If we ever want to look to Scripture to find an example of someone who has lived a tough life there are numerous choices. We could look at the book of Job and find a man who had everything taken away from him in order to so that God can prove to Satan that suffering doesn’t necessarily take us away from God. We can look to any number of martyrs that we find throughout Scripture. Some of the beatings and tribulations of Godly men and women in the Bible are so severe that it leaves us thanking God every day that we are not faced with the same circumstances. Perhaps no person fits the term “rough life” better than the Apostle Paul. After Paul’s conversion to Christianity, his life seems to be filled with one hardship after another; all while working to establish and foster churches here on earth.
Having a very brief history of the Apostle beginning with his conversion will help us to see just how much Paul suffered for the sake of the gospel. Shortly after his conversion, which took place somewhere between 33 and 36 AD, he was nearly killed in Damascus. Only three years after becoming a Christian Paul traveled to Jerusalem in order to spread the gospel. From 46-48 Paul embarked on his 1st missionary journey. He went from Antioch to Cyprus to Southern Asia Minor and back to Antioch. From 49-52 he undertook his 2nd missionary journey. During this 2nd journey, Paul was imprisoned at Philippi with Silas. He escaped this situation when an earthquake hit and allowed one of the prison walls to collapse. This is the story of the Philippian jailer, who upon witnessing these events, immediately devoted his life to following the teachings of Jesus. His 3rd and final missionary journey began only one year after returning from his 2nd journey. In 60 AD he made a trip to Rome. On this trip to Rome is where Paul was imprisoned once again, and it is here that Paul writes his second letter to Timothy that we are looking at today. In all, Paul’s travels after his conversion total up to be an estimated 14,000 miles. Remind you that this is on foot. This would be the equivalent of me setting out from the parking lot to go to my parents’ house in Meridian and back around 63 times.
Now add in the fact that Paul’s travels often took him to some less than desirable locations. Very few times when Paul arrived at places where a church was already established did he find it peaceful and a time of relaxation. Usually there was some conflict within the church that Paul himself had to address. There is also the “thorn in the flesh” mentioned in 2 Cor. 12, which is most likely a physical disability Paul gained during his ministry. Add to that the continuous persecution, beatings, and aforementioned imprisonments along the way and you start to get the picture. Paul managed to squeeze all of this into about a 30 year period. This letter to Timothy was written only a few years prior to his death in Rome.
We can tell from the previous words in this letter that Paul has a feeling that his life is soon to come to an end. Earlier, in 4:6-7 we find, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Paul’s acknowledgement of the nearing end makes what we find in our text today an even more impressive message than what we might find simply by a surface reading. After requesting that Timothy come and visit Paul (no doubt so that he may continue to teach and train him for the continuation of his ministry) Paul moves on to reminisce of some of his fellow workers of the past who have worked honorably and dishonorably.
The first name that Paul gives to Timothy is the name Demas. Now this isn’t a name that I expect everyone to be able to recall off the top of their head, but it is someone that Paul has referred to at other points during his letters. In Philemon, Demas is listed in a group of men that Paul calls his “fellow laborers.” In Colossians 4 his name is simply listed without any other qualifying information. Here, we find that the name Demas carries with it a negative connotation. “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” We can take this as Paul warning against loving worldly values more than the spread of the gospel.
The next two names, Crescens and Titus, are of two others who Paul has sent out. When it comes to Crescens there is nothing else known about him other than this passage of him being sent to Galatia. Now Titus, we know from Paul’s letter to him and brief mentions in other letters, was a close friend and associate of Paul. Regardless, both of these men have left Paul’s side at this present time.
Whether this desertion was meant as a negative or simply just Paul’s telling to Timothy where others have gone, there is now a shift from those who have left Paul to the one who is still with him. Luke alone is with Paul. It’s funny, despite the fact that Luke wrote his gospel and the book of Acts, little is known about Luke the person. We know from inference that he was with Paul on his last journey to Rome. It is also mostly likely that Luke even willingly accompanied Paul to prison in Rome (this no doubt shows why Paul speaks so lovingly of Luke). As far as definitive references to Luke go in Scripture we have the same similar evidence as we do for Demas. In Colossians 4 Luke is described as the beloved physician and he is also listed as a fellow laborer in Philemon 24. It has been suggested that Luke’s skills as a physician allowed Paul to carry out his journeys despite his physical ailments. The best quote that I have found for summing up Luke is as follows, “The Church is full of talkers and of people who are there more for what they can get than for what they can give; Luke was one of these priceless people—the workers of the Church.”
The next person we come to is a person who has redeemed himself in the eyes of Paul. Paul says that Mark will be useful for him in ministry. Now the Greek word used here for ministry carries with it a wider sense of service. In other words, Paul is saying that having Mark with him is beneficial at this time. This is unexpected in light of what happened during Paul’s first missionary journey. Mark had been picked by Paul and Barnabas to join them on the mission and to become a contemporary of theirs. We are told, however, in Acts 13 that Mark left them and went home. Paul took this defection so hard that when Mark wanted to go with Paul and Barnabas on Paul’s second missionary journey, Paul refused to have such a quitter accompany them. Paul and Barnabas argued over this issue so much that they actually parted ways because Paul would have nothing to do with Mark. We don’t know exactly what happened to mend the relationship between the two, but Paul is now asking for Mark’s presence.
The next name, Tychicus, is someone who Paul has sent out to visit the church that he had established in Ephesus. He is the one who delivered the letters to the churches in Colossians and Ephesus. Then, the final name mentioned is Alexander the coppersmith. It is unknown what exactly Alexander has done, but we can determine from the text that he has worked to disrupt the spread of the gospel and cause Paul personal harm.
Now sandwiched between these last two names is what I want all of us to focus on this morning. Listen to the personal requests made by Paul to Timothy, “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.” Despite Paul’s seemingly dire situation, this language seems to indicate that he still has work to do. Paul wanted his books, or in Greek, his biblia, which literally means papyrus rolls, and it is most likely that these rolls contained the earliest forms of the gospels. He wanted the parchments. Perhaps these were legal documents such as his proof of Roman citizenship. However, it is most likely his copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, or as we would say, the Old Testament. Paul is acting like a man who still has work that has to be done. Even though Paul has been through so much and is certain that the end is near he continues to work for the sake of the gospel.
At any given moment I like to stop and see what words I could use to describe what is going on in the Robinson household. For the last few months, one word that has been flying around our house is the word retirement. Now, this may seem strange for Amy and I, at our age, to think about retirement, but there have been some events that have brought this on. You see, Amy’s dad, after 33 years of working for the Corp of Engineers, is eligible for retirement. Her parents have bought a house on the coast and are making plans for what retirement holds for them. We imagine that they will spend a great deal of time like Amy’s grandparents and travel and see family. Her grandfather who retired after a lengthy time of service in the Air Force, and her grandmother is a retired teacher at USM. There has also been the recent retirement of legendary MSU announcer Jack Cristil. My dad, who I think has been following MSU sports for as long as I can imagine, has never had anyone else other than Jack Cristil tell him what was going on at Scott Field. Now in every one of these cases, the retirement is well deserved. Each of these individuals have worked a great deal to be able to enjoy the time that they have left. But all of these retirements got me to thinking, what does Christian retirement look like? You know we say that we have two jobs in life; we are a doctor, teacher, lawyer, etc., but we are also a Christian. It is my opinion, as it is most likely yours, that the later job is a calling that is much more than a profession. As such, it is something that last for a lifetime and never really has a retirement.
If there was ever a person who had a right to say that they were retiring from Christian service it was the Apostle Paul. After penning 13 New Testament epistles (along with numerous other letters that are not in our Bibles) and some 25 years of missionary travels, he could say he was done and no one could second guess him. The truth of the matter is that he doesn’t. Despite all of the physical pain, prison stints, the loss of co-workers, the regrets of his lifestyle prior to his conversion, he continues onward. I mean, the man is sitting in prison talking about the fact that he has work to be done. He doesn’t know for certain whether or not he will even make it out of prison. Paul knows that one never retires from Christ. You don’t stop being a Christian. When a teacher retires, they no longer go to the school every day. When a lawyer retires, he doesn’t go in every morning to the practice. Retired doctors don’t keep the same schedule as they did before retiring. Christians never retire. They never quit being Christians if they are faithful to the Word of God.
I want to quickly share a story with you of some people who I know who have changed churches. There was a couple who was very involved in their local church and had been for many years. The church went through some hard times, many people left the church and the overall tone of the church dropped. Eventually this couple left their church to find another church family where they felt more at home. Now there isn’t anything inherently wrong with moving churches in and of itself, especially in this case where the couple couldn’t properly worship God because of how terrible their mindset was upon entering the doors of the church. When they found a new church, they decided that they were going to join but that they didn’t want to be involved beyond the level of membership. Is that really was we should be doing? Is the attitude of “we’ve been involved before and would like to simply just attend” really the attitude we should have? I think that we can all agree that Scripture is calling each and every one of us to not only be part of a local congregation, but to be active and working in that congregation.
We are soon to be faced with a similar situation here at Grace Chapel. God has blessed us greatly over the past several years. We are poised to open our new educational building some time this fall. The possibilities are endless for Grace Chapel with such a great tool at our disposal for spreading the Gospel. However, I want to take this time to warn against the temptation that might exist to feel like the opening of the building is the finish line; that we can just sit back and wait for the people driving along 463 to see our new building and come and worship God with us. We have to continue to be active in our efforts to establish God’s kingdom here on earth. We have to continue to go into neighborhoods with our door-to-door evangelism campaign. We have to continue to volunteer to serve our missions and outreach activities. We have to continue to support and take part in the Christian education of this church, especially our children. Friends, I know that it doesn’t take long of completely devoting ourselves to something before the feeling of being burned out sets in. I want to encourage you, just as I have to encourage myself constantly, to keep the mindset of the Apostle Paul. There is still work to be done. Christ has commanded us to continue in our efforts, for He is with us “to the end of this age.” Praise be to God, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
