Vs. 1 In the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
We know that whatever is coming next is going to be pretty important, even if we do not know what these words are actually talking about, but what they seem to be talking about is pretty cool too. Here, I believe Paul is outlining how Timothy’s whole life relies on God. He first says “in the presence of God and Christ Jesus,” and then points out that Jesus will judge us. When I hear that, I hear Paul emphasizing that God is at the beginning of our lives and the end. He is saying that God created us and it is with that information in mind, as well as the concept that Jesus is the person who we will answer to at the ends of our lives. And then, Paul goes on to point out that Jesus has already affected our lives more than we could ever imagine! When I hear these words, it translates to something like this, for me: Because God is the beginning and the end of your life, and because of what he has already done in your life, here is what you should do next. That is the importance Paul is placing on what he says next.
Vs. 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction.
So this is what Paul was leading up to that whole time. And unfortunately, at first it is clear as mud, at least to me. I see this and I think “Oh, that’s nice,” and keep reading, never stopping to wonder what it means. But this phrase has power behind it. First of all, we are told to preach the word, which is pretty self-explanatory. Jesus came to this world to show himself to it, and as heirs to his legacy we have inherited that mission. Then we get to “be prepared in season and out of season,” which is confusing. What, I wonder, is out of season when applied to preaching the Word? Well, when I think of in season for preaching the word, I envision myself with a bible close at hand, all my sins and angers at God confessed and forgotten while I sit next to a person I know and feel affection for, who has just asked me about Jesus, able to answer their questions with biblical references. In a word, idyllic. So then, out of season is made of the times when we are angry or frustrated with the people around us, maybe the person we’re telling about Jesus, maybe even angry with Jesus himself. It is when we couldn’t repeat John 3:16 to save our lives. It is when we are not speaking with our peers but people who are smarter and older and more respected than us, or perhaps we don’t even know why they are. Out of season is when a question came up, and it isn’t supposed to be answered religiously, but it is the only true way we Christians can answer it. Out of season is sitting outside squinting into the sun so that the other person doesn’t have to, or having every eye within a 20 ft. square radius turning to stare at you because of what just came out of your mouth. And this is what Paul just told us to be prepared for. He then tells us to “correct, rebuke, and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction.” Clearly we’re still talking about how to interact with other people in light of Jesus, but now we’re getting into more detail. Yet something here seems off. I’ve often had to correct or rebuke with patience, making sure to say the correct thing, but how did “encourage” get on this list? Isn’t encouraging supposed to consist of calling “nice job” at a church colleague as we hurry past? It seems that Paul is talking about a different kind of encouragement.
In fact, it seems to me that he is talking about a task- a project, if you will. He is talking not about casual words, but encouragement that occurs when one of Christ’s followers decides to care on an ongoing basis for another child of God (and just so we’re clear, I’m not simply talking about Christians when I say “child of God”). It is in the moments when it would be easier to keep your head down, or give the generic “well, I’m sure God will work it out” answer, instead of taking the time to crack open your bible or ask the question that you know will elicit a half-hour response. It is in these moments that we must use the patience and careful instruction that we have received from Him first. It is when we are doing these things that we make earth look more like Heaven.
Vs. 3-4 “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
Paul is not pulling the punches with this one. He packs a double whammy into this verse, starting by underlining how urgent is the need to tell the whole world about Jesus now. We may have millennia more, but we do not have forever, and we do not even have a guarantee on tomorrow. Cliché as it is, the time for action really is now. Why? Because sometime, maybe soon, it will be too late. Take this for example: when a child is reared they are taught to speak as young as possible because if they reach a certain age, they will no longer have the ability to learn it. They will be surrounded by speech for the rest of their lives, but still be isolated from it, and a time is coming where the same will be true for our culture. We will no longer have the opportunity to show people the love of Christ with any success because they will turn to what they want to hear. And while I’m not someone who believes the world will end in 2012, I have to admit that people listening only to what they want is already too common in our world for comfort.
Vs. 5 “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
The “but” at the beginning shows us that this is in direct contrast to the last statement. So, other people will stop listening to God and his messengers and will believe in myth but you keep your head always. This is a wonderful example of hos God wants us to use the minds he gave us. He says here that we will need to guard our minds against what others are believing in and he’s telling us to do it using our minds! From focusing on the mind, he moves to the body, saying “endure hardship.” I know I am often guilty of forgetting that loving God always and doing his will includes doing it when I have a hurt arm of leg, when I am tired and hungry, and even (maybe especially) when I have just dealt with a serious trial and want nothing more than to go home and sleep. We hear echoes in this phrase of being prepared out of season from a few verses back. (Remember that?) Next, we are focusing outside the body: “Do the work of an evangelist.” I’d like to ask for your forgiveness here, because I don’t know if there is a deeper meaning to this phrase than what I see (but I do know that if I stop now to look it up, I’ll never post this). For me, we are coming back to telling people about what the world really is. Paul is reminding Timothy to tell people that there is a God loving them and waiting for them in Heaven as well as on Earth. And finally, Paul tells Timothy to discharge all the duties of his ministry. This is the final tie-up. Paul is simply saying do what needs to be done. Don’t forget anything, and don’t leave anything off because you want to. Discharge all of your duties. It is his suggestion to all of us who hope to follow God and his son.
