Timothy

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon today is entitled Timothy: Person, Purpose and Practical Application, and my focus is our Epistle (1 Timothy 2:1-15). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are standing within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Wikipedia has a page for everything. There is an entry for Timothy as a given name. It tells us that Timothy is a masculine Greek name meaning “one who honors God.” In the United States, the name was most popular in the 1960s, ranking 13^th among all boy's names. Now, it doesn’t even make the top one hundred. Surprisingly, it is also a name for girls.

The known actors named Timothy include Busfield, Dalton, Hutton and Olyphant. Among athletes and singers are Tebow and McGraw, but “Tiny Tim” was really Herbert Buckingham Khaury. Then there is Leary, the psychiatrist who advocated drugs, and the infamous mass murderer McVeigh. Fictional characters appear as McGee in NCIS and Cratchit from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

There are many people in the Bible and early Church that we scarcely know, among them is Timothy, often mentioned in the same sentence with Titus. He came from Lystra in what is now Turkey. His father was a Greek pagan, and his mother, Eunice, was a Jewish-Christian. Acts introduces him in chapter 16, when Paul made his first missionary journey to Lystra. Timothy is mentioned frequently in Acts and many of the epistles.

Timothy was Paul’s companion on several missionary journeys. He was sent by Paul to Thessalonica to strengthen the Christians. Paul referred to him as a brother and God’s co-worker or servant. When Timothy returned from that journey, he reported the good news of the Thessalonians faith and love.

Paul then sent him from Ephesus to Corinth to remind the Christians of how to live as followers of Jesus because some had become arrogant, bold, pretentious and/or proud. He also sent him to Philippi to teach them to humble themselves like Christ did.

In addition to his missionary journeys, Timothy is prominently mentioned in the opening greetings of several of Paul’s letters – 1^st Thessalonians, Philippians and 2^nd Corinthians. These are three of the churches he helped Paul start. He was also associated with Paul in his imprisonment in Ephesus, where he became their first bishop. Ephesus was an idolatrous city. It is there that Timothy was supposedly martyred.

Timothy was comparatively young for the work he was doing, and several references indicate that he was affectionate, tender and timid. Yet, even as a young man, he was an example for other Christians as he learned this from Paul. As Lutherans, we observe his feast on January 24^th. He is known by Catholics as the patron saint of those with stomach ailments because of one of Paul’s most frequently quoted lines addressed to him: “Stop drinking only water, but have a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23).

I am sure there is more to know about Timothy, but we move on to my second point, Purpose. What is the purpose of Paul’s Letter to Timothy?  There are several themes running throughout this Letter: Church order or structure, true and false teaching, and community relations and belief. Today’s passage deals with the third purpose, and I will get to that shortly, but first will touch upon the first two themes.

Church order here is about the role of bishops or teachers. 5:17 tells us that only certain presbyters were involved in preaching and teaching, but not all were bishops. 3:1 shows that the position was esteemed, and Paul warned that bishops were not to become conceited (3:6).

The qualifications for deacons are also outlined in chapter three: respectable, not given to too much wine, not pursuing dishonest gain, married once and good managers of their children and households. They were tested before being admitted to this service. Likewise, women are mentioned for service. Although some translations, such as ours, use the word wives, there is a strong case that the Greek grammar indicates that the meaning is women who are deacons and not women who are wives of deacons. The last group Paul writes of is the widow.

Teaching is described in chapter one, the latter half of chapter three and into four, and chapter six. Sound doctrine is always an important issue in the early Church, just as it is today. We see that Paul struggles against arrogant individualism and that his prime target was Cynic philosophy whose philosophers spoke with sarcasm or skepticism about God and traditional religious beliefs, and praised those who did not marry and raise a family.

Now, let’s turn to the theme of community relations. What we have in chapter two is akin to what we have in in Paul’s Letters to Colossians (3:18-4:1), Ephesians (5:21-6:9) and Titus (2:1-10): household codes. To understand household codes, I suggest that you turn to Section Three in Luther’s Small Catechism and read the Table of Duties. We credit The Good Doctor, Martin Luther, who coined the term Haustafeln, which refers to a summary table of specific actions members of each family are expected to perform.

In this list, virtues and vices are similar to what Paul wrote elsewhere (see above), and the stress here is on God’s desire to save every human being. Christians are to pray for all people, as we read in verse one. The reason Paul strongly encourages prayers for the kings and rulers is because Christians did not participate in the civic worship of the gods and were suspect because of that. It is not that Paul was encouraging patriotism, but that civic authorities allow Christians to live in peace, and so that these authorities come to a clear knowledge of the truth.

If God is one, he must be concerned with all peoples, and Paul links this truth to Christ, the one mediator between God and men. Here, Paul emphasizes Christ’s humanity. Why? Docetism. The Docetists who came later were those who focused on the divinity of Christ and denied that Jesus came in the flesh. They believed that he only seemed to have flesh. This belief destroys the entire concept of the Trinity. As one early Church Father put it, “This refers to the perfect humanity by which salvation is [formed]. The fact that Jesus shares a common humanity with us is the whole key to salvation.”[1] This heresy is attacked by John in his Letters as well, and Paul mentions it here as a reminder to Timothy to be aware of false teachings. It’s a good reminder for us too. Through Jesus Christ – true God and true man – you have been saved, as Paul testifies in the next verse.

The next section deals with how people should act, but the first verse (8) reminds us to lift holy hands without anger or quarreling, which reminds me of what I do when I pray before you. When I bless you, I lift my hands over you. When I pray at the altar, I lift my hands and direct you to lift up your hearts. And when I speak the Lord’s Prayer, I hold my hands as if I am surrendering. Standing with hands outstretched and palms turned upwards to the heavens indicated that one was open to receiving God’s grace. If you are uncomfortable praying like this in public, try it when you are praying alone.

The household codes regarding how women should act is much longer here. If you were to ask me why, I would have to tell you, “I don’t know.” As I have aged, I have noticed that I rely upon that phrase more often. What Scripture does reveal is that women assumed the right to pray aloud at Christian worship. They also held responsible positions. Phoebe, Prisca and Junia are depicted as preaching and teaching.[2]

Although mention is made of gold, pearls and costly attire, most Christian women did not have the means to adorn themselves like this, however, Paul does address behavior here and in other passages of the Letter. John Chrysostom makes an interesting observation about the last verses (11-15). He wrote, “Eve was not subjected in her original condition as she was made. Nor was she called to submission when God first brought her to the man. She did not hear anything from God then about submissiveness. Nor did Adam originally say any such word to her.”[3] Chrysostom goes on to say that subjection came after the fall.

So, what practical application does 1^st Timothy have on our lives today as individuals and as Church? In a word, prayer. I have said this before, but it bears repeating. I start each day in prayer by reading Psalms, a Scripture passage and a meditation by one of the Church Fathers. I often follow this by reading a Daily Devotion from Lutheran Hour Ministries. After I have finished that I usually turn to the news, and that’s when my disposition also turns sour.

So much in our world – or what’s reported by storytellers – turns our stomachs. One of the most sickening stories was the opinion of a professor from Carnegie Mellon University regarding Queen Elizabeth on the day she died. And no matter who is President, half the nation and maybe even the world is upset about some new policy or program. People mock leaders in high positions on every level from the world and nation to local towns and townships, from universities to school districts, from professional coaches to youth coaches. For me, the practical application of today’s passage is to pray for all these people either by name or position so that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives and that they come to the knowledge of the truth.

As a congregation, we do that through the Prayer of the Church. As individuals, we can do that through our own intercessory prayers. Cindy and I include family members, friends, neighbors and church members in our prayers each morning and before supper. We live such relatively peaceful and quiet lives that on some days, we have little personal contact with anyone. Perhaps the challenge for me is to pray for people like St. Monica did for her pagan son, Augustine, who eventually did come to the knowledge of the truth, and then taught it. So, let’s not discount the power of praying for someone’s heart and mind to turn to Christ.

The other application that comes to mind is good example. Every Christian can lead others to Christ through prayer and good example. Paul’s desire is that anger, rage, wrath, and being quarrelsome, argumentative, or scheming has no part in the life of a believer. If you demonstrate these vices in your lives, how are you drawing others closer to Christ? How do such vices make me more like Christ? On the other hand, the good example I provide to my spouse, children, parents or in-laws will eventually lead them closer to Christ. You may not realize it, but friends, neighbors and coworkers sense whether or not that you pray – and pray for them.

As we close, I encourage you to re-read Luther’s Table of Duties. Notice how Luther intentionally listed them from congregation to society to household. In our congregation we remember our identity in Christ as individual members of His Body. We then move into the world and our daily work before returning home where we gather with family in mutual service, for meals, in prayer and rest.

Luther’s Table teaches that all of us are called to live within our particular stations – church, society and home. In these ordinary places we serve and obey God by living His commandments not solely for ourselves but more importantly for the well-being of the people God has placed in our lives. God uses us in the world for the good and blessing of our neighbors. As God uses you each day, I pray that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus Amen.

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[1] Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on 1 Timothy, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament IX, edited by Peter Gorday. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL (2000), p. 158.

[2] See Romans 16:1-3, 7; 1 Corinthians 11:5; 16:7, 19.

[3] John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1^st Corinthians. Commentary on 1 Timothy, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament IX, edited by Peter Gorday. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL (2000), p. 165.