Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
Scripture | 2 Timothy 2:1-13 (NIV)
2 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for he cannot disown Himself.
We’re continuing on with our series titled, Endure. As we move through 2 Timothy during these four weeks, we’re exploring the questions, “What happens when we take a chance, put ourselves out there, are bold for Christ and it doesn’t work out?” and “How do we handle challenges and failures as a Christian people?”
Last week we talked about how to endure. We spoke about how in the face of failures, challenges, and setbacks, Christians are called to do three things: 1. Fan the Flame of Faith, 2. Know that there will be Suffering, and 3. Guard our Hope by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Today, we are taking a look at the next step in enduring failure – Staying Focused.
Did you know that the average American household has $5,315 in credit card debts? Even more incredible is the fact that 34 million Americans are considered impoverished. That’s equal to the populations of: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San José, Austin, Jacksonville, Fort Worth, Columbus, Indianapolis, Charlotte, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver combined. It’s almost impossible to imagine that many people living in poverty, yet this is the reality for a population a little smaller than that of the State of California.
For years, people have tried to assess what the causes of poverty are and work to prevent them or alleviate people from them. One such cause which has been identified is the reality that many people living in poverty are reactionary people. Being reactionary means a person is always reacting to the situations as they occur rather than planning for possible outcomes and trying to stay ahead of those situations. This way of living can cause a lot of problems for people.
Living from expense to expense (or paycheck to paycheck) creates a lot of stress, as you never know what the next expense might be and if you will be able to find a way to pay for it. As you can imagine, living this way makes it almost impossible to save up money and be able to handle problems as they happen. This leads to credit card debts, loans, etc. It’s easy to see how this way of living can help lead to poverty.
So how has the financial world suggested people stop the cycle of reactions? They suggest making plans for your money and sticking to them. In many cases, this means creating budgets for your money and not deviating from them. When I was in high school, I took a budgeting course and it changed the way I handle my money forever. I am not always the best at keeping to my budget, but I have always kept one to help me not be a reactionary with my money.
Recently, I was reading about people who work to spend just $30 a week on groceries. Being the penny-pincher that I am, I thought I would give it a try. Let me tell you, going in to the grocery store and deciding to only spend $30 is HARD. Especially at first, I had many weeks where I went over because of random things which would catch my eye. But over time, I’ve learned how to stay focused on my task and not to spend money on things that I really don’t need. Astoundingly, I have found that living on this small budget has helped me to eat more fresh foods, including vegetables and fruits, and forced me not to eat out as much.
Surprisingly, this financial advice has some strong bearing on our spiritual lives as well. When it comes to our souls, it is easy to become reactionary as well, but Paul gives us advice for helping us create spiritual budgets and stay focused. First, Paul reminds us what our mission is: “You then, my son, 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 people who will also be qualified to teach others.” Our work as Christians is to grow in strength and faith by the Grace of Jesus Christ and to share that faith and grace with others by teaching and sharing our witness.
Then Paul moves on. He says, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” In other words, Paul is again reminding us, as he did last week, that being a Christian means that there will be hard times. There will be moments of challenge and hardship – we will experience failure. Why? Because we have real, life-changing Good News to share with a world veiled in darkness and that darkness does not want us to shine light.
Paul continues, “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.” Here Paul gives us the recipe for spiritual budgeting. First, Stay Focused. Second, Follow God’s Rules. Third, Remember the Promise.
- Stay Focused. Paul says that a soldier doesn’t get entangled in civilian affairs, but rather focuses on his duty to his commanding officer. When the armies of the Allies were marching through the countryside of France, liberating it from its captors, they didn’t take breaks to make sure their stocks were doing well. They didn’t stop to make sure that their fashion was up to snuff before they met the French. Every soldier gave their all to defeat the enemy, to obey the orders from their commanders. Why? So that the goal would be achieved. So that freedom would be restored. In the same way, we have marching orders from our leader, and it is our job as Christians to live into those orders – to not let ourselves get distracting by things that don’t matter, so that we fight for what’s right and bring real freedom back to the world.
- Follow God’s Rules. What are those standing orders? Paul says, “anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.” In other words, there’s no way to complete our goal – no way for us to win the victory – if we don’t obey the rules. As we see in the very beginning of the Bible, God has created all that is. He has brought order to chaos, and what that means is the race, the competition as Paul calls it, works according to the rules of God. Our marching orders, the rules of the world, all come from God alone. To be able to remain focused and stay on course, we need to spend time knowing God’s Word because it’s only by knowing God’s word that we come to understand how we are to “win the victor’s crown.”
- Remember the Promise. Paul ends his recipe by saying that the hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. In other words, Paul is acknowledging that there is hard work ahead of us. It is hard to remain focused and only play according to God’s rules. But we have received a promise – that when we do the hard work. When we stay focused on God, live by His Word – that we will be with Him forever. Again, Paul reminds us that just because we have this promise, doesn’t mean that we won’t face hard times.
He says, “This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s Word is not chained.” But God’s word is not chained! Wow! This is one of the most important parts. Right here. Even when we fail, face challenges, or mess up – God’s Word is not chained. It may seem like we fail, it might seem like we can’t make any headway – but no matter what, God’s Word is not chained.
Paul says, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” We will face hardship. We will face failures. We will be challenged in ways we don’t want to be. But in the midst of that, God’s Spirit is active – He actively is using our work to spread His love and Good News. And that is worth the hardship – it’s worth the pain, the failure, the challenge.
So, we endure. We stay focused, follow God’s rules, and remember the promise. Paul ends our passage today with a beautiful poem. He says, “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.”
Our goal as Christians is not to throw our lives away or consign ourselves to constant suffering and torture. But it does mean that in our goal of spreading the grace and love of Christ that there will be hard times. Some Christians have lost their lives for this goal. Yet, we have the promise, that whether we live or die, we are with Christ. When we stay focused and endure, we will be with Him for all eternity. And when we fail, and when we mess up – Christ remains faithful. That is truly Good News. Amen? Amen.