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We pause to remember
those special people in our lives—the ones responsible
for leading us to faith in Jesus. The special person
might have been a parent, or grandparent, aunt or
uncle. It might have been a neighbor or friend who
invited us to church and spoke openly about their
faith. Maybe it was someone at college, who led you to
faith. I cannot say enough about the excellent student
ministries on campus. They are intentional about
reaching out to other students. Maybe the person might
have been someone you worked with. It might have been a
Sunday school teacher who took a special interest in
you. We give thanks for those persons who encouraged
and mentored us in the faith. It might have been
someone we became friends, with someone in church who
mentored us and led us to the next level of faith.
While we give thanks
for those persons in our own lives we also realize our
responsibility to guide and mentor others in the faith.
The church is always one generation away from
extinction. If we fail to reach the next generation the
church will no longer exist. We continue to guide others
speaking from the heart about matters of faith. I hope
you feel the nudge to take the initiative in guiding
someone who is just taking the first steps of faith.
Each one of us has a role to play, making ourselves
available for conversation. We might think of the
person who led us to faith and want to be like that with
our interaction with other people.
At some point in the
Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys he met a young man
named Timothy. Paul became a mentor for his young
friend. It did not matter that Paul was older while
Timothy was younger the two became friends. When
Timothy would have question or was unsure what to do he
would seek Paul’s wise counsel. Or when he became
discouraged he knew that Paul would have encouraging
words.
In our epistle lesson
this morning Paul is encouraging his young friend to
remember his faith tradition. Maybe Timothy was going
through one of those periods where he questioned his
faith. Paul called to his attention the faith he
learned from his mother and grandmother. As well as
what he learned from Paul himself. “Continue in what
you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom
you learned it,” Paul wrote.
At those times when we
question our faith it would serve us well to remember
the teachings as well as the example of those who have
gone before us. We have a rich faith tradition of
people who may have faced adversity but firmly held on
to their faith. At those times when faith does not seem
to make as much sense as it once did we recall that our
friend went through difficult days but held on to the
faith. We think, if our friend was able to weather that
storm we can do the same.
In addition to
remembering those persons who brought us to faith in
Jesus Christ, Paul encouraged his young friend to
continue to read the scriptures. Paul states that, “all
scripture is inspired by God.” We diligently read our
Bible seeking God’s Word and will for our lives. What
might happen in our lives and in our church if everyone
read and reflected on the same passage of scripture
every day? We are after all people of the book—the
Bible.
Paul
states that scripture is, “useful for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness.” The Bible becomes our guide. We learn
of God’s love for us from the pages of the Bible, and
when we error from the straight and narrow the Bible
reveals our sin and helps set us on a new path.
The goal
of teaching and preaching, of encouraging everyone to
daily study God’s Word is, according to Paul, “so that
everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped
for every good work.” No matter how inspiring our
Sunday morning worship service is, each one of us has to
practice the Christian disciplines, of prayer and Bible
reading throughout the week, to enable us to continue to
grow in our faith. One hour on Sunday morning is not
enough to sustain an active, vital faith.
It is so
easy for us to lose our focus, to fritter away our time
on trivial matters. There are so many things that pull
us away from Jesus Christ and the church. We tend to
place the blame on outside sources, the negative
influence of television and movies, or the fact that
stores are open on Sundays, to the break up of so many
families, the internet, and the list goes on and on.
Granted there are outside influences that seem to pull
us away from our faith. We are to stand firm in our
faith minimizing anything that distracts us. That was
what the Apostle Paul was saying to his young friend,
“Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is
favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and
encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.”
We do not back down but
remain persistent in our faith, in what we believe and
hold to be true. We keep plugging away, even when it
seems that our message falls on deaf ears. We encourage
one another in our faith and exhibit patience in our
teaching. Some of us smile when we think of our Sunday
school teachers of our younger years, knowing that we
might not have been as receptive or as well behaved as
we could have been. Yet our Sunday school teachers
continued to teach, and not give up because of an unruly
student or two. I give thanks to God for the Sunday
school teachers I had while growing up and for the young
lives entrusted to me as a teacher.
While there is no
denying that there are negative outside influences that
affect our faith, there may also be disruptive forces
from within the church. It is hard to comprehend that
sometimes coming to church can be detrimental to our
faith. Throughout the letters to Timothy, Paul warns of
a disruptive force from within the church. The early
church struggled with false teachers who either out of
ignorance or on purpose led people astray. One reason
why this was so harmful to the believers is that some
among them fell for the false teachers. They would like
the false teachers messages better and discard the solid
teachings of the apostles. Perhaps the false teachers
watered down the message, taking the challenge out of
living the Christian faith. You can understand why such
messages would be appealing to people just starting out
in the faith. Our faith demands our very best effort.
Or, maybe it was style or personality of the false
teachers that appealed to some of the people.
Let’s face it we still
struggle with these issues today. With declining
membership it is tempting to soften the demands of
discipleship to attract more people. There are others
who distort the gospel message. I read an article that
was critical of a popular Christian book. Along with
the book is a DVD that grabs the viewers’ attention.
The writer of the article wonders what Bible the author
of the book read. According to the writer the book
distorts the gospel message. We need to take Paul’s
advice seriously and stand firm in our faith, holding on
to the faith we learned and know is true. Paul warns,
“For the time is coming when people will not put up with
sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own
desires.” Do you see the danger? Given the choice
people would find teachers that would suit their desire
and never challenge them. Maybe the people where
attracted to the new and novel, easily discarding what
was tried and true. Often our greatest growth comes
from someone who challenges us in different ways.
The Apostle Paul was
writing to his young friend, Timothy, to encourage him
to stand fast in the faith and not waver. Living out
our faith is not always easy or popular in the eyes of
our peers. Fortunately we do not go it alone, we have
our Bibles as a guide, and we have the sound teaching
and examples of others in the faith. We have Jesus who
is present with us every step of the way. And we have
each other in the church.
Amen.
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