The United States has attacked Afghanistan. It has begun. The long war on terrorism. We don’t know how long it will last. We only know that it will be a long and difficult struggle.
This morning, Paul encouraged Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith”, to join in hand to hand combat against sin. It’s interesting to note that in the Greek the idea is of a continuous struggle, to constantly be fighting that good fight. In fact, Paul tells Timothy that our struggle in this good fight of faith will last until the “appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” in the end of the world. We don’t know when that day will be. We only know that it will be a long and difficult struggle.
Well, this morning we are going to talk about our constant struggle, our good fight of faith. In our text for this morning Paul gives us three important components of our good fight: 1) that we hold on to the eternal life that we have received, 2) that we seek godliness and 3) that we be content.
I. Hold on to eternal life
Paul tells Timothy in verse 12: “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made you good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” Good confession? Many witnesses? What on earth is Paul talking about? He’s making reference here to Timothy’s baptism. You see, Timothy was baptized as an adult. As is still our custom today, Timothy made confession of his faith before being baptized. An interesting note: the confessions that those early Christians made at their baptisms formed the basis of the Apostle’s Creed. Every time we say the Apostle’s Creed, we are confessing that faith into which we were baptized.
So, Paul is telling Timothy and us to take hold of the eternal life which we received in our baptism. Through water and the Word, we are “born again”. We who by nature are dead in our transgressions and sins, are spiritually made alive through the sacrament of Holy Baptism. And now through that faith in Jesus which we receive in Baptism, we also have eternal life in heaven. We have been adopted by the King of kings and Lord of lords to be heirs of heaven. God is truly the “life-giver” as we see in verse 13.
But now, a part of our constant struggle in this world, a part of our good fight, is holding on to that salvation, not letting it go. I’d like to tell you a little story. It’s about a three year old boy from Minnesota. Has anybody here ever been to Minnesota? In the wintertime it gets pretty cold, doesn’t it? Roads and sidewalks become iced over. Well, as I said, there was a little boy about three years old who went for a walk with his father. His father asked, “Would you like me to take your hand so that you don’t slip on the ice?” The little boy said, “No.” He could do it himself. Guess what happened? He fell, right? So the little boy looked up at his father and said, “OK. I’ll take your hand.” He reached up and grabbed his father’s hand and tried to hold on tight. But having such small hands, he soon lost his grip, slipped and fell again. This time he said sheepishly, “Daddy, can you take my hand?” And with his big, strong hand the father took hold of his son’s tiny hand and never let it go.
Because we are sinners, because we are weak, we cannot hold on very well to that salvation which has been given us. Paul warned the Corinthians, “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall.” So how do we hold on to that salvation that has been given us? Well, Paul told the Philippians that we can do all things through God who gives us strength. And how does God give us strength? Through Word and Sacrament, right? In the end of the book of Ephesians, Paul encourages us to put on our “spiritual armor” when we fight the good fight of faith. And our sword in this battle is God’s Word. He is the one that gives us the strength. He is the one that protects us. He is the one that holds on to us. He keeps us in the true faith through his Word and Sacraments. Make constant use of them and God will give you the strength to hold on to your salvation even in the middle of the fiercest battles.
And now that we have received salvation in our baptisms, now that we have the confidence that we are sons of God and heirs of eternal life, out of thanks to him we fight against sin. We fight against our enemies the devil, the world and our sinful nature who want to take away our salvation. Simply put, we seek godliness.
II. Seeking godliness
After speaking of the dangers of greed, Paul tells Timothy in verse 11, “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” Our struggle is a struggle to be imitators of God. To thank him for his love, we seek to be like him. We seek to be godly.
We seek righteousness, i.e., we seek to keep his law perfectly. And again, not because we have to in order not to be punished, but gladly, out of thanks for the salvation that he has given. We seek faith. If a soldier hasn’t eaten for days, will he have the strength to fight? Obviously no, right? God’s Word is the food that nourishes our faith. How can we expect to fight the good fight of faith without constantly being in God’s Word? We seek to show love. That one word which summarizes all of God’s commands. Our struggle is to show love to God and to our neighbor, even to those who treat us wrongly. We seek endurance. The word in Greek literally means “remaining under”. In this long, difficult struggle we seek patience and endurance under the strain. The load at times is heavy. Sickness and death are all around us. We walk in danger all the way. But we press on with patient endurance knowing that this is only for a short time and that heaven is waiting for us on the other side. And finally, we seek gentleness. We seek to be loving and understanding in all that we do.
That is our struggle. Out of thanks for the eternal life that he has given us, we struggle to be like God.
III. Being content
And Paul here in our text focuses on one aspect in particular of our spiritual struggle. He tells us in verse 6, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Who wants to be a millionaire? Now as we talk about being content, we must be clear on one thing. Money and possessions are gifts of God. They are blessings. We can gladly receive them. God wants us to work hard for them. God wants us to ask him for all that our heart desires.
So what is Paul talking about here? It’s really a question of attitude. It’s a question of priorities. What’s most important to you? Well, since he has given us eternal life, since he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, God wants to be number one in our lives. But is he? We work so hard, focus all our energy on having nice homes, new cars, on giving our children everything that we never had. But it’s a trap. Having these things doesn’t bring true happiness.
Let’s read verses nine and ten again: “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money (not money, but the love of money) is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” It’s a trap. In the end we can’t take it with us. The rich man from our Gospel reading this morning found that out too late. Even while we’re here it doesn’t bring real happiness. What family doesn’t suffer when the parents are always working and don’t spend time with each other or with their families? What children don’t suffer from being spoiled and not learning how to work and fend for themselves? If we have food and clothing, let us be content with that. God always provides what we need. We don’t need cable, a Mercedes, a big house, super-nintendo, or a high-paying, high-profile job to be happy.
Let me tell you a little story about an American businessman that was visiting Mexico. He was at the pier of a tiny costal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them. The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.” The American then asked why he didn’t stay out and catch more fish? The Mexican said that he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?” The fisherman replied, “Well, I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, sir.”
The American scoffed, “I have a Harvard MBA and I can help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat, with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you could sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You could control the product, processing and distribution. You would then need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But sir, how long will all this take?” To which the American replied, “About 15 to 20 years.”
“But then what, sir?”
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions, sir? Then what?” The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll into the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
The point is that money and possessions don’t bring true happiness. They are a blessing from God to be enjoyed, but they can also be a trap, a temptation. We should not be so obsessed with getting rich, “making it” in this world, that we don’t have time for what’s important: for God and his Word. Our struggle as Christians is not to get rich. Our struggle is to be imitators of God. If God decides to bless our work with physical blessings, let’s be thankful. But that shouldn’t be our main goal in this life.
Because as Christians we are already richer than Donald Trump or even Bill Gates. We have the treasures of heaven waiting for us. Our struggle is to hold tight to that. If our hands are full holding on tightly to the things of this world, how can we hold on to that salvation?
My friends, God has given us heaven. We have forgiveness for the many times that our priorities have been messed up. So with thankful hearts, let’s take up that sword which is God’s Word. Let’s seek to be imitators of him. Let’s seek to be content. Let’s fight the good fight of faith. Amen.
