START WITH SCRIPTURE:
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
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OBSERVE:
Paul is concluding this letter to his protégé, Timothy, with some very personal reflections. He is likely a prisoner in Rome in the custody of the capricious Emperor Nero. He senses that he may soon face execution. He reflects on the people who have supported him, as well as some who have failed him. According to tradition, this is Paul’s last epistle.
We begin with one word, a preposition:
for
This preposition connects what he is about to say with his previous instructions to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5. He has instructed Timothy to be consistent in his preaching of the Word whatever the cultural climate may be, knowing that the time is coming that people will turn away from sound doctrine. He is fortifying Timothy for his future ministry, urging him to:
be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.
Why this urgency? Paul is stirring Timothy to action because he knows his own time is short:
For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.
The metaphor Paul uses comes from temple worship. The word translated here as offered refers to being poured out as a drink offering, which was a ritual in the temple in Jerusalem, and was also common in pagan temples as well. He seems to be speaking the language of martyrdom. But he has described a life identified with Christ as dying and rising with Christ (Romans 6:1-11); he says to the Corinthians I die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31); he speaks of his own identification with the death of Christ who now dwells in him:
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20).
But there can be no doubt that he is speaking also of his own physical death, as he does in his letter to the Philippians that he also writes from prison:
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).
Paul then turns to another metaphor to describe where he is now in his life — the military, and athletics:
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
There is a clear implication that he senses his battle is over, his race is complete, and that he has been faithful — and he is near the finish line. For he then describes the kind of honors and rewards that come to a champion in the Greek games common in that day, when he would be crowned with a laurel wreath of victory:
From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.
Note his inclusivity — all who love Christ are champions who will wear the crown of righteousness.
In verses 9-15, we have a section that the editors of the Lectionary have seen fit to delete from this week’s epistle. This is regrettable, because it provides a bridge to Paul’s final words in the epistle.
These are more personal notes that reveal something of the relationships and tensions that existed in the early church. He appeals to Timothy to come to him soon (before winter he adds later in verse 21), because Demas has abandoned him and gone to Thessalonica:
having loved this present world…
Sadly, Demas had formerly been a part of the inner circle, and had been mentioned as a co-worker in the ministry in two earlier epistles (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 1:21). Now his love for the world suggests that he is a backslider who has lost his way.
Crescens, who has gone to Galatia, isn’t mentioned elsewhere. However Titus, who has gone to Dalmatia, may well be the same Titus to whom Paul addresses the Letter to Titus. At that time, Titus was ministering to the very fierce and difficult Cretans. We don’t have the sense that Crescens and Titus have abandoned Paul because of a love for the world, like Demas. Rather, they seem to be on a mission to Galatia and Dalmatia.
Luke is mentioned — the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14), who will prove to be such a faithful witness through his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, has remained with Paul in Rome. His presence with Paul gives Luke a first-person view of the Apostle and the growth of the early church.
Tychicus, who is mentioned by Paul at least four times in the epistles of Paul and once in Acts, and who is called elsewhere a beloved brother and faithful servant of the Lord (Ephesians 6:21 and Colossians 4:7) has been sent to Ephesus.
And then there is a fascinating glimpse into the life of Paul. First, there is his reference to Mark, as Paul tells Timothy:
Take Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
Very likely Mark may be the writer of the Gospel who was a cousin of Barnabas. We are reminded that Mark and Barnabas separated from Paul and Silas after a sharp quarrel in Antioch (Acts 15:36-41). Paul had been disappointed in Mark’s previous unreliability when he had declined to join Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia.
Now, though, Paul asks for Mark, and declares his usefulness! This suggests that there has been reconciliation between the two.
We also get a glimpse of the day-to-day needs of Paul:
Bring the cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus when you come, and the books, especially the parchments.
It would seem that the weather may be getting cooler, since he begs Timothy to come before winter. The cloak which he’d left behind at Troas (which was famous as the site of the great city of Troy besieged by the Greeks in Homer’s Iliad ) was no doubt discarded in warmer weather. And the scholarly side of the Apostle needed to be nurtured as he bided his time under house arrest — he had some reading and study he wanted to do!
No doubt when Paul had been on the move on foot and by ship, he had felt the need to travel light, and had left his cloak and papers behind.
And then there is a rather bitter personal remark, and warning:
Alexander, the coppersmith, did much evil to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds, of whom you also must beware; for he greatly opposed our words.
Alexander is anathematized by the Apostle! Like Demas, Alexander seems to have turned away from the faith he once followed. In 1 Timothy, Paul warns of those who have thrust away faith and a good conscience, and have:
made a shipwreck concerning the faith; of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I delivered to Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme (1 Timothy 1:19-20).
So, we return to the verses that are included in the lectionary reading, and they make sense:
At my first defense, no one came to help me, but all left me. May it not be held against them.
Paul is undoubtedly speaking of his first trial, perhaps before Nero. He obviously felt alone and abandoned by friends who couldn’t help, and by adversaries who had proven to be disloyal and perhaps cowardly in the face of persecution.
Nevertheless, Paul knew he was never really alone:
But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
In light of the stories of martyrdom that later become such an important part of the lore of the ancient church, we are tempted to think that Paul may be speaking of a literal lion. However, he likely may have had the prophet Daniel in mind as a reference, who also was imprisoned by a king because of his faith and faced real lions (Daniel 6). [According to tradition, Paul was beheaded by Nero’s guard rather than fed to the lions. As a Roman citizen, beheading was the legal penalty, rather than a more shameful death, like a crucifixion.]
Paul concludes this section with a prayer:
And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Though he is in prison, and faces likely execution, he is nonetheless confident in God’s ultimate deliverance and preservation.
APPLY:
There are two perspectives we can take toward Paul’s final words to Timothy in this passage — one is the perspective of an older mentor who sees himself at the end of a distinguished career in ministry, who is preparing himself for death; the other is the perspective of his protégé, who has received advice from his mentor and now must prepare to let him go.
Paul appears to be at peace with himself and with God. He has:
fought the good fight…. finished the course…. kept the faith.
Few if any of us can possibly place ourselves in company with Paul. And yet he does not see himself as part of an exclusive club. The crown of righteousness — the righteousness that comes by faith in Christ — is given:
also to all those who have loved his [Christ’s] appearing.
Faith that works through love to fight the good fight and run the race is what Paul sees as the source of a legacy for all Christians.
Naturally, there have been disappointments and hurts — he mentions some who have let him down. The sting is still there, it seems. However there have been many more Timothys and Lukes and Tituses and Tychicuses who have also been faithful. And perhaps even some Marks with whom he has been able to reconcile, and who went on from a momentary lapse to a very productive ministry.
All of this is something that we can view from the perspective of faith, whether we are just starting out, or nearing the end:
And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
RESPOND:
At 61, after 36 years of ministry as both a pastor and an evangelist, I recognize I am closer to the end of my ministry and my life than to the beginning. I think I can understand the tone of Paul’s thoughts in this passage now better than when I was starting out.
One begins to look back on their lives at this point. Have I fought the good fight? Have I run the race? Have I kept the faith?
I even think I can understand Paul’s very personal remarks about Demas and Alexander, and Luke and Timothy. It is so human to remember those who hurt me as well as those who helped me. I pray that I may be able to forgive those who hurt, and adequately thank those who helped.
I am reminded of the wonderful scene in the film Saving Private Ryan when an elderly James Francis Ryan visits the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy, France. He remembers the events many decades before, when a squad of Army Rangers came to deliver him from the war because he was the last surviving brother of four servicemen. He remembers how they joined in battle together trying to defend a bridge against a German Panzer division with infantry. Most of the defenders were killed before American reinforcements arrived. And the Captain of the Army Rangers squad, Capt. Miller, was mortally wounded.
As he was dying, Captain Miller looked up with dimming eyes and whispered to Private Ryan — “Earn this. Earn it.”
At the close of the film, the aging Ryan, visiting the cemetery with his family, finds Captain Millers’ headstone, and sinks to his knees before it. When his wife rushes to his side, Ryan turns to her and says, “Tell me I was a good man.” She confirms it — “You are.” And he stands straight and delivers a sharp salute to Capt. Miller’s grave.
Obviously, we don’t earn God’s grace. It is a gift. And yet, we do respond with obedience and service, through faith. And we also may find ourselves asking “Was I a good man? Was I a good woman? Did I fight the good fight? Did I finish the course? Did I keep the faith?” May we, with God’s help, say yes.
Lord, I can think of no better prayer than St. Paul’s — deliver me from every evil work, and preserve me for your heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
PHOTOS:
"Fight The Good Fight" by Allan Beaufour is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
START WITH SCRIPTURE:
SOAR Lectionary Bible Study 