Settle the Big Issues First

Pastor Joe Fuiten, December 29, 2002

Snow policy: We will be having church, no matter what the weather. This will always be true. It will never be untrue. If you can come, please do. If you can’t, then stay home and pray for us.

Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 4:1-13 Page 843

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction. 3 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. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. 21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers. 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (NIV)

Some years ago I took a time management class from a counselor. It was generally unhelpful except for one exercise. We were to write our own obituary. I have a standard line when I show people my crypt. I say, “It’s important to settle the big questions first.” I suppose that is what the time management instructor wanted to teach. In this passage, we have the opportunity to look in on Paul who is writing what in some senses is his obituary. However for him it is not an exercise. It was the real thing.

As we contemplate the new year, I thought it would be helpful to look into the heart of one of the Bible’s great ones, the Apostle Paul, and benefit by his perspective on what was important to him in his last days of life, somewhere around 67 or 68 AD.

The great fire at Rome took place on the night of July 19^th, 64 AD. Nero had apparently set fire to Rome, but accused the Christians as a way of diverting attention from himself. In the end, both Peter and Paul died in the hysteria. At the time of this writing, Paul is in prison (possibly the Mamertine prison) during his trial before Nero. He may have appeared before him in late August or September but does not expect to appear again right away. By tradition, Paul was actually put to death the following June 29^th.

Paul could tell that the first appearance did not go well. The persecution by Nero was in full swing. The blood barriers had long since been crossed. His statement in verse 18 “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom,” has a kind of finality to it. He knows God will rescue him, but he correctly thinks it will be by way of death.

Verses 6 and 7 are the summary of Paul’s Christian life. “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” When you face death, you think about your life. It is interesting to see what Paul is concerned with.

First, it is very evident Paul is concerned with the work of God. The second verse of this chapter is Paul’s encouragement to Timothy to be a strong preacher. Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction.

There were all sorts of issues in Ephesus that Paul was concerned about. His own personal pain did not keep him from considering the bigger needs. This passage resonates in the heart of every minister. This is what we want to be.

Second, Paul reaches out to people that were close to him. In part, this is because the ministry is very personal to Paul. Twice he urges Timothy to hurry. Come quickly, he says, and try to get here before winter. The matter is urgent. Crescens and Titus had been dispatched on ministry assignments but Paul seems to be troubled by the disappearance of Demas. The disappearance of Demas is not just a disappearance from the team, or from the faith. Paul feels personally deserted. Demas has “deserted me,” he says even though Luke is still with him. It always hurts when people go another way.

He takes the same personal approach regarding Mark. Mark “is helpful to me in my ministry.” This could be read as helpful in the ministry, but it seems to have more of a personal touch. Mark is helpful “to me.” Of course, the letter is written to Timothy who is Pastor of the Church at Ephesus. Paul is calling upon him to leave that congregation temporarily in the hands of others, and come to Rome bringing Mark with him.

There is a touch of irony in Paul interest in having Mark come to see him.[1] Mark had once failed Paul and that failure had created division.

Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.[2]

It is nice to know that we can recover from our failures, finding grace where we once had disfavor.

I am intrigued that the breech is not only healed but Mark has become very valuable to Paul on a personal level. We don’t know all about the healing of this relationship but we can get some clues. I think Mark knew that he blew it. He knew that Paul was personally disappointed in his behavior in ministry. To make up for it, Mark determines to win Paul over by service in the ministry. It obviously worked. It is a simple rule of relationship. Failures can be overcome by demonstrations of kindness and service.

When Paul is in trouble, he doesn’t just call on God. He also calls on his associates in ministry. If you were in trouble, whom would you call? In a church like this, you would call people that you have developed a connection to in ministry. I hope you are part of some ministry or small group. They become your church. I would think you should work at that very consciously. First, get involved beyond the worship service level. Second, work at developing a relationship with the people within your ministry area. Invite them to your house. Call during the week. Develop something beyond the function of the moment. You would be sending a signal to them, call on me. You would have be developing the kind of relationship where you could call on them should the need arise.

The ministry is personal. I think God intended that ministers would feel a strong personal connection to their ministries. Ministers are not cogs in the machine of God.

I would like to see this personal concept more strongly at work at Cedar Park. I want to see people feel quite personally about their part of the work. They should feel, “I am the person who is responsible to make this thing go.” This is one of the virtues of the branch concept, people in the branches feel a high sense of personal ownership. The same should be true of the departments. I like seeing ownership of ministry.

As you think about the New Year, think about relationships. Think along these lines.

Where have I blown it and what can I do to rebuild that relationship? Create a plan to do that.

Who would I go to if some need arose in my family? Determine to create such a spiritual network within the church.

Who is looking to me as a source of strength to them? Determine to open up doors of relationship with specific people so they see you as a personal friend and ally.

For what part of the ministry of Cedar Park do I feel personally responsible? Determine to take a higher level of ownership in some part of the ministry of the church. It could be financial, a specific encouragement to another leader, or a piece of the work that you personally lead.

Third, Paul is concerned with his own spiritual life. I infer this from verse 13, “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.”

Rome is usually quite warm. But being held two floors below ground in a damp stone room must have chilled him to the bone. In the winter, it can get cold and Paul doesn’t want the whole winter to pass without some additional warmth if at all possible.

In addition to the coat, he asks for two types of scrolls or books. The first class is his scrolls. The second class is the parchments. The first set was probably of papyrus while the second was made of animal skins. The parchment would be the more expensive and obviously the more important.

Remember that Paul is in prison and is expecting to die at any time. When you are going to die, why do you need books? Was he going to write on them another letter to some church? Maybe. Was he going to preach another sermon? Not real likely. I think these books were for himself. I suspect his scrolls were communications from friends in the ministry. I suspect the parchments were the Gospels or some book out of the Old Testament. Maybe he wanted the Psalms, or Chronicles, or Job.

Isn’t it ironic that the man who wrote Scripture, wanted to read the other parts of the Scripture. He had preached the Gospel as long as I have, yet he wanted to read. He had personally seen the Lord, but he wants to read of him in the Scripture and in his books. He had been caught up into the third heaven, but he was not above study.

A French author wrote, "The wise men who have written before our time are travelers who have preceded us in the paths of misfortune, and who reach out to us their hands to invite us to join their society when all others have abandoned us. A good book is a good friend.”

We have some teachers around here who love to study. Some of you who want that kind of environment should get into Ted Limbeck’s class dealing with theology. He spent eight years in a monastery and has been a Quaker, to name just two qualifications. Most importantly, he loves to study. I think you would enjoy a teacher fired up for his subject.

As you lay your plans for the winter, why not order up a cloak and a scroll and learn some new things.

[1] Col 4:10 “My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.)”