Servanthood
2 Timothy 3:1-7
Paul is writing to his younger friend serving in ministry. Timothy is not serving directly as a Pastor of a church like today. He is a combination of missionary, envoy, evangelist, preacher, teacher, overseer and recruiter. He was selected as a traveling companion and trained by Paul and is being empowered and entrusted with continuing the ministry to the gentiles.
In the beginning of the letter Paul thanks God for Timothy’s faith in God which has been passed to him by his mother and grandmother. (Lois and Eunice)
He shared that he prayed for Timothy constantly. He also reminds Timothy of the sound teaching to add to his faith and to guard it as a “good deposit” with the help if the Holy Spirit. After some brief mention of disappointment in some who lost their faith and He gives thanks for the help he has receives as well.
This is where our reading today picked up.
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Paul refers to Timothy as his son, I suppose in a combination spiritual and relationship since. It is likely that Timothy knew Paul better than any other person. It appears that this letter is intended to be a combination of encouragement to Timothy and a letter of recommendation to the churches on his behalf.
Paul is not empowering Timothy based on his faith or knowledge. He is not indicating that Timothy is some kind of natural leader. He tells him to depend on the grace that comes from Christ Jesus.
It seems that his qualification as Paul’s successor is to be in his dependence on Christ. I hope that I might one day get close to that single best qualification.
I find that I end up with way too much dependence on education and resources and empowerment based on human ability, and authority. However, Paul does not discount education as being important. He says, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
So, he is instructing Timothy to pass on the knowledge to other people. But, he is specific about the kind of people. First, he defines the knowledge, the things that the heard Paul say in the presence of witnesses. The teaching about Jesus Christ and salvation and resurrection; The Good news.
Timothy is to entrust (commit – kjv) - to charge or invest with a trust or responsibility; charge with a specified office or duty involving trust: We entrusted him with our lives.
He is not to just tell people, or teach people he is to entrust men. He is not just giving away information for people to take or leave. He is entrusting “reliable” men to keep the information save, pure. Paul is advising Timothy to find the right men to maintain the Good news in a way that it will not be lost or lose its value.
These men need to have one additional quality. They had to be qualified to teach. That would meant that they held to a right knowledge of the information, they probably had to have a sound reputation in the community and in the local churches, and could communicate reasonably well.
I would suggest that these men also would show some level of dependence on the grace of Jesus Christ as well.
Next Paul encourages timothy to “suffer the hardship” with Paul for the sake of the message. of being a Christian and he uses three occupations, a soldier an athlete and a farmer to make his point to Timothy. He uses three occupations that require discipline and sacrifice to be successful.
He starts with the soldier and says, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.”
When a person enlist in the military the take an oath to protect the nation and to serve obediently. When a person enlists in the military, they had better not think they are about to enter a life of ease and choice. A soldier’s life is on of training and preparation and service. A soldier lives a life of personal sacrifice and hardship. A soldier has to do without the comforts and pleasures of this world. It is a life with minimum possessions and limited free time.
When our son James was in town he did not talk much about his experiences in Iraq or even his state side duty stations. What little he said often included a little phrase, “On mission.”. He has time on base and time on mission. When he was in Iraq his on duty and off duty time alternated between being on mission or getting ready to be on mission.
For him it was distracting to call home or to write because it took his focus off of his preparation.
Soldiers give up worldly security, comfort and endure rigorous training to improve the odds of a successful mission.
Paul is telling Timothy that Christians should expect to live in a similar way. Jesus says in Luke 9:23 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
Christians should be like a good soldier and have a single focus and goal which to please the one that enlisted him. The commander and Chief, God, sets the mission for us. We are committed to loyalty and a life of service.
Paul is says that a soldier does not occupy himself with civilian affairs or activities while he is enlisted. When you are a soldier, you are nothing but a soldier. When one enlists, they leave behind their old life and start a new one. The roman soldiers were not allowed to have outside work when they were off duty. They focus on the direction, the mission of the commander.
As Christians we are in the Lord’s army. We are also supposed to be good soldiers for the Lord and leave behind portions of our life style. We are to receive training to prepare ourselves for a successful mission. The work of God is centered around reaching people with the message of Jesus Christ. We need to recognize that we are in a war zone and stay focused.
Paul adds, “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.
Successfully enduring the hardships related to faith is like an athlete to win the trophy, the glory of winning the competition requires the discipline of training the body and also following the rules.
Athletes of the day competed for honor. Winning gave them a prized place in the community. Athletes, of the day, trained for months and years to compete in the Isthmian and Olympic Games so that on the day of competition they could focus all their energy and strength to gain the prize. But, if a competitor broke the rules it would all be for nothing. The prize would be lost and disgrace would fall on the person.
So a Christian must be prepared for a spiritual competition. They should want to win in a way that brings honor and glory to God. But, it is necessary to follow the rules – to share correct information and to be consistent as a Christian. Your life as a Christian is governed by the rules in scripture.
Then Paul adds the last occupation, “The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.”
Of the three occupations that Paul refers to this one sounds the best. I like the idea of getting my share first. But, in my reading I found that the translation might be more accurate if it read that “the farmer that first labors hard will receive his share of the crops.”
I Know that does not sound as good but it does seem more consistent with the other two examples.
So a farmer has to put in his work and be patient for the harvest to come.
I have a neighbor that is a professional farmer. He and his son work on probably 500 acres of land. He produces Soybeans, corn, hay and keeps about 100 cows.
Let me tell you he is a busy man. It is hard to visit him when he is not working on something. Don’t even try during planting or harvest season because they are busy for sunup to sundown. In between they are tending and dealing with problems with water, insects, working on their equipment and taking care of animals.
A farmers work is repetitive and not very exciting. It is not glamorous and it is often boring…There are no crowns or big victories. A farmer knows that his only reward is in receiving the harvest.
Paul uses the farmer to illustrate that the Christian life is filled with hard work and requires patients to see the results. So a Christians is to live as an example to the community. We are to work at being a Christian husband or wife. We are to work to comfort the sick and visit the imprisoned. We are to work at sharing the gospel with others. We are to work at helping and encouraging and maturing people in the faith which is constant work with seemingly small results.
Fulfilling our everyday Christian responsibilities is not all that glamorous. It’s not all excitement either. In truth, there are times when working to be a faithful Christian can be tedious and monotonous.
On top of all that…..just like the farmer, you don’t always see an immediate pay-off. My friend is working hard in December and won’t see a pay-off until the following November. He has to wait almost a year to get his paycheck.
Sometimes, when we do the Lord’s work, we can see the fruits of our labors. Those occasions are encouraging. But, for the most part, we will not receive any reward for our labors until Judgment Day. There is a lot of effort we must do and we cannot expect to get even a ‘pat on the back’ until Jesus Himself says at the Last Day, “Well done, my faithful servant.”
We must be like the farmer - willing to work hard each day and be patient for the ultimate payback. We have to use self-discipline and great perseverance in doing the works we know we should do and keep the faith that God will richly reward us one Day.
So Paul advises Timothy the select reliable/ trustworthy men to serve as teachers. He tells him that he and the others should face hardship with three characters. Like a soldier responding to duty and obedience. Like an athlete in their way of life that follows the rules and like a farmer with hard work and patients.
The important point is that all three characteristics require discipline to gain the goal. All three require work which may succeed or fail. The only chance of success if the preparations are carried out no matter how repetitive or boring.
There is an old quote - Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.
The Christian life is on of servant hood which requires discipline which includes loyalty, obedience, hard work and patience so that our mission as God’s soldiers will be completed well.
Let me be clear –
A soldier is of little use in war if not properly trained
An athlete is not really a competitor unless he or she is in good shape and knows the rules of their sport.
A farmer won’t have a harvest unless he prepares the ground and plants the seeds.
As Christians we are also to be focused on a goal and going somewhere. Unfortunately the Christian life is one that looses its power if we are doing the minimum. If we are content with just being fed, being served and never have the goal of feeding or serving.
Quoting Paul, Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
All Glory be to God!
