Being an Example

I Timothy probably was written in the early 2nd Century by a follower of Paul. It was considered an honor to the person to attribute a text to them. So, I Timothy is attributed to Paul, but not likely written by Paul. And it is ostensibly written to Timothy, but more likely written in response to questions of authority about the next generation of Christian leaders after the apostles. Apostles, remember, were those who were commissioned directly by Jesus – the disciples during his earthly appearances after the resurrection and Paul, on the road to Damascus.

Now that the first generation after Jesus has passed away, it is becoming apparent that Jesus’ return may not be as soon as they first had thought. So, how should they live? How will they relate to the culture around them? The earliest Christians had lifted up as more holy refraining from marriage in order to keep themselves unencumbered…but it was becoming apparent that the church would not survive without a next generation, and single life was not for everyone, and when was Jesus coming again?. They were discovering that “Christian virtue is found in the turmoil of ordinary life, not in the pristine order of an otherworldly sect.” (Lewis Donelson, WBC)

Christian virtue is found in the turmoil of ordinary life…how? Go back to the beginning. God created all. And God pronounced it good. Everything created by God is God, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving.

Williams Barclay says of this passage, “But all God’s gifts have to be used in a certain way. They have to be used in the memory that they are gifted of God.” That’s what it means to receive the good gifts of God with thanksgiving. “There are things which come to us so regularly and so unfailingly that we begin to forget that they are gifts, and we begin to take them as rights.” (Barclay) It is easy to forget how intricate and miraculous our bodies are…until they don’t work correctly. It is easy for us to forget that our food and our home and our family and our friends are gifts from God, until they are absent. It is easy for us to forget that education and the ability to learn, our curiosity, our imaginations, our inclinations and interests are all gifts from God. And they are good, when we remember and are thankful, and we are to use them.

So, how are we to approach the life of faith? First, we are in training. Again, the metaphor is made between spiritual and physical training. Spiritual discipline is work; we are supposed to struggle with it. Very few people are thrilled every time they go to work out…the same is true with our spiritual discipline. It is hard to keep the routine, to get beyond the excuses to get started, and there is always the excuse that you aren’t sure what really would be best for you to try. I know the excuses – I’ve used them too, for physical and spiritual exercise. I’ll start tomorrow. I need to get just this one more piece of equipment, or book, or shoes, or notebook,… I need a buddy, or a group, or a goal. So, first, we approach the life of faith like people in training. We commit to a Bible study or a Sunday school class, to prayer, to worship.

Then, we approach the life of faith seeking to be examples of Christlikeness. When I was in high school, our Christian Educator led a children’s time that I never forgot. She had a plate and some toothpaste for her lesson. And while she was getting them ready, she taught the kids the song, “Be careful little mouth what you say…Be careful little hands what you do…” And then, she looked down, and realized that she had squeezed all of the toothpaste out of the tube. And you know what? She couldn’t get it back in. Our words are like that – once they are said, we can’t unsay them. Our actions are like that – once we have done something, we can’t undo it. I Timothy says, “Be an example in your speech and conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”

The word for love is agape, and we really don’t have a single word that encompasses the full meaning of agape. The closest may be “unconquerable benevolence. If a person has agape, no matter what other people do to that person, no matter how other people treat him, he will seek nothing but their good. He will never be bitter, never resentful, never vengeful; he will never allow himself to hate; he will never refuse to forgive.” (Barclay) Agape is more than emotional love, it is willing yourself to love.

One of my minister friends told recently about a couple he knew whose daughter was murdered by her husband. They didn’t have much, and he was put in prison more than an hour away, but they made a weekly sacrifice. They made a picnic lunch every Saturday and drove to the prison to have lunch with him. My minister friend is their son, and the murdered daughter was his sister. He saw their example and learned what agape meant.

“Be an example in your speech and conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”

The word in I Timothy for faith is better translated loyalty. Be an example in your loyalty to Christ. If a person is loyal to Christ, no matter what circumstances that person is in, whether they are standing in the light, or the shadows falling around them are deep, they will be faithful to Christ.

Remember the two Presbyterian pastors in the South Sudan who I mentioned several months ago in prayer concerns, because they had been arrested, imprisoned since late December and early January, accused of espionage and undermining the constitution, and faced the death penalty. All for their faith. Rev. Yat Michael Ruot after preaching on December 21st and accused of inciting organized groups and offending Islamic beliefs. Then on January 11th, Rev. Peter Yien Reath was taken into custody for questioning and then arrested, they think because he wrote on behalf of Rev. Ruot. The PC(USA) was on the list of appreciation from the administration of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church when they announced to the United Nations that on Wednesday, the two pastors were acquitted and set free.

I got a text from an elder here at Farmington who saw the news. We exchanged praise to God, and then the response sobered me, “Would never want anything like that to happen to you!” Yet, the example of loyalty in faith that these two pastors set for the world is inspiring. They were faithful in the light, and they remained faithful as the shadows fell around them.

“Be an example in your speech and conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”

Be an example in purity. William Barclay defined purity as “unconquerable allegiance to the standards of Jesus Christ….life [is to be] lived on the standards of Jesus Christ, and not on the standards of the world.” Evangelism will never have an impact that changes the world until being Christian changes people who say they are Christian. We are to be an example in purity. Honest in our dealings. Honorable in our relationships.

Around the same time that I Timothy was written, Pliny the Younger was the Roman governor over Bithynia, now part of Turkey. He wrote Trajan about the Christians, “They are accustomed to bind themselves by an oath to commit neither theft, nor robbery, nor adultery; never to break their word; never to deny a pledge that has been made when summoned to answer for it” and “subsequently share a meal of ordinary and innocent food.”

Malcolm Tolbert was a missionary in Brazil and later in life a professor, and he said of this passage: “One thing is clear from this passage. Being a good Christian is not limited to what we say we believe but is concerned above all with the way we live.”

And it won’t happen by accident. We are in training to be examples of what it is to live like Christ. Every day we are training, learning, growing, being challenged as we face the turmoil of ordinary life. How will you be an example? In your speech and in your conduct. Will you be an example of agape love? Will you be an example of loyal faith? Will you be an example of honest and honorable purity? Hear again the Word of the Lord encouraging you, “Train yourself in godliness, for while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.