each other. If they are opposite, then one person’s
truth will be wrong, will be a lie. Jesus calls us to believe in him, to look
to him for the truth. We don’t create truth; we discover truth in Jesus. In
finding the truth in Jesus, we discover in the Scriptures how to live life well
with God and each other, with ourselves and with creation.
Scriptures
also rebuke us, tells us to be honest about where our hearts and desires really
are. The Scriptures don’t allow us to fool ourselves into thinking we’re better
than we really are. That’s hard for a lot of us to hear because, while we say
that we cannot earn our salvation simply by being good, that’s often how we
live, believing that if we’re good enough, God could never say ‘no’ to us. We
want to be with Jesus when we die, but we want to have fun and do what we want
right now too. We seem to think that a holy life is a dull life, but Scripture
shows us that the most exciting life is one where we give our all to Jesus.
The
Scriptures are a very helpful source of correction for us. It guides us back
to healthier ways of thinking and seeing life and the world around us.; from
false beliefs to true beliefs about who we are. There are a lot of people of
all ages, from young children to older seniors who struggle with mental health
right now. The last while has been difficult for many of us. We have been
restricted from socializing the ways we are used to, physical connections are
limited, some have lost their jobs, and so anxiety, fear, mental tiredness and
depression have affected most of us at some point in the past 6 months, some
are wrestling with their mental health in some serious ways now. Some of this
has biological roots and so if you are struggling right now, you do need to see
a doctor or therapist.
Yet
some of it comes from how we see things. We falsely believe that we’re alone and
no one understands, we falsely believe that we have no value and nothing to
offer, we falsely believe we have no future and no way forward, we falsely
believe that others look down on us for being weak, and we falsely believe that
no one cares. When we believe these things, anxiety, fear, and depression can
knock us down real hard. This is why we need to turn to Scripture, or if your
loved one is walking through a hard time mentally and emotionally, remind them
again of the truths found in Scripture, that they are not alone, that the Holy
Spirit is with us always to comfort us, remind us of who Jesus is and what he
taught, to give us strength and hope. They will experience them through your
love and compassion and presence.
The
Scriptures remind us that we’re beloved children of God, precious
in his sight, princesses and princes in the kingdom of heaven. Scriptures don’t
promise us an easy future, but that there is a future and a way forward and
Jesus is with us through it all. While others may look down on us, Jesus
doesn’t, he is filled with compassion and love for us. He became human so he
could experience life as we do, with all it’s struggles and joys so that no
matter what is happening, we know we can always go to him and he will
understand. God cares, Jesus cares, and as a church, we care too.
Finally,
Paul reminds us that Scripture trains us in righteousness to grow our faith by
giving us spiritual and life practices that teach us how to live well with God,
with others, ourselves and with creation. The goal is that we are equipped for every good work. I like how Paul
says it in Ephesians 2, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do
good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We’re reminded
as we look for the good works prepared for us to do, that we do so as God’s
handiwork, as his masterpieces in this world. We do these good works out of
gratitude to Jesus for how he took our sin and brokenness to the cross where he
defeated sin and death and in his resurrection 3 days later, shows us that we
are now dead to sin and resurrected into a new life of hope.
As
we move forward as Bethel Church, looking ahead to the opportunities our
renovated building will bring, Scripture and the Holy Spirit will guide us as
we seek to do the good works prepared for us to do to make our city a more
blessed place to live, as we bring others to Jesus to experience the salvation
and full life that Jesus offers.
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