Sunday, January 18, 2015

2 Timothy 1.8-12 (notes)

Paul has concluded the opening passage by pointing to the reality that the genuine and grounded faith Timothy possessed emboldens him (and us) to stand fast in the face of the suffering all Christians must necessarily endure. It is not something we need to fear but we understand that it testifies to the power of the Gospel and brings glory to God.

Like Paul, Jeremiah and so many other saints, we will not embrace a lie to escape suffering. We look beyond the temptations and comforts of this life to the Truth that we find in the Eternal Kingdom. Our hearts are there, our treasures are laid up there and we understand that as pilgrims this life is but for a season. We have been bought, saved by grace and thus we are happy to endure hardship and we can count our sufferings as joy knowing that we are glorifying God and that through these sufferings we are properly focused on what this life is in fact all about. The world's offerings grow very dim indeed and like Paul we can despise even the creature comforts of life and press on. Truly we can learn to be content with very little and one of the secrets of that contentment is the elimination of desire for things that crumble to dust and pass away. (See 1 John 2.17, 1 Cor. 7.31)

There are some that abuse this teaching and seek to bring about this state through false humility and ascetic practice. Paul speaks about this kind of false piety in his first letter to Timothy. That is an ever-present danger that must be avoided. But our disinterest in the world is in stark contrast to the world-affirmation and power-seeking we observe at work in most Churches.

Paul understood in verse 9 that our calling is not about a 'vocation' that contributes to the building up of a cultural Tower of Babel, or creating some Christianized version of it, but our calling or vocation is to be Christians and suffer for the Gospel.

Though we in the West are not overtly or violently persecuted at present, if we are being faithful we will not only suffer the daily vexations of Lot living in Sodom, but we will suffer in other ways. If we're being faithful we will not possess the 'security' and 'respectability' afforded to those who fully participate in the society and share in its goals and outlook.

If we're faithful in our business and handling of money we will likely be on the poorer side of the spectrum. Most of what passes for Christian financial teaching is merely the world-affirmation and empowerment which in effect rejects the holy calling to suffer that Paul speaks of. Does this mean all Christians are necessarily poor? No, there are exceptions, but they are not the rule. The Proverbs provide principles that will lead to a certain worldly prosperity but the ethics of the Proverbs if followed will lead to us to a social status wherein we will certainly be despised. We will not starve but because we put God and family first above all else, we will never be able to compete with the world and succeed at its game.

If we have our eyes open we will realize there's much going on in the world that we can't be a part of and if we reject society's values we will soon find ourselves at odds and living as outsiders. Our concepts of money, possessions, time and our devotion to family will place us in opposition to the world around us.

If we're being faithful we do not put money, status or standard of living above God, church and family. We refuse to accept the tempo and the demands for total devotion that most jobs demands of us. If we are faithful we will indeed suffer as outsiders. We can be thankful that it has not come to violence but we must watch and be wary. We need not be afraid and it's much easier if we truly don't care about our possessions and status in society. Are we willing like the saints of old to forsake all and live day to day in order to maintain our faith? No one is suggesting that it's easy.

And yet what comfort we can take in having an eternal perspective. Like Paul we can understand that God's purpose was established before the foundations of the earth, before time itself as we know it even existed. In the mists of eternity God's purposes were decreed and though this mystery is beyond us and not an object for our speculation it is a great comfort and encouragement. Whether we live or die we belong to Christ. To live is Christ and to die is gain.

Christ brought the plan into history through His Appearing. The term transliterated into English is Epiphany. We're not referring to a date on the so-called Church calendar but the actual event... the Eternal breaking into History, the Incarnation, the greatest miracle in the history of the universe, greater even than the Creation itself.

He is the Plan of God and in Christ death has been defeated. Paul gloried in this and the fact that it was his calling in life to bring this message to the world.

While we focus on Christ's death on the cross, His resurrection was in some ways even more important. It demonstrated his sinlessness, that He as the Second Adam had accomplished under more dire and difficult circumstances what the First Adam did not do. Those of us who are 'in' Him are united to his work. Our sins are not forgotten but forgiven and paid for. In Him we are already seated in the heavenly places. We live a Dual Reality in This Age and The Age to Come. If we grasp this reality our hearts are filled with wonder and joy. Even the angels as Peter says desire to look into these things. God has shown such abundant love and grace to sinners... a love and grace that surpasses even what He shows to the angels who remained faithful.

Sometimes we can only appreciate things when we understand them in contrast. Knowledge itself functions this way. It is as sinners that we can really appreciate and understand what Grace is. It ought to affect how we think and live.

These Eternal Truths are brought to the world through the gospel... the Evangelion. The word is related to the word Angel which means a messenger. It is quite literally the message of Good News and it is a light to a dying world, a message of life and immortality, reconciliation and forgiveness, the hope of blessing and the threat of curse for those who reject it.

Christ came to die for sinners and through his Person and Work death was defeated and a way has been made so that fallen cursed men can be reconciled to God. Our sins can be forgiven. Do we appreciate what that means? The burden that has been lifted? Does it fill our hearts with joy? If not, then we haven't grasped how good the news is.

Our sins are forgiven and we can live in Truth and enjoy the blessings of fellowship with God that will far exceed what Adam and Eve knew in the garden. The New Heavens and Earth will be far more glorious than that which was created in Six Days. The Rest which we will experience with God, and experience now through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, will make all aspects of This Age seem but a passing shadow.

Paul again in verse 12 returns to the theme of suffering. He suffers because of the Truth of this Gospel and though the world looks down on those who are the despised and rejected of society, in this case the imprisoned, Paul is not ashamed.

Though not ashamed, he is not proud either and doesn't use his lack of shame as a source for political gain or to advance himself. His actions point to Christ and that's far different from what we typically see at work today in the Church. There are many who seek power and when thwarted cry foul and claim to be suffering persecution. They are instead receiving the wages of their deeds. It's not the same thing.

God's power is demonstrated through weakness. He is glorified by the fact that undeserving people who have had their eyes opened are willing to overcome the world through the weapon of suffering. They do not employ the political and thus violent weapons of war but their commitment to Truth is such that they would rather die than embrace falsehood. It's a testimony to the Truth of the Gospel, the power and love of God.

Our love which will be labeled as fanaticism to the world demonstrates that we put Truth and our gratitude toward God above and beyond our personal discomfort. Can we do any less when we consider what Christ has done for us? Love isn't about being happy or what we can get out of something and thus the more we get the more affection we show. Love is placing your affections and energies into something outside of yourself. This is why love (properly understood) and hate are in fact closely related. Both are absorbing energies radiating outside the person, focused on another object, person, group or idea. It's devotion either to serve and build up or to destroy. It's devotion to the point of self-deprecation and hurt.

Narcissism the self-focus dominating our culture, finding satisfaction in self is necrotic, shallow and self-defeating. It is the attitude of the church in Laodicea and also represented in the baptized decadence of American Christianity.

Paul's office and the confidence and hope he had in it coupled with the sufferings he was willing to endure all rested on the foundation of Christ, the one in whom he believed. He had a vital living hope and confidence that God would not abandon him and that he would endure the troublesome times ahead and the threat of death. The Day of Judgment, the Day of Christ's Return, was but the completion of the Appearance or Epiphany that had already taken place. All has already been finished as Christ said. Why the delay? God is longsuffering and merciful and for all of us we can be thankful that He is.

The delay must not shake us. The fact that our faith continues even when the world mocks us and scoffs at us, this also brings glory to Him.

Paul knew that his life was not his own, nor was his destiny. All these things were in God's hands. Paul was humble enough to submit and trust in the fact that whether he died that day or lived another thousand years his hope was in Christ and that on the day of the Judgment he and all those 'in' Christ would stand.