Today is the 5th part of a 7 week series on instructions Paul is giving to Timothy, who was a young pastor serving a church in the region of Ephesus. Actually, Timothy had spent a lot of time with Paul during his missionary journey and now Paul is giving Timothy some helpful information in what it means to be a pastoral leader of a church.
I love that Paul is helping Timothy stay focused on the most important things in being a pastor rather than just on how to fill out church reports, recruit volunteers, and start new church programs.
For the first Sunday of our Dear Timothy series, the pastoral advice was for Timothy to set a culture where God’s overflowing love and grace welcomes all people.
For the second Sunday, the pastoral advice was to emphasize the importance of prayer which includes praying for our needs, the needs of others, and offering prayers of thanksgiving. Paul wants Timothy to have a praying church.
For the 3rd Sunday, Paul’s spiritual advice to Timothy was for him to continue to pursue a godly life, a life that Paul describes as filled with faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Paul also refers to pursing a life in which we take hold of the life that really is life.
Those first three Sundays were based on our appointed readings from Paul’s 1st letter to Timothy. Last week we began to look at Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy and Paul’s pastoral tip was for Timothy to rekindle the gift of God that was already in him thanks to his mother, his grandmother, and through Paul himself when he commissioned him to be a pastor.
And this leads us to today’s spiritual tip to Timothy where Paul encourages Timothy to always remember Jesus. We get this in chapter 2, verse 8 where Paul writes, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendent of David.”
A couple verses later, Paul shares what was most likely an early creed that was circulated among the churches of Paul’s day: “The saying is sure: If we have died with him (meaning Jesus) we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.”
And after Paul shares this short creed with Timothy, he writes in verse 14, “Remind them of this (and he was referring to Timothy’s church in Ephesus.”) Paul is telling Timothy, “remind your congregation to remember Jesus.” I like that! “Remind your congregation to remember Jesus.”
Sometimes the church can get so busy that we forget to keep our focus on Jesus.
In one of the churches I served, we were having our weekly staff meeting. We had just spent 45 minutes discussing problems with the temperature of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings, issues we were having with a grease trap in the kitchen, and what news items should go into the upcoming monthly newsletter.
For the past couple of staff meetings, our meetings were mostly about these kinds of issues. During one of those discussions, I said to our staff, “Has anyone noticed how we’ve been talking a lot more about the boiler than about Jesus?” We all nodded in agreement.
We had to figure out a way to safeguard our staff meetings so that our biggest focus would be in helping our congregation to grow in what it means to have a Jesus centered faith. This is what we needed to focus on the most during our staff meetings, not what color one of the church rooms should be painted.
Paul knew that it’s not as simple as it may seem for a church to remember Jesus. We can become so distracted by a lot of things that we put Jesus at the end of our meeting agendas.
I love that our Leadership Board meetings here at Athens First begin with people sharing their thin place moments where they have experienced God’s presence in a very real way. By sharing these God moments, we are reminded of why we are even having the meeting in the first place, to help our church share the love of Jesus with each other and in our community.
Our brief 4:57 daily prayer that we are encouraged to pray every day at 4:57 PM also can help us remember Jesus especially when we can get so easily distracted by so many things that come our way during the week.
The reason we pray it at 4:57 is for two reasons. The first reason is to remind us of the date that our church’s cornerstone was laid. Four is the month of April and fifty-seven refers to the year, 1957. The congregation had a special outside service that day and in one of the prayers used during that service is this beautiful phrase to help us remember Jesus.
Not only does this 4:57 prayer help us appreciate our own church’s history, it also reminds us to remember Jesus. The phrase from that prayer is, “Baptize us afresh in the life-giving Spirit of Jesus.” “Baptize us afresh in the life-giving Spirit of Jesus.”
What a great way to live out Paul’s instruction to us today. Remember Jesus everyday by praying this simple little prayer at 4:57, “Baptize us afresh with the life-giving Spirit of Jesus.”
Paul also knew that remembering Jesus is what gets you through the tough times. He knew first-hand about this because he was writing this 2nd letter to Timothy from a prison in Rome. He wrote this letter just a few years before he ended up dying for his faith.
Jesus was the reason that Paul was able to endure the suffering of confinement and loneliness. Remembering Jesus and his resurrection is what Paul was clinging to as he sat in that prison cell. Remembering Jesus is what helps us to face the challenges and problems that come our way. Remembering Jesus is what helps the church to be who God has called us to be.
On June 1st, 1989, I received a phone call from my brother on that early Thursday morning. He was calling me with the shocking news that our dad had passed away in his sleep during the night.
My dad and mom had just visited Penny and me two weeks earlier here in Ohio so that they could see their new grandson and attend my seminary graduation. In another two weeks, my parents and family were going to come back out to Ohio to attend my ordination ceremony. I was trying to absorb this terrible news and was still in disbelief.
Our son was born in April and my mom and dad came to visit us to see their new grandson a month later in May and attend his baptism. During that same trip, they also attended my seminary graduation. So many joyous moments happened in that one week during their visit with us.
And then, we were making plans for them to come back to Ohio in less than a month for my ordination ceremony. “How can life be so sweet and then be so cruel? Where was God in all of this? Why was dad taken from us at only 60 years of age? Why did he die on the first day of my mom’s retirement? Why, Oh God? Why?” All of this was swirling in my head when my brother delivered this news to me.
But arrangements needed to be made and quickly. We booked a flight for our family. I found someone to lead worship in the church I was serving at the time. I called our Pastor/Parish chairperson to let him know the news about dad’s passing.
I also called my District Superintendent to inform him as well. One of the roles of District Superintendents are that they are pastors to the pastors of their district. My District Superintendent at the time had met my parents just two weeks prior when he came to my church to baptize our newborn son. That had been such a great day of celebration.
My District Superintendent, sensing my anguish over the phone said these words to me. It was as if the Apostle Paul was on the other end of the phone line. He said, “Robert, I know this is a very difficult time for you. When you go there to be with your family, remember that Jesus is with you. And the prayers of our district will be with you.”
God bless District Superintendents who seem to know just the right words to share to a distraught pastor. My District Superintendent would have been in his 50s at the time. This experienced pastor was able to share with this young pastor at the time, this 26 year old pastor, who was getting ready to be ordained and begin his 1st full-time pastoral appointment, “Remember that Jesus is with you.”
That’s all I needed to here. Jesus was with me. Jesus was with our family. And then, when we went to the viewing, I was looking at all of the flowers around the casket and noticed one arrangement in particular. They were from my church that I was serving back in Ohio. They too were reminding me that Jesus was with us.
“Dear Timothy, Dear Robert, Remember Jesus.” Remember Jesus.
During the funeral for my dad that was held in my home church in south central, Pennsylvania, our pastor closed the service by having us sing that great hymn of faith, “Lift High the Cross.”
“So shall our song of triumph ever be: Praise to the Crucified for victory. Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name.”
That hymn reminded me of my District Superintendent’s words that he shared with me when I called him about my dad’s death. That hymn reminded me of the love of my church back in Ohio. That hymn reminded me of the love of my home church where the funeral was being held and the pastor who offered spiritual comfort to us when our family needed it the most.
And it was in that moment while we were singing that hymn, that I knew what should be on my ordination banner for the ordination ceremony. Ordination services include a processional where each person to be ordained walks forward with a large personalized banner that contains a verse or a saying that summarizes that person’s faith.
There was no doubt what this young pastor’s banner should have. It would read, “Lift high the cross!”
Paul’s instructions to Timothy are really simple and easy to remember but sometimes we just need to remind each other now and then.
Remember Jesus.
Dear Timothy, Remember Jesus!
Sermon Discussion Questions
II Timothy 2:8-15
October 9, 2022
We are in the 5th part of a 7-week sermon series focusing on two letters that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy who was one of the young pastors of the early church. In addition to these two letters to Timothy, Paul also wrote a similar letter to Titus, also a pastor at that time. These three letters that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus have become known as “The Pastoral Letters;” I Timothy, II Timothy, and Titus. One bible scholar states that the reason Paul wrote these letters was to instruct Timothy and Titus in providing the pastoral leadership needed to help people in the church commit their lives to Christ, serve his kingdom, and to worship God. Last Sunday’s focus was for Timothy to rekindle the faith that was within him.
What does it mean to rekindle our faith? Share a time when your faith was rekindled.
This week’s focus from the Apostle Paul to young Timothy is to “Remember Jesus.” Paul writes, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendent of David - that is my gospel.” - II Timothy 2:8 Some of the ways that the church helps us to remember Jesus is through weekly worship where we follow the life of Christ throughout the year from his birth to his ministry, death, and resurrection. We also offer bible studies to help us know Christ more.
Share some other ways that the church helps us to remember Jesus.
Our 4:57 PM daily prayer is a helpful way for us to remember Jesus every day. Four stands for the month of April and 57 stands for 1957. It was in April, 1957, when our church held a cornerstone ceremony for this church building. In that ceremony, the congregation offered this prayer, “O God, baptize afresh in the life-giving Spirit of Jesus. Amen.”
What does it mean to be baptized afresh in the life-giving Spirit of Jesus?
Pastor Robert shared a personal experience in his life where the church helped him and his family to remember Jesus. Like the Apostle Paul shared with Timothy, Pastor Robert’s District Superintendent at the time shared this comforting words, “Remember Jesus is with you and your family as you go to attend your father’s funeral and remember that the prayers of the district are with you.”
Share a time when someone comforted you by helping you to remember that Jesus was with you through whatever you were facing.
The hymn, “Lift High the Cross” is a powerful hymn that encourage us to remember Jesus. Here are the lyrics from verse 4 of that hymn:
“Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name. So shall our song of triumph ever be: Praise to the Crucified for victory! Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim till all the world adore his sacred name.”
Close by offering this prayer from our Sunday worship services:
O God, just as the psalmist calls upon the people to remember your awesome deeds, we want to always be thankful for all you have done for us! We confess that we are often forgetful of your mighty acts in Jesus Christ. You sent us Jesus who lived, died, and rose again offering us abundant and eternal life. You have brought us together to be the body of Christ, your church. You have sent us your Holy Spirit, the presence of the Risen Christ to equip and empower us to be your people. You have done all of these awesome deeds for us. Help us to always remember Jesus Christ who is our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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