Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

I Timothy 1:12- 13

Timothy needed to hear once again Paul’s own testimony.  In the “new” Paul there was no inherent strength. He drew from the storehouses of God’s mercy. Timothy, with his background, could do the same.  It seems presumptuous that Paul could ask young Timothy to stand among the variety of believers in Ephesus in order to keep the peace that each person knew when Christ invaded his or her life by faith.

To be a true peacemaker, one must know who he or she is.  For Paul, he said was a hater of Jesus Christ, a persecutor of the Church. He was vehement in his defense of the Jewish law as interpreted by the highly honored Pharisees.  I almost squirm when I hear him say that he was a blasphemer and a violent man.  For religious Jews he was a hero, a true child of the faith.

Then, on his way to do even more harm to the believers in Damascus he met Jesus and his life was radically changed. The strength that he had to persecute the church was broken and a new power surged through his being – the Christ-honoring power of the precious Holy Spirit.  A miracle occurred. The grace of Jesus was poured out on him abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

This new atmosphere of grace enabled him to believe in Christ Jesus, and to experience the faith and love that are in the Lord.  This was the secret of Paul’s internal power.

It reminds us that when we meet Jesus and receive him into our lives we are as weak as a broken reed, but behold the power of God rushes into our lives.  It is that power that comes from God that will empower Timothy as he seeks to bring peace to the burgeoning multi-cultural fellowship in Ephesus. Take courage, Timothy.  God in you is able!

We get considerable delight from our simple goldfish pond. The new tulips here add to the order and beauty of the scene.

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  I Timothy 1:3 – 5

Paul is helping young Timothy to ponder the mysteries of divine grace, so clearly seen in Jesus Christ. God’s saving grace has nothing at all to do with blood lines, cultures or history. Every person who comes to Christ in repentant faith is accepted, no matter the language or history.

It looks to me like there were some among the believers in Ephesus, probably Jews, who gained a small advantage by appealing to “myths” that places one culture above another. The Gentiles, unfortunately, could not find any comfort in their family trees while the Jews reveled in their special heritage, going way back, maybe even to King David, who knows?  By doing so they built a wall between Jews and Gentiles, both saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

I found this to be a problem, unseen by me, when I found myself among African believers in Tanzania. I could trace my cultural history back into northern Europe.  My ancestors were Christians for many centuries.  They built cathedrals, empires and businesses.  In a way, I felt that my culture was superior to the cultures of central Africa. Furthermore, my denomination, Mennonite, can take pride in the way it avoided being Catholic or Protestant, for that matter.  They were Anabaptists.  That gave me an edge, a position just a bit higher than almost all other believers.

This feeling of superiority can squelch feelings of true brotherhood among believers. I began to understand that.  So what do we do with our cultures, our histories, our family trees?  We cannot deny how much we were shaped by all of them. Becoming a follower of Jesus does not make us one culture, or give us one human history.  Those who are cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and who know the power of the Holy Spirit remain in their cultures while at the same time, they love deeply and fellowship constantly with believers who have their own cultures!

Paul assigned Timothy the awesome task of working out how people of different cultures can be one in the blessed Kingdom of God.

Are we all not called to this?

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

1 Timothy 1:3 – 7

I would say that it looks like Paul is asking young Timothy to do something beyond his limits.  He was a young man, not educated like Paul, as far as we know and probably not looking for such demanding assignments.  The thriving Christian community in Ephesus was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, probably mostly Gentile. I think asking Timothy to be a peacemaker between these two groups was a good move on the part of Paul.  Timothy, a resident of Turkey himself with a Gentile father and a Jewish mother should be able to win the confidence of all and help in the healing process. If I can feel for Timothy, I believe that the prospect of living as a shepherd over this burgeoning multi-cultural church, probably the largest of its kind then, was overwhelming!

I have discovered that we as followers of Jesus are asked to do assignments or to do things that seem to be beyond us, because we are too young, too timid or just too weak.

Imagine my surprise in 1964 when, in light of Bishop Elam Stauffer’s leaving the field for retirement, the Tanzanian church did not feel ready to come to one mind on who should be the first Tanzanian bishop so they requested that I agree to be installed as Bishop until they could work it out.  That took two years.  I was thirty-six years old not a Tanzanian!  I quake today when I think of that.  It seemed impossible for me but in hind sight those two years were some of the most satisfying and profitable years in my entire life.

For me, I felt that I was always too young or too unprepared to do what God wanted me to do.  But to this day, I am convinced that God was right.  In our weakness we experience Gods’ extraordinary strength.

The tulips and daffodils warm the heart.  We appreciate the flare of our little patch!

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

1 Timothy 1:3 – 7

I would say that it looks like Paul is asking young Timothy to do something beyond his limits.  He was a young man, not educated like Paul, as far as we know and probably not looking for such demanding assignments.  The thriving Christian community in Ephesus was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, probably mostly Gentile. I think asking Timothy to be a peacemaker between these two groups was a good move on the part of Paul.  Timothy, a resident of Turkey himself with a Gentile father and a Jewish mother should be able to win the confidence of all and help in the healing process. If I can feel for Timothy, I believe that the prospect of living as a shepherd over this burgeoning multi-cultural church, probably the largest of its kind then, was overwhelming!

I have discovered that we as followers of Jesus are asked to do assignments or to do things that seem to be beyond us, because we are too young, too timid or just too weak.

Imagine my surprise in 1964 when, in light of Bishop Elam Stauffer’s leaving the field for retirement, the Tanzanian church did not feel ready to come to one mind on who should be the first Tanzanian bishop so they requested that I agree to be installed as Bishop until they could work it out.  That took two years.  I was thirty-six years old and certainly not a Tanzanian!  I quake today when I think of that.  It seemed an impossible task for me but in hind sight those two years were some of the most satisfying and profitable years in my entire life.

For me, I felt that I was always too young or too unprepared to do what God wanted me to do.  But to this day, I am convinced that God was right.  In our weakness we experience Gods’ extraordinary strength.

To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I Timothy 1:2

One of things that surprised me as I was a young missionary, I left my family, that was part of the deal, but I slowly discovered that God was giving me a new family, not to displace my biological one, that was always precious to me, but to build me up and strengthen me for the new task that God was asking me to do.

My Overseer was Orie O Miller, Eastern Mennonite Mission Secretary. As naturally as a handshake I embraced him as a spiritual father.  We had no blood connection at all but I must admit, he was a father to me, without even talking about it. He was of my father’s generation but he entered mine as a sort of combined father and brother. I am newly amazed at that as I am writing.  I knew that he wished the best for me and was always there for me. He was a gift to me, without a doubt. I cannot even imagine how bereft I would have felt without him there to support me.  I am sure that others came into my life at that point to make up my spiritual family, but he was an important one.

Then, not long in Tanzania some people, without my realizing it, became my brothers, uncles and aunts. A few were Americans but most were Africans. One of my closest Tanzanian friends, Zedekiah Kisare, became first a brother in Lord to me and slowly became a beloved and caring father. That still amazes me. Several others in that Tanzanian circle became family to me, bound by the cleansing Blood of Jesus and welded together by the Holy Spirit.

My heart resonates with Paul’s words, “My true son in the faith.” One of the miracles of grace that I have found to be precious beyond telling is the compelling love of the Spirit that enables me to embrace a new family, an eternal one.

I am now old. I am learning that my blood family is more important to me than ever while at the same time my spiritual family, “in the faith,” is more real than the morning sun. That is a surprise, a miracle of God’s amazing grace.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Timothy 1:1, 2

Note how Paul describes himself.  “I am an apostle.”  An apostle is a sent one and apostle is also used as one of those who were intimate associates of Jesus.   It is helpful to note that Paul uses the indefinite article, “an,” indicating that he is bonded with those who believe in Jesus and are sent out by him. He does not see himself as a super disciple, but as one among them.

While Jesus lived, Paul hated him.  After Jesus ascended into Glory, Paul could not rest – he must stop what he thought was heresy that had to be terminated. On his journey to Damascus to do that, Jesus himself, of all people, appeared to him in a vision that literally turned his world upside down.

Paul, upon reflection, realized a profound truth, while he was running away from God, God ran after him.  Jesus appeared to Paul and spoke with him. Paul could have denied the whole thing and continued on his task of destroying believers.  But that appearance of Jesus made a believer out of Paul.  He realized that he is a believer by God’s command.  That is strong language and we do not know exactly what Paul is saying, but one thing is sure, he was not seeking Jesus, Jesus was seeking him!

Jesus forgave Paul.  He offered salvation and turned Paul into a Jesus lover.  That is truly extraordinary.

As a part of the experience Jesus game him a new mission – Christ sent him – thus the word apostle is fitting, indeed.

That is Paul’s story.  How Timothy became a follower of Jesus is another story but no matter, the result is a precious fellowship of love between these two followers of Jesus Christ, one older the other younger.

Near our shed is a row of delicate early lily flowers. I never went to the trouble to get their names but they are a delight, believe me.  They appear all at once, it seems, as soon as the weather even thinks of being nice.  I admire this lily variety.  They announce Spring.