Thursday of Pentecost 17

Thursday of Pentecost 17 (Proper 22C)

October 10, 2019

Circuit Winkel

Christ the King Lutheran Church

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Pastor Timothy had a rough go of ministry in his Ephesian parish.  Right off the bat in his first letter to the young preacher, St. Paul has to tell him to stay put and do the hard work, take his lumps, and rejoice in suffering for the Gospel God has given him to proclaim, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).  That Gospel, Paul says, has given the Apostle himself strength, and will strengthen Timothy to keep the charge.  Paul pulls no punches.  It won’t be easy.  It will take prayer and dedicated study and preaching of the Word.  Not just anybody should be a pastor, or a deacon for that matter, even if they desire the noble task.  It wouldn’t kill us to re-read the list of qualifications in First Timothy 3 regularly, as Paul gives us a pastoral theology beyond compare.  It is important for us to keep these things before our eyes, because, Paul says, pitfalls and stones of stumbling await us around every corner.  Many who are with us will turn out to be against us and depart from the faith.  Suffering is a promise.  There is a personal cost to it all.  The preacher will suffer rejection, and even persecution, as a good servant of Christ Jesus, the Crucified, for the servant is not above his Master.  False teachers will abound.  The preacher must fight the good fight of faith, and there will necessarily be casualties.  These are the things they don’t tell us until after Seminary.  But then, we should have known better, because it’s all right there in the Bible, spelled out for us in First Timothy. 

Which brings us to our text in Second Timothy Chapter 1.  Things are not much easier for Timothy, and now Paul, his spiritual father, is on his way to martyrdom.  Paul prays for Timothy from the dungeon, constantly, night and day.  Timothy sheds his tears for Paul.  In times of suffering, it’s back to the basics, and in particular, the Promises, the Gospel, Jesus.  Timothy, I’m reminded of your faith, Paul says.  You know, the faith you learned from infancy on the knees of your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, a faith that now dwells in you (v. 5).  The faith you learned as a child is no different than the faith you now preach in the face of much opposition.  It is the same Lord Jesus who loves you, this you know.  But you’ve grown up into this faith, and now you’ve received an Office, the preaching Office, by the laying on of my hands.  And that did not come without a gift.  It is the gift of God, a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control (vv. 6-7).

When a man, like Timothy, is placed into the Preaching Office, the Holy Spirit is present, not to stamp upon the man some indelible character a la the Roman priesthood (you can call me a sacerdotalist, and you may be right, but this isn’t that), but by the Word to bestow gifts on the sinful man now entrusted with a ministry.  The man is not sufficient of himself.  Timothy is not sufficient.  You, brother, are not sufficient.  But God is.  And He does not forsake the man… He does not forsake you. 

Power, He gives: δυνάμεως, dynamite!  Well, we like that word, but I’m not so sure we know what it means.  I took a chance and looked it up.  Not just power… Ability.  Capability.  Capacity.  But for the disciple, and so for the preacher, always under the cross, under suffering, and that which, to all appearances, is the opposite of power.  Paul learned this first-hand with his thorn in the flesh.  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my δύναμις is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9; ESV mostly). 

Love.  You know this one: ἀγάπης.  It is the love with which Christ loves us and gave Himself for us to the death of the cross for our redemption.  This is self-sacrificial love.  It expects nothing in return.  It does not love because the beloved is loveable or worthy of love, but because this love is good.  It loves because it declares the beloved loved.  It lays it all on the line, suffers, gives everything, even to death, for the sake of, for the good of… ah, not just those who receive and appreciate that love, but even those who will reject it and kill the love-giver.  That is the love the preacher is to have for his people, and as you know from first-hand experience, if you’re in any way honest about it, it is a love of which you fall far short.  Especially with a few of your… beloved sheep.  Timothy, too.  He knows that problem.  I’m not excusing you.  Repent.  Me too.  But look what the text says.  This isn’t a love that comes from you, down in your heart.  It comes from the Spirit.  It is the gift of God, for all Christians, to be sure, but in this text, particularly for the preacher. 

 

And self-control: σωφρονισμοῦ.  In addition to self-control or moderation in terms of behavior, we could translate it as soundness of mind.  Why not both?  A mind set on the pattern of sound words, as Paul says, is a mind of faith and love in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 1:13).  That’s as sound as it gets in the midst of the cacophony of spiritual storm and war that rages all around the preacher.  And that kind of soundness bears fruit in controlled and deliberate pastoral behavior.  What do faith and love demand of me in this difficult situation?  What Word of God is called for?  It is Spirit-sanctified slow-motion in the mind while chaos wreaks demonic havoc on all sides.  This, too, is God’s gift to the preacher.

And these are given, not because the preacher is Somebody, or anybody, but because God is the preacher’s sufficiency.  So that he is not ashamed of the testimony (μαρτύριον) of our Lord (v. 8), which is the Gospel of Christ, but is ready to share in suffering, even as Paul is in prison and about to lose his head, even as Timothy bears rejection and the apostasy of those he loves and has given his all for, even as you bear the holy cross of anxious ἀγάπη for those you love and serve, and have undoubtedly suffered rebuke, rejection, and someday maybe even persecution, as a good servant of Christ Jesus.  I’m not entirely sure what you suffer, but I know you do, because that is what we are promised here.  It is the lot for the preacher. 

God, who saved us, has called us to a holy calling (v. 9).  We are appointed to proclaim the purpose and grace of God which has now been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the vey Gospel we are given to proclaim (vv. 9-10).  That is why you suffer, according to Paul (v. 12).  But be not ashamed.  Fan into flame the gift that is yours by the Holy Spirit who has set you apart for this very thing.  Preach the Gospel.  With power, made perfect in weakness.  With love that flows from Christ the Crucified through you to your flock.  With the soundness of a mind set on Jesus Christ and His pattern of sound words.  God has not and will not forsake you.  He has outfitted you for this ministry.  Hold fast to Him.  Guard the good deposit.  Which is to say, preach it.  And stay the course.  Take your lumps and rejoice.  Even if the flashing of cold steel severs your sound mind from your neck.  You know whom you have believed.  And you know without a doubt that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to you (v. 12).  He is faithful.  He will surely do it.  We know that.  Because He is risen from the dead.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.