Passing The Baton
2 Timothy 2:1-2
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and
what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to
faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
Paul is writing to Timothy during a time of great persecution toward Christians.
The dating of this letter is around 67 AD. In 64 AD Rome caught on fire and it was
a great fire. The city burned for six days before it was extinguished. The emperor
at the time was Nero. I’ve never met anyone or heard of anyone with the name
Nero. There is probably good reason for that. Nero, as is typical of politicians more
concerned about optics rather than principal had to place the blame on someone
or something else. The object of this blame was placed on this new religious
group…Christians.
Nero started arresting Christians and was executing them. To give you a bit more
insight into the cruel nature of this guy, during gladiator matches (the modern day
equivalent to our professional sports games), they would have a half-time show.
Now instead of these half-time shows consisting of dancers, music artists, mini-
games where someone can shoot a ball from half court to win some prize money,
Nero had a much different take. During intermission of these gladiator fights, he
would have Christians fed to lions right there in the arena. If that’s not bad
enough, Nero, as a man of sophistication, would hold garden parties that featured
burning carcasses of Christians using them as human torches. We can place the
blame all we want on Nero, but what is just as appalling is the citizens of Rome
who were complicit with this kind of treatment of Christians. Yes, Nero put on the
show, but the people bought the tickets to indulge in the entertainment.
This is the very setting in which Paul is writing to Timothy. And it is the very reason
for his imprisonment in Rome. This letter to Timothy is the last letter Paul ever
wrote before he was led to his execution.2 Timothy 4:6
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my
departure has come.
Let me ask you this question. If you were in Paul’s position, bound in chains,
seeing your cell mates being taken away one by one never to be seen again,
knowing your turn was coming up, what would the content of your letter be to
someone you loved? What would you tell them? One of those things Paul writes
to Timothy is the very scripture we just read at the beginning of this sermon and
which will be the focal point of today’s message.
2 Timothy 2:1a
“You then, my child…”
Did Paul have any biological children? No. Then why does Paul refer to Timothy as
his child? At this point, it is said that Timothy had known Paul for at least 15 years
at this point. He had been mentored by him, taught by him, accompanied him in
his work in ministry. If there is a principle to be drawn from this, it is this.
We as Christians not only have an obligation to raising biological children in God’s
truth and his commands, but also to raise Spiritual children. Those that we have
so invested ourselves into that are not of blood but of Spirit, and that unifying
spirit of course is the Holy Spirit.
So when Paul writes to Timothy and opens up this section in his last letter with
“Timothy, my child”, he is leading with this deep sense of familial bond that
cannot be shaken. In those few simple words, he describes this kind of
relationship that could only be compared to that of a loving father and son. You
parents out there know what I’m talking about. I’ve got four children of my own
(one is still in the womb) and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for them.
Paul knew Timothy for 15-20 years. We know from 1 Timothy 4:12 that Paul
referred to Timothy as a youth. Being human, I’m sure Timothy must have been a
knucklehead a time or two. Or he may have done something that Paul wouldn’t
have been too happy about as is the nature of children. The Bible gives no recordof a strained relationship between Paul and Timothy so we know that they were
and remained very close and in good standing even to the time of Paul’s
execution.
In Paul’s opening of this letter in chapter one, Paul refers to Timothy as his
beloved child. One thing we can know for certain is that Paul deeply loved and
cared for Timothy. I’m sure, as one can expect, that any shortcomings of a child
fade into the periphery when we know we are about to leave this world and so it
is a beautiful thing when Paul opens up his last letter to Timothy with you are my
child, and you are loved.
Next Paul gives an encouragement. As Paul is observing the world around him,
how dismal and bleak it must have been, he then tells Timothy,
2 Timothy 2:1b
“be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus”
For any Christian living in that time, it must have been difficult. For the Jew and
the Gentile. Adherents to Judaism today still regard Christianity as a religious
cult and I’m sure the ostracization was even more pronounced in the early days of
Church history. Difficult for the Gentile, as they try to navigate life through this
new worldview that runs countercultural to the world around them. To Roman
Christians especially who were being fed to lions in the arena and suffering all
kinds of persecution and martyrdom. Yes, indeed encouragement from Paul
seems fitting for the occasion in the time Paul writes.
Christian morale must have been waning day by day, would be the initial thought
when taking a survey of the cultural climate, but that was not the case. The
movement kept growing in strength and in number. And so Paul writes to Timothy,
“be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Does Paul say, buck up and
endure by your own strength? No. He says to be strengthened by the grace that is
in Christ Jesus.
There are just some days when life is just so hard and you are simply hanging on
by a thread and the only thing left for us to do is to pray to God for strength to
make it through. So, when Paul tells Timothy be strengthened by the grace that isin Christ Jesus, this is not a slam towards Timothy telling him he’s weak. “You need
to hit the weight room Timothy.” He is telling Timothy, there will be days when the
strength inside your body will fail you but God’s strength that resides in you
through the Holy Spirit never will. Lean on Him.
Next, Paul tells Timothy to do something. It’s a call to action. This is what you
must do. Such is the call of soldier in the military to serve one’s own country. Such
is the call of a minister like myself to devote one’s life to the rigors of study and
devotion, the discipline of constantly growing a thicker skin while at the same
time growing a softer heart.
Such is the call of a schoolteacher when he or she enters the classroom taking on
the responsibility of knowing such fragile and impressionable minds will one day
become adults, and so not only is great care taken in what they teach, but also in
how they teach.
Such is the call of emergency response teams when called to an emergency.
And the day in age we live in, there is a spiritual crisis. There is a call that says
wake up! The time is upon you to do something much bigger than yourself. Do you
see what’s going on around you? Look beyond your own nose, the present
moment and know that what you do now will have lasting effects for generations
to come. Here’s what you must do.
2 Timothy 2:2
“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to
faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
Back when I was in high school, I ran track and field. It wouldn’t happen often but
sometimes I found myself in a relay race, whether it be a 4 by 400 meter relay or a
4 by 200m relay. Now, one may think that the team with the fastest runners will
surely win. Now this is where relays can become quite interesting. It’s not always
the teams with the fastest runners that win the race. Rather, it is the team with
the best handoffs that win the race. And so much of practice for the relay teamsfocused primarily on handoffs. And this is how I’ve arrived to this fundamental
truth.
Races are won and lost at the passing of the baton. Nothing could be more true
about passing on the beliefs and values of our faith. In this case, Paul is telling
Timothy to entrust the teaching that he has heard from Paul to faithful men who
are also able to teach others.
Do not entrust the gospel to someone who is going to squander it or worse, lead
others to eternal condemnation. And I’m not talking about not sharing the gospel
with someone (we’re all called to do that and everyone needs to hear the gospel),
but this is speaking about entrusting the teaching and preaching of the gospel
message. Don’t let anyone just get up here and start preaching or let anyone
teach a Sunday school class. That could turn out to be a mistake that is
irreversible.
The race is won or lost at the passing of the baton. You may be raising children in
your home right now. How are you doing at the passing of the baton? You may
have children grown up and moved out of the house, how are you doing at
passing the baton, to a spiritual son or daughter? I know some of you do not have
children by choice or could not have children. In either case, you are not relieved
of your duty to pass on the baton of faith. Paul wasn’t absolved of this
responsibility.
JJ and I just took the boys to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky where you can go into
it and learn all about its history and what kinds of animals were on there and
there were some wall displays of depictions of the flood and other amazing things.
One that stood out to me was a picture of those who were not on the Ark when
the earth was being flooded, the ones who were going drown. (Show picture).
Some people may say, those pictures are just too gruesome to have on a display. I
would argue quite the opposite. The world needs to know that this is what sin
results in. Death. My kids need to know that, because the last thing I want for my
kids is to turn their back on God and suffer the same fate as those who perished in
the flood.If you haven’t caught on to what I’m talking about yet, I’m talking about
discipleship of your family. Discipleship starts at home. We strive to be a
Deuteronomy 6 kind of family where it says,
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your
heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them
when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie
down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they
shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts
of your house and on your gates.
I want my sons to know their value and worth and also what is expected of them.
They’re little now, but one day they’ll be grown up.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do
be done in love.”
For my daughter, I want her to know her value and her worth no matter what the
world around her tells her she is. A world that tells her she must look this way and
act that way. No. Her standard of beauty is altogether different. It doesn’t come
from the world but rather from the one who created it and set it in motion.
Proverbs 31:30
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
I know this is talking about children in your home, but as evidenced by Paul and
his relationship to Timothy, the term children is now expanded to include anyone
in the household of faith, namely those who have just begun their walk as a
Christian.
Today’s message is all about discipleship.We have our Discipleship Pathway out in the Connect area where you can self-
evaluate where you are in your faith journey. When’s the last time you had a
check up at the doctor? For some of us, it’s been too long. When’s the last time
you assessed your spiritual health? That’s what the Discipleship pathway does for
us. It lets us know where we are currently so that we know where we are headed
in the future and this impacts every aspect of our lives; our focus, our motivations,
our desires, our activities so on and so forth.
We always have to be reminded of this simple principle. The disciple you are is the
disciple you’ll get. Are you a disciple worth duplicating? Are you a “go to church
once a month” disciple? How could we expect anything more from our children or
those we are responsible for? Are you a “put up a front on Sunday and live like a
heathen the other 6 days of the week” kind of disciple? Are you lazy, have a
negative attitude, always stressed, angry? The disciple you are is the disciple you
get. Are you a disciple of Jesus that brings with them a peace beyond all
understanding? Are you a disciple that walks the delicate balance of truth and
grace? Do you bring with you a sense of refreshment to those around you when
you walk into the room? The disciple you are is the disciple you’ll get.
Piano to play here.
There are children in the service with us today and I love that. Studies show that
when these children get to be about college age, 50% of them will leave their
faith. That’s half of them will walk away from God and that saddens me to my
core. Yes, it is ultimately their decision in the end, but that doesn’t give us an
excuse to throw up our hands in defeat. The Apostle Paul made sure that he knew
Timothy was loved. Do these children know that they are loved by not only their
parents, but by their Church family? I refuse to surrender to the status quo of
seeing half our children leave the faith. And so, that leaves it to us to figure out
how to prevent that.
I’ll leave you with some practical things to do.
• Pray for our children/youth and new converts that their faith would be
strengthened each day.• Seek ways to interact with the children/youth in our church whether it’s a
“hello” or having a small conversation with them. Get to know them.
• Speak words of encouragement to them. (Brad and Josiah)
• Be supportive. Be their biggest supporter instead of their biggest critic. Too
many youth feel like they are looked down upon by older generations.
Some of you may say well that’s just too much time and investment. When I look
at these children in here today, there is not one of them that I would deem a bad
investment. In fact, it will be one of the greatest investments you could ever make
in your life. Remember that the race is won or lost at the passing of the baton.
How are we doing at that?