So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.  2 Timothy 1:8

Paul’s final visit to Greece and Turkey was not a happy time.  Later in his letter to Timothy he goes into detail about that.  It is a blend of suffering and hope, often braided into one reality.  Paul uses carefully selected words as he writes to Timothy.  He wrote, “Join with me in suffering for the gospel.”

For many, including me, I found the invitation to give my heart to Jesus as a new way to live, under the blessing of Jesus Christ. I hold to that promise until today.  But I also discovered, as Paul did, that a significant part of my walk with God included suffering.  If I may, I believe that Paul had high hopes of seeing marvelous things as he visited, for the final time, the churches that he had a major part in planting.  That is not what happened.  Paul does not go into detail on that.  How he felt was more important than what happened.  He suffered!

As Paul wrote this, his final letter that we know of, he is handcuffed to a prison guard!  He was rearrested by the Romans and this time, as far as we know, had very limited freedom as a prisoner. So his physical suffering was real.  But the suffering that he endured on that last journey to the churches was far greater. That is the kind of suffering he alerts Timothy to expect.  Hear his plea, “Join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” 

If I try to put myself in young Timothy’s shoes, these words are not what one might expect.  He maybe expected Paul to boast about the way the church is growing, how Gentiles and Jews who believe have found a way to live together as brothers and sisters.   As a missionary I loved to report on such marvelous things.

If I may, after I left the Mennonite church of Tanzania that I labored to help to establish, I heard rumors, about twenty years later, that the church split!  I tried my best to be a peacemaker but the leader of the renegade group, a former student of mine in the Bible College, rebuffed me and would not only not speak to me but forbade me from entering any of his churches. Ouch!  I was deeply troubled.  At the time I did not personalize the hurt but since then I have thought about it some.  Instead of receiving thanks for the work I had done, I was put down like with a hammer. So in some small way I can feel Paul’s pain, for that is exactly what happened to him in the twilight of his active ministry, prior to final arrest.

As he opened his heart to Timothy, he admitted his deep wounds, a pain that was only alleviated by knowing that he could only forgive by the power of God.  Who does not wish to be thanked, especially in older age?  Paul is no exception.

I hear these words to Timothy and take them to heart for myself.  Lord, grant grace that I may flee to Jesus with everything!  Everything!