Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

 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!

Welcome, new rose leaves.  These tender early rose leaves hold jewels of morning dew, as dear friends. In each droplet one can see enlarged the beauty of the new leaf. It is the interplay between water and chlorophyll that will produce dazzling blooms in a matter of weeks.  I am always amazed at new life breaking forth. Do I display that in my own witness to the love of Jesus Christ?

For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:6, 7

What do I hear in these words?  First, the “gift of God” that was in Timothy was not put there by the Apostle Paul, even though Paul was the one who laid hands on Timothy.  It was God’s gift!  Paul was but an intermediary.  God gave the gift, not Paul.

Second, that “gift of God” is now the unshakable foundation of Timothy’s life and ministry.  It was not Paul’s gift to Timothy, but God’s.  It could be that Timothy saw himself in Paul’s shadow because he was certainly much younger, not nearly as strong or as forceful as Paul and could not boast the kind of education or training that Paul had in the best Seminary of the time.  How could Timothy possibly “stand in” for Paul?  Not a chance if it were not for the direct gifting of the Holy Spirit who imparted the “gift of God” into Timothy, so to speak.

As I read these words I see that Timothy was extremely timid, unlike Paul who was, by nature and training, strong and straight-forward, no matter what.  Some people are just timider than others. But that does not mean that those timider by nature cannot stand strong and proclaim the power of the Gospel and demonstrate the love of God.  As Paul wrote, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”  I like it that Paul owes his own power to what he sees Timothy now having – the “gift of God.”  I hear him say, “God gives us power to overcome timidity.”

Who among us does not need this push of the Spirit of God?  May the “gift of God” overwhelm any inhibitions that I have – in order to lift up Jesus here and now!

One of my favorite Spring flowers is the bleeding heart. I can hardly believe that this marvelous beauty is just off our porch, right here in Lancaster.  It looks almost tropical.  Of course here it is enlarged to show its breath-taking hidden beauty. Is it an orchid!  No.  Just a common bleeding heart.

I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.  Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

2 Timothy 1:3 – 5

I find it interesting that Paul, in writing to his young colleague, reflects on ancestry.  He reminds Timothy that both his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice lived a life of faith even though they both had Gentile husbands and they lived in Turkey, far from Palestine.

Paul sees that life of faith in God is also in Timothy.  So in that way Timothy follows in a line of those two remarkable women.  Paul calls it “sincere faith.”  It was that faith that joined Timothy with the past, not some Jewish heritage or blood.

Paul acknowledged his own debt to his ancestry by noting that, as his ancestors served God, so does he.  It was done with a “clear conscience.”  Paul did not, in any way, stand in judgment on his ancestors.  His father, as a strict Jewish Pharisee, sought to keep his conscience clear by adhering to a life so structured that it reflected a sincere faith in God.  In all his writing Paul never pointed a finger toward his ancestors.  He valued that history.  His meeting with Jesus Christ did not skew the importance of ancestry.  So, as a mature follower of Jesus, Paul could honestly say, “I serve (God) as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience.”  Note, he does not say “served” but “serve.”  There is compelling continuity there.

For Paul, meeting Jesus had phenomenal consequences, but it did not sever him from his God-loving ancestors.  Paul embraced his past!  I think I should do that as well.  I found myself doing so as I wrote about my family history, a kaleidoscope of influences and blood. I can honestly say, I thank God for my family history!  Grace helps that to happen.

As Paul found faith in his strict Jewish family, so Timothy found faith in his mother and grandmother whose situation resembled Paul’s family, not at all.  The true heritage is not blood, but faith.  I like Paul’s words, “sincere faith.”  I rest on that.  It is found in many guises.

While strolling in Longwood Gardens I was drawn to this bonsai, a cypress tree tended, trimmed and shaped in a most wonderful and enchanting way.  I am not sure how old the little tree was when it was taken in but for more than 85 years loving, patient hands somewhere in Japan enabled it to become a marvel, spectacularly beautiful.  Whoever that was is now gone but this testimony to the tree’s desire to live and the desire of its tender to shape it into something quite astounding, stirs the spirit, that is for sure.  I am 86, about as old as this tree when it fell into the hands of a lover of such trees!  I fell into the hands of Jesus, a lover of such as me.  That is no doubt your story as well.  Let us rejoice in the fact that we, quite ordinary seedlings, have been tended by divine hands.  A thought to bless the soul, that is for sure.  But not just a thought, but a reality!!

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Timothy 1:1, 2

Bible scholars conclude that this is Paul’s final letter before his death. They also agree that after release from his trial in Rome, Paul revisited several of the churches in Turkey, an arduous tour for Paul who met one danger after another, physical and spiritual.  He was then re-arrested by the Roman Empire, placed in what looks like solitary confinement.  It was then that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy.  He sensed that his life-work was almost over, so his advice to Timothy is couched in the imminence of his own oncoming death.

As we read this letter we are aware of Paul’s intense desire that Timothy, and others, continue to follow Jesus Christ in simplicity and girded with faith.

Referring to Paul’s greeting to Timothy as noted above, he reminds Timothy again that he was called by God to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  It is not a life that Paul would have even imagined for himself.  He had hated Jesus, now he loved Him beyond all else.  I feel sure that he is reminding Timothy that he, too, is called by God himself and not by Paul or anyone else.

I am now 88 years old.  I have on my schedule to meet with a young disciple in a few days – a person who feels called by God to step out and serve Christ in ways that will certainly stretch him.  For myself, I am encouraged by the young disciples of Jesus who are being called by God to follow Him into strange and unfamiliar territory, so to speak.  God is still calling people. And He, in his grace, is allowing me to be one of the encouragers for the new generation.  For this I am eternally grateful.

Every believer should be open to walking with a Timothy and to encourage him or her on the way.

I was amazed when I looked into a tropical fern from the top. I forget its name but it left a lasting impression on me.  Each frond is magnificent, the heavy ovaries and stamens in the center cradled in the protective ring of fronds create a little world all its own.

God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.  I Timothy 6:15, 16

As Paul ends his first letter to Timothy he soars, once again, into a doxology that summarizes all he has been thinking and feeling.  It spells out what Paul focuses on and what he is encouraging young Timothy to do.

The center if all is God, of course. He is blessed above all others. In my prayers I find myself asking God for blessing, a good and legitimate prayer, but a more important prayer, as expressed here, is that God be blessed!  This is not easy to even think about because it is hardly imaginable, as far as I am concerned, that I, little me, can bless God Almighty!  Is he not already blessed beyond all measure?  Does he lack something if I do not bless him? Hardly.  Yet, if I hear the Holy Spirit in Paul’s writing, God desires my blessing.  If I can bless God with all my heart, I stand in a position of grace – grateful and full of joy.

He is the only Ruler. He is not a good Ruler among rulers, he is the only Ruler.  All earthly dominions will pass, along with their rulers, but the God of Jesus Christ is the only, the eternal Ruler.  Jesus Christ rules now and ever more.

King of kings.  Paul uses an earthly metaphor to describe God.  A king has a kingdom that he rules over, so God rules over his Kingdom that is now among us in Jesus Christ.   He is King above all kings.

Lord of lords.  A Lord is someone who owns his subjects and a good Lord covers his dependents with infinite care.  Many people rule over us.  That is normal. However, Jesus Christ is Lord of all lords.

He alone is immortal.  Earthly rulers come and go. God’s rule is eternal.  Why owe allegiance to rulers who will, like us, perish?

Who lives in unapproachable light.  This can be said of no earthly ruler.  Every human ruler has a dark side.  Not the Father of Jesus Christ who casts no shadow at all but is brilliant light, through and through and always.

Who no one has seen nor can see.  To him be honor and might forever. Amen.  No one has honor or might like God Almighty.

Paul thus reminds Timothy who he is serving and who loves him with unwavering love. Paul has all the flaws of humanity, as Timothy probably well knows, so Paul reminds Timothy and us who we serve.  It is God himself. That is what binds us together – the mighty power of the love of God.

Yesterday, May 11, was a day of celebration.  Glenn celebrated his 65th birthday on the 11th and Anna Ruth her 89th on April 25.  So Jane and Glenn Prius-ed us to Longwood Gardens, one of our favorite places, for a day of awe as we were amazed all over again at the variety and beauty of nature.  Even though it was cloudy, inside it was just right. A great day of celebration.  Thanks, Jane and Glenn.