Layers Of Minons Series

Layers of Minions

As Sir Hiss was to Prince John and as Donkey was to Shrek, so Timothy is to Paul. Sounds like a question on a game show.

What is “Henchman?”

Hiss was a Henchman, Donkey was a side-kick and Timothy was a protégé but they were all Minions.

And remember how the Oxford dictionary defines a minion: “A follower or underling of a powerful person, especially a servile or unimportant one.”

This is week two of our “Minions: Playing Second Fiddle for God” series and you know what they say, another sermon another pair of minion socks. Well maybe they don’t say that, but they should.

This week we are looking at Timothy who we are first introduced to in the book of Acts and then later on there are two books in the New Testament which were addressed to Timothy.

1 and 2 Timothy are two of three books which are referred to as “Pastoral Epistles.” Or Pastoral letters and they are simply letters which Paul had sent to directly to pastors who he had trained.

So, the book of Ephesians was a letter that was written to the church in Ephesus. But the books of 1 and 2 Timothy were letters which were written to the Pastor of the church in Ephesus and that was Timothy.

Just like some letters that arrive in our mailbox here at the church are addressed to Cornerstone Wesleyan Church and others are addressed to Rev. Denn Guptill.

So let’s start at the beginning, which is usually a good place to start.

The Apostle Paul is on what is referred to as his Second Missionary journey, it began in Jerusalem and now he has ended up in Lystra, which is located in modern day Turkey.

And we pick up the story in Acts 16:1 Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. And so let’s begin with the fact that

Timothy was a Young Minion I don't know about you but often times when I think of the heroes of the bible, I think of older, more mature individuals.

And in the case of Moses, who was 80 when he was called to lead the People out of Egypt, or Abraham who was 99 when the promise of becoming the father of a great nation was fulfilled the picture of the man with the white beard is probably fitting.

And, if you pause and picture, say the 12 Apostles, who were the Minions that we spoke of last week, you probably think of Jesus surrounded by mostly older men. But the 12 were most likely in their twenties.

Paul who was the architect of the early church was in his early thirties when he was called.

Jesus was only 30 when he began preaching and 33 when he was crucified.

So, while we don’t know how old Timothy was, he was young enough that it was mentioned. And several years later Paul would write to Timothy and remind him in 1

Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. . . .

The bible reminds us that age isn’t a factor. It wasn’t a factor when God called those who were old and it wasn't a factor when God called those who were young.

Age shouldn’t be a limit on our dreams or our calling.

Bill Gates was twenty when he founded Microsoft and Steve Jobs was 21 when Apple started and Mozart had composed over 600 works by the time he died at the ripe old age of 35.

On the other hand, Colonel Sanders was 62 years old when he founded KFC, Christopher Plummer won his first Oscar when he was 82 and Gladys Burrill completed her first marathon at the age of 92. They called her the Gladyiator.

God doesn’t have an upper or lower age limit on who he chooses to uses. Don’t let anyone think less of you because of your . . . age.

What else can we discover? Let's keep reading. . . Acts 16:1-2 . . .His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium. . .

Timothy was young, but he wasn't fresh out of the box.

Timothy was A Minion with a Heritage Even though Timothy was young he was mature in his faith. And the credit for that goes to two ladies in his life.

If we go to the second letter that bears Timothy’s name we read this about his heritage. 2 Timothy 1:5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.