Remembering You Series

Undoubtedly Paul could have focused on deficits in Timothy’s character or ministry—each of us is aware of times when our conduct was less than sterling. In either of these Pastoral Letters Paul speaks, if only tangentially, of issues that were problematic, instances in which Timothy was not fulfilling the ministry he had received. However, Paul chose to remember Timothy’s tears; he brings to memory the love they had shared for so long—love growing out of shared hardship and our of shared victories. A likely reference for Timothy’s tears could have been to a reference in Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. As he opened the first missive, the Apostle wrote, “As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine” [1 TIMOTHY 1:3].

One must wonder whether this is perhaps even a reference to Paul’s meeting with the Ephesian elders at Miletus? We can’t be certain, but that is surely possible. You will recall the record of that meeting. Paul had sent to Ephesus for the Ephesian elders to come meet him as he journeyed to Jerusalem. After pointedly addressing his concerns for their service in a hard place, Doctor Luke recorded the tender, moving scene of parting. “When [had finished speaking], he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again” [ACTS 20:36-38].

I appreciate these words written many years ago. “Tears, the flower of the heart, indicate either the greatest hypocrisy or the utmost sincerity. Turning tears into ridicule is a proof of the depravity of our age.” [2] The expression of our deepest feelings was more common in a bygone day than is true of this day. We’ve somehow indoctrinated the last several generations that tears are evidence of weakness, when in truth tears can be evidence of great strength. Those who care deeply and who are prepared to sacrifice in order to build up will be easily moved to shed tears for those whom they love.

Those who love the Saviour are passionate when speaking of Him and when pleading with sinners. A Baptist divine of another generation observed, “It is greatly to be feared that much of the preaching of modem times has lost its depth and power. The plow does not run deep enough. There is no deep conviction of sin. There is no mourning for sin such as we find set forth in Zechariah 13. We find our way to a modern profession of religion, dry-eyed. There is no weeping in it. And hence, feeling ourselves to be but little sinners, we need only a little Saviour.” [3] Doctor Carroll wrote those words a century ago. Nothing has changed in the interim. Honestly, when did you last witness a lost person weeping over sin? When did you last discover that your own eyes were moistened as you pleaded with a loved one to receive the gift of life in Christ the Lord? We preachers do a terrible disservice when we allow ourselves to be so detached or dispassionate that we are unmoved by the plight of the flock and of the lost.