This week we are going to be looking at Timothy’s journey in- second gear to steal Dan’s analogy. Looking at Timothy’s journey in is a little different that looking at other characters in the Bible. We can only infer from Paul’s writings what is going on in Timothy’s life. Now at first this may seem like a terrible way to look at a journey in, but it is in fact a very efficient way of doing things. Other people tend to see our strengths and failures easier than we do. This is especially true of a mentor. It is the mentor’s job to do this. And since Paul is Timothy’s mentor we can be relatively sure that he knows Timothy, and where he has grown and needs to grow.
We can also be sure that Paul is giving Timothy an accurate diagnosis of where Timothy needs to grow, and where he is strong for another reason. Paul has sent Timothy to
I think we can all relate to this on some level. In school teachers would tells us what part of our papers were good and what parts needed work, or coaches in sports will tell their athletes what they are best at, and what they need to run drills on. This isn’t that foreign to us. And I think most of us, in hindsight would agree with those teachers and coaches. They knew us better that we really knew ourselves. This is also the case with Paul and Timothy.
There is something else we need to know about the church at
Paul is sending Timothy, but that doesn’t mean that Timothy feels entirely ready, and that is where we pick up on his journey in. Timothy has a few skeletons in his closet, and Paul is writing to him to let him know what they are, and that he needs to get rid of them. This is not to say that the things we look at this morning are the only problems Timothy ever had, or will have, but they are the problems he had right then. We are picking up Timothy’s journey in along the way. We really never see the beginning or the end, but we can infer a lot about both where he was and where he will end up.
Like Dan told us last week, Timothy was a church kid. I don’t mean that is a bad way, although I know it is sometimes used derogatorily. All I mean is that he was raised in the church. His mother and grandmother were believers, and they passed on their knowledge and beliefs to Timothy. And Timothy became a believer too. And this is where his journey in starts. Dan told us that at some point he made his families faith his own. That process is not just part of the journey up, although it is part of that journey, it is also part of the journey in. There are questions and sacrifices that one needs to grapple with to become a believer, and this is all part of the journey in.
What I mean by that is that there are things which we must come to terms with about ourselves when we decide to follow this Jesus. First is admiting that we need a savior to begin with. This means that along our journey in we have decided that we are broken and need to be fixed. Then we must be willing to ask for help. Cry out to God about our inadequacy. And the list goes on. We can see how the journey in starts with our journey up, and it must have been so for Timothy as well.
But Timothy grew in faith and also continued on this journey in, and he did it well enough, with enough enthusiasm and determination that Paul not only notices him, but decides to disciple him, and finally gives Timothy the job of fixing his problems, like a broken church at Ephesus.
And we don’t really know much about Timothy’s journey in until he has been given a church. As I said before we know he has one, and that he has been growing in it, we know where he arrives in his journey, but not really the path he uses to get there. And so here we are, reading two letters to Timothy.
At this point Timothy is wrestling with some demons that, if he doesn’t get rid of, will affect the church he is going to pastor. Paul, then, is writing so Timothy will be ready for the task set before him. There are three main obstacles to Timothy’s effectiveness right now, and we are going to look at all three. We will not look at them in the order that Paul talks about them though. The first problem Timothy needs to get over is the root of the other two skeletons that need to be cleaned out. In fact, all of the character traits that Paul tells Timothy to journey in about play off and magnify each other.
Let’s look at one of the hurdles that Timothy has to overcome. It has to do with his age. In 2 Tim.
22So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
I don’t think Timothy is out gallivanting about, womanizing and partying like a rock star, however Paul still tells him to flee youthful passions. From other passages in the text we know that Timothy was a striking example of faith and love and peace. So why is Paul warning him here? Part of what is going on is Paul just warning about the obvious thing that will arise. Timothy is on his own after being with Paul for so long, and Paul just wants to remind him to continue in his path. Paul is reminding Timothy that he must continue to do these things.
It is akin to when we talk to out parents on the phone. They remind us of the same things they have reminded us of before. And the reason they do it is not because they think we are stupid or deaf, but because it is really easy to fall into bad habits. So they remind us constantly of the good habits we have built up because of their guidance. It is really easy to fall into youthful passions, and Paul knows it all too well. He has seen people fall from the faith after working very hard not to. He has seen people pursue youthful passions and stop looking after their own righteousness and faith and love. He is telling Timothy, not so much to do these things, but to continue to do these things. Paul knows that if Timothy doesn’t continue to journey in about these things that he will fall away. Remember Timothy had been with Paul and other solid believers before he went to
I have lived in this town for 9 years now, and except for my freshman year of college, I have seen this struggle with all the freshman in this town. For most kids it is the first time that they have to stand on their own two feet. They are in a crazy college town with no apparent rules and no one looking over their shoulder. There is a reason that frat row, when it used to exist was always 10 times more packed the first weekend of school that any other. The kids have freedom for the first time. Most of them do some kind of journey in though, and soon there are less and less kids drinking to excess.
This is what Paul is telling Timothy he has to do. Finish his journey in. Flee youthful passions. Figure out what really matters in life, and do that. Remember, what seems great might really be unnecessary, and what seems boring, dull, and hard may be what you need to do.
But there is more about Timothy’s youthfulness. In 1Timothy
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
This letter was written to Timothy as he was going to
It is good to respect our elders, but it was clearly getting in the way of the job that Timothy needed to get done. So Paul tells Timothy to get over it. He says to be respectful to those older, but do what God has called you to do. Timothy feels inadequate because of his age, and Paul is telling him to finish his journey in, and let that be the first thing people see, not his age. If Timothy is insecure because of his age, then so will the people he is supposed to lead. If, one the other hand, he forgets age as a qualifier, and instead focuses on what is really important, like his conduct, his faith, his purity, that those he is supposed to lead will focus on that instead. He will be able to be an example to them, and regardless of their age, they will follow him.
In 1 Timothy Paul gives a whole list of qualifications for Elders in the church. Not once does Paul mention age. He does mention faith, and love, and service, and a ton of other things though. And what Timothy needs to get over is that Paul doesn’t list age. If Paul was giving Timothy the church at
I imagine this was a big hurdle for Timothy though. Just think about being recruited to go and fix the churches in the entire city of
But Timothy’s journey doesn’t end there. Paul still has a few other things to say to Timothy before he can move on in his calling. Paul tells Timothy in the first chapter of his second letter to Timothy
7for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God
The reason we are looking at these verses is that I think there is a character trait of Timothy that Paul is pointing out here. That trait is timidity, or shyness. Paul says you were not given a Spirit of Timidity in the NIV version. Paul doesn’t really waste his words, so it seems that he brought this up for a reason.
Part of this timidity probably stems from Timothy’s fear about his youth. I am far shyer in situations where I am uncomfortable than when I am at home. Part of this tendency I think is okay. It is rude and presumptuous to correct elders or jump in on conversations at a young age. On the other hand, in some situations youth doesn’t matter. Let me give an example. My uncles are all plumbing supply company presidents or vice presidents. My grandfather started a plumbing company, and all his sons followed suit. When I am telling them about my plumbing problems they know better than me what needs to be done. I have done some plumbing myself, fixed a few clogs, etc. but they are my elders. I shut my mouth, even if I know something about what they are talking about, because I shouldn’t be speaking.
However, at the same time, when I have had conversations with my Mother about Jesus, I feel I am at liberty to speak. She is not a Christian, and doesn’t know as much. When she is in the wrong about a passage or idea I have no problem correcting her, with all grace and humility. This is true not just of my mother, but of others as well. I used to go to Rao’s weekly with Martin. We had a weekly round table discussion with about 15 other Rao’s regulars. All were older and wiser than I, however when we were discussing Spiritual matters, I was not shy. And I feel that is why they respected me so much. I shut my mouth a lot when I was not to speak. When they talked about their past or how
This is what Paul is telling Timothy. By being shy, by being timid, you will be doing a disservice. That is not the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is bold. Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel, but proclaim it. Don’t be shy about spiritual matters. Get over yourself, Paul is saying.
This is something I think we need to hear more often, especially those of us who are younger. I constantly feel timid about sharing my faith, and I am on staff as a missionary! We think that we can’t share with older people because they know more, and we don’t want to share with people our age because we are embarrassed. We may not admit it, but we are. We are afraid that if they knew what we truly believed then they would not talk to us, or worse yet, they would mock and ostracize us. It is a normal human desire to fit in. Timothy wrestled with it. Why would Paul tell him not to be ashamed except that at times he was ashamed?
I want us to hear the people that Timothy is talking to. Oh, you are one of them? Isn’t Paul a criminal? I heard not even the Jews like your sect. You are a cannibal, eating the flesh of Jesus. I am going to tell
I already said that some of Timothy’s timidity most likely came from his age issues, but there is one more place where this timidity likely came from. Right before Paul’s declaration to not be ashamed or shy, he tells Timothy in 1Tim 1:6
“to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”
This text alone doesn’t give us a whole lot of insight into Timothy’s journey in, but let’s look at in with a few others.
1Tim
18This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
1Tim 4:6
6If you put these things before the brothers,[a] you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
1 Tim 4:14
14Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
1 Tim 6:20
20O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge,"
In all these verses Paul is constantly reminding Timothy that he has been called, given a mission. Paul is reminding Timothy about the gifts that were given him, and not just here, but throughout the two letters Paul writes to Timothy. He reminds Timothy about the qualifications for Elders, and then reminds Timothy that he himself is to be the chief elder of
It is with good reason that Timothy feels unqualified, remember.
I recently saw Transformers the movie, and there are about a million sermon illustrations in it, but here I am just going to give you one. I realize that not everyone has seen it, and I promise I am not going to ruin the movie for you. But what happens to Shai Laboef’s character is so close to what is going on here that I can’t resist to talk about it.
At one point in the movie Shai Laboef has to do something very difficult. And as he looks at the task set before him he says, “I can’t do it.” He feels like he is just a kid, and this is better left to someone more qualified. I imagine this is what Timothy is saying as he looks at
There are two more pieces of advice that Paul gives Timothy regarding his journey in, besides the specific areas where Paul sees Timothy needs to wrestle with. Paul constantly reminds Timothy that his journey in will never be done. He says things like:
1 Tim 4:6-7
6If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
1 Tim 4:15
15Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.
1 Tim 6:12
12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
2 Tim 2:15
15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 3:14
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it
Paul says train yourself, devote yourself, practice these things, fight the good fight. All these terms have a present and future sense. Paul is reminding Timothy that he is going to always have to grapple with his flesh. He is going to have to constantly live in this faith. He must me always looking at his life; continually re-evaluating his behavior. This is a theme that we touch upon in the first advice to Timothy that we looked at. Flee from youthful passions. Remember Timothy had already clearly proved himself faithful up until that point, yet Paul gives this advice anyway. It is because this journey in is a forever thing.
That is not the last thing that Paul tells Timothy though. Remember I said that these letters weren’t pep talks. Paul is not pulling Timothy in before a big game and telling him that he can do it. I know it seems that this statement contradicts the entire sermon thus far, but I assure you, it doesn’t. It is true that Paul encourages Timothy, and reassures him about his position. It is true that Paul tells Timothy where his weaknesses are, and how to get over them. It is even true that Paul tells Timothy to get rid of his feelings of inadequacy, but I assure you, this is not a locker room pep talk.
Why not? Well what does a locker room pep talk look like? Let’s watch this clip.
The coach tells the players that they can do it. They are prepared. This is what they have been practicing for. They are better than the others. This is not what Paul tells Timothy.
Paul never says that it is because of Timothy that Timothy is qualified. It is in fact the opposite. He is qualified because he was called. We think the opposite today. We look at someone and decide if they are qualified, and then we would say that they were called. The first thing you do on a resume is list the previous experience you’ve had. You list your qualifications, and that justifies your being called to the job. It would be ridiculous if you just talked about how you felt that this is what you should do, and had no previous experience to back it up. This the opposite of what Paul is telling Timothy. Paul tells Timothy that he was called, and therefore was qualified. He was given a gift, and that is why he is qualified. But it goes even beyond this. There is a greater reason that Timothy is qualified. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7-9
7for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
and also in 2 Timothy 2:1
1You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
and again in
17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Or in 2 Tim
14By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
And also 1 Tim
12I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
The main reason Timothy is qualified is because he is a man if God. The number one qualification is that Jesus qualified him. God called him to this holy calling. It is by God’s grace that he will be strengthened. He is equipped because he is a man of God.
Timothy, in one sense in qualified because he was unqualified. Timothy rose to the top of a church because he first saw himself at the bottom. He knew he was a sinner saved by grace, that he was broken and needed to be fixed, and because for this he was able to be restored, able to become holy, able to find himself in Christ Jesus. Paul continually reminds Timothy that his competence is not in himself. Even his journey in is not of himself, but by his continued reliance on the grace of God.
Paul doesn’t say to Timothy that he can do it because Paul trained him, or because he was a quick learner, or any other reason, except that Jesus called him to this. Timothy, Paul says, you can do this, not because who you are, but because of whom He is. Paul reminds Timothy that he was not called because of anything he did, but because of Jesus purpose and grace. If Timothy was not saved by works, how then can he live by them? He can’t. He was saved by grace, and Paul tells him to continue to live in it. Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, Paul says.
Paul’s own strength comes from Christ, so how could Timothy, the student be any different. Paul doesn’t even point Timothy to himself, except when he himself is pointing to Jesus. Timothy is going to be able to do all this through the Spirit that lives in him. This is no pep talk.
Paul is reminding Timothy of his journey up. The only way he is going to be able to journey in is by the assurance he has from the previous path. The only way he is going to move beyond himself to out and on is through this same Spirit. Clean out you closet, Timothy, Paul writes, but do it in the strength of Jesus. Timothy is not going to be able to do it on his own. If he tries to just will himself fixed he will fail, but until he is fixed he cannot do what he is called to. Timothy is unqualified for the task ahead of him, but he is qualified just the same.
He must remember, before all else, that it is Grace that allowed him to be saved, and grace that saves him still. If he is to present himself worthy, he must find his worth in Jesus. He will not be timid because he is resting in the Spirit, and the Spirit is not timid, but bold. He will not be puffed up and conceited because his worth will not be in himself. He will not feel inadequate because his success does not depend on his own performance. His journey in must be made of the same things that his journey up was made of- Grace and Faith. Paul tells him again and again that this is how he can do what he did, and this is how Timothy must do what is ahead of him as well.
And so it must be with us. I am speaking to both the Christian and non-Christian in the audience today. Timothy’s journey in began before he believed, and so must ours. Before I could put my faith in Christ, I not only had to figure him out, I had to figure my self out. Christianity is more than belief in God, or of Jesus. There are quite a few people who believe in God who aren’t Christians. Christianity is about first the belief that we are broken beyond repair. We first need to journey in and see ourselves for who we are. We first need to come to a place where we see we need a Savior. Now there is a journey up as well, a coming to belief in God, and Jesus, but that is not today’s sermon.
If we don’t first begin our journey in we will never get to any of the other journeys. I believe we sometimes neglect the journey in as we come to faith, but it is integral to this Faith called Christianity. If we don’t have an accurate idea of who we are, we can never have an accurate idea of who God is, and what the cross actually means. It is not the Christian idea that we are good, most of the time, and the bits we are not good Jesus died for. We must first realize we are broken beyond repair, that our normal mode is bad, and it is on rare occasions that we are truly good. Then we can approach God with the right attitude. Then we will be able to see why the Cross is so amazing and almost absurd. We must believe first that we were enemies of God, and then we can start to believe that he loves us and reconciles us to Himself anyway. This is the Good News- while we were yet SINNERS Christ died for us.
But the application doesn’t end there. Like Timothy, this is the beginning of our journey in, not the end. We have a long and sometimes painful process ahead of us. Timothy was set to become the chief elder of an entire Metropolis, and still his mentor is reminding him of places he needs to grow. If Timothy’s journey is not at an end here, we can be sure our journey has a long way to go.
But there is even more application that this. To say that our journey in is long is not enough. Paul doesn’t end there, and I think we would be remiss if that is where we ended. Paul tells Timothy how to change.
It seems like it would be impossible for me to stand up here and tell all of us where we need to change, and in some regards that is true. Partly because I don’t know all of you as well as Paul knew Timothy, and partly because it would be a very long sermon, and everyone would leave here hating me. But in another sense, I feel I can stand up here and tell all of us how we are to change. Paul points out specifics to
Timothy, but then he goes beyond them. After Paul tells Timothy the areas he needs to improve right now, he goes on to tell Timothy to continue to grow in faith. He also tells Timothy to feel qualified in the calling, not in himself. And more than this, he tells Timothy to find his worth in Jesus.
Paul reminds Timothy that it is by Jesus that he can do all these things, it is by Jesus that he has been given authority, it is by Jesus that he must live. Timothy is grossly inadequate on his own. He is a shy, young man with an inferiority complex. He could never lead an entire cities worth of churches. I am going to say it again- Timothy is grossly inadequate. And it is this inadequacy that, in a way, makes him adequate.
And so it must be with us. We are all grossly inadequate. We are inadequate at almost all we do. We will at some point let God down, our family, our friends, ourselves. If we can’t even live up to our own standards, how are we to hope to be successful by anyone else’s?
This is what Paul is communicating to Timothy. He is not qualified on his own, but then again, Timothy is not doing anything on his own. He is doing everything ion the power of God, but he Spirit that lives in him through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians, this is the application for us. Our journey can’t end with our conversion. The more we go in, the more we must rely upon Christ. The choice to follow Him is not a one time deal; it requires of us a continual reliance upon His Grace.
Like Timothy we all have a calling. There are gifts and traits that God has imbued us with to do his work here on earth. For Timothy these culminated in his overseeing of the church at
The application for today is run back to Jesus. He is what will make us ready. Paul tells Timothy to clean out his closet, yes, but he tells him to do it in the strength of Christ. Timothy couldn’t have done it otherwise. We can’t do it otherwise. How does Timothy get over being timid? He lets the Spirit of boldness work through him. How does Timothy get over his fear of being too young? He finds his rest in the Rock of Ages, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End. How does Timothy rid himself of feeling inferior and unready? He looks to Jesus and finds his worth in Him.
It is through Grace that we too can clean our closets. It is by looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith that we can grow in our journey in. It is through the Spirit that we too can become adequate.
It is also through this Grace that we can journey in at all. If Timothy was to just look at how he messed up, and what he needs to do to become right, he would have been overwhelmed. He had a lot he needed to work on. It is easy to see how all his shortcomings could have crippled him, and by trying to tackle them, calling them to the surface, he could have become even more broken. It is a relatively common reaction to shut down in the face of adversity, and when this adversity comes from ourselves, it can cause a terrible downward spiral. But that is not what happens to Timothy. He goes to
We too can have this reaction. If we are not relying on the Grace of God which we knew when we first believed, it is easy to see how we could destroy ourselves. I used to sit up at night for hours thinking about what I had done wrong that day, and how to fix it. I would stew in my inadequacy, which would just help me to accomplish less the next day. And so that night I would be up again. It was a vicious cycle with no end in sight. I saw that I could not do what I needed to do. I was inadequate in almost every aspect of my life. I would get angry with myself and resolve to change, but never could.
And then I cried out ot God. Is topped relying on myself,a nd instead know that I am going to mess up. I am inadequate to the mission that God has called me to. But that is okay. It is where I find my adequacy. God chose me, not because of what I did, but because of who he is. And it is in this grace that I can reevaluate myself and go further on in this journey in. I used to rely on my own skills and intelligence, and today instead I rely on Him. And so it must be with all of us today.
I am still inadequate to do what I have been called to do. Let none of us forget that I am a former alcoholic with an anger management problem who almost flunked out of Umass, UMASS, and have no formal theological training. Yet here I am, preaching at a conservative church on Sunday mornings, married and with a kid. Which, by the way, are just two more thing that I am inadequate at. But I am not looking to myself for my adequacy, but to Jesus.
Like Timothy, my journey in hasn’t stopped with conversion, rather it just began. I am not saying I am perfect, by any stretch. Paul was not telling Timothy that once he slew the aforementioned demons he would be good to go, but he does say it is a great place to start. He reminds Timothy that he must continue to fight the good fight. And so must we.
This journey in is never ending, but always done. What I mean by that is that we are called to continually be made more holy, but it is not us who does it. Jesus will do it for us when we finally submit ourselves to Him. Jesus already did the work, it is done, but we must still walk along the road.
So then, this is the call on all of us today. Journey in, but do it in the Grace of Christ. What we will find is a winy, young punk who has no right to take over a church at
Let us Journey in. Let us find our worth in the Father, find our righteousness in Jesus, overcome our failings by accepting the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead. Let us be brutally honest about where we are, and where we need to go, and then look to Jesus to carry us there. Let us fight the good fight, guard the deposit entrusted us, present ourselves as a worker approved. But as we do this, let us find our rest in Christ, be strengthened in his Grace, and rely on Him to make us Holy.
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