Pentecost 23 – 23 October
2016 – Year C
Grace to you and peace
from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for our
meditation is written in the 4th Chapter of St Paul’s 2nd
letter to Timothy: Verses 6 – 8 & 16 – 18.
(2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18)
As for me, I am already being poured out as a
libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there
is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have
longed for his appearing …. At my first defence no one came to my support, but
all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord
stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully
proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s
mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his
heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen
It is interesting to
note here, that Paul’s second letter to Timothy is the last letter that Paul
writes in his life--at least as recorded in the Bible. Paul is writing from his
prison cell in Rome, during his persecution under Emperor Nero, and he is
awaiting execution. Paul writes to his loyal assistant Timothy, and as he comes
to the end of this letter - and to the end of his life – He is looking back on
his life; reflecting on the experiences and events that led up to this time. In
addition to this, Paul is also looking forward, to what awaits him beyond this
life.
This passage can be
quite challenging, because as we read what Paul writes, we could be left
wondering, “Is Paul” - the former Pharisee - having a Pharisee Relapse?”
If we cast our mind
back to the Gospel reading for last week especially where Jesus told the Parable
of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, you will see that Jesus was speaking
about Luke 18: 9 “some who trusted in themselves that they
were righteous and regarded others with contempt” Luke 18: 10-12 “Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee,
standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like
other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I
fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’
One could be forgiven
for comparing that to what Paul says here in our text: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith. Sounds somewhat similar, doesn’t it? Here is Paul
quoting a string of his own good works. Could it even be that Paul is citing
his works as a basis for his salvation, because Paul does go on to say: “From now on there is reserved for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on
that day.
So is Paul having a
Pharisee relapse? You know, Paul was a Pharisee as a young man and a very
brilliant and zealous one, at that. Saul of Tarsus, top of his class, a
Pharisee of Pharisees! Now, as an old man, is he reverting to his former ways,
putting confidence in his own works? “I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
How should we regard
this for our own lives? Is the little bit of self-righteous pride in all the
good things we have done in God’s sight all right to throw into the mix? Are we
not entitled to take some credit for our good works? Surely they will have some
influence at the end times when God sits on His judgment throne?
Paul answers this
question Romans 3: 27 – 28
“Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of
works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is
justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law”.
In regard to his own
works, Paul is adamant Gal 6: 14
“May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
In the light of this,
what then of Paul’s apparent Pharisaic self-righteous
opening statements in
our text? As in all cases, passages
taken from the Holy Bible must be contextually complete; a few words or a
passage taken in isolation can create a false illusion or even confusion. This
is a ploy used my those who would lead us away from the true meaning of God’s
Word in favour of their own personal agendas.
In the context of the
whole reading, Paul is saying that he was able to achieve many things because 2 Tim17-18 “the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that
through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might
hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will
rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.” You see, it was the Lord who gave Paul the strength to
do all that he did, and Paul rightly gives all glory to God.
And when Paul says, “From now on there is reserved for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day” he is saying nothing more than what is the hope of
every Christian: that we have waiting for us the victor’s crown of life that
Christ won for us by his bloody crown of thorns. The righteousness of Christ,
his perfect righteousness, given to us as a gift--this is our only hope on the
Day of Judgment.
Listen, Paul says
this very plainly. He says, “The Lord will
rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the
glory forever and ever. Amen.”
This is a message of
a man who knows that death is very near. Paul is in prison. He’s about to be
executed, martyred for the faith. But he wants Timothy to know that there is no
need to fear such things. Don’t let fear stop you from fighting the good fight.
Don’t let danger stop you from finishing the race. Don’t let persecution shake
your grip on keeping the faith. That’s why Paul is writing these words to
Timothy - and to us - to encourage us, to give us courage to carry on, in spite
of whatever difficulties or persecution might lie ahead.
In his words, Paul is
reassuring us that the Lord will stand by us and strengthen us to carry out our
calling. The Lord will rescue us from every evil deed and bring us safely into
His heavenly kingdom. The Lord will award to us the crown of righteousness he
has laid up for us. All that the Lord has done, is doing, and will do for us
far outweighs our own feeble efforts and the empty hopes and promises the
glittering gods of this world offers.
Do we believe this?
Yes. If there was any doubt, just look at what Christ Jesus did for us when he went
to the cross, willingly suffering and dying in our place, to take away our
sins. God loves us beyond all human understanding; He has promised that He will
be with us always Matt 28.
He will see us through the hard times, the trials and afflictions we will face.
He will give us the strength and the endurance we need in this life and into
eternity.
That’s what Paul is
saying here. He’s saying: What the Lord has done for me, he will do for you
too. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns, he will award that crown of
righteousness to me, but “not only to me but also to all who have loved his
appearing.”
So we see that Paul
is by no means having a Pharisaic flashback. Far from trusting in his own
righteousness, Paul would be the first to confess his utter unworthiness. He tell us Rom 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells within me,
that is, in my flesh.” and in 1
Timothy, Paul calls himself the “chief of sinners.” When it comes to salvation,
righteousness, justification, Paul would beat his breast and say nothing more
than the tax collector in the parable, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
There is no
self-righteousness from Paul here only an example on how we should all appraise
ourselves as Christians in our Triune God’s kingdom on earth. Knowing we are
sinners, saved only by the Grace of God, we should never give up hope or be
deterred by life’s challenges. In saying that, like Paul, our Lord calls us to
take strength in His Grace and through faith work to serve all people in His
name so that at the end of our time we can boast with Paul Phil 3:14 “I press on toward
the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
We Christians take hope because we know that the righteousness of Christ
will cover all our sins and carry us through in times of trial, strengthen us
in our calling and bring us safely into
his heavenly kingdom, and award to us the crown of righteousness. “To him be
the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
The peace and love of
our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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