A Family Tradition
2 Timothy 1:1–14 NKJV
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
To Timothy, a beloved son:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
There was a song written by Hank Williams Jr. titled “It’s a Family Tradition.” In it he answers the charges that he drank and smoked too much. His answer is that he did these things because it was a family tradition. He was the son of Hank Williams Sr., who was a well-known country singer. Hank Sr. was a very talented musician. Many of his songs were on the rowdy side, but he also wrote “I Saw the Light.” I can only hope so. But Hank Sr. died at a very young age from alcoholism. This is the “tradition” he passed onto Hank Jr. Hank Jr. would have been better served to have disposed of these family traditions and held to the musical talent of the family.
When we read of traditions in the Bible, we sometimes get a negative attitude towards them because Jesus attacked many of the traditions of the Jewish leaders, especially the traditions of the Pharisees. In addition to this, we who are Protestants also disagree with many of the traditions handed down from Catholicism. But we should not see traditions as being totally negative. We do have to criticize any tradition which is contrary to the Word of God. But there is such a thing as positive tradition. We see an example of this in the text we read from 2 Timothy this morning.
2 Timothy was probably the last letter Paul wrote before his martyrdom. He was in tight custody awaiting execution. Philippians also dates from around this period, but Philippians still shows that Paul had some hope for release but was fully prepared to embrace death as he would then be with Christ which is the greatest gain. Paul was compelled to write Timothy to prepare him for what was about to happen. He is interested in passing down of the Christian tradition to Timothy, his son in the faith. Paul is passing the torch of the Gospel to the next generation. Timothy was a good man, but was subject to timidity and needed to be encouraged. Paul did not know whether he would ever have opportunity to see Timothy. He does ask him to come before winter and to bring Mark with the parchments.
How many times I wished I had asked more questions to my parents and grandparents while they were alive about the family history and traditions. I am happy for the ones i did learn, but there is much that now remains silent. Perhaps, some of these traditions were important and some are best forgotten. At any rate, any opportunity to know them is gone.
Paul had a much more important tradition to pass on to Timothy. We understand tradition as something passed down from generation to generation, a part of one’s inheritance. What Paul is passing to Timothy and the next generations is the Gospel. The Scriptures are the God breathed and profitable in every way. These things are written for our instruction and admonition. This is not to say that Scripture contains every word God has spoken or what He has done. All the books ever written would not be sufficient for this as the Apostle John tells us. Paul wrote epistles to churches which are now lost. This doesn’t mean that they were not important and authoritative to the recipients. What is does mean is that everything God wanted to pass down to us is recorded in the Bible. I certainly would like to know what his epistle to the Laodiceans said if it could be found. But what has been passed down is sufficient for our rule of faith and of salvation.
Paul talks about the tradition which Timothy’s grandmother and mother had passed down to Timothy. In particular, Paul remembers their genuine faith. His mother and grandmother may have passed down many other good things as well, but what we do notice, no mention is made of anything passed down from his earthly father, who was a Greek. This does not mean that his earthly father was necessarily a bad father, but what it does say that whatever traditions he might have passed down were of secondary importance. There were probably traditions from his mother’s side which are not mentioned which may have been perfectly good family traditions. Bad traditions may have been in the family. We do not know. what we know is of the greatest importance is that a genuine faith was passed down to Timothy. Also, we read that from his youth, Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures which made him wise unto salvation. It is the genuine faith plus the Scripture that made Timothy the man of God he was. Would not these traditions become part of our own family tradition!
The Church is a family. It is God’s family. The faith has to be passed down from generation. Many traditions have been passed down. some of these traditions are essential. Some might hold some value, and others should be discarded as superfluous or even erroneous. The faith the church passes down must be Scripturally consistent. The problem with many of the Jewish traditions is that they involved misinterpretations or substituted human wisdom for God’s. We see that the Church gradually adopted traditions which were unscriptural. Romances, such as a story that Jesus turned clay pigeons into living ones when he was a child was one of the less innocuous traditions. Some traditions were entirely contrary to the teaching of Scripture. the body of tradition grows from generation to generation and must be examined and pruned. The Jews had some good traditions as they were the custodians of Scripture. The synagogue structure was helpful in the establishment of the early Church. their desire to keep the Scripture was good, even if it led to misinterpretations of it. But much needed to be discarded as well. The same can be said of Roman Catholicism. and even the Protestant tradition holds to many things which should be discarded. There is a saying “semper reformanda” (always reforming) which should apply to the church. the Protestant Reformation was a great act of simplification and a return to the basics of the faith. We must continue in this process.
Nothing works to return the faith to its essentials than persecution. In better times, we tend to wander and have the time and liberty to examine ideas in the church which are at most, of lesser value. But what is worth suffering and dying for? This is what we see here in Paul’s letter to Timothy. Paul does not have the time left to engage in great discussions of the faith. He is about to be executed. The essentials Paul passes to Timothy are to prepare Timothy who tended to be timid for leadership in the Church, a leadership which tradition says eventually led to his martyrdom. This served as the culmination of Paul’s training of Timothy to replace him in the ministry. Paul acted as a father to Timothy beginning with Timothy’s circumcision. Timothy’s Greek father did not see circumcision as being an important tradition to pass down to his son. There is much controversy in church circles why Paul circumcised Timothy as circumcision has been replaced by baptism, but for Timothy it was necessary for some reason, if for no other reason as something passed down in Judaism from father to son. So, as Timothy’s father, he passed down his traditions as well as reinforced the traditions of genuine faith and knowledge of the Scripture. Timothy needed to know the proper understanding of Scripture as Jesus and His Apostles taught in the Christian tradition. Timothy saw for years how Paul operated in the establishment and growth of the churches.
Many good things were learned by Timothy over the years. But of all these, in the face of the threat of suffering and death, there was the need to make sure that one’s faith was properly grounded in the Christian promise of eternal life in Christ. Without this genuine faith, Timothy would falter. So would we. It isn’t enough to have a sincere faith. People can be sincerely wrong. A genuine faith does have a sincere component, but it must have true content. This is found in the Word of God as properly discerned by the aid of the Holy Spirit.
So, what do we do while we wait for the return of the Lord Jesus? We read that in the last days that dangerous time will come. I can’t say for sure that these last days are upon us, but all indications are that we Christians are living in difficult times. We must prepare our churches for these times. Even if the end does not come within our generation, there are numerous historical examples of the persecution and suffering of Christians. So, we must make sure we pass down a genuine faith and the knowledge of the Holy Scripture in our members so that when these times come, the believers are prepared and can stand. This is no time to be timid. We must be bold, and we cannot be bold unless we are convinced of the promises of God for our future, knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and so on. Even if the end does not come yet, these traits are valuable in all seasons. After all, we are all appointed once to die and after that the judgment. Whether we live in good or evil times, we all face that eventuality.
Jesus tells us to occupy until He returns. This is a sure promise of Scripture and we are told that we must be found busy in His business until He returns. We must prepare as if that day is today or a thousand years off. We must prepare the next generation of pastors and provide them with a genuine faith and knowledge of the Scripture that they might teach others as well. We who are [pastors and leaders in the church are only here for a little while longer. So let us use this time wisely/
