Isaiah 55:4-12
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
2 Timothy 4:1-5
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
“Passing the Torch”
Well… it has been a long stewardship campaign. Five weeks in all. All of them focused on what we are called to be as members of First Presbyterian Church. It started out with making a personal commitment to God, and fostering a personal relationship with him. Then we talked about every member’s commitment to this church… how we lift each other up and support one another. Then it was the big “Time, Talents, and Finances” sermon that should be able to go without explanation by now. Last week, we talked about making a personal commitment to serving. Today, we finish up our stewardship drive with one of the single most challenging parts… as members, every single one of us is called to share the message… to pass the torch… through evangelism.
Our scripture text today can tell us a lot about evangelism and passing the torch… because that is what Paul’s second letter to Timothy was all about. You see… when Paul was writing this letter… he was in prison and he was sure that his life was about to end. His ministry… if it was to continue… would need to be carried on by someone else… someone younger… someone, not in prison. Enter Timothy.
Timothy is a young, enthusiastic, and passion filled man for the Lord. However… he has a few huge strikes working against him… 1. he is not Paul… 2. he looks like he is 12… who wants to trust and follow a 12 year old… and 3. he has missed the hay-day of Christianity. Three big strikes working against him… not exactly the first choice you’d have to lead the Christian church out of its big slump.
Oh… that’s right… I haven’t told you about the big slump yet! Timothy is being called upon to lead the “third generation” church. This is a church that… except for Grandma and Grandpa… has never seen Jesus Christ in person… all they have are the letters and the stories. And the church is suffering… the church is declining… the first generation was moaning and wailing, “how will we ever get this younger generation to carry on the church?” Survival of the Christian community seemed highly doubtful to any realistic observer.
Paul, for one, would not stand idly by and let the church fade away. Now, he would not be able to lead the fight to keep the church alive… it would be for somebody else to do. Timothy was that somebody. That is what our text is about today, it is a letter from Paul to Timothy… passing off the baton of leadership, and letting the next generation lead the church.
Timothy’s race remains yet ahead, even as Paul’s is completing his. The baton is being passed from one runner to another. As the letter nears its end, Paul’s life is drawing toward its end. Second Timothy chapter four is the last passing of the baton – Paul’s last opportunity to instruct and charge Timothy!
FIVE IMPERATIVES
Five terse imperatives follow. Imperatives are not optional… it isn’t… “if you feel like it.” It is a “THOU SHALL.” Paul wastes absolutely no time or breath. Time is at a premium in a death cell.
1) Preach the word
2) Be prepared in season and out of season
3) Correct
4) Rebuke
5) Encourage
- with great patience and careful instruction.
Esentially, Paul gives Timothy the playbook on how to be a successful leader. The top five things the church needs. The rest… he leaves up to the next generation to decide… but these things… these things DO! Finally, at the end of our scripture text, Paul gives his encouragement to Timothy… a message from one pastor to another, from one who knows that things don’t always go smoothly in churches… he writes to Timothy, “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
Perhaps a few of you are thinking… well that’s a great sermon… IF YOU’RE A PASTOR. Well folks, even though these letters are known as “the pastorals” they do not let you off the hook as laity. The lessons given to Timothy are lessons given to all of us.
The first lesson that we need to hear as a church is that we have to pass the baton off. This church will look very different in 25 years… just as you and I will all be VERY different in 25 years… we need to take steps to ensure that in 25 years… while the church may LOOK extremely different… it is still doing the core things that we want it to do! But we need someone to pass the baton off to!
And folks, this job lands squarely on all of your shoulders, because the statistics of Church growth are quite clear. The Institute for American Church Growth took a survey of 10,000 new Christians across all denominations asking “What led them in?”
2 percent said it was a special need the church served
3 percent said they merely walked in off the street and liked the church
1 percent said it was because of being visited by someone in the church
5 percent said they were drawn in because of Sunday School
5 percent were drawn in by evangelistic crusade
3 percent were drawn to the church’s program
An amazing 6 percent said it was the pastor who led them in
But in the end… 75 percent of people said they were drawn in by a friend or a relative.
Ultimately, we need to reach out in love to our friends, we need to reach out in love to our neighbors, we need to reach out in love to this town… and to this community, because that is what we are called to do.
But it doesn’t end there either… there is a second lesson in all of this for our church. Once we start passing off the baton… we need to allow the next generation to begin deciding just “how” our ministry will look like, and what the church will look like. Paul didn’t give Timothy a step by step guide on how to do church, he left it up to Timothy and his church.
As we begin to grow this church, one of the hardest things we will encounter… is change. As new people come in and as new ideas come in, things will begin to be done differently. Part of passing the baton on, is allowing the next runner to run the race in their manner of running.
MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME
To finish up this sermon, there is a story I would like to share with you. It comes from Becky Pippert, a Christian author from Naperville, Illinois. She recounts this true story. While doing campus ministry she met a student named Bill on a college campus in Portland, Oregon. Bill was brilliant, and always looked like he was pondering something deep. He had messy hair, and the entire time she knew him, she never saw him wear a pair of shoes. Rain, sleet, or snow, Bill was always barefoot.
While he was attending college, he had become a Christian. At this time, a well-dressed, middle-class church across the street from the campus wanted to develop more of a ministry to the students. They weren’t sure how to go about it, but they tried to make them feel welcome. One day Bill decided to worship there. He walked into this church wearing his blue jeans, T-shirt and of course no shoes.
People looked a bit uncomfortable, but no one said anything. So Bill began walking down the aisle looking for a seat. The church was quite crowded that Sunday, so as he got down to the front pew and realized there were no seats, he just squatted on the carpet – perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, but perhaps unnerving for a buttoned-down church congregation.
The tension in the air became so thick one could slice it. Suddenly an elderly man began walking down the aisle toward the boy. Was he going to scold Bill? Becky’s friends who saw him approaching said they thought "You can’t blame him. He’d never guess Bill is a Christian. And his world is too distant from Bill’s to understand. You can’t blame him for what he’s going to do."
As the man kept walking slowly down the aisle, the church became utterly silent. All eyes were focused on him. You couldn’t hear anyone breathe. When the man reached Bill, he did something amazing… he took off his shoes, and… with some difficulty he lowered himself and sat down next to him on the carpet. He and Bill worshipped together on the floor that Sunday.
While it may not be something you and I would comfortable with… barefooted people sitting up here on the floor… it was worship. It is time for us to reach out… it is time for us to grow… and it is time for us to trust in God that he will lead this church into the future he has promised for it. May we do so… with God’s help.
So all of you, “keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” Amen.
