Did You Graduate? (2)
2 Timothy 2:1-9
1- Life is tough, BE
STRONG in the GRACE of JESUS CHRIST.
“Be strong in the grace that
is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of
many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach
others.”(1-2)
Paul
calling Timothy to be strong not by own power but by the power of God.
2-No
pain, No Gain.
“Endure hardship with us” (2 Tim.
2:3).
Paul gives three practical
examples: like a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.
The first example is a
soldier.
“Endure hardship with us like
a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving as
a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding
officer” (3-4). Paul uses this imagery in many passages.
“18Timothy, my son, I give you this
instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by
following them you may fight the good fight,” (1 Tim 1:18)
Paul is urging Timothy to
learn to fight, and the good fight. He calls Epaphroditus,
the messenger of the
- Concentrated service. A soldier is a soldier and nothing else. Military
people should not be in politics or in civilian affairs.
Once we are Christians, we
should not play around. Either we are Christians or not. Commitment is the
word.
-Obedience. Without this quality, there is no army and the battle
is defeated. If the soldier will question his/her commanders and argue with
them, I don’t know the battle can be won. It is not the duty of the soldier “to
know the reason why”. When the soldier is the in the middle of the battle, he cannot
see the bigger picture.
-Sacrifice. We just celebrated Memorial Day. Without the sacrifices
of the soldier nothing can be done. The greatest good is when one lays his life
for the other.
-Loyalty. Whatever happens, the soldier is loyal to his
commander.
All these qualities,
obedience, sacrifice, and loyalty we are called to practice in our lives. Our
example is Jesus Christ, and then his faithful followers.
Therefore, Paul trains
Timothy to remain faithful in his service to the church in spite of all
difficulties. Learn to have mind of a soldier. To become a man of God means to
endure hardship and fight the good fight in His Grace, of course.
The second example is the Athlete.
“Similarly,
if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless
he competes according to the rules.”
An athlete should be prepared
according the rules. In ancient Greek times, athletes were required to come
before the judges prior to the contest and swear to Zeus that they had been
trained for at least ten months. This is an old athletic rule. In fact,
the words athlein nomimos
that Paul used is difficult to translate, (“according to the rules” NIV, “striving
lawfully” KJV). The Greek writers later used these words to describe a
professional athlete.
An athlete should compete in
accordance to the rules and regulations. An athlete should take this very
seriously; he/she is professional.
-I love the 100-meter sprint
race. I have had several heroes in that field. One of them disappointed me.
Do you know whom I am referring to? Her name is Marion Jones. She received 5 gold medals in
-Satan tempted Jesus in the
desert. Satan was ready to give the world to Jesus if Jesus obeyed and
worshiped him. What a temptation. Jesus came to invite people to turn to Him
for salvation. Satan gives an easy solution. Jesus did not give up.
We need to understand that
not only the purpose of the fight and race are important, but also how we
conduct the fight.
These days
people can become very rich quickly. Beware of those. In college and school,
you often face the temptation to cheat. Listen now, it
is not important only to graduate. It is also important how you graduate.
Discipline is the keyword for
an athlete. 10 months of hard work then he can participate in games according old
Greek laws.
The third example is the Farmer.
“The
hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.”
I learned a lot of patience from farmers. They work
hard, day and night. They are always on call. They plant and are not sure if
the weather will be favorable to have a good crop. Farmers prepare the soil
before the planting. They clean the soil from rocks. They plant seeds and keep
watching the field and caring for it for a long time. These guys know that
there are no quick results.
I was reading
in the Daily Bread the following story. “A man who played the double bass in
the Mexico City Philharmonic told me that the finest instruments are made of
wood that has been allowed to age naturally to remove the moisture. ‘You must age
the wood for 80 years, and then play the instrument for 80 years before it
reaches its best sound,’ said Luis Antonio Rojas. ‘A craftsman must use wood
cut and aged by someone else, and he will never see any instrument reach its
peak during his own lifetime.’”1
Wow, we need 160 years to get
a good instrument, a perfect one.
A farmer waits with patience
for the result. Sometimes he does not see it.
Young Timothy went with enthusiasm
to a new mission field. We plant things, but the result is with the Lord.
The last advice and the best:
3- Remember Jesus.
“8Remember Jesus Christ, raised from
the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like
a criminal. But God's word is not chained.”
Paul is amazing. He does not sit
quiet. He is writing from the jail. He is chained like
a criminal. He should be in hurting and bitter. Instead, he is writing a letter
of encouragement to his disciple Timothy and he is giving the best advice:
REMEMBER JESUS.
As Paul reminded Timothy that
he could only fight with the grace of Christ Jesus, here he continues that
Christian life and Christian service is based on the person
of Christ, on the work of Christ, on the truth of Christ, nothing else.
WHY? Why so much emphasis on this?
Without Christ, all the other
teachings that Paul wrote to Timothy will be like moral lessons. Christianity is not moral lessons, although the
essence of moral behavior is in Christ. Paul is saying, “Teach Jesus. Teach the
Gospel. Don’t be just a ‘good’ teacher, with good
techniques of teaching. Teach the cross and resurrection. Teach what Jesus did
in his life and in lives of the others.” Remember my
sermon about the Holy Sprit. Let the Spirit teach us and remind us about Jesus.
Paul is asking Timothy not to forget the main dish: Jesus Christ.
I will address the graduates. Well done, you worked
hard and you finished only small part of journey of education. Five of you are
going to a new university. This means new a place, a new room, new friends, a new atmosphere. Remember Christ in your lives. Remember
what CACC taught you. Find a local church. Be part of a Bible study group. But most importantly, work hard, but “fight” the battle with
His Grace.
Amen
1- Daily Bread by David McCasland May 22, 2008