II Tim. 3:14-4:5; But As For You

"14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. 4: 1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: 2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. 5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully."

Introduction

These final words of apostolic exhortation comprise three subjects--the Scriptures, the proclamation, and patient endurance. They are related to each other in the following way: the Scriptures supply the foundation or grounding for life; the proclamation flows from or is built upon that foundation; and patient endurance is the fruit that flows from the divergent receptions of the message you bring. Thus, this three-thought combination takes us from our basis in faith to our daily life in the world. A more catchy way of saying this would be that this passage speaks of our roots, our shoots, our fruits. But, then again, that is just being catchy!

My brief exposition will say a word about each of these three topics.

I. Our Basis or Foundation--the Scriptures

These final exhortations of II Timothy begin with a contrast. 'Others may do something, but as for you...... do something else.' There will always be "others" who pursue a life that has its allure or that possibly even leads to their destruction. Though we are not uninfluenced by the choices others make, the better part of our wisdom is to realize that we are on our own path, responsible for our own decisions and loved ones, drawing on values that we think are right, etc. In the words of this author, the others are going "from bad to worse" as they are "deceiving and being deceived." Perhaps that is a sort of oblique way of telling us that the person of faith is not to be a deceiver but to be a straight dealer. This would be consistent with his earlier message.

But his first point here is to exhort Timothy to continue in what he had been taught from the Scriptures. Of course at the time this was written the primary Scriptures were the Old Testament, but we can assume that since he is exhorted elsewhere to "remember Jesus Christ," that the Gospel message is also intended. The emphasis in 3:14-17 is not so much on a doctrine of Scripture as in Scripture as a living source of foundational wisdom and truth. I say this because basic theology courses in seminary often use II Tim. 3:16 to build a "doctrine" of Biblical inspiration. Our author, however, is not so interested in doctrine; he is interested in the way that Scripture roots and equips us for life in the world.

In a word, Scripture is the basic source of our Christian life. I would say the same to a 'conservative' or 'liberal' Christian audience. We are people shaped by the Scriptures--instructed by them, exhorted by them, encouraged by them, corrected by them. They are an inexhaustible well to which we repair often to drink. I look at Scripture these days not so much as a collection of doctrines or things to believe as of stories or words that lead me to understand the springs of human motivation and the reality of divine love. In my own life of faith the Scriptures have meant lots of things. When I was a young man (in my early 20s), I studied and memorized them with abandon, wanting to take in every morsel of the divine truth. In my 30s-40s I taught them, often from a historical perspective in secular schools of learning. Now, in my 50s, I come at the Scriptures with an openness to learning what they teach me about human motivation, irony, and even humor. By the time I have reached my current age (55), I have a "plan of living" worked out. That is, I really don't need to read the Scriptures for exhortation to "be diligent" or to "be merciful." I am confident I am in patterns or grooves that are good for me now; thus I am "free" to discover other things about the Scriptures.

The Apostle mentions the usefulness of Scripture for "teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." I would say "Yes" to that, of course, but now I am conscious of a much more full use of Scripture, as I have mentioned. When a movement is in its infancy, as it was when II Tim. was written, or when the recipient is "young" in the faith, the emphasis on the doctrinal and corrective nature of Scripture is understandable. My point here is that Scripture is that--and so much more.

II. Proclaim the Message

Make no mistake about it. Our grounding in Scripture leads to our responsibility to "proclaim the message" (4:2). But the string of words in the Greek in v. 2 is worth a pause. I will only mention a few. I like the next one. Literally it says, "Stand firm in good and bad times." There is something so practically helpful about that advice. Actually the words might be rendered "timely and untimely." There are times it is so easy to be in our "flow" or to be "faithful." I, for one, am grateful for them. They are like the bracing air of Fall after a hot Summer. But when the time is not "convenient," or when it is "untimely," well that is the time to be standing firm. What is an "untimely time?" When others around you are in need; when you are taken to your limits; when the forces of life seem to conspire against you to sap your energy and fervor. The message of the Gospel is for untimely times and not simply for those times when we are in a groove.

III. Exercise Patience

The exhortation to patience really runs throughout 4:1-5, though it is expressly mentioned in vv. 2 and 5. I like the first usage. We are exhorted to reprove and exhort "with the utmost patience in teaching." The Greek doesn't exactly say that--it says "reprove, encourage in all patience and teaching." The English translation has collapsed the "and" and joined the two concepts of patience and teaching. This may not be a bad construal of the Greek; it would be an example of the literary device known as hendiadys--where one concept is suggested under two words or phrases ("he came despite the wind and weather" means "he came despite the windy weather"). The word translated "patience" is more vivid in Greek. It means "great soul" or "large temperament." Patience is thus a sign of a certain greatness of soul which doesn't come automatically.

Even here, however, a caution flag should rise. I have talked to many women who feel that their downfall is an excess of patience. They have endured irresponsible men or impossible situations too long under the impression that patience is always a virtue and that immediate or decisive action at an early point is not warranted. In this passage the emphasis is not on patience in relationships, but patience in connection with the proclamation and hortatory ministry. There you need patience, principally because it often takes so long for a message to sink in and take root. In my judgment it often takes 15 years for a good idea to take root in a society; it can be almost as long until we come to our senses about good ideas around us. Thus, patience in teaching and exhortation is the order of the day.

Then, in v. 5, appears the exhortation to be sober and to "suffer evil." The word "be sober" is nephe. I mention that only because of a "trivia" point. In the annual National Spelling Bee, a word that has tripped young people is nephalism, which means abstinence from drinking. We never use the word today, but it is attested in a book title from the mid-19th century. So, now we can return to the Scriptures! The advice to "endure suffering" is, in fact, "suffer evil." The Greek word kakos begins the word. There just isn't any other way to say it--the person of faith will suffer not just inconvenience or setbacks or mean people in life, but actual evil. We are not only told that this will happen, but we are exhorted to let it happen to us. Don't be surprised, then, when opposition comes, when evil and not just inconvenience, enters our life. It is here, 2000 years ago.

Conclusion

The concern of the writer is that we be "equipped for every good work" (3:17). The world still needs a lot of that.

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