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| This Is My Gospel |
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This Is My Gospel
Scripture Reading: II Timothy 1:8-14, 2:8-13
Note: This sermon was delivered at Rochester College as part of their "Impact" Lecture Series.
Introduction: I’m not sure what the numbers are in Michigan. I know that around my home in Nashville, and the Northwest where I grew up, there are many churches searching for preachers these days. Part of the problem, in a lot of circumstances at least, is that congregations are all looking for the same 25 men who don’t exist. You know what I mean: the 30-something guy that is energetic, charismatic personality, highly educated, with at least 20 years of experience. Oh yes, he also comes with a co-working sweet wife and 2.4 perfect children! Seriously, a major problem is that we live in culture that prizes youth, and preaching becomes a very dangerous career after the age of 50. Plus, studies done a few years ago suggested that only 10 percent of the people who go into ministry stay in it throughout their lives, or at least until retirement. Nine out of 10 get frustrated, or disenchanted or burned-out, or unwanted. However you want to describe it, they come to a point in their lives where they get out.
It is true that in our fast changing world many men and women go through career changes at some point in their working career, but the attrition rate for ministers seems to be very high. I remember my own father’s career in ministry. He reached a point at about the 20 year mark when he just didn’t want to deal with the frustrations and issues that accompany church work. So he got out, and went into real estate and property management for a few years. He got back into ministry, and loved it for about 10 years, then just struggled to survive until he could retire. The practical strains of people problems and issues can be difficult in any career, but they are particularly difficult on ministers because of the expectations that we put upon ourselves and the expectations we either imagine others place upon us, or that actually are placed upon us. Even if you are not employed in ministry, but you have been highly invested in some aspect of ministry, many of you have come to those points in your life where you said, “enough already.” Burn-out is an overused phrase in ministry these days.
Part of the problem, I suppose is our conviction that young is better; that old is out of touch, if not irrelevant. I even believe that myself in some ways. The older we get the more entrenched in ideas and attitudes we can become if we’re not careful. Who wants to listen to sermons in which the illustrations all come from the 50’s and 60’s? There is something about careers in ministry that makes many of us believe that once we get it down, it’s just a matter of keeping the routine for years on end. But why should the need to reinvent ourselves be less in ministry than it is in any number of work environments over the past 40 years? How many assembly line workers in this area have had their jobs reinvented more than once in that same time period?
Part of the problem may also be certain cultural conditioning with regard to the gospel itself. What exactly is the good news we preach? Is it the preacher’s job, or even our combined role as the priesthood of believers, to somehow sell the church, package and market Jesus in attractive ways so that we are consumer friendly? Is it the preacher’s job to just tell it like it is—“just preach the Bible,” as though any of us ever could be that objective with Scripture and ourselves and our own set of non-Bible traditions? What is our gospel? Our good news? Some of us go out of our way these days to assure others outside our fellowship that we really don’t think we’re the only Christians only. But what does give us identity in churches of Christ. How does “The Gospel” give us identity?
It’s often popular to take shots at the so-called health, wealth, and success gospel of the televangelists. In an affluent culture it is indeed popular to dress the gospel up in fine clothing and successful careers and really fine cars and houses and make all kinds of business world success stories out of the Christian faith in America. But every time a 25 year old brother or sister in Christ dies of cancer or gets killed by a drunk driver, or a Christian business man goes bankrupt, we have to adjust our gospel to fit the circumstances. Every time we take the gospel into the inner city, we have to admit that not everyone who believes in Jesus is destined to drive a Lexus or BMW—oops, I meant Lincoln or Cadillac!
I find it interesting to talk to young people, both men and women these days, who want to go into ministry. Youth ministry and Children’s ministry are the hot items. They love all of the relational opportunities, all of the activities associated with their internships, working with children. But I wonder what will happen when they live through their first year of elder’s meetings or they arrive at year 15 in youth ministry and those lock-ins just don’t seem to be fun anymore. What is the gospel in those settings and circumstances?
In the gospel that I want to preach, in the churches where I want to work, more than anything else, I want everyone to like me! I want to be appreciated, and complimented. I want to avoid conflict at almost any cost. I’ve moved more than once simply because I could see conflict on the horizon. I wonder if much of what we call burn-out isn’t the result of ministry becoming a people-pleasing, keep-the-customer-satisfied drive within us to make sure everyone likes me. I wonder if the instances of moral failure among ministers doesn’t have to do with that overloaded life that alienates one from spouse and family and creates those devilish “I deserve this escape” moments.
Reading Paul’s letters in Scripture, it immediately becomes apparent that frustrations with people and ministry were very much part of his career. We listen to his description in the first part of II Corinthians of the frustrations and troubles he went through while he was in Asia, and we know he probably didn’t spend a great deal of time kicked back in his office chair or hitting a bucket of balls at the driving range. You remember these words:
“We do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Why we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead; he delivered us from so deadly a peril, and he will deliver us; on him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again" (II Corinthians 1:8-10).
The point of remembering these words from Paul is that they reflect part of his career in Ephesus, which is where he left Timothy. That was the setting of Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The problems of the church in Ephesus are behind the instructions to Timothy, advising him to deal with the issues of church leadership in Ephesus and be God’s minister in a situation that clearly was difficult.
We’re not sure exactly where Timothy is when he receives the second letter. We know that Paul is in prison, in circumstances much like those we read about in his letter to the Philippians, with one major difference. When he wrote to the Philippian church there were opponents using his imprisonment for their own gain, but Paul was okay with that because the gospel was being preached and whether he lived or died, his life was Christ. As a matter of fact, he anticipated that he would live. But as he writes this letter to Timothy, he believes he will not live, and rather than glorying in his opponents preaching the gospel, he feels a strong sense of abandonment by those he once trusted.
He also has great concern for his son in the faith, Timothy. Whether it was a bad ministry experience in Ephesus or some place since then, if we read between the lines in the early part of this second letter, it appears that Timothy’s career and his faith have been shaken. Listen to Paul’s suggestions for coping with questions about faith and service in ministry. He addresses Timothy as his beloved child, assuming this intimate relationship in which he is the spiritual father of Timothy.
In the thanksgiving section that is typical of Paul’s letters, Paul first remembers his own good conscience in the faith. “I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” (I Timothy 1:3-7)
Paul’s own faith includes his predecessor’s faith—a point that he wants Timothy to considers as he reflects on his own faithfulness. “I am faithful as my forefathers were faithful,” he says. Paul’s memory of Timothy’s tears is probably a reflection on the difficulty of life in ministry more than sentimentalism about Paul leaving him behind. Timothy had been sent on too many trips in Paul’s service for the tears to be about Paul’s absence. So Paul remembers the tears; he also remembers his faith and the faith of those who preceded him. In this case the forefathers are foremothers—his grandmother and mother first shared the faith that was passed on to Timothy. Somehow the discussion of family faithfulness seems more than a rhetorical rehearsal of family memories. The reminder in verse six to rekindle that gift of God that is in Timothy, and the exhortation in verse 7 regarding a “spirit of cowardice, strongly suggest that Timothy is struggling with ministry and faith.
There are recurring statements about shame, first in verse 8 and then verse 12 and again in verse 16. Honor and Shame were the pivotal values of identity in their world. We know Paul’s statement in Romans 1: “I’m not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation.” But his proclamation there and his protests here regarding shame suggest that it was an easy thing to be shamed by the rest of one’s social world because of the gospel. After all, belief in a crucified messiah was foolishness in the eyes of the contemporary Roman world. Being Christian meant the loss of all other identities, all other social connections. It could often mean being despised by both Jew and Gentile. If new identity in Christ only meant further humiliation and suffering—which appeared to be the case with Timothy’s mentor Paul—then why should one endure?
Listen again to these words as advice to a person who is tired of the public persona, the hassles of people and their constant attacks and issues.
“Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us” (II Timothy 1:8-14).
Remember that prisoners then were criminals like prisoners today. Sooner or later there were bound to be questions about the truth of Paul’s claims and the truth of Christian claims about life and hope when the man these people looked up to kept getting arrested and thrown in prison. Being ashamed of someone in the family who ends up a criminal is still customary today. What about being imprisoned for being a Christian? Jesus himself said “Blessed is he who is not ashamed of me and my words.” But if all it brings you is pain and suffering, bad treatment from others even within the church community, and ultimately imprisonment and death, maybe it’s not such a great idea after all.
Paul goes on to list people who have decided Christianity is no bargain, They are ashamed of Paul and his teaching. Phygelus and Hermogenes have had enough. Not only are they no longer co-workers, it appears they have renounced the faith. In contrast there is Onesiphorus who actually went out of his way to locate Paul in prison and offer encouragement to him. He was not ashamed! As he showed mercy, Paul prays he will receive mercy.
Paul then continues to admonish Timothy to not lose heart but be strong by offering three illustrations in which hard work, focus on specific goals, patience and endurance are necessities for survival and success. Soldiers stay attuned to the tasks assigned them rather than being distracted by civilian interests. Athletes know that winning involves playing by the rules; farmers invest long hours in their fields in order to reap the benefits of harvest. The same holds true for God’s servants. There can be no distractions from the outside, no changing of the rules in the middle of the contest, no escape from the labor required in order to experience the harvest.
Finally Paul offers the ultimate example and model for imitation.
“Keep on remembering Jesus Christ. According to my gospel, he is raised from the dead, a descendent of David. For this good news I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (II Timothy 2:8-13).
What is Timothy to do in the face of his doubts and frustrations and the temptation to bail out, try another line of work? First and foremost he must remember who he is. He is a child of faith. His spiritual father is Paul, his spiritual ancestors include his mother and his grandmother. “Remember who you are, Timothy; remember you call to faith; rekindle the gift of God that is within you. Timidity and fear are not part of that gift—power and love and self control are what God has given you. Yes, the gospel is about power, not cowardice. But the power is not of this world, and the result is not some guaranteed success or personal popularity.
“Remember that bearing witness for Jesus Christ is not a mission to be ashamed of. Remember that suffering and imprisonment are not marks of shame for the Christian but marks of Grace. Remember that the one we have entrusted ourselves to keeps his commitments—he will never fail us. Other individuals may fail you, like Phygelus and Hermogenes failed me. But God still has others like Onesiphorus who will be there for you as he was for me.
“Be strong Timothy. Faithful service can endure distractions; it diligently pursues the prize and works in anticipation of the harvest. Remember that they could kill Jesus Christ, but that only empowered the gospel. To be in chains for the sake of the gospel is to share in the very humanity of the Savior. They can put you in chains but the word of God is always unchained. Remember: if we have died with him, we shall also live with him, if we endure we shall also reign. Even if we are unfaithful, he is faithful! He cannot change who he is!”
What good news for all of us who have had less than faithful moments in ministry! Somehow the words are not just for Timothy anymore. They are not even just for those of us who find ourselves in full time ministry. They are for all who have memory losses from time to time. They are words for all of us who have tried to redefine the gospel into an “I’m okay, you’re okay, don’t-worry-be- happy” lifestyle. These words are for all of us who get tired of church politics and the hassles and attacks that Satan hurls through other people. Sometimes elders get tired of dealing with the pressures and people problems and logistics of church leadership and they just feel like they could serve the Lord a whole lot easier without the headaches of elders’ meetings. Sometimes children’s ministry leaders get tired of the busy work and hassles of finding other people to grudgingly volunteer. Sometimes parents just get tired of the hassles and schedules of their children. Who wants to stack up more church activity on top of what’s going on otherwise?
Sometimes… sometimes it’s possible that we are ashamed of what we have become in the name of church and gospel that doesn’t really represent Jesus to the world anymore. Perhaps those are the times we too need to rekindle the gift of ministry that was given in Jesus Christ rather than the Church of Christ. Perhaps those are the times we need to reclaim Holy Spirit empowerment rather egocentric, self-righteous, self-empowerment.
No, these aren’t words of advice to Timothy—they are words of encouragement to me, and perhaps to some of you. Tempted to bail out? Yes—sometimes. I need to remember the faith of my forefathers and foremothers? I need to remember the flames of faith and calling that made me give my allegiance to Jesus in the first place. I need to remember that whatever I may think I am suffering, there is Jesus—the one who really suffered for me. He who promised is faithful—as is the Gospel we preach! Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, human to the point of shaming death on a cross.
If we have died with him, we shall indeed live with him.
Delivered at Rochester College, October 20, 2002
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